Chapter 760: Blood before the game
On May, the annual finale of the Champions League final kicked off in the much-anticipated one.
Dramatically, the final was between the same two sides as the miracle makers of Istanbul two years ago – AC Milan and Liverpool.
Whether it was arranged by man or played by God, in short, it was a more eye-catching game than the average final.
The first to blow the trumpet for the final were the fans.
On the morning of the morning, when the whole of Athens seemed to be dyed red with the jerseys of Liverpool and AC Milan, and when the whole of Athens was filled with singing voices wafting over the sky, a battle broke out between Liverpool fans and AC Milan fans.
The battle broke out very suddenly, or rather premeditatedly, without any prelude at all, and the fans of the two teams fought right in front of the Marlosi Hotel
This group fight was not the same as the last time I warmed up at the Olympic Stadium, the last time I was swearing, pushing and shoving for a while, giving the police and security guards time to prepare, but this time it was a fight when I came up, and I was still holding a guy in my hand.
Although it was unexpected, the Athenian side invested a large number of troops, arrived before the group of battles could expand, and soon entered the agreed battle.
Although there were no deaths, a Liverpool fan was seriously injured and sent to the hospital for emergency treatment, which made the police and security in Athens very embarrassed and more vigilant, and the Athens Public Security Bureau temporarily dispatched 200 additional blast police to try to maintain order, at least there should be no casualties.
The incident in the morning added a bit of gore to the upcoming game and gave Liverpool's players a hint of bad omen.
In the afternoon, Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez and AC Milan took part in a pre-match press conference.
Benitez and Ancelotti are both famous coaches, but both of them are relatively dull guys, and they are relatively personable, without Mourinho's style, let alone Mourinho's ability to create topics, so there are relatively few reporters here, but there are more than 300 people, which is definitely at the level of the Champions League final.
Benitez shook hands with Ancelotti, nodded, and sat down in their seats.
The first to speak was Ancelotti, Benitez leisurely picked up a bottle of mineral water, opened it, took two sips, put it down, and listened to Ancelotti speak quietly.
Carlo Ancelotti's voice was deep but powerful, "Tonight will be the most important match of the year for AC Milan, and it will certainly be the best, it will be the only competition we can compete for, and we must win this game." The theme of revenge is hyped in this game, I don't think that's correct, although our opponent is Liverpool who snatched the Big Ears Cup from us two years ago, but we have never taken revenge to heart, for us, there is only one goal to reach the Champions League final - and that is to win the championship This is also the only theme of this game, and revenge, if you think it is revenge, then it is revenge. In short, the final goal is to win...... AC Milan are in good shape at the moment, we have been preparing for this game for a long time, we are at our best, both physically and mentally, and now the players are very motivated to play and I am sure they can do a miracle. Undoubtedly, the most heated discussion now is Chen Yu and Kaka, both of whom are momentary brightness in football and the key to determining the outcome of this game. We have mastered the plan to limit Chen Yu, I believe that Chen Yu will not make much waves in this game, as for Kaka, I believe that Liverpool must have made targeted deployments, but I believe more in Kaka's ability, even if he can't score, he can also help the team in other ways, he is a middle-level playmaker, not just a striker, although he has scored 10 goals in the Champions League We should be more familiar with the opponent, even if two years have passed, Liverpool's style of play has not changed much,, Of course we haven't changed much, but this time we won't lose to Liverpool again......"
Although Ancelotti denies revenge, he actually has a bit of revenge, and he is saying this now, mainly to reduce a little psychological pressure on his players and make them calm and calm. Playing against an opponent like Liverpool is not careless at all, and the details must be thought of.
After Ancelotti finished speaking, the reporter pointed the camera at Benitez, who had just not dug up any goods from Ancelotti, and this time they pinned their hopes on Benitez.
However, with only a few hours to go before the game, Benitez had no interest in fighting a war of words or using this press conference to cheer up the army, he just repeated the cliché that he had said many times over the years, "...... The game was difficult and we were confident...... It's an honour to reach the Champions League final and we're building on our efforts to win another title, and while Garcia's injury isn't good enough and Colwill isn't fit to play yet, we're not short of people in midfield and can handle the game in front of us...... Chen Yu? Chen Yu is a good player, no, it should be said that he is a capable player, he will be the winner of this game, of course, football is a whole sport, Liverpool not only has Chen Yu, but also Gerrard, Crouch, Bellamy, Kuyt and other excellent stars......"
After Benitez spoke, the reporter was even more disappointed, and there was no fart, but in this battlefield where there is no gunsmoke, they are the real masters, even if they are strict-mouthed, there must be times when they leak out, unless they don't say anything, but then again, if they don't say anything, then what else is this press conference.
Under the bombardment of on-site reporters, Benitez and Ancelotti really said a few eye-catching things, such as Kaka's stay next season, Chen Yu's annual salary, these must be what fans like to see, but as the game approaches, the number of people who can be attracted by such news and such a pre-match press conference is also limited, and everyone's minds are basically attracted to the Olympic Stadium.
Almost two hours after the pre-match press conference, the area around the Olympic Stadium was already crowded with people and turned into a carnival for Liverpool fans and Milan fans.
At this time, naturally there are no fans who want to make trouble, they are in a hurry to score the field now, how can they be interested in making trouble, not to mention that there are police and security guards everywhere now, as well as plainclothes, if you are not careful, you will be arrested, except for hidden and remote places, no one wants to make trouble again.
But just as the admission time is coming to an end. There was a riot at the entrance.
"Damn, why don't you let me in if you have a ticket?"
"Is there any reason for this? Bought tickets but didn't let us in to watch"
"I'm looking for your manager, why don't you let me in, it's not that I don't have a ticket?"
About a dozen Liverpool fans got into a fight with the staff at the entrance to the stadium, and the altercation didn't just take place at one window, but in front of about seven or eight stadium entrances.
It turned out that the direct flight tickets from the UK to Athens had long been sold out, and most of the fans arrived at their destination by connecting through Guò, and these late fans were told that the airport was on strike when they were transferring planes in Milan and could not make it to Athens to watch the final. But that's nothing. There were still about UU fans with real tickets who came to Athens from other sources, but they were told that the stadium was full and they could not enter again.
These Liverpool fans are hardcore, they love the team and their idols almost more than they love their first love, they came all the way to Athens, they still have real tickets in their hands, how can they go back in disgrace, after all kinds of doubts, protests and anger, these fans still have not been able to enter the stadium, and the stadium side has no idea why there are tickets and cannot enter the stadium, why the stadium is full when 00 people do not enter the stadium? Such questions are answered.
In fact, the question is very simple, because there are also about 2,000 people, armed with fake tickets, who have actually been cleared by the stadium security guards.
Some fans at the scene witnessed that some people entered with fake tickets, some even took their own boarding passes, some people held blank paper, and people who casually drew the word "TT" on it, were directly released by the security guards, and they were not carefully looked at the second time, of course, in addition, there were some scum, who came to Athens empty-handed and stole other people's tickets and mixed into the stadium.
At this moment, there were earth-shattering shouts from time to time in the stadium, and the players should have been about to play at this time, and the fans gradually heard the truth, and their emotions became more and more difficult to control.
When the players walked out of the aisle and the on-site commentator shouted out the names of the players, the Liverpool fans finally couldn't bear the excitement and began to storm the entrance of the stadium, trying to force their way in.
The Greek police were kicked down several times, and they couldn't stop it, and the police began to use police tear gas and batons to disperse the fans, and many fans were beaten to the point of bleeding, but the more this happened, the more angry the fans became, and some fans without tickets were also attracted to come, they couldn't see the scene, and at this time they just came to join in the fun, and followed those fans who got tickets but couldn't get in to storm the police.
In order to prevent fights between fans, the police dispersed the police force, and at this time, they were shocked by so many fans, and soon they couldn't stand it, and many entrances were rushed open by fans, and when the police reinforcements arrived, I don't know how many fans with and without tickets poured into the stadium.
When there was a lot of trouble outside, all kinds of exchanges in the stadium were done, and after the players of both sides shook hands, they each came to their own half of the court to wait for the German referee Van Deer to blow the whistle for the start of the game.