Thanks for the reward of "Death of the Thief"! ――

15 May 2002, Hampton Park, Glasgow, Scotland, home of the Scottish national team and home of Queen's Park (non-QPR).

It's no secret that there is a national conflict between England and Scotland, and it is natural that England despises Scotland in football, and it is ironic today that Scotland won the right to host this season's Champions League final, but in the end it was the two teams from England who were open to perform here.

When Aldridge came to the stage of the Champions League final for the fourth time, he was very calm, relaxed, and even had an arrogance to conquer, of course, this is his inner mental activity, he will not declare it, he will not laugh when the game does not start, as if the game has been won.

He was sitting in the dressing room, with no one else around, all the preparations that needed to be done were done, and he now had time to think about other things.

After the Champions League final, he needs to have a formal conversation with Jurgen Klinsmann.

After this game, Millwall's 01-02 season is over, which means that the club's one-season cycle is over, Aldridge intends to let Klinsmann take over his position next season, and at the same time, he will complete his contract with the FA after leading the national team to play the World Cup, and then, he is at ease as a club owner, so that he has more time, can do a lot of things he is willing to do but did not have time to do before, and can personally plan Millwall's long-term development and construction. Or travel the world with your family to the places where Earl & Bert is excited to be there after seeing the photos.

Millwall's players returned to the dressing room after warming up before the game. Southgate, who was dressed in a suit, also walked in. He's going to cheer the team up.

Aldridge looked at Nedved first. Eyes were asking him, and Nedved nodded firmly, without the slightest hesitation.

Ronaldo and Thierry Henry recovered from injury before the final league game and had no problems training with the team, which was a minor injury in their own right, while Nedved, although not seriously injured, had only returned to training two days earlier, and Aldridge had fulfilled his promise. Let him play in this game and start him.

Looking around at the players, Aldridge said calmly: "After this game, our season is over, of course, many of you have to go to Asia to participate in the World Cup." There was a beginning and an end, and before the season started, we were aiming for the title and in the end, we got the league. League Cup, FA Cup three titles. We have swept all the trophies in England, and the last game left is today, the Champions League final, I don't need to say more, you know this season, I couldn't be more satisfied with you, you deserve the title, you should take the trophy, but Manchester United will not raise their hands and surrender, Manchester United will not sit idly by and watch us take away the honor they have a chance to earn, so my only request to you is: to draw the best possible end to this season. In the future, people will remember that there is a team that won the league with an unbeaten record of 33 wins and 5 draws, a team that won all 17 games in the Champions League, a team that trampled the German squad and La Liga giants under their feet, and a team that harvested seven championship trophies in 300 days, let's write the name of this team into history! ”

The players stared at Aldridge with burning eyes and nodded vigorously, they couldn't ask for more than a perfect season, not only unbeaten in the league, but also more than 80 games unbeaten on all fronts!

And won all 16 games in the Champions League!

As long as they win the game in regulation time today, they will also create a Champions League myth, winning all 17 games in the Champions League this season!

Aldridge walked out of the locker room and the rest of the time, the team will mobilize themselves.

After he walked out of the player's tunnel and came to the stadium, the camera locked on him, Millwall was radiant, Aldridge naturally contributed a lot, how many honors the team has won, he has a share, three consecutive years to the Champions League final, this is not something that can happen at any time, the last time, it was more than 25 years ago, and it is the same coach, plus in the past four years, Aldridge has won three Champions Leagues, and the young coach has become a totem at this time, a symbol of victory, and a unique alternative in the football circle.

Aldridge walked to shake hands with Ferguson, Ferguson's face was very heavy, in this game, Manchester United had a very obvious disadvantage, even the strongest Manchester United may not have done Millwall, and today, Ferguson suffered a similar situation as in 99.

There are two main players in the team who cannot play.

Beckham is one and Neville is the other, and United's entire attack on the right is completely useless.

The atmosphere was lively, with Millwall and Manchester United fans waving flags and cheering for their respective teams.

Players from both sides began to enter the field.

"The 2001-2001 European Champions Cup final is about to begin, this season to break into the final stage, the two teams that will fight against Glasgow Hampton Park are all from England, one is the Champions League champion Millwall in the past two seasons, the other is the Red Devils Manchester United, from the Champions League table in recent years, this is the meeting of the two strongest teams in the Champions League in recent years, 98 years, 2000, 2001, these three years are Millwall to win the Cup, and in the middle 99 years, Manchester United won the championship, Whoever wins the game today will be proud of England because teams from the Premier League have dominated Europe for five full years!

Unfortunately, neither side can send the strongest squad in today's summit matchup, and Manchester United's side is more affected, let's first take a look at Millwall's starting line-up, except for captain Southgate who is suspended due to a red card, the other main players are all on the field, and Ronaldinho, Thierry Henry, and Nedved who were rumored to be injured have also recovered in time.

Millwall started 433.

Goalkeeper: Bout.

Defenders: Schneider, Materazzi, Neil, Zambrotta.

Midfielders: Gattuso, Pirlo, Nedved.

Forwards: Larsson, Thierry Henry, Ronaldinho.

Neil started in place of Gareth Southgate, and the most senior player in the squad will not lack the overall chemistry and it is believed that he will be able to offset the impact of Southgate's absence to the fullest.

Manchester United's side. David Beckham is still recovering from his injury. He sat in the stands with his family today to watch the game. He also has his good friend Gary Neville by his side, who is also unable to play due to injury, and it is even more regrettable that Neville could miss the World Cup because of this.

Manchester United started 442.

Goalkeeper: Barthez.

Defenders: Phil Neville, Brown, Blank, Silvestre.

Midfielders: Butt, Keane. Veron, Giggs.

Forwards: Paul Scholes, Ruud van Nistelrooy.

From the point of view of squad strength, Manchester United is almost a remnant attack, this season's league back line is a mess, which is why Ferguson discharged Bart and Keane in this game, I don't know if Manchester United can withstand Millwall's strong offensive firepower, the game will start immediately, let's enjoy the final football feast of this season's European Champions Cup! ”

Why did Ferguson have a heavy expression?

Just look at this defence, a centre-back combination to be exact. Brown is injured and out of shape. Most of the time it was Gary Neville who played at central defender, while Blanc was a firefighter since the start of the season, and by the end of the season, Blanc was a year older, and the veteran who was 37 years old in half a year was really impossible to hope for.

Can Keane protect it alone? Obviously not enough, plus Bart multiple insurance.

Manchester United still have to attack after all, Ferguson wants to have Scholes in front and Kean Garbat in the back, so that he can share the pressure on Veron, and then focus on two directions, Giggs on the left and the middle and right? How can Manchester United have the capital to fully roll out the attack again? It would be nice to be able to defend well on the right side.

After the opening, Millwall pressed all over the line, offering their mature and high-pressure pressing that has played to the extreme this season, the pressing attack is very targeted, playing on the left side, with Xiao Luo as the local core, Zambrotta's defensive pressure is not great, so he unscrupulously assisted, Nedved deliberately pressed over to this side to assist, if Manchester United's heavy troops are transferred to this side, then the ball is transferred back and then Pirlo makes a global high offensive transfer, Millwall immediately gained the advantage on the field from the opening, Forcing Manchester United to struggle in defence.

Manchester United due to the hidden danger of the back line, players who pay attention to defense such as Keane, Bart, and Scholes, who is nominally a striker today, but is actually a central midfielder, do not dare to rush forward to press, for fear that they will not have time to fill the position, which makes Millwall easy in terms of organization and scheduling, Pirlo frequently carries out positional offensive transfers, and the master of organization passes are accurate and insightful, and he is very good at handling the shape on the field.

In the 7th minute, Pirlo dispatched, mainly attacking the right side, Larsson retreated to receive Pirlo's pass and did not wait for Giggs and Sylvester to force him, and quickly passed the ball to Henry, Henry felt that there was no room to play, Keane received it very close, and he returned the ball to Pirlo.

The dashing Pirlo didn't wait for Scholes to turn around and stand in his position, and then kicked the ball to Ronaldo, who also kicked the ball and knocked it to Nedved, who also kicked the ball and slashed it into the left flank.

The back-to-back kicks were so dazzling that the United defenders could barely find the north, Nedved's pass found a gap between Bart and Phil Neville, Zambrotta went down the edge and before Phil Neville got close, Zambrotta dribbled straight down and swept the ball towards goal with a powerful cross in front of the baseline.

Brown, who blocked the front point, felt someone behind him, yes, Henry!

Zambrotta's goal was almost like a shot, so powerful that Brown didn't have time to think, and subconsciously wanted to destroy the ball out of the bottom line, but the moment someone behind him grabbed a position with him, his outstretched leg touched the ball, and then, Brown and Manchester United goalkeeper Barthez watched in amazement as the ball refracted from the near corner of the goal!

Own goal!

"Wow! Own goal! Millwall took the lead, and the United defence made a mistake under the suffocating pressure of Millwall, Zambrotta crossed, and Brown actually touched the ball into his own goal! Brown tried to protest to the referee, he signaled Henry to make a small move behind his back, we found out through the slow motion replay, Henry did not have any side movements, he was going towards the ball, Brown's mistake was completely self-inflicted, in such an important game, he scored an own goal, poor Brown, hopefully he will not be affected by this mistake, but Manchester United are going to change their strategy, and now the score is behind. ”

Millwall's players gathered around Zambrotta to celebrate the lead, roaring wildly at the sideline cameras, waving their fists to show their might!

Aldridge crossed his arms around his chest and smiled, he could see that Ferguson actually had ideas about the shape of the game, not the result of the game, the result of the game, it must be to win, but in terms of the attitude of the game, Ferguson still hopes that Manchester United can lead the attack, otherwise, he will not go to Veron, but now it is not Manchester United who wants to attack or want to play defense, it is that they can't control the game at all, and they are completely passive!

The fourth crown, the third consecutive Champions League title, it seems that it is not far off, Aldridge thought so wonderfully. (To be continued......)