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In the 21st round of the league, Metz defeated Nantes 1-0 at home, and the points also rose to second. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

Half a season has passed, but Metz is still able to occupy the second place in the league with multi-front battles, which many experts did not expect before the season, and they have exclaimed that this is the darkest dark horse this season. Metz fans are also delighted by the team's current performance, with some even commenting on the online Metz fan forums that the European competition the team will play next season is not the UEFA Cup, but the UEFA Champions League.

In such a good situation, let. Fernandez, however, remained cautious and calm throughout.

He knows that the team's current good results have to do with the lack of strong opponents in the League Cup, and the players are full of energy after a summer of rest. And after half a season of multi-front battles, physical strength is about to start to have problems, and his team definitely does not have the strength to advance on multiple fronts at the same time, so he has to make a choice at this time. Which side do you want to protect?

Fernandes doesn't plan to fight for the domestic cup anymore, winning the French Cup is not the goal, the purpose is to participate in the European competition, and now that the European qualification has been obtained, it would be unwise to be distracted to win the French Cup. Fernandes intends to hand over the domestic cup competition to the reserves and youth teams.

The choice between the league and the UEFA Cup will be difficult.

The league is fundamental, but is Metz aiming for relegation or a better result? If it's relegation, then it's no problem to play this season, but if you want to pursue higher, you still need to work hard.

The League Cup, on the other hand, is a big, tempting piece of cake. With Metz's strength, can he upset in the UEFA Cup? Can you win the UEFA Cup? If we can win the UEFA Cup, should we go all out for it?

If they are to compete for the League Cup, it will mean that the team will have to play on two fronts until May 16, and the more you go to the rest of the game, it will be more difficult to play because there will be fitness problems in the team.

Mace is not capable of advancing on both fronts, and if he chooses one, he will inevitably give up the other. If you strive for the League Cup, you have to give up the league, and even if you win the League Cup, you will lose again and again in the league, and finally you will not qualify for Europe next season, is it worth it? The loss of European qualification next season will have a big impact on the economy and the competition, and President Molinari will definitely dismember the team...... It doesn't matter if you don't work in Metz next season, lead the team to a title and record the most glorious moment in the club's history.

But...... I bought so many young people, but I didn't want to work here for just one year...... Let. Fernández is very distressed right now, and the multiple-choice questions are not easy to do.

Fortunately, it is not yet time to hand in the papers, and he can continue to think about it, or wait and see, and see the situation before making a decision. Until then, he can do something to prevent problems.

For example, he began to think more about using the rotation system.

Metz was a small team before, there was no need for rotation, and there was no capital rotation, so it was not easy for a set of main lineups to ensure competitiveness. Even if a lot of people were bought this summer, it only strengthened the strength of Mace's main lineup in some positions, and it was not yet extravagant enough to play two sets of lineups.

But now, the situation is pressing, and there is no choice but to do this.

In the 22nd round of the league on January 27, he rotated most of the main players to prepare for the next round of the league and the next round of cups.

Metz will face a strong Lyon in the 23rd round of the league and if Metz can beat Toulouse in the 22nd round, that match will be a direct clash between the first and second in the league. At the same time, in the French Cup, Metz also reached the quarterfinals, which took place on January 31.

Metz, who played almost second-tier, played 1-1 away from Toulouse and dropped from second place to third, with 37 points in the league.

In fact, the game against Lyon can still be lost, after all, there is nearly half a season left in the league, and the current points of Metz are quite safe. The game on 14 February is the most important thing, and the ultimate goal of a season may depend on the result of that game.

That match was the League Cup 1/16 final.

After the group stage, the UEFA Cup was redrawn, and Metz drew Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen, who are currently sixth in the Bundesliga and should not be underestimated, as the team that won the group, this is perhaps one of the few strongest group draws to be third...... After the league match with Toulouse, Metz, who played against the youth in the reserves, lost to Lille and the defending champions were stopped in the round of 16. The players may be frustrated, but no one in the coaching staff will be sorry because they have thrown off a baggage.

In the 23rd round of the next league, Metz hosted Lyon. The two sides have met twice so far this season – including the pre-season Super Cup. The two sides have a record of one win and one loss, Super Cup Metz won the "Lyon II team", the league played with all the main forces, and Lyon, who vowed to take revenge, got what he wanted, and won the bad state Metz 2:0 cleanly.

This is their third and last meeting this season.

On their home turf, Metz narrowly beat Lyon 1-0 after a very hard-fought game and had the last laugh on aggregate with a 2-1 aggregate score in three games this season.

Although he won, Metz paid a big price. First of all, Chu Zhongtian was sent off with a red card for violating Juninho in the game. With five minutes to go and Metz leading 1-0, Juninho launched a counter-attack from Lyon with the ball, and if he was not stopped, it would be a one-on-one attack. Chu Zhongtian had no choice but to pull down Juninho and was sent off with a red card.

And then Sammy. Traore also received a late yellow card for deliberately delaying the game, which will see him miss the next league game against Nice.

When Chu Zhongtian was sent off with a red card and Traore received a yellow card, the TV broadcast was broadcast live to Metz coach Jean. A close-up shot of Fernandes, with no anger or displeasure on the manager's face, as he went on as usual, as if the absence of these two men had no effect on him at all.

Actually, that's because it's not the worst thing at all, the worst thing happened eleven minutes into the game.

Jeremy, who has made 28 appearances in all competitions for Metz this season, has scored seven goals and provided five assists. Menez strained his thigh muscles during a feint with the ball, and insisted on passing the football out before he stopped and raised his hand to call for help.

Fernandes knew the exact extent of Menez's injury at half-time and is optimistic that he will miss three weeks of the game, which will certainly not be in time for the two-legged tie against Bayer Leverkusen. This is a big blow to Metz's strength.

In the face of such a situation, Chu Zhongtian's red card and Teremi's yellow card are really nothing.

After the match against Lyon, Metz returned to second place in the league with 40 points, while Lyon had 51 points, and the difference between the two sides was 11 points, which looked quite far. If nothing else happens this season, no one has been able to shake Lyon's supremacy.

There are a total of 20 teams in Ligue 1, and except for Lyon, the other 19 teams are only competing for the second to 20th place in the league.

On February 11, in the 24th round of the league, Chu Zhongtian and Traore were both absent, and Metz lost 1:2 away to Nice. Ibisevic did not perform well in this game and was substituted in the 69th minute. Ribery was alone, surrounded by the other. Although he still scored a goal for the team, he could not beat a team alone.

After this game, Metz will go away to challenge Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga.

※※※Chu Zhongtian's impression of Leverkusen is still stuck in 2002. That season was one of Bayer Leverkusen's best, as they fought it out on all three fronts. It was also one of Bayer Leverkusen's most tragic season, as they fell ahead of the trophy on three fronts: in order to stay in the Champions League final, they lost in the final second round of the league and sent rivals Borussia Dortmund to the title, knowing that with three league games remaining, they were five points ahead of Dortmund, and the Dortmontes basically gave up...... didn't expect Leverkusen to give a big gift, so generous, Dortmund naturally smiled unceremoniously. The German Cup final was lost to Schalke 04 and finished runners-up for the second time that season. The most tragic thing came, in the Champions Cup final, in Glasgow, they became a complete supporting role, although Lucio scored the equalizer for the team, but in the end the whole of Glasgow witnessed Zidane's flying volley, which was voted the best goal in the European Champions Cup in 50 years, Real Madrid defeated Bayer Leverkusen with Zidane's goal, and lifted their ninth Champions Cup in the history of the club, just one short of the 10th Crown.

There is also a detail that is a good example of how Leverkusen "makes the background for others". When Zidane volleyed, Ballack, the leader of Leverkusen at the time, stood behind him and watched the whole process of the ball...... For Ballack, the leader of German football, he was taught a lesson by Zidane. It was also a tragic year for him, and in the subsequent World Cup in South Korea and Japan, he achieved his "fourth runner-up" on the bench...... Chu Zhongtian's all he knows about that Bundesliga team is limited to this, and he doesn't know what happened to Bayer Leverkusen after that.

However, now he has to face this unfamiliar opponent, and it is in the crucial League Cup quarter-finals, and the schedule of playing away first and then playing at home is a combination of advantages and disadvantages, and playing at home means that there is one last insurance, and if you lose the game on the road, the home team can also try to turn it around. However, if you play at home, it means that there is no away goal to fight for in the last leg, but you have to watch out for the opponent to score an away goal, and there is a lot of pressure on your own defense. And playing the home field first is reversed.

In general, there is still a slight advantage in playing at home, which is also a compliment to the team with good results, so the team that wins the group will play away first and then play at home.

The match day was February 14, and the team arrived in Bayer Leverkusen on the 13th, without resting, went to the hotel to put their things off and rushed straight to Bayarena for acclimatisation.

After this training session, the team went back to the hotel for dinner and rest. When I went to Bayer Stadium the next day, I went to the game.

While the team was in training, the head coach Jean. Fernandez was interviewed by the media on the sidelines of the venue, and they only had fifteen minutes to do so. The pitch will be closed after the time runs out and Bruno Fernandes will use the opportunity to rehearse some set-piece tactics.

Of course, when you go to someone else's home field, you can't really keep it a secret. Leverkusen's scouts or coaches will certainly show up in some dark corner of the stands after the stadium closes, filming Metz's training sessions and taking notes.

Fernandez didn't hide it either, practicing generously.

In an interview, he also made it clear that the goal of Metz in this game is to get a draw on the road, and it would be better if there were away goals.

This goal is realistic, and there is nothing surprising about it.

And when the manager was outside to reporters, the players were also warming up and curiously looking at the stadium where they will play tomorrow.

"It's so small...... Promans sighed. In terms of visual experience, the course is about the same size as their Holy Mountain Furion Stadium. And the Holy Mountain Forien Stadium is already a small stadium in Ligue 1, but I didn't expect the stadium in the Bundesliga to be just like that...... "It feels similar to our home stadium, is the Bundesliga all at this level?" Obertan also thought it was strange.

"It's a small stadium in the Bundesliga." Ribery is also visiting the stadium for the first time, as the Bayer Stadium is not a World Cup stadium, so he did not visit during last year's World Cup.

"The small pitch is good for us." Chu Zhongtian said, "We are used to the small court. ”

Everyone nodded.

At this time, Fernandez sent the French and German media and returned to the team. He said to the players: "All right, lads. Put away your curiosity and train hot! ”

That was the end of the discussion about the pitch, with the players warming up and training.

※※※ For Chu Zhongtian, everything was normal before this game, whether it was training, rest, or diet, there was nothing to be picky about, and the rigor of the Germans was vividly reflected in entertaining them.

The problem was with the warm-up before the next day's race.

It was a warm-up and Promans was in a good mood and he was in good shape, he yelled in training and then won and fired a shot that didn't hit the ball but hit the turf in front of it...... It was a very low-level and amateurish mistake, so at first everyone laughed at him, and Ribery even crouched on the ground with laughter.

But soon everyone realized that something was wrong, and Promans was lying on the ground with his big toe covered and looking pained.

Assistant Coach David. Carré hurriedly ran up to check on Promans' injuries, and soon the team doctor Stefan. Don Kee also ran up, he took a brief look, and said to David. Carré said: "He won't be able to play. Saying wow, he set about icing Promans and reducing the swelling of his swollen big toe.

"What is this?" David. Carré exclaimed when he heard that Promans was injured and could not be used. "What the hell are you playing, Promans?"

Faced with the assistant coach's questioning, Promans also felt quite aggrieved: "I think it's the quality of the turf, it's none of my business!" Really ......"

"You're obviously overexcited during the warm-up! Is this game what makes you like this? "David. Carré felt it was a bad start, which didn't bode well for today's game...... Seeing that Promans was going to miss today's game, his teammates also surrounded him and blessed him.

Promans' mentality is not bad, the French are optimistic by nature and can always see through quickly, and Promans has always been a very optimistic and good person. He smiled at Chu Zhongtian and said, "Hey, Chu." Looks like you're going to be left alone, I'm sorry. But as compensation, the captain's armband is given to you! ”

Chu Zhongtian realized that if Promans really couldn't play this game, he would replace Promans as the team's captain on the field.

Since the arrival of Mexico international Rodriguez, the team's main centre-back combination has been him and Sammy. Traore, the number one captain Bobiconi can only get a chance to play in the rotation, so most of the time the captain of Metz is actually the second Promans.

Now that Promans was injured in the pre-game warm-up, wouldn't it be his turn to be the captain on the field?

The Chinese media will surely cheer and be proud of the presence of a Chinese player wearing the captain's armband in the UEFA Cup. But at this moment, Chu Zhongtian was not happy at all, he was worried that the team might not be able to achieve an ideal result today.

Promans has always been his good partner in midfield, and his tireless running and interceptions allow Chu Zhongtian to confidently and boldly organize attacks. And once Promans can't play, Chu Zhongtian will have to distract himself to take care of defense, which will inevitably affect his performance in attack.

Menez's injury has greatly affected the attacking strength of the Metz team, and now he has injured Promans, and the defense has also suffered.

Promans limped to the dressing room with assistant coach Carré back to the dressing room and then told the current unaware head coach Fernandes about the situation.

Soon, he ran back and said to Jayovi, who was warming up: "Ahmed, you start this game and take Gregory's place." ”

In fact, from the time of Promans's injury, Jaiove knew that his chances of playing in this game had increased greatly, so when it was really his turn, he was not excited, but just nodded and said that he knew.

Carré didn't explain much, anyway, when he returned to the locker room, head coach Fernandez still had to explain, he left Yaiove and ran to find Chu Zhongtian.

He brought Chu Zhongtian a very special but not unexpected news: "You wear the captain's armband in this game, Chu!" ”

(To be continued)