Starting from playing as a defensive midfielder for Real Madrid

The wonderful "fate" between Chelsea and Barcelona in the Champions League has suddenly become the talk of many fans.

The edited video of Chelsea's two-legged victory over Barcelona in the Champions League knockout round last season was once again hyped and released by major media.

UEFA's official Twitter even joined in the fun and forwarded one or two edited videos, which made the Barcelona fans furious and felt like they were being slapped in the face!

However, in terms of rectification, this season's UEFA seems to have really learned from the English media.

The front foot just offended the Barcelona fans, and the back foot released a video clip of Barcelona defeating Chelsea in the past season.

Well, this time UEFA's official recommendation has offended both fan groups, and only highlights one who wants to please no one and only wants to attract traffic.

But don’t tell me, after this outrageous operation, the number of comments on UEFA’s official tweet increased exponentially.

Regardless of whether the die-hard fans of Chelsea and Barcelona are scolding them, UEFA really has just the right amount of traffic.

In addition, the focus showdown between Chelsea and Barcelona in February was also pre-heated and hyped by UEFA in advance.

The media in England, big and small, are quite positive about the buzz.

Before Chelsea's official announcement came out, England's major and small sports newspapers couldn't wait to stand up and declare war on Barcelona on behalf of Chelsea.

Anyway, judging from the performance of the two teams last season, Chelsea's tactical suppression of Barcelona is real.

Moreover, Barcelona did not introduce any big-name stars in the transfer market this summer, but Chelsea once again upgraded its lineup.

So no matter how you look at it, it is difficult for Barcelona to gain any advantage in the competition with Chelsea, and the English media are not afraid of being slapped in the face.

This rough, simple and direct logical method is very consistent with the image that the English media has always displayed to the outside world.

As for the British media's behavior of provoking public opinion disputes on behalf of Premier League clubs, fans of the major Premier League powers are already accustomed to it.

Many Chelsea fans complained about this public dispute on the Internet.

But more Blues fans are the same as Chelsea players.

After teasing the draw for the Champions League knockout rounds, he turned his attention back to the upcoming Premier League and EFL Cup matches.

No way, the annual Christmas Devil schedule is coming.

The tight schedule of matches is enough to create many uncertainties in Chelsea's final half of the league.

And if you look at this devilish schedule in full view.

Chelsea will play 6 games in a row in the 20 days from December 17th to January 5th next year!

After surviving the Christmas Devil schedule, the Premier League teams can only take a breath and have to usher in a three-day winter Devil schedule.

After surviving these two devilish schedules, the major test of the Champions League 1/8 knockout rounds has arrived.

Therefore, compared to the outside media who are blindly optimistic that Chelsea will still easily defeat Barcelona and advance to the quarterfinals of this season's Champions League.

The coaches and players in the Chelsea team do not have such a relaxed mentality.

After paying attention to the draw ceremony for the first knockout round of the Champions League, Mourinho led the members of his coaching staff to quickly engage in subsequent preparations.

After playing the sixteenth round of the Premier League match against Hull City, only three days later, Chelsea hurried to Derby County again.

They will compete with Derby County in the EFL Cup quarter-finals at Pride Park.

The competition format is still determined by a single game.

As they reach the semi-finals of this season's EFL Cup, Chelsea's players naturally do not dare to be careless. They must compete with the lion and reject the possibility of entering overtime with Derby County.

So in the game that night, the 30,000 Derby County fans at Pride Park were both regretful and happy to see a Chelsea team playing with almost all its main players.

Because the home team has been in the English Championship all year round, Derby County fans who want to see famous stars in the Premier League up close can only do so in the League Cup and FA Cup.

Derby County's ability to reach the quarter-finals of the EFL Cup this season has been a great surprise to these Derby County fans.

No team has been drawn into the Premier League before. Derby County can naturally go all the way smoothly by relying on the strength of being ranked at the top of the English Championship.

But to say that they have always relied on the good luck of the draw to reach the final EFL Cup final or even win the championship, Derby County fans also know that such a dream is not realistic.

Fortunately, the team that is likely to knock them out is Chelsea, the current Premier League hegemon.

In addition to being able to see the top stars of the Premier League up close, Derby County fans also seemed not to care so much about losing.

Even if they lose badly in this round of the EFL Cup knockout round, Derby County fans will not complain about their players.

On the contrary, if their players can perform tenaciously enough against Chelsea, they will feel extremely proud and proud of it.

It would be best to score one or two Chelsea goals at home. If we can achieve this, then the more than 30,000 Derby County fans present today will have no regrets.

However, Chelsea's starting players obviously did not think of going together with Derby County fans.

The Chelsea midfielder headed by Li Ang did not want to give Derby County any hope of successful resistance from the beginning of the game.

After forcibly speeding up the tempo of the game, Chelsea played at Pride Park as if they were reborn as Barcelona!

The quick passing of the ball, the sharp through balls, the tried and tested threatening attack from the ribs...

No half-time was needed to prove the gulf-like strength gap between Chelsea and Derby County.

It only took eighteen minutes for Chelsea to completely destroy the confidence of Derby County players with two wonderful coordinated goals!

We can't blame Li Ang for taking the lead in this ruthless move, but we can blame Derby County's head coach for being very stubborn in this game. Not only did he arrange a starting lineup of 433, but he also tried to steal the rhythm from Chelsea at the beginning of the game.

Playing like this, let alone Derby County, even if Guardiola led Manchester City to the end personally, he would not be able to get half a point in front of Chelsea.

The two opening goals woke up the entire Derby County team.

However, the Derby County fans at the scene were quite satisfied.

Chelsea's offensive play today was very sharp and beautiful. For the spectators who bought tickets to watch the game, the quality of the game was completely worth the price they paid.

In the follow-up process of the game, even though Derby County quickly adjusted their tactical thinking, they chose an economical defensive counterattack.

Chelsea still used a bloody 7-0, which engraved a big "miserable" word in the hearts of Derby County players!

Drogba, who started today, and Torres, who came on as a substitute in the second half, both scored.

Lukaku even took the lead and directly performed a hat trick!

Li Ang's personal data in this game are not luxurious, just simple passing and shooting.

After taking the lead in reaching the semi-finals of this season's EFL Cup, Chelsea no longer need to be burdened with EFL Cup games for the time being.

Because the subsequent EFL Cup semi-finals will not start until more than a month.

The third round of the FA Cup will not be played until January 4th.

So now Chelsea can fully focus on the next three Premier League games and prepare for a perfect ending at half-time.

In the next three Premier League games, Chelsea will face tough opponents.

The first game against Stoke City was already considered a relatively easy game.

In the second game, Chelsea will face West Ham United, currently ranked fourth in the Premier League, and in the third game, they will face Southampton, currently ranked sixth in the Premier League!

Although the temporary league rankings do not truly reflect the exact strength of these two teams in the long season.

However, the Premier League has played sixteen rounds, and West Ham United and Southampton are still among the top six in the league. This fully illustrates their current hot competition state.

Although the outside media are very optimistic about Chelsea's ability to win these three Premier League players with an unbeaten record.

But they are basically skeptical that Chelsea can continue to maintain a complete victory at the end of the half.

However, the Chelsea players, who had already shielded themselves from the interference of outside public opinion earlier, are still very confident in achieving the goal of a complete victory and a perfect ending.

After all, their biggest advantage lies in the scientific rotation that started early among all Premier League teams.

Ibrahimovic, Terry, and even Lampard, these important veterans have not had any injuries or physical problems until now.

Among the main players of a team that has just finished the quarter-finals of the EFL Cup, at least half of the players will take turns in the league match against Stoke City.

They will be preparing for the eighteenth round of the Premier League, which is the highlight match between Chelsea and West Ham United.

And Chelsea's main players who took a rest in that game will go all out to face Southampton in the final half of the game!

Mourinho has already made a rotation plan.

So all the players in the Chelsea first team are very confident at the moment.

Who plays and who takes a break is all within the plan. Those who need to compete will do their best, and those who need to rest will stay at home, spend time with their families, and accumulate energy.

If they finish the devilish schedule step by step and can really win the league at half-time, it will be the most perfect spiritual reward for the Chelsea players.

After all, no team in the Premier League has ever achieved a record of winning half of the league.

Before this season, the one who set the record for the best half-time record in the Premier League was Mu first period, the iron-blooded blue team in the 2005-2006 season.

The Blues at that time became the Premier League half-time champion that season with a record of 17 wins, one draw and one loss.

Last season, Chelsea had a half-season record of 16 wins, two draws and one loss, almost breaking the old record of that year.

Although regarding these records, Mourinho and Li Ang have always held the attitude of fighting for it if they can, and it is not a pity if they cannot win.

But now that the record is close at hand, and they only need to work harder to break it, it is definitely unrealistic to say that they are not tempted.

The internal mobilization work has long been completed. With the determination and confidence to create a new history for the club, on the evening of December 22, Chelsea visited the Britannia Stadium and started a fierce competition with Stoke City.

In previous games against Stoke City, other Premier League clubs must be wary of the "City in the Sky"'s set-piece bombing ability.

The classic battle in the past when Arsenal was stunned by Sky City's grenade tactics is still talked about by countless fans.

The major powers in the Premier League have basically suffered from Stoke City's set-piece tactics.

If Stoke City does not have much tactical changes compared to before, Mourinho will also pay special attention to Sky City's frontcourt set-piece threat in this game.

But last season, Mark Hughes, the head coach who took over Stoke City, has begun to promote the grounding and technicalization of Stoke City's tactical play.

Stoke City's style of play is no longer as simple, rough and direct as before.

Last season, Mark Hughes led Stoke City to the top ten rankings in the league, which seemed to be a silent proof that his transformation of Stoke City was correct and effective.

In terms of data changes that can be accurately seen, Stoke City has made considerable progress in terms of the number of games won and the number of goals conceded compared to the previous two seasons.

But this progress is more reflected in Stoke City's further stable suppression of the mid- and lower-tier teams in the Premier League.

Looking at this alone, you can't help but say that Mark Hughes is a head coach with a very good coaching level.

But his delicate tactics also caused Stoke City to lose some of the toughness and confidence in playing against strong Premier League teams during Pulis's coaching period.

In other words, the distinctiveness of Stoke City's tactics has declined, and the team's characteristics are no longer so obvious.

After all, everyone is following the tactical path of ground flow and technical flow, so the winner and loser will be determined in the same system.

This is naturally good news for the strong teams in the Premier League.

After all, no one wants to be inexplicably overwhelmed by Stoke City's high-flying defense.

If you follow the technical stream, everything will be easy to explain. At least your playing style will be routine and predictable.

Without frequent set pieces and high ball impacts, it also means that emergencies on the playing field will naturally be reduced.

And against a team determined to play a technical game, Mourinho has too many styles of play to choose from in his tactical arsenal.

In the game that day, Chelsea directly arranged a set of 442, a retro formation that focused on counterattacks from both wings.

De Bruyne and Kroos both got the chance to rest.

Li Ang and Matic guard the center, while Hazard and Salah are on the left and right wings.

The two forwards are Ibrahimovic and Lukaku.

Well, the classic one high and one fast!

On the defense line, today Mourinho sent out a dual central defender combination of Terry and Maguire.

Left back Bertrand, right back Ivanovic.

The goalkeeper is Begovic.

As soon as this formation came out, Chelsea's idea of ​​focusing on counterattack tactics on both wings today was almost obvious.

Sitting at home, facing Chelsea who gave up control of the midfield at the beginning of the game, Stoke City's players immediately felt troubled.

Mark Hughes was also speechless. He really didn't expect Mourinho to lower his posture so low.

If he were to coach the current Chelsea team and deal with a team in the middle of the league, no matter how cautious they were, they would not be able to hand over the initiative in the game at the beginning!

In the dilemma, amidst the encouragement of the home fans, Stoke City's players still had no choice but to take over the ball.

They took the initiative to test Chelsea's attack.

As a result, in the opening stage of the game, Li Angzhen just stayed behind with Matic to protect his own penalty area.

Chelsea's passive defensive posture puzzled the Stoke City players.

But after taking the ball easily through the center line many times, Stoke City's offensive players gradually relaxed their courage.

If you want to increase investment on the offensive end, you will undoubtedly need more players to participate in forward pressing.

As the main ball-handling attackers in the current Stoke City frontcourt, Bojan and Arnautovic are very excited to be able to play a role in the competition with Chelsea.

In contrast, Crouch, who needs more passing support from his teammates, is always worried that his team is pressing too hard.

He doesn't think it's a good choice to adopt aggressive tactics because of the noise from the fans.

In particular, their opponent is Chelsea, who is currently undefeated in the Premier League.

Crouch, who has rich experience in the game, does not think that Mourinho and the Chelsea players on the field were convulsed today.

So in the tenth minute of the opening game, he found an opportunity to whisper a few words to his old partner Walters.

He originally wanted Walters to remind Bojan not to rush to break through and send threatening passes.

But in the 13th minute of the first half, after Bojan received a cross pass from Arnautovic, he still kicked off and sent a quick through ball in the offensive and defensive struggle with Matic!

Crouch couldn't care less about cursing secretly at this moment, and could only bite the bullet and try to get the ball in position.

But Li Ang's reaction speed was obviously much faster than he expected!

While he was still wrestling with Terry, Li Ang had already stretched out his foot and stabbed the football away!

Maguire, who had been mentally prepared for a long time, quickly took control of the football and then led the ball forward.

Maguire, who is tall and strong, looks quite the same as he advances with the ball.

After all, he was originally an offensive central midfielder, so he has this job at his feet.

But fortunately, his big head still remembered the requirements and teachings given to him by the coaching staff, and he did not get carried away.

After holding the ball for about ten meters, Maguire sent a long pass, and more accurately found Lukaku, who replaced Ibrahimovic and came back early to respond.

Lukaku didn't miss the ball this time, withstood N'Zongzi's defensive interference, and used a standard back-to-back action to pass the ball back to Li Ang who was running!

Previously, Li Ang, who had almost only performed on the defensive end and had been silent for more than ten minutes on the offensive end, now made a move and it was a threatening diagonal through ball!

Stoke City's defense had been pulled apart when Maguire sent a long pass. In the open area on the right side of Stoke City's defense, Hazard, who was running without the ball, had already started the furious mode.

The diagonal through ball sent by Li Ang was slightly stronger, leaving enough space for Hazard to move forward.

That's why Stoke City's right back Bardsley, who is not very fast, was directly thrown away by Hazard by more than two positions!

After catching up with the football, Hazard even had time to slow down and observe the movements of his teammates in the penalty area.

After observing the movement trends of all his teammates who were ahead of him, Hazard sent a low pass that spun very quickly!

The football quickly passed the front of the penalty area. Ibrahimovic and Shawcross also stopped fighting at this moment and looked at the area where the football landed!

Lukaku rushes forward very quickly, but he is just a tactical bait.

Because Li Ang, who is faster than him, has already inserted in the middle of Stoke City's penalty area!

Facing the rapidly spinning football, Li Ang just hit a standard lion's head shake!

The ball was very fast, and Li Ang's head swing was also powerful.

In addition, Begovic, the main goalkeeper who guarded the goal for Stoke City last season, is now standing in front of Chelsea.

Butland, the new Stoke City goalkeeper who still needs to hone his saving skills, didn't react at all and could only watch as the football was quickly pushed into the lower left corner of the goal behind him!

Li Ang, who scored his 16th goal in the league, patted the Chelsea emblem on the left chest of his jersey and ran all the way to the bottom line.

And Mark Hughes' white hair was also messed up by the cold wind blowing in the stadium at this moment!

The balance of the game was broken so early, Mark Hughes sat on the wax, and the more than 20,000 Stoke City fans at the scene suddenly panicked!

For Chelsea's players, this is the perfect opportunity for them to win this game more easily.

After all, once this goal was scored, Stoke City couldn’t stop attacking even if they wanted to~

After Mourinho celebrated passionately, he sat on the coaching bench and chatted and laughed with Holland, and the wrinkles on his face seemed to smile a few more times.

After the Chelsea players on the field gathered together to celebrate, they all cleared their heads under Li Ang's reminder and became more determined in their subsequent defensive counterattacks.

After all, Mark Hughes is still very courageous. He made his players delay the pace of attacking with all their strength.

Stoke City's players on the field also exceeded Chelsea's expectations and did not give Chelsea many opportunities to counterattack in the second half of the first half.

But when the game reached the 60th minute of the second half and faced a situation of falling behind, Stoke City finally had to make a desperate move.

Chelsea's midfield and backfield players, who had saved a lot of energy by shrinking defense in previous games, were very tough and withstood the pressure of the game in the decisive stage.

Stoke City's offensive penetration tactics didn't work, so they returned to their old skill of header bombing.

But after Mourinho replaced Bertrand with Gary Cahill at a critical moment.

In addition to the goalkeepers, Chelsea has eight header players who are over 1.85 meters tall!

Although Lukaku and Ibrahimovic did not return to the penalty area every time.

But as long as Stoke City has a set-piece opportunity in the frontcourt, they will return to their own defensive third zone and contribute their own defensive strength.

Maguire and Terry have naturally become the most shining defensive combination in Chelsea's defense at the moment.

Li Ang constantly uses his mobility to play guerrilla on the defensive end, and wherever there is a problem, he will make up for it.

The slightly short Hazard and Salah seem somewhat out of place in the Chelsea team at this moment.

But the two of them can continue to contribute huge power on the counterattack.

In the 82nd minute of the second half, Salah received a long pass from Matic and ran forty meters!

In the end, he passed the key cross pass of Stoke City defender Muniesa and assisted Hazard to score the winning goal!

Chelsea also defeated Stoke City and took away a crucial 2-0 victory from the Britannia Stadium.

After taking the first hard nut, Chelsea used their excellent test results to silently declare to the outside world their confidence in winning the next two rounds of the league.

The seventeenth consecutive victory in the league, a complete victory in the middle of the game, is already in front of the Chelsea team!