After the 29th round of league games against Athletic Bilbao, the squad quickly returned to Valencia as they prepare for the second leg of the 2006-2007 UEFA Champions League quarter-finals against Chelsea in midweek, the outcome of which will determine who will reach the semi-finals.

Although Valencia won 2-1 away at Chelsea, there are countless cases in the history of modern football that they cannot afford to be careless, otherwise they will become the laughing stock of the whole of Europe, and the opponent is last season's Premier League champion - Chelsea!

In addition, Baraja, who is in charge of full-time defense in this game, will miss the second leg of this crucial Champions League quarter-final due to the accumulation of two yellow cards, which also directly reduces the team's ability to defend in front of the team.

Also to Valencia's downside is the return of Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien, known as the African bison, who will bring a new vibrancy to Chelsea's midfield, both offensively and defensively.

His comeback has directly raised Chelsea's midfield ability to a notch.

Frank Lampard, Essien and Mikel in midfield, which is not a player with excellent physique and full of fitness?

This positive and negative also made the team that underestimated Chelsea before feel a little frightened.

Speaking to reporters after Chelsea's weekend of league fixtures, Jose Mourinho expressed his confidence in the second leg of the Champions League quarter-final at the Mestalla Stadium three days later: "Conceding a goal at home is not the end of the day, because our 'African Bison' has made a perfect comeback, he will be on the pitch in this crucial game, and I believe his appearance will definitely take the team up a notch..."

Subsequently, the reporter mentioned very normally how Chelsea was going to contain Valencia's strongest attack point in this game three days later, Mourinho pondered for a while, and then smiled, "We go to the Mestalla Stadium not to defend, but to attack, because only attack can make us win, otherwise we are left with only defeat, so how to contain Ai you talked about is not in our consideration......"

Listening to Jose Mourinho's threat to raise the banner of attack at the Mestalla Stadium was a surprise to Chelsea, who are accustomed to playing defensive counter-attacks.

So their first reaction was to think that Mourinho was setting off smoke bombs.

But then I thought about it, we lost at home in the last leg and conceded two away goals to Valencia, which means that they have no way out, and only attacking can get them through.

Looking at the silent group of journalists, Mourinho said a few words of thanks to the reporters who were present and left the post-match press conference, leaving a group of reporters looking at each other.

Could it be that Chelsea really want to play Valencia away from home?

But...... The current form of their team...... It's a bit worrying.

In fact, Mourinho was only half right at the press conference that ended the league, because his coaching habit is to divide the two-legged knockout round into two halves, which means that the home defeat is regarded as the first half, and the second leg of the Champions League quarter-final three days later is the second half.

He said that raising the banner of attack at the Mestalla Stadium is only based on the fact that the team's backline does not concede goals, after all, in this kind of cup format game, defense is the fundamental, and what he said is just to confuse Valencia.

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Valencia gave up on the weekend's league fixture, as did Chelsea, so the two sides are preparing for the second leg of the Champions League quarter-finals on an equal footing.

Jose Mourinho has decided to reinstate last season's tactics of flying on both wings in order to progress to the semi-finals with a win at the Mestalla Stadium, as well as the same style of play as a winger from 2004/2005 when he first arrived at Chelsea.

Looking at Joe Cole and Kalou, who were in good form in training, Mourinho nodded in satisfaction and returned to his senses to continue discussing the second leg of the UEFA Champions League quarter-final at the Mestalla Stadium with Boas.

……

Baraja's accumulation of two yellow cards was disqualified in this crucial game, which also gave Valencia a flaw in the middle of the defence, and although Albelda could have done well, it was a waste of his attacking talent when he organised the attack, in other words, a waste of talent.

Marchena is a good choice, but he has been banned by UEFA for four games, and only the theoretical Champions League final can be played, and the second-best Edu is also a good choice, but he has been absent for a long time, and the game form has to be put with a big question mark, and the first game is paid in such an important Champions League knockout round.

It was an adventure for both the team and Edu himself, and Flores was not an adventurous manager, so in the end, Albiol had to be reinstated in the central midfield position to replace Baraja.

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The second leg of the Champions League quarter-final at the Mestalla Stadium was packed, with almost the entire stadium surrounded by white, not much blue belonging to Chelsea fans.

So first of all, when the Valencia players came out of the tunnel, the whole stadium seemed to tremble slightly, which shows how powerful the home team fans from the stands are.

When the away Chelsea players showed up on the pitch, the home fans didn't boo because they didn't feel the need for it because this was the Mestalla and any team would have to bow down to the pitch!

Soon, the Chelsea players felt they were being slighted.

Mikel pursed his lips, "You're going to punish your contempt!" ”

In fact, it's no wonder that the home fans ignore the Chelsea players, and the blame is that Valencia has a good home record in this season's Champions League, and they have won all the home games in the Champions League this season, as Valencia die-hard fans, they already have their own pride!

As is customary this season, before the start of each game, a huge poster of the players hangs in each of the stands at the Mestalla Stadium, but the one that belongs to Iroh is particularly dazzling, because it is the largest and hangs from the supreme North Stand.

From this point of view, Iroh is already the patron saint of the Valencia team, and any team must bow down here, otherwise, the kick will be served!!

At the same time, thanks to Iro's blessings, many Chinese fans who have been turned on Guò TV can see the flag belonging to China from the scene, and because of Iro, they fell in love with his country.

In this moment, football is a qiē for the fans.

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"Judging from the starting list submitted by both sides, it is very surprising, because both sides play a four-three-three formation, if only the home team Valencia uses four-three-three, it is not surprising, they have used this formation for nearly two seasons, but it will be a little strange for Chelsea, with the transfer of Duff, and Robben's frequent injuries, coupled with the arrival of Shepchenko, so this season Mourinho's favorite four-three-three formation plays very little, more four-four-two, focusing on the balance of attack and defense......"

The captains of both sides guessed the ball at the referee, and Huang Jianxiang took advantage of this time to express the doubts in his heart.

Flores was also a little puzzled by Chelsea's four-three-three formation, as Jose Mourinho put Shepchenko, the man who scored in the previous leg, on the bench, and Kalou and Joe Cole, who have been in good form lately, on the flanks, with the Monster Drogba in the centre.

However, Chelsea's four-three-three formation is also similar to Valencia's four-three-three, the three midfielders are Mikel, Lampard and Essien, of which Mikel is full-time defense, Essien is responsible for the connection and assistance defense in the midfield, and the responsibilities of Frank Lampard and Balencia are basically the same.

The essential difference is that Valencia's wingers are more capable of scoring, while Chelsea's wingers are assist-oriented.

However, when the game began, Chelsea's two wingers, Kalou and Joe Cole, did not post their crosses from the two wings and then cross them down, but the wingers' misplaced style of play and more ability to cut inside.

Seeing this, Flores finally understood Chelsea's thoughts in this game, and it seems that Mourinho's words before the game were not just smoke bombs, but mixed reality.

After half a minute, Chelsea's attack made a comeback, and their appearance in this game was the same as Valencia did at Stamford Bridge in the last round, grabbing a start before the home team could react, and there was not so much temptation at all, and they showed their guns directly.

Joe Cole's technical characteristics are very distinctive, especially on the left side, and he can often use his skill at his feet to suddenly dribble horizontally when an opposing defender is caught off guard, and then use the inside of his right foot to arc into the far corner, which not only often helps Chelsea score, but also often surprises England fans in international matches.

That's why he was able to secure a regular place in the England squad at last year's World Cup in Germany.

In the seventh minute, Chelsea's attack was launched from the left, and then a swift move from Frank Lampard to the right drew Valencia's defence past him, and Lampard then ran to the right and soon found the ball on the way to Joe Cole.

Frank Lampard's long ball was a sight to behold in the studio, as the speed of the ball in the air and the fact that the Valencia defenders on the pitch could clearly not move as fast as the ball in the air, which also gave Joe Cole the opportunity to go head-to-head with Miguel.

Joe Cole faced Miguel's defence, first stepped on a couple of cycles in succession, then slammed the ball to the right with the outside of his right foot, picked up his right foot before central defender Moretti could make up for it, and curled the ball into the far corner of the goal with the inside of his foot.

If it weren't for Canizares guarding against Joe Cole's strike, he had a prediction in advance, and this one palm saved the ball from the bottom line, alleviating this defensive crisis.

Joe Cole roared at the Mestalla sky as he watched the ball fly off the line, clearly angry that he hadn't made the ball......

ps: Thank you for the EVFA monthly pass, continue to ask for tickets, it's the end of the month, don't waste it!