After the second leg against Bayern, the first leg of the quarter-knockout match between Porto and Monaco will start in two weeks' time. In the meantime, Porto is back in the Portuguese Super League. At this time, due to the momentum of the team and the condition of the players is getting better and better, Porto is like a high-speed train at this time, entering its own track and entering its own rhythm.

However, due to the lack of bench thickness, Porto's main players still have some minor injuries, such as Kostiani's old right leg injury has recurred, and Alenichev's left ankle is also a small injury. Some others are also on the verge of injury and are very dangerous. Of course, this does not include Lao Lei, although his body is also a little tired, but it is not a big problem, just rest for a few days. But it's like a hidden danger hidden behind the brilliance, and I don't know when it will explode. Once there is a large number of injuries, Porto's bench will not be able to step up and provide enough help to the team, and then the seemingly beautiful Porto will immediately collapse.

In this case, Mourinho is also in the Portuguese Super League with a large rotation system. In the home game against Maritimo, Mourinho rotated most of his main players. This is also the current Porto in the standings, 9 points ahead of the second place Benfica, giving him confidence. In this game, Kosta, Kostiani, Alenichev and other big generals were all in the stands. On the field, the Porto lineup is also a semi-main lineup.

With such a lineup, Mourinho set up a 4-5-1 formation on the defensive counter-attack at the Dragons Stadium without the slightest burden of thought. This time, Maniche also made a cameo appearance in the midfield position. His previous brilliant performance in the midfield position gave Mourinho a lot of confidence. In fact, it is also the case, he and Lao Lei are paired with a double back. Giving Maritimo a huge blow to their attack, the absence of Costiani did not have a huge impact on Porto's defence. In the face of such a defense, Maritimo's attack and dribbling are difficult.

In the 23rd minute of the first half, Lao Lei went one-on-one, with an accurate card position, easily cut the ball off Maritimo's feet, and then immediately began to accelerate forward. Unfold Porto's counterattack. Although Maritimo's back line at this time was still very careful to stay in front of the penalty area in his half, so Lao Lei did not make a long pass. Without Maniche and Alenichev in the wing-back positions on both sides. Bigfoot long passes are much less threatening on the counter-attack.

In the midfield, Lao Lei, Maniche and Deco played a wonderful combination of continuous transposition and passing. Brought the ball out of the midfield of Maritimo. Lao Lei took the ball and pulled it to the left wing. Directly facing the right wing-back of Maritimo. The two men fought together on the flanks, and when they reached the edge of the Maritimo penalty area, Lao Lei suddenly slowed down significantly, causing Maritimo's right full-back to slow down and block.

At this time, Lao Lei's original Φ trick was staged again at the Dragon Stadium in Porto. When Maritimo's centre-back wondered where the football had gone, Lao Lei had already accelerated around him and regained control of the rolling football. Diagonally towards Maritimo's penalty area. The next thing was very simple, when Lao Lei dribbled the ball to the bottom line on the edge of the small penalty area. A knockback, giving the football to Deco at the top of the penalty area. Deco fired a pinpoint shot into the bottom right corner of the goal. At 1:0, Porto took the lead in breaking the deadlock on the field with a quick counterattack and a downside in possession and shots.

“GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL！！！ Standard Porto-style counterattack, fast and concise. Reima's Φ trick on the left flank against the opposition's right wing-back was the highlight of the counter-attack, and Anderson just had to easily push the ball through the door of Maritimo. From breaking the ball, to breaking through with the ball and assisting, Reima was the chief director of this counterattack. Perhaps, our Godzilla has very good artistic cells and has the potential to become an Oscar-winning director. Such a beautiful and wonderful counterattack is not common. While praising Lao Lei and others, the on-site commentary of Porto also teased Lao Lei a few words very easily. This caused a good-natured laugh from the Porto fans in the stands.

After this goal was scored, the general tone of the game was set. Unless Maritimo equalises, that rhythm won't change. When Maritimo had nothing to do with Porto's defence, in the 63rd minute of the second half, with the Maritimo army pressing. Lao Lei made a long pass with a big foot, and directly penetrated Maritimo's defense, McCarthy faced Maritimo's goalkeeper after getting the ball, and easily pushed it with a single knife, and the score expanded to 2:0. And this was the final score of the game, as Porto defeated the visiting Maritimo with two counter-attacks with a semi-main lineup at their home stadium.

This victory came without any dissent, and anyone could see it. Although Porto were behind in possession, it was Porto who actually controlled the situation on the pitch. However, in the post-match press conference, there was a small episode. Maritimo's manager blasted Mourinho's tactics at a press conference, accusing him of being anti-football, and as the head coach of Porto, he did not bring the concept of beautiful football to Porto. Even though Porto have scored a lot of goals this season, it can't hide the conservatism and pragmatism in their bones.

In the face of such questioning, Mourinho also responded unflinchingly: "I repeat it here. In my football philosophy, winning always comes first. I can make the team play good football, but I don't think that can bring victory and title to Porto. Unless one day the criterion for winning a football match becomes who plays more beautifully, I will never change my football philosophy. Also, I want to say a word. As a loser, but to pick and choose from the winning side, I have never heard of it. I don't think the people who lost to me and my team have any right to blame us. Aside from age, I don't see anyone like this who has any right to accuse us. If the front of these words is still defending his football philosophy, then the latter words are almost pointing at the nose of the manager of Maritimo, saying that he is incapable and can only rely on the old and sell the old. With Mourinho's answer, the press conference naturally ended in an atmosphere full of gunpowder.

In the newspaper the next day, Mourinho's remarks caused a lot of controversy. Traditionally, when a team has the strength to win championships and wins, they will always ask for more. And in terms of playing style, it becomes more beautiful, which is the most common one. And Mourinho's words almost blocked his way to play beautiful football. Unless the team he coaches has the strength to play beautiful football and win, he will never play beautiful football.

Such blatant pragmatism has provoked attacks from the attacking football school in Portugal, who have accused Mourinho of undermining the tradition of Portuguese football, and some have even called for Porto to sack Mourinho. However, this was naturally not recognized by Porto's top management, and Porto even held a special press conference to publicly express their support for Mourinho and his tactics. Porto's top brass have simply shrugged off those who have called for Mourinho's dismissal. Heart said, dismiss Mourinho? You're hilarious. Sack Mourinho, who will lead Porto forward, do you have the ability? The attitude of the top brass of Porto is also the most normal attitude, and when it comes to bread and spiritual pursuits, people tend to choose bread. Most of those who choose spiritual pursuits do not eat bread and eat beef, and a small number of them are so-called literary and artistic youths. In world football, the current Real Madrid is such a literary and artistic youth, it has this qualification, while Porto does not have this qualification.

Although the discussion is not over, it does not affect Porto at all. The team is still training and preparing as usual, and there has been no movement. After the league game in Maritimo, Porto are going to play Setúbal away. Mourinho's rotation was more thorough in this game, with Porto's starting line-up almost exclusively brought in from the bench and the second team. Lao Lei and others stayed at the training base in Porto, preparing to prepare for the first leg of the 1/4 knockout match with Monaco. Due to Monaco's advantage in European points in the past, Monaco is the first to play away and then the home. In this way, Lao Lei's main force also stayed in Porto directly, waiting for the game to start, saving the back and forth before the game.

The result of this league match with Setúbal was a surprise for Mourinho. Originally, Mourinho was ready to lose away, but this Porto II team used their tenacious will to keep a draw away from home, making Setúbal's entire 90 minutes of furious attack useless. This may be the soaring progress of Porto on all fronts this season, which has boosted the morale of these players who cannot play often, hoping to play well in front of Mourinho and get more opportunities to play. However, in any case, Mourinho spoke to reporters after the game and highly praised all the Porto players on the pitch, saying that they played the spirit that Porto should have.

After a slightly unexpected draw, the Porto team, who returned to Porto, began to prepare for Monaco. The two teams of Porto and Monaco are very similar to the outside world, the same young coach, the same Champions League dark horse. The outside world also put a gimmick on this game, the battle of the young marshal, and the battle of the dark horse.

However, when it comes to predicting the outcome, the outside world is generally overwhelmingly bullish on Porto. In the eyes of the mainstream media, Monaco's dark horse quality is undoubtedly much lower than Porto's. Cheng Dù, who reached the top 8 of the Champions League, luck helped them a lot.

However, Monaco themselves did not share the views of the outside world, and when they stepped off the plane, their captain Evra said bluntly in an interview with reporters: "We are only here to win." If predictions can determine the outcome of the game, what do we need to do? (To be continued......)