Chapter 163: Abramovich
One London, West London, Lowndes Square.
This is one of the bustling districts of West London, and one of the seemingly ordinary apartment buildings has a lavish interior that is resplendent in gold.
It is one of many residences in London for Abramovich, Chelsea's wealthy Russian owner, who has spent around £100 million to buy the two neighbouring flats, which he has renovated and renovated to become one of his many priceless properties.
The Chelsea owner was watching a football match, but his attention didn't seem to be on the game, and his press spokesman, John Manny, sat down respectfully after reporting his work, only then to focus on the TV screen just in time to see Luka Modric scoring for Inter, who were excitedly celebrating the goal.
That's right, the Chelsea boss was watching Inter Milan and CSKA Moscow, having already played yesterday's Champions League fixture, where Chelsea were held to a 0-0 draw away from Schalke 04.
"That's a conceded goal?" John Manny muttered quietly.
"What?" Abramovich came back to his senses, just in time to see the entire goal replayed on TV, Inter Milan attacking from the back, and the whole attack went smoothly, and CSKA Moscow's defense was torn apart and embarrassed.
"This is a ...... conceded goal," Abramovich frowned slightly, obviously dissatisfied with CSKA Moscow's performance.
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Abramovich watched CSKA Moscow play, not only because it was a team from his native Russia, in fact, CSKA Moscow and Abramovich had a close relationship.
In 2003, Abou took charge of Chelsea and gradually built the Blues into Premier League giants and even European champions. His takeover of Chelsea has also sparked a growing interest in English football in Russia, which has catapulted Chelsea into the favourite European club of Russian fans.
Although Abou took over Chelsea and made English football popular in Russia, not everyone supported his decision. Former Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov dismissed his actions as unpatriotic, even suggesting that he had disgraced Russia by investing in Chelsea rather than a domestic club.
Given this, Abramovich was quick to respond.
Abu signed a three-year sponsorship contract with CSKA Moscow in 2004 under the name of Sbineft, when CSKA Moscow won the Russian Premier League title under head coach Valery Gasayev.
Five months after the sponsorship contract was signed, CSKA Moscow drew Chelsea in the Champions League group stage, which led UEFA to launch an investigation into Abramovich's relationship with CSKA because according to UEFA regulations, two clubs under the same owner cannot play in the Champions League at the same time.
Fortunately, UEFA eventually determined that Abu had no substantial relationship with CSKA Moscow, and was merely a purely commercial sponsorship. The Champions League group stage continued, with Chelsea beating CSKA twice, but the Moscow giants finished third in a group with Porto and Paris Saint-Germain.
Although, according to the media, because of the UEFA investigation, in order to avoid suspicion, Abramovich's Sibneft sponsorship of CSKA Moscow was terminated in 2005, and Abramovich sold his shares to Gazprom OJSC, Abramovich still has great influence and control over CSKA Moscow, which is almost a semi-open secret in Russia.
That's why Abramovich pays so much attention to CSKA Moscow and watches CSKA Moscow games in his spare time.
In the TV footage, the face of Inter Milan coach Li Ang appeared, the head coach had returned to the coach's seat after the goal celebration, and sat down, with Erlang's legs crossed, looking relaxed and extremely confident.
On the other side, CSKA Moscow head coach Valery Gasayev looked a little angry, yelling at his players from the sidelines.
"It was a beautiful goal. Abramovich said suddenly.
John Manny didn't know what the boss meant, so he just nodded in agreement and didn't speak.
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CSKA Moscow head coach Valery Gasayev kept waving his hand on the sidelines, signaling his team to press out and put pressure on Inter Milan, not only to protect his own backline, but also to hope that his team can equalize as soon as possible.
However, the ideal is very full, and the reality is cruel.
After taking the one-goal lead, Inter did not shrink their formation, but became more aggressive, continuing to put pressure on CSKA Moscow's goal.
CSKA Moscow coach Valery Gasayev's pre-match provocation angered not only Inter Milan coach Leon, but also Inter Milan players, who faithfully carried out the manager's instructions and vowed to teach a good lesson to CSKA Moscow.
It was another attack from Inter Milan.
Inter Milan had been playing on the right flank, with successive passes and runs between David Silva and McCone and Sergio Aguero dropping back to make CSKA Moscow's left side look like a big enemy.
Modric received a return pass from Sergio Aguero, took a step forward and suddenly passed to McConn, who this time did not continue forward, but instead passed back to Carlos, who pulled the ball and turned and passed directly to the left wing.
The ball transitioned to Carlos and to the feet of Juan Mata on the left.
Juan Mata went straight with the ball and broke through, and it was menacing.
Inter Milan suddenly shifted the focus of attack to Mata, and the Spanish youngster's sharp breakthrough immediately caught CSKA Moscow off guard.
Grigoriev hurried up to intercept.
However, the tall Russian international defender was a bit clumsy and embarrassed.
Mata flicked the ball to the side and accelerated past Grigoriev, who was stuck in front of him like a stake.
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Just as Mata was about to burst into the box with the ball, V. Berezukki rushed out from the side and knocked over Mata!
The referee showed a yellow card to V. Berezuki and Inter got a well-placed free-kick. ......," said Sky TV's British commentator Mortensen, "and the foul was timely, and if V. Berezukki hadn't fouled, Matak would have burst straight into the box...... At that point, it will be impossible to foul even if you want to! It's just that this yellow card will affect the CSKA Moscow captain in the rest of the game. ”