An uncompetitive league cannot produce an absolute powerhouse in continental football, and a club without fierce internal competition will find it difficult to reach the top, let alone dominate.

Millwall is very strong, this is the intuitive impression of the outside world, but in Aldrich's view, in order to make Millwall strong, it is necessary to intensify internal competition, to make Henry, Ronaldo, Nedved, Pirlo and other absolute main forces have a sense of crisis, they not only have to defeat all strong enemies externally, internally, but also defend their position and meet the challenge of newcomers.

Therefore, after the main framework of the Millwall first team has been stabilized and reached a certain level of strong strength, Aldridge's focus has begun to shift, training and developing rookies, which seems to be a rainy day, but its purpose is by no means to cultivate a successor, or a regular rotation of strong substitutes, or a surprise soldier in case of emergency, he needs young players like Alonso, Villa, Barzagli, Ashley Cole, etc. to grow up quickly, giving pressure and urgency to the main members of the first team.

Don't slack off, if you slack off, they will be replaced by newcomers!

Natural selection, survival of the fittest, this is the law of the entire world, in the football circle, of course.

In the match against Feyenoord, Aldridge has seen the potential shown by these young players, and has begun to turn their talent into real strength bit by bit, which is a very good phenomenon.

1:2

Feyenoord lagged behind.

Millwall substitutions.

The youth army was able to take the lead at 70 minutes, and Aldridge was very relieved, now. He couldn't have asked for more. Joaquin and Vicente went straight up and down the flank, and they were close to running out of gas. Joe Cole is everywhere in midfield and has reached the end of his game.

At this time, Aldridge has to play his role as a head coach and help this group of young troops to hold on to what they see as a precious victory.

Glen Char, Van der Meyde, and Gattuso were all in the field.

Millwall changed to 4213, with Gattuso and Pedreti forming a double midfield, and Alonso in central midfield. The bilateral front and Villa attacked the city.

When Vicente, Joaquín, and Joe Cole came off the court, Aldridge took the initiative to get up and hug the three separately.

Feyenoord's men have been on a near-irrational rampage and would be laughed upon if they lose at home to Millwall, a team that should be called a two-team team.

The rise of stars on the green field is always accompanied by the fall of one enemy after another, becoming the background to set off the glory of the winner.

With Gattuso to strengthen the central defence, despite Feyenoord's fierce attack. But it is getting farther and farther away from breaking the door.

In the 83rd minute, Glenschal received a long pass from Van der Meyde's right on the left flank. Facing Feyenoord at the back, he took the ball on a long run and slotted into the box under cover for Villa's run, before slotting home Millwall's third goal with a blast from the goalkeeper.

1：3

Millwall sealed the win.

When the full-time whistle blew, Millwall's youth team jumped and jumped with excitement, what was supposed to be an inconsequential match, but for them, perhaps a career milestone!

After the game, the media took the trouble to take their seats for this group of young soldiers and began to give them the nickname of XX II, but Millwall, from the club to the fans, everyone did not care about the public opinion of the game, and their eyes were on the draw for the top 8!

At the draw ceremony, when the name of Millwall was drawn with the symbol VS between the name of the other team, the picture was frozen in a heart-shaking moment.

Bayern Munich vs Millwall

"The Champions League showdown is staged in advance!"

This was the headline of almost all the media the day after the draw results came out.

In this season, the two teams recognized as the strongest in the entire European football world met in the quarter-finals ahead of schedule!

Millwall are the favourites to win the tournament and are ranked first.

Bayern Munich are the second favourites to win the title, close behind.

Even if Bayern Munich hated Camp Nou last season, Bayern Munich and Millwall still left Manchester United, Real Madrid and other giants behind this season.

Although Millwall did not face a strong opponent in the two group games, they were the favourites to win the title because of their unimaginable performances in the league, while Bayern Munich, although it was not surprising that they dominated the league in the league, they were strong enough to advance in the Champions League, such as the 8-3 aggregate win over Real Madrid in the group stage.

(Original history: Bayern was challenged by Bayer Leverkusen in the league this season, and the competition was stalemate, but because Leverkusen lacked Bout, Schneider, Ballack and other important figures in this book, the record was affected.) ）

In the countless taverns along the Thames, all the fans in Millwall cheered when they were the first to get the news of the draw!

A year ago, the defeat to Munich, the Lions were all unwilling, from the players to the fans, everyone wanted to play Bayern Munich again, if possible, they really wanted Millwall to participate in the Bundesliga and kick Bayern Munich from the Bundesliga position.

Early on Friday morning, Aldridge arrived at the training ground to start a new day.

Now, the players are no longer particularly excited about going to the Champions League and talk about their opponents in training.

They were accustomed to facing all enemies with a calm heart, but today, a hint of something unusual was spreading within the team.

The players were silent during training, their expressions were serious and focused, as if they were all new to the team, they didn't dare to joke, they didn't dare to gossip, and they tried to be a "good player" in the eyes of a coach.

Aldridge is a lot like saying thank you to UEFA.

Thank you so much!

Drew us together with Bayern Munich.

He was originally struggling with how to keep the team motivated, and not be mentally slack because of the huge advantage in the league.

As soon as the results of the UEFA quarterfinals draw came out, it was like a doping injection for the entire Millwall team.

At this time, the creator of the only European defeat in the history of Millwall Club, Bayern Munich!

It couldn't be better!

"It seems that everyone has not forgotten last year's game."

Klinsmann stood beside Aldrich and sighed.

Experienced in a hundred battles, he naturally has the memory of losing until the day he died.

But. can make a team. Everyone was unanimous in their memories of the loss. From another point of view, Bayern Munich is also quite awesome.

"At this point in time, among the top 8 opponents, the best one is Bayern Munich, hehe, it's really lucky."

"Do you think the draw to Bayern Munich is the best result? They are favourites. ”

Klinsmann looked surprised.

Aldrich smiled and didn't explain.

Success in defending the league title is within reach, and if they don't get a must-win opponent in the quarter-finals, Millwall are likely to be demoralised before the Champions League semi-finals begin. And at that time, it was too difficult to mobilize again, just like a person who was already sleepy began to squint his eyes, and no matter how hard he tried to cheer up, he was just struggling with his eyelids.

In the afternoon, Aldridge called Nedved and Ronaldinho to talk for a long time.

In order to prepare for Bayern Munich, this time, Aldridge needs to strike first.

In fact, before last year's encounter with Bayern Munich, Millwall was in a stage where they should change their posture in time.

Before, they were dark horses. Opponents they encounter, regardless of their strength or weakness, will treat them as if they were a meal on their plates. Aldridge's moves have always worked very well.

But when playing Bayern Munich, Heathfield lowered his posture and let Millwall make a move, Bayern Munich took the lead, Millwall, or Ordrich, he was a little uncomfortable, used to cracking the opponent, and how to adjust after being cracked by the opponent, he was not fully prepared.

But this year, Aldridge has been quickly making up for the shortcomings of his coaching ability, so he always expects his opponent to cause problems for him, just like playing chess, he always hopes that the opponent can break the game, so as to hone himself.

Millwall will host Leeds United at home in the league at the weekend.

O'Reilly, who was high-profile and imposing before the two teams met in the first half of the season, is now too low-key to be low-key.

Victory over Millwall?

This possibility is never mentioned.

Dealing with the media with a diplomatic rhetoric such as the team will give it their all and the players will be happy as long as they do their best.

Aldridge gave the opponent an 8-0 a few months ago, and now he is not showing off, and he said lightly that it is just an ordinary league game.

Millwall are only waiting to announce the league title, but Leeds United are still in a fierce competition.

At the top two of the standings, Millwall pulled third place Arsenal by more than 20 points, and Manchester United also surpassed Arsenal by more than 10 points, first, second, third, divided into three grades, and the difference between third and sixth places is within six points of two games.

Arsenal, Leeds United, Liverpool, Chelsea, the Final Four, oh wrong, it's the Final Four that comes with a Champions League qualifier spot.

With only seven rounds left in the league, these four teams will fall behind if they are not careful.

The good news for Leeds is that they are not at least sixth, but fourth, and even if they lose, they will not fall into the situation of a catch-up.

Aldridge welcomed O'Reilly and his team at the Lion's Den Stadium over the weekend.

Millwall sent their full squad to play today, regardless of the upcoming Champions League quarter-finals, and the first leg was still a guest.

"Millwall started in a strange formation today, Andy, did you notice?"

"There's no change in the main force, do you mean Millwall should be on the bench?"

'No, I mean, Ronaldinho was in the midfield position and Nedved went to play as a left winger.

'Maybe it's just a reversal, Millwall attacking players do that a lot of times, shifting shapes.'

'No, no, Ronaldinho has been in the midfield for 20 minutes since the start of the game, he hasn't been on the wing.

"But it looks like it's working well."

There is a big gap between playing on the flanks and playing in the middle.

Therefore, many players can only play on the wing, because playing on the wing can ignore one side, and when one-on-one, you only need to consider the defenders on this side of the field.

In the middle, in all directions, if you want to break through one-on-one or control the ball firmly, the area that needs to be observed will become larger, and the requirements for ability will become higher.

Xiao Luo can play in the front midfield, today can not be said to be the first time to play, because he often switched positions with Nedved in previous games, creating a threat in the front area, today, Aldridge fixed him in the forward position, not hoping that Xiao Luo will break through in the middle, he needs Xiao Luo to play more creativity in this area!

And this hand is specifically against Bayern Munich! (To be continued......)