Chapter 129: The Blue Bridge Has No Dreams
On 15 March, the Lyon team arrived in London a day ahead of schedule.
In accordance with international practice, England fans actively cause trouble for Lyon, including but not limited to verbal abuse, tailgating and intimidation, and frantically creating noise outside the hotel to disturb rest.
And outside of the hotel where Lyon was staying, Chelsea fans put up slogans such as "Comeback Lyon" and "Beat France".
On March 16, at 7:45 p.m. local time in the UK, the second leg of the Champions League round of 16 officially arrived.
In the stands at Stamford Bridge, Blues fans pull up a giant 2:0 pattern.
A 2-0 win at home would have allowed them to reverse Lyon, just as they had done against Grand Paris.
'Two seasons ago, in the quarter-finals of the 13/14 Champions League, Chelsea beat Paris Saint-Germain at home.
'Four seasons ago, in the 11/12 Champions League round of 16, Chelsea beat Napoli at home.
'Most of the players in this Chelsea squad at the moment have a lot of experience in turnarounds.
'Branislav Ivanovic in particular, he was involved in both comebacks and started both of them, especially against Napoli in the 11/12 season, and it was his extra-time goal that managed to strike the winner.
The England commentator kept chanting about Chelsea's comeback history, while the Chelsea fans in the stands were cheering wildly.
The game officially began, with Lyon taking the lead in kick-off.
Lyon's basic tactic is to defend on the counter-attack to try not to concede a goal.
As long as you can hold on to the lead in the first leg, it doesn't matter if you lose to advance.
So after Lyon kicked off, he deliberately poured his feet into the midfield and did not rush to attack at all.
Chelsea wanted to score a comeback, so naturally they would not be polite and immediately pressed to force the ball.
I didn't expect the first rush to create a dangerous situation.
Umtiti returned the ball to Sevac, but the return was too strong for Diego Costa, who was aggressive in pressing, to poke the ball away.
Lyon's two centre-backs chased back frantically, but still allowed the Spanish striker to step into the box to complete the shot.
Fortunately, Anthony López played bravely and flew to save the ball.
'The Lyon players have to be careful, they play against a big Chelsea side and it's an away game, so a 3-1 score in the first leg is not necessarily safe.
The domestic commentators were taken aback, and their tones were full of various worries.
The game resumed, and Chelsea continued to attack.
The situation on the pitch was a bit like the first leg, with the home team having a clear advantage and pressing the visitors in succession.
Lyon counter-attacked, but Chelsea's overall form was much better than the first leg, so most of Lyon's counter-attacks were intercepted.
In the 30th minute of the game, Chelsea, who had been attacking continuously, finally scored a goal.
Willian slotted in front and Diego Costa shook Umtiti and fired low into the net.
Stamford Bridge erupted with a bang, and the Blues fans erupted in wild cheers and shouts.
Diego Costa was out of form in the first leg, missing at least two good chances to score and was considered by the English media to be one of the main culprits for Chelsea's away defeat.
Now back at Stamford Bridge, Costa is clearly back in form.
"Don't be in a hurry! Keep the defense steady!! Fournier quickly stood on the sidelines and shouted to his players to help them settle down.
In fact, the people of Lyon really didn't worry too much.
The coaching staff had already set the goal before the game, and a 0:1 or 1:2 away loss would be an acceptable scoreline.
Therefore, the whole Lyon team remained firm in their defence and successfully withstood the Chelsea attack for the rest of the first half.
At half-time, the two teams returned to the dressing room with a score of 1-0.
Chelsea temporarily led Lyon 1-0 at home, but trailed 3-2 on aggregate.
'It's a delicate scoreline and if Chelsea score another goal in the second half, they'll level the aggregate and then have the advantage based on away goals.'
'When Chelsea beat Paris Saint-Germain at home in the 13/14 season, they scored one goal in each half to make it 2-0.
The England commentator was excited again, constantly mobilizing the emotions of the fans.
The difference in a goal is not big or small.
Sometimes a casual attack on the pitch can score a goal, and sometimes it takes 90 or even 120 minutes to never get a goal.
At the same time, the French commentator is also saying some historical data in Lyon's favor.
"In the quarterfinals of the Champions League in the 09/10 season, when Lyon met Bordeaux, their opponent in the same league, they also won 3:1 at home in the first leg, and conceded a goal in the first half of the second leg, but they successfully defended in the second half and eliminated the opponent with an aggregate score of 3:2 to advance."
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After the break, the two sides returned to the court.
Lyon are still playing defensive counter-attacks.
Fournier's constant emphasis on defence in the midfield dressing room convinced the Lyon squad that we could hold on to the score.
Of course, he didn't forget to arrange a counterattack.
'Chelsea were attacking in the first half and they certainly had a lot of physical exertion, so the second half was a good time for us to counter-attack and score.
"Zhang, Alexander, attack the opponent's goal when you have the opportunity, you don't have to be polite to them."
At the start of the second half, Chelsea unsurprisingly quickly went on the attack.
In the 51st minute, Lyon broke the ball at the back, and Zhang Chaoqiang quickly pushed the ball through the midfield, attracting the defense and transferring it to Valbuena who followed up in the middle.
The Bantam Tiger picked up a pass, and Lacazette decisively stepped forward to form an anti-offside position, and directly pushed the goal.
"Good shot!! Alexandre Lacazette slotted home and Lyon equalised immediately at the start of the second half. ”
"Lyon are back to a two-goal lead on aggregate and their chances of promotion are still firmly in their hands!"
The French commentator was extremely excited, and the goal did go a long way towards alleviating the crisis that Lyon might encounter.
The England commentator continued to cheer Chelsea on.
'The scoreline was levelled at 1-1 but the Blues still had a chance to score twice in the game and get back on the same page.
No sooner had the English commentator finished than Chelsea once again organised the attack.
Eden Hazard failed to break through with the ball and fed it back to Cesc Fabregas.
Zhang Chaoqiang, who was defending his own penalty area, saw the opportunity to start decisively, and stepped forward to intercept the ball.
Accelerating forward, he shook off Cesc Fabregas and Willian and crossed the ball to Jordan Ferry.
Ferry quickly returned the ball and the pair went straight past Cesar Azpilicueta in a one-two.
Zhang Chaoqiang was already on a smooth road in front of him, he rushed directly with the ball and ran wildly to the opponent's half.
"Replay! Stop him!! Stop him!!! ”
Guus Hiddink, the Dutch coach on the sidelines, kept waving his arms sideways, trying to stop Zhang Chaoqiang's dashing with the ball in this way.
But Zhang Chaoqiang was not affected in any way, and in an instant he was in front of the Chelsea penalty area.
Gary Cahill stepped forward to defend, Zhang Chaoqiang circled under his feet, and smoothly pedaled the bike to wipe it directly.
Facing Courtois, who abandoned the goal, Zhang Chaoqiang waved his right leg and picked the ball out lightly with his right toe.
The ball slipped over the Belgian goalkeeper's head and into the net.
“Goooooooooal————————”
"Super Zhang!! It's the lore king again!! He's coming!! ”
'With a beautiful long-distance goal, Super Zhang scored the Chelsea goal again!'
"It wasn't a last-minute goal, but it was just as a last-minute goal."
'Because it was Lyon's second away goal, it was a goal that completely deprived Chelsea of any hope of a comeback!'
Lyon scored twice in five minutes to give Chelsea a 5-2 aggregate lead. If Chelsea want to turn around, they will have to score four goals in a row to be enough, which is simply not possible! ”
"We can congratulate Lyon in advance!"
At this moment, in the countless fan bars in Lyon, after the fans cheered wildly, they began to chant "Super Zhang" in unison.
And the domestic commentary once again came up with a literary commentary.
"In the history of Chelsea, the Blue Bridge has indeed staged many reversal dreams, but just now, Zhang Chaoqiang officially announced with a goal - tonight's Blue Bridge is destined to have no dream!"