Chapter 534: Where to fall, where to get up

At the post-match press conference, Xiao Ming tried his best to praise his players' outstanding performance. When reporters asked why Leiden East would use thorough defensive tactics to play away games in the away game, Xiao Ming replied: "The tactics of football games are not necessarily rules... It is a good tactic to achieve appropriate results. Obviously, our strategic goal has been achieved, that is, we have not lost away games. When we reach the home court, we will let the whole world see our offensive ability, although we have shown our offensive ability in any past games."

"You will fight continuously in the league and the Champions League next... What do you think about this?" A reporter asked Xiao Ming.

"What can I think... Actually, what I want more is to meet with Chelsea in the Champions League final. If you always play one opponent in a row, you will be a little bored." Xiao Ming leaned back and said with a relaxed smile.

"Then Mr. Mourinho, what do you think?" The reporters pointed their finger at Mourinho.

"I have nothing to say... We were indeed caught off guard in this game. I didn't expect Leiden East would be so happy for a draw... Even if there are two away games next, we will do our best to win, and Chelsea will never escape." Mourinho replied with a stern face.

"Is this a challenge to Leiden East?" The reporters began to get excited.

"Football is a war." This time it was Xiao Ming who answered this question for Mourinho.

For both Leiden Oriental and Chelsea, three consecutive encounters are definitely a life-and-death war - the winner will win the championship, glory, and everything.

In the next few days, Xiao Ming was desperately building momentum and threatening to win two consecutive games at home. Mourinho was not willing to be outdone and said that he would give Leiden East a good look at home in Leiden East so that they knew that winning a draw in the away game did not mean winning...

While the two head coaches were fighting with the words of Mars, the players on both sides were quietly waiting for the start of the game, and no reporters disturbed them - at this time, the materials obtained from interviewing the two head coaches were much more, who would bother to ask the players to interview them...

In fact, the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals is only three days apart from the 36th round of the league. Such continuous battles are indeed enough to exhaust the team physically and mentally. This is why Xiao Ming and Mourinho began to have a tacit understanding and high-profile battle with each other, which is nothing more than attracting the attention of the reporters to themselves and allowing the players to prepare for this game in a relatively quiet environment.

Xiao Ming said, "We will let everyone see what a real offense is at home", and Mourinho said, "We will let Leiden East know what mistakes they made on the away game", and said, it looks murderous, but no one will take the other party's words seriously.

Even if Mourinho vowed to give Leiden East a good look at Upton Park Stadium, Xiao Ming knew that Mourinho might behave the same as the tactics that Leiden East used at Stamford Bridge - because in this league game, all he needed was a draw.

Even if Xiao Ming said he wanted to play offensive football, Mourinho would not believe that Xiao Ming would take the lead in the second leg of the semi-finals, because Leiden East failed to score a goal away, even if he returned to home, he would probably still focus on stability.

So in this case, three days later, an extremely funny scene appeared.

Goalkeeper Cech, defenders Gremy, Carvalho, Terry, Gala, midfielder Davis, Essin and Goodjohansen who retreated to play midfield, plus Lampard, forward, Drogba and Robben.

It is almost a replica of Leiden Oriental's tactics at Stamford Bridge. Good Johnson played the role of the back midfielder in this game - he started out as the back midfielder. Chelsea used the tactics of three back midfielders and one front midfielder plus two forwards, which was almost exactly the same as Leiden Oriental's in the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals...

"Oh, Buy! Are we going to see another ugly zero-to-zero match?" The commentator of Sky TV shouted in extreme pain.

Unfortunately, his words came to his mind.

This game became a replica of the last game. Although Chelsea's two full-backs did not have the assist ability of Leiden East and the two full-backs, Drogba's powerful big man with a strong impact on the frontcourt was not available in the previous game. Leiden East shot up to thirty-one times in the whole game, but only eleven shots were within the goal frame on Chelsea's tenacious defense. Cech continued the courage of the previous game in this game, making five effective saves throughout the game, including saving Fanny's header from close range.

However, in terms of results, it is extremely different from the previous game.

Whether it is that Leiden Oriental is better luck than Chelsea, or God thinks Leiden Oriental lost points that should not have been lost in the first half of the season, Leiden Oriental created a miracle in the first minute of stoppage time. In the melee in the penalty area, Ronaldo scored the most important goal of Leiden Oriental in the league this season. He blocked Carvalho's hasty clearance ball in front of the goal and used his chest to block Chelsea's goal!

Although Chelsea players surrounded the referee and said that Ronaldo scored the ball with his hands, the referee on duty, Ball insisted on his own penalty and the goal was valid!

One to zero! A gold-like victory! Leiden Oriental finally overtook Chelsea by one point after the 36th round and began to occupy an extremely favorable position in the league competition!

The opponents of Leiden Oriental in the last two games were Portsmouth and Everton. Although these two teams had caused Leiden Oriental to suffer a lot in the first stage of the game, at this time, it was difficult for them to stop Leiden Oriental from moving forward!

After the game, Xiao Ming celebrated frantically and ran around the court. The victory of this game made him feel relieved. If the final result of this game was a draw, Chelsea would undoubtedly have a huge advantage in the next second leg of the Champions League semi-finals. However, now, Leiden East has won! The one who was forced into a dead end will be Chelsea instead of Leiden East!

Although if Leiden Oriental continues to win the league this season, they may encounter more serious challenges and even the hidden arrows shot from all sides next season, Xiao Ming no longer cares at this time - five consecutive championships, even if he can only guarantee the top four every year next year, it is worth it!

In the top five European leagues, how many teams can win five consecutive league championships? Even if there are, there are probably very few...

Upton Park Stadium on May 5.

After two unusual games, the game finally got on track to some extent. Leiden East sent a four-four-two formation. Except for Mascherano who replaced Maklele, who had strained his thigh in the last game, the others were Leiden East's complete main players - goalkeeper Jasquelinen, defenders Daniel, Campbell, Lucio and Ashley Cole, midfielder Mascherano, Gerrard, Ronaldo, Figo, forward Fanny and Ronaldo.

Chelsea's starting lineup has also become normal, with goalkeeper Cech, defenders Johnson, Terry, Carvalho, Gala, midfielder Davis, Essin, Lampard, forward Robben, Duff, and Drogba.

The game was cautious from the beginning. Leiden East's offensive was very strong, but she was quite afraid of Chelsea's counterattack. While Chelsea was mainly defense, they continued to launch counterattacks, but they also lacked effective scoring methods.

Just four minutes into the game, Corne, who had assisted, cut into the penalty area and passed back. Gerrard picked the ball into the penalty area with his right foot. Ronaldo, who had inserted it, hit the ball in the penalty area and then collided with Cech, who was attacking. The ball flew towards the goal. Ronaldo followed and made up for it. The ball hit Terry and slowed down and fell towards the goal. The moment the ball flew into the goal, Gala flew out and hooked the ball out.

Leiden Oriental players raised their hands to celebrate, while Chelsea players signaled that the ball did not cross the goal line as a whole. Slovakian referee Mitchell and the lineman discussed urgently for a minute and finally came to the conclusion that the ball did not go in! Leiden Oriental fans in the stands booed a huge boo, while Chelsea fans were celebrating.

Leiden East, who missed this opportunity, was not discouraged. They continued to besiege Chelsea's goal. Gerald's long shot and Figo's free kick all posed a huge threat to the goal guarded by Cech. Chelsea did not have the first shot until twenty minutes later. Robben broke through on the side and passed back. Davis, who inserted it, volleyed vigorously under Lampard's cover. The ball was almost saved by Jasqueline.

The following game began to stalemate. The attacks launched by Leiden East on both sides were difficult to hit the middle. However, when Leiden East was suppressed by Leiden East on the wing, Chelsea could only organize the attack from the middle, and the effect was very poor. Both sides did not have many shots. Although they were very threatening, they did not score a goal with the outstanding performance of goalkeepers on both sides.

After the second half, both sides were still fighting in the midfield, and their physical fitness was consumed a lot. Time passed quickly. In the 70th minute, Mourinho replaced the man first, Joe Kerr replaced Duff. Duff was injured in the previous game and performed averagely in this game.

Xiao Ming did not substitutions. Compared with Mourinho, he was even less able to accept conceding the ball. The team's overall defense is now very good, and rash substitutions may cause problems in the defense.

Chelsea, who was fighting against the enemy, began to launch a fierce attack that could not be more fierce. After the last league defeat, Mourinho was forced to the dead end. If you want to offset the impact of the league defeat, you must enter the final of the Champions League to achieve this!

Leiden East launched a tenacious defense, and could not allow Chelsea to score at this time...

When the game reached the 85th minute, Leiden East finally grabbed the ball possession. They controlled the ball firmly and began to shamelessly fall back and forth in the backcourt, delaying until the second minute of stoppage time before launching an attack suddenly. Chelsea, who had been prepared, returned to defense at all, and did not leave any chance for Leiden East.

The whistle sounded, and in 180 minutes in two rounds, Leiden East and Chelsea played two ugly zero-to-zero games, and the game inevitably entered overtime...

"Are we watching the competition between two Serie A teams?" espn's commentator lamented: "Even if Serie A team plays in two rounds of knockout matches, it seems that there are rarely any shots that don't score..."

Xiao Ming and Mourinho were both on the court explaining to the players what to pay attention to in overtime. Xiao Ming replaced Figo with Ronaldo, then replaced Ronaldo with Pirlo, and began to prepare for the physical fitness in overtime.

Figo and Ronaldo have not been back from injury for a long time, and their physical fitness has almost dried up after running for 90 minutes. Otherwise, Xiao Ming would not have replaced them - based on the experience of both of them, the more useful it will be.

The first half of the overtime game just started. Leiden East, who had replaced two new forces, began to attack Chelsea for a fierce attack. Ronaldo began to continuously break through Chelsea's defense on the right, while Chelsea launched a tenacious defense. They resisted until the end of the first half of the overtime game, consuming a lot of physical fitness of Leiden East.

In the second half of overtime, Leiden East began to pay the price for their first half offense. In the first half of the offense, they consumed a lot of physical energy. Mourinho replaced Goodjohansen and Kezhmann to strengthen the offense, and in turn pressed Leiden East to attack in his half. Leiden East's goal was shaky for a while, but at this time, Leiden East's defensive system played a huge role. Jass Cranen's save almost surpassed the limit of human reaction blocked Drogba's header at a close. Leiden East withstood Chelsea's fierce and crazy attack and officially dragged the game into a penalty shootout.

When Lampard's long shot from midfield topped the crossbar, the referee blew the whistle to the end of the game.

Xiao Ming breathed a sigh of relief. The momentum of Chelsea's offensive just now really scared him. If he lost the ball at this time, Leiden East would definitely not have the power to turn the world back...

After sitting in the coaching seat for two minutes, Xiao Ming recovered. These three battles were indeed not done by humans. Xiao Ming felt that his heart disease was about to occur. If he hadn't been the owner of this club and would not have faced the pressure brought by higher-level officials, then even if he was young, he might have a heart problem...

After taking a breath, Xiao Ming asked MacDonald: "Are the things ready?"

McDonald nodded: "It's ready."

Xiao Ming nodded, stood up and walked into the stadium.

Leiden East players gathered near the center circle on the left court to rest. The team doctors were busy giving them massages to help them recover some physical fitness and prepare for the next penalty shootout.

"It seems...it's already the second penalty shootout." Xiao Ming walked to the middle of the players, looked at his players, and smiled and used this sentence as the opening remark.

He smiled relaxedly, just like the middle-aged man who was almost scared to death on the coaching bench just now was not him - now Xiao Ming has returned to the usual successful club owner and world-class coach, confident, demeanor, and strong infectiousness.

Looking at their boss, the Leiden Oriental players couldn't help but feel relaxed.

"Don't be nervous, really don't be nervous." Xiao Ming patted Gerald's shoulder: "I have only been a coach for more than ten years. During this period, I have encountered only two penalty shootouts...One is today, and the other is the Champions League final two years ago...I think you all know that in that game, we lost, lost in luck, and lost in two defenders who had never even taken penalty kicks before, but what's the matter? Penalty fight was a matter of fate. It's not easy for us to get to this point today. At the same time, I also have confidence that in the penalty shootout, we will definitely win the final victory, because compared with us, our opponents are more rookies in this regard. Even if we are turtles who climb slowly, they are snails who climb slower than us."

The players of Leiden East all laughed, although some of them laughed a little reluctantly...

"What I believe in is that wherever I fall, I have to get up from." Xiao Ming waved his hand: "It just so happened that the last time I participated in the penalty shootout was basically here. Now let me talk about the top five players in the penalty shootout... Luther, the first, Andre, the second, Steven, the third, Ronaldo, the fourth, Daniel, the fifth." Xiao Ming said lightly.

The players who were named by him all looked up in surprise. Fanny, Pirlo, Gerrard, and Ronaldo - all of them were players who participated in that penalty shootout. Fanny, Gerrard and Ronaldo were not able to score a penalty. Now, Xiao Ming has sent them all on the court, and there is no change in the order!

The only change is that in the last penalty shootout, the last one was Figo, and Figo had been replaced. Xiao Ming sent their captain Daniel, and what he wanted was his stable psychological factors and big nerves.

"Don't look at me in surprise... Although this is not the final of the Champions League, it is also an equally important penalty shootout! You fell two years ago. This time, I hope you can defeat yourself, defeat the inner demons, and use your performance to tell everyone in the world - last time, it was just that you were unlucky, it was just that you made a mistake by chance!" Xiao Ming shouted with his fists.

His shouts hit the players' hearts: "Two years ago, you lost in the penalty shootout, and today, I won back from the penalty shootout! I believe you are like I believe in myself, where are you? Do you believe in yourself?"
Chapter completed!