Chapter 597: Encountering the "Enemy" Again
The fans of the Mestalla Stadium did not reluctantly leave their seats until Iello left the stadium, put away the signs he had brought, and left the stadium.
The next day, all Chelsea members flew back to London on a flight.
It is worth mentioning that many Valencia fans come to Valencia International Airport to see off Ello like a hero.
In fact, Iroh has always been their hero, was, and still is.
Meanwhile, the European mainstream media have the latest commentary on the first leg of the two UEFA Champions League quarter-finals that ended last night.
Among them, the British media reported the craziest, because three teams from England in the two Champions League games that ended last night, in addition to Chel's 2-0 away win over Valencia, it was another Champions League derby, Arsenal drew 1-1 at home to Liverpool.
As Premier League giants, Arsenal's rivalry with Liverpool has not received much fancy coverage in the British media, and in their minds, only foreign battles can show the strength of the Premier League, especially Chelsea's two-goal win over Valencia on the road.
At present, the whole of Europe knows that the Premier League and La Liga are fiercely competing for which league is the first in Europe, and Chelsea's ability to beat Valencia by two clean goals away from home shows the strength of the Premier League, which means that the Premier League is better than La Liga!
Iello killed his old boss by two goals in the first leg of the quarter-finals, which became one of the focuses of British media coverage, and the headline of the day in The Times was: The true colors of the goalscorer, to solve the worries of the main one.
"Ai as an outstanding work of Valencia Academy, joined Chelsea at a sky-high price at the end of last season, making this season's Chelsea strength rise in a straight line, Chelsea can remain unbeaten in this season's Champions League and enter the quarterfinals is directly related to Ai's 14 goals in nine games, just like the first leg of Chelsea's away Champions League quarter-finals against Valencia, if it weren't for Ai's two goals, this game is absolutely full of suspense......"
“…… With a 2-0 win at Valencia, Jose Mourinho is relieved that they have three more important games to play in the coming week, away at Manchester City, two days later at home to Cardiff in the FA Cup semi-final and finally at home to Valencia in the second leg of the Champions League quarter-final four days later. ”
The Spanish media and the British media have reported it from a different angle, and it is true that Ailo is a great product of Valencia, but he is also a superstar produced by Spain, so there is also a wonderful commentary on this game.
"Marca": "Judging from the Champions League quarter-finals that ended last night, the defending champion Valencia seems to be unable to get rid of the curse that no team can defend the Champions League since the Champions League was restructured, they lost 0:2 at home to Chelsea, the most eye-catching of which is Ai, who scored two goals alone, he is known as the greatest player in the history of Valencian football, and now the killing of the old owner is attracting attention, but it is worth mentioning that there was a warm scene after the full time..."
“…… Ai was led by his former teammates David Villa, David Silva and others to salute the Valencia fans and thank them for their presence...... From what we know about Ai in the past, he is a brave and responsible player, and this scene also allows us to see his iron and tender side. ”
Valencia Sport: "Although we were mentally prepared for the result, we couldn't avoid sadness when the result came out, as last season's Champions League winners, we lost 2-0 at our home stadium, and it was our pride that made it even more difficult for us to accept that we had given the fatal blow...... Ai's two goals were like a tear gas that we couldn't stop from crying, and the two valuable away goals against Chelsea at home made it difficult to see the future, and if Valencia's three major goals this season are empty, I believe Enrique Flores will leave the bat city......"
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Although the mainstream European media reports are still in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals, Mourinho has set his sights on challenging Manchester City at the City Stadium a day later, but in order to take into account the fitness of the main players, he does not plan to lead the main players in this game, because there is still a crucial FA Cup semi-final to come.
Chelsea also requested an extension of one of the two games between the two legs of the quarter-finals, but was rejected by the FA as both Manchester City and Cardiff refused to postpone the match, so they ...... There was a Champions League quarter-final sandwiched between two legs, a league game and an FA Cup semi-final.
Chelsea were therefore destined to sacrifice a game, and with a five-point lead in the league, Mourinho decided to opt out of the league against Manchester City after consulting with several key players in his squad in favour of setting his sights on the FA Cup semi-final at home to Cardiff at the weekend.
But to be on the safe side, the three mental pillars of Elo, Frank Lampard and John Terry were brought to Manchester, but on the bench.
Although he chose to give up this league game at Manchester City, for a giant team like Chelsea, although the strength of the substitutes is not as good as the main players, it is not far behind, and the strength of Manchester City is basically the same, but the experience of the game is a little less.
In Manchester's training on the field, Elo, Frank Lampard and John Terry, the three players who participated in the first leg of the quarter-final against Valencia, showed physical fatigue, and also strengthened Mourinho's determination to face the future game, as long as they don't lose, then let the three rest on the bench.
After all, the league and the Champions League have entered the most critical time, and it is impossible to increase the probability of injury because of a league game and the player's body is too tired, which is more than worth the loss!
The 33rd round of the Premier League has attracted the attention of many Chinese fans, because this time there is the Premier League's 'Chinese derby', Sun Hai's Manchester City and Ellilo's Chelsea came to a direct encounter, but it was a pity that Ailo sat on the bench for a full 90 minutes, and the league was eventually drawn.
1:1
One point each.
After the game, Iroh and his national teammate Sun Hai came to a hug, which was regarded as making up for the regret of watching this round of the league and not being able to see the Premier League's 'Chinese Derby'.
Chelsea's draw away at Manchester City also gave an opportunity to Manchester United, who were on a league trip the following day, against Blackburn Rovers.
In the end, Cristiano Ronaldo continued his away goal form in the Champions League, scoring two goals at home to help the team beat Blackburn Rovers 2:1, and also made the league points gap with Chelsea three points.
At the same time, it also narrowed the goal gap with the top scorer Aillo, and continued to rank second with 29 goals.
At this time, the British media went crazy and began to speculate.
In the 33rd round of the league, Manchester United, who have been chasing the top Chelsea since the beginning of the season, finally have only three points behind the leadership of Cristiano Ronaldo, and the league title this season will be full of suspense.
What is the concept of three? Points for one victory!
You must know that the two teams have a direct competition in the 36th round of the league, which means that if the two teams maintain the current points gap, the final ownership of the league championship will not be decided until the 36th round of the Premier League!
It's just that the schedule is slightly more favourable for Chelsea, because Chelsea's next league opponent is Wigan Athletic, and it is not a big problem to win the opponent, while Manchester United's opponent is Arsenal.
Although the league points have been reduced to three points, it has not affected Mourinho's attention, and his eyes are always on Sunday's FA Cup semi-final at home to Championship side Cardiff.
Because the league points have become a fact, it is impossible to dwell on things that have become a fact, only to focus on the future of the game is the king, after all, the FA Cup has also entered the semi-finals, there is no reason to give up, plus the boss promised the four championship trophies of 50 million pounds, where will the late half of the prize money fly away?
A home win at Cardiff would not have left them to win the FA Cup this season, as the other two teams in the semi-final are Portsmouth and West Bromwich Albion.
Whichever team reaches the final of the FA Cup will only be a foil for Chelsea.
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After three days of rest, the fitness of the main players has recovered, but in order to rationally distribute the fitness of the players, Mourinho did not send an all-out squad in the FA Cup semi-final against Cardiff at home, but a semi-main squad dominated by Elo, Frank Lampard, Drogba and others.
But this line-up was also enough to crush the Championship team Cardiff, with goals from Arrow, Sidwell and Drogba, beat the Championship team Cardiff 3-0 at home and advanced to the FA Cup final first!
After the game, many Chelsea players expressed their desire to win four titles this season, especially the leading scorer Elo, who directly expressed his desire to win four titles in an interview with reporters in the mixed zone: "I came to Chelsea to win the title! Take all the championships!! ”
After more than half a season, the British media has gradually adapted to Aelo's style of answering questions, compared to many big-talking players, Aelo basically does what he says, so there are not too many media to question Aelo's words, maybe what to do after this season?
It doesn't feel good to slap your face!
So most of the media in the UK chose to write it off.
After the league ended, the English media once again focused on the second leg of the Champions League quarter-finals.
Manchester United defeated Roma 2-0 at home and entered the semi-finals with an aggregate score of 4-0, while Barcelona beat Schalke 04 2-1 at home and advanced to the semi-finals with an aggregate score of 3-1.
Therefore, the semi-final opponents in the lower half are Manchester United vs Barcelona.
On the second match day of the Champions League quarterfinals, Chelsea defeated Valencia 1-0 at home and eliminated the opponent 3-0 on aggregate, and Liverpool defeated Arsenal 4-2 at home and eliminated the opponent 5-3 on aggregate.
In other words, the semi-finals in the first half of the zone are - Liverpool vs Chelsea!