Reaching the last four of the UEFA Cup, the Red Rebels are undoubtedly the biggest dark horses in the UEFA Cup, the other three teams are Lazio from Italy, Porto from Portugal and Celtic from Scotland.

Martin? O'Neill's side beat the Reds with a classic 2-0 win at Liverpool's Anfield Stadium, but they also humiliated Liverpool with that victory after Liverpool's Diouf was heavily penalised by UEFA for spitting on Celtic fans in the first leg.

It also took a toll on the Reds' image and boosted the morale of the Celtic side, who were almost defenseless against Liverpool at Anfield.

On the second day of the quarter-finals, UEFA held a draw and the Red Rebels drew Lazio from Italy, with Celtic meeting Porto.

However, compared with the League Cup, the draw for the Champions Cup is obviously more eye-catching, and the most concerned is undoubtedly the strong dialogue between Real Madrid and Manchester United, and the quarterfinals of this year's European Champions Cup are undoubtedly the most beautiful teams in Serie A and La Liga, they have three teams in the quarterfinals, England only has Manchester United left, and the other is Ajax in the Netherlands.

In the end of the two European competitions, there were only two Manchester teams left, and the most eye-catching of them was the Red Rebels, no one expected that this team in the second division of England would be able to beat strong opponents all the way to the last four of the League Cup, which is indeed very surprising.

But even the most optimistic English media have to admit that the Red Rebels will stop in the quarter-finals because they are facing the mighty Lazio.

Stam, Mihajlovic, Favali, Stankovic, Simeone, Fiore, Inzaghi Jr., Chiesa, Lopes the Worm, ...... The head coach is Roberto Mancini, who later coaches Inter Milan and Manchester City.

As long as you sweep the names of this series of famous generals, they are all so thunderous!

Undoubtedly, the Red Rebels players will be among the best stars in the future, but for now, compared to the already established stars, they are just a group of promising up-and-comers.

Not only that, but although the key first leg will be played at home of the Red Rebels, there are a number of key players in the Red Rebels squad that will be suspended, including Kaka and Juninho Jr., both of whom will be sidelined due to yellow cards.

As the league progresses, the team's reliance on Juninho Jr. may not be as heavy as it was before the season, and the presence of De Rossi and Redondo also makes people feel a little reassuring about the Red Rebels' midfield organization, but the former is still young, and the latter is too old to play Juninho's role.

Another headache is Kaka.

If Juninho Jr. is the playmaker of the Red Rebels, then Kaka is the undisputed attacking heart of the Red Rebels, and this season, Kaka has shown impressive form for the Red Rebels, overturning many of the conventions of a post-World Cup slump.

There is the help of the lab and the coaching staff, but Kaka's own hard work and quality are also key.

At present, the Brazilian is the absolute main force of the Red Rebels, the commander of the attack in the frontcourt, he is the most indispensable member of the magic quartet, because Drogba has Villa, and on the two wingers, Hleb, Robben, Ronaldo, Ribery and Palacio can play, and even Villa can play a dozen on the wing.

However, neither Ribery nor Palacio can replace the Brazilian's role in the team.

The suspension of two key figures is really worrying for Jose Mourinho's side, and all the media is speculating about what kind of tactical play Mourinho will arrange for this game to deal with the mighty Lazio.

…………………… There is a total of 3 weeks between the quarter-finals and the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup.

However, in these three weeks, the Red Rebels did not enjoy any easy treatment, they had to play six games in three weeks, including one FA Cup semi-final and two league play-offs, and it is precisely because of these two supplementary games that the Red Rebels are in third place in the league, one point behind second-placed Leicester City and eight points behind first-place Portsmouth.

It may seem like a big difference, but in reality, Mourinho believes that the difference is not out of reach.

Both teams have a number of key games to play, with the Red Rebels having to play Sheffield United and Leicester City each before facing Lazio, both at home, and then another game against Portsmouth after the two knockout legs of the semi-finals.

These three key fixtures will determine the title this season, with Portsmouth also facing a tough battle against four tough opponents in the remaining seven league games: the Red Rebels, Wolves, Reading and Sheffield United.

The latter three teams will all be competing for play-off qualification, and they will be desperate against Portsmouth, two of which are away from home, to the detriment of Portsmouth.

It is precisely because of this that Mourinho said in an interview with the outside world that Portsmouth will definitely lose, because although this team has excellent offensive ability, it has a big problem defensively, and whether it is Wolves, Reading and Sheffield United, the defensive counterattack ability is very strong, and it is related to the promotion of the Premier League, who will not work hard?

As for his own team, Jose Mourinho believes there are no problems within the squad, the atmosphere is good, the morale is high, and the Red Rebels are more than capable of winning the last four of the UEFA Cup and the FA Cup.

"What about League One? You are currently eight points behind Portsmouth! The reporter reminded.

Mourinho smiled, "I said that Portsmouth will make mistakes, they absolutely, absolutely, they will make mistakes, and once they make mistakes, we will overtake, you know, we have one more home game, we have never lost at home, and I'm sure Portsmouth knows that. ”

"You seem to have a lot of faith in your team forever!"

"Of course," Mourinho replied without thinking, "we are in the last four of the UEFA Cup, we are in the last four of the FA Cup, we are judged to be a Premier League team, we deserve to go to the Premier League, provided we win all the next games, including Portsmouth!" ”

Mourinho was interviewed before the 42nd round of the league and repeatedly stressed that Portsmouth would make mistakes.

In this round of the league, due to the FA Cup, the Red Rebels' league was advanced by one day, away to challenge Walsall, who ranked 16th in the league, but in this game, even if Mourinho stayed for the FA Cup semi-finals, he also practiced for the League Cup, leaving Kaka and Juninho Jr. in Manchester, replacing Ribery and De Rossi, and the result was a clean 0:4 win over Walsall.

After the game, Jose Mourinho reiterated that the Red Rebels would take all of their opponents and put pressure on Portsmouth.

"You'd better not make a mistake, even if you just turn back a little, and we'll be able to kill you!"

Sadly, despite a stubborn counter-attack from Reading at Reading's home stadium, Portsmouth were able to secure a crucial victory, scoring two goals shortly after the opening kick-off.

But Mourinho didn't look at this, he specifically singled out Portsmouth in the second half by Reading and scored a goal to comment, thinking that other teams should play Portsmouth like this.

"If it weren't for their luck, they would have been second in the league and we would have been number one!"

Then, Mourinho smiled again, "I hope you can have such good luck in the next game!" ”

…………………… In the FA Cup semi-final against the Saints Southampton, the Red Rebels sat at home, Southampton looked very cautious in this game, this team is not very good in attack, but the defense is good, they average only 1 goal per game in the Premier League, and can climb to the current 8th place in the league, relying on their defense.

And if you look at Southampton's win-loss game, they have 12 draws.

This is a team with quality and a well-balanced attack and defence, but they are clearly more solid defensively and playing away from home, which makes Mourinho certain that Southampton will be counter-attacking in defence.

For this game, Mourinho hid a number of main players in the previous league game, and this game sent a full main lineup, with Drogba in the forward, Ronaldo Jr. and Robben on the wings, Kaka in the front, Juninho Jr. and Essien in the back, and Evra, Nemanja Vidic, Curtis and Kolo in the back line from left to right. Toure, goalkeeper is Cech.

This line-up launched a fierce attack on Southampton from the first minute at Old Trafford, especially the magic quartet in the front, which pressed Southampton and frequently caused Southampton problems through two wings.

In the 23rd minute, Robben and Xiao Xiao Luo switched positions to the left side, forced a breakthrough through the opponent's full-back, and crossed from the bottom.

Drogba also has a very tacit understanding with his teammates, and when Robben is strong, he is like a nail nailed in the opponent's penalty area, using his physical advantage to firmly occupy the position, grab the first point, and ferry the header to the back.

Kaka, who had been cruising outside the penalty area and not much of the Southampton defenders, suddenly stepped in the back row and grabbed the second drop point, even without stopping the ball, and volleyed directly.

The goalkeeper's vision was blocked by his teammates, and by the time he reacted, the ball had already gotten into the net, 1:0!

After the goal, the Red Rebels slowed down and retreated slightly, apparently consciously trying to get Southampton on the attack.

The latter also has no way, this is a single round of elimination, after falling behind, they have to choose to attack one way, but this leaves a lot of space for the Red Rebels to counterattack in their own defense.

In the 51st minute of the second half, the Red Rebels broke the ball in the midfield, Robben and Xiao Xiao Luo used their speed to form a counterattack, and made a clever cooperation in the opponent's penalty area, and then the next city, 2:0!

At this point, the suspense of the game has been completely lost!

(To be continued)