Reborn Almighty Life

In the summer of 2004, Porto became the biggest dark horse in European football. They went all the way in the Champions League and reached the top of Europe!

At that time, Mourinho, who was in his prime, instantly became the most eye-catching young coach in European football because he won the European Championship for two consecutive years.

In the 2002-03 season, Mourinho led Porto to win the Portuguese Super League championship, the Portuguese Cup championship and the UEFA Cup championship. In the selection of UEFA's 2003 Coach of the Year, Mourinho received more than 100,000

votes and was elected with 60% of the vote.

In the 2003-04 season, Mourinho not only led Porto to defend the Portuguese Super League championship, but also led the team to eliminate Manchester United, Deportivo La Coruna and Monaco in the Champions League and win the Champions League title.

In those two years, Mourinho's Porto was extremely prosperous, and in England, Wenger's Arsenal was at its peak. Whether it was consecutive English Premier League championships or a 49-game unbeaten record, Wenger was ranked among the world's best.

The ranks of top coaches.

At that time, Ferguson was devastated by the departure of Beckham, the departure of the Black Wind and Teddy Sheringham, and Roy Keane's old age and frailty caused Manchester United to enter a period of decline.

Even so, Wenger's biggest enemy is still Ferguson, because the story of Arsenal and Manchester United's hegemony has lasted for many years, and they both believe that each other's stories will continue.

However, when Mourinho came to England with the arrogance of "God is first, I am second" and Benitez came to the Red Army city from the Iberian Peninsula in a low-key manner, no one would have thought of the pattern of the Premier League.

Such drastic changes will occur in just a few years!

In July 2004, Mourinho officially became the head coach of Chelsea's first team. In the summer transfer window of that year, Mourinho brought his favorite players from Porto, Ricardo Carvalho and Paulo Ferreira.

, and used the huge investment from club owner Roman Abramovich to introduce strong reinforcements such as Didier Drogba, Petr Cech, and Arjen Robben.

That season, Mourinho formulated a 4-3-3 formation for Chelsea, relying on the continuous pressing of the midfield and backcourt to create offensive opportunities for the frontcourt and speeding up the rhythm of offensive and defensive transitions. This was also his role in Porto.

The key to victory, and more importantly, is that the quality of Chelsea's players is more than one level higher than Porto's.

In the first round of the Premier League, Chelsea defeated Manchester United 1-0 at home. Since then, Mourinho led the team to a start of 6 wins and 2 draws. Although the team was still behind Arsenal in the standings at the time, it defeated Everton at home.

Immediately afterwards, Mourinho's team firmly occupied the top spot in the standings.

After 38 rounds, Mourinho led the team with 29 wins, 8 draws and 1 loss, accumulating 95 points and conceding only 15 goals in the whole season, setting a new record for points and fewest goals conceded in England's top league, successfully breaking the record of Manchester United and Arsenal.

Monopolizing the Premier League championship for a long time, winning the team's first English Premier League title after 50 years, and winning the first Premier League championship trophy in Chelsea's history. Mourinho also became the first player to win the Premier League title in his first season in the Premier League.

The head coach of the team that won the championship.

In the English League Cup that season, Chelsea made it all the way to the final and defeated Liverpool 3-2 in the final to win the championship. Winning the double in the first year, Mourinho quickly transformed from a young coach in European football to a

He became a popular coach, and his sharp style and proficiency in media warfare made the Portuguese the darling of the media.

On another battlefield, the taciturn Benitez led Liverpool to stage a miracle night in Istanbul, which drastically changed the pattern of the Premier League.

Overnight, the competition for head coaches in the Premier League changed from a two-team competition to a four-nation military chess match. Mourinho's Chelsea even overpowered Arsenal and Manchester United's monopoly on the Premier League title and successfully defended the title in the 2005-06 season.

You know, in the first 12 seasons since the launch of the Premier League, except for Blackburn who won one championship in 1993, Manchester United and Arsenal shared the remaining 11 Premier League championships, of which Arsenal won three.

, Manchester United won an astonishing 8 seats!

Mourinho's Chelsea broke the monopoly of the Premier League duo on the championship. At this time, due to different reasons, Manchester United and Arsenal's team strength declined greatly and entered the reconstruction stage.

At the beginning of the 2005-06 season, Mourinho led his team to defeat Arsenal 2-1 in the English Community Shield final and win the championship. It must be said that Mourinho's team always has championship factors.

In the Premier League, Mourinho's Chelsea started with a devastating start and achieved nine consecutive victories. Then the team's state declined. First, they drew 1-1 with Everton, who had not won the previous seven games, to end the winning streak. In the English League Cup

They were eliminated by underdog Charlton, lost to Real Betis in the Champions League group stage, and ended their 40-match unbeaten streak in the Premier League at Old Trafford. But even so, Chelsea still leads Manchester United by 10 points.

After unloading their burdens, Mourinho's team made great progress and achieved 10 consecutive wins in the Premier League. In mid-January 2006, Chelsea was 16 points ahead of second-placed Manchester United and 17 points ahead of third-placed Liverpool with two games in hand.

, it was a matter of time to win the championship. Although they were defeated by Middlesbrough and Fulham in away games, Chelsea, with a huge advantage, still defended the Premier League title early.

The league has achieved two consecutive championships. Mourinho's team looks strong and impeccable. The outside world generally believes that the Portuguese team is expected to achieve three consecutive Premier League championships and create a new dynasty!

Especially when Arsenal was in financial crisis due to the construction of the Emirates Stadium and Manchester United was acquired by the Chinese consortium during the turbulent period, no one believed that Arsenal and Manchester United could rise again in the short term.

After Gu Fei announced that he would join Manchester United as a player, the outside world's expectations for Manchester United were lowered to the lowest level. Everyone thought that Gu Fei bought Manchester United just for fun!

No one expected that after Gu Fei put on Manchester United's No. 10 jersey, he would lead Manchester United into a staggering winning streak with a breathtaking and wonderful personal performance!

Today, Manchester United comes to the Emirates Stadium with the momentum of a 49-game unbeaten record in the Premier League, launching an attack on the longest unbeaten record in Premier League history. Anyone who understands the history of the Premier League will know the profound meaning contained in it.

Professor Wenger had to lament that his old rival Ferguson was extremely lucky. When the team was overwhelmed by the debts of the Glazer family, the wealthy Gu Fei took over and single-handedly pulled Manchester United out of the quagmire.

Pull it out.

Ten minutes into the game, although neither side had scored a goal, Wenger felt that his team had been led by Manchester United. The full-court pressing tactics seemed a bit inadequate in front of Manchester United's highly technical midfield.

As for the tacit foul tactics, it cannot be too blatant. After all, this game is broadcast globally. Nearly 500 million fans in more than 150 countries and regions are watching the live broadcast of the game. No matter how much the Football Association and the Premier League hope that Manchester United will lose,

The ball should not be made too obvious!

Even if Wenger doesn't want to admit it, he still knows very well that Manchester United is indeed stronger than Arsenal now, especially the midfielder led by Gu Fei, who is suppressing Fabregas to death.

…………

Professor Wenger paced anxiously in the command area, shouting from time to time for his team members to actively return to defense. His original gentle and elegant temperament disappeared, leaving him feeling quite frustrated.

After all, this game is too crucial. Even if Professor Wenger has gone through great storms, he is not willing to become the backdrop for Manchester United at this time!

On October 16, 2004, Arsenal under Arsene Wenger defeated Villa 3-1 at home, taking their unbeaten streak in the Premier League to 49 games.

This 49-game unbeaten streak lasted from May 2003 to October 2004. Arsenal broke Nottingham Forest's record of 42 unbeaten games in England's top league between November 1977 and November 1978. In the 2003-04 season

During this period, Arsenal achieved an amazing unbeaten season and won the championship.

At that time, Arsenal was the most shining team in Europe. They played well and were able to win. They were in the limelight for a while.

Henry was the biggest contributor to Arsenal's 49-game unbeaten streak. He played 48 times and scored 39 goals. At that time, the reputation of the 'King of Highbury' was catching up with Zidane!

In the 2003/04 season, Henry scored 24 goals in 37 league games, leading Arsenal to win the Premier League title without losing a game in 38 games. This is a record that no team in a large local league can achieve for more than a century. In the same year, Henry

He was once again elected as England's Double Footballer of the Year (Football Player and Player of the Year), and also became the runner-up of the 2004 World Footballer of the Year. He scored a total of 39 goals in all competitions throughout the season. Henry led the crowd in goals in all major leagues and won the European Gold Medal.

Boot Award.

In 2004/05, Henry was still able to maintain a high goal rate, scoring 31 goals in all competitions, becoming one of the strongest scorers in Europe. He shared the European Golden Boot Award with Villarreal's Forlan and became one of the best strikers in today's football world.

The only player to win two consecutive Golden Boots.

Under the leadership of Henry, Arsenal reached the most prosperous stage in history. Although they only reached the Champions League final and did not win the championship, their perfect performance in the Premier League still allowed this Arsenal to gain a certain degree of recognition in European football.

status.

On October 24, 2004, Arsenal and Manchester United met at Old Trafford. At that time, the two teams had deep grudges, and the previous season's confrontation was full of gunpowder.

In September 2003, Arsenal and Manchester United met at Old Trafford. Manchester United won a penalty before the end, which almost killed Arsenal's "unbeaten season" in the cradle. Unfortunately, Ruud van Nistelrooy converted the penalty kick.

Hitting the crossbar allowed Arsenal to continue to remain unbeaten. The scene when Arsenal defender Martin Keown shouted at Ruud van Nistelrooy for missing the penalty kick became a classic moment in the history of the confrontation between the two teams.

At that time, Martin Keown thought it was an unwarranted penalty and once publicly declared that Ruud van Nistelrooy was "a liar."

No one expected that when the two teams met again at Old Trafford the next year, Arsenal would still remain undefeated.

During the game, the two sides were full of gunpowder and the fight was very fierce. Gary Neville tackled Reyes from behind ten minutes after the game started. This move has always made Wenger worried. In the eyes of the professor, this is a good enough move.

With the red card, his team should have gained a numerical advantage in the first half.

Arsenal at that time played beautiful football, with Vieira, Reyes, Ljungberg, Henry, Bergkamp and others in the frontcourt, able to form Liu Chang's pleasing coordination.

Manchester United is full of tough guys. Ferdinand, the Neville brothers, Sylvester and Heinze are not easy to mess with. In the Red Devils starting lineup, the two youngest players are Cristiano Ronaldo and Rooney.

Both were only 19 years old, and that day also happened to be Rooney's birthday. In the first half, the two connected once. Rooney took a corner kick, and Ronaldo's shot in the penalty area went wide.

In the 73rd minute of the game, Rooney tried to break through on the right side of the penalty area. Campbell stretched out his leg and tripped Rooney. The referee awarded a penalty kick.

As in the showdown on the same ground a year ago, United were again awarded a penalty, this time the angry one changed from Martin Keown to Sol Campbell: "(Rooney) It was a dive. If my foot

There, then it was a foul, but I removed my foot, like a matador's red cape, and I didn't shake Rooney's hand after the game."

Afterwards, Ruud van Nistelrooy, who missed a penalty a year ago, scored in one stroke, deceiving Lehmann and giving Manchester United the lead at Old Trafford.

In the stoppage time of the game, Rooney, who had just turned 19, received an assist from Alan Smith and easily pushed the ball through the goal to seal the victory for Manchester United.

Ferguson and Ruud Ruud were hugging each other and laughing in the stands. On the other side, in the cold wind and rain at Old Trafford, Wenger seemed a little lonely.

After maintaining an unbeaten streak of 49 league games across three seasons, the disappointment this defeat brought to Arsenal is self-evident. Suffering such a bitter defeat in such a confrontational environment, the players'

It was difficult to calm down in a short period of time. As a result, the competition between the two sides on the field continued into the players' tunnel, and the most famous scene off the field in the history of the Premier League happened.

The quarrel escalated, and the verbal conflict between the two sides in the tunnel quickly turned into a physical conflict, until Ferguson's body was "covered with pizza" - this is what Ferguson described in his autobiography. "We would say after every game

Preparing food, pizza, chicken, etc. in the visiting team's dressing room is what big clubs do. They said the person who threw the pizza on me was Cesc Fabregas, but actually to this day, I'm not sure who did it.

"

In this way, "Pizzagate" was born. At that time, it attracted as much attention as "Arsenal's 49-game unbeaten run was ended" itself. Three months later, Ferguson still used the word "shameful" when talking about this incident in an interview.

"Shame" and other words to describe the other party.

The rivalry between Wenger and Ferguson, two of the most successful managers in Premier League history, also rose to a new level after that incident.

…………

Now, the team's difficult situation is undoubtedly the most painful for Wenger. After all, once the team fails to defeat Manchester United, rival Ferguson's team will step over Arsenal's corpse and achieve the longest unbeaten streak in Premier League history.

record!

Although the joining of Mourinho and Benitez has made the struggle between Premier League coaches more intense, Wenger's biggest enemy is still the old Scottish man chewing gum on the sidelines with a glowing face!

【Chapter 0776】 Battle of Honor (please subscribe, monthly tickets and recommendation votes!)