Midfielder

The confrontation between the coach and the players is just an appetizer before the game. Although it is part of the game, the final decision of the whole game is still the confrontation within 90 minutes, which cannot be changed.

This is a game that no one can afford to lose. Whether it is Chelsea or Barcelona, ​​a failure within 90 minutes may ruin their efforts this season. There is no regret medicine in the Champions League.

Especially after entering the knockout stage, although it is a two-round game, a misstep will definitely be a regret for the rest of their lives.

Otherwise, Mourinho would not be so angry after being tied by Barcelona. After all, there is still a gap between victory and draw, not to mention that it is still an away game. Any team wants to get the other side in one game.

Don't think that the gimmick of peak confrontation or strong dialogue has any meaning. If you can win one game, no one wants to play the second game. This kind of high-speed and high-confrontation game is a big burden for everyone.

Both sides who dominate the league in their own country naturally don't want to be swept out by the other side just after entering the knockout stage of the Champions League. After all, in their eyes, they all want to persist to the end and lift the trophy.

Whether it is the newly rising Chelsea or Barcelona, ​​which wants to restore its dominance, they all covet the Champions League title. The feeling of standing at the top of Europe and overlooking those competitors is difficult for others to understand.

However, the head coaches of both sides have experienced it. Rijkaard led Ajax to overturn his old club AC Milan and became a dark horse. Similarly, Mourinho also created the biggest upset record in Porto.

So at the coaching level, there is not much difference between the two sides. It can only be said that Rijkaard is not as fierce as Mourinho. He still appears polite in front of others, while Mourinho is like a robber. Whether dealing with the game or the media, he is a bit aggressive and sharp like a knife.

Just like the handshake before the game, Mourinho can also give his opponent a warning with hidden tricks. In this on-the-spot adaptability, the "Black Swan" is definitely not Mourinho's opponent. There is no doubt about this.

It is not only Mourinho who can bring pressure to Rijkaard, but also those crazy Chelsea fans.

Stamford Bridge is not as grand as Camp Nou, but this stadium with a capacity of only 43,000 people can still make Barcelona players feel pressure, not from the opposing players, but from the fans.

Unlike Spain, the stadiums in the Premier League have a certain distance between fans and players, and they cannot directly contact each other. Many stadiums in the Premier League can shorten the distance between the two infinitely.

Otherwise, Cantona's flying kick would not have kicked the provocative fan in the face. Such a stadium design has advantages, allowing fans to experience the intense stadium atmosphere more intuitively, but it also has obvious disadvantages.

When those fans cursed on the sidelines, the players could also hear it clearly, very clearly.

This time, Barcelona even experienced the madness of Chelsea fans. From the second they entered the stadium, all kinds of noisy sounds came over, leaving them no time to prepare.

"You bunch of Spanish swindlers! You can only rely on the referee to steal our victory!"

"This is England! This is not a place where you can run wild! Go back to Barcelona!"

"Hey, the monkey wearing the No. 9 jersey! Don't expect to score a goal here! This is not Africa!"

This voice from all directions is full of strong hostility. It can be seen that Chelsea fans do not welcome these visitors from Catalonia. They have not forgotten the game where Chelsea was tied away.

Although the Swede has retired from the refereeing world, the English are very vengeful. They want to let the Catalans know what the consequences of provoking such a group of crazy hooligans are.

The distance between the players and the fans is very close, and it can be seen that this time Chelsea fans came prepared. When these guys started to curse, they actually used pure Spanish.

"It's really hard for these guys." Lin Yi, who grew up in Portugal, can naturally understand some Spanish, so he really sighed for the wisdom of Chelsea fans, because these guys really worked hard to curse.

How deep-rooted the hatred must be, it would be hard for them to learn a few words of Spanish to come here and curse.

Damn it, the organizer of this event is so talented, this is the subtext of all Chelsea players.

What is revenge? This is revenge. The breath that was held in Barcelona a few weeks ago was completely released at this moment, because looking at the faces of the Barcelona players, you can really feel the advantage of home court.

This kind of verbal humiliation is definitely an indiscriminate attack. The most unlucky one may be Eto'o, because his skin color has also become the target of humiliation by those Chelsea fans, although it is not very kind to do so.

But, there is no way, this is the fans, they are willing to vent their anger in this way on the sidelines.

Although Eto'o complained to the referee when he heard such insults, what can Collina do? Go up and teach that fan a lesson? Even if this guy is a bit unscrupulous when enforcing the law, he dare not provoke so many people.

At most, he complained to UEFA about racial discrimination in his post-match report. Apart from that, Collina couldn't help much. After all, this is Chelsea's home ground. You can't prohibit fans from talking or provoking.

This is not Camp Nou. No one will take care of the emotions of the visiting team, just like what happened to Chelsea in Barcelona.

You can only say that Chelsea's home ground can only accommodate more than 40,000 people. If it were the same size as Camp Nou, Barcelona might not have to play football now. They would have collapsed just by listening to the noise.

There are only about 8,000 seats for Barcelona fans in the stadium with more than 43,000 seats. Moreover, due to concerns about accidents in away games, not many Barcelona fans went with the team this time.

After all, this is England. Everyone knows what is produced here. When it comes to football hooligans, it is estimated that five Spains can't catch up with one England, so it really takes a little courage to come here to watch the game.

Although England has basically stopped large-scale riots by football hooligans after strengthening the discipline management of the stadium, no one dares to guarantee whether the Spaniards will be attacked by those strong men outside the stadium.

Anyway, before the game started, the shouts of those Spanish fans had been completely suppressed. It was indeed a bit dangerous to compete with more than 30,000 hot-headed Chelsea fans. This was really no joke.

The pressure from the fans was only one aspect. When Rijkaard got the Chelsea starting list, he knew that although the opponent had also suffered losses, they still had a considerable advantage in their home court.

Cech was the main goalkeeper as usual, Terry and Carvalho were the two iron guards guarding the middle, Bridge and Parker were on both sides, Robben and Duff were in front of them, and Makelele, the midfielder, would not be easily changed. Similarly, Lampard and Lin Yi also appeared in the midfield without any surprise, and Gudjohnsen rushed forward.

Rijkaard had already estimated this lineup with his coaching staff before the game started, but when they saw the opponent really put out this lineup, Barcelona's coaching team still felt the pressure.

The reduction in players was also due to injuries and suspensions, but even if Chelsea replaced two defenders, they could still line up such a lineup, not to mention that they still had Geremi, Huth and Johnson on the bench.

These guys, in many teams, would be the absolute main force, but in Chelsea, they can only sit on the bench and wait for opportunities. However, even so, their competitive state has not declined.

Mourinho's rotation system often allows players on the bench to be used when Chelsea is leading the league, so even Chelsea's bench is obviously more practical than that of ordinary giants.

Look at others and then look at yourself. The gap is not a little bit. Sylvinho showed signs of recurrence of his old injury two days before the game, which forced Rijkaard, who had already arranged the lineup, to make a temporary substitution.

Belletti, who was beaten into a sieve by Robben in the last game, had to go into battle as usual, which is definitely not good news.

Compared with Robben's recent crazy state, Belletti is obviously gradually declining and a little out of shape, but in the case that Sylvinho can't play temporarily, Rijkaard can only use this guy to fill in.

This is not the most fatal. Maxi Lopez, who played as a center forward at the last moment of the last game, actually sprained his ankle in the training before leaving Spain, which is the most troublesome for Rijkaard.

After all, there is only one guy in the Barcelona team who can be regarded as a high center forward. Barcelona has already prepared for an offensive battle away from home. Now, the most practical Argentine center forward is also injured.

Although the guy insisted that he was fine, Rijkaard did not dare to use him rashly. He could only withdraw the Argentine from the main list and throw him on the bench for emergency use.

This forced change of tactics can only be regarded as some bad news for Barcelona, ​​which must beat Chelsea, but in the game arrangement, Rijkaard ordered the team to attack.

"Capture Stamford Bridge!" This was the roar of all Barcelona players before they walked out of the visiting team's locker room.

As they said, they did. When Collina blew the whistle to start the game, the red and blue uniforms rushed towards Chelsea's half like a tide. The Catalans had already sounded the horn of attack.

If they didn't succeed, they would die. Barcelona players had already given it their all.