Chapter 519: Ass Goal

Olympic Stadium, Athens.

The final between Millwall and Chelsea was 1-0 after 40 minutes, and thanks to Darren Bent's goal, Millwall temporarily took the lead, looking back at the past two seasons and the situation on the pitch, the situation was not good for Chelsea.

Rather than demoralizing Chelsea from behind, they stepped up a little and everyone was still positive, making the game more intense.

The outcome of the game is related to the Champions League trophy, every player will be very motivated to play, as long as there is a little opportunity, they will not let go, not to mention, just behind a goal, not to the point of exhaustion, hard work may be able to catch back.

Chelsea stepped up their attacking campaign in the hope of finding an equaliser as soon as possible.

This is often the case when the lagging side is behind.

Chelsea are still very unwilling, not only in this game, but also in two seasons without a win against Millwall.

This is also completely unacceptable for a 'top European club'.

Chelsea also have pride.

They have a better history and a stronger squad than Millwall, who were a small team and were completely unnoticed by Chelsea two seasons ago.

Football is evolving, times are changing.

Chelsea don't think they're going 'backwards', they don't think they have beaten Millwall, it's just that the team has been unlucky and hasn't played well in a few games.

The outside world doesn't see it that way.

For the media, there are certainly a lot to consider when analysing the situation, with BBC commentator Gary Lineker bluntly saying, "Chelsea haven't beaten Millwall in two seasons, especially when they are scored first, and their chances become even smaller. ”

At this time, the Chelsea players don't have time to think about history.

That only brings pessimism.

The only thing they can do is keep trying to prove that the team is no worse than Millwall.

This is the Champions League final.

Chelsea's defeat to Millwall was in the league and cup, not in the Champions League, and the first time the two teams met in the Champions League, history lost its meaning.

Cheers for Chelsea were also heard from the audience.

Not only the Chelsea fans who came, but also many Greek fans who were cheering for Chelsea, people always subconsciously sympathized with the weaker side, on the field, Chelsea was in a weak position, neutral fans, they did not have absolute support for Millwall, Chelsea, they just supported a team at will.

Seeing Chelsea trailing, they hoped Chelsea would score a goal to equalise.

Chelsea's attack was really fierce.

From the very beginning of the game, both teams put a lot of emphasis on defence, and the pace of the game had picked up a lot with Millwall's excellent performance, but in fact, the main theme on the pitch was defence.

Now that Chelsea's attack has overshadowed the defence, they will be hoping to change the score quickly, while Millwall's tempo has not changed, and they are still calm in their defence, and Chelsea have managed to keep the situation under the pressure a bit.

Millwall's style of play is still very conservative.

The situation on the field is one thing, the overall tactics are another, when the players on the field are good, the whole team's offensive seems to be strengthened, but in fact, the players still attach great importance to defense, when the ball is converted, they will quickly retreat to stabilize the defense at the back.

Before the game, Zhang Yang constantly emphasized defense, and the concept of defense was also imprinted in the players' minds.

Now Millwall's players on the field, except for Darren Bent, all other players need to participate in the defense, and their defensive ability is still passable, even the almost Quaresma can cooperate with Zambrotta to guard the right side.

Under Millwall's tight defence, Chelsea's offensive was thwarted one after another.

Maybe Chelsea is in too much of a hurry!

Chelsea were anxious to equalise, and the number of individual performances increased, but the combination was much worse, and successive attacks ended in tackles.

Millwall, for their part, continued to launch quick counter-attacks.

Millwall played a good tailwind, they don't need to command at all, every player knows how to play, the whole team is completely defensive, not even the initiative to attack, most of the players are in the backfield, just waiting for Chelsea to attack, looking for an opportunity to grab the ball and launch a wave of fast attack.

Every time Millwall makes a quick attack, they pose a threat to Chelsea.

Although the situation on the pitch is still in Chelsea's favour, with Chelsea having more possession and more passes, it is Millwall who has the upper hand when it comes to goal threats, and anyone can see that the situation is very favourable for Millwall.

Watching the game on the field, Zhang Yang sighed at the progress of the entire team.

After scoring a goal, every player knows how to play, and they are more and more solid and know how to use the score advantage to gain an advantage on the field.

That's growth.

Growth is not about good technique, nor is it about skillful cooperation, but knowing when and how to play, because during the game, it is difficult for the coach to be a conductor, and the role of on-the-spot command is not great, and often rely on the player's own ideas to play.

Many young teams start to 'float' a little bit when they play a tailwind game to take the lead, and they will not strengthen their defense, but take advantage of their good condition to continue to attack.

In this way, it is good to play smoothly, and if you don't play well, you may be easily equalized and overtaken by the opponent.

Millwall know how to play and they know how to maximise the advantage.

This also made Zhang Yang feel very gratified.

Over the course of more than two seasons, his coaching skills have grown and the team has matured.

And what about next season?

Zhang Yang frowned slightly, but he also became very expectant.

————

With 43 minutes played, Chelsea's attack became more intense.

They seemed to have to equalise in the first half.

Didier Drogba and Joe Cole were up front and didn't go back to defence altogether, with Frank Lampard also attacking the halfway line for the most part, with Mikel occasionally stepping up to assist.

Chelsea's two full-backs, Bridge and Ferreira, also often rushed forward, which also led to the entire formation being pressed into the Millwall half, and only central defenders Terry and Bora Luz were left behind in the backfield.

With such extreme suppression, Millwall's counterattack was also a bit difficult to beat.

Mikel, Essien and other players, with constant running to erect a defensive line, Millwall grabbed the ball, wanted to make a forward pass, most of the time, can only pass through the big foot, naturally easy to be re-grabbed by Chelsea.

Mourinho realized that something was wrong, his brow furrowed slightly, and he glanced at the game time, and he didn't pay much attention to it.

The first half is coming to an end.

Chelsea are the best when they can attack and score goals, but if they can't, time is running out.

The corners of Zhang Yang's mouth curled slightly.

Zhang Yang's expression rarely changes, whether the team is active or passive, with advantages or without advantages, he will maintain a kind smile, and his leisurely demeanor makes people feel that the game seems to have nothing to do with him.

When the flamboyant expression changes, the game is definitely going to change.

In the Millwall team, there are many players with a good overall view, such as Morris, Smitchell, plus Pire, Zambrotta, several core players and veterans, all have the ability to attack, but in general, Morris is the best, even Smitchell is worse, Morris is also the captain on the field, the absolute core of the team, he has the ability to rely on individual performance to influence the entire team.

Morris has noticed the lack of air defense at Chelsea's back and he has been looking for opportunities.

This time Koncheski cut off a pass to Kalou.

Konchesky was about to kick off the ball when he heard a shout, "Here", Morris raised his hand in demand, and Konchesky passed it without hesitation.

Morris received a pass and Lampard immediately went over to press it.

Normally, Morris passes the ball to his team-mates, but this time instead of passing the ball, Morris lay the ball down to his left and then accelerated past Frank Lampard and raced up with the ball.

Lampard didn't expect Morris to take it himself, and he was left behind.

Morris is not a fast player, and he personally dashes the ball to signal to his teammates, "It's time to counterattack!" ”

The tempo on the field of play also suddenly accelerated.

The rest of his team-mates followed, and Morris dribbled the ball to the halfway line and immediately passed diagonally to Quaresma.

As a wide player, Quaresma has both speed and technique, and without pausing in his runs, he took the ball and rushed forward quickly, while his teammates such as Maurice and Smitchell also rushed up.

Twenty metres forward and met Essien's defence, Quaresma did not continue forward, but instead shifted to cut inside the middle, then flicked the space and slid the ball sideways to catch up with a kick towards the edge of the box.

Smitchell is a powerful shot to follow!

The Czechs made a mistake!

Perhaps it was too nervous in the face of the goal, or maybe the ball was too fast to hit accurately, and Smitchell's kick was a little fluttery, spinning, and rushed towards the goal with a small amount of half-human force.

The ball was easily saved by the goalkeeper.

Chelsea supporters let out a long breath, but before they could relax, they noticed a figure in a Millwall shirt who suddenly rushed to the line of the six-yard box and grazed the ball with the side of his hip in a half-twisted and somewhat awkward motion.

The direction of the soccer ball is changed in an instant!

The force of the ball was small, but it was enough for goalkeeper Petr Cech to react, and he could barely watch as the ball jumped into the net from the other side.

The audience was silent.

It wasn't until the next moment that everyone reacted, and the whole stadium suddenly resounded with cheers for the goal.

There is also a lot of hilarity mixed in.

All eyes are on the goal.

The same goes for the players on the pitch at Millwall and the people in the dugout.

Zhang Yang unconsciously pursed the corners of his mouth, and forced himself not to laugh, in the effect of 'foreknowledge', he could only notice the goal, and the details were not so well controlled, he didn't expect that it would be so funny when it really happened.

The player who hit the ball with his hip was none other than striker Darren Bent.