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Perhaps after the game, some people will think that Chu Zhongtian's foul was irrational, because he will miss the League Cup semi-finals because of this red card, and the semi-finals are related to whether they can reach the final. Pen, Fun, Pavilion www.biquge.info want to defend the title? Let's talk about defending the title in the final.

But at this moment, none of the Metz fans at the Stadio Fortion in the Holy Mountain, nor the media personnel sitting in the media box and on the broadcast bomb, thought of it. They were all infected by the atmosphere at that time, and stood up and applauded Chu Zhongtian's departure.

Everyone knows that if Chu Zhongtian doesn't foul, Ribery may get rid of it smoothly, and then face goalkeeper Wenbi alone. Wemby is not good at one-on-one, and what he excels at is goal-line skills.

So at that time, fouling was the best option, although it would cause Chu Zhongtian to miss the rest of the game.

Chu Zhongtian stood on the sidelines, accepting the applause of the fans, and at this time he did not think that he would miss the semifinals. If he doesn't foul, then he won't even be eligible to miss the semifinals.

After receiving applause from the fans on the sidelines, Fernandes walked up and hugged him.

"You're doing a good job, Chu. Now go down and get some rest. He patted Chu Zhongtian on the back.

Chu Zhongtian nodded.

There was one minute to go before the end of the 90 minutes, and there were four minutes of stoppage time at most, which means five minutes to go. Bayern Munich will try their best to score a goal in these five minutes, but in the face of Metz, who has decided not to defend it, Bayern Munich may not have a good solution.

There is no team in the world that dares to say that they can easily beat a team that is bent on defending.

Not even Barcelona.

Chu Zhongtian walked down the corridor and entered the stadium, and the Metz fans in the stands who stood up to applaud him sat back in their seats to watch the next game.

Chu Zhongtian didn't go back to the locker room, he just stood at the entrance of the Yongdao Road, looking in to see the progress of the game. He'll have to wait until the end of the game to really feel at ease.

The sending off of Chu Zhongtian strengthened the determination of the whole team to defend Metz, and Fernandez replaced Menez with Jaiove at the last moment. The Metz team switched to a "no striker" tactic, did not want a striker, returned to the defense in all directions, and narrowed the defense line in the 30-meter area of the second half, so that Bayern Munich could not find a suitable path even if they wanted to attack.

Ribery is still alive, but his breakthroughs have always caught up in the encirclement of the Metz players.

The time of the game passed quickly, it was just that the Bayern players did not know. While they were still looking for holes in the Metz defence, the referee blew the whistle on his mouth.

"A sound...... Two ...... Three times! The game is over! The game is over! Metz eliminated Bayern Munich with an aggregate score of 3:2! ”

'They made it to the last four of the UEFA Cup! There are only three games left until they are defending their title! ”

The Bayern Munich players stood still, stunned, some did not expect their team to be eliminated by a Ligue 1 nobody.

Ribery stood alone in the middle of the field, head bowed, silent. At this time, no one booed him anymore, and the fans of Metz were busy celebrating the victory, and no one cared about him.

Metz's players were also celebrating wildly, and no one cared about him.

Chu Zhongtian felt relieved when he saw the end of the match, and it was only then that he remembered that he would miss the first leg of the semifinals.

Fortunately, it was only one game and not two, otherwise it is hard to say whether the team will reach the final of the League Cup.

Instead of going in to join in the team's celebrations, he turned around and went back to the locker room.

※※※ In an interview with reporters after the game, Promans mentioned Chu Zhongtian's red card and the victory of the game: "We want to dedicate the victory of this game to Chu!" It was his self-sacrifice that brought the team a victory, and without him, we probably wouldn't have been able to face you with that spirit, ha! ”

There are also Metz players who were asked what to do without Chu Zhongtian.

To this, Menez gave his answer: "Chu is of course important to the team, but football is not played by one person, the other ten people are also important. I hope the new team can survive the first leg of the semi-finals and we will wait for Chu to come back then. ”

Ibisevic echoed the same sentiment: "I'm not saying that Chu is not important, on the contrary, Chu is quite important. But when he can't play, we don't throw up our hands and surrender. We'll win the game and wait for Chu to come back! ”

So about Chu Zhongtian's red card...... Most of the players said that there was nothing wrong with the red card, and if it were them, they would probably do the same thing as Chu Zhongtian.

Let. Fernandes was also asked about Chu Zhongtian's red card incident at the post-match press conference.

“…… There was no doubt about the red card, Chu did commit a foul...... But I would say that it wasn't a deliberate foul, and it proved it. Ribery was unharmed. Chu is a player with a great work ethic and he never intentionally violates opposing players...... His absence? His absence from the first leg of the semi-final certainly had an impact on us, but I hope it is minimised. We've got a lot of other good players and we're confident. ”

Chu's red card became the focus of post-match news media coverage, mainly focused on his matchup with Ribery and the impact it would have. The media are not optimistic about the future of the Metz team in the first leg of the semi-finals.

Chu Zhongtian's own explanation in an interview with reporters is this: "I didn't think about it that much at that time? Red? Suspended? Missing the semi-finals? I didn't think about it, I just thought I couldn't let him run in front of me, that's all. Regret it? Well...... It's not good to miss a semi-final, but if I don't foul it, I'm afraid I won't even qualify for a semi-final. So there's no regret. ”

※※※ The next day, Metz's opponent in the semi-finals was revealed - Zenit St. Petersburg, a dark horse from Russia. If Metz was the dark horse in last season's UEFA Cup, then this season's Zenit St. Petersburg team is the big dark horse in this UEFA Cup.

The contest between the former dark horse and the current dark horse, the former dark horse finally won the League Cup and became a big winner by virtue of his performance last season, so can the current dark horse follow suit?

Although Mace was saying that they could defeat their opponents without Chu Zhongtian, but on the day of the game, the situation was not as they said.

On April 24, in the first leg of the match between the two sides, Metz went to challenge Zenit away.

The Metz players didn't know much about the Zenit team before, and it was only when they learned that their opponent in the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup was Zenit, that they went to see some information about them.

There are two people who stand out most in this team, one is their attacking core Arshavin (andery_arshavin) and the other is their captain and defensive core, midfielder Tymoshchuk (anatoliy_tymoschuk).

For these two people before the game, Fernandez also set up.

In the actual game, his set-up didn't work.

Chu Zhongtian was absent, Pjanic started, Pjanic is a full-time striker and is not good at defending. So Zenit took turns attacking the middle for this point, leaving Mace scrambling.

Chu Zhongtian is a player with a balanced offense and defense, with him, he can attack and retreat. Pjanic is obviously not a perfect replacement for Chu Zhongtian.

Just four minutes into the game, Zenit St. Petersburg striker Bogrebnyak (pavel_pogrebnyak) broke through the door with a free-kick from 25 yards out.

The home team leads 1:0!

Conceding a goal too early disrupted all the arrangements of Metz before the game, and in the face of conceding such an early goal, Metz was a little unable to react. They don't know what to do with the next game...... In the next game, the whole team fell into an impatient mood.

Without Chu Zhongtian to connect in the midfield, their attack also lost its threat.

In the 38th minute, Zenit's midfielder Zlyanov (konstantin_zyryanov) scored another goal to extend the lead to two goals. Former World Youth Championship champion Argentine striker Dominguez (alejandro_dominguez) faked a pass from Traore and then shook off Obertan and fired the ball into the far corner from 12 yards out before Rodriguez could block.

To add insult to injury, the team's striker Menez was injured in the subsequent game and was unable to continue the game. Fernandes had to replace Menez with Reynolds at the end of the 45th minute.

At half-time, Fernandes felt the mess in the midfield and decided to solidify the defence and regain control.

Pjanic was replaced by Jyovi. Yayiowei is the same offensive and defensive midfielder as Chu Zhongtian, but in more ways he is much worse than Chu Zhongtian.

However, his defense was stronger than Pjanic's, so poor Pjanic finally waited for an opportunity, but only played half the game.

Fernandes' substitutions didn't bring him good luck and the team's situation didn't turn around. Although Fernandes said a lot to the players at half-time, he also pulled a few key players after the game to teach them face-to-face. However, Zenit's full-court pressing interrupted his tactical arrangement, because of the lack of Chu Zhongtian, a player who can control the football in the midfield and then transfer the dispatch, the situation is difficult to improve.

Ten minutes into the second half, in the 55th minute, Zenit took advantage of a mistake in the Metz back line to score again.

Zenit's right-back Anyukov (alexandr_anyukov) provided the assist and crossed into goal. Centre-back Traore was on the marker and Fajjulin (victor_faizulin) headed home from six yards out.

Zenit leads 3:0 in the pen!

The goal completely destroyed the morale of the Metz players.

Before the game, they vowed that they would give the victory of this game to Chu Zhongtian, who could not come to St. Petersburg because of suspension.

But unexpectedly, what was given to Chu Zhongtian was a clean defeat.

Every Metz player on the pitch had a hollow-eyed look and a confused look on their face, not knowing what they were supposed to do.

Fernandez couldn't do anything in the face of such a match.

One can only watch their team being humiliated on the road. For Metz, who had just eliminated strong rivals Bayern Munich, it seemed like a nightmare.

But neither Mace nor his nightmare are over.

In the 73rd minute, Arshavin, who was active throughout the game, broke through the left wing-back of Metz on the right flank with the ball. Signorino and then crosses. Centre-forward Poglebnyak, who was playing down the middle, fired a shot into the bottom right corner from 16 yards. It was his 10th goal in thirteen games in this UEFA Cup, with Zenit leading 4-0 at home!

After that, Metz began a desperate counterattack, not seeking to win the game, but trying to chase one or two away goals.

But there is neither Chu Zhongtian nor Pjanic, Metz's midfield is disjointed, the ball behind cannot be accurately sent to the front, and Ibisevic has empty skills but cannot use them.

In the end, Metz could only reluctantly accept the painful score - 0:4 away from home.

The scoreline meant a lot of things, starting with the fact that they couldn't get a single away goal, which made their chances of a comeback in the second leg much less. Secondly, a four-goal net loss has essentially ended the semi-finals early, unless they return to their home stadium with the same scoreline, and there is still hope that the game will be dragged into extra-time. But it's just too hard...... Every Metz player declined to be interviewed after the game, but Fernandes is the head coach and he has to be present at the post-match press conference. When the media asked him to comment on the game, Fernandes looked helpless: "We had imagined a lot of possibilities, but I didn't expect that we would concede a goal just four minutes into the game, which disrupted our whole schedule and put a heavy psychological burden on the players. ”

A reporter asked: "Has Chu's absence had a big impact on the team?" ”

Fernandes nodded and admitted: "Yes, we lack a player in midfield who can play in tandem. Originally, we didn't think Chu's red card would have much impact, but judging from this game, his absence did have a big impact......"

Another reporter asked him what to do in the next round.

"Next round...... We'll try our best to qualify, and now is not the time to give up......"

It's just that everyone can see that he's just holding on now.

Even if Chu Zhongtian makes a comeback, it may not be able to help Mace complete a shocking reversal. If they do, it won't be difficult to defend the UEFA Cup.

※※※ Back at the Holy Mountain Fulion training base, all the players of Metz who lost the game were not in a good mood, and they were depressed one by one in training, and they were unwilling to talk more about the game with Zenit.

It's not the first time they've lost, but it's really hard to accept losing by such a big score in such an important game.

The thought of the huge difference of four balls makes everyone feel discouraged.

The so-called disaster is not a single line, the house leak coincides with overnight rain, which is usually used at this time - in addition to losing 0:4 to Zenit, there are more unlucky.

Menez, who was injured during the game, was diagnosed with inflammation of the pubic symphysis tendon after the game and had to undergo surgery. He will be out for at least three months and will be completely out for the season. I thought it was just a simple muscle strain, but I didn't expect it to be such a disease. It was a headache for Fernandez.

There was a sense of pessimism throughout the team.

This sentiment has been carried over to the league.

In the league, Metz have not recovered from the big defeat in the UEFA Cup, they lost 0-1 at home to Saint-Etienne, and since the UEFA Cup entered the knockout round, the two-line Metz have been inconsistent in the league, as of the 35th round of the league, with three rounds to go, they have 47 points and are 12th in the league. They are eleven points clear of sixth place Rennes and have completely lost hope of qualifying for next season's European competition by virtue of their league standings.

Now they have to defend their UEFA title if they want to play in next season's UEFA Cup, but they have to pull off an almost impossible comeback before they can do so...... As it turned out, on 1 May, Metz hosted their opponents in the second leg of the UEFA Cup semi-finals, Zenit St. Petersburg.

In this game, Chu Zhongtian returned to the starting lineup.

Expectations were high for him and he didn't disappoint the fans.

Eighteen minutes into the game, he created a chance for Ibisevic with a through ball, and the Bosnian striker scored the ball into the goal and pulled one back!

It was a goal that thundered the hearts and minds of the Holy Mountain Florion Stadium. Now there are three goals left until extra time, and there are still seventy-two minutes, so it's too late.

In order to stop Chu Zhongtian and Mace from playing, Zenit had to use lethal tactics.

In the first half alone, Arshavin and Rickson (fernando_ricksen) each received a yellow card on Chu Zhongtian.

Rickson will miss the final if they make it to the final because of the yellow card.

However, this tactic did work, and most of the players in Metz were closely marked by Zenit players during the game, and their rough movements made it difficult for the Metz team to adapt, and frequent fouls also disrupted the rhythm of the game.

In the 61st minute, Metz was dealt another blow. Rodriguez made a mistake in defence and headed Arshavin's cross into his own net...... Own goal!

The score was 1:1 and the aggregate score became 5:1, and now Zenit had an away goal, four goals ahead of Metz on aggregate. Now for Metz, there is no such thing as extra-time: they scored four goals to level the aggregate score at 5-5 and will still be eliminated by away goals. Only in the next 30 minutes, five goals in a row to make the aggregate score 6:5, can you advance.

But this is completely impossible for Metz...... Chu Zhongtian was still working hard, but the whole team had almost given up the game.

No matter how hard he tried alone, it was useless.

With five minutes to go, the players in Metz had all but given up the game. Chu Zhongtian was also replaced by Fernandez. Although the team lost, he still received applause from the fans. In the minds of fans, being eliminated is not Chu Zhongtian's responsibility.

When the referee blew the whistle for the end of the match, the Zenit players cheered, while the Metz players fell to the ground, painfully and helplessly accepting the harsh reality that the defending champions had been eliminated!

※※※ After the game, Chu Zhongtian, as the second captain, took to the field to comfort his teammates, especially Rodriguez, who scored an own goal in the game, causing the team's efforts to be in vain.

After comforting Rodriguez, he stood alone in the middle of the field, looking at the cheering Zenit players around him, and then at his teammates who were sitting or lying down.

He knew his cycle at Metz was over.

It's time to go somewhere and start over and take on a new challenge.

(To be continued)