Football’s First Defender

The defending champion of the Champions League stopped at the round of 16, which was somewhat unexpected, but somewhat as it should be.

It is unexpected because Chelsea today has outstanding player strength and tactical system, and the overall structure of the team has not changed, with excellent stability. It is a good time to chase results.

Chelsea, who have dominated the Premier League recently, also showed strong strength in the previous Champions League group stage, but in the quarter-finals, they were directly eliminated by the second place in another group, which is indeed surprising. .

As it should be, Inter Milan can be said to be the strongest group among the eight groups, and the second largest group.

Since the restructuring of the UEFA Champions League, countless giants won the UEFA Champions League in the first year, and when defending the title in the second year, they will always face the most embarrassing thing, which is the extremely hard schedule.

UEFA draws, the final results, have always been less friendly to the defending champions.

When you are the defending champion, you don't even think about the big gift package in the knockout round. All the strong teams are in front of you, which guarantees that every time you advance, you will be skinned.

And when Chelsea encountered Inter Milan, a team of the same style, the opponent's coach was Mourinho, who was most familiar with Chelsea. In terms of familiarity with most of Chelsea's main players, Mourinho can even be said to know Drogba better, Terry better, and Lampard better than the current Chelsea coach Ancelotti...

Was carefully targeted by Mourinho, and lost the game away. When Chelsea, who are good at handling the bus, met Inter Milan, who was also good at handling the bus, Inter Milan, which had the advantage in scoring, became the final winner.

The most desired championship of the season came to an abrupt end just after reaching the top 16.

Today's Chelsea have lost the chance to become the first Champions League reformed defending team, and can only take comfort in striving for more champions in domestic competitions.

In the Premier League, Chelsea is now leading Manchester United by as many as 8 points, and has also reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup. With 8 rounds left in the league, Chelsea still have a chance as long as they adjust their status in time To compete for the double crown.

However, in the case of failure to defend the Champions League, what Chelsea players need to adjust most is the mentality.

Throughout the season, Chelsea, which has an advantage in the league, has the spirit and arrogance of the players, and they want to continue to prove themselves in the Champions League.

But being directly eliminated now is a huge blow to many Chelsea players. It seems that they have lost the accident of hard work this season, and they can't recover for a while.

In the 31st round of the league, Chelsea challenged Blackburn in an away game. Chelsea, who obviously did not recover from the defeat in the Champions League, played really mediocre and were tied 1-1 by Blackburn.

Throughout the game, Chelsea's entire tactical play was very chaotic, and several players made fatal mistakes. Fortunately, Yang Feng was always on the defense line, making up for his teammates in various ways, so that Chelsea kept the number of goals conceded at one goal.

Seeing that the shadow of defeat in the Champions League has not dissipated and is still affecting the league, Ancelotti finally couldn't sit still.

Ancelotti, who calls himself a good guy, first discussed in private with several Chelsea captains and veterans on the field, and determined Chelsea's goal of striving for a double crown later this season. Later, at the team meeting, Ancelotti "severely" criticized the players who performed poorly in the league, and then there was another "chicken soup" to let everyone regain the goal of struggling.

After the meeting, Chelsea vented the anger accumulated in the Champions League and the unsatisfactory league before, and finally vented it on Villa who visited Stamford Bridge.

In the 32nd round of the Premier League, facing Villa who is still in the European theater, Chelsea finally showed their terrifying strength this season.

The bloodbath against Villa was completed 7-1 at home.

Originally in the first half, when Chelsea were leading 2-0, another mistake occurred in the midfield, which caused Villa to score a goal, which made the fans still very worried about Chelsea's performance in the second half.

However, after Yang Feng took the lead in scoring the third goal with a corner kick to expand their lead, Chelsea played more and more smoothly, and finally scored 5 goals in the second half, completing a big victory at home.

Chelsea, who successfully regained their game status, got back on track with the league.

Because of the previous draw with Blackburn, Manchester United, whose members have recently recovered from injuries, has chased the point gap to 6 points through a wave of consecutive victories, and the direct confrontation between the two teams will also determine the suspense of the Premier League championship this season. , whether it can continue to be maintained.

In the 33rd round of the Premier League, the peak match between Manchester United and Chelsea will determine the latest ownership of the Premier League champions this season.

On the Manchester United side, all the main players played. Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Park Ji-sung, Neville and many other players who were absent in the first round due to injuries all started.

However, at Old Trafford, Ancelotti is quite conservative in the selection of the team lineup.

Since Ivanovic was also injured in the previous game, the team's three regular full-backs, Ivan, Ashley Cole, and Bosingwa were all injured and unable to play, Ancelotti simply changed the formation 3 central defenders.

Belletti played in this game, playing the position of central defender on the right, Yang Feng is still in the center, and Terry is on the left.

It's just that, unlike the usual three central defenders, this time, Ancelotti's lineup changed from the previous 352 formation to a 361 formation in this game!

The goal of this game is Ancelotti, who has not lost in the away game, put Drogba on the bench, the starting lone striker became Anelka, who is more suitable for counterattack, and then put a full foot in the middle. 6 midfielders ensure the control of the team's midfield.

Zhirkov and Malouda are separated on the left and right to ensure the team's wing defense.

Mikel, Deco, and Lampard are in charge of the defensive system in the middle from the back to the front.

And Joe Cole was given the role of a free midfielder by Ancelotti. He can directly advance his position and act as a shadow forward to participate in the attack, or he can retreat and help Zhirkov complete the wing. defense.

Manchester United at home, the only goal of this game is to win. If they can win the game at home, then with 5 rounds left in the league, with a 3-point point gap, Manchester United may have a chance to win the championship in the end!

As soon as the Manchester United players started, they took the initiative to speed up the pace of the game, hoping to have a greater advantage on the offensive end.

However, in this game, in order to strengthen the team's control in the midfield, Ferguson had already adjusted the lineup to 451. However, when facing Chelsea's 6 midfielders, Ferguson's imagined control of the midfield did not happen. occur.

Players from both sides launched a tragic "fight" in the midfield. Manchester United organized an attack in the middle, but it was not easy to move forward.

Rooney, who plays a single striker at the front, does not get much passing support from his teammates at all.

At the beginning of the game, Chelsea showed their ability to put the bus on the defensive end.

Anelka also returned to the defense more actively and participated in the team's defense, so that Manchester United, when facing 11 Chelsea players in the half-court defense, relied on passing and could not mobilize too much space at all.

Manchester United, which has lost Ronaldo, lacks explosive players on the wing. Nowadays, Valencia is the most suitable to act as an explosive player on the right, but Chelsea also has two wide players to defend against this side, so Valencia It is still somewhat difficult for Rencia to fight against two with one.

Moreover, under the active running of Chelsea players, it is not so easy for Manchester United players to organize offenses with peace of mind.

As an old opponent, Chelsea is too thorough in defending Manchester United. Many Manchester United players do not have the offensive space to display their strength.

Throughout the first half, it was extremely difficult for Manchester United to pass the ball into Chelsea's penalty area, let alone give Rooney a pass to create a chance to hit the goal.

Under Chelsea's defense, it is not easy for Manchester United players to take a long shot.

In the first half, Manchester United had only 4 shots on goal with more than 60% of the ball possession rate, and they were all long shots. Only one shot was within the range of the goal frame and was firmly received by Petr Cech. Living.

On the contrary, it was Chelsea's side who took advantage of the opportunity of counterattack and completed three shots, each of which was extremely threatening.

Chelsea's defensive counterattack tactics are ready to stick to the end, and Yang Feng, as the most critical point of Chelsea's defensive line, has also played his due role.

It was through Yang Feng's loud shouting and coordination at the back that Chelsea's defense has been kept tight, and Manchester United players have not been given any offensive space to cooperate with passing and cutting.

And even if Chelsea's central players sometimes cannot take care of their own defensive area because they have to mark the players, then Yang Feng will only make up for other teammates, or go forward directly to improve the area's defense.

Chelsea's current defense, for Manchester United players, is like a big wall pressing on them, unable to breathe.

In the second half, Manchester United, lacking explosive points, can only hope that they can rely on running and passing to consume the physical energy of Chelsea players, and have a chance to get better offensive opportunities in the end.

However, Manchester United's conduction of the ball did not take long before a fatal mistake occurred. Chelsea midfielder Mikel was directly in the defense, relied on anticipation to grab the ball, completed the steal, and directly hit Manchester United's counterattack.

Joe Cole, who has been waiting for an opportunity, used his strength on the offensive end in this crucial battle. After receiving a through ball from Lampard, he dribbled the ball directly into the penalty area.

And relying on his ability to change direction, he shook off his national teammate Ferdinand and volleyed directly from the far corner. Van der Sar was unable to make a save, and Chelsea took the lead shortly after the start of the second half.

In this game, unable to win, they almost lost the suspense of the championship. Manchester United still chose to attack aggressively afterwards, especially when Vidic was replaced and a winger Nani was added. Ready to fight to the death!

However, no matter how many offensive players Manchester United has, Chelsea will use their defense to the extreme. Manchester United’s offense just cannot penetrate Chelsea’s defense. within.

In the second half of the game, Yang Feng still showed his defensive strength. In the penalty area, he should not only pay attention to defending Rooney's running position, but also through early prediction, grab and destroy the Manchester United players. After passing into the penalty area Inside pass.

Under the protection of Yang Feng and a group of Chelsea players, Cech still didn't have much room to develop himself in the second half.

Ferguson used up all three substitutions and replaced them with offensive players. On Ancelotti's side, he also replaced Ballack, Drogba, and Kalou successively to replace Deco and others who were exhausted. , Continue to maintain the team's defensive vitality.

The Manchester United players, who have been unable to create offensive opportunities, are inevitably impatient. After Chelsea has built confidence on the defensive end, the counterattack also hit Manchester United's defense in a timely manner.

In the 79th minute of the game, during the counterattack, Drogba received a long pass from Ballack. After stopping the ball near the penalty area line, he turned half-turned, completed a volley, and hit the ball beautifully. into the goal.

2 to 0, Chelsea sealed the victory!

In the next ten minutes of the game, although Manchester United's players continued to attack, Chelsea's defense also did not make too many mistakes afterwards.

Manchester United, who are good at reversing, did not show their magic power in this game, 0 to 2, and lost this focus game at home. With 5 rounds left in the league, Chelsea led by 9 points, almost locked Champions of the season!

After defeating Manchester United in the away game, Chelsea's advantage in winning the championship is already great, and Chelsea's fiery state does not give Manchester United any hope of creating a miracle.

In the 34th round of the Premier League, Chelsea, who played at home, defeated the visiting Bolton 1-0 without bloodshed, and continued to maintain a 9-point advantage.

In the 35th game, with Manchester United playing the first game, they lost in an upset. As long as Chelsea are unbeaten, they can win the championship three rounds in advance.

At White Hart Lane, facing Tottenham, which has performed well this season, Chelsea once again put on an iron barrel formation.

After all, they still have to face the FA Cup semi-finals. Chelsea still intends to end the suspense of the league early so that they can devote all their energy to the FA Cup.

However, facing Tottenham, the defensive attitude of the Chelsea players was obviously not as focused as they were against Manchester United. In the case of being scored by Tottenham first, Ancelotti had to change temporarily and replaced Kalu to strengthen his defense. The team's offense.

Fortunately, the result was good. With Kalou and Anelka's small cooperation on the right, Anelka finally helped Chelsea equalize the score with a kick in the penalty area.

And Tottenham did not embarrass Chelsea afterwards. The two sides shook hands 1-1 at White Hart Lane. Chelsea successfully won the Premier League championship this season! ! !