Chapter 123 After the game
The referee's whistle to end the game has already blown, and the Fracchi Stadium has turned into a sea of joy at this moment. The Fiorentina players on the field are all shirtless at the moment, and their jerseys have long been thrown into the stands as a thank you Always support their fans.
The electronic scoreboard at the height of the Frakki Stadium showed the final score of the game—5:1!
Just after Degan scored an overtake goal, Chelsea completely collapsed. With one player missing on the field, they launched a desperate counterattack. During the time, he seized three opportunities in a row, completely killing Chelsea's hope of counterattack.
In the 83rd minute, Fiorentina intercepted the ball in the backcourt. Kompany directly hit the back of Chelsea's defense with a long pass. Facing the attacking goalkeeper Petr Cech, Degan chose to cross the center without greed. Ji Tui scored an empty goal.
Just one minute later, Fiorentina once again played a wonderful cooperation, Degan and Hamsik collided with the wall, the latter took advantage of the opportunity to break into the penalty area, and scored another goal with a lob shot.
At the last moment of the game, Fiorentina took advantage of another free kick, and Degan scored directly, locking the score at 5:1!
Chelsea's players fled the field collectively as early as the moment the game ended, leaving only Fiorentina players celebrating the victory on the field.
Semifinals!
Fiorentina reached the semi-finals of the Champions League.
The celebration lasted for a long time, and Fiorentina won the war. Although Anelka's goal at the beginning made the Fiorentina fans break into a cold sweat, the team they supported did not let them in the end. disappointment.
The total score is 6:2!
Fiorentina advanced to the semi-finals of the Champions League with their heads held high.
At the press conference after the game, Chelsea coach Grant was obviously very unconvinced: "My players performed better. We deserved a victory, but the result was disappointing. Some of us made very serious mistakes during the game. Stupid mistakes, this is the key to our loss!"
Obviously Grant intends to shift all responsibility for the loss to Anelka. Not only Grant thinks so, I believe many people will have the same idea. If it weren't for Anelka's stupid foul, maybe The result of this game is really different.
Grant is very clear that if there is no Champions League trophy, I am afraid that he will not be the head coach of Chelsea for too long.
Abramovich can bear him losing the league. After all, it is not his fault alone to fall behind Manchester United in the league. When Mourinho was still here, Chelsea's league results were already very early. It is already very good to be brought to the second position in the league.
But if he loses the Champions League, he will be in danger. Before the game, he promised Abramovich that he would lead the team to Moscow, but now he broke his promise.
I don't know if it was because of anger or nervousness, but in the press conference after the game, Grant really failed to show the demeanor that a wealthy head coach should have.
"Fiorentina won. I really want to congratulate them, but there are some things I can't force myself to say, even if it's about face, because they really won without force!"
Grant was not convinced, and Prandelli seemed very calm about it: "I don't agree with Mr. Grant's statement. The game is over. We are the winners. This is a fact. Anelka was sent off. We are indeed in the numbers. I have some advantages in the game, but don't forget, Modric was injured because of Anelka's stupid foul, and we were also affected. As for Mr. Grant's statement, I think it is very ridiculous, Anelka is his Players, this does not seem to be our responsibility!"
No matter how unconvinced Grant was, the result of the game was like this. Chelsea was eliminated, and the grand occasion of the Premier League semi-finals gathered by the English media in the Champions League semi-finals failed to qualify.
However, the other triangle of the iron four corners of the Premier League did very well. In the match between Arsenal and Fenerbahce, with the goals of Fabregas and Walcott, Arsenal easily defeated their opponents at home and advanced smoothly. .
The match between Liverpool and Schalke 04 was uneventful. The two sides fought 0:0 in 90 minutes. In the end, Liverpool had the last laugh and eliminated the opponent with a total score of 2:1 in the two rounds.
Manchester United also got their wish and got rid of Roma for the second time in the Champions League. Even if it was an away game, the concentrated Manchester United was not something that Roma could beat at all. The three goals of Berbatov, Rooney and Golden Mauro ended the match. Roman Prince Totti's Champions League trip this season.
"This result is very disappointing, but I am still proud of my players. They have done everything they can. They should not be blamed. However, the process of the game also exposed some problems. I hope It can be resolved in the summer! Losing this game is not the end of the world, Roma will continue to move forward!"
He also lost the game, but Spalletti was about to appear more graceful than Grant.
After the game, Ferguson also praised Roma's performance today: "Manchester United played very well today, but Roma also showed their strength today, especially their midfielder De Rossi, that is difficult to beat. Believe in the player, if given the chance, I would very much like to get him, but Roma seems unlikely to sell their midfield core! The game is over, now we can have a good rest, but the next game is still very important, We need to be ready, double winners!? Why not?"
Mr. Ferguson directly exposed his ambition in front of the reporters, but if he wants to achieve this goal, the obstacles in front of him are not so easy to clear.
Fiorentina, Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool!
In the 2007/2008 season, all the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League were born. In the next round of competition, Manchester United will compete face-to-face with their old enemy Liverpool, and Fiorentina will compete with Arsenal for a ticket to the UEFA Champions League final in Russia.
The results of Modric's injury examination came out, and the results were very disappointing. Anelka's kick was too hard. Modric's calf bone was broken. He will have to rest for at least two months, even if Florence He will definitely not be able to catch up to the Champions League final.
After hearing the assistant coach Antonelli come back from the hospital, Modric cried very sadly in the ward after hearing the news. After all, he is a young man. It was his first time to participate in such an important event as the Champions League, but he encountered such a tragedy. result.
After getting the news, Degan lashed out at the perpetrator Anelka in an interview with reporters: "Such a bastard should be banned for life, he ruined a genius football dream, he should be ashamed of it! "
Although Modric is young, he has quickly become the main player since joining the team. This season, he played 26 times in the league, scored seven goals, and contributed nine assists. The data are all at the forefront of the Fiorentina team.
Just before the game against Chelsea, Modric was still talking about the Champions League final with Degan on the training ground. Degan still remembers the excitement on Modric's face at that time, but now this dream is shattered, and Degan is more than anyone else. Everyone will be angry.
"He'd better be careful and don't meet us again, otherwise, I'll treat him well!"
Anelka didn't even respond to Digan's harsh words. Only when Chelsea announced the loss caused by Anelka's stupid behavior to the club and fined him two weeks' salary, Anelka said that Some dissatisfaction.
If Degan wants to take revenge, he can only save it for later, but with the role-playing mode of Anelka, the football wanderer, it may not be easy for Degan to meet Anelka again .
Arsenal!
Fiorentina's opponent in the semi-finals of the Champions League, Wenger spent many years of hard work and finally built a youth army. Speaking of which, Degan and Arsenal are also quite related.
It was the first time they played with AC Milan in the UEFA Champions League. They met Arsenal led by Wenger in the final, but things are different. Some important players of Arsenal back then, such as Henry, Pires, Ljungberg Everyone has already left. Although the current Arsenal has excellent players in every position, they don't have Henry's level of stars.
At the beginning, Degan relied on a hat-trick and finally helped AC Milan defeat Arsenal, which entered the Champions League final for the first time. Now they meet again. I wonder if Wenger thought about revenge against Degan?
Degan is definitely an expert at mobilizing hatred. Even though it was AC Milan who defeated Arsenal, the Gunners still put most of the hatred on him.
Arsenal's coach Wenger grabbed the sofa and was the first to jump out and complain: "I still remember that hat-trick, but the last time the opponent was AC Milan, now it is Fiorentina. Compared with Fiorentina, our European war More experience!"
Degan replied immediately: "Arsenal is a very good team. I have played against them. The deepest impression left on me is that their attack speed is very fast. I'm not worried about Arsenal, our strength must be higher than theirs, as for the experience mentioned by coach Wenger, those bastards have fart experience!"
Degan's words hit Wenger's nail. The team didn't invest, so they could only tap the potential internally, fooling children around to watch goldfish in London. This is Arsenal's current flaw.
From a purely operational point of view, Arsenal's high-level executives known for their careful calculations are all business material, whether it is the former chairman Hill Wood, or the current Uzbek local tycoon, and even the head coach Arsene Wenger is a "small business." steadfast executor.
Such a business strategy has indeed allowed Arsenal to make a lot of money every year. In fact, in the past four years, Arsenal has been one of the few clubs in the Premier League that has made profits every year. Profit before tax was nearly £20 million.
However, in the eyes of the fans, the financial strength of the club is reflected in the purchasing power of the team in the transfer market, which has become the laughing stock of the fans. The core of the team is lost every year.
Last summer, the Gunners' offers were very positive. They first offered Digan for 30 million pounds, and then launched an offensive against Joe Cole.
Chelsea will not sell England's most outstanding midfielder in the past ten years, and Degan's liquidated damages alone cost hundreds of millions. The Gunners' offer is pure harassment.
There is no need to repeat the pain caused by three years without a championship. Some fans have begun to express their dissatisfaction with the team. The complaints of the fans are obviously justified. !
For example, last summer, Arsenal wanted to introduce Defoe and offered 15 million euros. Tottenham's psychological price was 18 million, but Arsenal refused to take 3 million more. In addition, the Gunners have been "cut off" repeatedly because of this. Ribery and Alonso were all because of Arsenal's bargaining for millions, and were eventually snatched away by other competitors.
Compared with Chelsea making money and burning a lot of money, the Gunners just don't burn money but make money. Chelsea has never been stingy with players. They don't have Arsenal's salary cap of "100,000 pounds a week", and they will not spend millions of baht on transfers. It must be compared, of course, they will not have the tragedy of "eight years without a championship".
On the other hand, the Gunners, in the past four years in the top six transfer investment list of the Premier League, turned out to be negative 37 million pounds. That is to say, Arsenal not only spent no money in the past five years, but made a net profit of 37 million pounds. This made countless money-burning giants feel ashamed .
Focusing on results with one hand and profits with the other, such a team can achieve a win-win situation. Arsenal is indeed rich, but its budget-conscious management style is doomed to fail to reach the peak. If they want to win the Premier League and dominate the Champions League, the Gunners will not build a super-class team. The star lineup is undoubtedly a dream come true.
Just like Manchester United and Arsenal, Manchester United won two Premier League titles in a row by Chelsea, and finally counterattacked last season, while Arsenal just set an unbeaten record in the Premier League, and the result was immediately sloppy.
The fundamental reason for the above differences is that Ferguson and Wenger have different team building concepts. Most of Manchester United's central defenders and goalkeepers are bought off-the-shelf and cost a lot of money, like the current Ferdinand and the former Stam. Wenger, on the other hand, took the route of running a small business, buying more "semi-finished products" and processing them back. This aspect has gained a lot. Fabregas, Walcott, and Nasri belong to this category, but they are all midfielders. .
Why doesn't a small business work in training defenders and goalkeepers?
The reason is that the cost is too high!
A "semi-finished product" made a mistake in the frontcourt and missed a good opportunity at best, but a central defender and goalkeeper missed a goal and directly led to a loss. It can be said that Arsenal's loss is closely related to the difficulty of "semi-finished products" becoming big players.
Of course, there are exceptions. Degan's Belgian national team teammate Vermaelen made Wenger not expensive, and the cost performance is extremely high. Unfortunately, he has been injured for too long, which is one of the reasons why Arsenal have been anticlimactic this season.
After coaching Arsenal for more than ten years, Wenger's net investment is the lowest in the Premier League, but the team has always been among the best in the Premier League. His small business output is extremely high, which can be described as outstanding.
However, if you want to take a look at the small mountains, the road of small capital management is not feasible, which is contrary to the principle of high investment and high output in modern professional football.
After missing out on the league title for the fourth season in a row, some Arsenal players are "flying away". Flamini is basically determined to leave, and Hleb seems not far from Inter Milan or Barcelona.
If Wenger wants to keep these players and not leave like Henry did, he must make a difference in the Champions League.
But facing Fiorentina led by Degan, Arsenal really has no advantage. Even in some positions, Arsenal is obviously much worse than Fiorentina.
Leaving aside the UEFA Champions League for the time being, returning to Serie A, Fiorentina's 16-point lead seems impossible to shake. With only six rounds left in the league, they only need to win one more match. Victory will win the league championship trophy in advance.
When the time of the previous Serie A call was exposed, people thought that Inter Milan was the biggest winner. Inter Milan did have a brilliant season, but the glory was short-lived. After only one year, they were knocked down from the clouds mortal.
It wasn't city rivals AC Milan, nor Juventus, who had returned to Serie A, that pulled them off the throne. It's unbelievable that it was the humble Fiorentina.
Just look at the current standings. After most of the season, Fiorentina, except for an unexpected loss to Palermo, they have maintained an unbelievable victory in the rest of the games.
Not only in the league, but also in the European arena, their performance is also jaw-dropping. The group appeared easily, which is expected. Neither Shakhtar Donetsk nor Benfica can create obstacles for them. The defending champion AC Milan It's long gone again.
But the next successive elimination of Barcelona and Chelsea is enough to amaze people. People are surprised to find that Fiorentina has become a force not to be underestimated in European football.
The Serie A champion is in sight, and their next opponent is the defending champion Inter Milan, as if they are about to complete the handover ceremony of the scepter. When Fiorentina hit the peak, Inter Milan unexpectedly became the last difficulty they need to overcome .
"This is like a reincarnation of fate. Last season, Inter Milan won the Serie A championship. Now it's time for them to hand it over! The king's crown can only have one owner, and now it's Fiorentina!"