Volume 3: The Myth of the Gunslinger Chapter 88: Sweeping the Old Club (Part II)

After Li Huan got off the field, although Arsenal's offensive did not slow down, the pressure on Hoffenheim was still much less, after all, there was no small Li flying knife hanging above his head, and he didn't have to be so trembling when defending, but their morale was too badly hit, and it was difficult to organize an effective counterattack for a while.

The game at the Emirates Stadium did not change much for a while, but at the home of Standard Lie, Olympiacos, who had been leading away from home, was counterattacked by Standard Lie because of a passing error, and the score was equalized. After the equalizer, the morale of the standard column was greatly boosted, and now it is pressing Olympiacos to beat hard, and it is not impossible to reverse the score.

According to the current score, even if Hoffenheim loses the game, they have a chance to control their own destiny, so Hoffenheim stepped up their attack, even if they can't equalize, they want to earn a small point, and in the future when they compete with Olympiacos for second, it is likely to be a smaller score.

Arsenal's attacking momentum slowed down and they were happy to keep the scoreline, but Hoffenheim's desire to change the situation on the pitch was unacceptable to Arsenal, so in the final ten minutes of the game, the situation became fierce again.

But this fierce scene with the standard column said another goal to reverse Olympiacos returned to calm, Hoffenheim accepted the current score, whether it is 4 to 1, 5 to 1, as long as the current score is over, Hoffenheim can take his fate into his own hands, now Hoffenheim has 3 points, Olympiacos 6 points, as long as Hoffenheim wins the game with Olympiacos, they will take the initiative, after all, the last round of Olympiacos against Arsenal, Hoffenheim, on the other hand, played against the standard column, and even if Arsenal only sent substitutes, it would be more difficult to deal with than the standard column. Hoffenheim don't have much interest in fighting Arsenal in this situation, so it's better to prepare for the next game.

Hoffenheim was unwilling to fight to the death, Arsenal was sure to win the group again, and the defending champions, who had no intention of humiliating, had no self-esteem at all, and were angry and hurtful, and the last minutes of the game ended in tacit understanding, and finally Arsenal defeated Hoffenheim 4:1 at home, qualified two rounds in advance, and locked the top spot in the group.

After the game, Ibisevic found Li Huan, the two exchanged jerseys, Li Huan also said a few words of comfort to Ibisevic, Ibisevic was very depressed, but because of Olympiacos's loss, he was in a much better mood, and made a few jokes with Li Huan.

After Li Huan and Ibisevic exchanged jerseys, reporters came around, originally Arsenal did not arrange Li Huan to be interviewed today, but the reporter felt that Arsenal won a big victory today and locked the first place in the group two rounds in advance, so he came to try his luck. Li Huan saw that there was Jia Lei among the reporters, so he did not refuse, and accepted their on-site interview very casually.

In response to reporters' questions, Li Huan talked about his views on this game, Hoffenheim, and the future.

'It's a great thing for the team to qualify two rounds early and win the group, but in recent times we've been able to focus on the league and I'm sure we can win both games, that's what all Gunners fans want and what we're aiming for.

"Hoffenheim has the quality and the ability to qualify, but that's not why I played so well in this game, even if Hoffenheim can't qualify, I will play so hard, I'm an Arsenal player now, not a former Hoffenheim player, you remember."

"There are a lot of teams that can compete with us for the title, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Manchester United, Inter Milan, Bayern Munich all have chances, and if Hoffenheim can qualify from the group, they are also a strong contender."

In his post-match press conference half an hour later, Arsene Wenger, like Li Huan, reiterated his Arsenal goal of winning the Champions League this season. 'It was a fantastic show, we had a huge advantage technically and tactically, everything made me happy, and after this round we managed to reach the last 16 of the Champions League, which is our 12th consecutive Champions League last-16 appearance, which is a huge honour, we have reached the semi-finals of the Champions League before, we have reached the final, but we have never won the Champions League, and I am sure we will finally win this top honour for a European club.' Arsenal are in great form, red on all fronts, and Arsene Wenger is happy with the team's condition. "We've been steady. This season, the team looks to have gone from strength to strength, game after game. That kind of form and attitude can't be played in every game. Now we have to believe in the future. I believe in the team and whether we can continue to improve and maintain our form depends on the team itself, not on external factors. ”

Li Huan performed exceptionally well in the game, scoring a hat-trick of assists and scoring a goal, which Wenger praised. 'He's been outstanding, as well as being able to score goals, he's also able to get the ball out at the right time, which is a super-class ability. Li Huan is the kind of player who can change the game with his own power, and he can do that from any position on the court at any time. With Li Huan here, the whole team has confidence. ”

In the ensuing question time, the reporter of the British "Sun" said that the current Arsenal team has enough attacking players in this game, and Wenger gave a positive answer in the negative. 'There are a lot of options in an attacking position? Of course not. We also have Bendtner and Theo Walcott who are two attacking players who can't play. Denilson, Rosicky didn't start, oh yes, and Vela, I forgot about him.

When asked by reporters whether Wenger would buy more players during the winter break, Wenger replied: "There is no need to make up for the winter break, the return of injured players is the biggest reinforcement, and our player strategy is to develop ourselves and introduce players with special abilities - Li Huan and Vermaelen are typical examples." I'm not afraid to spend money, but I think we need to buy players who can improve the team. We need players who can play and pass and score goals – not just scorers, but also passers who decide their surnames, and that's the case with Li Huan. Although he is a defender, I think the real modern football is the real all-round football, and every player should be able to defend and attack. ”

Rangnick, who was already in deep despair, was saved by Standard Lie, and if it weren't for Standard Lie's upset defeat to Olympiacos, Hoffenheim's fate would not be in his own hands. If Arsenal were to decide who was second and who was third, Arsenal would never choose Hoffenheim, and even a fool would know which is his biggest opponent in the future, the defending champion Hoffenheim and the fish belly standard. At the press conference, Rangnick expressed his disappointment with the game, but also expressed his gratitude to the standard column, "We lost again, 4/1 is a big scoreline, we believe there must be a lot of problems in the team, we need to adjust as soon as possible." I would like to thank the standard columns here, although they are fighting for themselves, if it wasn't for their upset, maybe we would have been eliminated after this game. It's a blessing to be able to take your destiny into your own hands, and we will definitely win the next two games. ”

When answering a reporter's question, Rangnick talked about Li Huan in public for the first time after coming to the UK, and his words were full of regret, "Professor Wenger's remarks just now are easy to associate Li Huan's image with a top striker, in fact, if you talk about the strongest individual attack in the world, Ronaldo and Messi or football leaders." However, no matter which of Li Huan's technical characteristics is compared with these two, Li Huan is also fully capable of making breakthroughs, Li Huan has been taught his power in many top competitions such as the League Cup, the Premier League, and the Champions League. In terms of scoring, 18 goals were scored in less than half of the 11 games after joining the Premier League, and after Arsenal had Li Huan, the strength went to another level, and there was nothing wronged about our defeat today, but the score was a bit big. ”

There was no big upset in the fourth round of the group stage, and the only upset was that Kazan Ruby actually drew Barcelona at home, but thinking of Barcelona losing to this Eastern European team at home, it is also conceivable that Barcelona was forced to draw away. However, after four rounds, Barcelona only accumulated 5 points and ranked third, but they were disappointed and sorry for his title as the first odds to win the championship.

Another mess is the five-time Champions League winners, the Red Army Liverpool, after they drew 1:1 away from Lyon, only 4 points in third place, although the ranking is similar to Barcelona, but the first place in Group F where Barcelona is located Inter Milan is only 2 points more than Barcelona, and Liverpool's first place in Group E Lyon is 6 points more than Liverpool, has advanced to qualify, even the second place Fiorentina is five points more than Liverpool, in the case of only two rounds of group stage, The Red Army has now fallen under the cliff with only one ear hanging.

After the end of the fourth round of the group, European bookmakers adjusted the odds of winning the championship again, this time Arsenal is favored by the whole of Europe, the three major bookmakers have listed the Gunners as the team with the highest odds to win the Champions League, and the official website of the British FA even put forward the statement that this year may be the year of Arsenal, which has been approved by most of the media as soon as it was born, and for a time, Arsenal has become the hottest team in Europe.

(To be continued)