"I was very lucky. I didn't expect that the old guy, I, would win the Winners Cup again and have the chance to win the second Champions Cup at the end of my career (Lombardo once won the Winners Cup in Sampdoria and won the Championship in Juventus). When I came to the Premier League, I didn't just plan to retire, but I didn't expect to achieve such brilliant achievements at the end of my career... I had a great time in London, and I even thought about settling here... But Sampdoria needs me now, and I must also give my own responsibility to Sampdoria. I regret leaving Leiden East, but these three years will be a day I will always remember in the future."

After the game, Lombardo's tearful speech was still echoing in the ears of Leiden Oriental fans. Leiden Oriental has already started closed training. They will go to Paris three days in advance. Before that, a week of closed training will be conducted. The members of the coaching staff and the team doctors will work together to make the players' physical condition reach the best.

The players were sweating profusely on the training ground, and the coaches were smoking a lot in the conference room, carefully observing the collected videotapes of Real Madrid. From the recent to the beginning of the season, the videotapes had been stacked on the table. All the coaches and players were already very familiar with the situation of Real Madrid players, but the coaches were still watching the videotapes, as if they wanted to find something that could be used to win...

"Real Madrid's formation this year is very strange."

After rubbing his already wooden eyes, Xiao Ming took a sip of cigarette hard, and then put the cigarette butt in the ashtray: "Campo, Caranca, Elgra, three defenders, Salgado and Robert Carlos are on both sides. The midfielders are Redondo and McManaman, forward Raul, Morientes, Anelka... Now few people use three, four, and three. Although Spanish teams like to attack, it is rare to use three, three, and this guy Bosque is really a person who doesn't play according to common sense."

"There is nothing surprising about this lineup." McDonald shook his head and said that in La Liga, Anelka rarely appears, and he is usually replaced by Brazilian midfielder Savio, Raul and Morientes play forward, Savio and McManaman are separated from each other, and Redondo is responsible for the organization.

"In fact, their lineup is not the so-called three, four, and three." Xiao Ming drew two strokes on the tactical board: "They are actually double center backs, Campo and Carlanca are in the middle, Elgra is a little ahead, responsible for the defense next to Redondo, Redondo organizes the offense, Salgado is McManaman in front of him, and Carlos is handed over to Carlos on the left, sometimes Raul organizes on the left, and Anelka is a little behind Morientes... This old guy, now he starts to let Robert Carlos take the offense on the flank alone..."

All the coaches were puzzled by the boss's last sentence. Boske is only fifty years old this year and is not considered an old guy. And the last sentence...what does that mean?

Of course, the coaches didn't know that Xiao Ming remembered the most glorious season in the Galaxy Warship era. In order to allow Figo and Zidane to coexist, Boske adopted a false left forward to allow Carlos to exert his offensive power on the flank. Zidane was nominally the left forward, but in fact he was more active in the middle. Figo occupied the right side, and behind them were Marklele and Cambiaso... Xiao Ming used to think that Boske used this tactic to take care of these superstars, but after carefully studying Real Madrid's season, especially in the game of Real Madrid in recent months, Xiao Ming discovered that Boske had already started to use this tactic as early as now.

But what is different from the future is that at that time Real Madrid relied on Zidane and Figo to organize the offense, and now Real Madrid, the organization of the midfield, almost all the offenses were handed over to Redondo alone - no, it can even be said that there is only one Redondo in the midfield now!

Thinking about Real Madrid being able to completely suppress Manchester United's golden midfield by relying on Redondo in the midfield, Xiao Ming sighed a little - such an outstanding midfielder is always treated unfairly. When Passarella was the head coach of Argentina, she used her direct line Almeda as the main midfielder, and forced herself to miss the 1998 World Cup without cutting off her long hair. Redondo missed the 1998 World Cup. Redondo is really too unique, but she just doesn't lose her long hair.

In Real Madrid, although it is definitely welcomed by fans, it was tragically cleaned after Florentino came to power because he stood up to support the old chairman of Real Madrid in the end of this season. He was injured for 28 months after transferring to AC Milan, which directly faded out of people's sight. This is really regrettable.

Florentino became the chairman of Real Madrid with the promise of "I will bring Figo", but if he said "I will bring Figo and sell Redondo" before the campaign, then the possibility of his election as chairman of Real Madrid will be only zero.

"First of all, we must control Redondo. Looking at Real Madrid's performance at Old Trafford, we should know how outstanding this guy is... He can defend, attack, and has a leadership temperament... Redondo is the best midfielder in the world, no one, Keane is worse than him, Vieira lacks experience, and Guardiola is not as outstanding as him... Gentlemen, we are now facing the best midfielder in the world. How to curb this guy will be the most important task in our game." Xiao Ming clapped his hands and said.

"But they also have Raul, Anelka and Robert Carlos. We can't just focus on Redondo." Wilkins waved his hand and frowned and said with a frown.

"But Redondo is their brain. If a person doesn't have a brain, no matter how strong his body is, it's not a fear." Xiao Ming shook his head: "So in this game, we should send five midfielders like we did against Barcelona at home to increase the strength of the midfield to suppress the opponent. Real Madrid and Barcelona are like Barcelona. Their offense is initiated by organizational midfielders, while others are only responsible for the assault and finishing, but the initiation is completed by Redondo. If you want to defeat Real Madrid, you have to curb Redondo."

After saying this, Xiao Ming looked at the coaches and knew that just these words could not convince them: "You also saw how passive we were in the midfield when we played Barcelona away, right? Although Barcelona's midfield is better than Real Madrid, they were able to suppress us in that game. Apart from Figo's activity, Guardiola has no pressure. Being able to organize the passive ball smoothly is the biggest reason for us to be passive. If we don't give Redon enough pressure in this game, then our outcome will probably be the same as that game - unless Redondo suddenly becomes very poor - can we pin our hopes on the opponent's main players' form worse in such an important final?"

The coaches shook their heads at the same time, kidding, this is the final of the Champions League! In such an important game, will the stars who were in such excellent form and no injuries suddenly be in poor form? Unless it is Ronaldo in the 1998 World Cup final...

"Redondo is the core of Real Madrid's organization, and the breakthroughs on both wings come from McManaman and Robert Carlos. McManaman is very good, but his attack and breakthrough may not cause us much trouble, but Carlos is different. No one can compare his speed and impact power with him... If we still use the formation of a virtual right forward, our right side may be blown up by this monster. After all, I don't think Daniel can completely control Carlos' attack, let alone Raul will often appear in this place, so Glenshare must exist, and his speed can give Carlos a chance to

Pressure, and Carlos will often be very forward to press. With such a fast right forward, it will be much easier to grasp their weaknesses on the defense line. We cannot just consider defense, but also pay attention to the offense." Xiao Ming continued to say his thoughts: "Boban is in the center, and Gerald uses his running ability to oppress Redondo, giving him more pressure. Mark Lele is responsible for the defense so that our midfielders can fight against them. You must know that when Carlos often inserts and retreats with Raul, their midfielders are actually five people, and they are all very outstanding. If our midfielders are small, they will inevitably be passive."

Xiao Ming has already made it clear. In this final, we have to make a fuss in the midfield and suppress the opponent's most threatening players - the most threatening ones outside the striker are Redondo and Robert Carlos, and Glenshare used to suppress Carlos and seize the opportunity to counterattack. Boban and Gerrard joined forces to suppress Redondo, so there must be five people in the midfield.

"Is Fanny too stressed against three centre-backs alone?" McDonald was still questioning that this is the habit of Leiden Oriental coaching staff. Any questions can be raised. Everyone discusses them together. After the discussion is over, they will be implemented resolutely.

"Not three, two." Before Xiao Ming could speak, Wilkins said: "The boss said just now that although Elgra is a central defender, he appears more in the position of engineers' midfielder to help Redondo defend. So in fact, what Fanny has to deal with is only Kalanca and Campo."

"That's right, Elgra is actually a midfielder, and Van Nie is alone in dealing with their two central defenders...at least the restraint is enough, we still have to make a fuss on the wing." Xiao Ming smiled: "My only question now is... Will Yero be the starter? If he is the starter, then we should pay attention to the defense of free kicks. Real Madrid does not have a good player in the middle distance free kicks now, but this center back is the guy who scores the most goals in Spain, which is quite good at free kicks."

"Due to injury this season, Yero played very few games. He had already played thirteen league games and four Champions League games before. Campo and Kalanca's central defender partnership is very stable, and Boske may not suddenly change the team." McDonald said after thinking about it.

"This is possible, but if the situation cannot be opened, Boske may let Yero play. His injury has healed and his ability is excellent," said Reitz.

The discussion continued until the evening before it came to an end. The already exhausted coaches left the club with heavy steps, and Xiao Ming also left. During this period, the coaches ate in the club and he had no intention of drinking in the bar. Besides, it would always be inconvenient to go to the bar before such an important game. Although the fans in the bar consciously never ask what clubs will buy whom, what tactics will be there in the next game, and the information that he would never disclose, but it would inevitably interfere with him.

After leaving the club, he took Thompson's taxi home. The taxi driver was always taciturn. Except for the first time he encouraged him from the bottom of his heart, he rarely spoke. Xiao Ming was also used to the driver sitting in front of him as a wood that basically didn't speak. But today when Thompson sent him to the doorstep and Xiao Ming paid the bill to get off the car, Thompson suddenly said: "Mr. Chairman...we can win the championship, right?"

Xiao Ming was stunned for a moment, then laughed: "Yes, if you reach the final, of course you will have to target the championship... Mr. Thompson, you will go to watch the game on the spot that day, right?"

Thompson also had a rare smile on his old-fashioned face: "I will definitely go... By the way, Mr. Chairman, I haven't thanked you for the ticket to the live competition."

"You know, I don't have many friends." Xiao Ming shrugged his shoulders with a smile, then said goodbye to Thompson. Seeing the taxi taillights disappear into the darkness, Xiao Ming turned around and entered his home.

As a team of the final team, Leiden Oriental has allocated more than 20,000 tickets that Leiden Oriental fans can purchase, the club also received more than 200 tickets with very good positions. In this regard, Xiao Ming adopted an equal distribution method. In addition to the players who can get five tickets for the finals to give to relatives and family, other assistant coaches and important staff are also allocated. Xiao Ming also got five tickets. He has no relatives and few friends. The friends in the bar have their own ticket purchase channels, and they are more willing to watch the game together. So he gave these five tickets to the old guard Green and the old chairman Tony Wood, and sent one to Jessica far away in the United States, so he gave them to another person he was most familiar with, and almost became his full-time driver Thompson.

Thompson didn't react when he accepted the ticket, but just thanked him lightly. Xiao Ming originally thought it was because of economic reasons - a taxi driver's income is not very high, and it is not that easy to go to France. However, now it seems that this old-fashioned driver is just a typical British introverted personality and a passionate person in his heart - otherwise he would not have become a fan.

The fans' enthusiasm is very high - this is a matter of course, but if you want to defeat a club of the century like Real Madrid in the Champions League final and win the most Champions League team, it is definitely not enough to rely on the enthusiasm of the fans alone. You have to kill this powerful opponent on the court and then start celebrating.

Perhaps it was because of the excitement of discussion today. Although I was already very tired, Xiao Ming, who was lying on the bed, could not fall asleep. Once I closed my eyes, the various performances of Real Madrid players in the video I watched today. Anelka's header scored, Redondo's heels passed by, Robert Carlos' powerful free kick, Raul's series of hooking people in front of the goal... Then he began to involuntarily consider what method should be used to deal with it...

We are going to set out to Paris tomorrow. In addition to adjusting the players' physical fitness during this period, we don't do much in tactics. Three days of truly targeted tactics are enough in Paris. Today, we have almost finished discussing it. We will wait until we go to Paris tomorrow and then we can adapt to the venue while conducting targeted training.

Xiao Ming knew that he should have a good rest at this time, but he was always unable to fall asleep. At this moment, his cell phone rang out suddenly - not a phone call, but a text message.

When Xiao Ming picked up the phone, he laughed - it was a text message from Jessica. It seemed that she had received the ticket she sent.

"Xiao, I am so happy today. I received the ticket to the final of the Champions League from you. This means that you have not forgotten me, my friend. I will definitely go to watch the game on the spot. Congratulations in advance on your ability to win the Champions League."

After reading the text message, Xiao Ming replied: "Can you come to Paris if you have time?"

"The filming of this season has ended and will be broadcast on TV in the second half of the year... So, I'm very leisurely during this period."

"I'm looking forward to the release of "The Last Day Black Angel". I believe this will be a very sensational TV series."

"It's so pleasant to work with Cameron. He's a genius... But I still have to thank you. If it weren't for you, I might not have made up my mind to film this TV series so quickly, and I wouldn't have gotten this opportunity."

...

After sending text messages with Jessica for a long time, Xiao Ming began to feel relaxed. Jessica did not know much about football, so she did not ask too many topics related to football, but instead talked about some relaxed topics like family-related things. This also made Xiao Ming's tense nerves slowly relax. Gradually, a feeling of sleepiness came. After sending a good night message, Xiao Ming threw his phone aside, then tilted his head and fell asleep.

So he didn't see the last message from Jessica.

"Good night, I'm waiting for you in Paris."

I had already turned my phone into silent mode, and the dark blue light flashed for a while and then dimmed, causing the whole room to fall into darkness.
Chapter completed!