Chapter 30: The Familiar Battlefield

Chapter 30: The Familiar Battlefield

In the 2011/2012 season, the last game of the European battlefield, representing the highest level of European football, the final of the UEFA Champions League, started at the Celtic Park Stadium in Glasgow, Scotland.

The opponents are Barcelona from Spain and Chelsea from England.

Like last season, Degan entered Barcelona's 18-man roster, but he is still on the bench, and the main position is already very far away from him.

In fact, whether to include Degan in the 18-man squad before, Barcelona's head coach Vilanova was also very entangled. In the end, the nightmare of the final final last season made him withstand the pressure and put Degan on the bench. at the table.

For Chelsea, the Italian Di Matteo led the team. At first he was Chelsea's assistant coach, but later because of the dismal performance of Chelsea coached by Villas-Boas, he was far away from the top four in the league for a long time. In February 2012, after Chelsea lost 1:3 to Naples in the first round of the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals, the Chelsea management finally lost patience with Boas, Boas dismissed get out of class, and Di Matteo took over as manager. The role of coach.

Di Matteo's first challenge after taking office was the knockout round of the Champions League. Chelsea lost 1:3 to Naples in the first round, and they had a back-to-back fight in the second round.

However, under the command of Di Matteo, Chelsea performed well, beating Naples 4:1 in 120 minutes at Stamford Bridge, successfully making a comeback and entering the quarterfinals of the Champions League.

Di Matteo established his status in one fell swoop by virtue of this battle, and then Chelsea made a two-way attack in the FA Cup and the Champions League, but was relatively passive in the league.

After Chelsea successfully defeated Benfica in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, they encountered Real Madrid in the semi-finals. Facing Real Madrid's suppression across the board, Di Matteo resolutely implemented defensive counterattack tactics in the game, making the powerful team Real Madrid was at a loss.

In the first round, relying on Drogba's goal, they defeated Real Madrid 1-0. In the second round, Chelsea unexpectedly chased two goals in a row after falling behind 0-2, and drew 2-2 with Real Madrid at the Bernabéu Stadium. Derry, and with a total score of 3:2, eliminated the opponent to enter the Champions League final.

In addition to the Champions League, Di Matteo's Chelsea also performed well in the FA Cup. They defeated Tottenham Hotspur 5:1 in the semi-finals, and finally beat Liverpool 2:1 at Wembley Stadium. , won the FA Cup, Di Matteo's first title as a coach.

But at the same time, because Chelsea focused on the Champions League and the FA Cup, their performance in the league was mediocre, and they only finished sixth in the league.

You know, since Abramovich took over in 2003, Chelsea's worst ranking is only third in the league. However, internal friction this season has seriously damaged their vitality. Above that, their only option is to beat Barcelona in the Champions League final and then enter next season's Champions League as defending champions.

In order to meet this life-and-death battle, Chelsea has given up the Premier League a few rounds in advance. Now is the time to reveal the answer to this gamble of the Italians.

Di Matteo certainly hopes to have a good result. This job at Stamford Bridge is his first time in charge of a giant. Before that, he only had coaching experience at Wimbledon and West Bromwich Albion.

However, after Di Matteo replaced Villas-Boas, Chelsea's performance has indeed improved a lot. In 20 games, they achieved 13 wins, 4 draws and 3 losses, with a winning rate of 65%.

Another problem that worries Di Matteo is that even if he leads Chelsea to win the first Champions League Cup in team history, it may be difficult to become the head coach next season. psychological burden.

However, in the face of the media, Di Matteo was very magnanimous. He said that he would not care about personal gains and losses. The most important thing now is to help Chelsea reach the top of Europe: "Now I am still an acting coach. As for whether I can become a regular, it depends It depends on the boss's arrangement, if I lead the team to beat Bayern and win the Champions League, and if the FA Cup can't convince the boss, then I have nothing to say."

Di Matteo's duplicity showed his humility, but people are not concerned about whether this Italian version of Crayon Shin-chan can finally impress Abramovich's heart and become the new favorite of the oil godfather.

Because of Degan's transfer to Tottenham Hotspur, Degan, who had almost become a cold meal before, was fired again. People are now concerned about whether he can play in the final.

What kind of performance will it have?

Is it a gorgeous farewell, a slap in the face of the old club?

Or is it bad to the end, making Tottenham secretly sad?

These are obviously much more reliable than an old guy being able to find a job!

Stepping into the Celtic Park stadium, Degan's mood was excited for no reason, yes! Just excited, this is the venue he is most familiar with!

When he was in AC Milan, he teamed up with Kaka and conquered the final of the UEFA Champions League for the first time. Then he won three consecutive championships in Florence. The achievement of consecutive championships is estimated to be the best in the past and present.

Last season, Degan also went to the final of the UEFA Champions League, but that time, he just acted as a spectator, did nothing, just witnessed the team's failure.

This time, Degan is here again, and it is still the final of the Champions League. Can he play?

This depends on Vilanova's thoughts.

Since last season, after having such a conversation with Vilanova in the locker room, the two have never had any communication since then, even though Vilanova later took over Guardiola's head coach position , The relationship between the two in the team is also very embarrassing. After a season, the words that the two have said together are less than 20 sentences.

Although Digan has let go of his stubborn self-esteem, he only wants to leave here, go to another place, and save his career, but the problem is, if there is a chance, he will hold his head high with the attitude of a winner Degan will never give up this opportunity to walk out of Camp Nou.

The game is about to start, and Degan is sitting on the bench. All he can do now is to wait for an opportunity that will come at an unknown time. If the opportunity does come, all he has to do is to grasp it.