The Young Lion

This season's UEFA Champions League group stage will be followed by the quarter-finals. There will be a draw for divisions. There will be no avoidance of teams from the same country, and there will be no group winners against group runners. After all, six teams will qualify first in the group.

The three German teams advanced strongly, but the draw was a tragedy. They were all in one and a half zones, plus one Real Madrid.

Millwall and Juventus, Manchester United and Monaco, the four teams are in the same half.

The situation in the two halves is evenly matched. If you want to reach the final, you will inevitably encounter a fierce battle. Millwall will play the Champions League champion two years ago, and Juventus, the runner-up last season, only listen to Juventus in the Champions League in the past two years You will know how powerful this opponent is!

At the pre-match press conference, Fleet Street was rather pessimistic, thinking that Millwall's luck was at home. Facing the thriving Juventus, the hope of advancing was very slim.

From player strength to coaching level, Juventus' advantages are obvious. Although Aldridge is highly praised, he really can't compare with Lippi, a famous coach who has won the Champions League and dominated Serie A.

Smoke bombs were set off in the final of the League Cup, and in addition to the psychological warfare in the league before, Aldridge came to the Champions League with a low-key and pragmatic attitude. At the press conference, even if the Italian media had the momentum Ask him about his goals for the game, and compare the strength gap between the two teams.

Aldridge admitted frankly: Juventus is a giant club in Italy. First of all, they have a great coach. I am envious of Coach Lippi's achievements. Juventus' lineup is also extremely strong. , The achievements in the Champions League are brilliant. You think Millwall is weaker than Juventus. I don’t refute. In fact, there is indeed a gap between us and Juventus. Juventus is stronger in terms of player ability and experience. If I emphasize that Millwall is stronger than the opponent or on the same level, I am afraid that fans all over the world will think that I am too arrogant. However, football games are often not always won by the strong. If Millwall wants to advance, he must first Show the courage and determination to advance to the death! My players are eager for honor. In front of the European Champions Cup, the supreme honor of this club, of course, we must show a super fighting will to go further. If we are destined to be eliminated by Juventus , then, at Wembley and at the Alpi Stadium. It's our final! Losing is not terrible. Being eliminated is not the end of the world. But even if Millwall loses, we have to leave with our heads held high!

These unassuming remarks were unanimously praised by the media.

Even the Italian media, who had ridiculed Aldridge before, believed that opponents like Millwall deserved respect.

A coach's style often reflects the club's style, and Aldridge's identity is not just a coach. On a football-focused stage like the Champions League, he made his position very clear.

feel humbled,

But it doesn't make people feel that he has no confidence.

Thinking of this, when he met Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona last year, Aldridge never uttered any rhetoric. This young coach gave his opponent enough respect. As for whether the opponent respected him, he didn’t mind, just like Barcelona’s Manager Louis van Gaal despised him. He has not fought back a word in public.

Fairness is at ease, Aldrich is not a chameleon, he does not meet a gentleman, he himself is a gentleman, and he meets scum. He is a gangster himself, he has his own principles, others like to satirize him, belittle him, slander him, maybe it is not a personal grievance, but a psychological warfare, it doesn't matter, the demeanor he showed gave Millwall a special spirit temperament.

Juventus coach Lippi also expressed his importance to Millwall when talking about the confrontation between the two teams. He believes that the English team has begun to fully recover. Last year, Manchester United reached the semi-finals. Among them, Manchester United made Juventus suffer a lot and advance to the knockout round with difficulty, while Millwall was the Premier League champion last season, and its strength is comparable to Manchester United. More importantly, Millwall is young, aggressive, and a player. They and Aldridge are both mentors and friends, and they can always overcome difficulties together in adversity. If Juventus wants to advance, they must not underestimate each other.

When the day of the game came, the Wembley tickets were sold out early, not only the fans of the Wild Lions, but many neutral fans were eager to walk into Wembley to watch this peak match.

Millwall was the champion of the Premier League last season. This season's Champions League group stage is in full swing. Juventus dominates Serie A, the world's first league. At the same time, in the past two years, they have won the Champions League once and runner-up once. It is said that Juventus is the strongest in Europe The team is not an exaggeration. Even if some people disagree, there is no doubt that it is among the top three European teams.

What kind of sparks will these two teams collide with?

Compared with the other three quarter-final matches, this battle between Millwall and Juventus is the most watched game.

Manchester United vs Monaco

Bayer Leverkusen vs Real Madrid

Bayern Munich vs Borussia Dortmund

The highlights of these three games are far less exciting than the focus battle between Millwall and Juventus.

When the lights came on, Wembley Stadium was shining brightly.

The Millwall and Juventus players finished warming up before the game, the substitutes sat directly on the bench, and the starting players returned to the locker room.

Aldridge stood in the locker room, staring calmly at the blank tactical board, as if in deep thought.

When the main players of the starting 11 were all changing their jerseys for the official game in the locker room, everyone looked firmly at Aldridge.

He turned around and opened his mouth lightly.

Since the day I took over the team, every morning when I wake up, I will ask myself a few questions: What is Millwall missing? How far is it from being number one in the world? Thinking about the answers while washing my face, brushing my teeth, and showering, day after day, year after year, until recently, when I asked myself these questions, I could hardly think of an answer that convinced myself.”

He glanced at everyone in front of him, and then continued: The 11 of you first came to the team four years ago, and the last was three years ago. They have played together for almost three or four years, and have been here for more than a thousand years. In the long process of the day, you have grown from a nobody to a star. Your technical ability has matured. You have experienced many important games. and maturity. The technical and tactical aspects have also reached the pinnacle. Although it is not perfect, it is close to the limit of what you can do. Yes, what is the difference between the team you formed and the number one in the world? Can you still say that you are young? ?But your average age is 24 years old now. It’s your prime. You can run and rush, and you are full of energy. Do we still lack experience? We have played more finals than any other team in the past two years. Some of you also play a pivotal role in the national team. We are champions. We proved ourselves in England. And now. I think it's time, it's time to prove to the world that you are the number one in the world, and we have every chance. Ability to impact the European champions, and use trophies to prove our strength!

The eyes of the players have become sharper and more energetic.

Captain Southgate stood up and said impassionedly: Boss, we will not find any reason for ourselves, never! In the past, we could think in our hearts that we are immature, and we need more games to improve, and we need to grind. To practice football skills, you need to establish a tacit understanding with your teammates, but now, we can no longer give ourselves any excuses! Now we are the strongest team! Of course. Juventus is also very strong, they have honors that we do not have, but Isn't such an opponent exactly what we hope to meet the most?

At the end, Southgate turned his head and asked each teammate with his eyes.

Everyone nodded in unison. Great fighting spirit!

In the past three or four years, they have grown and improved, transformed from penniless to champion players, what reason can they give themselves to be afraid of powerful enemies?

Seeing the confident and resolute expressions of the players, Aldridge was very happy from the bottom of his heart. He needed the players not to be afraid of their opponents psychologically, so that they could perform better. The war has not yet started, and the defeat has been revealed!

Today's game, play well, we have to play our own style, we have to show a stronger fighting spirit than our opponents, I believe you can do it, we want to challenge the championship, we must first defeat the former king, Juventus !

After Aldridge finished speaking, he turned and left. For the rest of the time, the three captains would also encourage the fighting spirit of their teammates.

When Aldridge walked out of the player tunnel and came to the sidelines, he deliberately went to shake hands with Lippi. Lippi, a middle-aged silver fox, can still see the handsome appearance of his youth. The two exchanged a few words in Italian, and then Austrian Derich turned around, the battle was about to start, he and Lippi, one of them must fall after two battles!

Sitting down in front of the coach's bench, Aldridge took a sip of water to moisten his throat. Benitez and Jansen, the two assistant coaches seemed very nervous today.

Strange to say.

It is difficult for you to judge whether it is the FA Cup final, the Premier League championship battle, the League Cup final, the European Cup Winners' Cup final, which of these four finals is more stressful than the European Champions Cup quarter-finals .

But Benitez and Jenson felt extraordinarily nervous today. In fact, Aldridge was not at ease. After thinking about it, he thought that maybe it had nothing to do with the occasion, but the opponent.

Manchester United, Arsenal, Barcelona, ​​Paris Saint-Germain and other teams are not as good as the current Juventus in terms of strength, which is why people are under more pressure.

It's unlucky to play at home first! That old fox Lippi has an advantage in the formation of troops.

Jansen was overly depressed, so he said something to ease his tension.

Aldridge drank half a bottle of water before the start of the rare game, which was actually caused by nervousness.

He laughed and said nothing after hearing this.

First the host and then the guest, first the guest and then the host.

Which one is more advantageous?

Statistically, it is more advantageous to be the customer first and then the host.

But statistics are dead and not absolute.

In particular, this kind of statistics is not objective and fair, because there are differences in strength between teams.

If there are two teams with great disparity in strength, and the strong team goes away first, the weaker team will be at a disadvantage. The first round will be played at home. Should you choose to be conservative or unrestrained? If you are conservative, the fans will not agree. If you can't score a goal, is there any hope of going to the away game? If you are bold and unrestrained, if the strong team fights the weak team to defend against the counterattack, isn't that still chopping melons and vegetables?

In this context, it is of course beneficial to the strong team to go first and then host, but conversely, even if the weak team first visits and then hosts, it is estimated that the probability of promotion may not be much higher.

When there is no obvious difference in the strength of the two teams, there is actually no absolute advantage between the host and the away or the away first. Anyway, this theory will be subverted from time to time. Time also thinks that it is better to host first and then guest.

The key is to play on the spot, and the others are secondary factors.

Players from both sides entered the field, and the Champions League theme song rang through Wembley.

The peak showdown between the Premier League champions and the Serie A champions is about to begin! ()