Chapter 313: The Second Championship Opponent, Juventus

Chelsea and Barcelona still don’t have any grudges at the club level.

But the new and old hatreds between the fans of the two teams were completely turned over after the end of this Champions League knockout match.

Chelsea fans breathed a sigh of relief. The resentment and unwillingness in their hearts when the Stamford Bridge tragedy happened that year have gradually dissipated today.

After all, their team has already paid back fiercely and defeated Barcelona head-on!

The result of the seven-goal massacre made them very satisfied.

In particular, Drogba scored the last goal himself, which can be regarded as a conclusion to the tragedy of that year.

However, Chelsea fans are relieved now, but Barcelona fans are tossing and turning, unable to sleep day and night, and they are so angry about these two rounds of Champions League knockout matches that they can’t think straight.

Of course, the only way to wash away the shame is a big win of the same level.

Perhaps this month, Real Madrid will no longer be the most hated opponent in the hearts of Barcelona fans.

Chelsea has temporarily topped the list of the clubs most hated by Barcelona fans.

The media's support and the heated discussions among different fan groups have made the discussion of these two Champions League knockout matches more and more heated.

In addition to teasing Barcelona's poor performance in the Champions League, neutral fans are more curious about how Chelsea managed to crush the current La Liga top team with seven goals.

There is certainly a big gap in strength between the two teams, and the results have proved it.

But to be honest, even now, many neutral fans find it hard to believe that Chelsea can kill Barcelona with seven goals in two rounds.

There are too many tactical contents worth talking about.

With the lessons learned from this round of Champions League knockout matches, no matter which powerful team meets Chelsea next time, I am afraid they will not let go and fight Chelsea.

Bayern fans, who originally looked forward to defending the Champions League title this season and replicating Real Madrid's feat in previous years, are now completely vigilant against Chelsea.

Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid also regard Chelsea as the biggest opponent of this season's Champions League after this round of knockout matches.

Before the Champions League quarter-final draw ceremony officially begins, all the remaining Champions League teams may pray that they will not draw Chelsea in advance in the quarter-finals.

But what's interesting is that Chelsea's players now want to play against strong teams and are eager to draw another top team in the next round of knockouts.

This is because of Li Ang's previous interview.

At that time, Sky Sports reporters asked Li Ang which team he wanted to draw as an opponent before the Champions League quarter-final draw ceremony.

Li Ang clearly stated that he hopes to draw the champions of major leagues all the way until Chelsea achieves the goal of winning the Champions League this season!

If this goal can be achieved, Chelsea will create a new Champions League record.

Kill all the champions of the four major leagues!

Such a championship process is exciting enough and tough enough.

After successfully slaughtering Barcelona, ​​the players of the entire Chelsea team naturally have such confidence and confidence.

Li Ang's ambition has never been concealed, but his vision and goals are also very cool.

Defeating the strongest opponent and getting the most valuable Champions League trophy is what professional players should pursue!

If you want to be the champion in the Champions League, it is better to work together and take the most difficult road to the end instead of relying on luck.

At most, there are only the last five Champions League games left.

Fighting for the next game will bring you one step closer to the final victory.

Chelsea has one of the most experienced head coaches and players in the Champions League in the past few seasons.

In terms of strength, experience, and mentality, they are no worse than other teams. If the momentum is out, they will go all the way with their heads held high!

Of course, if it is not necessary, Chelsea's players will not keep shouting to the world that they are going to beat all the strong teams in the Champions League.

There is still a big difference between boosting team morale and deliberately attracting hatred.

While the British media is so arrogant and has helped Chelsea to attract the dissatisfaction of many fans of other teams, the players in the Chelsea team are still quite low-key.

Mainly because Mourinho also gave a heads-up in advance.

He can stand up and attract hatred, attract the attention of the media and reporters, but he never likes his players to be too deeply involved in the public opinion storm.

This is also a way for him to protect his team and players.

After playing the second round of the Champions League match with Barcelona, ​​Li Ang also returned to the rhythm of rest and training in a low-key manner.

Facing Barcelona, ​​Li Ang has scored 5 goals in two rounds. His limelight has overshadowed all the superstars in the football world recently!

His agency team has actually received countless interview requests from well-known sports media in various countries.

But Li Ang turned them down.

In the sprint stage of the season, he still maintains the professional habit of the past few years, that is, focusing on the game, and only focusing on the game!

Mourinho is most satisfied with this habit of his, and he is also leading by example to have a lasting impact on the young teammates around him.

On the afternoon of March 15, Chelsea, who is in full swing, sat at Stamford Bridge and ushered in the 29th round of the Premier League against Southampton.

Southampton, currently ranked sixth in the Premier League, still has great hopes of reaching the European competition zone.

After losing Pochettino and a group of young talents, Southampton can still have such an excellent record, which really surprised many Premier League fans who were not optimistic about them before the season.

However, in Li Ang's view, it is normal for the current Southampton in the post-Pochettino era to achieve excellent league results.

Their current head coach is Ronald Koeman, a Barcelona legend and the current Dutch coach.

And in the current Southampton lineup, there are Tadic, Mane, Schneiderlin, Wanyama, Jose Fonte, Alderweireld, Klein, Ward-Prowse and other powerful players and even popular stars in the future Premier League.

Southampton is not short of hardware strength and software tactics.

If their big boss is rich enough to maintain the current lineup.

Then after another season or two of running-in, this Southampton even has a great hope of being able to steadily enter the Champions League zone every year!

Compared to West Ham United, which was a flash in the pan this season, Southampton is the top six team that has truly taken root in the Premier League.

Unfortunately, Southampton's survival model is difficult to change. Continuing to train new players and then selling them to the league's top teams is enough for them to live comfortably.

Li Ang also knows that after today's game, he will not see such a Southampton next season.

Competing with the still slightly immature Mane is also a novel experience for Li Ang.

And Mane, who missed the opportunity to play against Chelsea in the first half of the league, also looked at Li Ang with curiosity and eagerness before the game started.

When he was training in the Metz Youth Training Camp, Mane established a friendship with Wang Chu, a Chinese youth player.

Li Ang emerged that year and represented Real Madrid in the beginning of the La Liga campaign.

Mane also played football with Wang Chu in the Metz B team, and it was still a long way from truly stepping onto the stage of professional football.

Wang Chu, who is almost the same age as Li Ang, admired Li Ang very much at that time, and Mane also watched many classic games of Li Ang during his Real Madrid period.

He certainly can't be called an idol, but Mane does have a lot of admiration for Li Ang in his heart.

After all, there is only one young player like Li Ang who has won enough heavyweight championship trophies every year, successfully defended the Champions League, and is worth over 100 million yuan.

Now that he has worked hard to stand on the stage where he can compete with Li Ang, Mane is also holding back a lot of energy in his heart to perform well!

But after the game started that day, Mane did not get his wish to compete against Li Ang.

He played as a right winger, and he was directly facing Chelsea's left back Bertrand, and the main person who assisted Bertrand in defending him was of course Brother Ma.

Unless it is a very special situation, Li Ang generally will not switch positions with Brother Ma and go to the left area of ​​​​the midfield to defend.

So Mane's wish before the game fell through.

After being taught a lesson by Marco and Bertrand, in the 14th minute of the first half, Mane, who was not discouraged, finally changed sides with his teammate Tadic and stood in front of Leon with the ball.

The scene that he had imagined many years ago became a reality at this moment.

But what caught Mane off guard was that Leon quickly kicked the ball in a direct confrontation with him in just five seconds!

Although the counterattack launched by Leon after stealing the ball did not break Southampton's goal this time, Mane still had lingering fears.

"Don't think too much, Sadio, you did a great job, but the opponent you faced today was indeed too strong. Leon's defense is like this. You don't know when he will kick, and when he kicks, you often lose the ball..."

Ward-Prowse, who is obviously younger than Mane, pretended to be very mature at this time and came over to comfort Mane.

It seems that he remembered the painful experience of being taught a lesson by Leon before, and Ward-Prowse sighed after he finished speaking.

His growth rate is actually quite impressive, and he has performed better than last season, but when he faced Li Ang again, he was frustrated to find that his growth rate was actually far from enough.

For all talented players, the biggest blow is that the opponents they face are players who are more "talented" than them.

After feeling the match with Li Ang, Ward-Prowse's confidence was frustrated again.

At this moment, Southampton also shed the image of a talented team that they brought to countless Premier League audiences in front of Chelsea.

Their struggles against Chelsea are actually similar to those of other mid- and lower-level Premier League teams.

Awkward and powerless.

However, they were also lucky today, that is, they met a Chelsea team that was obviously not in good shape in terms of shooting.

Chelsea, who fired eleven shots in the first half of the game, only hit the target twice in the end.

Ibrahimovic felt good physically, but he lost his sense of smell in the last shot in front of the goal today.

After a tie with Southampton at halftime, Mourinho took the initiative to ask his disciples to organize the offense more patiently and delicately in the second half during the halftime break.

Ibrahimovic, who was not in a particularly good state in front of the goal today, was not replaced by Mourinho.

Mourinho chose to continue to trust the Swedish magic tower and give him more time to adapt.

In the second half of the game, Li Ang was pushed to the front midfielder position.

He also sought to pass and cut with Ibrahimovic and Hazard many times after advancing with the ball.

If the shooting state is not good, then touch the ball more and find the feeling.

Leon believed that Ibrahimovic could adjust himself. If he couldn't, he would solve the game in his own way after 70 minutes.

And the facts proved that his trust was not in vain.

Ibrahimovic still failed to score in this game, but he retreated to make a pass in the 57th minute of the second half and sent a tacit pass to Li Ang who was advancing!

Li Ang seized this rare offensive opportunity and boldly shot low into the far corner and successfully scored!

This goal was also the only goal of the game. In the end, Chelsea won Southampton 1-0 at home and secured three points.

Mane got the game version of Li Ang's jersey after the game.

However, he was very shy, and it was Ward-Prowse who volunteered to bring him to Li Ang to exchange jerseys.

Li Ang gave Mane an encouraging hug, and he also sincerely wished that Mane could make a name for himself in the Premier League as he remembered.

After the game with Southampton, Chelsea entered a rare week of rest.

During this period, the much-anticipated Champions League quarter-final draw ceremony was held as scheduled in Nyon, Switzerland.

The three Premier League teams that secured three places in the Champions League quarter-finals this season did not meet each other.

Bayern and Dortmund staged a Bundesliga civil war.

Manchester City played Real Madrid, Arsenal played Atletico Madrid, and Chelsea met Juventus, the current leader of Serie A!

This draw was what Li Ang wished~