Of course, there is also a theory that the team is negotiating a new contract with Barcelona defender Umtiti undercover, Li Chengfeng does not know whether it is true or not, but his performance is really bad, and I don't know where he has the confidence to ask for such a high salary.

Either way, the result could not be changed and Barcelona was eliminated. Barcelona would not have been eliminated if they had given more weight to Roma as Leeds did against Manchester City. But that's fine, it can be easier for Leeds United. Roma are still a little less compatible, they rely on movement and passion, and that's what the youngsters at Leeds are good at, if not better. Roma also need to be distracted by the league, as they are not yet guaranteed a top-four finish, while Leeds United can already focus on the Champions League. For teams with the same emphasis on running and scrambling, physical strength will be the deciding factor.

In the first leg against Roma, Leeds United, who were well-rested, won 5-2 at home to Roma, with a big difference of three goals, but Leeds United should have won more, and the team's laxity in the final period made him very unhappy.

The two sides fought as soon as they started, Roma, who took the lead, completed a shot in the first minute, Juan Jr. crossed, Dzeko did it back in the penalty area, and Strutman on the periphery suddenly made a cold arrow, and the ball was picked up by Ederson. Leeds soon returned the favor, and in the second minute, Salah burst into the box and curled a shot at goal, but Alisson confiscated the ball.

Leeds United, playing at home, clearly had the upper hand, getting shots in quick succession. In the fourth minute, Mbappe received a pass from Salah and hit the goal from a tight angle, and the ball slid past the goal.

In the 7th minute, Mbappe sent a pass, Ali tried to shoot from the outside, and because the angle was too positive, the ball was easily picked up by Alisson.

The Roma had little chance to fight back against Leeds' attack, with their attacks running into little or no conversion against Liverpool's defence, with the only chance coming from a corner. In the 18th minute, Roma had a corner kick opportunity on the right side, Florenzi hoisted the ball into the penalty area, Lovren cleared, Kolarov shot from the periphery, the ball was touched by Ederson and hit the crossbar and bounced, Liverpool escaped.

However, it was the Roma's last chance of the first half, after which the game was in Leeds' hands.

In the 28th minute, Liverpool launched a quick counter-attack, Mbappe sent a through ball, Sane forced a one-on-one shot, but then his shot from Alisson went over the crossbar. One minute later, Liverpool's offensive resumed, Mbappe received the ball and went down to the bottom of the triangle to return the pass, and Sane met the ball in the penalty area and fired the ball high. In the 29th minute, Salah and his team-mates collided with the wall and fired a shot that was saved by Alisson. In the 33rd minute, Robertson sent a diagonal cross and Sane slotted the ball in, but his offside was disallowed for the first goal.

Leeds United's attack finally paid off, in the 35th minute, Kante broke the ball in the middle and played a counterattack, Salah curled the ball on the right side of the penalty area, and the ball hung into the corner, 1-0.

Leeds United, who are in the lead, did not relax and continued to attack, with Roma's defence teetering under Leeds United's attack and ready to collapse at any moment.

In the 37th minute, Liverpool had a corner kick opportunity on the right side, and Van Dijk's header hit the crossbar and bounced off the bottom line. In the 40th minute, Alli burst into the left side of the box and fired a low shot, which Alisson saved. In the 45th minute, Mbappe dribbled the ball in the middle to attract defenders and sent a pass, Salah calmly scored the ball in the face of the attacking Alisson, 2-0!

Leeds United led Roma 2-0 in the first half, but Li Chengfeng was not satisfied, this Roma team is not strong, and he hopes to kill the suspense in this game.

In the second half, Leeds continued the offensive in the first half. In the 55th minute, Leeds United launched a counterattack with a long pass from the backfield, Salah burst into the penalty area and knocked back the triangle, Sane followed up and pushed the ball to the ground, 3-0!

In the 61st minute, Salah took the ball into the penalty area and knocked on the goal, and Mbappe pushed it into the net, 4-0!

In the 68th minute, Milner took a corner kick and Mbappe headed the goal, 5-0.

Now Li Chengfeng was satisfied, he replaced Salah with Christian Pulisic, and Leeds United also slowed down their attack, the game has reached this point, and Leeds United's players also need to slow down.

However, the Romans had not yet conceded defeat and the blood of the Red Wolves was still burning, and they launched a counter-offensive while Leeds United were slackening.

In the 80th minute, Nainggolan sent a through ball over the top, and Dzeko pushed a right-footed shot into the neutral post and bounced into the goal, 1-5, and Roma pulled a goal back. In the 84th minute, Nainggran's shot hit Milner's hand, Roma had a penalty opportunity, Perotti scored the ball in one fell swoop, 2-5, and Roma narrowed the score gap again. In the 87th minute, Dzeko crossed from the bottom, and Perotti kicked the ball wide with a tackle in front of the spot.

Leeds United's laxity made Li Chengfeng very unhappy, and he brought on Torreira and Fernandes in succession to stabilize the situation on the field.

In the end, Leeds United beat their opponents Roma 5-2 at home to take the lead in the knockout rounds. But the Roma's late counter-attack made him feel threatened, and think about how Barcelona were knocked out by Roma, and he warned the Leeds players that they could never relax until the game was over.

In fact, the 5:2 advantage is big enough, as long as the second leg does not make the mistake of underestimating the enemy, Li Chengfeng believes that Leeds United can enter the final, and now he is just knocking Leeds United's young people to make them not complacent.

However, compared to the smooth sailing of Leeds United, the situation in Birmingham in the real world is much more dangerous. Not to mention being eliminated by Bundesliga giants Bayern in the first round of the Champions League knockout round, and now that the league is nearing its end, Birmingham still haven't been able to confirm a Champions League qualification.

Birmingham are now five points clear of fourth-placed Chelsea and very close to Tottenham Hotspur on points. But the team's next schedule is the most dangerous, the remaining five rounds of games have to face Chelsea, Manchester City and Arsenal these strong teams, even Everton is not easy to deal with, the only weak team is Burnley, but they are also in urgent need of points to relegation, and it is not easy to deal with.

If you can't play well in these games, let alone the Champions League, I'm afraid you won't even be able to qualify for the Europa League. The team still lacks first-class stars, and can only play 11 people in a game, and no matter how many second-rate players are piled up, it will not cause qualitative changes.

They have to be in the Champions League so that Birmingham City can attract some stars next season. In the past two years, Birmingham's old home stadium has begun to be sold and rented, and the team's financial situation is very good, and Li Chengfeng has prepared a transfer fee of more than 100 million pounds not to buy second-rate players.

However, before Birmingham's fate was decided, Leeds United almost capsized in the gutter, and they were beaten 4-2 by Roma in the second leg of the Champions League, just one goal away from being eliminated, becoming the laughing stock of another Roma comeback after Barcelona.

The huge advantage in the first leg made Li Chengfeng choose some rotation, he knew that the Roma were terrible to go crazy, but he felt that the advantage of three goals was great, not to mention that the team's defensive lineup did not change, only Torreira replaced Kante, and the team's captain James Milner was also on the field. He didn't think the Roma could score three goals against this Leeds United team, not to mention that Leeds United's counter-attack was not vegetarian.

Roma started the game aggressively and that was their only option. Less than a minute later, El Shaarawy's cross from the left was headed wide by Dzeko. Shaarawy then passed the ball and Florenzi fired wide from distance.

However, it was Leeds United who scored first, and in the 9th minute, Mbappe counterattacked and passed through, and Sane pushed it into the net from 10 yards on the left side of the penalty area to make it 1-0.

Roma equalised in the 15th minute when El Shaarawy's header was deflected wide and Skrinia cleared the ball over Milner's head and bounced into his own goal, 1-1.

The own goal caught Li Chengfeng a little off guard, but Milner was unfazed, his performance remained determined, and this is the Leeds United captain, a man to be trusted.

Liverpool went ahead again in the 25th minute when Milner forced a cross from the left side of the box and Sane's close-range shot was blocked by Alisson with his legs, and Leeds won a corner. After the corner kick was issued, it caused chaos in front of the Roma team, Dzeko made a mistake in the header clearance in the melee, and Fernandes scored with a header from close range, 2-1!

Roma came close to equalising again in the first half, when in the 35th minute, El Shaarawy curled a shot from 25 yards, the ball deflected off Milner and bounced off the right-hand post, and Milner came close to scoring an own goal.

In the final moments of the first half, El Shaarawy burst into the left side of the box and fell under Gomez's defence, and the referee knew that Leeds could take a 2-1 lead into the break.

Now that the big score is 7-3 ahead, there should be no problem, Leeds United, including Li Chengfeng, also thinks so, and the dressing room is relaxed. Although Li Chengfeng once again emphasized not to relax, in fact, in his heart, why didn't he think that Leeds United had been promoted.

In the second half, Leeds United still insisted on defensive counter-attacking tactics, while the Roma still did not give up, and they resolutely attacked Leeds United's penalty area. In the 49th minute, Ederson brought down Dzeko in the box, but the former Manchester City centre-forward was offside.

Roma equalised in the 52nd minute when Manuel Pellegrini passed the ball and El Shaarawy burst into the left side of the box and fired a shot from 15 yards that was saved, and Dzeko fired into the net from 10 yards to make it 2-2.

Roma did not give up their efforts, Kolarov crossed from a free kick from the left, and Dzeko headed high from the right side of the six-yard box. De Rossi plays a long pass and Werder has a cushioned shot from inside the box that is confiscated by Ederson.

Dzeko's header from the right edge of the six-yard box went wide, and El Shaarawy's volley from the left side of the box bounced off Gomez, but the referee did not award a penalty. Dzeko then headed in and Werder shot wide in front of the box. De Rossi picks up a pass, Dzeko turns and volleys wide in front of the six-yard box. Schick shoots wide from distance. Dzeko shoots into the far corner from the left side of the box. Nainggolan crossed diagonally, and Dzeko's shot from a tight angle on the left side of the box was also saved by Karius.

Time was running out, and it seemed that the Romans could no longer avoid the end of elimination, and Li Chengfeng felt relaxed.

(End of chapter)

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