Midfielder

"Smoke bomb, smoke bomb, smoke bomb." Pellegrini probably kept repeating this sentence before arriving at Stamford Bridge and seeing Chelsea's game roster. He was indeed afraid of being fooled by his opponent.

When his opponent is a shrewd person like Mourinho, he should be more cautious.

There are quite a few people who have been fooled by Mourinho and are paralyzed, and the damn number is still accumulating. As long as you are not careful, anyone may be calculated by this guy.

Pellegrini is indeed afraid that Mourinho will play some tricks on him, although he also knows that if he fights the opponent purely with strength, the final outcome is likely to be that his team will face the end of being eliminated from the Champions League.

It can be said that Stamford Bridge is not a curse, but if you want to beat Chelsea here, it is basically impossible, unless a miracle happens. Pellegrini is not naive enough to think that this miracle will happen when he is injured, not to mention that Villarreal is still short of soldiers and generals, and he can only encourage a battle at most.

However, when Chelsea's 16-man squad was announced, the first thought that popped into Pellegrini's mind was, "Is Senna's flying kick really that hard? Is that kid really injured?"

It may not be Pellegrini who has this idea. Many people will think so when they see Mourinho's appearance list, because no matter whether it is the starting lineup or the bench, Lin Yi's figure is not seen.

Originally, many reporters also predicted that Lin Yi's injury may be the drug Mourinho gave him.

But now it seems that it is not the case, otherwise Lin Yi would not be included in the squad.

Even if this kid has just recovered from injury, Mourinho will not abandon his midfield core in such an important confrontation as the Champions League semi-final. Unless he is crazy, Lin Yi will not miss this semi-final.

If Mourinho is not crazy, then there is only one possibility, that is, Lin Yi's injury is indeed very serious.

Is it really the same as some media reports? That kid is destined to miss the rest of Chelsea's games this season? Without this kid's ghostly performance on the field, can Chelsea still defend the title?

But now no one has noticed the expressions of Kenyon and Abramovich, because these two guys know Mourinho's actions very well, but due to the original agreement, no one dares to say anything more now.

But Kenyon is really a little nervous. After all, it is the Champions League semi-finals. The last game was just a one-to-zero victory. No one dares to guarantee that there will be no accidents. After all, the opponent has eliminated Inter Milan.

If a risky gamble capsizes at this time, it will definitely be more than worth the loss. But Kenyon can't command Mourinho. He wants Lin Yi to play, but who dares if Mourinho doesn't give an order? Besides, Lin Yi has already agreed with Mourinho. Who can still command Lin Yi?

Kenyon knows that if he really intervenes in the team's game, Mourinho will definitely make him pay. Kenyon has seen the Portuguese's terrible stubborn temper.

At the beginning, Mourinho directly pushed him back with a hard word on whether to buy two superstars, without giving him any face. Unless he was too upset, Kenyon would not consider angering Mourinho, otherwise, the other party would definitely not give him any face.

Not to mention him, even if Abramovich asked about the team's tactical arrangements, Mourinho would not buy it.

This probably won't work for anyone else. Although he knows that Lin Yi is really fine now, Mourinho still has the final say on how to arrange the troops, and Mourinho said that if there is a mistake, he will be responsible.

Although Abramovich is eager to successfully defend the Champions League, at this time, he has no other choice but to unconditionally support Mourinho, or he can consider praying.

Since Mourinho has issued a military order, no one can oppose his opinion. Kenyon and the Russian tycoon are a little uneasy, but now they can only wipe off their white sweat and wait for the start of the game.

Lin Yi is not on the field, and the happiest people to see this situation are probably the competitors that Chelsea will face next, such as AC Milan or Arsenal, and Manchester United, which has already entered the FA Cup final.

Especially AC Milan, a team that may compete with Chelsea for the final trophy of the Champions League, will pay close attention to this game. The confrontation between them and Arsenal will be held on the second day. Ancelotti is sitting in the stands of Stamford Bridge at this moment. He did not hide his whereabouts in order to observe Chelsea's game.

The game lost last season made Ancelotti depressed for a summer, and now he finally has a chance to take revenge.

Even if he is a very honest man, I am afraid he will have the urge to kill his opponent. Now it seems that Lin Yi's absence has touched him a lot, otherwise he would not start whispering to his assistants after seeing the appearance list. Maybe he is measuring how much threat Chelsea can still pose without Lin Yi.

From this, we can also see what kind of impression Lin Yi left on AC Milan. It seems that with him on the court, the opponent's entire defense line will be under pressure. Ancelotti may really hope that Lin Yi is seriously injured.

Although Chelsea's overall strength is still terrifying without Lin Yi, without such a terrorist who can tear apart the opponent's defense at critical moments, perhaps the burden on Ancelotti's shoulders will be much easier.

Mourinho doesn't think as much as others. He is the head coach of a team, so he knows what he should do. Although he is taking risks at the moment, this is the trap he sets for others.

As for Ancelotti's current psychological activities, he doesn't care and doesn't want to speculate too much.

It is only right to play well in the game before us. Only by winning these 90 minutes can we complete the task.

Brito is not as calm as Mourinho. The day before the game, he raised the idea of ​​recalling Lin Yi several times. In his opinion, everything should be done on the safe side. After all, this is the Champions League. There is really no room for any mistakes in the semi-finals. If they lose, their work this season will be in vain.

With the final so close, if something unexpected happens, it will definitely ruin the team's efforts.

But Mourinho replied to his old partner, "If we don't take risks, we may really suffer from dependence syndrome. Lin Yi cannot play for 90 minutes in every game. He is only one person." ”

This is not because Mourinho wants to ignore Lin Yi, but he knows that a player's career cannot be smooth sailing. Maybe a damn injury will come that day, and Lin Yi cannot stay healthy all the time.

It may not necessarily be a serious injury, but everyone has encountered minor injuries after a month or two of rest. What's more, this kid is still an offensive player and will always encounter people who want to bring him down at all costs. Injuries are inevitable.

Chelsea have played so smoothly in the past two seasons, especially in games where they are fighting to the end. Lin Yi can always help them find a breakthrough, but such smoothness can easily make players unconsciously rely on others.

This is a very dangerous signal. If these guys keep doing this, it is easy for them to lose the sense of solving the game. Instead of collapsing in the future, it is better to take a risk at this time and let these guys try to solve the problem without Lin. When playing wing, can he withstand this kind of pressure and deal with troublesome opponents?

The absence of Lin Yi does not mean that Chelsea has lost any strength. Compared with the Villarreal team, which is already short of major generals, Chelsea is still too rich. This is the fundamental reason why Mourinho dares to change the formation. .

There is no Lin Yi, but Mourinho is already ready to lock down Riquelme. The three defensive midfielders, this formation that he once used to deal with Barcelona, ​​is once again used by him in order to increase the thickness of the midfield defense.

Gerrard, Essien, and Makelele all appeared on the field. Robben was replaced by Maniche on the wing. Ribery was still on the other side. Anelka was the only forward, and there was no one in the entire defense. changes.

Mourinho's request for them is just one, "Fortify the midfield layer by layer. Don't be anxious when advancing. Push up little by little. If there is no chance, just keep control in the midfield. Don't worry about the opponent's harassment. Try your best." Don’t let them penetrate easily, we have away goals, so don’t worry.”

Mourinho doesn't care whether the game is good or not, he wants actual results. Even if the opponent's current offensive ability is not enough to put a lot of pressure on Chelsea like AC Milan, Mourinho knows that Chelsea This game will definitely be studied by others. In this case, he might as well take advantage of it.

He just wants to let others see his intention to defend to the end. If Lin Yi continues to be absent, it is very likely that Chelsea will rely on this formation to fight all the way. This can be regarded as an arrangement to paralyze the enemy.

As for whether the next opponent is Ancelotti or Wenger, Mourinho doesn't care much anymore. They are all playing games anyway. As for who is fooled, he never cares. He can dig holes to bury whoever he can't. Buried?

Without Lin Yi, Pellegrini's strategy of defending first and then counterattacking seemed really redundant.

But now it is not easy to change tactics on the spot. Unless he changes players at the beginning, otherwise, he can only deal with the bad habits like this. As for the offense, he can only rely on Riquelme's flash of inspiration.

However, Pellegrini's wish does not seem to be so easy to realize. Mourinho knows that most of Villarreal's offense depends on Riquelme, so his three midfielders must play a role. interception effect.

As for what method he uses, he doesn't care, as long as he can kill the source of the opponent's offense, that's enough.

In the dull battle, many people may have overlooked what Chelsea started with. It was not until the start of the game that they remembered that Mourinho led the team last season to set a record and reduce the number of goals conceded to a team. The lowest point in history, only ten goals conceded, you can imagine how strong Chelsea's defensive ability is.

Many people say that Chelsea's defensive ability can be said to be unique in Europe. Strangulation is what they are best at. Now they are just repeating their old tricks.

Even Ferguson said when watching the game, "The Spaniards want to open up the situation by attacking. Unless God gives them luck, otherwise they want to tear apart Chelsea's defense. It is like a dream and cannot be done at all."

It's not that Ferguson looked down on Pellegrini, but Chelsea's defense is too strong. Their offensive ability has increased greatly this season, which makes people ignore that their defensive strength is also stronger. When Mourinho calms down and plays defense with others, even an old fox like Ferguson dare not say that he can break the goal.

The fact is just as Ferguson predicted. In the first half, Chelsea gave Villarreal a total of three direct free kicks and four corner kicks, but the direct free kicks were concentrated 30 meters away from the goal.

Even if Riquelme's footwork is superb, he can't guarantee that he can break through Cech's ten fingers at this distance.

After all, the Czech goalkeeper is not a vegetarian. His several accurate saves made Riquelme's free kicks return in vain. As for those corner kicks, there are really few teams that can break Chelsea's goal with set pieces.

Villarreal's data in the first half may look very good. There are seven shots, but there may be very few that can pose a direct threat. At least half of them are long shots from the periphery, which lack threats.

Although Amen had 56% of the ball possession, the threat it could pose was very small, but Chelsea's counterattacks were always the most direct deterrent. Anelka's three shots almost broke through Barbosa's hands, and Ribery's back-knock after wiping in from the wing almost allowed Gerrard to score.

Although there were not many such attacks, each time when the opponent was preparing for a large-scale attack, they suddenly stabbed into the opponent's weak points, which made Pellegrini remind the players to concentrate more than once on the sidelines.

"High-quality counterattacks, we should be careful that the opponent plays the game in this way. If that little guy doesn't play, Chelsea is likely to continue this formation. It seems that this kind of game is not easy to play."

Ancelotti was watching the confrontation between the two teams in the stands, and began to communicate with his good assistant about his views on the game. Perhaps the defensive thickness of the three midfielders also made this good man realize something.

If Chelsea throws this formation to him to solve, AC Milan may not be able to come up with a suitable solution. After all, with three midfielders, relying on Chelsea's strong defense, this is simply unsolvable!

Ancelotti's melancholy is also Pellegrini's worry. Although he began to arrange for the team to transform into a three-forward tactic to provide support for Riquelme during the halftime break, this change did not bring too obvious changes after the start of the second half. Chelsea's defense line was compressed more tightly, and seven or eight people began to defend near the center circle. Cassano, who replaced Anelka, continued to run and intersperse flexibly.

The midfield stranglehold began to become increasingly cruel. Riquelme wanted to dribble, but it was impossible. The three blockades firmly trapped the pace of the Argentine midfield genius. He could only threaten with set pieces.

At this time, Riquelme's slowness became his fatal injury. Mourinho did not give him any chance to think. Physical confrontation, collision, and fierce tackles were his magic weapon against Riquelme.

Riquelme has good footwork, but unlike Lin Yi, who relies on speed and explosiveness combined with feints, he prefers to control the rhythm and then find loopholes in the opponent's defense. However, in such a midfield stranglehold, such speed cannot allow him to tear Chelsea's defense apart, but instead slows down his speed.

Mourinho not only strengthened the defensive strength of the midfield, but also required the players to play more accurately when counterattacking. Robben's appearance in the 70th minute of the second half became the last straw that broke the camel's back for the opponent.

In a precise wing counterattack, Gerrard's long pass accurately found Robben, and there was no pause. Cassano's smart running allowed him to touch the ball before Barbosa attacked. With a standard shovel shot, the ball accurately passed through Barbosa's hands and slowly rolled into the net.

When Cassano jumped up from the grass to celebrate this damn goal, Pellegrini put down his hands that had been around his chest. Perhaps he knew at this moment that he could not take away the victory at Stamford Bridge.

One to zero was enough. As for the fierce suicidal attacks launched by the opponent in the remaining 20 minutes, Chelsea defended them perfectly, and Ribery scored again one minute before the end of the game.

The same long pass from the middle, but this time it was Essien who saw the opportunity and sent a straight pass to Ribery. Scarface, who had an extremely fast attack speed, did not live up to such a pass this time and singled out Barbosa to succeed.

Two to zero, the game ended at this moment, Chelsea's players were cheering, they finally broke into the Champions League final again, one step closer to their defense, and Mourinho also breathed a sigh of relief.

As for Kenyon and Abramovich in the stands, after 90 minutes of tension, they could finally find something to wipe the sweat from their palms. This gamble, that bold madman, won again.

Although the whole process made them shudder, after the continuous big wins, it was perhaps more memorable to have such a nervous experience. Even Kenyon himself said that this was fucking cheap.

Ancelotti stood up and left when Chelsea scored the first goal. In his opinion, the game had been determined from that moment on. Mourinho was never the kind of person who would make mistakes after taking the lead.

And the depressed little guy in the ward, at the moment when the whistle sounded, had already waved his fist and shouted loudly, "Just wait for me to beat you in the finals!"

A beast that is almost suffocated is definitely more terrifying than a knife. Its claws may tear apart anyone who tries to stop it. . .

(New book will be uploaded next week...)