Chapter 1045: Big Gambling

Wembley Stadium, formerly known as the Empire Stadium, was built on April 23, 1923 and has hosted the Champions League finals five times.

The first time was in 1963, when Milan and Benfica battled here, and the Rossoneri won the first European Cup in the club's history;

The second time was in 1968, when Manchester United defeated Benfica 4-1 in overtime to win the championship, becoming the first English team to win the Champions League;

In 1971, Ajax and Panathinaikos came here. Ajax led by Cruyff had the last laugh, opening the chapter of their three consecutive Champions League titles;

In 1978, Liverpool defeated Club Brugge of Belgium 1-0 at Wembley Stadium with a goal from "King" Dalglish to retain the Champions League title.

The last time the old Wembley Stadium hosted the Champions League final was in 1992, when the Barcelona Dream Team led by Cruyff defeated Sampdoria and won the first Champions League trophy in the club's history.

Football king Pele once said, "Wembley is the church of football, the capital of football, and the heart of football." Every player dreams of playing at Wembley Stadium.

But the fact is that Wembley Stadium is getting older and older and can no longer meet the needs of modern football matches.

On October 7, 2000, the Football Association demolished the old Wembley Stadium and built the New Wembley Stadium, the world's largest ultra-luxury stadium with the second largest capacity in Europe and the second largest capacity in Europe, at a cost of 798 million pounds.

The Champions League final held on May 28 was the first Champions League final held after the completion of the new Wembley Stadium. Both teams participating in the final had won the championship at Wembley Stadium. This time, no matter who wins, they will win. A new history will be created.

Manchester United is the club with the most fans in the world. Barcelona has also attracted countless fans due to its brilliant results and beautiful playing style in recent years. This peak match also attracted fans of Manchester United and Barcelona from all over the world to come to London to watch the game.

The game started at 7:45 pm, and with more than two hours left before the game, endless lines of fans lined up at the gates of Wembley Stadium.

There were also many fans without tickets. Some of them were anxiously bargaining with scalpers holding "need tickets", some were singing the team song while clapping their hands, some were provoking and scolding rival fans, and some were playing with their mobile phones. Enjoy yourself.

Zhu Daqiang, Yu Lei, Yang Fan, and Yu Debao naturally didn't need to be in such a hurry. They arrived in London in the morning. After staying at the hotel, they went to the final theme park in Hyde Park in the afternoon.

We arrived at Wembley Stadium around 7pm.

Zhu Daqiang and Yu Lei had heard before that the real-name system would be implemented this year, and the inspection was very strict. Not to mention mineral water, they were not even allowed to bring professional cameras. They believed in the rigor of Europeans, so they really didn’t bring anything with them. However, when they passed through the turnstile, Only then did they realize that the real-name system was nonsense! My passport is completely gone. . . And it’s sheer nonsense not to be allowed to bring professional cameras. . . The security check was just so-so, far behind the security check at the Chinese Olympic Games.

Zhu Daqiang said regretfully: "If I had known earlier, I would have brought my SLR with me."

The monkey smiled and said: "Use mine, I brought it."

Zhu Daqiang said angrily: "Monkey, why didn't you remind me and let me take it with you."

The monkey smiled and said, "I'm afraid you won't listen if I remind you."

Yu Lei said dumbfounded: "I thought Europeans were very strict, but I didn't expect... I was so naive."

Yang Fan said: "I used to think so too. After living in Europe for a few years, I realized that they are all monkeys, and no one is better than the other."

Zhu Daqiang said: "My 28 is still better than you."

Yang Fan said: "They are too strong. They are big and useless. They are not as strong as we are."

The monkey said: "Hey, stop talking. Besides, they will arrest you as gangsters."

Everyone chatted and laughed and found their seats, got ready, and waited for the game to start.

On the field, the artistic performance had just ended. Players from Manchester United and Barcelona were warming up before the game on the shiny green turf. The hosts of various TV stations had already occupied the far sideline, and hundreds of reporters were following the high-profile players with cannons. Xiaodong, Messi and other big-name players captured every detail during the warm-up.

The warm-up between Manchester United and Barcelona was very interesting. Barcelona was practicing the trap game, while Manchester United practiced shooting after a while, which fully demonstrated the different football styles of the two clubs.

After the main players of both sides warmed up for more than ten minutes, they returned to the locker room, leaving only the substitutes on the field to continue warming up.

At this time, the on-site commentators had already obtained the starting lineups of both sides. They began to announce the starting lineups and formations of both sides to the fans, waiting for the official start of the game.

Barcelona's lineup today: 1-Valdes; 2-Alves, 14-Mascherano, 3-Pique, 22-Abidal; 6-Xavi, 16-Busquets, 8- Iniesta; 7-Villa, 10-Messi, 17-Pedro

This is a lineup that is not unexpected at all. Even a pseudo-fan can guess it accurately.

In fact, there is no secret to Barcelona's playing style, which is ball control and short passing penetration. But the great thing about Barcelona is that the whole world knows their starting lineup and playing style, but they just can't prevent it.

Manchester United started with a 442 formation today, with goalkeeper 1-Van der Sar; defenders 20-Fabio, 5-Ferdinand, 15-Vidic, 3-Evra; 25-Valencia, 13- Park Ji-sung, 24-Fletcher, 10-Gao Xiaodong; 7-Rooney, 14-Hernandez.

After the on-site commentator announced the starting lineup, Manchester United fans were shocked. Berbatov, the only tall center, was not included. Nani, who has the strongest breakthrough ability, was not included. Even Scholes and Giggs were not included. , except Gao Xiaodong, these players on the field are all blue-collar players with strong running ability.

Such a lineup will definitely not be an attack, but will most likely be a defensive counterattack, but it may be a frantic grab in the midfield and disrupt Barcelona's ball control.

Chinese commentator He Hui exclaimed: "If this is Manchester United's lineup today, Sir Alex Ferguson's courage and adventurous spirit are really admirable. In terms of running ability, this lineup is probably the strongest in Europe, but the offensive organization But we can only rely on Gao Xiaodong alone. This is a huge gamble, but we don’t know who the final winner will be."

In the locker room, Barcelona's players and coaches also received Manchester United's starting lineup.

After Guardiola read it, a smile appeared on his face and he said: "What do you think of Manchester United's starting lineup?"

Assistant coach Vilanova said: "I don't think this can be the final lineup. With such a lineup, do they still want to attack?"

Harvey said: "Ferguson likes to play little tricks. I think it is possible to replace Scholes before the battle."

Guardiola shook his head and said: "No, I think this may be Manchester United's final starting lineup. They will use pressing to destroy our passing and cutting."

Vilanova said: "If Manchester United doesn't play the iron barrel formation, I don't believe they can steal our ball. Besides, even if they can steal our ball, who will organize the offense? Park Ji-sung, Fletcher, It’s still Valencia, can it be that Gao Xiaodong is the only one?”

Guardiola said: "This is not clear yet, but obviously, Ferguson is going to rush us. I hope everyone pays attention to getting the ball and passing the ball with concentration. In addition, no matter what tactics they adopt, as long as we play our own style , can defeat all opponents.”

Guardiola's sonorous words made the confused Barcelona players calm down and become confident again.

Indeed, Barcelona's tactical play has never changed for decades. Their victory does not rely on tactics, but on strong technology and football concepts.