Just five days after playing Chelsea, Blackburn Rovers host Shakhtar Donetsk, who are on second leg of the Champions League group stage.

As long as it is an opponent, George will study it well. Including this Shakhtar of Donetsk, whose name has not been heard much before.

Shakhtar Donetsk are the best team in the Ukrainian league other than Dynamo Kyiv. Shakhtar Donetsk certainly can't compare with the famous Dynamo Kyiv in European football, after all, Dynamo Kyiv was a Soviet powerhouse even during the Soviet era.

But in Ukraine, if Kyiv Dynamo is the boss, then the Donetsk miners can say that I am the second.

Compared to Sparta Prague and young talents like Rosicky, Shakhtar Donetsk's players are basically made up of Ukrainian players. Because there is not much money to bring in reinforcements, they can't afford to bring in Eastern European players who are close at hand.

And the Ukrainian league is not ranked in Europe at all. Plus Ukraine, it's too cold there. Those South American players and African players are not going to Ukraine.

To put it bluntly, football is now a game of money.

If the Ukrainian club has money, then don't say that Eastern European players, even the geniuses of South America and Africa will come voluntarily. But now there is no money, then everything is an excuse.

Therefore, the strength of Shakhtar Donetsk is weak.

They can only collect homegrown players locally in Ukraine. The strength of Ukrainian football is average, not to mention Shakhtar Donetsk, which is dominated by Ukrainian players.

Shakhtar Donetsk's style of play is very obvious to that of Eastern European teams. The players are in good shape and the game is fast-paced. It's a pity that Shakhtar Donetsk forgot that the fastest pace of play in the world is the Premier League. Blackburn, who trained in the Premier League, was most afraid of this kind of rhythm.

So as soon as the game started, Blackburn was in the groove. It took just seven minutes for Blackburn to take a 1-0 lead thanks to Pire's free-kick. Blackburn had no reservations, and just five minutes later, Drogba smashed the ball into the Shakhtar Donetsk goal.

It was also Drogba's first goal in a European competition.

It was also Drogba's fifth goal for Blackburn. But it wasn't really Drogba's own ability to score.

It was Miku in midfield who fired a long-range shot, which was saved by the goalkeeper and hit Drogba, who was rushing forward, before rolling into the goal. And it hit Drogba right in the face, and Drogba hit it with his face.

After the goal was scored, even Drogba himself was baffled. Luck can't stop it, so you can score goals. After Drogba saw the goal, he was also surprised to stick out his tongue.

However, with Drogba's goal, the commentators have already begun to set the tone for this game.

"It looks like Lazio and Blackburn are in Group B. Lazio are also currently 1-0 ahead of Sparta Prague at home. After two rounds, Lazio and Blackburn will both pick up six points. Sparta Prague and Shakhtar Donetsk, on the other hand, were powerless to fight back against Lazio and Blackburn. ”

"The biggest suspense in this group right now should be who will be able to finish first in the group between Lazio and Blackburn."

The commentator was right, and at the end of the game, Blackburn ended the game with a high score of 5-1. Lazio, on the other hand, also won 3-0 against Sparta Prague.

Lazio and Blackburn both have six points, but Blackburn have one more goal difference to rank first.

From the start of the season until now, Blackburn have played a total of nine games. Blackburn have won nine games in a row, the first in Blackburn's history. Even in the 94-95 Premier League winning season, Blackburn's results could not be compared to this season.

All the media are speaking highly of the current Blackburn.

However, after this game, Williams talked to George about the contract extension.

George quickly understood. The news that Chelsea want to invite George has reached Williams' ears. The football circle is not big in the first place, and news can come out about any wind and grass. In addition, Chelsea owner Bates turned out to be a famous big mouth among the owners of English football.

Expect him to keep it a secret, unless it's a sow going up a tree.

Williams has been in English football for so many years, and his connections are still very extensive. Chelsea had just brought in George and Williams had been informed. As for West Ham, Williams automatically ignored it.

Blackburn Rovers are not a big club in English football, but they are in a far better position than West Ham United. What strength does West Ham have to dare to compete with the current Blackburn Rovers for coaching. So Williams didn't have West Ham in mind at all.

But Chelsea are different.

Don't look at Chelsea's current results are not as good as West Ham's, and even the history is not as glorious as Blackburn's. But Chelsea are the big clubs of London. Chelsea have a better future than Blackburn in every way.

First of all, Chelsea are in the metropolis of London, and there are many fans. It has all the ingredients to become a strong team.

That's why Williams asked George about it.

George had signed a three-year contract. This season is the last year. In fact, according to the general practice, everyone will start to negotiate when there is about half a year left in the contract. But now the sudden addition of Chelsea has made Williams a little anxious.

Williams, of course, didn't want to let George go. That's why I talked to George about renewing my contract.

George laughed and told Williams that it was time to start talking about a contract extension. Williams was overjoyed to hear George's assurance.

There is no need to be in such a hurry in the renewal negotiations between the two sides. But George just used this attitude to tell Williams that he had no intention of leaving Blackburn.

Williams thought to himself, George had such good grades. Even if you can't give George a salary of three million pounds a year, it should be about the same.

But George shook his head.

Okay, what madness Bates has. Even Williams came to himself to ask the question. I guess the newspapers and the media will soon find out about it. What a hassle.

It was true that the media reported on the incident, but it soon subsided. Claudio Ranieri has become the new head coach of Chelsea. George is really grateful to Ranieri, and this time Bates shot quickly and didn't bother George too much.

Ranieri, you're in the Premier League.

………… On September 21, Blackburn Rovers played the second game of the Champions League group stage against Shakhtar Donetsk. On September 23, Blackburn Rovers played Bradford away.

Bradford fought Burnley for the last relegation spot last season. Although it was difficult to be relegated in the end, the performance still did not improve this season. Only one win so far, against Chelsea, who are in worse shape.

But apart from the win over Chelsea, it was either a loss or a draw. Now they are still at the bottom of the Premier League.

Although the schedule is intensive, George is much more relaxed.

George is becoming more familiar with how to rotate his squad, and Shakhtar Donetsk and Bradford are both underdogs. George isn't going to be as rigid in the rotation as he used to be. Either the full main lineup or the full bench lineup.

Now George knows how to deal with fighting on two fronts.

Against Shakhtar Donetsk, George used Didier Drogba up front and gave Klose a rest. And McAllister was used in midfield, opting to rest Deco. Bellamy's was used to give Duff a rest.

McAllister is very happy to be able to play in the Champions League.

McAllister gave up Liverpool and came to Blackburn Rover, except for the two-year contract offered by George. It was the Champions League that attracted McAllister the most. McAllister is old, and at thirty-five years old, his weekly salary is not high.

Neither Liverpool nor Blackburn will give McAllister a high weekly wage.

And McAllister himself doesn't have much demand for a weekly salary, McAllister cares more about being able to prove himself at the end of his career. Now George has asked McAllister to play in the Champions League, which makes McAllister very satisfied.

McAllister is also doing very well. The perfect alternative to the role of Adecco.

Deco is well rested. This game can be played.

George's rotation made a difference, and the few guys who didn't play in the last game were all very good.

Klose, who has been in excellent form this season, received a long pass from Deco in this game and successfully scored his fifth goal in the league this season against offside. It was also Klose's seventh goal of the season for Blackburn.

Duff also counter-attacked in the second half to score the second goal of the game.

In the end, thanks to goals from Klose and Duff, Blackburn won 2-0 away at Bradford. So far, George's Blackburn have won seven league games in a row, and have won ten in a row since the start of the season.

Blackburn's results certainly shocked the English football world.

Because of the seventh round of the Premier League, Manchester United was forced to draw at home by Chelsea, which had just changed its manager. Arsenal were also held to a 1-1 draw away from Ipswich. With the last three consecutive wins, Liverpool were also held to a 1-1 draw by Sunderland.

In this way, after seven rounds of league games, Blackburn has left behind the direct rivals Manchester United by six points, Arsenal with seven points, and Liverpool with eight points.

Everyone sighed that Blackburn was really unstoppable this season.

At a time when Manchester United and Arsenal were relatively weak, Blackburn Rovers burst on. Although it is only seven league games now, many football commentators say that Blackburn Rovers will win the league this season.

It's really Blackburn who have been too strong this season. It completely overturned everyone's pre-season predictions.

The Telegraph even had a big headline that read, "Who Can Stop Blackburn?" ”

(To be continued)