Chapter 299: Messi retreats
On 5 April, Chelsea beat Stoke City 3-1 at home. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info
Two days later, Manchester City lost 2-1 at Crystal Palace, and the gap widened further.
On 12 April, Chelsea beat Queens Park Rangers 2-0 away, with Shi Hao scoring a goal in the first half before being substituted at half-time to prepare for the Champions League on the 15th.
City lost 4-2 to Manchester United in the late Manchester derby, bringing the gap between them and Chelsea to a staggering 16 points.
And, let's not forget, Chelsea have one game less! Their round of 27 will be played on April 30th!
So the ownership of the Premier League title this season has completely lost its suspense.
With just six league games remaining, Chelsea only need one more win to celebrate the title!
The Premier League organising committee has promised to bring the trophy to Chelsea's next home game. As long as they win the competition, they will be awarded!
Their next home game will be against Manchester United at Stamford Bridge.
If you can win the opponent and then lift the league championship trophy, the picture is too beautiful to watch!
On the bus back to London, the Chelsea players were jubilant as they celebrated another league title. Shi Hao is also full of joy, this championship will give him more confidence to compete for this year's Golden Globe Award.
Of course, there are also some wins in the Champions Cup, such as the elimination of Messi's Barcelona and Cristiano Ronaldo's Real Madrid in direct dialogue......
On the evening of April 15, at Stanford Stadium, in the home team's dressing room, Jose Mourinho was putting the finishing touches on his team.
With such an important game against the best team on the planet – and perhaps not one of them – Mourinho couldn't be too cautious.
In the past ten days, most of the team's training has revolved around this game, and today, it is time to accept the results.
Most of the players looked solemn and Mourinho naturally noticed that. After arranging the tactics, he changed his words: "Shi said in an interview before, Barcelona should be frustrated if we were drawn. I think he's right! ”
"We were in training, we practiced over and over again, trying to contain Messi, Neymar and Suarez in the game. But I bet Enrique is also having a headache over how to contain Shi, Costa and Hazard! And we have another advantage - I know Barcelona, I have been there for 4 years and I know them very well. And they know almost nothing about us! ”
"Barcelona are strong, but we don't need to be afraid of our opponents because we are also the favourites to win the title! It was the misfortune of Barcelona to meet us! ”
"Everyone says Barcelona is the best team in the world! Defeat them, and we are number one in the world! ”
Jose Mourinho's short speech relieved the Chelsea players of their mental baggage, and everyone's eyes burned with fighting spirit.
Both sides basically came up with the best line-up in this game. Chelsea replicated exactly the same line-up they had against Paris Saint-Germain in their last game, with Barcelona also fielding a-for-tat 433.
Goalkeeper No. 1 Ter Stegen, right-back No. 2 Montoya, central defenders No. 3 Pique and No. 14 Mascherano, left-back No. 18 Alba; The midfield trio is No. 4 Rakitic, No. 5 Busquets and No. 8 Iniesta; Up front are Messi 10, Suarez 9 and Neymar 11. Now that Xavi is getting old and Daniel Alves is declining, this is already the strongest squad that Barcelona can come up with.
Once the game started, Barcelona tried to keep possession as they had done their usual game, but Chelsea pressed frantically high from the start.
This is Mourinho's tactic, when he was at Inter Milan, he pressed high at home, put the bus away, and finally eliminated the invincible Barcelona and lifted the Champions Cup that year when no one was optimistic.
In this game, since it is at home, Mourinho does not intend to let the team play too passively, so he asks the players to press actively, disrupt the rhythm of Barcelona, and never allow them to control the ball comfortably.
Messi had to retreat frequently to his own half to get the ball and assist Iniesta in organizing the tandem.
In the ninth minute, Chelsea were killed. Nemanja Matic made a steal in midfield and crossed to the right. After receiving the ball, Shi Hao wiped Alba and wanted to kill the penalty area with the ball. But Alba's speed was very fast, and Shi Hao had to change direction, took a few steps to the baseline and then crossed with his feet. Costa swept a shot into the side-netting from the corner of the six-yard box.
Not to be outdone, Barcelona returned the favor in the 14th minute. Suarez ran to the left side and broke through with the ball and suddenly cut inside, hitting the ball into the middle, and the unguarded Messi took the ball at the top of the arc.
At this point, Neymar ran to the right and resolutely stepped forward, and most of the attention of the Chelsea defenders was drawn to Suarez and Neymar, and when Terry came to fill in the position, Messi was able to calmly get to his feet. He curled a curling ball with his left foot, and Courtois stretched his arm as far as he could to touch it. Under the horrified gaze of the Blues fans, the ball bounced off the left-hand post.
It was a wake-up call for Chelsea, but Mourinho made no adjustments. Barcelona seemed to have found their way through the goal and threatened the Chelsea goal in quick succession over the next few minutes.
In the 15th minute, it was Messi who took the ball in the middle and decisively distributed it to the left, but the ball was slightly wider, and Neymar cut in from a small angle and kicked it in the side netting.
In the 17th minute, Neymar received Messi's pass and passed an inverted triangle, and Iniesta followed up and shot high.
In the 18th minute, Rakitic successfully picked up the ball from the feet of Cesc Fabregas, and he quickly handed the ball to Messi. Messi turned and brushed Ramirez and accelerated to break through, and Matic met and wanted to break the ball, but was swayed by Messi with a simple sound. Messi was quick enough to get to the edge of the Chelsea penalty area, where he didn't stick to the ball in the face of John Terry and Gary Cahill, tucking the ball into the left side of the box before the opposition got close.
Neymar sped up suddenly, smashing his way through the bag between Branislav Ivanovic and Cesc Fabregas to get his hands on the ball. He was so fast that even with a pause on the ball, he was still 3-4 positions ahead of Cesc Fabregas and Branislav Ivanovic, and he was able to adjust and use his right foot to push into the far corner. It was his most comfortable and favourite position, and his shot lived up to expectations, getting his finger around Courtois and into the corner.
It was his 28th goal of the season!