The English League Cup, each season, is the first title of the new year to be decided by the four major European leagues. It is also probably the most renamed cup in the world, with the change of sponsors over the years, the name of the cup has been changed to "Milk Cup", "Little Forest (British supermarket chain) Cup", "Rambello Cup", "Coca-Cola Cup", "Worthington Cup", etc., and the latest version is called "Carlin Cup". However, fans prefer to call the tournament the "Mickey Mouse Cup" to vividly sum up the awkward status of the tournament.

The League Cup, which was created in the 1960/61 season, was born out of a misfortune: the then-powerful league secretary Hadak tried to convince the top flight to reduce the number of teams involved, and in return for making up for the reduced fixtures, he proposed to add another League Cup in midweek; The proposal was also supported by the lower league teams, as there was only the FA Cup before, and the chance to draw a strong team and make a big ticket at the box office was basically the same as a lottery draw, and they also needed an extra chance to "draw".

In the end, the top flight refused to reduce the number of participating teams, but the Carabao Cup proposal was "greedily" accepted.

The first editions of the League Cup were rose-coloured: in the inaugural competition, Rotherham United of the old second division met Aston Villa of the top flight in the final; In the second session, the old Ding-level team Rochdale reached the final again. But gradually, the League Cup, which did not have the status of the FA Cup and the excitement of the top flight, became a chicken rib.

In order to add to the appeal of the Carabao Cup, the Carabao Cup was organised: in 1966, England decided to make the League Cup winners the same as the FA Cup winners. also enjoy the right to participate in European competitions; From 1967 onwards, the two-legged final was decided at Wembley Stadium, as was the FA Cup. The first League Cup final at Wembley in 1967 is still considered one of the best.

Even so, with most of the big teams refusing to field their first-team squad in the Carabao Cup, David Beckham and Paul Scholes made their debut in the 1994-1995 Carabao Cup. But judging from the fact that fans usually don't remember this, the status of the League Cup can be imagined.

The media said: "The League Cup final is just a matter of adding a little bit of headlines to the league at this stage, and who can afford the League Cup at the end of the season? ”

In detail, there have been quite a few events in the League Cup final in recent years: in 2001. Birmingham, who were still in the first division at the time, once dragged Liverpool all the way to the penalty shootout; In 2002, the humble Blackburn beat Tottenham; Last season, Middlesbrough, who had not won the title for more than 120 years, finally lifted the first trophy in the club's history at the Millennium Stadium.

If someone in Cardiff said to Myburgh fans that day, this trophy was just a "Mickey Mouse Cup". It would have been a beating, but the problem is as The Guardian put it: "It's much harder to remember the Carabao Cup final than the FA Cup final, which is often a milestone in English football." ”

But. Sir Moweney, chairman of the league committee, revealed on the 27th. This season's Carabao Cup attendance will be the highest in 28 years. And because the final was a clash between the old giants Liverpool and the new aristocratic Chelsea, it suddenly became a sweet spot: Benitez and Mourinho, two coaches from Spain and Portugal, who traditionally do not attach importance to domestic cup competitions, both hope to win their first trophy after landing in the Premier League and get the first golden key to open the hearts of fans.

Jose Mourinho is said to have booked a hotel in Cardiff four months ago, which is enough to show the Portuguese's confidence in reaching the Carabao Cup final. Indeed, the construction of Wembley Stadium has moved the game to Cardiff's Millennium Stadium for the past five years, and has also brought at least 8 million to 12 million yuan in peripheral income for each final. 40% of the turnover of the local hotel industry is driven by sports competitions.

However, this season could also be Cardiff, the Welsh capital's biggest football extravaganza. If the new Wembley stadium can be completed in time for next year. The FA Cup will definitely be moved back to Wembley, while the Carabao Cup remains to be decided. In addition, the Welsh FA is bidding to host the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup finals.

However, at least Mourinho can book a hotel for the Community Shield in August, as the Premier League's traditional opener will still take place in Cardiff.

In the League Cup final, Jonk was still unable to participate, and this was his first domestic ban.

However, this did not prevent Jonker from sitting in the stands as a spectator to watch the final.

Possession-minded Chelsea did not have a single three-legged pass in the first 20 minutes under Liverpool's compression, is this a 25-point lead over Liverpool in the league?

Yes, Chelsea were composed and in control after 20 minutes, the only problem was that one Drogba was easily controlled by Hyypia and Chelsea had no real goalscorer. "If Crespo is in ......" Sky TV's Andy. Gray exclaimed.

Chelsea could not afford to lose again, so in the second half, Mourinho played a front four; He himself was constantly cheering on the players on the sidelines.

Despite this, the game remained deadlocked, and even in the 74th minute, Steven Gerrard had a chance to extend the score for Liverpool, but unfortunately, the rumoured imminent transfer of the Liverpool captain poked the ball wide from a few yards from the goal line. In the 79th minute, Steven Gerrard changed the course of the game again when the Liverpool captain and two team-mates jumped up at the same time to get the ball into the back of the net without pressure from the Chelsea players!

The goal came so suddenly and unexpectedly that the fans were in an uproar, and Mourinho gestured to the Liverpool fans for boosing and was eventually sent off for the stands.

After 1-1, the game has become tough against Liverpool. The players began to get preoccupied, and in the second minute of extra time, Drogba received a throw-in from Johnson and slammed the ball near the goal line; Five minutes later, it was again a set-piece, and Kezman crashed the ball into the scuffle in the box. Although Nunez immediately took advantage of the chaos to score with a header, the score of 3-2 made it impossible to change the outcome of Chelsea's title.

The transfer rumours of Steven Gerrard, combined with Liverpool's old problem - set-piece defense, ultimately decided Liverpool's death. And after the game, Mr. Abramovich, who had already shelled out 278 million pounds, finally showed a relieved smile with Mr. Sahavi next to him.

Although Chelsea reversed Liverpool to win the first trophy of the Abou era, Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho was expelled for acting aggressively towards the crowd, and although the FA said it would not be held accountable, British journalists accused Jose Mourinho of having an unbalanced mentality while constantly staging soap operas.

British "Mirror" reporter Holt believes that the current Mourinho is not the calm and calm Jose that everyone was familiar with in the past, and he is constantly staging a soap opera. Although he won his first trophy, Mourinho is now even more angry than Sir Alex Ferguson and is as calculating as Arsene Wenger.

A few days earlier, Chelsea had lost to Barcelona in the Champions League, and after the game Mourinho accused Rijkaard of talking to the referee and the Spaniards laughed at him for making a fuss. In the Carabao Cup semi-final, he disputed Ferguson's exchange with the referee and shut up the Liverpool fans in the final, forcing the police to quell the commotion and protect him.

Speaking to the media, Mourinho once again reiterated British journalists, claiming that many people are eager to see Chelsea collapse and that "you calm down and put the pen back in your pockets". Ferguson may have beaten journalists in the past, but he wouldn't have said that beforehand, and Mourinho did.

Holt says God knows how Jose Mourinho will react after Chelsea's defeat, and that he is no longer the Mourinho he is no longer the same. Don't forget, this is just the lightest League Cup.

Jonk witnessed all this from the stands, the hard game, the crazy performance of the manager Mourinho, everything was on the surface, it was not an ordinary game, watching the team not be able to open up the situation for a long time, he really wanted to rush into the field, try to calm himself, to observe the game, a final, it also taught him a lot. (To be continued......)