Midfielder

One win, one draw and two losses, this is the total performance of the Premier League teams in the first round of the Champions League round of 16. You know, at the beginning of the game, many English media were still optimistic about the results of the game before the game.

Except for the unknown result of the game between AC Milan and Manchester United, they believe that at least their club can win two games and a draw, and truly surpass Serie A to become the world's first league.

You know, many people now say that the Premier League is the world's first league in terms of revenue, but it is far from qualified in terms of dominance. Its performance in European wars is not worthy of the title of the first league at all. Look at the declining Serie A. Even if they are all in debt, they are still very strong in European wars.

No matter whether it is the European Champions League or the UEFA Cup, as long as it is in the European arena, the performance of the Serie A teams has always been very strong. This is also the main reason why they have always called Serie A the "Little World Cup". They have dominated the European war for many years, and there, they are the real protagonists.

It is called the top five leagues, but Ligue 1 is basically a foil. The competition between Serie A, La Liga and the Premier League is the most intense. However, in the European competition, it is obvious that La Liga and Serie A are competing in recent years. The Bundesliga occasionally relies on Bayern Munich to support the scene, but the Premier League teams rarely appear in the final Champions League final.

Even if the attention of Serie A has decreased in recent years due to the economic difficulties, the giants of Serie A are still strong competitors for the European trophy. No matter how thin this camel is, it is still scary.

Money can indeed support the backbone of a league, but don’t forget that whether it is the first league or not, sometimes it depends on who has more European honors. In the European competitions in the past ten years, only Manchester United lifted the European Champions Cup in 1999, and they also completed the reversal at the last moment.

You should know that the winner of that game who is more optimistic about is Bayern Munich, who performed better, and Bayern is only one step away from being defeated, and they even have the opportunity to expand the score to 2-0.

But God stood on the side of Manchester United that night. The damn crossbar prevented the second goal, and also created the greatest reversal in the history of the Champions League, and also created an unrepeatable legend.

Solskjaer and Shelingham that night were the patron saints of Manchester United. The two shots of these two guys saved Manchester United. If it weren't for the magical performance of these two guys standing up from the bench, I really don't know how long the old Sir Alex would have to pursue the European Champions Cup. It was because of this championship that the old Scottish man really overwhelmed Wenger. When he was compared with the Frenchman, he also had more confidence.

But this European championship can't cover up the overall weakness of Premier League clubs in the Champions League. Whether it is Liverpool or Arsenal, they performed very bravely in the Premier League, but when they arrived at the Champions League, they were like eggplants hit by frost, wilting to death, and couldn't show their ferocity at all.

This time, Arsenal was beaten into a sieve at Bayern's home stadium, which is a clear proof. No matter how ups and downs the German team has been recently, they can show the toughness they should have when it comes to European wars, while Wenger's team has repeatedly fallen into the trough, and even the chance of a reversal in the second round is very slim.

Looking back at Serie A, although they can no longer attract more world-class players to play in Italy in terms of economic conditions, once they reach the European arena, both AC Milan and Juventus can win honors for Italy, especially the Rossoneri, who are experts in European wars, and Ferguson can only bow down to this.

This time in the confrontation with Manchester United, AC Milan let the English see what real European war experience is. Although AC Milan was playing away, they did not let Manchester United's best attack rush at home in the game. From beginning to end, the Italians took the initiative on the field.

AC Milan returned to the "Dream Theater" where they won the Champions League in 2003. They were not unfamiliar with it at all. Even when facing tens of thousands of crazy Manchester United fans, they could still be calm and composed on the field, and they could execute the tactics accurately.

Ancelotti's team used their best Christmas tree formation to break up Manchester United's midfield. Even though Ronaldo and other guys could occasionally shine with their personal skills, they could not form an effective offensive level. Compared with AC Milan's orderly team, they were very messy when trying to organize the attack in the midfield. Most of the time they were fighting alone, but this kind of single-handed attack could not threaten the Italians' defense at all.

Look at AC Milan. Whether it was Seedorf's free kick hitting the crossbar or Kaka's long-distance attack, Manchester United's defense line became precarious. The great Red Devils didn't even have the opportunity to force their opponents to make mistakes this time. They could only fall into passive defense.

What is this place? This is the fucking Old Trafford Stadium! But Manchester United had no feeling of playing at home at all. They were led by their opponents most of the time. The rhythm of the game was set by them, and the Italians had an absolute advantage in ball possession time. Even with the crazy cheers of tens of thousands of Red Devils fans and Ferguson's constant roar on the sidelines, it could not change their embarrassing situation of being passively beaten on the field.

Manchester United not only felt exhausted in defense, but the single striker tactics that Ferguson had finally decided to play were also suppressed by AC Milan. The fat man Luke, who he had high hopes for, was stared at by Stam and Nesta and could not move an inch, and could not play to his usual level at all.

Originally, this tactic has helped Manchester United grab a lot of points in the Premier League recently, but in front of the Italians, Luke is not enough to face the best defense in Serie A. Even if this kid's personal ability is outstanding, it is simply a joke to rely on him to break through the defense of Nesta and Stam. Even if Van Nistelrooy is added, it is not certain that they can take advantage of AC Milan's defense.

I guess Ferguson was the most embarrassed person when seeing this scene, because he let Stam go with his own hands, and now he has to watch the bald Dutchman stare his striker into a dead man. What should he do? Even Ferguson was helpless this time.

And at the end of the game, those reporters will definitely seize the handle that Ferguson said Stam had problems and sold him, because the Dutchman has proved that he has no problems with his perfect defensive state on the field, which is undoubtedly a naked slap in Ferguson's face.

"An arbitrary Scottish old man let his defensive gate go, and now the person he gave up has retaliated with a victory." This is a subtitle used by the Times when reporting this game the day after the game.

In fact, Manchester United is not without opportunities. After all, they are at home. In the first 20 minutes of the game, their offense still threatened the opponent. Scholes's shot and Giggs's cut-in from the wing still caused some trouble for AC Milan's defense.

But as the game unfolded bit by bit, Manchester United's knife tip was smoothed by the opponent bit by bit, and gradually lost its sharp feeling in the offense.

Compared with the opponent's endless offensive, Manchester United's counterattack can only be regarded as sporadic drizzle, which can't penetrate the opponent's layers of defense.

The most fatal thing is the result. They had been defending for nearly 80 minutes. Ferguson had even thought that if they couldn't beat the opponent at home, they would not lose the game. Although it was not good to keep a score of 0:0, it was much better than losing.

But with only ten minutes left in the game, Crespo, an Argentine who was loaned to AC Milan from Chelsea, made a missed shot in front of the goal, which made Ferguson's wish come to nothing. What annoyed the old Sir Alex the most was that when that guy shot, no one reacted!

Carroll, that idiot, caused this fatal loss of grip when he bent down to hold Seedorf's shot. Crespo could be said to have shot an empty goal effortlessly, which made Ferguson furious after the game. He even refused any media interview requests.

Because the old guy can no longer tolerate the repeated mistakes made by his team's goalkeeper. Regardless of whether it is the Champions League or the Premier League, the fatal injury of the goalkeeper position has pitted Manchester United more than once. After the game, there was news that Manchester United was ready to introduce a world-class goalkeeper.

"Another goal made by Chelsea. This time, Manchester United not only fell behind its opponents in the league, but was also tricked by Chelsea in the Champions League." The next day, the headline of the Sun was not only eye-catching, but also made many Manchester United fans feel helpless when they saw the article.

A guy who couldn't play in Chelsea ended Manchester United in the European war. I really don't know what they feel at this moment. Can't those London guys do something that makes people feel less awkward? This feeling is so fucking disgusting!

The three teams in Serie A achieved two wins and one loss this time. Compared with the record of the Premier League teams, the Italians can proudly say that they are the world's No. 1 league. AC Milan defeated Manchester United, Inter Milan defeated Central Moscow Army, and only Juventus lost to Real Madrid away from home, but they still have the possibility of a comeback at home. After all, Real Madrid's away record has always been very bad.

The situation that was originally predicted to be a confrontation between Serie A and the Premier League did not look so optimistic after the first round of the game. Even the four Premier League teams could only keep one place in the quarterfinals. This result really made many people feel melancholy.

Manchester United lost the home advantage. Now those reporters and commentators who optimistically estimated the prospects of Premier League clubs in European wars began to feel embarrassed, because the top three Premier League teams failed to win in this round of games, but the Liverpool team, which ranked lower, won.

This is probably a result that no one could have imagined, especially with Liverpool's slump in the league. They have become the last fig leaf for the Premier League in the Champions League. If it weren't for their victory, the Premier League clubs would have faced an embarrassing situation after this round of games.

Compared with the other three games, the dispute caused by Chelsea's draw has completely become the focus of all the games in the first round. Not only did the conflict on the field attract attention, but the dispute between the two teams after the game was the most eye-catching battlefield.

The game between Chelsea and Barcelona has been predicted by many reporters as a draw, because Mourinho's tactical choice in the away game must be to defend steadily and then counterattack. Whether or not to score depends on the counterattack strength of Lin Yi and the striker.

They guessed right about this game, but the process was too tortuous. They didn't expect Chelsea to score first, nor did they expect that they would receive a red card after scoring first, which changed the whole situation. They didn't expect Barcelona to play so crazy at their home stadium.

Moreover, the conflict between the coaching staff in the middle of the game and the enforcement standards of the Swedish referee after Drogba was sent off were unprecedentedly watched, especially the English media, who criticized Fricks crazily.

This time, no one said that Chelsea's game was ugly. They only talked about what happened in the player tunnel, especially the conversation between Rijkaard and Fricks, which was the reporting direction that those reporters valued most.

"What did they talk about? The secret between the coach and the referee of a home team?" It is estimated that the content of the conversation between these two people will become the outbreak point of conflict between the English media and the Spanish media, because such a conversation can easily make people think of unspoken rules.

The home advantage plus the referee's care and the inexplicable red card, these factors together made Barcelona's fierce counterattack in the last 20 minutes of the second half possible. Without all these, Chelsea might have won the away game. Now, Chelsea not only lost the game, but also had to face the absence of Drogba, Duff and Gallas at the start of the second round.

"The Swede not only murdered Chelsea's victory with his red card, but also put Chelsea in an unfavorable situation before the second round started." This is the post-match report of many London media. This is not their paranoia, because the frequent yellow cards shown by the Swede in the second half did cause Chelsea to lose several generals, especially in the defense of the two wings.

Ferreira and Gallas had to miss the home game because of an ankle injury and a yellow card respectively. Such a main absence will inevitably affect Chelsea's deployment. Even if they have a fairly solid bench of players, Mourinho does not want to see this situation.

After all, the game between the main force and the substitutes still feels a little bit worse. When playing against a team like Barcelona, ​​a little difference may become the turning point of the game. Although they now have an away goal, this so-called goal advantage is not obvious.

Everyone saw how crazy Barcelona's attack was in the last 20 minutes of the game, especially the Brazilian Ronaldinho, who almost became the absolute focus of the field. If it weren't for Cech defending the door for Chelsea with his own hands, no one knows what the outcome would be.

Most of the yellow cards issued by Fricks in the second half were aimed at Chelsea players. Although many of them were because Chelsea players' own defensive actions on the field were too fierce, it is also an indisputable fact that this guy was disturbed by the home fans.

Otherwise, you can't explain why when Lin Yi was violated by the opponent, Barcelona only received one yellow card throughout the game, and Lin Yi paid the price of an ankle injury. Isn't this a home whistle? If someone says it's not, then the Londoners can only give their middle fingers in unison.

What Chelsea fans can't stand the most is what the Barcelona players said in an interview after the game. When predicting the results of the Champions League round of 16, Ronaldinho said in a very affirmative tone that he not only believed that Barcelona would advance to the quarterfinals, which Chelsea would be eliminated 100% away from home, but also boldly predicted that all four Premier League teams would be blocked from the quarterfinals.

This statement was not only unbearable for Chelsea fans, but also for Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal fans. This was a naked provocation, and this interview was replayed several times by the Catalan TV station.

This was not only a provocation, but also a contempt. This guy overturned the Premier League semifinals with one stroke. This time, it can only be said that he annoyed many English fans. There is no need to say more about the anger of Chelsea fans. Now even Manchester United and Arsenal fans are on Chelsea's side.

"Kill those damn Catalans! Let them know how powerful the English are! Chelsea, you are now representing England! Not just London! You must win this game!" This is the roar of many English fans, and not just roars. In the match between Chelsea and Barcelona at Stamford Bridge two weeks later, there will be thousands of English people watching Barcelona's defeat!

This is probably the only time Chelsea has received support from the opponent's fans this season. Mourinho should really thank the Brazilian for his speech.

Of course, we can't just rely on these things to prepare for that game now. Mourinho doesn't want to repeat the away game process, and letting the opponent control the situation on the field at home is not Chelsea's style of play.

"Attack! In the next round, at Stamford Bridge, let those Catalans clearly see Chelsea's offensive power!" Mourinho was really angry with his opponent this time. Since Barcelona is going to win here, let's do it! Let's see whose knife is sharper!

At this time, Lin Yi did not say a word and quietly lay dormant on the training ground of Stamford Bridge. However, when he was doing shooting training, Faria could clearly feel a murderous aura emanating from this boy.

"The away trip to Barcelona will definitely be unforgettable for them...", Faria murmured.

(The Celtics won today, Ginobili's poor touch was the biggest reason, otherwise Duncan would have scored 20 points. It's rare to see the Spurs lose in this situation. Only the Celtics can fight with them. If it were the Heat, they would probably be dead...)