Chapter 251: Playing Against Barcelona in the Quarter-Finals, Li Ang’s Smile!

In the Champions League quarter-finals that ended in the past two days, Chelsea's 8-1 victory over Paris Saint-Germain in two rounds seemed so abrupt in the total score of 3-2 and 4-3.

Paris Saint-Germain has made a sensation in Europe again this season in another way.

It can be said that Ibrahimovic led Paris to reverse and eliminate Barcelona and break into the Champions League semi-finals last season, helping Paris to build a good reputation.

After the end of the quarter-finals of this season, it collapsed directly in the questioning and ridicule of the media and countless fans.

Chelsea, who slaughtered Paris Saint-Germain with eight goals, also successfully stepped on the corpses of the Champions League semi-finals team last season and recast the team's iron-blooded reputation in the European arena in the past!

Their current defense is very strong, just like the iron-blooded Blues in the past, but there is more than just defense.

Quick counterattacks and positional warfare are the strengths of this Chelsea now.

However, even if the opponent wants to force a technical competition with them, Chelsea's midfield and frontcourt are not afraid at all.

Of course, when they are irritated, they prefer to suppress their opponents with almost crazy midfield strangulation and high-pressure counterattack tactics, and stab their opponents at their doorsteps!

Such a style of play undoubtedly reminds the major European giants of the fear of being dominated by Real Madrid in the Champions League in the past two seasons.

Originally, after Ancelotti took office this season, he made some fine-tuning and modifications to Real Madrid's tactics. Real Madrid rarely plays such aggressive full-court pressure.

As a result, before they could catch their breath, Mourinho successfully trained a destructive team in Chelsea!

Just after entering the Champions League knockout stage, Chelsea used two bloody massacres to declare their restraint on technical teams.

And Atletico Madrid, which has a similar style to them, also defeated Milan in the second round of the first round of the knockout stage.

Such a result is not good news for more European giants who take the technical route.

Even if Li Ang transferred away from Real Madrid, but now seems to have no loss of ability to fight hard battles, it is a headache for the two Bundesliga giants and the new three giants in La Liga.

Bayern, Dortmund, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, each of these teams has suffered from Li Ang.

Not to mention the first-team players of Real Madrid, they know Li Ang's characteristics better, and this level of understanding is far greater than that of Li Ang's current Chelsea teammates.

On the other hand, Li Ang also knows each of them very well.

So they don't want to be enemies with Li Ang's team.

Just to say one thing, when Mourinho lets Li Ang explode and restrict Alonso, how can they break it?

Without Alonso's long pass organization, relying only on Modric and Casemiro, can Real Madrid maintain efficient offensive operations?

Think about it a little deeper, Li Ang led Chelsea's frontcourt wolf pack to successfully steal the ball, facing Real Madrid's defense.

How should Pepe and Ramos divide the work to deal with Li Ang's long shots and Ibrahimovic's huge threat in the penalty area?

Some problems are easy to say when you don't think about them, but when you think about them, they are a headache.

According to UEFA's behavior in recent seasons, the probability of Real Madrid and Chelsea meeting in advance in the next knockout round is not small at all.

The Arsenal precedent is right in front of us. If UEFA wants to make trouble, it will be useless no matter how fiercely the fans scold.

Therefore, Real Madrid's huge fans were provoked by the media, and they directly imagined the subsequent fight with Chelsea in the quarter-finals.

The fans of both sides were somewhat nervous by the news reports.

After all, Chelsea fans don't want to meet the Champions League devil so early.

Well, looking at Real Madrid's three-line record this season, their title of "big devil" may have to be added with the word "before".

But this still can't cover up the dazzling halo of Real Madrid.

If there is a choice, even if they don't draw the underdog gift package, Chelsea fans would rather draw Dortmund and Manchester United in the next knockout round, or even Barcelona!

No team wants to face top European teams like Real Madrid and Bayern so early.

Although most Chelsea fans are satisfied with reaching the quarterfinals of the Champions League this season.

But if they can go one step further and reach the semifinals, the record will be even better.

With this Champions League semifinal that proves that Chelsea has indeed re-emerged, as fans, they are more confident and can look forward to the team's further performance in the Champions League next season.

With such expectations and uneasiness, Chelsea fans have been discussing topics related to the draw for several days.

However, it is still early for the draw for the Champions League quarterfinals, and the remaining four games of the Champions League quarterfinals have not been played yet.

Even if the breakthrough form is already very clear, fans still have to wait patiently.

During this waiting period, the four major leagues have also rekindled the war, sounding the horn for the final sprint in the second half of the season.

Chelsea will go away to challenge Aston Villa in the 30th round of the Premier League.

Villa is currently ranked fourth from the bottom in the Premier League, only two points away from the relegation zone.

But Mourinho and the players in Chelsea dare not underestimate Villa.

Because the relegation teams in the Premier League are completely different at the beginning and end of the season.

In the first half of the season, the top teams in the Premier League would like to play more relegation teams.

But in the sprint stage at the end of the season, for championship teams like Chelsea and Manchester City.

They may prefer to play more mid-level teams that seem to be strong, rather than face the tough bones of fighting for relegation.

In recent seasons, the perfect example of the difficulty of playing relegation teams in the final stage of the league is Wigan Athletic in the 11-12 season.

In the 2011-2012 season, before the 30th round of the Premier League, Wigan Athletic only accumulated 22 points, ranking second from the bottom in the Premier League.

But starting from the 30th round of the Premier League, Wigan Athletic shook off the decline and directly cut a league record of seven wins and two losses!

You should know that in the first 29 rounds of the league, Wigan Athletic only won four games.

But in the final sprint of the league, they won 7 games, a full 21 league points!

And these 7 victories are extremely valuable, including defeats against Arsenal, Liverpool, Newcastle and the champion Manchester United of the season!

Yes, this is the huge energy that a relegation team of the season burst out in order to successfully stay in the Premier League.

Aston Villa is not Wigan Athletic, and it may be difficult for them to replicate the relegation miracle like Wigan Athletic.

But it is undeniable that they also have a firm determination to stay in the league.

Chelsea, who don't want to overturn, must be more vigilant in dealing with these difficult relegation teams in the league championship stage.

Terry, Matic and Ibrahimovic, who were rested in the last round of the Champions League, all started in this league.

Mourinho also chose to put out a safe 4-2-3-1 starting formation.

There is no way. In the game that ended early, Manchester City, which was eliminated from the Champions League by Barcelona, ​​had already defeated Hull City 2-0.

After that, Manchester City was no longer burdened by the Champions League, and they were eliminated in the last round of the FA Cup.

So now Guardiola only needs to focus on the league, which is extremely beneficial for Manchester City.

However, the psychological pressure on the entire Chelsea team increased a lot.

As long as Manchester City wins all the remaining league games, Chelsea will not be qualified to slack off.

If Manchester City wins, they must also win!

The eight-point difference seems very safe.

But to be honest, if the psychological state is not held tight, if the breath is let go, the gap of three wins may be wiped out by competitors in just half a month.

So now Chelsea does not want to lose and cannot afford to lose.

Unless the difference with Manchester City can be maintained until the last five rounds of the league.

In that case, Mourinho may be more confident to continue to rotate the main veterans.

But at this critical moment of holding up morale, the veterans basically cannot rest too much.

Li Ang, who has been called the "new iron man" in European football, naturally cannot miss any game.

On the third day after the Champions League knockout match with Paris Saint-Germain, that is, on the evening of March 15.

Chelsea officially kicked off the 30th round of the Premier League against Aston Villa at Villa Park.

Compared with Chelsea's slightly conservative 4-2-3-1 starting formation, Aston Villa directly played a more offensive 4-3-3 formation at home.

This season, due to injuries, the number of appearances has dropped a lot, and the data is not as good as the amazing Villa center Benteke last season. It seems that there are no health problems recently.

Before the game started, Mourinho also emphasized to his players many times that Benteke's performance must be limited today.

This young Belgian center forward played a full Premier League season for Aston Villa last season.

And the answer sheet he handed in was 37 starts throughout the season, scoring 23 goals and 6 assists.

He eventually ranked fourth in the Premier League scorer list last season with 19 league goals.

Such data is quite gorgeous for a young center forward.

Even now, many media reporters still think that.

If Benteke had not missed too many games this season, Aston Villa would not have fallen to the point of relegation at the end of the season.

In this game, Benteke also showed his ability, helping Aston Villa to stand firm in the first half and playing back and forth with Chelsea in offense.

Although Villa's counterattack cross tactics are a bit rough, Benteke can always grab a little.

Terry seemed to be half a beat slower in reaction when facing him. If Cech had not played well today, Chelsea might have lost the ball first in the first half.

Li Ang felt that this tactic of showing weakness to the enemy had some problems, but he did not make many comments in the first half and still honestly put more energy into defense.

At the end of the first half, he trotted back to the locker room, had a brief conversation with Mourinho, and expressed his thoughts.

If Hazard is still the starting attacker on Chelsea's left today, it would be okay for Mourinho to play conservatively.

Because Hazard has the ability to efficiently tear apart Villa's defense in fewer offensive rounds, creating enough opportunities for Ibrahimovic and Ramirez who come from behind.

But Hazard was rested today, and Oscar, who played as a guest, started on the left forward.

His counterattack position is more inclined to the middle, which not only squeezes a lot of Ramirez's forward space, but also consumes more offensive ball rights.

So as long as he doesn't play well, it's not just him who is affected.

Ibrahimovic and Ramirez will be greatly reduced on the offensive end because they don't have enough ball rights.

However, Li Ang did not ask Mourinho to "set things right" and replace Oscar.

He just suggested to Mourinho that instead of letting Oscar start on the wing but always do the work in the middle, it would be better to let him return to the middle.

Ramirez can play on the right side, and De Bruyne's move to the left will not affect his passing.

Change the formation and slightly adjust the tactics, Chelsea's style of play will definitely be much more flexible.

But Li Ang only provided Mourinho with a suggestion and an idea. Whether to adopt it or not depends on Mourinho himself.

After making the suggestion, Li Ang quickly returned to his position, wiped his sweat and rested, and changed into clean jerseys and socks.

After a brief thought, Mourinho also pulled Holland over for an urgent tactical discussion.

Then he simply announced to the players in the locker room that the formation would be changed in the second half.

Li Ang didn't say anything, but he was very satisfied and relieved.

In the second half, Chelsea decisively changed the formation to play 4-4-2. Oscar was promoted to the front line by Mourinho and directly partnered with Ibrahimovic to play as a double striker.

Ramirez played on the right side, while De Bruyne, who started as the right midfielder, went to the left.

Compared with the first half, Leon's position retreated a little bit, and he and Matic defended the center line.

After this change, Chelsea's defensive strength in the midfield did not decrease, but the efficiency of the counterattack was visibly improved.

Aston Villa wanted to take advantage of the home court to increase the attack, but Chelsea seized the opportunity to counterattack twice in the second half, and immediately announced the loss of the city gate!

In the second counterattack in the second half, Oscar, who played in the middle, cooperated with Leon to easily tear open Villa's slightly thin center defense line.

In the end, Oscar made a cross pass from the left side of Villa's penalty area to the back point, assisting Ibrahimovic to score!

As soon as Chelsea scored this goal, Aston Villa, who was still resisting to take the initiative, suffered a serious morale blow.

Facing Chelsea, who were shrinking their formation and playing defense and counterattack, Aston Villa, who had a psychological burden, could no longer press forward and attack as hard as before.

Mourinho was also very grateful at this moment. During the halftime break, Li Ang gave him timely tactical advice.

With the advantage of this goal, the initiative was completely in the hands of Chelsea.

Whether it was attacking or defending, Chelsea could fine-tune its tactics according to the rhythm of the game that was most beneficial to them.

For example, now, Aston Villa was in a dilemma. They wanted to continue attacking, but were afraid of being counterattacked by Chelsea. The efficiency of the attack was reduced a lot.

Mourinho was not in a hurry when he saw this. He signaled his disciples to calm down, defend well first, and wait for Aston Villa to take action.

Sure enough, after only ten minutes, Aston Villa unified the tactical thinking of the whole team. It seemed that they were going to go all out in advance and make every effort in attacking.

At this time, Mourinho calmly made his own tactical adjustment gesture on the sidelines.

Li Ang and Matic understood, and Ramirez and De Bruyne also moved further inward.

Chelsea's four-man midfielder team seemed to be trying to further plug the loopholes in the midfield defense.

In the next moment, they turned from passive to active, and launched a fierce counterattack against Aston Villa's forward attack!

This time, Matic and Ramirez intercepted the ball at Abanglaho's feet.

At the moment when all Aston Villa players turned back to defend, Li Ang received Matic's pass and observed for a while.

Then he directly sent a bold over-the-top through ball across half the field!

Ibrahimovic's first retreat pretended to receive the ball and took away Aston Villa's main central defender Vlaar on the back line.

And Nathan Baker, another slower central defender of Villa, hesitated for only a little while before being thrown away by Oscar who started to accelerate!

Li Ang's long pass across half the field landed accurately.

Just one step inside the Aston Villa penalty area.

This not only facilitated Oscar's sprint to unload the ball, but also made Aston Villa's goalkeeper Guzan afraid to attack easily.

So, under the desperate gaze of nearly 40,000 Villa fans, Oscar calmly adjusted the ball and shot the ball into the near corner of Villa's goal!

More than 5,000 Chelsea fans who traveled to the away game started a carnival celebration.

Mourinho also gave warm praise and applause to Li Ang's bold and excellent long pass assist on the sidelines.

The spirit of the entire Aston Villa team seemed to be defeated by this goal.

At least in the subsequent game time, Villa failed to set off a more threatening offensive wave.

At the end of the game, Aston Villa's head coach Lambert was still in the post-match press conference, and he was very concerned about the second goal of the game scored by Li Ang and Oscar.

"Originally, there was no problem with our performance today. Even after the first goal was lost, my players still had the confidence to continue fighting.

But Leon assisted Oscar with a long pass that was as accurate as a guide and scored the devastating second goal.

At that time, I only said one word to my assistant on the sidelines, 'terrible!' Yes, this goal was really terrible for us!

But this is the role of stars, and this is also football. We can only accept this bitter fruit helplessly..."

Lambert did not praise Leon openly, but his words revealed his praise for Leon and his envy of Mourinho.

Mourinho, who was in a good mood, naturally said a few good words about Aston Villa after the game.

After this round of the league, Chelsea will have another 7-day rest period, so Mourinho was relieved to wave his hand and give all the players in the first team two days off.

When all Chelsea players finish their vacation, return to the team to train and prepare for the second league match against Arsenal this season.

The remaining four games of the Champions League 1/8 knockout round also started one after another.

Real Madrid, Manchester United and Dortmund, the three European giants that have attracted much attention from fans, played last.

The result was similar to what fans expected before the game, and there was no upset.

Real Madrid defeated Zenit St. Petersburg 6-0 in two rounds, Manchester United defeated Schalke 04 4-1 in two rounds, and Dortmund defeated Galatasaray 6:2 in two rounds.

Only the game between Leverkusen and Olympiacos had some twists and turns and finally entered overtime.

However, with the outstanding performance of Kiessling in overtime, Leverkusen finally defeated Olympiacos 3-2 in two rounds and made it to the quarterfinals of this season's Champions League!

Leverkusen's victory caused a sensation in the South Korean sports world.

Because their country's young winger Son Heung-min also performed well in overtime.

It was his beautiful cross after the breakthrough that accurately found Kiesling, helping Kiesling to make the final move and defeat Olympiacos.

Son Heung-min's performance of one assist and one goal in the two knockout rounds was also eye-catching enough.

It is understandable that the South Korean sports world is boiling.

After the first round of the Champions League knockout match came to an end, only two days later, the draw ceremony for the quarter-finals was held as scheduled in Switzerland.

Real Madrid drew Dortmund and Atletico Madrid drew Manchester United. These four teams were divided into the upper half.

Bayern was lucky enough to draw Leverkusen, which was recognized by fans as the weakest of the eight teams in this year's Champions League.

Chelsea faced their old enemy Barcelona in the Champions League!

These four teams were divided into the lower half.

As soon as the draw ceremony ended, the fans of each team immediately started to discuss enthusiastically.

Chelsea fans are glad that they didn't directly draw Real Madrid and Bayern in the Champions League quarter-finals.

Barcelona is not a good draw, but Chelsea really has nothing to fear from Barcelona.

The most interesting thing is that on the night of the draw, Li Ang posted a picture of himself looking sideways at the camera with an ambiguous smile.

The caption is simple, but it instantly tightened the hearts of Barcelona fans.

"Long time no see, do you miss me? Barcelona~"