Chapter 599: The first leg of the Champions League semifinals
Chelsea will have to beat Everton at Goodison Park if they are to reopen the gap on Manchester United, but David Moyes' side are not weak, but rather very strong, otherwise they would not be fifth in the competitive Premier League.
If they hadn't lost their two head-to-head meetings with Liverpool, they wouldn't have finished fifth in the league.
Mourinho's original intention was to focus on the first leg of the Champions League semi-final next week and next weekend's home league game against Manchester United, but now he has become nervous because he has the same number of points as Manchester United with one game in hand, and it is not clear whether it is a blessing or a curse for Chelsea at the moment.
Both sides of the game sent all their main players, so the 35th round of the Premier League at Goodison Park was quite intense, and at the end of the first half, the score on the big screen was 2:2!
David Moyes was very strict with Everton before the game, especially in keeping an eye on Eyro, and did it very successfully, and the two goals scored by Chelsea were not scored by Elo directly, but by Didier Drogba and Essien after he attracted enough firepower.
In the second half, Mourinho suddenly changed his tactical play, giving Iello a wider range of movement, and the entire front field was his area of activity, which made Moyes's tactical arrangement against Iroh in the first half all frustrated.
Then Iello showed his value, and he could create a chance to score at the moment of respite, so he scored two goals in the 64th and 66th minutes of the game, and instantly overtook the score to 4:2, and the change in the score made Moyes's tactical arrangement also change, replacing the defender with an attacking player.
But it was because of his latest strategy that Iroh took advantage of a set-piece opportunity before full-time to score his fourth hat-trick in the Premier League, helping the team extend the score to 5:2!
It was the final scoreline, with Chelsea's big win away at Everton, meaning they had once again extended their league advantage to three points and regained the title with just three games remaining.
Chelsea's big win away at Everton was a source of frustration for United supporters, who were to see Chelsea lose away to Everton, then Liverpool in the two legs of the Champions League semi-finals, and then lose the confidence to play and then to Manchester United at home.
It's just that the ideal is skinny, but the reality is cruel.
Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson was not surprised by Chelsea's result, because it was Jose Mourinho who was in charge of Chelsea, and he would never allow the team to collapse, plus Chelsea also had a goal goal like Iello, it was basically impossible to lose on the road!
Therefore, he also has his own record, which is...... Beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in the next league game and have a clean sheet of more than three goals! Otherwise, all your efforts will be in vain!
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The next day, The Times reported on the historic significance of Chelsea's 35th round of league games: "Chelsea beat Everton 5-2 away at 8pm at 8pm, making their record 35 games, 30 wins, 5 draws, and 95 points, thus equalling Jose Mourinho's 2004-2005 season total, which means that they only need one point with three rounds left in the league to set a new Premier League standings record... … If...... If Chelsea pick up five points from the remaining three rounds, they will become the first team in the English top flight to break 100 points......
Of course, Elloh, who scored a hat-trick, was also highlighted: "It is worth mentioning that in last night's league game, Chelsea's top scorer Ai scored his fourth hat-trick in the Premier League, thus increasing his total number of goals in the Premier League this season to 39 and continuing to break his Premier League single-season scoring record...... I believe that with this form he will help Chelsea get a head start in the first leg of the upcoming Champions League semi-final at Anfield......
A day later, the English media focused on the first leg of the Champions League semi-final.
However, the London media and the local media in Manchester are looking a little further away, focusing on the Champions League match as well as the Chelsea vs Manchester United clash at the weekend!
The mainstream report is still about the first leg of their respective Champions League semi-finals.
Interestingly, the two teams that could eventually win the Premier League this season will travel to the road for the first leg of the Champions League semi-final.
Just a discerning person can see that Chelsea will have a certain advantage, because their opponents Liverpool are not far from London, only 550km in a straight line, and they can be reached in less than an hour by plane, while Manchester United is different, they have to fly to Barcelona, a distance of 1500km, it takes more than two hours to fly, plus they don't know much about Barcelona, the result of the game becomes uncertain.
As the game approaches, the mainstream European media do not need to deliberately remind the coaches of both sides of the game, and the two will spit on each other in the air.
Mourinho insinuated that Benitez was a 'stingy guy', while Benitez said that Mourinho was a 'bus driver', followed by 'old fat man', 'making movies', 'afraid of losing', 'can't afford to lose'......
The two of them are talking about the media, and you are very happy with each other.
Soon, Liverpool's players joined in.
The first to stand up and provoke was the Norwegian international Reese, who did not shy away from saying in an interview with Liverpool's local media: "No matter how strong Chelsea are now, they don't have a big background, they are just a bunch of nouveau riche who smell of copper, so they can't qualify for a competition of this level like the Champions League final, so ...... In the end, it will be us - Liverpool! ”
Chelsea's players looked more rational against Reese, who took the initiative to provoke the incident, because in their minds, Liverpool are no match for them, and Chelsea have won all three meetings this season, and they don't think the two teams will have a different outcome in the fourth meeting of the season.
The Liverpool players didn't hear the Chelsea player's reply, so Reese again said in a follow-up interview: "Bursting rich without confidence!" ”
This was a bit unbearable for the Chelsea players, with Ballack saying in an interview the day before the game: "It's not what some players think we don't answer because ...... Liverpool and we are not a team of the same grade! We are stronger! So we choose to ignore !! ”
After listening to Barak's response, the reporters at the scene were in an uproar.
Liverpool is the best team in Europe in England, how can it become a team that is not of the same grade in Ballack's mouth?
Immediately afterwards, Ballack explained their doubts: "We have won all three games this season, are we still the same team as each other?" ”
Suddenly, the reporter at the scene nodded subconsciously, recalling that Liverpool this season is indeed not a team of the same grade as Chelsea.
Ranked fourth in the league, the League Cup and FA Cup were all eliminated, and only reached the semi-finals in the Champions League, but ...... Is it a high-grade team to reach the semi-finals of the Champions League?
However, Barak did not give them the opportunity to continue the interview, because ...... He's going home!
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On the day of the first leg of Liverpool's Champions League semi-final match between Liverpool and Chelsea, Chelsea arrived on a flight to Liverpool and were greeted by overwhelming boos, with many Liverpool fans hurling insults at the Chelsea players at the airport exit, especially Ballack, who was interviewed by reporters yesterday.
Then there is the biggest threat to Liverpool, Elloh.
This made Iroh a little depressed, he didn't say anything, why did he become the target of Liverpool fans?
According to the normal situation, it should be the team's head coach Mourinho who receives this kind of treatment.
So...... Liverpool fans must pay for their ignorance! And the price is that the team they support will accept a defeat on their home turf!
Of course, it is not only Liverpool fans who come to the airport, but also Chelsea fans who came to Liverpool in advance, and there are also Chinese students studying in Liverpool, who also act as Chelsea's pick-up staff, but they seem to be ineffective because of the absolute disadvantage of numbers.
In this Champions League semi-final at Anfield, the two sides of the game can be said to know their opponents very well, so Mourinho directly omitted the step on the point at Anfield Stadium, and instead warmed up and simple offensive and defensive drills at the venue provided by Liverpool.
At seven o'clock in the evening, the entire Chelsea squad arrived at the Anfield Stadium in a bus to the entrance tunnel of the Anfield Stadium, and there was no doubt that there were countless home fans boosing them.
Among them, head coach Jose Mourinho and the team's top scorer Iello were the most widely booed and treated innocently.
After warming up on the pitch, Iroh was keenly aware that tonight's Anfield stadium was different from this season's landing at Anfield, but if he could say anything different, he couldn't tell, but it felt a little different and uncomfortable.
Even with nearly an hour and a half to go, the stands at Anfield were filled and all sorts of fan groups were in place, with those singing the team anthem, waving flags and waving fan scarves, making Anfield full of red passion.
Only the Anfield Road stands on the south side have a touch of blue, which is really hard to spot if you don't look closely.
Of course, there are also a small number of Chinese students waving the flag of China's small country.
The first leg of the 2007-2008 Champions League semi-finals kicks off at Anfield on Tuesday at 8.45pm.