However, Leeds underestimated the Romans' bloodiness and they began to attack even more frantically.

In the 86th minute, Kolarov passed the ball, and Nainggolan's powerful shot from 25 yards hit the inside of the left post and went into the net, 3-2. In the 94th minute, substitute De Ligt fouled a handball when blocking a cross in the penalty area, and Nainggolan converted the penalty to make it 4-2.

Li Chengfeng was surprised by the madness of the Romans, and if it wasn't for the referee blowing the whistle for the end of the game, he really didn't know if the Romans would continue to score.

Sure enough, the opponents of the Champions League cannot be taken lightly, but fortunately, Leeds United still advanced to the final with an aggregate score of 7-6, and the opponent is Real Madrid, who has won the Champions League twice in a row.

Real Madrid are headed by former Real Madrid superstar Zinedine Zinedine Zidane, who began his legendary coaching career more than two years ago after replacing Jose Mourinho, who left due to dressing room problems. He won the Champions League in his first year in charge, and last season he won the double of La Liga and the Champions League. Real Madrid's league results have slipped a bit this season, and like Leeds United, they have lost their hopes of winning the title early on, and there is no need to worry about a Champions League qualification. So in the Champions League, Real Madrid went all out and reached the Champions League final for the third time in a row, and if they can successfully defend their title, they will be the second team to win the Champions League three times after Li Chengfeng's Manchester City after the Champions League restructuring.

Li Chengfeng didn't want to share his record with anyone else, and he wanted to beat Real Madrid in the final to achieve the only one.

In the real-world Birmingham game against relegation team Burnley, Li Chengfeng learned his lesson and stood on the sidelines to supervise the game almost all of the time, until Joelinton extended the score to 3-0 in stoppage time.

Birmingham won the game, while Chelsea lost away to Liverpool, closing the gap to two points. The next game between the two teams is about to go head-to-head and compete for a Champions League qualification.

Since American funds took over Chelsea from Abu, Chelsea now has lost the pride of the Abu era. Fortunately for Chelsea fans, Chelsea's new owners are not as hell-bent on digging into the club's corners as Manchester United's bloodsucking boss Glazer did.

But there's no way to expect them to invest much in the club, the Americans don't see football as purely as the British, they see it as a business, like Kroenke, the American owner of Arsenal.

However, Chelsea are in a better position than Arsenal, their hierarchy knows better than Arsenal and Manchester United's, taxis are flying, they have more money to spend on building the team, and they are not degraded to the point where they are used to playing in the Europa League, and they can compete with Tottenham Birmingham for a Champions League place every once in a while.

Compared to Birmingham, who can almost put out two sets of similar strength, Chelsea, whose investment has been declining year by year, is no longer comparable in terms of squad depth. Although they can still have a good squad at their disposal, they are no better than Birmingham at this point in the league due to injuries and physical impact.

In the match against Chelsea, Li Chengfeng chose to open the game away from home, and he wanted to use the team's physical advantage to consume Chelsea.

Things went even more smoothly than Li Chengfeng expected, only 8 minutes into the opening game, the United States international Alfred broke the deadlock, Birmingham corner kick was contested out of the penalty area, Alfred direct volley from the edge of the penalty area!

Alfred is a good player, but only good, and he can get a foothold at Birmingham City, and his status as an American international gives him more appearances. It's a pity that he is not handsome enough, and his popularity in the United States is far less than Pulisic's, which is helpful for Birmingham's market development, but not as big as Li Chengfeng imagined.

But it's better than nothing, like Chinese players, Li Chengfeng tried his best to get 10,000 items to bypass the restrictions of labor certification. However, the harvest is also huge, as the only Chinese player in the world's first league, even if he can only play rotation in Birmingham, it has also brought great attention, so that Birmingham's income has been greatly improved, just like the naming rights of Birmingham's new stadium, as well as the chest advertisement, have been bought by Chinese companies at a large price, plus Nike's jersey sponsorship, although Birmingham's commercial sponsorship income is not as good as those giants, but it is not much, compared to other small and medium-sized clubs. This is also Li Chengfeng's courage to increase investment and let Birmingham hit the giants.

Birmingham's lead lasted just a few minutes before Chelsea equalised when Callum Hudson-Odoi's breakaway goal was met by Loftus-Cheek to sweep home to make it 1-1.

In the 24th minute, Birmingham City again took a set-piece to put the score out. Xavi Eliad's set-piece into the box caused chaos, and Li Chengfeng couldn't see what was going on before the Birmingham players began to celebrate.

In the end, the goal went to Turkey's Ali Ackerman as Birmingham took the lead again.

Chelsea struggled for an equaliser for the remainder of the game, but their high-intensity attacking efforts were unsustained early in the second half. Chelsea have played more than a dozen games this season and have not had as much depth as Birmingham and soon fell into a fitness crisis, with Birmingham holding out the opposition and then taking control of the game.

However, the two sides did not score another goal, and in the end Birmingham City won 2-1 away from their direct rivals Chelsea, taking Chelsea in fourth place, while Tottenham Hotspur also lost, closing the gap to Birmingham City to one point.

The race for Champions League qualification is getting fiercer, but Birmingham have the toughest schedule, with back-to-back faces Manchester City, Everton and Arsenal, all of which are tough on the line. Like Leeds United, two of the remaining three opponents are relegated teams, and there is no pressure on results, that is called a relaxed and happy, Li Chengfeng is a mixed lineup, while letting young people exercise, while letting the main players get rest, and prepare for the Champions League final.

In the match against Manchester City, Birmingham only managed to draw one, and it was achieved through the killing style of the big bus. Birmingham, who were sent off, stubbornly held Manchester City to a stubborn draw at home. Had it not been for Chelsea's draw away at Manchester United, Birmingham would have been knocked out of the top four.

In the penultimate round, Everton, who had no desire to do so, did not bother Birmingham too much, and they did not insist after Birmingham showed that they were determined to win against all odds. After all, it is a team that has nothing to pursue, and when it comes to a stronger opponent who has to fight hard, Birmingham's victory is not an accident.

The key is still the final round, Birmingham vs. Arsenal. Tottenham Hotspur in front of him is no longer likely to fall behind, and Chelsea behind him are only one point away, and if Birmingham can't get all three points, I'm afraid they will be squeezed out of the top four. However, Arsenal are not an easy opponent and although they are now used to the Europa League, they may not even be able to play in the Europa League this season. While Arsenal have been able to maintain their top-seven finish, a non-big club have reached the FA Cup final this season and have lifted a spot, with only the top six teams in the Premier League qualifying for the Europa League.

I didn't expect that now Manchester United and Arsenal need to work hard to qualify for a Europa League, which is really embarrassing. With this kind of management who wants to suck blood and doesn't know how to do it, it can only be said that they are unlucky, but if they don't fight, how can it be Birmingham's turn to rise, speaking of which, Li Chengfeng has to thank them.

To be honest, the American boss really doesn't fit into European football. In contrast, the closed American sports circle does not emphasize winning trophies, they just want to make money, and everyone pays for it anyway.

But European football is different, the lack of competitiveness means a significant reduction in broadcast fees, as well as a decline in influence, a decline in sponsorship fees, and a large number of people waiting to replace it.

Just like Manchester United, which has failed to reach the Champions League for several years, it has lost tens of millions of pounds a year in commercial sponsorship alone, not counting other income. This decline is even more remarkable compared to the year-on-year increase in revenue of other clubs. Due to the decrease in income, the investment is also less, the level of the introduced players is also decreasing, and the toss of the senior management who does not understand football, Manchester United is also Wang Xiaoer's New Year's Eve is not as good as a year. That is, the foundation is thick, otherwise it would have been relegated long ago if it was replaced by a midstream team.

However, their previous high-value sponsorship contract is about to expire, and the new contract is said to be significantly reduced. This is also something that cannot be helped, European football is not the same as the American major leagues, here, without investment, without results, it is nothing.

It's the same with Arsenal, who aren't as commercially exploited as Manchester United, but they do earn a lot on matchday. It's just that if they can't even keep their qualification for the European competition, I'm afraid that the blow to their income will also be catastrophic. There is not much time left in Arsenal's sponsorship contract, and if it can't reach Europe in the past few years, it is estimated that the new sponsorship contract will be cut in half. Not to mention the matchday income that European competitions can bring, which is also in the tens of millions of pounds.

But it doesn't matter to the American owners of Manchester United and Arsenal, as long as they can stay in the Premier League, a supermarket, there are sky-high broadcast fees to take, and if the honor is not honorable, who cares.

But it doesn't seem right, at least on the books they have huge losses, a Manchester United that can participate in the Champions League and Manchester United who can only play in the Europa League, or Manchester United who can only play in the Premier League, this valuation is different, there is a gap of one billion pounds. It is said that the Glazers wanted to sell Manchester United, but the asking price was too high and they could not be negotiated. Maybe in a few years, when Manchester United can't even play in Europe, they won't have to worry.

(End of chapter)

。 Reading at zero o'clock