'This is the first time in history that Chelsea and Burnley have met in a Carabao Cup final, having won the Carabao Cup once three decades ago and Burnley reaching the Carabao Cup final for the first time. Chelsea lifted the FA Cup at this venue last summer. After a year, they came to this site again. "Mortensen saw that the kick-off had not yet begun, so he gave another brief introduction to the two teams.

'Chelsea's forward line today was a three-man front line of Gianfranco Zola and Gianluca Vialli and Eddie Newton. It seems that Chelsea are bound to win this game. ”

'Burnley's starting line-up today was a bit of a surprise, not the previous 4-5-1, but the addition of a striker and the removal of a midfielder. Kevin Phillips came on in place of Horan and George had to play against Chelsea. It doesn't seem to be George's style! ”

For George's double forward, Mortensen was also very surprised.

"George's style is all about winning!" Alan Hansen, who was co-hosting next to him, replied to Mortensen with a smile.

With the referee's whistle, the 97-98 Carabao Cup final kicks off at Wembley Stadium. It was Chelsea who kicked off first.

Although Vialli didn't know much about Burnley, he only watched some footage of Burnley's game in order to prepare for this game. As many people think, Chelsea are a bit of a slight opponent for Burnley. Chelsea reached the Carabao Cup final but eliminated their arch-rivals all the way to Wembley Stadium.

Compared to Chelsea, Burnley's road to the Carabao Cup has been surprisingly smooth. Along the way, except for Blackburn, a derby opponent, I have not met a strong opponent. But even so, Burnley's style of play in the Carabao Cup has been conservative.

So after watching Burnley's game in the League Cup, Vialli believes that Burnley will definitely be a defensive counterattack in the final.

But after the opening, Burnley were not conservative. Instead, they played attacking football, with Burnley having three shots on goal in less than five minutes. Including Klose's close-range header, but fortunately the Chelsea goalkeeper reacted quickly, otherwise Chelsea would have been behind in the opening period.

And even after conceding the goal, Burnley also counter-attacked on the spot. This is also true for Klose, Kevin Phillips, Franck Ribery and Camoranesi.

Could it be that Burnley want to play against Chelsea?

It's a surprise! On the road to the Carabao Cup, even against League One teams, George, who has put a back three, chooses to play attacking with Chelsea?

However, after seeing Ballack retreat and stand with Neil Lennon, Vialli confirmed his pre-match thoughts. Burnley just wanted to take the lead in the opening stages, still defending and counter-attacking. If you want to attack, you won't let Barak retreat.

So Vialli didn't make any changes on the field, and Vialli decided to stay put. Let's take a look at the situation on the field first.

Vialli thought a lot about how to break down Burnley's defence before the game. Because Burnley are currently the team that have conceded the fewest goals in League One, and even in the Carabao Cup and FA Cup.

To get a glimpse of Burnley's defensive strategy, the Chelsea coaching staff recommended Vialli with a video of Burnley's game against Blackburn Rovers two years ago. That game was a classic battle for Burnley's defensive counter-attack, and Vialli was also very afraid of George playing that kind of shameless tactic.

But looking at Burnley in the opening stage, Vialli was a little relieved. Chelsea are not afraid of opponents playing against you, because attacking ability has always been a very proud aspect of Chelsea. Therefore, if Burnley is attacked, Vialli will not be able to ask for it.

After Burnley's three-platen axe, Chelsea quickly gained possession.

However, Burnley did not hoard a heavy midfield and fight for control of the midfield as they did before. Instead, he conceded the midfield and only began to set up the defense about 35 meters from the goal. Klose and Kevin Phillips up front, and even Ljungberg and Camoranesi only occasionally come back to help the defence, but they are all free from the defense.

Vialli has some doubts up front and it is very important for a team to control the midfield. And the most taboo thing is the disconnect between the front and back, but that's the case at Burnley right now.

The offensive player can't get the ball and doesn't come back to help defend. Defenders can't get the ball to the attacking players in time, it's a way to die.

“？？？？？？？？” A lot of question marks plagued Vialli.

Although he despised Burnley, Vialli never underestimated George. Judging from the Burnley games he has seen, George has always focused on the whole. There has never been such a disjointed scene in a Burnley game.

Now Burnley are close in midfield and at the back, forming a defensive area. There is little connection between the midfield and the front...... What the hell is Burnley playing?

"George, there's a complete disconnect between offense and defense." Not only was Vialli puzzled, but even Evan Sawyer, who was next to George, frowned.

George wasn't worried at all, but a faint smile appeared on his lips. 'There is a bit of a disconnect between our midfield and our midfield, but don't you notice that Chelsea's back and midfield are also disconnected?

It may have been that Vialli had stressed the pre-match focus on Burnley's counter-attack, so the Chelsea backline did not follow suit. Now Chelsea have the ball and they don't find it. And Vialli, playing on the field, failed to spot this gap.

There is now a lot of distance between Chelsea's backfield and midfield, which is something that George didn't think about either. Before the game, George thought Chelsea would take Burnley lightly and pressed it all down. But by mistake, it became such a situation.

So George gestured to Barak to remind him of the gap. Barak actually discovered this loophole, but never found the opportunity.

In the twelfth minute of the first half, Vialli received a pass from Poyet. Daniel, who had been staring at Vialli, leaned in and kept pushing against Vialli with his body. When Vialli was young, his body was also relatively strong.

It's a pity that Vialli will be thirty-four years old in three months, although this season's goal efficiency is good, almost one goal in two games. But after all, as you get older, your body functions decline very quickly. Daniel pressed his strong body against Vialli, leaving Vialli with no way to turn around.

So Vialli had to go back and pass back to Wise, who took two steps with the ball and rubbed it up to pass to Eddie Newton. Gary Brin was the first to do, and the ball fell to Ballack.

This time, Ballack did not make a long pass forward as before, but changed his ankle and gave a gentle push to the middle. Ljungberg, who was still on the left side just now, stabbed up diagonally, and after getting the ball, he did not follow the side, but directly galloped with the ball in the heart of the middle.

Because Wise went up, Poyet was closest to Ljungberg. So it was posted, but Ljungberg only made a trip forward, and passed Poyet with ease. Poyet is at the heart of Chelsea's attack, but he is not a defensive midfielder, and combined with Ljungberg's pace, he penetrates Chelsea's midfield in one fell swoop.

In front of the Yongbei is an open field.

Chelsea have six players within 40 metres of Burnley's goal, with only four defenders left behind. Playing this counter-attack with Burnley was a tackle, with Camoranesi cutting in along the right.

Klose and Kevin Phillips also spread out up front to stretch Chelsea's defence. Daniel, who was still defending in the back, also supported Ljungberg along the left flank.

Ljungberg had already left the Chelsea players far behind, and the Chelsea back line had to be forced to drop back.

Just when everyone thought Ljungberg would continue to attack, Ljungberg suddenly passed the ball halfway between Leboeuf and Lesaux. Camoranesi's burst of explosiveness got past Le Sox and picked up the ball on the right flank.

Le Sox is a left-back for the England national team and is not very slow. It's a pity that Le Sox is facing the ball head-on and has to take care of defense, so after turning around, he has been stretched a long distance by Camoranesi.

"Ljungberg passes...... Camoranesi, it's a beautiful one-two! ”

After Camoranesi got the ball, he didn't go straight into the box. Instead, after shaking off Le Sox, he crossed into the box.

Klose judged the landing spot very well, and instead of shooting at the front post, he rubbed his head back. In the course of the ball's flight, a thin figure appeared. Shoot hard at the incoming ball.

Less than three meters from the goal, the ball went into the goal like a cannonball.

"Wow-" City Stadium felt like a volcano erupting for a moment.

"Thirteen minutes into the first half! Thirteen minutes! Burnley take the lead! Chelsea's national defence is so vulnerable to a group of young people's counter-attacks! Ljungberg's pass, Camoranesi's cross, Klose's header and Kevin Phillips...... Wow! Kevin Phillips scored the goal between Leboeuf and Dubury. ”

"Kevin Phillips! He was the first player in Burnley's history to score in a Carabao Cup final. Win or lose, he has engraved his name into Burnley's history! ”