Jagged Wings

Chapter 77 '10' at Highbury

"I think Bolton has no hope in this game. For them, the most wonderful moment is that they have the opportunity to play against the giants. Apart from that, don't think about anything, maybe be happy." Before the game The media who knew Arsenal's starting lineup said that Bolton was dead.

Although Bolton is not a weak team, their attention is all focused on the league. Now their points are the same as No.7 Newcastle, but the number of goals and goal difference is slightly worse. During this period, every game is You must do your best.

The top four in the league qualify for the UEFA Champions League, and the fifth to seventh qualify for the Europa League. Although the FA Cup champions also qualify for the Europa League, it is better to go step by step in the league from the perspective of Arsenal.

So Bolton's head coach said in an interview: "The FA Cup has been a great success so far. We will hold a learning attitude and wish Arsenal can go further."

He is already wishing Arsenal a promotion.

Even Wenger himself is full of confidence: "The strongest man is already in the team! Winning Bolton is no problem!"

But 90 minutes later, facing the score on the scoreboard, the background was the excited smiles of Bolton players.

After 90 minutes of fierce fighting, Bolton defeated Arsenal 1-0 at the Reebok Stadium at home.

The "learning" and "blessing" they announced before the game turned out to be deceptive lies, and they had no intention of giving up the game at all.However, Arsenal, who played with all the main players, seemed a little uncomfortable.

Arsenal itself did not adapt to playing this traditional British team, coupled with the inability of the main players to adapt to the rhythm, Arsenal eventually lost.

However, it is not a bad thing to lose the East and gain the Sangyu, and being out of the FA Cup is not a bad thing.Because in the coming February, Arsenal will play the Champions League knockout round. Being eliminated from the FA Cup at this time will allow Arsenal to focus instead.

Originally, Arsenal's bench was not thick enough, and it was a bit difficult to play rotation. In this case, Bolton made a choice for Wenger.

And on the other hand, the successive victories since the Christmas schedule have made the young players feel a little high, and this game is also an appropriate way to cool them down.

Think of it as a tuition fee.

Speaking of the Champions League, Wenger has to pay attention to it, because their opponent in the draw is-Real Madrid!

Speaking of which, Real Madrid has been a bit back in the past two years. The Galacticos have begun to age. Zidane even announced that he will retire after this year's World Cup.In the league, they were overwhelmed by Ronaldinho-led Barcelona.In the UEFA Champions League, he was eliminated in the knockout rounds year after year, which is not good for the past years.

As for Arsenal, the Premier League is still going on.

In the next four rounds of No.20 in the league, Wenger did not let the team rotate, but continued to use this lineup.

Facts have proved that his change is correct. Arsenal's young players were stimulated by the game. Arsenal finally defeated West Ham United 3:2 at their home court.

Unbeaten in 16 home games.

In this game, Reyes had no assists or goals, but he made two goals directly. One goal was caused by his shot and the goalkeeper let go, allowing his teammates to score; the other goal was a penalty kick made by him. Penalized by Henry.

The media have already formed a "habit" of this kind of victory at home for Arsenal. After the game, they were listless. It seems that Arsenal's victory is no longer news.

The next league match was scheduled two days later and Arsenal had to send out rotation players.

Of course, there is also good news for this game. The players participating in the Africa Cup of Nations have finished their journey and returned to Arsenal. Because time is too tight, Arsenal has no time to hold any "welcome ceremony" for the players. After practicing together a few times, they were all included in the competition list.

Among them, both Adebayor and Diaby entered the starting lineup.

Togo striker Bam Adebayor, who played for Arsenal for the first time, looked very excited, and Senderos returned to the team and performed well.Arsenal took the lead in the 21st minute. Cesc Fabregas made a cross from the right, Henry made a direct pass to the right of the penalty area, Diaby made a pass near the baseline, the opposing defender tried to clear but flew towards the goal, but the goalkeeper reacted quickly and sent the ball away Blocked, but Adebayor, who kept up with him, headed into the net from 6 yards in front of the goal.

The two newly joined players teamed up to create this goal.

In the end, in the second half, Arsenal assisted Henry and scored a goal, helping Arsenal beat Birmingham 2-0 away.

Wenger was also full of praise for Adebayor's performance after the game: "Today is a very good start for Adebayor's Arsenal career. He has good skills, physical strength, and added height to our lineup. You Today you can see him making a difference in the game.

In the next Premier League match, Arsenal hosted Bolton, who had just eliminated themselves in the FA Cup.

It is very commemorative that before the game, a large calendar was hung under the score board of Highbury Stadium, with a bright red number on it: "10".

There is also a line of notes below: This is the penultimate 10th game at Highbury Stadium!
Of course, this "10 games" counts the three games in the Champions League knockout round. If Arsenal is eliminated by Real Madrid, then this number will become "8 games".

Every fan who enters Highbury Stadium can see that big number. When they walk past, they will raise their heads and stare at this number with their eyes, unwilling to move for a long time.

After ten games.Highbury Stadium will be retired.Construction has been completed on the new Emirates Stadium, which will be Arsenal's new home next season.

"Grandpa, Grandpa!" A seven or eight-year-old girl shook the arm of an old man and asked in confusion, "Isn't Highbury a great stadium? Why do we want to move the stadium?"

"Because he's too old." The grandfather touched his granddaughter's little head: "It's too old to hold more fans, so the new stadium will replace him."

"Will the Highbury Stadium still be there after that?" the granddaughter looked at her grandfather.

"No, there will never be a stadium like Highbury in the future!"

Grandpa stared at the big "10", and something was brewing in his eyes. He quietly lowered his head and rubbed it, and took his granddaughter away.

Of course, the two sides of the game knew the meaning of the big "10". It lay there quietly and invisibly blessed the players with a "halo of fighting spirit".

During the game, the Arsenal team was full of fighting spirit. Relying on Adebayor's outstanding performance in two games and two goals, they defeated Bolton 2:1 at home and avenged their elimination in the FA Cup.

Of course, this is also the consequence of Bolton sacrificing his main players to play in the FA Cup.After this game, the gap between them and Newcastle was widened to three points, and the Europa League situation is not good.

Arsenal suffered another blow. Right back Lauren has a swollen knee and is expected to miss a month.There is a saying that misfortunes never come singly. Another bad news is that the main midfielder Gilberto will also be absent for a period of time due to a calf injury.

Reyes was also shoveled by the opponent's defender in this game. Fortunately, it was not serious. A week of rest is enough to catch up with the game against Real Madrid.But the game against Liverpool will be missed.

In this case, plus Van Persie and Cole who were injured before, Arsenal's already thin lineup has four generals who cannot play, which has a great impact on them!

Under such circumstances, Arsenal ushered in Liverpool. This is a make-up match in the fourth round of the Premier League, and it is also Arsenal's last game before playing against Real Madrid.After this away game against Liverpool, Arsenal will head to Spain to challenge Real Madrid as a guest at the Bernabeu.

The two games are separated by a week, and everyone wants to achieve a good result in this game and cheer for the game against Real Madrid.

Of course, Liverpool also have European missions.As the defending champions, their qualification for this European war is quite dramatic.Although Liverpool won the Champions League, they did not perform well in the league and did not qualify for the Champions League.It is unacceptable that the Champions League champion of the previous year cannot participate in the Champions League next year.

This kind of thing happened in Spain before. Real Madrid won the Champions League, failed to reach the top four in the league, and then played for the fourth-placed team in the Champions League.

So in the second year, UEFA hoped that the Premier League clubs would solve it on their own, let the fourth-ranked Everton carry forward their style, and give up the Champions League seat to Liverpool, but how could Everton hand over the qualifications they worked so hard to get? What about people?They flatly refused!
There is no way, UEFA can only temporarily change the regulations and issue a wild card to Liverpool, allowing them to start from the first round of the Champions League qualifying round.This year's Champions League, there are five Premier League teams participating in the Champions League.

But the funny thing is that Liverpool, who played from the first round, finally entered the main match, while Everton, who only needed to participate in the final third qualifying round, met Villarreal and lost, losing five Premier League goals The opportunity for the team to participate in the UEFA Champions League at the same time.
Of course, Liverpool still has punitive measures.Entering the group stage, they were deprived of the qualification to avoid playing against teams from the same country, and were placed in a group with Chelsea, but in the end they beat the Blues to qualify for the first place in the group.

Liverpool's draw opponent in the knockout round is Portugal's strong team Benfica. Among all the Champions League knockout teams, Benfica is not a strong team, so everyone thinks that Liverpool has drawn a good lottery.

So they will have more energy to put into the league.Now in the league, Chelsea is first, Arsenal is second, Manchester United is third, and Liverpool is fourth behind Manchester United, but they are very energetic, only one point behind Manchester United, so now they are one. points must be contested.

Under the training of Benitez, Liverpool showed a stronger combat effectiveness, and they showed the trend of revival of the Liverpool dynasty.Liverpool has performed well this season. They have not lost the slightest advantage against strong teams, and they will never lose the points they deserve against weak teams.

(End of this chapter)