A week later, the semi-finals of the FA Cup.

Once again, the Villa team watched from the sidelines.

In this round of the FA Cup, the biggest upset is undoubtedly Manchester City's loss to Wigan Athletic.

As a result, in the top four, only Arsenal is left.

On March 13, the Europa League round of 16 knockout round began.

The weather is sunny at the Dragon Course, with a temperature of 8~18 degrees.

It's a great weather to kick a ball.

In terms of the starting line-up of the two-server, the Villa team has not changed much from the previous game.

As for Porto, they lined up a single midfield lineup of 4141, the specific list is as follows:

Goalkeeper: Eltong.

Defenders: Alex Sandro, Mangala, McConn, Danilo.

Defender: Fernando.

Midfielders: Carlos Eduardo, Devoor, Varela, Quaresma.

Center: Jackson Martinez.

At this time, Martinez was still not famous, but one day in the future, Chinese fans knew about him, just because he made Boss Xu suffer a big loss.

…

'Our goal is to keep a clean sheet.

Paul Lambert said this before the game in the dressing room.

"Okay, I'm sure I'll get the job done." Nathan Baker answered in all seriousness.

Looking at Baker's stupid appearance, Jose smiled and shook his head slightly.

In fact, Baker's ability in all aspects is not as good as Clark's, but the head coach likes him very much, so he often arranges him to start, after all, he is a player introduced by Lambert.

Jose naturally could not have had any opinion on the manager's decision.

On the pitch, the power of the head coach is arguably second only to the referee.

The referee will also play according to the rules, and the manager can choose who to play according to his preference.

It's a big deal to leave after class.

…

Villa were given the first kick-off.

Instead of rushing to attack, he pushed slowly and then looked for an opportunity to get into the box.

It's a pity that no matter how hard Benteke tries, they have never been able to penetrate the hinterland of the other party.

Similarly, Porto's attack, although powerful, was always a little bit worse in the final stroke.

And just like that, the slightly dull half of the game was about to end.

In stoppage time of the half, Porto had a quick counter-attack.

Fernando's long-footed pass finds Quaresma on the wing.

On the right side of the Villa penalty area, Quaresma adjusts and passes.

The ball flew past the crowd and towards the back post.

At this point, José was in the middle of the goal and facing Quaresma.

Seeing the ball flying towards the box, Jose immediately took a few steps back, ready to block the opponent's shot at any moment.

The ball was in everyone's eyes and fell to the back post, and Carlos Eduardo had already made a comeback from the crowd.

The ball was headed up by Eduardo.

Direct Attack.

The ball flew towards the top left corner of the goal.

Just as Jose was about to fly to make a save, another Porto player appeared in front of him.

Quaresma used his body to block José's direction.

It was a clear foul to interfere with the goalkeeper, but Jose was powerless to stop it at this time.

Just like that, Jose could only watch as the ball flew into the goal.

This ball certainly doesn't count!

"Beep, beep~"

Just as Jose was about to complain about Quaresma's foul, the referee's whistle blew.

"Eduardo was offside and the goal was nullified." The referee made the decision after asking the linesman's opinion.

The decision made José laugh a little.

The referee did blow away the goal, but not because of a foul by Quaresma.

Jose couldn't help but wonder what if Eduardo hadn't been offside?

No one knows the answer.

Either way, Vera escaped.

…

In the second half, in the 52nd minute, Villa had an excellent chance to score.

Abang Laho was successful in an offside position.

A single knife into the penalty area near the bottom line on the right side.

There was no angle to shoot, and Abonlaho opted to knock back to Benteke.

Benteke fired low and the ball almost went through the crotch of the goalkeeper and into the net.

Unfortunately, the ball hit the inside of Elton's heel and bounced out.

"Ugh." Villa fans sighed.

…

However, something even more speechless came.

In the 55th minute, Villa had another chance to score.

Weimann shoots from near the baseline on the left side of the penalty area.

As a result, he was blocked by teammate Delph.

At this point, Weimann was eager to ask Delph, which side do you belong to?

Two minutes later, Porto were awarded a corner.

From a long corner, the Villa player went to the first spot, but he didn't clear the box.

The ball fell to Martinez.

From eight yards in front of goal on the left, Martinez volleyed in with his left foot, and the ball flew towards the centre of the goal.

Suddenly, the unexpected happened, Martinez's shot hit Baker's calf, and it was deflected on the spot.

Originally, Jose only needed a sideways save to block the opponent's shot.

With a sudden deflection, Jose could only stop his body in time and at the same time used the first stunt of the game.

In a thrilling and dangerous way, Jose stopped the deflected ball on the goal line.

Once again, the Villa team escaped.

After that, Porto continued to attack.

However, the back line led by Jose never made any mistakes again.

In the end, Villa drew 0-0 away from Porto.

The Villa team is very happy with this result.

Although Porto is unwilling, it is also helpless.

The final promotion quota will be determined in a week.

……

After returning from the Dragons, Jose was given a week to recover.

In the match between Villa and Chelsea, Jose was still unavailable.

The school didn't start on the weekend, so José sat in the audience.

No one thought that it was this game that made Mourinho lose the final title fight.

…

March 15, 17:30 local time.

At Villa Park, the weather is basically sunny, with occasional clouds, and the temperature is between 6~14 degrees.

Villa's clash with Chelsea at the top of the table has officially begun.

In terms of Villa's starting line-up, Bennett returned to the starting line-up, while Bertrand, like Jose, failed to make the 18-man squad due to circumvention clauses.

As for Chelsea, Fernando Torres passed a pre-game medical and Oscar and Willian rotated into the starting line-up.

The specific list is as follows:

Goalkeeper: Cech.

Defenders: Cesar Azpilicueta, John Terry, Cahill, Branislav Ivanovic.

Defenders: Nemanja Matic, Ramirez.

Avant-garde: Eden Hazard, Oscar, Willian.

Forward: Fernando Torres.

Referee on duty: Foy.

Villa kicked off first, but couldn't get a shot on target.

The smell of gunpowder on both sides was very strong.

Just one minute into the game, Baker and Willian collided.

As a result, Willian fell to the ground and needed to be treated by the team doctor, while Baker was fine.

However, Willian was treated and the problem was not too big and the game continued.

In the 5th minute, the overexcited Baker defended Torres for a foul and was awarded a yellow card.

In the 10th minute, the Villa team almost scored.

Delph's cross from the left was met by Benteke with a header from the edge of the six-yard box, only to be denied by Cech.

Cesar Azpilicueta then passed the ball and Willian cut inside from the left and fired a powerful shot into the side-netting from 25 yards.

In the 14th minute, Cesar Azpilicueta made a direct pass and Torres got a one-on-one chance.

(End of chapter)