Four Watches -

Due to Qin Xiong's cramp and collapse in the last Champions League game, Qin Xiong was not included in the squad for the weekend league game against Nijmegen, and he stayed in Amsterdam to recuperate.

Koeman has transferred some players from the reserve squad to play in the league, and the Ajax league has won the championship ahead of schedule anyway, so it can give the newcomers more time to practice.

Qin Xiong went to the hospital over the weekend.

Mr. Slote was hospitalized for observation, and it is possible that his life journey has also entered the countdown stage.

Georgia spent a long time in a daze and silence with her father in the hospital, while Sylvia was calmer, perhaps because of the news that her father had been treated poorly in the past few years.

Many of Mr. Slot's body organs have begun to fail, he can hardly speak, and occasionally falls into a coma for a long time, Qin Xiong came to the hospital and couldn't say a word to him, just silently accompanied Sylvia in the hospital for a whole day.

Ajax failed to win Nijmegen away from home, and that doesn't matter anymore.

In the next week of preparation for Ajax, Coman focused on supervising the run-in of the four-man attacking group of Pinard, Qin Xiong, Sneijder and Van der Vaart.

Stepping into May, the penultimate round of the Eredivisie continued, Ajax continued to visit, this time against Zwolle, the energetic Qin Xiong accompanied the team, only in the last 30 minutes of the second half with Sneijder van der Vaart. With Pinar as the starter. It formed an attacking combination for Ajax against Monaco.

Since the score is already 3:0. So these 30 minutes of play don't show how effective it is at all, at best it is for them to warm up and find a feeling in the game.

May 5th.

Porto were the first to advance to the Champions League final after Spain's 1-0 victory over Deportivo La Coruna!

On the same day, a pre-match press conference for the second leg of another Champions League semi-final was held in Amsterdam.

Koeman claimed that Ajax needed to remain calm and cautioned against their players.

Didier Deschamps came to Amsterdam with a rather sad Monaco, who sacrificed the league for the Champions League!

Didier Deschamps declared it a test of Monaco's will and he was convinced that the team would do wonders!

A day later. The Amsterdam Athletic Stadium was packed before the start of the game, with frantic home fans rushing to get in and the Ajax flag flying spectacularly in the stands.

In the dressing room, Koeman took the pressure off his players and he still focused on the mentality of the game.

When it comes to the semi-finals of the Champions League, mentality always comes first.

Ibrahimovic was not included in the squad for the tournament and although he said before the game that he could sit on the bench, Koeman did not take any chances.

He came to the locker room in casual clothes to be with his teammates, and he looked even more nervous and strict than his teammates. After the players sorted out their jerseys and equipment, Ibrahimovic high-fived his teammates one by one. He didn't say a word, as if he were practicing it for the soldiers.

The Ajax players came to the players' tunnel, Qin Xiong noticed the invisible and heroic momentum of the Monaco generals, and he knew that this game would be unimaginably hard.

For Monaco, the 2-2 score has cost them the initiative to qualify for the final, but who can say for sure what will happen on the football field?

Fight against the water, the fighter is the hero!

The Champions League is by no means a stage where you can play your own strength and win the world logically.

It was precisely because of this understanding that Qin Xiong and his teammates were also extremely strict.

Want to go to the finals?

If you want to go, you can show your guts, courage, will, fight, grab, and plunder opportunities that do not belong to any party in itself!

Players from both sides entered the stadium, and the high-pitched and melodious theme song of the Champions League began to echo in the stadium.

Fans in the stands at the Amsterdam Athletic Stadium cheered on Ajax enthusiastically.

"The battle for the final match of the second leg of the Champions League semi-final will be played at Ajax's home stadium, and in yesterday's game, Porto have already secured their ticket to the final with a 1-0 away win over Deportivo La Coruna, who will be the opponent of the final in Porto today? At the moment, Ajax have a slight advantage, having drawn 2-2 with Monaco in the last leg and have two away goals, and a win or a 0-0 or 1-1 draw in this game will see them progress to the Champions League final and have a chance to clash Porto for the title of this season's Champions League.

But the narrow advantage in the score is a thing of the past, and the problem now for Ajax is that they have no strikers to use!

We saw that Ajax did not include a single full-fledged centre-forward in the Ajax squad today, and Koeman did not choose Belgian striker Sonque in favor of South African Pienaar instead of Ibrahimovic, and it remains to be seen whether this change will have a decisive impact on this game.

Ajax started 433.

Goalkeeper: Lobonte.

Defenders: Grigra, Heitinga, Escude, Maxwell.

Midfielders: De Jong, Galasek, Qin Xiong.

Forwards: Pienal, Van der Vaart, Sneijder.

Monaco started 433.

Goalkeeper: Roma.

Defenders: Ibarra, Rodriguez, Givet, Evra.

Midfielders: Cisse, Zix, Bernardi.

Forwards: Gyuli, Morientes, Roten.

Well, in the cheers of the home fans, the referee blew the whistle for the start of the game, and Ajax kicked off first, and the show began! ”

Ajax, who had home advantage, quickly put on an attacking stance after the opening.

Monaco's players, including coach Didier Deschamps, were confused about Ajax's start today.

Van der Vaart playing center?

Oh no!

After the opening, Van der Vaart did not go deep into the enemy area at all, he stood less than 20 meters in front of Qin Xiong, there was still a clear distance from the goal, he seemed to be standing in the position of the forward midfield, and when the Ajax attack was in operation, the Dutch golden boy took the initiative to run to the side.

Is it inertia or pretending to be confused?

Monaco's two centre-backs did not dare to leave their posts without permission, but their defensive area did not have a target to mark for a long time.

All of a sudden, both Rodriguez and Givit were a little dazed and hesitant.

Hesitating, should we take the initiative to help defend other areas?

Not quite dare!

Ajax's attacking system is centred on the wings.

They don't give the ball to wingers to break through and tear holes in opposition defences like traditional wide attacks.

When Qin Xiong approached the flanks and formed a triangular passing system with Grigla and Pinar on the right, they first established a possession advantage, and Monaco could not easily break the ball at their feet even with three players to defend.

And the best part is that Van der Vaart also moved, while the two opposing centre-backs did not dare to leave the defensive zone limited by the responsibilities of the central defenders, so that Ajax had four players in the area on one side when playing wide attacks!

Their skilful group play to ensure they don't concede a goal, combined with a dizzying array of interspersed runs and quick passes make it difficult for opponents to mark, making it not particularly difficult for them to move forward from midfield.

Zixes strengthened his marking of Qin Xiong, but today, he lacked the assistance of Bernardi and Cisse, and he has been passively following Qin Xiong since the opening, and he is unable to effectively interfere with Qin Xiong and make tackles.

When Ajax played a tacit cross from the right to get in front of Monaco's penalty area, their space was compressed and the opposition formed a dense defence on this flank.

Qin Xiong always watched the six, and Ajax was effective in pushing forward on the wing, and the closer he started to get to the opponent's penalty area, the more difficult it was to play the fatal blow.

However, they managed to keep Monaco's defensive centre of gravity on this flank.

When Bernardi teamed up with Zikes to steal Qin Xiong, he was surprised to see that Qin Xiong had premeditated the ball to the middle.

Galasek, who was inserted in the back, received Qin Xiong's pass unmarked, and he pushed forward a step and shot from a distance!

Monaco's central defence was a little empty, and the midfielders were attracted to the right, and when Galasek came up, Rodriguez was forced to go up, but Galasek was waiting for him to move!

As soon as he moved, Galasek immediately crossed diagonally to the area behind him, Sneijder ran inside the box, and it looked like the attack was done!

Sneijder got up to shoot before Givet came to block, but the God-given opportunity was squandered by Sneijder!

The sliding ball sent a wave of sighs at the Amsterdam Athletic Stadium.

However, the Ajax players were not discouraged.

On the contrary, they have built up confidence because of the offensive that they can fight this time! (To be continued......)