Chapter 1020 Benitez and Grant
?The impact of the championship quarter-finals was too great. There were news about the Champions League for several consecutive days after the game. First, it was about the battle between Liverpool and Arsenal. Arsenal lost, and then the gossip was a more magnificent semi-final, so that no one paid attention to it at the beginning of the 35th round of the league.
There are four rounds left in the league, and it is the most critical moment to win the championship with relegation.
Liverpool's opponent in this round is Fulham, a team with half of their body in the relegation zone. If you are not careful, you may be surpassed by Reading and Birmingham behind him.
Liverpool is stronger than Fulham, and there is no doubt about it, but it is not easy for Liverpool to win this game.
Manchester United's opponent is Blackburn, ranked seventh. In terms of strength, Blackburn has to get out of Fulham, but Blackburn's desire to fight is incomparable to Fulham. Manchester United's difficulty in winning Blackburn is definitely less than Liverpool's defeat of Fulham.
However, football is round. Liverpool was already ready for a hard fight, but after scoring the Champions League goal, Crouch seemed to have a clue. In the battle with Fulham, he received a pass from Chen Yu to score in three minutes, allowing Liverpool to strike comfortably and then launched a defensive counterattack. After Pennant scored another goal in the 17th minute, Fulham was unable to make a comeback and finally lost 0:2.
However, Fulham is very lucky because his relegation opponents Birmingham and Reading both lost, and Birmingham lost 1:5. It is estimated that morale and confidence will be affected. In this way, Fulham is still ranked fourth from the bottom, and the initiative to relegation is still in his own hands.
Manchester United's game should have been relatively easy, but today's Manchester United's condition is very poor. Rooney and Tevez missed one by one for several good opportunities in front of the goal. In the 21st minute, Blackburn threw out the ball from the outside, and the Manchester United player cleared the ball but hit his teammate's back and bounced to the feet of Blackburn striker Santa Cruz. The handsome Paraguay certainly would not miss such an opportunity. He easily pushed the ball and rewritten the score to 1:0.
The unexpected conceding of the goal made Manchester United players very impatient. They attacked wildly, but they just couldn't score the goal. Blackburn really didn't want to fight Manchester United today, but they couldn't help Manchester United into their own goal.
Manchester United's impatience was only relieved until 88 minutes of the game. Tevez received Scholes' header and scored at a small angle, tied the score 1:1. But now there is no time left, so Manchester United can only shake hands with Blackburn away.
This game hit Manchester United very hard. They were only one point behind Liverpool. After this game, Liverpool had three points ahead of Manchester United. Liverpool also had an advantage in mutual record and goal difference. That is to say, in the last three games, only Liverpool won one Manchester United to win the championship, and Liverpool won two Manchester United games without a chance. Manchester United had a big enemy like Chelsea in the last three games. In a sense, Manchester United only had theoretical possibilities to win the championship.
After the game, Manchester United coach Ferguson was very angry. He said, "In this game, Manchester United played the worst game this season. If the championship was lost by Middlesbrough, then this game was to send the championship to Liverpool... We have three opportunities this season, but we didn't grasp it three times. It can be said that we lost the championship ourselves... We still can't give up. We have to play to this point, even if we still have a front-line chance, we must try our best to catch it..."
Having said that, all media believe that Manchester United's energy should no longer be all in the league. If they fight with Chelsea in the next round, the result will be that Liverpool will be cheaper again. At that time, it is possible that Liverpool will win the Champions League together. Instead of working for a illusory league championship, it is better to give up the league and let Chelsea compete with Liverpool in the Champions League. At that time, Manchester United may be able to make a profit and win the Champions League championship this season.
Liverpool did not expect this to be the result. They thought that it would not be until the next round of Manchester United's play against Chelsea, but Blackburn helped them block Manchester United, allowing them to almost hold one ear of the trophy.
During the training the next day, Liverpool's coach held a secret celebration. At the press conference after the training, Benitez also humorously expressed his gratitude to Blackburn. He said that Blackburn simplified the process of winning the championship, and Liverpool could defend the league title as long as he wins one game, which is very beneficial to Liverpool's Champions League and the FA Cup.
The league championship is almost certain to win, which gives Liverpool finally a breath. They don’t have to think about the league and the FA Cup anymore, and just concentrate on preparing for the Champions League match with Chelsea.
Of course, Chelsea is easier than Liverpool, and they have long put all their energy into the Champions League.
This Premier League newcomer has won all the championships besides the Champions League. They are not so distressed about losing the league championship and the FA Cup, because their boss Abramovich has a clear attitude, just to dominate Europe and then dominate the world, and the Premier League doesn't care so much.
The game against Liverpool will definitely be extremely difficult, and this is very clear from Abraham to the fans to the players and coaches.
It turns out that when Liverpool didn't buy Chen Yu, Chelsea had no choice but to take Liverpool in the Cup. After Liverpool bought Chen Yu, Chelsea had already fallen at a disadvantage in both the league and the cup. If they want to defeat Liverpool, they must perform well.
If Chelsea has any advantage, it is that Liverpool has played multiple lines this season, playing more than Chelsea’s Community Shield Cup, Super Cup, European Super Cup, two FA Cups, and the league until this round. Chelsea is much more relaxed. They are very physically and energetic, and their bench strength is stronger than Liverpool. If Chelsea competes with Liverpool, it is not a problem of taking off a layer of skin if Liverpool wants to pass the Chelsea level. I’m afraid it will be a problem to get rid of the skin.
There is another favorable condition for Chelsea, that is, Chelsea is the first away and then home. Chelsea can give it a try away. As long as you get away goals, you will be more proactive when you return to home. Even if Liverpool beat Chelsea at home, as long as Chelsea gets away goals, it is hard to say that you will win when you go to Stamford Bridge.
In such a heavyweight competition, I will definitely have less saliva before the game. After the league, the players, coaches, bosses, and retired celebrities from the Champions League semi-finals came forward to support their clubs and attack their opponents.
Cruyff has played against Ferguson many times, and he is familiar with Ferguson and Manchester United. Before the game, he looked forward to the match between Manchester United and Barcelona. "Manchester United is a great team, Ferguson is a great coach. Although their philosophy is different from Barcelona, they can also win great victory. These are definitely two wonderful games, but I think Barcelona will win the final victory."
Manchester United legend Charlton, who is equally great as Cruyff, was also attracted by this game that may become a classic. He even made an exception to talk about these two games. Charlton said: "Manchester United should not compete with Barcelona. No one in the world can compete with Barcelona. Manchester United has its own characteristics and advantages. This is the foundation for us to become a world-class team. We must play speed and strength and play the precise long passes and headers of English football. I think the probability of both sides advancing is half, and it depends on who performs well on the spot."
Although both Liverpool and Chelsea's matches are not good-looking and may be boring, there is no doubt that these two teams also have great appeal in the world, and many football celebrities have expressed their views on these two games.
For example, German football emperor Beckenbauer, who admires Chen Yu, said: "The game between Liverpool and Chelsea may be the most iron-blooded game in the world. Both teams are good at defense and play very hard. However, this cannot be said that the game is not good-looking. If a team scores first, the game may be stimulated. Chelsea needs to study how to watch Chen Yu. The Chinese are the key figures in this game. Chelsea's key gentlemen are Barack, Drogba and Lampard. They perform well, and Liverpool's defenders are difficult to withstand."
Although Mourinho has left Chelsea, the media will definitely not forget him in such a battle. However, the madman does not want to affect Chelsea. He just said, "Chelsea is a great team. I support them and wish them good luck."
He has met Chelsea in the Cup for several years. Although Liverpool always wins, Benitez is also uneasy because by probability, Chelsea should win. Before the game, Benitez took the lead in playing a psychological battle with Chelsea.
"I'm sure Chelsea doesn't like to encounter Liverpool. They haven't beat us yet in the Cup, they must be afraid of us, and I'm afraid of me. Our club may not be as rich as Chelsea, but we have the best fans in the world, and they always support the team with all their hearts. That's what we need. The fans are the 12th man on the team, and they can help us win games and are fans."
, "I watched many games at Chelsea, and their tactics were no different from the past. It doesn't matter who their team's head coach is, but Abu actually has the final say. They rely on a group of players with very high quality, and for them, players are much more important than coaches. I really admire Lampard and Terry, both of whom are excellent players."
"Some people think it's a disadvantage, but I don't think it's a big impact on us. What we need to do is to keep keeping goals without conceding. If not, we still have the confidence to meet the challenge at Stamford Bridge. Everyone should know that we are a top team."
Finally, Benitez responded to Mourinho, "I don't want to talk about Grant. We are colleagues and we all have our own jobs. As for Mourinho, but I don't care. We have a job to do in Liverpool." Benitez's words completely ridiculed Mourinho, who was in an unemployment period. It was obviously not enough to ridicule just. Espanyol also directly criticized his opponent last year, "The head coach should say at the press conference what his freedom is, but the head coach should not cause trouble to other teams."
Grant is definitely not as unique as a madman. He can expose Benitez's shortcomings without hesitation, but Grant is not a coach who can bully others. When he was provoked by Benitez, Grant also launched a counterattack.
Money is the biggest trouble for the "Red Army". The two major shareholders of the Red Army do not buy into each other. The British media speculate that if the two major shareholders cannot solve the problem in the summer, the team will likely resell players to exchange for money. Currently, the most valuable players in the team are Chen Yu and Gerald, and Grant's goal is them. "Chen Yu is the best player in the world. Liverpool can achieve such good results because of Chen Yu. We hope to see Chen Yu at Stamford Bridge next season. In addition to Chen Yu, Gerald is also a great player and has a great personality. He has a huge influence in Liverpool. I like him very much. I hope to buy him next season."
Grant's response was admired by the media. They believed that although Grant was not as sharp as Mourinho, he was not inferior in the battle of words. If Benitez's words might affect Chelsea, then Grant's words would definitely panic for a while.
Chapter completed!