Chapter 280 The Most Skillful Hunter

On the afternoon of the 24th, Porto, Portugal, airport waiting hall.

All the reporters and fans who came to bid farewell to Porto were surprised to find that today's Porto team was all dressed up completely new. The suits had changed from the original dark blue to the current dark gray, but their ties remained the same. The traditional color of dark blue, but with striking white stripes.

Everyone knows that these were the colors when they won the Champions League in 1987. Not only that, Porto also specially invited the veterans who won the Champions League for the team in 1987 to follow the team to Gelsenkirchen. I hope this will Can bring good luck to the team and help the team defeat Chelsea.

Porto president da Costa personally came to the airport to see him off, which was also a sign of trust in Mourinho and a reassurance for the Portuguese.

Just before the Portuguese Cup final not long ago, some media revealed that Mourinho had a fierce quarrel with chairman Da Costa. The two had a strong argument about this and almost even got into a fight. For this reason, in the Portuguese Cup In the final, da Costa did not even go to the bench to watch the game as usual, but ran to the VIP seat to accompany President Sampaio.

But what annoyed Da Costa was that Mourinho's team lost to Benfica in the Portuguese Cup final and missed an excellent opportunity to create a triple crown for Porto. Da Costa was in the VIP box on the spot He got angry and cursed Mourinho, and even threatened to fire Mourinho in front of Portuguese President Sampaio.

Although Sampaio is the president, Da Costa has extraordinary connections and influence in Portugal. Some media reported that Da Costa cursed in front of President Sampaio, but in the end Sampaio didn't care about him. Any way.

Because of this, many people are worried that Mourinho will be kicked out for offending da Costa.

However, as Da Costa came to the airport to see him off, I believe this can alleviate the worries of the outside world to some extent.

"Hello, Chairman Da Costa, Mr. Mourinho, I am a reporter from El Pais. Before leaving, can I ask you a few questions?" A Spanish reporter came over.

Da Costa looked at the time and shrugged, "Of course, it's a great honor!" Obviously, he even replaced Mourinho's answer, and Mourinho was very unhappy after he agreed. , but they still stay by their side.

"We all want to know, what do you think of facing Chelsea in the final? Do you have confidence?" the reporter asked.

"Of course!" Da Costa nodded without hesitation, "I have full confidence in the team and in Jose. I firmly believe that we can defeat Chelsea and bring the Saint-Bolaid Cup back to Portugal!"

The focus of the reporter's question was obviously not on Da Costa, but on Mourinho, so after Da Costa answered, he transferred the recorder to Mourinho. The Portuguese madman coach had spoken in the past period. Time is known for being outspoken, so the Spanish reporter also hopes to get some powerful information from him.

"We will definitely come back with the championship!" Mourinho said concisely.

The Spanish reporter nodded and immediately got to the point, "But, Mr. Mourinho, I believe you should also pay attention to some recent news. Manchester United's head coach Ferguson, and Deportivo La Coruna's head coach Iru ETA has recently publicly expressed its support for Chelsea to win the championship, and they all doubted that they were obviously taken care of by the referee in Porto and their elimination game. Do you have any personal response to this? "

The two-leg knockout rounds between Porto and Manchester United and Deportivo La Coruna were all scheduled first, home and then away. However, in these two rounds, red cards appeared in the first round in Porto. In the top 16 knockout round, it was Manchester United's base player who was sent off. Well, at that time, Ferguson accused the Porto goalkeeper of deliberately acting to deceive the referee's sympathy.

Mourinho did not give much justification for the red card at the time. He directly stated that football matches are games of wits and strength, and any means are for winning. He believed that it was impossible to win without being cautious. of.

In the second round at Old Trafford, Porto forward Alberto was analyzed on live television after the game. He dived as many as 8 times, 7 of which were fouls by Manchester United players. Ferguson responded to this Also very dissatisfied.

The same controversy also occurred in the game against Lyon, but the most shocking was in the semi-final against Deportivo La Coruña.

The first round was held in Porto. Deportivo played away from home and played Porto 0:0. As a result, Andrade tackled a Porto player during a defense. This was just a common foul, but Andrade After Red fell to the ground, he lightly kicked the Porto player. Both of them were smiling at the time, but the referee ran over and gave a red card.

Andrade made a direct complaint at the time. He had played for Porto for many years and was friends with many players on this team. Porto players also defended Andrade, believing that the kick was just between good friends. It was a joke and should not have been given a red card, but the referee had no intention of changing the penalty at all.

Irueta criticized the referee's law enforcement standards after the game. He also believed that Porto adopted the most brutal way to play the game, and even if they won, it would be disgraceful. Therefore, he said that he would support Chelsea and Leafs in the Champions League final. Autumn.

Not only in the Champions League, but also in the Portuguese Super League, Porto has encountered controversy more than once. Many professional football reporters have previously revealed that da Costa is using his amazing influence and extensive connections to Take control of Portuguese football and even the game.

However, this series of news has not been disclosed because Porto comes from the Portuguese Super League and has little influence. However, as a neighbor of Portugal, the Spanish football circle is relatively aware of all this, and the National newspaper The reporter obviously came with a mentality of fighting for Irueta, which is why he made things difficult for me.

Mourinho's face became obviously ugly, because of course he knew what happened during the game, "I don't care what others say, especially the losers. The reason why they failed is precisely because of what they said. A lot, but very little is done, and I think everyone who doubts us should look for the reasons within themselves.”

"But, Mr. Mourinho, you can't deny that Porto is indeed very lucky!" the Spanish reporter sneered.

This expression immediately angered Mourinho, who felt that he had been slighted.

"Are you lucky? I don't think so at all!" Mourinho said in a very unfriendly tone and turned to leave. "Although I can't control what you think or say, I will definitely prove one thing, that we Being able to get to where we are today depends on our strength, and we will prove this in the finals!”

In fact, it was not only Mourinho who was angry, Da Costa also stared at the Spaniard unkindly. If a Portuguese reporter was standing in front of him now, he believed that no one would dare to ask him like this to his face. But there was nothing he could do about the Spanish reporter, unless he wanted to get into trouble.

The El Pais reporter dared to criticize Mourinho, but he did not dare to offend Da Costa. If he asked Da Costa the same question in person, there is no guarantee that the Portuguese football giant would not slap him directly. This is somewhat Asking for trouble.

This is a guy who even the President of Portugal doesn’t take seriously, so it’s better not to mess with him!

Chelsea also flew to Gelsenkirchen from London on the 24th, but they came earlier, arriving at noon. Unlike Porto who lives in the city, Chelsea lives in the Marriott Hotel next to Schalke Stadium.

The Schalke Arena is located in the north of Gelsenkirchen, right between Gelsenkirchen and Gladbeck. In addition to being the home ground of Schalke 04, it is also the training ground of Schalke 04. Next door to Schalke 04, the two areas are just like Ajax, separated only by a parking lot, and the Marriott Hotel is right at the intersection, with three places in the same shape.

Abramovich is so wealthy that he directly booked one of the few private rooms at the Marriott Hotel, and allocated the highest-end floors of this four-star hotel to the players and coaching staff. Chelsea staff and players’ families also Checking into this hotel, some of Abramovich's friends also came in at the same time.

The entire Marriott Hotel was directly booked. The hotel naturally had to comply with Chelsea's requirements. Since the hotel has many supporting facilities and podiums, the security was mainly concentrated in the main building, and everyone entering and exiting the main building needed to pass through. Security guards strictly check to prevent fans or reporters from entering.

Behind the hotel is the home ground of the Schalke 04 youth team. It is an old track and field stadium, somewhat similar to the Munich Olympic Stadium. It is a sunken design. The highest stand is exactly level with the ground. This is very ugly in other places. Yes, but obviously not taken seriously.

This is the Park Stadium, the old home of Schalke 04, and is now the home of the youth team.

Different from the old home stadium of the youth team, Schalke 04's training ground is very formal. It is a five-story training building and four standard-sized fields. Each field has the most complete geothermal and drainage system. , one of the venues also has a small and narrow venue specially used for some small-person confrontation training.

The only fly in the ointment is that in Germany, where it often snows, Schalke 04’s training base does not have a standard indoor training ground. This has to be said to be a big fly in the ointment, but after renting the Schalke 04 training ground, everything Everyone can feel the formality and perfection of German clubs in this aspect.

From the turf of the training ground to the indoor swimming pool, to the gym, to the medical room, to the lounge, Schalke 04's training base can be said to be a five-star one. It can be said that it echoes the Aofeng Schalke Stadium next door, and Schalke 04 stated that there are still many areas of this training base that have not been completed, and the club will continue to invest additional money. The total investment is expected to reach 45 million euros.

Not only that, Schalke 04 will also build a Schalke history museum near the stadium and training base, and the Marriott Hotel also belongs to Schalke 04, and all of this will become Schalke 04's fixed real estate. , bringing a steady stream of income.

After Ye Qiu and the players arrived at the Marriott Hotel and took care of the trivial matters, they conducted restorative training at the Schalke 04 training base that afternoon. Everyone felt that the Schalke 04 training ground was formal and complete. , there are even many details that interest Ye Qiu very much and think they are worth learning from.

However, Chelsea's Cobham training base has been completed, and the team is also preparing to move in gradually after the end of the season. It is too late to learn many good things now, and we can only wait until later to see if there is a chance to make corrections.

After the training session that afternoon, Ye Qiu arranged for all the players to be in the Schalke 04 conference room to analyze and study Porto's offensive routines and defensive weaknesses, as well as Ye Qiu's strategy and tactics for this game.

From a strategic perspective, Chelsea's advantage in this game is obvious. Whether it is personal ability or overall level, the players must overwhelm Porto. It can be said that it is a complete victory, because to some extent, Porto's qualification for the final can be said to be the most controversial in recent years, and it is also regarded as the weakest final team.

But even so, Ye Qiu still dare not be careless, because he knows Mourinho's strength very well.

"Porto's strength is their holistic football. They always maintain a very compact and tight defensive formation. Maniche, Mendes and Costinha are all well-known players in the Portuguese league. I am sure that they will make a fuss from midfield defense and interception in this game."

Relatively speaking, Chelsea's offensive power is stronger. Even though Chelsea is the team with the fewest goals conceded in the Premier League and Europe this season, in fact, this team's offensive ability is very good, and the number of goals is even the same as Arsenal. To some extent, Chelsea is very balanced in offense and defense, but facing Porto, Chelsea must focus on offense.

"Compared to Porto, we are a team with rich experience in major competitions, but I believe that you all know that to deal with such a final, we just have to rely on our experience, which is absolutely not enough. We also need a good mentality!"

The more important the game, the more important the player's mentality is, and it can even be said to be a key factor that affects and controls the team's performance.

Ye Qiu has always been very careful about this. He has always avoided putting too much pressure on the players. He even emphasized that the team does not need too much pressure at all. As long as they play their best and play their games well, Chelsea will be able to beat the opponent no matter who the opponent is.

William Hill and other bookmakers also unanimously support Ye Qiu, believing that Ye Qiu's good management of the army, the gathering of stars in the team, and his excellent personal abilities are all important factors for Chelsea to defeat Porto.

However, the importance of this game is far greater than that of Ye Qiu's previous life. Not only did the British royal family send many princes and queen representatives, the most famous of whom are Prince Charles and his two sons, but British Prime Minister Tony Blair will also come to the scene in person. Many people think that this is the first time that a London team has reached the final and may win the first Champions League. The royal family and London's political and business celebrities attach great importance to this.

But it's not just the UK. The Portuguese government also supports Porto. In addition to the Portuguese President Sampaio who will be on the scene to supervise the game, Prime Minister Barroso has even decided to postpone his plan to visit Mexico and come to Gelsenkirchen to supervise the game in person, and Germany's Schröder will also be there in person.

In addition, UEFA also announced that a group of stars including International Olympic Committee President Samaranch, famous veteran Beckenbauer, F1 car king Schumacher, former German star Klinsmann and others will be present at the game, which greatly adds to the attention of the game. Coupled with the pre-match hype, this game is particularly eye-catching.

But because of this, Ye Qiu's protection of the team has become more stringent. He even issued a death order to prevent anyone from accepting any form of visit before the game. Everyone must keep their mouths shut and everyone can only move inside the hotel.

But Ye Qiu obviously didn't want to seal everything too tightly, so he decided that after the players' families arrived in Gelsenkirchen at noon tomorrow, the players could get two hours of visiting time at noon and until 10 pm in the evening.

This can avoid affecting the players' mood to the greatest extent, and they can face the game with a better mentality.

Therefore, in this pre-match tactical meeting, Ye Qiu's tone was as relaxed as possible to avoid giving pressure.

"In fact, there is no need for us to think that the opponent in this game is so terrible, because we have encountered more terrible and difficult opponents than them. Arsenal, remember? We defeated Arsenal to reach the final."

"I am full of confidence in this game. I think we can win as long as we grasp one link, that is patience!" Ye Qiu has always emphasized the mentality of the players.

"Porto will try every means to stop our attack. We should not fight them with brute force. It is not worth it. We should play smarter, use our advantages, use our control, dominate the game, incorporate the opponent into our rhythm and game style, and patiently find the opponent's loopholes."

When he said this, Ye Qiu pointed to Drogba and Ronaldinho.

"Obviously, for Didier, Carvalho is a hole, and for Ronaldinho, he is fully capable of creating a hole between Jorge Costa and Ferreira, who are strong but not flexible and slow, and our wingers should also create articles around this point of the opponent."

Speaking of this, Ye Qiu looked at his players again, smiled confidently and calmly, and said: "The most brilliant hunter will never lose his patience and confidence. He will patiently wait for the opportunity and wait for the prey to show flaws, because he believes that his prey will definitely show flaws, and at that time, he will be able to give a fatal blow with incomparable accuracy."

"This is the Champions League final, guys, don't think about defeating the opponent in the shortest time, because when we are thinking about restraining the opponent, they are also thinking about restraining us. How we attack, they will defend, so this is a protracted war and a test of will and patience."

"Many of you have very rich experience in major competitions. I believe that you know how to deal with this kind of game as clearly as I do, so my smart hunters, remember my words, don't lose patience, don't lose your composure!"

"This game will definitely belong to us Chelsea!"