Midfielder

The media is looking forward to the final battle between Manchester United and Chelsea. Their motivation is understandable. After all, it is boring for Chelsea to be the only team to perform. The strong also need a suitable opponent.

Otherwise, there will always be a feeling of loneliness. After all, there is no such thing as seeking defeat alone in the football circle. AC Milan once went unbeaten for more than 50 games, but finally had to accept the loss.

However, the great clash between Manchester United and Chelsea will have to wait for two rounds. Maybe the guys who arranged the league schedule did it on purpose. Anyway, this peak confrontation was arranged a week before Christmas Eve.

Maybe those guys planned such a peak confrontation to celebrate the arrival of Christmas for the fans.

In addition to caring about this clash with Sir Alex, Mourinho is more concerned about the group situation of the Champions League. His premonition has always been very accurate, especially when predicting bad news.

"I really don't know how to describe this Champions League game. Look at this damn ranking!"

Mourinho looked at the coaching staff in front of him in his office at Stamford Bridge and said with a little complaint. No wonder he complained, because everything in this Champions League revealed a bit of weirdness.

If Inter Milan, AC Milan, Lyon, Chelsea, Juventus, Villarreal and Arsenal can win the first place in the group smoothly, it is still reasonable.

Although Villarreal and Lyon have left Manchester United and Real Madrid respectively, Lyon has been very strong in the Champions League in recent years. It is not surprising that their stability can strangle Real Madrid.

The Lyon team led by Juninho has completely defeated the splendor created by Zidane and others this time.

Although only three goals were scored in those two games combined, it was enough for Lyon to win four points.

But this result made Florentino a little depressed. After all, the old man still expected to rely on his superstar policy to turn the defeat in the Champions League, at least to enter the semi-finals.

However, Lyon's tactical arrangement of winning at home and keeping a draw away from home made the old man's idea fall through. The once luxurious super "Galactic Battleship" is gradually approaching the edge of sinking.

After the game, the French media even declared that "Lyon, which sold Essien, can still go far in the Champions League. Compared with Real Madrid, which relies on buying players to achieve results, Lyon behaves more like a well-run club. They not only have good results, but also balance their income and expenditure."

Faced with the ridicule of the French, the Spanish media chose to remain silent this time. After all, what the French said was the truth. It is really a shame that Real Madrid has such a luxurious lineup but has not been able to defeat its opponent.

It is estimated that Florentino is still resentful of the depressed mood of failing to buy Lin Yi for 60 million, and Real Madrid's performance in the two-line battle this season is really bad. Their league results can only rank fourth in La Liga. Valencia and Villarreal have surpassed Real Madrid.

Not to mention Real Madrid's old enemy Barcelona, ​​those guys have already locked the first place in the league. Since the first round of the game, Rijkaard's team has been leading all the way.

Now Barcelona is leading Real Madrid by as many as seven points. This gap is really desperate.

Facing strong teams, they are not strong enough, and facing weak teams, they can't play their usual prestige. Now can be said to be the most depressing period for Real Madrid. It is difficult for them to restore the gorgeous style they once had.

Once their offense is played properly, the damn defense will make fatal mistakes again.

If it weren't for Casillas's amazing performance in front of the goal, Real Madrid would have fallen out of the top six in the league. Such an embarrassing record is really depressing.

This pressure has affected Florentino's re-election plan. Now there are unfavorable rumors from the upper echelons of the Real Madrid club. Although it has not been made public, this rumor is still credible.

If Florentino cannot change the team's performance in the short term, then even if he can sell hundreds of thousands of jerseys of each superstar, he can't save his position as the chairman of Real Madrid.

Moreover, the superstars he accumulated in the early stage have begun to show their fatigue. These veterans who are at the end of their careers are unlikely to become an important pillar for Real Madrid's resurgence.

Florentino may also know that at this time, he cannot force the team to win honors on multiple fronts, but he requires the team to at least reproduce the glory of Real Madrid in the Champions League, which is the only bottom line to be maintained.

But now it seems that this task is still quite arduous. The aging superstars are no longer the majestic killers they once were. The once sharp attack is losing its power.

Even if Ronaldo has the strong support of Raul, Zidane and Beckham behind him, it is difficult for him to save Real Madrid alone, although he is in good form this season and has scored six goals.

But compared with the overall strength of the competitors who are attacking together, the power of one person is very limited.

Otherwise, with the defensive strength of Lyon, it is still difficult to trap the Madrid people's pace of progress.

If it is inevitable that Real Madrid will fall to the second place in the group, then it is not surprising that Villarreal will beat Manchester United to qualify as the first in the group. The Spanish submarine has played its own gorgeous football in La Liga since last season, and their strength has risen rapidly.

Since Riquelme came to the Estadio degli Ambrosini from Barcelona, ​​he has shown the kind of creativity that the Catalans are looking for. The team he leads is not only gorgeous, but also very impactful.

With the two strikers of Figueroa and Fran, who are in excellent form, Villarreal's trident can still make many opponents feel a chill even in the Champions League.

Especially Fran, who transferred from Manchester United, has become a different person after leaving the Premier League.

He has almost taken care of half of Villarreal's offense so far this season.

I really don't know if Ferguson regretted letting him go so easily when he saw the Uruguayan in this state. Although the guy's performance in the two years at Manchester United was indeed a bit unworthy of his price, it now seems that it is not Fran's ability, but the tactical arrangement that has some problems.

But there is no place to buy such regret medicine, Ferguson can only blame himself for making a losing deal.

Not only did they lose money, but when they saw Fran and Figueroa defeat Manchester United together, many Red Devils fans lamented, "We let go of a sharp striker, and now he's back!"

In fact, Fran was not taking revenge, but he just wanted to prove that he still had value.

Of course, such proof came at the cost of Manchester United's loss. Fran successfully proved his ability, but he also ruined Ferguson's idea of ​​leading the team into the top 16 of the Champions League.

One win and one draw against Manchester United has made Ferguson lose his temper. It can be said that after three games in Group D, Villarreal has basically locked in a qualifying spot.

It's just that even they themselves didn't expect that they would finally break out of Group D with an excellent result of first in the group, but many commentators have said on various occasions that this team can definitely become a dark horse.

Just like Porto the year before, they have a strong defense and a very crazy offense.

With a standard organizational core, a classic front midfielder like Riquelme can still tear through the defense.

Even Lin Yi sighed after watching the match between Villarreal and Manchester United, "The Argentine's playing style is so different. The rhythm is not fast, but the timing of passing is very accurate."

But compared with Villarreal and Lyon, the most unexpected thing is the qualifying order of Group C. Originally, Barcelona and Bremen, plus Panathinaikos and Udinese, this group, some people have already said that Barcelona must be the first, and the remaining teams will compete for second place.

Even Mourinho believes that this is an order that will not change. According to the progress of the game, after the four rounds, although Barcelona did not qualify in advance, it was already the first in the group. But in the last two rounds, Rijkaard's team unexpectedly fell.

Two consecutive defeats, it is estimated that no one can predict such a thing, but Barcelona's loss is also for a reason. Their first national derby with Real Madrid was interspersed, which affected their performance.

But losing two games in a row still put Rijkaard's team in a rather depressing situation. They had to give up their first place in the group and could only watch the pursuers behind them complete the miracle of reversal.

Bremen completed the reversal in the last round of the group stage. Their two consecutive wins finally surpassed Barcelona by one point, and also made the Bundesliga's third place the most unexpected group leader.

Although their results are not outstanding, football matches are so dramatic. Bremen, which had been firmly in the second place in the group, unexpectedly became the first this time, which stunned many people, including many German media, who did not expect Bremen to complete such a reversal.

"The nerve knife of the Bundesliga seems to be very crazy in the Champions League." This is the evaluation of the German media team Bremen. This nerve disease that often plagues the Bundesliga has finally shown its power in the Champions League.

Barcelona has become a very troublesome second place in the group. Now those teams that thought they could find a soft persimmon by keeping the first place in the group have completely failed.

This time, not only the two traditional La Liga teams became the second in the group, but also Bayern Munich, Ajax and PSV Eindhoven. Such a second-place lineup is really fucking weird!

"Except for Benfica, Everton and Rangers, the only team we don't need to worry about may be PSV Eindhoven. After all, that is our opponent in the group stage and it is impossible to meet in the round of 16."

"But in addition to these four teams, there are still four strong teams that have the opportunity to meet us. Both Bayern Munich and Ajax are not easy to deal with, not to mention Real Madrid and Barcelona. Now I am most worried about the two from La Liga. They are the most likely."

It is no wonder that Mourinho would lament the weirdness of this game. The giants are so crowded and rushing to the second place in the group. It is a weird situation in itself, and now he has a hunch that his team will definitely choose the most difficult opponent to deal with. This may be deliberately done by the group of UEFA masters.

Maybe this is not a conspiracy, but in order to maintain the attention of the Champions League, they can definitely do it.

After all, the bloodbath scene where the group first team beats the group second team will make many people lose interest. It will only be interesting when the list of the group second team is full of big-name teams.

Everyone wants to watch the drama of strong confrontation, especially those fans, they like exciting games.

If the war starts from the round of 16, it is estimated that such a Champions League can win more ratings. It must be remembered that those broadcasters may not be able to watch the game, but they recognize the broadcast data.

Only with high enough broadcast data can they get more advertisers, and can also bring more revenue to UEFA. This kind of business account has been calculated since the day of the Champions League.

It’s just that the gradually rising TV broadcast fees have allowed them to see more profits.

UEFA may not be a clever mastermind behind the scenes, but it is not impossible for them to operate this damn lottery ceremony in order to make money. In other words, this is just the unspoken rule of the Champions League competition.

Before the draw of recent games, some people have predicted most of the matchups. This is not a coincidence. In addition to the analysis, many people have grasped UEFA's emphasis on strong dialogue.

Moreover, some reporters once exposed the tricks in the lottery ceremony, such as throwing the number ball of the team to be drawn into the refrigerator to freeze, and then allowing the drawee to accurately judge which one to take.

Although there is no way to confirm such news in the end, don't think that it will be groundless.

What Mourinho has to worry about now is that this time UEFA must not target him, the defending champion, in the strong dialogue. The strength of those second in the group is no worse than the current Chelsea team.

Even teams like Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Barcelona, ​​Mourinho is not completely sure to kill his opponents, especially Barcelona, ​​which had already settled old scores last season. It is even more difficult to deal with this season. Ronaldinho In addition to Neo's performance being still eye-catching, they have also added a lot of new players, especially the few young guys selected from the youth team, whose performances are impressive.

Even Mourinho said after watching the national derby between Barcelona and Real Madrid, "That little newbie is definitely a trouble for our defense. He is very difficult to deal with."

The little man Mourinho was talking about to Brito is a recent rookie from Barcelona. He is a little guy from Argentina. His performance in the last few games has been amazing, and even Mourinho has noticed it. When it comes to him, that kid's dribbling and breakthrough are very sharp and brave.

When he scored in three consecutive games, this kid's name was already known to all Catalans. Now even Real Madrid fans know that the kid is called Messi.

A small man from Argentina, although he has not yet reached the level of Ronaldinho, many Catalans believe that as long as this kid is given time, he will become an important member of the Barcelona team. , judging from his age, this little guy's potential can be infinitely improved.

Although Barcelona lost the first place in the group at the last moment, Mourinho will not underestimate them because of this. On the contrary, this performance will make Mourinho have a very vigilant mentality.

"A beast that has just been injured by others is the most dangerous. It will devour the next opponent."

It can be said that the second group that Mourinho is most wary of right now is Barcelona. As for Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, both have their own shortcomings and their overall level is also in a declining stage. If they do not make large-scale personnel adjustments, they will It is difficult to have a blowout in the short term.

Needless to say, Ajax is a traditional giant in the Eredivisie, but their overall strength is not enough to shake the status of other giants, and the trouble they can bring to Chelsea is also very limited.

Even if he encounters them, Mourinho is fully confident that he will win. But for Barcelona, ​​Mourinho is most worried about it now. His old club has never been easy to mess with.

The ability to defeat the opponent last season was due to the team's overall outburst, which turned the tide of the battle at the last minute. Chelsea only conceded two goals at home last season, and that was Ronaldinho at Stamford Bridge. Created, just because of those two goals, Chelsea's Champions League journey was almost ruined. If it happened again, Mourinho would not dare to say that Chelsea could complete the final reversal.

That is a very dangerous opponent, especially since the start of this season. Barcelona's state and personnel are unprecedentedly fierce. If they encounter it, it will definitely be a terrifying battle.

Especially now that Barcelona's midfield organization ability has become more and more smooth. Even if Ronaldinho is not on the court, they can still find a way to break the defense with back and forth kicks.

And compared with last season, Barcelona's defense has become significantly stronger. In the first dozen rounds of La Liga, they conceded less than one goal per game, and their efficiency is indeed amazing.

If Barcelona is really going to beat Barcelona in the round of 16, then for Chelsea, the defending champion, this will be the most vicious obstacle. Mourinho only hopes that this will not be as expected.

But the guys at UEFA may not want to see such a fight between dragons and tigers. Perhaps in their eyes, such a tit-for-tat confrontation is the high level that the Champions League has always advertised.

It's not good news for Chelsea, but the Catalans must be waiting for revenge. If they have a chance to meet, Mourinho bets that the Barcelona guys will be crazy and this damn game will be very difficult.

"I hope those guys don't want to trick us so early..." Mourinho muttered silently while holding the match list. He didn't know if the almighty God could understand it clearly.

Maybe...