CHAPTER XXVII
'It's a historic day for Liverpool and for the Premier League. At Anfield, Liverpool, one of England's greatest clubs, was hit by a discrediting blow. In front of Remair and Chelsea, this Liverpool team has disgraced their predecessors. It was an unprecedented day in Liverpool's history. Before the referee blew the final whistle, apart from a small number of Liverpool absolute loyalists, the whole of Anfidel was incredibly empty. It was a sight that had never been seen before in Anfield, as Lineker said, 'On this day, Anfield fell!' Perhaps, from today, we will witness the arrival of a new giant, and from then on, the sky of the Premier League will no longer be red, and blue will begin to appear on the stage of history here. ”
It was the day after the game, on the front page of the Daily Mirror, and the headline was a few bold black letters, "Anfield falls!" ”。 And the photo on their front page is the shot of Lao Lei walking off the court shirtless, with his hands raised high. They did a special job with this photo, and all the people and backgrounds on the picture were blurred, except for the blue flag nailed to the heart of Anfield. Surrounded by a patch of red, the blue flag danced in the wind. This shocking photo became one of the classic shots in the history of the Premier League many years later.
Although the referee blew the whistle for the end of the game, the stormy impact of the game had just begun. At the post-match press conference that day, the reporters who arrived completely crowded Liverpool's press conference. Although Lao Lei did not arrive at the scene, he was undoubtedly the protagonist of the press conference. Almost every question. It's all about him, around what he did at Anfield.
Rather than winning or losing, reporters are more concerned about the views of the managers and captains of both sides on what Lao Lei did. on this. While expressing their frustration and apologies to the fans, the Liverpool side naturally criticized Lao Lei. What Lao Lei did was almost sitting on top of their heads and. In the face of such a situation, even a person with a good temper will be angry.
However, Mourinho and John Terry on the Chelsea side are naturally on the side of maintaining the old Ray. Mourinho, in particular, faced with Benitez's evaluation of Lao Lei as "rude". directly sarcastically replied: "Reimama has gone too far? I don't think so, he just did what a man should do. As for Liverpool, I think they have time to protest here. It's better to think about how to save yourself. Like a little girl, chirping crookedly after failure, you can't help them. If, after they defeat us. If you do these things. I'm certainly not going to beg for public sympathy like a woman here. This statement proves that Benitez is really not Mourinho's opponent. At the press conference, he was almost directly angry with Mourinho.
After the press conference, Ray and the Chelsea squad were on a bus to leave Anfield when they were disrupted by extreme Liverpool fans. They blocked the road and cursed at the Chelsea buses. Red-faced, as if he wanted to teach Chelsea a lesson. This also caused a certain amount of commotion. Had it not been for the timely arrival of the police, violent clashes might have erupted. This incident also attracted the attention of the FA after the game, and the Liverpool fans who caused the disturbance were banned from watching three Liverpool home games.
Although on the ground in Liverpool, Chelsea have been treated with hostility. But back in London, they were greeted heroically by Chelsea fans. Among them, Lao Lei got the biggest cheers. Unlike the mixed reception across England for the game, Chelsea fans expressed their full support for the team and Ray. In this game, Chelsea faced the table of a top giant like Liverpool, which drove them crazy. In the past, they could only watch Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal write grievances and start the top competition of the Premier League as spectators.
But now, they have beaten Manchester United one after another and humiliated Liverpool. This kind of performance makes Chelsea fans feel the happiness of being fans of a top team. It's too late for them to be happy, and they don't have the time to care if their players are doing too much. And if possible, they would like their team to trample on Manchester United's giants under their feet.
In the days that followed, the discussion about the match intensified, spreading from England to the whole of Europe and even the world. Among them, Lao Lei has become the focus of all discussions. Although he was eventually sent off with a red card, it did not prevent him from becoming the brightest star of the game. Taking advantage of this turmoil, what he did on the field before was dug up by the media again without getting tired of it. Lao Lei's first impression as a superstar began to penetrate into the hearts of fans all over the world. Although some people don't like it, Lao Lei has won the popularity of the vast majority of adolescent fans who are rebellious fans. Around the world, fan organizations about Lao Lei began to appear like bamboo shoots after the rain. As a result of this, a phrase began to circulate in the fan group about Lao Lei, "Never try to provoke Raimaya!" ”
Of course, in addition, the games that should be banned still have to be banned. Although Liverpool appealed for the FA to increase the number of stoppages of the club, the appeal was quickly dismissed. Lao Lei is now a big weapon to increase ratings, the British football team will never get along with money, and it is enough for Lao Lei to be banned for one game according to the rules. At this time, Liverpool not only took advantage, but attracted the ridicule of some sworn enemies.
Among them, Sir Alex Ferguson was active, saying: "I didn't expect it to degenerate to this point. After losing the game, they can only hope that the FA will help them get back a little bit of the field. Liverpool like this is not an opponent we need to consider. I am even ashamed that they are our mortal enemies. In this way, it is not spicy. In this way, whether on the field or off the field, Liverpool, which had a bad start, began to enter a more severe period.
Three days after the Liverpool game, Chelsea are on the verge of playing their first Champions League group stage of the season at Stamford Bridge. They will be on their home turf and will be challenged by CSKA Moscow. In this game, Mourinho originally wanted to give Lao Lei a rest. But considering Lao Lei's ban, he waved his hand and put Lao Lei on the starting list.
The biggest advantage of Russian teams in the Champions League has never been their overall strength or stars, but their biggest advantage is the advantage of the icy weather at their home stadium. So for other teams, when the Russian team comes to home, that's when they get the points. Faced with such an opponent, Mourinho put out a starting lineup that allowed Lao Lei to lead all substitutes. For Jose Mourinho, Chelsea's strong bench and veteran Ray were more than enough to cope with this game.
And that's how the game actually progressed. Chelsea's thick bench, at this time, finally showed its strength. Although it is a substitute, the effect of the players on the field is not bad at all. Although it is a little worse than the main force, CSKA Moscow is already more than enough.
To the cheers of Stamford Bridge, the game fell into the hands of Sao Ray and Chelsea from the start. Chelsea's ball-possession tactics are to exhaust the strong men of CSKA Moscow, like marionettes, completely controlled by Lao Lei in the palm of his hand. Lao Lei, who continued his strong form all the time, made the atmosphere at Stamford Bridge completely hot after just six minutes of the game.
Cutting forward to the front court and receiving a long pass from Thiago, Ray played a skillful one-two with Cole. Taking advantage of the slow turning of the Russian defenders, Lao Lei, who took the ball with his back at the front of the penalty area, knocked the ball with his back without looking at people, and found Kezman who stepped forward in time in the penalty area. The top scorer of the Eredivisie, in the face of such a good opportunity, naturally will not miss it, stabbing the shot, directly connecting the two goals. The football rolled from the crotch of the CSKA Moscow goalkeeper into the gate behind him.
“GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL!!! Kezman! Kezhman!! With a calm shot, he lived up to Remaia's magician-like pass. Ah, watching at Stamford Bridge now is a treat for Chelsea fans. For Chelsea fans, they are getting used to seeing Remaier's wonderful face in this stadium. ”
After taking the lead, the game entered Chelsea's rhythm more thoroughly, and under the command of Lao Lei, Chelsea launched a tidal wave of attacks, leaving CSKA Moscow without any fighting back. In this game, Lao Lei did not have a strong desire to attack, he took on the role of director behind the scenes, using his dispatch to guide the whole Chelsea team.
Under his organisation, the possession rate of the entire Chelsea team even reached a terrifying 80% at one point. In such circumstances, the atmosphere at Stamford Bridge has been on fire and Chelsea fans have enjoyed a perfect attacking feast.
The match ended with Chelsea beating CSKA Moscow 3-0 at home. Grant and Kerr scored the second and third goals respectively. In these two attacks, although Lao Lei did not have a similar table of direct assists. However, no one will ignore his role.
Just like what the Chelsea commentator said in the 80th minute of the second half, when Lao Lei was replaced by Jose Mourinho.
"121 touches of the ball, he controlled the game!" (To be continued......)