Chapter 1425 Oligarch Era

Real Madrid beat Naples five-to-one away. The next day, the media around the world were scrambling to report the Champions League knockout match.

This year's UEFA Champions League round of 16 knockout rounds was full of surprises and exciting.

A week ago, Paris Saint-Germain beat Barcelona 4-0 at home, breaking out the number one upset in the UEFA Champions League this season, which shocked the media and fans all over the world. Benfica also played at home and beat Dortmund 1-0, which is also considered a big upset .

The Bumblebee, who performed poorly in the Bundesliga this season, also did not show good results after entering the Champions League knockout round.

In contrast, Manchester City's 5-3 home victory over Monaco seems relatively normal.

By the way, the French teenager Mbappe, who is closely watched by Real Madrid, started this game and played for 80 minutes. He contributed a key goal for Monaco and helped the French team score two goals in the first half. A reversal of Manchester City, but unfortunately, Manchester City adjusted in the second half, scored consecutive goals, and finally defeated their opponents 5-3.

However, Mbappe's performance has been unanimously recognized by the outside world. Compared with Dortmund teenager Dembele's sluggishness, Mbappe has received more appreciation and affirmation. After all, the gold content of the Champions League knockout is still quite high.

Now, a week later, Real Madrid beat Naples 5-1 in an away game. It can basically be said that they have advanced to the quarter-finals of the Champions League. The media all over the world are shocked by Real Madrid's dominance, especially in the second half of the game. Real Madrid is almost completely suppressed Naples.

The adjustments made by Yang Yang and Zidane during the intermission are regarded as the key factors for the reversal of the game. Even Naples coach Sarri said in the post-match press conference that the team played extremely passively in the second half.

"Facing Real Madrid, we have nothing to do." The Naples coach frankly said he was frustrated.

If it is said that Real Madrid's victory over Naples is surprising, then Bayern Munich's 5-1 home victory over Arsenal is also shocking, because no one expected that the expected peak matchup turned out to be One-sided carnage, especially the rout of the gunmen.

Like Real Madrid's massacre of Naples, Bayern Munich also played one-to-one with Arsenal in the first half, but in the second half Bayern Munich relied on Thiago's brace, Lewandowski and Thomas Muller The goal, and finally beat Arsenal 5-1.

Coincidentally, Atletico Madrid defeated Leverkusen 4-2 away and basically advanced to the quarterfinals.

The next day after the game, all the major media around the world were scrambling to report on these games. Everyone basically believed that Real Madrid’s 5-1 away game against Naples was the most difficult. It is surprising, because the Gunners can be regarded as the Premier League giants after all.

L'Equipe also made an in-depth analysis of several games in the UEFA Champions League knockout round this season, including Paris Saint-Germain's 4-0 victory over Barcelona, ​​Real Madrid's 5-1 victory over Naples, and Bayern Munich's 5-1 victory over Arsenal. The big wins aroused their interest, and a special topic was made.

At the end of the topic, L’Equipe reached a consensus, that is, European football is ushering in the era of oligarchs, the strong get stronger and the weak get weaker. Today, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich are still ahead, while Barcelona is starting to fall behind.

The Catalan media also criticized Barcelona's performance after Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid won their opponents successively.

It is also an away game, although Barcelona is facing Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid is facing Naples, and Atletico Madrid is facing Leverkusen. Taking advantage of away goals, what about Barcelona?

An away loss is not terrible. What is terrible is that they lost 0-4 without even a single away goal. How can Barcelona turn the situation around when they return to home?

Even the most die-hard Barcelona fans believe that after returning to Camp Nou, the possibility of Barcelona reversing Paris Saint-Germain is almost zero, and many people even worry that Barcelona may suffer another humiliating defeat at home .

On the other hand, Real Madrid, whether it is the French newspaper L'Equipe or the Catalan media, have to admit that the Galactico is still a champion, and it is still the most competitive top team in European football.

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While Real Madrid are advancing side by side in the Champions League and La Liga, Ajax also ushered in a breakthrough in the Europa League.

This team, which is already five points behind Feyenoord in the Eredivisie, is very difficult to hit the Eredivisie championship in the current situation, but in the Europa League, Ajax relied on Wilhelm Foo's goal, a 1-0 home victory over Poland's Legia Warsaw.

Throughout the game, Ajax had a ball possession rate of 63%, with a clear advantage in passing and possession. All statistics were better than Legia Warsaw, and they drew 0-0 in the away game in the first leg In the case of the opponent, they won a small home goal and successfully advanced to the top 16 of the Europa League.

This is not bad news for Ajax, which has suffered repeated setbacks in European wars in recent years.

But what really satisfied Yang Yang and Van Gaal was that Peter Boss' team finally stabilized their defense. In the past seven games, they have not conceded a single goal. This is a very rare statistic, especially for For Ajax who advocates offensive football.

Van Gaal called Yang Yang immediately after the game. Since the Europa League match was one day later than the Champions League knockout round, Yang Yang watched the match at home. Satisfied with the current transformation.

Verheffer was the best player in this game and the key to Ajax's victory. He can play as left back and left center back, and his partner is Davidson Sanchez from Colombia.

The Colombian central defender who just turned 20 years old was transferred to Ajax from Colombia's domestic strong team National Atlético last summer. He is part of Ajax's younger lineup, but he has a history with Ajax. The playing center backs are all different.

Sanchez, who is 1.87 meters tall, is not very capable of playing the ball, but his air defense ability is very good. Physical confrontation is his advantage, which makes him quickly become a strong point of Ajax's defense line, and he quickly stood up. Stabilize the main position and perform well.

It is precisely because of Davidson Sanchez, Verheffer, and the young player De Ligt who has gradually emerged in the first team since the second half of the season, the position of Ajax's central defender has begun to stabilize, and the defense can block the opponent's impact. Can actively support the midfielder forward, so Peter Boss adopted Schone's single midfielder tactic.

Everyone knows that the four-three-three tactic is Ajax's tradition, and the single midfielder is in the same line. However, in the past, Ajax's defense line had many problems, which led to the use of double midfielders in the midfield.

Well now, Davidson Sanchez is firmly established as the main force, Wilheffer and De Ligt are beginning to emerge, the defense is stable, and the midfield has become more courageous.

With Schone in the midfielder, Klaassen and others can invest more in organization and offense.

It can be said that Ajax has really developed a stable style of play up to now. The next step is to see how far this set of play can lead the team, and how well this group of players can play. what level.

Both Yang Yang and Van Gaal are very clear that Klaassen has performed so well this season and is unwilling to renew his contract with the team. It is estimated that he will leave the team this summer. Ranky de Jong and other teenagers want to replace Klaassen, they are still relatively young.

"I'm thinking, if it goes well, the team has the strength to enter the quarter-finals of the Europa League, but if we want to enter the semi-finals, I guess we need a little luck." Van Gaal said with some sighs.

Fans now have a high level of vision and focus on the Champions League, but they don't know that after the reform of the Europa League last season, the champions of the Europa League can directly enter the UEFA Champions League group stage. For the team, it is very valuable, so they will work hard for it.

In the current Europa League, there are teams from the five major leagues including Premier League Manchester United, Bundesliga Schalke 04 and Borussia Mönchengladbach, Serie A Roma, La Liga Celta Vigo, and Ligue 1 Lyon. There are Copenhagen, Olympiacos, Besiktas, Anderlecht and other well-known European Champions League teams.

Van Gaal assessed that the team has the strength of the Europa League quarter-finals. This is already a very good improvement, and it also proves that the team's changes in the past year have been effective, especially in the case of vigorously promoting the youth reform. Down.

As for, if you want to go further, it is purely fate.

Sometimes, the knockout game also requires some luck and the state of the team at that time.

"This is a good start. The technical team still needs to seize the time to analyze and summarize the team's experience and lessons this season. We need to further improve the team's strength this summer. We must at least keep the top two in the league and strive for impact next season. The Champions League group stage, this is our most important priority." Yang Yang said.

Hitting the Champions League is not just fame for Ajax, but also a huge benefit.

Not only the game rewards from UEFA, and the attractive broadcast share, but also the value increase brought by the players after playing the Champions League. It can be said that in European football, only players who have experienced the baptism of the Champions League are eligible to sell high price.

Ajax must make a living by selling people, and playing in the Champions League is very important.

Van Gaal also agrees with Yang Yang's judgment that building a strong team does not happen overnight, especially for a team like Ajax, which has no financial resources and cannot recruit, so it can only rely on accumulation step by step.

If they can reach the quarter-finals of the Europa League this season and build on this foundation next season, laying a solid foundation and improving the team's strength, then it is not impossible to enter the UEFA Champions League group stage.

Of course, the premise is that things can really change as smoothly as outlined by Yang Yang and Van Gaal.