There is a dream called football

Chapter 435 Expedition to Portugal

"I know where we are now, I'm not worried about it at all, we will beat Arsenal and reach the last 16 of the Champions League."

It was Porto's coach Ferreira who said this. He seemed full of confidence, because the gap between Porto and Arsenal in the last round was one point. If there was a tie, Arsenal would advance, and the only option for Porto to advance was to beat Arsenal.

It's not easy. At this time, Arsenal's state has improved a little bit, Henry has fully recovered, and they have already caught up to the third position in the league.

On the other hand, Ferreira certainly has his own advantages, that is, the final battle with Arsenal is at Porto's home court, the Dragon Stadium.

It is not impossible to overthrow the opponent with the advantage of the home court, so Ferreira will speak big before the game.

On the other hand, Wenger has also made a lot of preparations for this. He has done a lot of rotations in the league, such as Li Qiao, Henry, Xiaofa, and Rosicky are all on the bench.

For Li Qiao, sitting on the bench is very uncomfortable, because Arsenal's bench depth is actually not that strong. As long as they are not injured, they are basically full-time, and Wenger will not rotate frequently.

So Li Qiao seldom sits on the bench. He joked to Van Persie next to him: "Robin, I'm not used to sitting on the bench. You often sit on the bench. Can you teach me some experience?"

"Hehe, last season, it might be okay, but I'm sorry, now I'm the same as you, I'm not used to sitting on the bench anymore."

"Haha."

But this is not bragging. The current situation is obvious. After Henry leaves, Van Persie must be the main force.

The league ended in a dull 0-0 game.

In an interview after the game, Wenger said with a smile: "I don't think I need to overstate the importance of the Champions League. My rotation in the league is for the Champions League next week, so those who want to criticize me, I have nothing to say."

"What doesn't pay attention to the league, what only pays attention to the Champions League, I have heard these words too much, so I don't care anymore."

Wenger was very rude to the media this time. His subordinates are so small, and it is impossible to form two sets of lineups like Chelsea, so the rotation is inevitable. Even this person who wants to criticize, he can only shrug his shoulders, expressing that it is ridiculous.

After the game, after a simple physical recovery the next day, the entire Arsenal team flew to Porto, where it must be a tough battle for Arsenal.

*****
Sunshine, sea breeze, Li Qiao found a familiar feeling. When he first came to Europe, Li Qiao spent the first years here, and also established his own football path.

Many players from South America landed in Europe, and the first stop was Portugal. That was because of the language relationship, and Li Qiao came to Portugal by chance.

But this is actually a good start. In Portugal, the league is not so intense. For newcomers, this is a good start for growth.

If a rookie goes directly to the five major leagues, he will probably be overwhelmed, because rookies will make mistakes, but in the five major leagues, it is generally difficult for teams to give you many opportunities to make mistakes.

And Porto is the place that can give Li Qiao the opportunity to grow, and at the same time tolerate Li Qiao's mistakes.

So Li Qiao has always been grateful to Porto, this is his second home, and Sosa is also his family.

On the bus, Li Qiao introduced his "second hometown" to Van Persie.

"Look over there, that steakhouse is the best."

"Look, that paella is the best."

"And over there, there are more delicious puddings. I used to eat them with my girlfriend."

Van Persie laughed, "You are really familiar with this place. I'm afraid you'll betray me. Promise me, don't secretly help Porto."

"Screw you."

When he came to the hotel, Li Qiao had better memories of the authentic Portuguese food. Although Portugal is not called the kingdom of food, the variety of food is much better than that of the UK. After all, the products here are relatively rich.

After enjoying the food, it’s time for training. Climate change has a great impact on the human body. This has been proved by experiments. Therefore, Wenger arranged relaxation training for the first training session. Everyone can play and play football as a handball. Everything is fine.

Now that Arsenal's defense has stabilized, Gallas has replaced Julu as a central defender.

This is cruel to Julu, and Julu's agent also requested to leave during the winter break, but Wenger has not agreed yet.

There is still a need to rotate substitutes in the league, so Julu's ability to play as a substitute is still possible, but the Swiss's expectation for his career is not just to play as a substitute, so he basically refused.

Wenger has not given up on this, he still hopes to keep Julu for half a season, but it is not easy.

Wenger patted Julu in training, "Son, we might win the Champions League again, keep it, your name will be engraved on the Champions League trophy forever."

Julu chuckled, "Head, I know, but I don't want to sit on the bench to win the championship. I know I'm not suitable for Arsenal, or I'm not suitable yet, so I want to go to a mid-range team to experience."

"So the burger is a better choice?"

Julu nodded, "Hamburg is very sincere about my invitation, and the Bundesliga is also a very competitive league. I think I can find what I need there."

"Can't it be changed?"

"Head, thank you for training me."

Wenger smiled and nodded, "Then I can only bless you."

But what Wenger was thinking was that the depth of the bench had decreased again, damn it.

*****
On the second day, after the training intensity was added, many people did not get used to it, and they had symptoms of dehydration. This was mainly because everyone's body was still adapting to the original cold climate.

Under such circumstances, you only need to add more water, and then reduce the amount of training to relieve it. It’s nothing, and it’s still adaptable to the players.

"The weather in Portugal is really cool for vacation, but for the competition, I still like the colder climate and get excited easily."

"Haha, there is no choice now, let's go to the competition, this is our only choice."

In the final battle, the body is secondary, and the most important thing is the mental state. This kind of competition has high requirements for resistance.

Since Wenger led the team, he has encountered many difficulties, so the professor still has full trust in his team.

"Dragon Stadium, here I come."

(End of this chapter)