Chapter 367: Premier League vs. Serie A

6:3, the century-long battle between Chelsea and Barcelona has finally ended. After watching this suspenseful battle at Stamford Bridge, many fans were sweating for Chelsea. Although the final score seemed to give Chelsea a big advantage, in fact, the second round of the match was indeed thrilling. If Chelsea had relaxed a little, the winner would most likely have been Barcelona.

However, Barcelona led by Rijkaard failed to complete the reversal and they still fell to Chelsea.

“This is a great result.”

At the press conference after the game, as the winner, Jose Mourinho looked very relaxed and proud. He was so satisfied that he did not forget to mix some sarcasm in his words: "We are in the quarter-finals. The team we defeated is, according to the media, the best team in the world. Any result that allows us to pass will be great. Of course, we faced an excellent team, but they still failed to threaten the score, and some of our best offensive players (Robben, Drogba) are still unable to play."

"The players played very well in the second half. We scored four goals and could have scored six or seven. Barcelona could have scored four or five. Football is magical, but after 180 minutes, I think the better team won."

It was easy to tell what Mourinho meant from his words. He just wanted to say that Chelsea was stronger than Barcelona. This made Rijkaard, who had been in a bad mood and had a sullen face, look even darker. But he had no way to refute it. Barcelona lost. You said Barcelona was stronger, but why didn't they win? ?

Ignoring Rijkaard who was about to get angry, Mourinho continued to talk excitedly about 'tonight's victory made him more excited than last year's Champions League final victory', "In the final stage, I enjoyed the game very much, more than some other more important games. This is not a game where you know who will pass at halftime. If they score more goals, we will be out, so this kind of game is full of emotional excitement, which is why I can enjoy it more."

Amid Mourinho's nagging, Barcelona coach Rijkaard helplessly told reporters that he found it difficult to accept the defeat. "You always feel pain after a loss, but this time I felt particularly painful because many people jumped out to blame me before and after the game and said they were not optimistic about Barcelona. I don't like that. I think all this makes you want to win the game more, so when you lose, the pain will be deeper."

However, when talking about the game, Rijkaard bluntly stated that Barcelona fell into Chelsea's trap.

Throughout the game, Barcelona had an absolute advantage in ball possession, but Chelsea took advantage of the opponent's counterattacks when they lost possession of the ball, and easily gained an advantage at the start. Wang Li scored three goals, all of which were scored by counterattacks after stealing the ball in the midfield. Barcelona seemed to be leisurely controlling the ball in the midfield, but in Chelsea's eyes, it might be more like a target. After all, with their strong defense, they could steal the ball at any time, and the subsequent counterattacks were always much easier than positional battles.

"We lost the ball too many times in midfield and Chelsea played on the counter-attack, which caused us problems," Rijkaard said. "I would rather win the game if people talk about how we left a good impression in this tournament with such an aesthetically pleasing style of play."

We can also know from Rijkaard's words that he cares more about the final result than the gorgeous game. Barcelona's football is beautiful to watch, and the whole world knows it, but their results are not very good. This may also have something to do with the gorgeous football performed by the players in the game. If a neutral fan comes to watch the game between the two teams, he is very likely to support Barcelona rather than Chelsea, because except for Wang Li, whose performance is very pleasing to the eye, everyone else in Chelsea is good at physical confrontation, but few of them excel in technology. This is very different from the appreciation of Barcelona's artistic football and is not comparable at all.

But even so, Chelsea's strength is still recognized by everyone.

Wang Li, who performed a hat-trick in the game, became the hot topic in media reports the next day. Against Barcelona, ​​he scored 4 goals in two rounds and performed a hat-trick in the second round. This shocking performance, coming from Wang Li, even made people feel it was natural. It was really surprising.

"He is unique." After the game, the always low-key club chairman Mr. Abramovich said so.

"You can never imagine how great Alan is. He is the hero who led Chelsea to the top. Before the start of this season, no one could have imagined that Chelsea could achieve the current results, not just you, but also me." At this point, Mr. Abramovich smiled complacently and said, "My biggest gain last year was not the increase of more than 1 billion US dollars in assets, but inviting Jose from Portugal, and then he brought Alan to Stamford Bridge."

"This kind of player is really rare in a century. I have noticed it since he was in Wolverhampton last year. To be honest, I don't like young players because they are often unstable and have various problems, but you can't see these in Allen. He is stronger and more stable than those veterans."

Mr. Abramovich rarely appears in the media's field of vision, but his words became the front page of many newspapers the next day.

As a Chelsea-focused follower, The Sun newspaper spared no effort in reporting the news. They skipped the description of Abramovich as a 'hero of Chelsea' and changed it to 'hero of England'. "He will become a hero of England and lead the England team to the top of the world. We never doubt this!!"

This made the current national team coach, the Swede Eriksson, very helpless. In the last England team training list, for the sake of his own face, he still did not recruit Wang Li into the national team. As Wang Li continued to perform strongly, his pressure became greater and greater.

"Maybe I should consider leaving the national team!?" Eriksson often thought so.

In fact, this Swede is by no means a fool. What Wang Li said when he left the national team annoyed him, but now that so much time has passed, he knows that he should put aside his pride.

However, if he recruits Wang Li into the England team, doesn't it mean that any player who performs well can ignore his authority as the head coach! ! ?

Then he won't be able to stay in this position for much longer.

In addition to Wang Li's eye-catching performance in this game, Barcelona's superstar Ronaldinho also performed well.

Many media believe that although Ronaldinho lost to Wang Li in this "battle of the century", his ability is unquestionable. He is the indispensable core of Barcelona and his strength has been fully recognized by everyone.

The British Daily Sports newspaper once said: "People always say whether a player is great or not, always in a special moment, always in a special battle to evaluate."

Judging from this game, Ronaldinho is such a player. In this classic battle of the century, as the losing side, Ronaldinho's crying in the last scene of the game moved many reporters and fans present, and his efforts on the field were also seen by everyone.

Therefore, after the game, the English media's coverage of Ronaldinho even caught up with Wang Li, which was a bit surprising, but very practical, because Wang Li was already a member of Chelsea, and these media reporters hoped to bring last year's Ronaldinho to England.

"Football is a part of my life. It gives me hope. I choose happiness and football, so I chose Barcelona." Ronaldinho reiterated the reason why he chose Barcelona in an exclusive interview with The Mirror after the game.

President Laporta also reiterated in front of the British media that "Ronaldinho is not for sale at Barcelona, ​​no matter how much money is offered." After this game, even if Barcelona lost, Laporta may have been more resolute in his decision to choose Ronaldinho. Can you imagine giving away a national treasure?

No, at least not now, because he is the hero of Barcelona and the "God" of Catalonia.

"He is not a candle in the cold wind of England, nor is he the World Footballer of the Year with only one title. Ronaldinho shoulders the mission of winning the European Championship for Barcelona. Even if they lose tonight, Barcelona will still have many opportunities in the next ten years under his leadership. His tears will make fans remember this place forever..." wrote the reporter of Daily Sports emotionally.

Although Ronaldinho encountered the "newcomer wall" in his second year at Barcelona and his European journey this season has ended, which has brought great pain to Barcelona fans, this does not prevent the Catalans from worshipping him as a hero. Their choice was right, and it doesn't matter if they lose the chance to advance! !

No one puts the blame on Ronaldinho, because his performance can repel any doubts, and he can start over again and move forward. Next season will be another beginning.

Perhaps the biggest gain for Barcelona from this game is that it brought back the spirit of the entire team. In a desperate situation, they fought to the last minute of the game and found their absolute leader for the next ten years!!

…………The next day after the match between Chelsea and Barcelona, ​​the second round of all the Champions League quarter-finals was over and all the teams that advanced to the quarter-finals were decided.

Dutch giants PSV Eindhoven eliminated French giants Monaco 3:0 in two rounds, becoming the biggest dark horse in this season's Champions League; this season's European defending champion Porto undoubtedly lost to Inter Milan after qualifying from the group stage, and the score of 5:2 also showed that after Mourinho and many stars left, Porto's gap with European giants has widened; the "old lady" Juventus relied on overtime to sink the Galactic Battleship Real Madrid 1:0. So far, the two major La Liga giants have all lost, and the result once again proves that Real Madrid's superstar plan has continued to fail, and the golden boy Owen introduced this season sat on the bench in both rounds and did not get any playing time; the most surprising thing is that Liverpool, which has always been low-key, played 4:1 in the second round. , they beat Leverkusen 5:2 in total and easily advanced to the quarterfinals, which made the English media very happy; and then, Arsenal led by Wenger lost 2:3 to the Bundesliga overlord Bayern Munich, and Manchester United lost 0:1 to AC Milan twice, which made half of the Premier League semifinals lose their wings. The media also focused on Chelsea and Liverpool; in the quarter-finals, the easiest team was the French giant Lyon, who beat Werder Bremen 10:2 in two rounds, which surprised many fans. Although Werder Bremen was recognized as the bottom of the 16 teams, this game still showed the strength of Lyon's forward line. Many French media believed that Lyon's offensive ability was stronger than the Chelsea forward line led by Wang Li! !

In this way, the eight teams in the quarterfinals are all revealed, namely Chelsea, Liverpool, AC Milan, Inter Milan, Juventus, Bayern Munich, Eindhoven and Lyon.

The team that gained the most was undoubtedly Serie A. The top three teams in Serie A all entered the quarterfinals, which made the Italian media excited. As for the Premier League top four teams that were favored by many media before the game, two top giants fell, while Chelsea and the low-key Liverpool won big. This result was beyond the expectations of many people, but the two teams entering the quarterfinals was still acceptable to the English. Compared with Spain, which had all its wings broken, England was much better.

However, comparing Liverpool and Chelsea, both domestic and foreign media are more optimistic about Chelsea.

In the round of 16, Liverpool's opponent is Leverkusen. Although this Bundesliga powerhouse is strong, it is still just a pure black pony in the Champions League where many giants compete for supremacy. It is not even a mature horse. Before the draw for the round of 16, almost all teams wanted to meet this group of ponies, including another bottom team, Werder Bremen.

Chelsea's opponent is Barcelona. Even though Barcelona's performance was not good at the turn of the century, Barcelona, ​​which has the World Footballer of the Year and a large group of superstars, was also called the "favorite to win the championship" by the media at the beginning of the season. In August, their odds of winning the championship jumped to first place, and their strength was recognized by all media.

No matter how well a team performs in its domestic league, it cannot gain recognition from foreign media. However, its victory over Barcelona convinces foreign media and fans. This is the difference brought about by different opponents.

Therefore, after defeating Barcelona, ​​Chelsea went from being a 'favorite to win the championship' to a 'super favorite to win the championship'. European bookmakers immediately adjusted their odds. At the famous Dutch ctg bookmaker, Chelsea's odds of winning the championship have dropped to 1 to 3.2, which shows the difference. Liverpool, which is also a Premier League team, is only 1 to 13.4, which shows the gap.

After the list of the top eight was released, UEFA immediately held the draw for the quarter-finals to determine the next matchups, which is what many media and fans are concerned about.

According to UEFA regulations, teams from the same country will not meet during the draw for the round of 16, and teams with the same name in each group will not meet. However, the draw for the quarter-finals and semi-finals is not subject to these rules, so the two teams from the country that the English media least wants to see fighting is also possible, although the possibility is very low.

However, the final result greatly relieved the English media and made them more excited about the quarter-finals - Liverpool's opponent is Juventus of Serie A, while Chelsea's opponent is AC Milan of Serie A.

Premier League vs Serie A!!

The result is undoubtedly a big competition between the Premier League and Serie A. Now the hottest leagues in the world are undoubtedly the Premier League and Serie A. In the first few years of the century, with the decline of the Serie A World Cup, they have been unable to always maintain their world's number one status. The Premier League, which is striving to move to the top, has become very hot. The leagues of these two countries are the most fiercely contested in the invisible war in the football world.

As the strong leaders of Serie A and the Premier League, the match between AC Milan and Chelsea will definitely attract the attention of the world.

The competition between the two leagues has turned into a competition between two teams. Which league is the best in the world may be revealed in this confrontation.

The draw ceremony had just ended, and the English and Italian media couldn't wait to find another great meaning for this game, which made this game even more eye-catching.

In the media's words, Liverpool and Juventus have become the "little brothers". Chelsea and AC Milan are the two big brothers versus the big brothers, while Liverpool and Juventus are the little brothers versus the little brothers. The collision between the Premier League and Serie A has broken out in full swing.

Although this statement made the fans of the two teams sneer, who made these two teams not the leaders of the league? ?

Especially in England, Liverpool was "killed 3 times" by Chelsea. In this situation, no one thought that Liverpool would be stronger than Chelsea, and it naturally became a team at the "little brother" level of Chelsea.

In addition to these two games, others include Inter Milan vs. Bayern Munich and PSV Eindhoven vs. Lyon.

The media generally believed that Lyon had drawn a good lot. Among the top eight teams, PSV Eindhoven can only be regarded as a small club, a team that survives by buying and selling players. Its strength can be imagined. They were able to enter the quarterfinals entirely because their opponents in the quarter-finals were too weak. Facing the French Ligue 1 giant Lyon, their Champions League journey also came to an end.

However, the match between Inter Milan and Bayern Munich did not receive much attention.

This is mainly because of the previous match between Chelsea and AC Milan. The media can find too much meaning in the confrontation between the two top teams in the world. Whether it is the competition between the two richest men in the world, Abramovich and Berlusconi, or the comparison between Mourinho and Ancelotti, they all have strong gossip significance.

Obviously, it is hard to find this in the match between Inter Milan and Bayern. Inter Milan is not the only team in Serie A, so it is hard to elevate this to a contest between the Bundesliga and Serie A. Moreover, the Italian media does not think that the Bundesliga is qualified to compete with Serie A. That is simply a joke! !

(To be continued)