Chapter 527 The starting lineups of both teams

This Champions League final is a true peak showdown!!

The media also called the match a showdown of the times!!

The team with the most titles in the history of the Champions League is Real Madrid, and it was also the best team of the last century. This season, Real Madrid has been surprisingly strong. Even if you say that they are the strongest in the world, few fans will directly deny it, because they can't find a stronger team than Real Madrid.

In contrast, the Lyon team was too obscure in the 20th century, almost nameless. However, since the turn of the century, Lyon has won five consecutive French Ligue 1 titles, and its performance in European competitions has improved year by year. This year they even reached the final of the Champions League.

Judging from Lyon's performance, they are stronger than the Bundesliga's dominant team Bayern Munich. It is no exaggeration to say that this team is a rising power in the new century. Therefore, before the game, the media called the game "the battle of the times in football", which is a direct collision between the best team of the 20th century and the new power of the 21st century.

Ever since France Football introduced the name "The Showdown of the Eras", various media have quoted it, and The Showdown of the Eras has become synonymous with this final.

Many media have used this word. Even the media in the ancient Eastern country has used this word to describe the game. It is worth mentioning that although the media should be neutral, most of the media fans in the ancient Eastern country all support Real Madrid.

Yes, in this ancient Eastern country with a stronger sense of nationalism than other countries, almost no fans or media are neutral. This is mainly due to a kind of "positionalism" and "sense of honor".

In the ancient Eastern countries, most fans have a concept that they must support one side when watching a game. This concept seems incredible to many European fans, but it is true that when fans in the ancient Eastern countries watch a game, they will definitely support one side, and perhaps they have already decided which side to support before watching the game.

And if there is no team to support, these fans will not even be in the mood to watch the game, because they rarely really watch the game from the perspective of appreciation.

Of the two teams, Real Madrid and Lyon, the vast majority of fans in the ancient Eastern country will of course support Real Madrid. In the ancient Eastern country, there are a lot of Real Madrid fans, and Real Madrid's reputation in the ancient Eastern country is also very loud, even many non-fans know this name.

This is the so-called "positional" thinking, which makes fans of the ancient Eastern countries support Real Madrid.

However, this kind of thinking is hard to influence the media in the ancient Eastern country. Most of these media adopt a neutral attitude when reporting foreign events. However, the idea of ​​"sense of honor" makes the media stand on the side of Real Madrid. Wang Li, the world's No. 1 football star with Chinese blood, is undoubtedly popular in the ancient Eastern country. Nowadays, Wang Li's reputation has already surpassed the popular David Neckham and has become the most famous foreign football star in the ancient Eastern country. And Wang Li is in Real Madrid, with this relationship, they will of course choose to support Real Madrid.

"This is a match of the times. Can Real Madrid maintain their unbeaten record in the Champions League final? Will Lyon emerge as a dark horse and defeat Real Madrid to win the championship trophy? We don't know, but we hope that Real Madrid can be the final winner. This result is the most perfect."

This is the attitude of the media in the ancient Eastern country.

However, there was obviously more than one topic before the game. This was the last match of the season and the pinnacle of European club competitions. The coverage of the game by various media could almost be described as overwhelming.

For example, on the day they arrived in Paris, Wang Li and his teammates went to the hotel together. After packing their luggage, they went to the hotel lobby to have dinner together. However, what they ate was not the hotel's food, but athlete meals prepared by the club's professional chefs.

This is a must.

Before the game, there must be no problems within the team.

Such an incident was analyzed over and over again by the media. They also focused on reporting what Wang Li had eaten, and then evaluated these foods separately. Finally, they pointed out that eating these foods would not affect the athlete's condition, nor would it cause disease, etc.

However, after the report, many fans were worried about Wang Li's appetite. They felt that eating so much food would cause diarrhea and other symptoms.

On the second day, a reporter asked this question. Wang Li felt embarrassed after hearing it. He said frankly: "I usually eat more."

Then, the fans said that they knew the secret of Wang Li's outstanding performance because he ate more than other players.

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Of course, these were just farces before the game. In fact, both teams were doing intensive training the day before the game. They took the time to adapt to the game venue and worked hard for the team's victory.

The players are all in training and their schedules are all in accordance with the club's requirements. They have very little private space and few opportunities to be interviewed.

As for the time before the game, Carlo's requirement is that all players must follow the team, whether it is eating, sleeping and other daily routines, even accurate to the minute. Before the big game, the team must pay attention to every detail and cannot make any mistakes.

Wang Li also ate the nutritious meals provided by the club and did the same training as his teammates, which he rarely did before. But now, he is the captain of the team and he must set an example.

However, Wang Li didn't feel too much about this. Even if he was asked to train alone, he couldn't achieve anything in a day. On the contrary, training with everyone could increase the team's momentum.

On the night before the game, Wang Li even served as a patrol. At 10 o'clock, he went to each room to see if his teammates had slept. This was a task assigned to him by Carlo. Wang Li found this job quite novel. He thought it would be very interesting if he could catch a team chatting.

Unfortunately, it seemed that all the Real Madrid teammates were very abiding by the rules. Even though they were too excited to sleep the day before the game, they still lay on the bed and closed their eyes to rest quietly.

Facing this kind of competition, they must keep themselves in the best condition!!

Time passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye it was already the next day.

That morning, Wang Li woke up from meditation very early, and then went to the first floor of the hotel to ask the team's nutritionist for some breakfast. After a while, other players also came out of the room one after another to have breakfast together.

The game was not until the evening, so they were not in a hurry.

In the morning, Carlo arranged some simple training, mainly training some practical things such as passing and receiving the ball, so that the players can integrate into the game more quickly. At noon, after lunch, they all returned to the hotel to rest, adjust their bodies to the best condition, and prepare for the final decisive battle.

At 3:30 in the afternoon, Real Madrid players came out of the hotel one after another. After gathering, they prepared to take a bus to the Stade de France in Paris.

As the bus was moving, both sides of the street were filled with media reporters and fans, with all kinds of video cameras and cameras filming non-stop. The hotel where Real Madrid stayed was only 11 kilometers away from the Stade de France, but it took one and a half hours to walk these 11 kilometers.

When Real Madrid's bus drove into the stadium, less than two minutes later, Lyon's bus also drove into the stadium. At this time, media reporters outside the stadium began to make live commentaries: "Dear audience, now both teams have arrived at the stadium. This era showdown is finally about to begin. Let us wait and see!!!"

The Stade de France is located in Saint-Denis, a small town in the north of Paris.

After choosing the site of Saint-Denis, the French did not name the new stadium "Saint-Denis" but "Stadium de France" because "Saint-Denis" was the name of an ancient victim, and "France" as the name of the new stadium not only symbolizes the spirit of the entire French nation, but also has a more modern flavor.

The stadium was built for the 1998 World Cup and was used as the venue for the 1998 World Cup final. On July 12, 1998, France defeated Brazil 3-0 in the World Cup final and won the World Cup championship for the first time at home. After the stadium was completed, it has been the home of the French national football team, hosting World Cup qualifiers, European Cup qualifiers and other events.

Compared with San Siro, Old Trafford, Bernabeu and Westfalenstadion which have experienced many vicissitudes of life, Stade de France is really young. Although it has experienced major events such as the World Cup, Confederations Cup, European Champions Cup final, and became famous with the French team winning the World Cup, its connotation, its background and its history cannot be compared with the first four stadiums.

A set of data is enough to illustrate the youth of the Stade de France; San Siro is 79 years old, Old Trafford is 95 years old, Bernabeu is 58 years old, Westfalenstadion is 31 years old, and the Stade de France is only 8 years old.

Having said that, this stadium is extraordinary in terms of its facilities and significance. In just a few years, it has become the most famous stadium in France.

And now, the 2006 Champions League final will also be held here.

Judging from the current scene, the fans of Paris are really crazy. In front of the Stade de France is the Place Santa María. This square has a long history and covers a large area, but now such a pedestrian-style square is completely occupied by fans. It is preliminarily estimated that there are at least 100,000 fans in the square at this time.

This number is shocking enough. Many fans are even worried about the issue of admission. After all, when the stadium is open, you have to queue up to enter. With so many fans crowded together, it is not easy to queue up and find a seat.

Of course, most of these fans don’t have tickets.

The Stade de France has only 80,000 seats, and it is impossible to accommodate so many fans. The reason they come here is just to get close to the world's top football matches.

Of course, for French fans, cheering for Lyon is also one of the reasons.

It is worth mentioning that French fans are not like Italian, English and Spanish fans who are indifferent to other national teams than their own. This is because the French football team is very strong, but the strength of the Ligue 1 clubs is not that good. It is almost once in ten years for a French team to reach the Champions League final, so even fans of Lyon’s city rivals still hope that Lyon can win the championship.

After all, no matter how famous and strong Real Madrid's stars are, Lyon is a French team.

Not to mention the fans, after the two teams entered the stadium and changed their clothes in the locker room, the two head coaches immediately went to attend the press conference.

This time, Wang Li also went with Carlo. "The game will start in a few hours. Will there be some tension within the team?"

As soon as he arrived at the press conference, a reporter asked directly. Facing this question, Carlo said calmly: "The players in the team are all experienced players. Many of them are not participating in the Champions League final for the first time, so we are not nervous. We just treat it as an ordinary league game."

Hearing this, Wang Li, who was standing next to him, couldn't help but curl his lips.

What Carlo said was correct, but in fact he was the most nervous person. As a head coach, and in his first season coaching in the top league, he encountered such a top-level confrontation. Carlo himself knew that he was lying when he said he was not nervous. However, he knew that as a head coach, he must remain calm in front of the media and fans. This is not only related to the team's morale, but also to the image of Real Madrid.

Faced with Carlo's calmness, the media were disdainful but returned to their seats slowly. Then the second media asked: "Mr. Carlo, can you tell us what you expect from the result of the game?"

This is a French reporter, and he just wants to find out how confident Carlo is about winning.

If Wang Li faced this question, he would definitely say "We will be the winners" or "100%, there is no doubt about it". However, Carlo seemed much more gentlemanly. He said: "We are very confident about the game. We have made all preparations before going to Paris. I believe in my players and I believe the result of the game will satisfy me."

This may be a way of shirking responsibility, shifting the reporter's questioning to Real Madrid players, and Carlo emphasized that he "believes in the players", so the players' confidence is my expectation. As for how much confidence the players have? You can ask the players, anyway, I won't answer.

This vague answer made the reporters around him lose confidence in getting any results from Carlo.

On the other side, Lyon head coach Houllier was also besieged by reporters. Many reporters wanted to know what lineup and tactics Houllier would use to deal with Real Madrid.

Houllier answered all these questions vaguely. In fact, he did not use any special tactics at all. He just wanted the team to fight hard with Real Madrid. However, he could not say this to the reporters in person.

Both head coaches had this attitude, so all the reporters placed their hopes on the only player in the hall, which was of course Wang Li.

"Alan, can you tell us about your feelings about coming to Paris? Are you excited to come to the Stade de France? What are your expectations for this game?" The reporter from Paris Soirée asked three questions right away.

"Prospects?"

Wang Li was stunned for a moment, then he smiled and nodded, saying, "In the Champions League final, I don't think there will be any other prospects except the championship."

"This is not my first time in Paris. I have a good feeling about this city. The French are romantic. Before the game, some fans asked me for autographs. They didn't surround me, they just wanted autographs. From this point of view, I think Paris is a good city."

When answering the question, Wang Li made a joke, and the whole audience laughed. Then he continued: "I have never been to the Stade de France to play football. I heard that this stadium was only built eight years ago. I don't have any special feelings. I just think the facilities are very modern. Well, let me think about it. The locker room of this stadium gives people a very good feeling."

After hearing Wang Li's words, the audience suddenly burst into laughter.

The reporters could all see that the black-haired boy in front of them was not nervous at all before the game and acted very casually, but the confidence in his bones still showed unconsciously. This inexplicable feeling made the French media tremble with fear, but made other media very happy.

While the Spanish media were happy, they also felt a little disappointed, because the world's number one player in front of them, although in Real Madrid, is an Englishman. After the Champions League final, he will belong to the England team, which can be said to be a mortal enemy of the Spanish team. This situation is really disappointing.

The lively press conference ended quickly, after which the players of both teams went to the stadium to participate in warm-up training. At six o'clock in the afternoon, both teams returned to the locker room to make final preparations.

At this time, the head coaches of both teams had already received the other team's starting lineups - Lyon goalkeeper: Coupet; defenders: Abidal, Cacapa, Chris, Rivellile; midfielders: Malouda, Juninho, Essain, Virtos; forwards: Anderson, Gove; Real Madrid goalkeeper: Casillas; defenders: Carlos, Ramos, Pavon, Cicinho; midfielders: Beckham, Baptista, Gravesen; forwards: Allen, Raul, Robinho; referee: Vasaras (Germany)

(To be continued)