Midfielder

Chelsea beat Manchester United and then won 16 consecutive games. No one can surpass this achievement.

At least before the end of January next year, it is impossible for any Premier League team to surpass Chelsea in the standings, unless those animals can go five games without winning, which is almost impossible.

Now Manchester United, Arsenal, Everton, Liverpool, these teams are no longer competing for the league championship, but for the Champions League ticket next season. No one wants to fall to the point of participating in the play-offs.

But according to the current situation, Manchester United is the most dangerous, but their game tasks are also the lightest. After being eliminated from the Champions League, they now only need to consider the League Cup and FA Cup. Ferguson can fully train his youth team in these two events, and the league can go all out.

Compared with Manchester United, Arsenal still needs to play in the Champions League. In order to attract more capable players, Wenger can only hope that his team can make a name for himself in the European arena. League? Forget it. If you compete with Chelsea in multi-line combat capabilities, it is almost embarrassing for yourself.

Not to mention Everton and Liverpool, they have no other ideas except to grab tickets.

However, for these teams, the Premier League has entered a devilish schedule after entering December.

At this stage, two games a week are almost commonplace, and it is basically impossible to take a breath.

Generally, the top teams can't afford to consume at this stage, let alone those small and medium-sized clubs.

Last season, Arsenal was dragged down by numerous games and too many injuries at this stage.

After entering the devil's schedule, if you don't want to fall behind, you must grit your teeth and fight hard in every game.

But Chelsea doesn't have such troubles now, they can rotate the lineup at will.

A solid bench reserve and a double-digit lead in the standings make them feel at ease.

Devil's schedule? That's only for other teams. For Chelsea, it's just an ordinary game.

The arrival of Christmas is definitely the best time to adjust the state for those leagues with winter breaks, especially after half of the league confrontation, each team is trying to make up for the shortcomings.

But the winter break is a longed-for but unattainable dream for the Premier League, although it has been proposed more than once that Premier League teams should also have a winter break to ensure the physical condition of the players.

But in the face of high broadcasting fees, everything is nothing, and making money is the survival rule of the Premier League.

Especially when other leagues have begun to enter the hibernation period, only the Premier League continues to make money.

This is also one of the secrets why the Premier League can leap to the world's first league in just a few years, fierce competition, crazy confrontation, and a league schedule with no rest days at all.

Of course, the stars attracted by large transfer fees are also indispensable. Now the quality of Premier League stars has firmly ranked first among the five major leagues. They are strong in the collective improvement of the overall quality of the clubs.

Although La Liga also has Real Madrid and Barcelona, ​​they are still at a disadvantage compared to the Premier League as a whole.

Not to mention Serie A, the overall economic downturn has made them lose the throne of the first league.

Now among the five major leagues, only the Premier League is moving forward, and the other leagues are standing still.

However, the overly dense schedule and super physical confrontation have also caused many players to suffer fatal injuries.

Although many players and coaches have complaints about the competition system, for the club's income, these can be settled with checks one by one. The high income of the Premier League is a strong temptation for players.

Even if they are allowed to play during Christmas, it is not a problem. Just like the NBA in the United States, the Christmas war is also an appetizer, although the players do not want to have a bad holiday.

But for those hungry advertisers and TV broadcasts, the game means a lot of money.

Regardless of whether it is Christmas or not, as long as the fans have a demand, the Premier League will provide the service of the game.

However, for Chelsea now, the leading advantage in the league is already large enough, and their attention is being attracted by the upcoming confrontation in the Champions League, which is their big stage for defending the title.

Compared with the Premier League, Chelsea wants to be the first team to successfully defend the Champions League after the reform.

Even Abramovich has promised that if the defense is successful, the bonus will double compared to the first championship last season. The ambition of the Russian tycoon is not just to win a trophy.

Since we want to create a blue era for Chelsea, the more trophies, the better.

The Russians haven't tasted enough of the crazy triple crown last season, and they hope to have this feeling again!

Watching those European giants being trampled under the feet of their own clubs one by one, the feeling is indescribable.

To be a standard giant team, you have to leave those competitors behind and look up to yourself.

Defend the Champions League! This will be one of Chelsea's important tasks this season. The Premier League's winning streak already belongs to Chelsea, so why not take advantage of this hot state to rewrite the Champions League record?

Who stipulated that the Champions League cannot be defended after the reform? Don't they know that these Chelsea beasts like to pick these difficult tasks to challenge? The more difficult it is, the more motivated you are.

Mourinho's plan to grab points is to give the team time to adjust their status and solve injuries before the start of the Champions League knockout rounds. If they want to successfully defend their title, they must start from little by little.

A week before Christmas, the Champions League quarter-final draw was held at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.

All sixteen teams will select their first knockout opponents here. Mourinho still has no plans to attend, and the representative sent by Chelsea is just their hated Kenyon.

However, when this guy walked into the UEFA headquarters, absolutely no one took the initiative to shake hands. From this, it can be seen that Kenyon's current notoriety in the football circle is definitely well-known.

"This, is our CEO so popular?" Brito looked at this scene and was a little speechless.

"That's already pretty good. Look at the people here. Is there anyone who hasn't suffered at the hands of Kenyon? This guy's interference in the transfer market has ruined countless deals."

Mourinho's evaluation of Kenyon is very objective. Although that guy always thinks about finding some unreliable superstars to fill the team's facade, his methods in the transfer market are still very effective.

Kenyon is so good at stirring things up. Even if he can't sign the players he likes, he will participate in the transfer, either to increase the stakes for competitors or to make the players themselves have psychological fluctuations.

Anyway, as long as he participates in the transfer war, no one can take advantage. Even if they can sign the players they need, those clubs often have to pay much higher transfer fees than expected.

So Kenyon is not only the public enemy of Manchester United and the Premier League, but also a thorn in the eyes of many wealthy clubs.

But this guy seems to be a little bit happy with this kind of thing. He enjoys the feeling of being a destroyer very much.

It's just that in such a public occasion, Kenyon's situation is a bit embarrassing, but looking at that guy's shameless smile, there is really no need to worry that he will feel uncomfortable, he doesn't care at all.

This time, the draw ceremony was hosted by UEFA CEO Olsson. The venue first played two short films, a clip of the first Champions League final fifty years ago and a brief review of this group stage. These are routine programs. After that, the director of UEFA Club Competition Department began to announce the rules of the draw.

The 16 qualified teams drew lots according to the following principles: teams belonging to the same football association cannot meet; teams in the same group in the group stage cannot meet; teams with the same ranking in the group stage cannot meet; the second-ranked team in the group stage plays at home first. Although UEFA's game rules are always changing, they remain unchanged overall.

Mourinho watched these scenes happen in his office. Although he said that he didn't care about meeting any team, for Chelsea, who was determined to defend the title, choosing opponents is also a science.

Picking a weak opponent can not only make the team psychologically strong, but also reduce unnecessary losses in subsequent games. After all, red and yellow cards are very troublesome.

But after the Champions League finalized the qualifying seats, there were too many strange things about the second team in the group. Mourinho was not sure whether it was UEFA's trick, but as the defending champion, he always had more concerns.

Chelsea is the defending champion, so too many teams are watching them. Everyone may be waiting to see Mourinho and his team make mistakes. It is more like an honor to bring down the defending champion.

Mourinho knows that he will become the target of public criticism, so he must be careful every step of the way.

If Chelsea fights hard from the round of 16, it will definitely be very unfavorable for Chelsea's subsequent games. If they meet Bayern and Real Madrid in the round of 16, it will definitely be tricky to confront them.

Regardless of whether their team can win the game in the end, they will have to pay a lot of price.

Of course, compared with these two teams, Mourinho is most concerned about the existence of Barcelona.

The team with Eto'o, Ronaldinho and Xavi actually fell to second place in the group. Wasn't this really arranged on purpose? When Mourinho saw this scene, he was hesitant.

No one can say whether UEFA has a shady deal, anyway, the so-called draw is not that simple.

No one can prove that they are arranging the knockout match schedule, but it is a bit weird, but it is obvious.

Anyway, this is an unspoken rule that no one talks about and no one investigates, and everyone knows it tacitly.

No one will break this window paper, but Mourinho feels a little weird this time.

"Barcelona is the first one to be drawn!" The voice of the live broadcast on TV interrupted Mourinho's thinking. He saw Platini, who supported the first round of the draw, holding a small red ball in his hand. The note he unfolded clearly said Barcelona, ​​which was the first team to be drawn.

Being the first to be picked out is not scary. After all, Bremen and Lyon are among the first teams in the group. Not every team is strong enough to give people a headache, not to mention that Barcelona itself is very strong.

For them, no matter who they meet, they will fight with it. Their offensive ability in the past two seasons can indeed be said to be unique in European football, and they can be called a dream team.

When Mourinho saw Platini pick up a green ball from the first team in the group, he obviously felt a little uneasy. I don’t know why, but at this moment, he had this strange feeling.

When Platini unfolded the note the next second, Mourinho realized why he was uneasy, because the note in the Frenchman's hand clearly said Chelsea.

"My God, Barcelona and Chelsea have met again. The feud between the two teams seems to continue, but now it seems that the Barcelona representatives are very excited."

"When these guys saw Chelsea written on the note, they all cheered!"

The camera responsible for the live broadcast cut to the Barcelona representatives. Although Rijkaard, who attended the draw ceremony in a suit and tie, did not make any extreme movements, the Barcelona leader next to him had already waved his fist. It can be seen that this guy seemed to be looking forward to such a peak confrontation.

And not only him, but some Spaniards who came with them also waved their fists together. They were not aiming at the air. The eyes of these guys were all locked on Kenyon.

It was a naked challenge. Although Kenyon did not respond, he could understand the meaning. The feud between the two teams seemed destined to be settled in the Champions League.

Kenyon seemed to smile, but it soon disappeared, replaced by a frown, as if choosing Barcelona as an opponent was a very depressing thing.

Mourinho didn't say anything when watching this scene, but Brito, who was watching the draw ceremony beside him, said bitterly, "Damn it, this is UEFA's trick with the draw!"

There must be many people who hold Brito's idea. After all, they met in the knockout rounds for two consecutive seasons. This is definitely not a coincidence that can be covered up, unless God is drawing the lots.

But even if God is drawing the lots, this old guy must have seen all the colored balls in advance to achieve such a consistent result. This time, the most popular confrontation before the game started in advance.

Sixteen teams, why do these two enemies meet so coincidentally, and every time they are the first to be confirmed in the strong dialogue? I guess only UEFA knows the story behind this.

Maybe the confrontation between them last season was not exciting enough, and now UEFA has arranged such a revenge story for ratings. Just look at the expressions of the Barcelona guys, they are eager to wash away the shame of losing to Chelsea last season in the knockout stage of the top 16.

And from the moment they entered the list of the top 16, Barcelona's official media shouted slogans, "We just want to compete with Chelsea again to see who is stronger!"

"If Barcelona wants to reach the top of Europe, then it must defeat Chelsea face to face!"

This kind of voice is not once or twice, it also represents the voice of the Barcelona team. The defeat last season made them feel uneasy, and now they have to beat Chelsea in the new season!

Only victory can wash away this kind of shameful failure. As the current first place in the La Liga standings, Barcelona wants to prove to everyone that they play the most artistic game.

Mourinho doesn't care what Barcelona thinks, but when he sees that he will face the Catalans again, he can only smile bitterly. The chances of meeting twice in the round of 16 may be harder than buying a lottery ticket for the Super Lotto. UEFA is really daring for ratings.

In order to make the game full of suspense from the beginning of the knockout round, these guys even put the defending champion and the strongest championship contender together, just waiting to see a super confrontation of dragons and tigers fighting.

Strong defense meets sharp offense, and the confrontation between spear and shield will continue this season.

It's just that this time the lineups of both teams are stronger. Chelsea has more Gerrard and Ashley Cole, and Barcelona has also introduced Van Bommel and Messi.

Needless to say, Van Bommel did what he did in the midfield of Eindhoven last season. Everyone has seen it, but Messi's sudden appearance has given the Catalans more ambitions.

"Our Messi is no worse than that guy named Lin Yi, and he may even be better at scoring!"

The Barcelona media may be praising their own players, but it is really strange that a young boy who has participated in official games for less than three months has played three key roles in the league.

Now the Catalans are looking forward to this football prodigy picked up from Argentina to make a big fuss in the heart of Chelsea and kill Lin Yi's spirit.

The black-haired kid made them suffer last season. If it weren't for him, Chelsea would have stopped dreaming of the triple crown and would have been eliminated by Barcelona.

But it was that black-haired little madman who used his feet to trample the Barcelona team, which recreated the legend of the Dream Team, under his feet, making many Catalans look forward to it.

But Lin Yi has definitely left a huge shadow for Barcelona. Otherwise, when Florentino announced that he would spend any amount of money to sign Lin Yi, many Barcelona fans were worried whether they could really see Lin Yi settle in Madrid this time. If so, Barcelona's desire to dominate La Liga would be challenged. So the guy simply ignored Real Madrid's words.

I don’t know how many Barcelona fans breathed a sigh of relief when Lin Yi rejected Real Madrid.

But this time, no matter how much they breathe a sigh of relief, Chelsea and Barcelona will meet, and there are two rounds of knockout matches, and the competition between them will continue. . .

It seems that their lineups are becoming more and more stable now, and the confrontation is bound to be more intense.

The difference between victory and defeat may be only a matter of millimeters. . .