The Godfather of Football

"In my eyes, you are just a translator!"

When Villariño's words rang like thunder in Mourinho's ears, the Portuguese lying on the bed suddenly opened his eyes, gasped, clenched his fists, and even with the air conditioner on, he was still sweating.

Strange room, strange bed, strange quilt, because he is now in London.

Sitting up from the bed, Mourinho stretched out his right hand to support his forehead, his brows were furrowed like a mountain, he felt a little headache, not only because he had just had a very bad dream, but also because he didn't fall asleep until very late last night.

Mourinho was a little dry in the mouth, pulled open the sheets, got out of bed in pajamas, and poured a glass of water in the reception area of ​​the room.

He took the water in his hand, but he didn't drink it. Instead, he slowly walked to the window of the room and opened the curtains with a swish.

Unlike Portugal, London has always had gloomy weather, especially in the early morning. The glass windows are still covered with mist. I don’t know if it was the rain last night or the remaining dew. I can’t tell.

Buildings in London are generally not high. The hotel that Porto stayed in is only four stories high. They live on the third floor, so the view is not wide, but a bit depressing, because no one wants to be blocked by anything, so Mourinho is more likely to look at the road below. It’s a bit empty, there are not many cars, only the sanitation workers who got up early are working.

"What an ordinary morning!" Mourinho sighed, and then poured the water in his hand into his mouth.

Gulp, a large glass of water was drunk by him in one breath, but the empty glass was held in his hand.

Many people say that after a person wakes up, he often forgets what he dreamed about last night, but Mourinho will not. It’s not that he is a freak, but because he will never forget the person he dreamed of in his life.

Villariño, the chairman of Benfica!

When he left Barcelona that year, he secretly swore in his heart that from that day on, he would never be an assistant to anyone again. He would coach alone and win everything, including championships and honors, with his own abilities.

Benfica was his first coaching stop, but before Mourinho, many people had rumored that the head coach Benfica most wanted to introduce was the Portuguese coach Toni.

There are two Tonis in Portugal, both named Antonio Oliveira. One is the head coach of the national team that led Portugal to participate in the 2002 World Cup. Because he wore glasses and used crutches, he was nicknamed Toni with glasses. The one that Benfica liked played for Benfica during his playing days and later served as the head coach of Benfica. Because he always had a beard, he was nicknamed Toni with the beard.

But at that time, Benfica's chairman Azevedo chose Mourinho and entrusted him with important tasks. So even though Mourinho's performance was not good at the beginning, Azevedo still had full trust and support for him, and Mourinho quickly led Benfica out of the downturn and won consecutive victories. But at this time, in the club's presidential election, Azevedo, who supported Mourinho, stepped down.

Before the new chairman Villarinho came to power, he publicly criticized Mourinho. During the election, he kept saying that Mourinho was just a translator in his eyes and was not qualified to lead Benfica. Even though Benfica's performance improved later, Villarinho still made it very clear after taking office that Toni was his only choice, not Mourinho!

This was a choice that was doomed to tragedy from the beginning. Mourinho eventually left Benfica in disgrace. The first coaching left him with only humiliation and shadow. It was also this time that he really understood that his resume, which he once thought was brilliant, was just a translator in the eyes of others.

He had thought countless times that if Azevedo had not stepped down, he would have a very dreamy process and ending in Benfica, he could rise to the top and get everything he wanted, but the reality is so cruel that it would not give him any assumptions or ifs.

After leaving Benfica, Mourinho lost his job. He felt very painful because he had a wife and children to take care of, but he was unemployed. No one was willing to invite him to coach again because Benfica and Villariño slandered him everywhere in the media, and even falsely accused him of leaving in anger because he asked for three or four times the salary.

That period was the most painful process in his life, and he could not imagine how he survived.

But sometimes people are like this. When you are forced into a desperate situation, in order to get rid of the devil who controls you, you often choose to throw yourself into the arms of another devil, because you have no choice.

Mourinho finally chose to walk into the Dragon Stadium and found da Costa, whose media capital company owned shares in the Leiria club, so Mourinho came to Leiria and then to Porto.

A year ago in the summer, Mourinho told Jorge Mendes that something would happen to da Costa sooner or later. They all wanted to get rid of da Costa, and at that time they all naively thought that as Mourinho led Porto to the Champions League final and became famous, he would get the opportunity to leave Portugal and prove himself on a higher and broader stage.

But in the end, he miscalculated, maybe because he lost too badly in the final, or maybe because his football was too shabby compared to Ye Qiu's Chelsea, and in the words of the media, he couldn't be on the stage, so he didn't People invited him, especially after the disastrous defeat to Chelsea in the group stage, he was under greater pressure.

"You say my football is not as good as Ye Qiu's. That's because I lost. That's why you say that. If Greece wins, you will worship them as heroes. If I lose, you will step on me. Hell, but I will definitely fight back against all of you with the truth, and the best fight back is to use my football to defeat Ye Qiu’s Chelsea!”

He never doubted his football, so starting from the knockout rounds, he took his football to the extreme. As a result, the two giants, Inter Milan and AC Milan, fell at Mourinho's feet, even if there were many People criticized him for playing too rough and conservative, but he didn't mind at all because he won!

He never paid attention to the accusations from reporters and media, because they always looked at the problem with a relaxed attitude of bystanders, but who among them really understood himself? How could they ever think about the tremendous pressure, sadness and self-blame they would feel after losing the game and losing their future?

In Mourinho's view, only by winning, and constantly winning, can he get out of Portugal, get rid of the nightmare, and have the opportunity to stand on the highest football stage in Europe, prove his strength, and then become independent. Take control of your own destiny!

Therefore, for him, tonight's battle is not just the semi-finals, not just the Champions League, not just the bonuses and income of more than 10 million euros, it is also related to his future. He will do anything and use any means. Go win!

Perhaps, this is his fate!

When he thought of this moment, in the reflection of the hotel room window, Mourinho saw himself clenching his teeth and inexplicably angry, and his eyes seemed to spurt out blazing anger!

"When we play against Chelsea, we have an extremely strong comrade, and that is physical fitness!"

As the day passed and night fell, in the visiting team's locker room at Stamford Bridge, Mourinho faced a group of Porto players who had just returned from warming up on the court, analyzing and arranging the tactics for this game.

"Remember those reports I showed you before? Those reporters and media didn't even understand anything. They thought they knew football very well, but in fact, they didn't even understand it. They thought Ye Qiu adopted a rotation system. Chelsea Their physical fitness can be adjusted very well, but we have all seen that Chelsea has been fighting on multiple fronts recently, and their injuries and physical fitness have been almost exhausted. Now is their weakest time!"

Mourinho pointed at his feet fiercely. When he spoke, the expression on his face was full of confidence and determination.

"Think about it, the Premier League has not performed well in the Champions League for so many years. Why is this? For so many years in the Premier League, whether it was the invincible Red Devils dynasty, or the sudden emergence of Arsenal, or even Chelsea last year, why? Is it difficult for them to succeed in league, cup and European competition at the same time?”

"Why is Manchester United in 1999 called a miracle? Because whether they were in the league, cup or Champions League, they always won and reversed at the last moment, especially in the Champions League, and these cannot be copied, so they are called miracles!"

Mourinho walked among the players and took a deep breath, "Because the Premier League matches are too intensive, the competition is too fierce, and they don't have a winter break. This is the most terrible thing!"

There is no winter break. This is already known to all European teams. It is an important factor that makes Premier League teams unfavorable in the European competition. Because there is no physical adjustment and re-reservation during the winter break, almost all Premier League teams will be unable to play in the second half of the competition. He is dragging his half-disabled body to eke out a living, and in this case, injuries and condition often decline.

Especially for a multi-front team like Chelsea. They played in the Premier League, League Cup, FA Cup, and Champions League this season. At the same time, they traveled back and forth to play in the Toyota Cup in Japan in December, and their international players Over time, Chelsea's players' bodies have approached the critical point, making it difficult to maintain their condition above the level.

But more importantly, da Costa secretly told Mourinho a piece of news before the game, news that was enough for him to win the game!

"Why am I telling you this?" Mourinho said in a deep voice as he glanced at this group of wolf-like Porto players. They lost the Champions League final last season and lost to Chelsea in the group stage this season. They are now All of them are resentful and want revenge.

And for a long time in the past, Mourinho has been instilling his will and anger into this team. This is why Porto was able to defeat Inter Milan and AC Milan until today.

"The purpose of telling you this is to let you see clearly that our opponents are not as strong as we imagined. On the contrary, they are very fragile. As long as we are on the court, like when we played against Inter Milan and AC Milan in the past, That way, if we beat them, we can get a satisfactory result at Stamford Bridge!”

"As long as we leave Stamford Bridge and go back to our place, we can beat our opponents!"

"So..." Every time Mourinho passed a player, he patted them heavily on the shoulder, "I need you to go all out on the court, I need you to show your strength on the court. Fighting spirit, show your fighting spirit, trample Chelsea and those bastards who are on top of us, and trample them under your feet!"

Ye Qiu started cautiously. Porto's style of playing against Inter Milan and AC Milan was rough and aggressive, while Chelsea's current players are relatively fragile. The pressure accumulated from multi-line operations has now begun to explode, so Ye Qiu Qiu must deal with it carefully.

Otherwise, with Chelsea's ability, Ye Qiu doesn't have to worry about whether he can beat Porto. This is not a problem!

It's not that Ye Qiu and the coaching staff made mistakes, but it's inevitable. There is no winter break in the Premier League. From the beginning to the end of the season, all problems accumulate over time and are constantly postponed. At this critical moment of sprint, , is often a sensitive moment when problems erupt intensively, and no one can stop it.

Porto played this game away from home, and the starting lineup also tended to be conservative. Jorge Costa and Carvalho partnered as central defenders. Pepe was pushed forward by Mourinho and reached the midfield, joining Mendes and Costini. The Asian team formed three defensive midfielders, Thiago and Maniche formed two wings, and McCarthy played the lone forward.

The defense is Valente, Carvalho, Jorge Costa and Paulo Ferreira, and the goalkeeper is Baia.

Porto's starting lineup did not surprise Ye Qiu, but this team showed its fangs without any concealment after the start, which made Ye Qiu a little surprised, because they started an almost crazy round from the beginning. They were pressing and pressing, and their movements were very big, but what was terrible was that the French referee Sarr's whistle-blowing was relatively soft.

In less than 20 seconds of the opening, Maniche made a relatively large tackle while defending Ronaldinho, directly knocking the Brazilian to the ground. Then the Portuguese quickly stood up and raised his head high. With his hands, he showed that he was innocent.

"Fuck you!" Ye Qiu could see clearly from the sidelines that what happened was happening right under his nose. He couldn't help but blurt out a curse, but Maniche turned around and sneered at him. After a while, he ran back to the court.

The team doctor quickly rushed into the court and carried the fallen Ronaldinho to the sidelines. French referee Sarr gave Maniche a warning, but did not give a card, which immediately caused anger in the stands. Chelsea fans roared and cursed.

"Hey, isn't this action below your standard for playing cards?" Ye Qiu felt that he should put pressure on the referee as soon as possible, "Look at my players, they are all taken off the field, are you just giving a verbal warning? Or are you? Say, you want to see my players never play again?"

The referee Sal came over and made calm movements with his hands towards Ye Qiu, "Mr. Ye Qiu, I know very well how to control a game. Please don't try to put pressure on me with words. Otherwise, I will consider Warn you for your words and deeds, I believe you don’t want this to happen, right?”

If the referee usually wants to prevent the game from being unbalanced too early, out of balancing the game situation, and feels that he owes something to a certain side, he will turn a blind eye to the head coach's complaints, after all, he feels guilty.

But now Sal is obviously adopting a tit-for-tat approach, obviously trying to confront Ye Qiu, and in the subsequent whistle blows, he has intentionally or unintentionally helped Porto. For example, as long as Chelsea improves slightly, he will always blow the whistle. The foul whistle was sounded without any regard to the principle of offensive advantage.

"Something is not right about the situation!" Tenkat frowned on the side.

Ye Qiu's heart was filled with anger. He did not answer or give any expression. He just looked at Sal who walked back to the field. After the game restarted, he said lightly, "In the eyes of some people, the Champions League is the best." Can’t be defended!”

Tenkat and others were stunned at first, but after hearing this, they immediately figured it out.

Over the years, F1 has been using various means to weaken Ferrari's strength, because Ferrari's dominance has caused the loss of F1's commercial value. Because of the lack of suspense, everyone knows that Ferrari can win. Without suspense, it will No one will pay attention.

The influence of the Champions League has grown over the years. A very important factor is that there is no defense. No matter how powerful the team is, they cannot successfully defend the Champions League. This makes this event full of suspense, and when there is suspense, it attracts attention.

"Porto played very fiercely in this game. You have to be careful when you go up and protect yourself!"

After Ronaldinho hurriedly treated the injury, he came to Ye Qiu's side, and Ye Qiu explained carefully.

After Ronaldinho came on the field, Ye Qiu still felt uneasy, and asked Roland to carefully remind the players on the court to protect themselves carefully. In the past two knockout rounds, when Inter Milan and AC Milan played against Porto , many people were injured, which is why Mourinho's team is called the roughest team.

Of course, from another perspective, Porto is not as strong as a strong team like Chelsea. If they do not adopt some more aggressive and physical methods of play, they will have no chance of beating Chelsea.

It's one thing to understand, but it's another thing when things happen to you.

Ye Qiu kept shouting on the sidelines after the game started, because he found that the game was always paused. Porto players always took some fouls to prevent Chelsea from playing continuously. Some of the fouls actually reached the standard of getting a card, but Sarr, who was always soft in his whistle, was obviously softer in this game.

But Chelsea was obviously not a pushover. Although Ye Qiu's team did not advocate fouls, their style of play was not soft either, and they often played tough games. So even though Porto played very fiercely, Chelsea still created an opportunity quickly.

After Deco received a knock back from Rooney on the right during a forward run, he shook off the defender and passed the ball accurately to the left side of Porto's penalty area. After Ronaldinho got the ball with his back to Paulo Ferreira, he quickly cut in from the left to the left corner of the penalty area and got a chance. He swung his right foot and was about to shoot.

This position is Ronaldinho's most confident position. He has made several arc shots here, so when he kicked the ball, everyone in the entire Stamford Bridge seemed to see the dawn of a goal. They all held their breath, waiting for the surprise to come.