The Young Lion

The Parc des Princes stadium in Paris was full of seats, and the atmosphere in the stands was full of hustle and bustle.

In the dressing room of the visiting team, the Millwall players were ready to go, and everyone sat on the bench with their heads held high and their chests high.

Their eyes fixed on Aldridge, waiting for the last encouragement before the game.

Aldrich stood by the door with his hands in his pockets. The face of the heroic young commander Furui Fubo finally changed, softened and turned into a faint smile.

Almost three years ago, when most of you came to the team, David, Henrik, Pavel, Claude, Michael, Gareth, Bernd, Hans. Others I came to the team two years ago, maybe you don't know what I said to these seniors, I can repeat it, I say, your opponents are Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool, which are famous in Europe, Three years have passed, we have conquered England, we have faced off with England's traditional giants several times, they are not terrible, we have proved through hard work that we are better than them! But this is not our end, today, I think Something fresh for all of you, where is our limit? Is it the European Cup Winners' Cup? No, or rather, our limit is not a trophy, it's history, and we want to leave a glorious chapter in the history of football , On the way forward, we will encounter a strong team like Paris Saint-Germain, which has entered the European semi-finals for five consecutive years. In the future, we may also encounter Milan, Real Madrid, German giant Bayern Munich, or other strong teams, but we The goal is not only to defeat them, absolutely not, it will not be that defeating a certain opponent means that we can stop, and we will continue to win. Until you can't play anymore, let's look back together , How many classic moments will we create in the journey we have traveled, and leave them for future generations to look up to, I am confident to do it. What about you?

The three team captains took the lead and shouted in unison: Yes!

Aldridge pulled his left hand out of his trouser pocket, opened the door of the locker room, and said with a faint smile: Crazy Lion, go ahead, the outside is your stage, and it's a game you should enjoy. Let the world know you, let every One game as the starting point of your legend, maintain this mentality, always, always, always. Don't be satisfied!

Snapped!

Snapped!

Snapped!

 …

Every stern-looking player walks out of the locker room and Aldridge's left hand gives a high five.

Aldridge closed his eyes to enjoy this moment. In today's game, he was full of excitement and enjoyment.

His promises to players are being kept.

into the Premier League,

Shaking the domination of the giants, now, they have come to the stage of the European war, the arena that makes the whole of Europe focus!

The previous games of the European Cup Winners' Cup were all small fights. But in the semi-finals it was completely different.

The two semi-finals were strong confrontations.

The other two teams fighting each other are La Liga giants Barcelona and Serie A Emerald Fiorentina.

Millwall is the new Premier League champion, and Paris Saint-Germain is the runner-up of last year's Ligue 1 and the defending champion of the European Cup Winners' Cup.

When it came to the semi-finals, the attention of the European Cup Winners Cup suddenly rose to countless levels.

So in fact, today's match against Paris Saint-Germain is the first tough battle for Millwall to officially enter the European stage. The previous knockout rounds were just bullying small fish and shrimp, and there is nothing to show off.

When the players walked onto the court, Aldridge was the last to come out of the player tunnel, when he saw the scene where the lights flickered all over the court. Standing on the sidelines with his head up and looking around the field, it was exactly the same as when he first stood at Anfield.

The home team coach Luis Fernandez came towards him. The two met in Auxerre last summer and exchanged football experience together, but they had no personal relationship. Unlike the other party and Wenger, they would sell Anelka to Wenger for 500,000 pounds.

Aldrich, I didn't expect that we would meet again here.

Fernandez held Aldrich's hand enthusiastically and smiled.

Aldridge shrugged and said with a smile: I didn't expect that either, I thought we would meet again in the Netherlands.

Fernandez laughed and said, But God only allows me and one of you to go to Rotterdam.

Then I can't wish you luck today.

Wish me luck!

Hehehe.

After exchanging pleasantries, the two parted. Aldrich walked slowly to the coach of the visiting team and stood still. His face changed, and he looked at the field solemnly and coldly, with fighting spirit intertwined in his eyes.

The first round of the 1996-1997 European Cup Winners' Cup semi-final is about to start at the Parc des Princes. The last champion Paris Saint-Germain is at home. They obviously have an advantage over Millwall, who played in Europe for the first time, but they still have to score. Now they are only ranked second in the league, but Millwall from the Premier League has been crowned the Premier League champion in five rounds in advance four days ago. Many people may not be familiar with the Millwall team. If you don’t care about England In terms of football, I may not have even heard of it a year ago, but they are indeed a strong team. They have set a record of 18 consecutive victories in the Premier League and 31 unbeaten league rounds so far. Perhaps many people do not believe it. Let this It was Aldrich Hall, who will soon turn 21, the coach who went from penniless to the European stage.

The commentator spent a long time introducing Aldridge. After all, Aldridge has created many unprecedented new records. Just because of his age, when he appears on the sidelines to command the team, it is definitely a shocking record.

When the game was about to start, the commentator began to introduce the starting lists of both sides.

Paris Saint-Germain played 442 here.

Goalkeeper: Rama.

Defenders: Fournier, N'Goti, Le Guin, Domi.

Midfielders: Guerin, Leroy, Coet, Lai.

Forwards: Loko, Leonardo.

From the point of view of the formation position, Paris Saint-Germain's midfielder is a big diamond, the midfielder Guelin, the front midfielder Rai, the left midfielder Coe, and the right midfielder Leroy.

It is not surprising that the two forwards are at the front, but their four-back system is different from the parallel position, with the central defender N'Gotti at the front. Le Guon lags behind, one intercepts in front, and the other destroys behind, which is obviously prepared for Millwall's good at playing through balls.

There were just two changes to Millwall's starting XI.

Goalkeeper: Bout.

Defenders: Schneider, Elguera. Southgate, Capdevila.

Midfield: Makelele, Ballack, Nedved.

Forwards: Larsson, Trezeguet, Shevchenko.

After the showdown between Stam and Aldridge. Aldridge made it clear to him: Since you have decided to leave, I must help the successor up for the sake of the team. Therefore, for the rest of the season, unless there is a shortage of people, you will be excluded from the squad.

Although Stam was dissatisfied. But he wanted to leave on his own initiative. Millwall is a young team. He should understand how hard it is to lack a main central defender. In order to prepare for the future, it is understandable for Aldridge to do so.

Everyone took a step back, Aldridge did not stop him from transferring, and Stam waited for the countdown to the opening of the transfer window.

So Aldridge chose to let Elguera take the position. Officially became Southgate's new partner. According to his qualifications, Materazzi should be in the position, but Materazzi is still a little edgy on the court. Aldridge chose the Spaniard who has been calm and prosperous in the past two years. Anyway, Materazzi will play a lot of times, and Materazzi understands this. He is not the kind of person who messes around. His strength is there, and everyone has a steelyard in their hearts. It's not that the head coach employs people based on preferences. If it is really based on preferences, then Materazzi is obviously the first choice.

As for Pirlo, in this kind of European away game, Aldridge will naturally have to defend first and then attack. It is not surprising that Ballack, who is more defensive, starts.

The referee blew the whistle to start the first half of the game, and the battle started quickly.

Paris Saint-Germain played a blitzkrieg as soon as they came up. The players were like motors with full power and started at full speed. After getting the ball in the frontcourt, Lai used his foot skills to deceive Ballack. After passing the opponent, he wanted to pass again. But Makelele, who was spied on by a viper, cut the ball precisely.

With lingering fear, Barak glanced at the eldest brother Ray in his thirties, Socrates' younger brother, a Brazilian, with really delicate skills at his feet, he was passed too easily just now.

Aldridge on the sidelines didn't mind Ballack being passed in the slightest.

Millwall has played invincible players in the Premier League, and finally met a team with a completely different style in the European competition. The boys also need to open their eyes and adapt.

French football is one of the representatives of the Latin faction in Europe. The Latin style has been established since the generation of Platini in the national team. There is also a Latin tradition in the league. Whole, free-spirited and cunning.

It's just that this style of football is still a bit overly dependent on stars, and it needs organization players with excellent foot skills to tear through the defensive loopholes. As long as Millwall adapts for a while, Aldridge firmly believes in his team, tough and concise team football. If the truth is lost to the opponent, what they lack is experience, and the heart of the big scene, they absolutely have it!

Paris Saint-Germain's offensive was fierce, but they won't score.

Like many teams that Millwall has encountered, they have a very reasonable formation when attacking, but often the offensive players run to the position in advance and stand dead. When the ball reaches their feet, they are already marked by the defensive players. , Most of the time it is necessary to rely on the player's one-on-one ability to open the gap.

Millwall's defensive formation was also in place. Trezeguet retreated to harass the opponent's midfielder. Larsson and Shevchenko retreated halfway to cut the opponent's full-back offensive formation. Walking in the half-court and Ballack formed a double-team against Ray. If Ray chose to break through one-on-one, Makelele, who formed a zone defense, would never give him a second chance to pass.

After playing for ten minutes, Paris Saint-Germain's offensive eased, and began to slow down the rhythm, passing and cutting cooperation by killing the opponent's patience.

It was their change of rhythm that made Millwall's players subconsciously rush forward, which directly led to the opening of the backcourt defense.

Legon made a big clearance in the backcourt, the ball landed at the feet of Leroy, he passed the ball straight to Ray, who took the ball with his back but wiped the ball with his foot, the ball changed slightly from Makelele rolled over at his feet, Leonardo retreated to take the ball with his back, took a step horizontally and then turned sharply. Southgate was not in a hurry to defend, but lowered his center of gravity to oppress the opponent's space.

Leonardo suddenly dribbled the ball to a stop. In this space, he passed the ball between Southgate's legs. Loko used an emergency stop and accelerated to run away from Elguera, just in time to respond. When it came to Leonardo's pass, half-turning to meet the ball was a push.

This shot was shot suddenly, neither stopping the ball nor turning around to shoot directly. Bout defended the near corner of the goal, but found that the ball was heading for the far corner. He immediately fell to the ground and threw it, but his fingertips touched When the ball didn't arrive, I watched helplessly as the ball hit the inside of the far post and bounced into the goal.

In the opening sixteen minutes, Paris Saint-Germain scored! It was Loko who made the contribution. He and Leonardo completed an exquisite cooperation. What a pleasing cooperation to shoot from the far corner of the goal! Paris Saint-Germain has taken a crucial step towards defending the title!

After losing the ball, Aldridge called Ballack in front of him, and said to him lightly: Don't put pressure on yourself, just play normally. Today, you should return to the defensive range deeper and cover our penalty area, and then tell Pavel that he know what to do.

Ballack nodded, returned to the court and talked to Nedved, who immediately understood.

Aldridge did not calculate in place.

The Latin players in the Paris Saint-Germain lineup have excellent personal abilities, and their ability to create opportunities one-on-one is stronger than the teams they have encountered before. Therefore, restricting Rai is not enough. In the second fight against Southgate and Elguera, Millwall may be in big trouble. Although it may not be successful every time, if you seize two or three opportunities in a game, it will be a disaster. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to the starting point to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my biggest motivation. Mobile phone users, please go to m. to read.) (m)