Chapter 389 Loose and solemn

Everything off the court has little to do with Wang Li. Although sometimes when facing media interviews, he can't help but make a few jokes, or reveal some interesting stories, attack his opponents, etc., but he doesn't take these to heart. In the stage before the game, all he needs to do is adjust his mentality and try to keep himself in the best condition, that's all.

What he didn't know was that at this time, both the European media and the ancient Eastern media had already hyped him up.

Everyone believes that he is the key to deciding the outcome of the two teams. If they want to beat Chelsea, they must not let him perform. This is a rule recognized by the media and fans. What is commendable is that no matter what state Chelsea is in, no matter what pressure the game faces, until now, Wang Li has never performed abnormally due to pressure. This makes most people feel incredible. Because of this, Chelsea has never failed until now.

No one knew why the dark-haired kid never had a bad performance, they could only think it was because he was good at dealing with pressure.

Therefore, many European media did not care about the question of "whether Alan Wang would perform poorly", but pushed Wang Li to the focus of the entire game and to the forefront. Even the English media did the same. Now they have begun to have blind trust in Chelsea and Wang Li.

"The most crucial battle in the European competition! Allen Wang decides the outcome!"

Many media outlets used a similar tone, and such sentences really attracted the audience's attention.

This match was listed by many media as the most crucial battle in the European war. Whether it is Chelsea or Bayern Munich, whoever can qualify will win the UEFA Champions League trophy.

At this time, many media have ignored Liverpool and Eindhoven. Dark horses are always dark horses, and being able to enter the finals is already a very good result. They do not believe that the two can defeat the winner between Chelsea and Bayern.

In one video, highlights of Wang Li's wonderful performance in the match between Chelsea and AC Milan were played continuously. Every time he attacked, there were many AC Milan defenders around him. In comparison, his immature face looked so pitiful, but he always used his outstanding skills and amazing physical confrontation ability to dribble past these big men and then shoot the ball into AC Milan's goal.

From the perspective of this video editing, the match between Chelsea and AC Milan was almost Wang Li challenging the entire AC Milan alone. This video has a very popular click rate on the Internet. In it, Wang Li's personal ability is demonstrated to the fullest, making many fans shout that it is a very enjoyable video.

Before the big battle, this added psychological pressure to Bayern. Facing such a player, how should they defend to limit his performance? This may have become Bayern's first consideration.

In fact, Bayern coach Felix Magath is full of confidence in the battle.

This year, Bayern Munich's strength has reached a peak. Whether it is Ballack, Hargreaves or goalkeeper Kahn, their strength has reached a peak.

Not long ago, they eliminated Arsenal in the quarter-finals. Although Magath didn't know much about English teams, it didn't stop him from imagining - since they had already surpassed the powerful Arsenal, why couldn't they surpass Chelsea, which was also from the Premier League and London?

But imagination is imagination, Magath still has to carefully study Chelsea's game videos before the game. After study, he also found that what the media said was right, that defense against Wang Li was the key to victory or defeat.

…………Two days before the war broke out, the English media had already gone crazy. In their view, this match between Chelsea and Bayern would decide the winner of the European Champions League. Many media called it "a final that is not a final!"

So, when they realized that an English team was about to win the European Champions League trophy, the English media immediately became excited. They kept giving Chelsea advice. Some said that they should insist on a slow and steady approach and use offense to force the Germans to surrender. Some said that they should take advantage of the last pass against AC Milan. With Allen alone in the frontcourt, Chelsea would be invincible. Others said... In short, the media kept talking about it.

Mourinho ignored the media and insisted on his own ideas. But in fact, the Portuguese is still hesitant about how to play this game.

Chelsea has not played against Bayern since 1999, and the two teams know almost nothing about each other. Leagues like the Bundesliga are somewhat different from the Premier League and Serie A. Those videos of Bayern's games with Bundesliga teams are of no significance at all, and you can't see anything from them.

All this made Mourinho worried.

He likes to have everything under control, but he doesn't understand Bayern Munich.

Therefore, when formulating tactics, he could only try his best to ensure stability, and everything had to start with the backcourt defense.

In the transfer rumors before this, Robert Huth's statement made Mourinho very satisfied. At the critical moment of winning the championship in the final stage of the season, the harmony of the locker room is very important, and the players' loyalty to the team is also very important. Although Huth is only a substitute player in Chelsea, it is undeniable that his ability is still good. At least in the minds of the Portuguese, he is a good supplement to both offense and defense.

Probably because of this reason, Robert Huth's name was on the list of starting players announced the next day, while Bridge, who did not make the starting list, stuck out his tongue helplessly.

"These are the most threatening players of Bayern Munich." In the locker room, Mourinho pointed at the tactical board with a serious face, holding a stack of information in his hand, explaining to the players what they should pay attention to in the game.

"Balak! When defending, you must pay attention to him. He is very tall and flexible, and is very good at heading. Ballack is a key figure in Bayern's midfield. No matter what, you must limit his performance. I leave this man to you, Frank."

"No problem, boss!" Lampard nodded.

"You must pay attention to defending Salihamidzic. This striker has been in very good form recently. In the last two Bundesliga games, he has scored two goals in a row. He is very fast and has strong explosive power. Bayern will definitely let him start in this game..."

"In terms of offense, we need to focus on their flanks. Hargreaves and Ze Robert are not very capable. The flanks are Bayern's weakness. Altyn needs to increase the number of breakthroughs and create opportunities for the front court."

"Remember, you must be steady!" Mourinho said confidently, "Bayern is not as strong as us. What we need to do is to play steadily. As long as we can exert our full strength, they will definitely not be our opponents."

"Bayern Munich's first leg is at home, and the second leg will be at Stamford Bridge. The schedule is not favorable for them. Matega will definitely ask them to increase their offense and score as many goals as possible to find an advantage, so the first thing we have to do is stabilize our defense and look for counterattack opportunities."

Mourinho began to analyze the possible situation of the game for the players again: "If they use the home advantage and press forward to attack, then our chance will come. Alan, in the game, look for opportunities to retreat a little to find more opportunities to counterattack. What we have to do is to find the flaws in Bayern's attack and give them a fatal blow."

When explaining tactics to the players, Mourinho appeared confident and solemn. Even if he was not very sure in his heart, he had to show this expression to let the players know that they must be confident and serious in treating the game.

When Mourinho was interviewed by reporters before flying to Munich, he had another look - "Bayern Munich? Yes, they are very strong in the Bundesliga, but it's just the Bundesliga..."

"Balak? This player is good. I think he will be a good fit for Chelsea. Yes, I need him..."

"Kahn? Sorry, I only know that Allen scored a lot of goals. I hope their goal doesn't become a funnel during that game. Also, I think Thomas is very good. Maybe he is even stronger than Kahn. Don't you think so?"

...In short, Mourinho always behaved very arrogantly in front of the media. This look and words made the entire German media furious. It didn't take long before they labeled Mourinho as "disrespecting German football".

Unfortunately, the Portuguese didn't care about this at all. He still happily took the players on the plane in front of the reporters and arrived in Munich, Germany on the evening of the 27th.

…………Germany's Olympic Stadium, built in 1936, was originally designed to accommodate 100,000 spectators, but now can accommodate 75,000. It is said that after the end of this season, the stadium will undergo a comprehensive reconstruction and expansion, and Bayern's home stadium will also be moved to the Allianz Arena in Munich.

On the evening of April 28, the whole of Munich was packed with people, and the passionate atmosphere of football filled the ancient stadium.

The ancient oriental country's court TV station had obviously done a lot of work for this competition. Half an hour before the game, the sports channel had already switched the screen to the inside of the stadium, and 10 minutes before the start of the game, the commentator and special guest coach Zhang had already appeared on the TV screen.

"There are still ten minutes before the game starts. Let's first announce the starting lineups for both teams!"

"Chelsea lined up in a 442 formation, with young player Thomas Clarke as goalkeeper, Glen Johnson, Ricardo Carvalho, John Terry and William Gallas as defenders, Joe Cole on the right midfielder, young Dutch player Arjen Robben on the left, Lampard and Claude Makelele in the middle, and Wang Li and Drogba as forwards."

"Bayern Munich also lined up in a 442 formation, with goalkeeper Kahn, defenders from left to right: Sagnol, Lucio, R. Kovac, Lizarazu, midfielders: Hargreaves, Frings, Ballack and Ze Roberto, and forwards: Salihamidzic and Guerrero."

At this time, the special guest coach Zhang spoke. As a guest, his words were of course much more profound than the commentator's simple explanation: "From the perspective of the formations of both sides, this game will be a contest of probing and counter-probing. Both sides are in a 442 formation, with the same tactics. Perhaps Chelsea's offensive ability is stronger, but this is Bayern's home court, so after the game starts, the two teams will have a fierce battle in the midfield, and the offense of both sides will also be fierce and exciting. We look forward to this being a..."

After Zhang finished his analysis, it was the turn of the on-site commentator to give some 'simple' introductions: "Let's look at Chelsea's starting lineup. Thomas Clarke is said to be Wang Li's teammate in the Wolves youth team, but now both of them have become Chelsea's main players. Thomas is only 19 years old. It seems that he has already squeezed out Chelsea's position in Mourinho's heart. It seems that the England team will not have to worry about goalkeepers in the future."

"From the formation point of view, Wang Li's position is a right forward or a center forward. However, his position in the game has always been controversial and his running position is not fixed. We can only hope that he will perform better in this game."

…………At the referee’s signal, players from both teams entered the field in an orderly manner.

As soon as Wang Li walked into the stadium, he was greeted with countless middle fingers and deafening boos, but he was mentally prepared for these and didn't feel much at all. On the surface, he just smiled harmlessly at the nearest fans, but where the referee couldn't see, his little finger unconsciously stretched out and was held high, as if he was afraid that the Bayern fans couldn't see it.

This seems to have become his signature move every time the visiting team enters the field.

Obviously, this action angered Bayern fans. They yelled at Wang Li and threatened him, trying to fight back in this way. However, Wang Li turned a deaf ear to it. With more and more experience in the game and a better understanding of football, Wang Li became more and more relaxed on the court.

However, this does not mean that the referee will let him go.

Recently, the European Referees Association has received many feedbacks from fans that Chelsea players always make provocative moves against fans during the game. After investigation, they found that this black-haired boy in particular made this move in every game. As a result, Wang Li was put on the blacklist of the Referees Association.

The referee of this game was Temenk from the Netherlands. Before the game, he was notified to pay attention to Chelsea's Allen Wang before the start of the game.

Temenk remembered this sentence and he did the same, but Wang Li's movements were too covert. His practice of Taoist internal energy made his perception very sharp. He could easily detect the blind spot of the referee's vision. Except for his arms, there was no movement on his whole body.

But this did not prevent Temenk from guessing when he saw the fans' fury, so he stopped the two team captains from guessing coins and ran over to warn Wang Li: "You'd better not provoke the fans or do anything small!"

Temenk looked fierce, but there was nothing he could do since he didn't see it. Wang Li was also surprised that the referee actually noticed his action and gave him a warning, but he knew that he might be being targeted, so he just explained that he was innocent with a harmless face.

"I didn't do anything. The fans didn't want me to play..." Wang Li explained.

However, Temenk thought that this casual explanation of his was still very reasonable. The kid in front of him could score two goals in almost every game. Bayern fans certainly didn't want him to appear on the field where the two teams played against each other.

"Okay, watch your movements." Temenk's expression relaxed, he said something to Wang Li, and then ran back to preside over the coin guessing game.

Behind him, Wang Li waved his hand indifferently, which again attracted a round of crazy curses from Bayern fans.

After the two captains finished the coin toss, Chelsea got the right to kick off. The players of both teams stood on both sides of the field, waiting for the referee Temenk to blow the whistle to start the game.

…………After the game started, Wang Li did not come on to attack right away.

For this game, Mourinho's tactic was defensive counterattack, but Chelsea didn't know much about Bayern, so after the opening, Chelsea players tacitly kept passing the ball back in the backcourt. Every time the attack encountered obstacles, they would pass the ball back first, stabilize the formation, try to control the situation, and test step by step.

During this process, Wang Li only wandered in the middle. This game was too important, so he was very steady and prepared to find out the opponent's tactics first and then look for offensive opportunities.

With Wang Li in the Chelsea midfield and Lampard in the lead, the midfield performed more steadily, making it very difficult for Bayern to steal the ball.

After leading the team to defeat Arsenal, Bayern coach Felix Magath was confident about the match against Chelsea, but he was very steady.

In Germany, Magath is a very famous local coach. The teams he led have won three German Bundesliga titles, two World Cup runner-ups, one European Cup title, and one European Champions League title. For a football coach, this achievement can be said to be very successful.

Therefore, even Mourinho respected him very much, and before the game, the two shook hands cordially.

As an experienced head coach, Magath's tactics for the team are to test the opponent's tactics first and then seek to attack. However, the difference is that Bayern's follow-up is a large-scale attack, while Chelsea is a defensive counterattack.

Now they are at the German Olympic Stadium, Bayern Munich's home ground, and they must gain an advantage through offense so as to reduce the pressure at Stamford Bridge in the second round.

As a result, the tacit understanding between the head coaches of both sides meant that in the first 15 minutes of the game, neither side took the initiative to attack when they had the ball, but just kept testing. The middle road became the main battlefield. The fight between the two sides was very intense, and everyone on the court was trying their best to fight for the team's victory.

"Stand back a little and be on guard!"

"Gallas, go to the right, Frank, watch out for Ballack!"

...In the backcourt, captain John Terry kept communicating with his teammates and telling them what to do.

In fact, Terry attaches great importance to this game. At Chelsea, he and Lampard have hardly won any honors, and now this confrontation is extremely important to the team's journey to the Champions League.

There was no way he could ignore it.

Terry has put his heart and soul into the game to win.

(To be continued)