When Ajax set out on his flight to Lisbon, the CSKA Moscow had arrived in Lisbon and checked in the hotel that had been booked in advance. The wealthy Russians booked the entire hotel.

In addition to being used for the team, there are also two thousand special fans specially invited by the CSKA Moscow.

Among these two thousand people, Chelsea's boss, Abramovich.

As all over Europe knows, Chelsea's boss has close ties with the CSKA Moscow.

After the team checked in the hotel, head coach Gasayev immediately held a team meeting.

Gasayev, 51, is a well-known head coach in Russia. He has coached teams such as Dynamo Moscow and Sparta for a long time. Later, he served as the head coach of the Russian National Youth Team. Later, he once served as the head coach of the CSKA and the national team of Moscow. He did not coach the CSKA until July 2004.

Today, a year later, he brought the CSKA to the stage of the League Cup finals.

This is a grand event in Russian football. From President Putin to ordinary Russian fans, everyone is looking forward to it.

But this time, CSKA's opponent is Champions League champion Ajax!

Although Ajax lost a lot of strength after selling five stars, the lean camel is bigger than a horse. Ajax is always a European giant, and no matter what, it is not something that the CSKA can underestimate.

Gassaev also attached great importance to this game. The team went to Portugal to train early in order to better adapt to the environment and climate here, wait for the arrival of Ajax with ease.

"The biggest advantage of this game for us is our physical fitness."

In front of the team members, Gasayev analyzed the situation between the enemy and us.

"As the Champions League champion, Ajax's performance in the Eredivisie this season was not very good. It was not until yesterday that they reversed Eindhoven in the league and topped the league standings. So, they went through a hard battle and then went to Lisbon."

The CSKA players nodded at the same time, and obviously they all captured the head coach's intention.

The League Cup final was three days after the hard battle, and the trekking lasted for more than 2,000 kilometers. In addition to the climate change from the Netherlands to Portugal, it is completely conceivable that Ajax's opponent in the final will not be just the CSKA.

"The first forty-five minutes will be the key, and I can tell you with certainty that Ajax will attack, and they will try their best to break through our goal in the first forty-five minutes."

If you are at a disadvantage in physical fitness, you have to end the battle with sufficient physical fitness.

It can be said that Ajax has no other choice, so he can only play at the beginning.

As the team's head coach, Gasayev knew very well that the overall strength of CSKA Moscow is slightly inferior to Ajax. If you really fight Ajax head-on, you will definitely not be able to get it.

"Our task in the first half is to defend, keep a good defense, and not give Ajax any chance to score. At the same time, the second half will be our chance."

As long as the game enters the second half, CSKA has the advantage in physical fitness, Ajax can only surrender if he is not physically fit, but this is also in an ideal state.

"There is someone you must pay attention to."

As soon as Gasayev said, a photo of the player was immediately switched on the big screen behind.

"His name is Yang Yang."

In the conference room, all the players of the CSKA nodded and everyone knew him.

"Everyone should be familiar with him. Not long ago, he just broke a legendary record of Ronaldo. Yesterday, he scored twice in the Eredivisie League, narrowing the goal gap with Kuyt. He has been in very good shape recently and has a tendency to become more and more courageous."

For players who play in the Russian League, Yang Yang has long been a well-known star.

In the Champions League final last season, he used a winning goal to bring Ajax a Champions League title.

He then led the Chinese team to defeat Japan in the Asian Cup, winning the first Asian Cup championship in Chinese history, and he also became the youngest Asian Cup best player in history.

As a neighbor of China, the Russians have long heard of his name.

This season, Yang Yang and Kuyt's league top scorer competition has long spread from the Netherlands to European football, especially after Yang Yang broke Ronaldo's record, which has attracted the attention of mainstream European media.

Everyone is very curious about how far can this Chinese player, who is the same age as Ronaldo back then, go this season?

Gasayev was obviously extremely afraid of Yang Yang and knocked on the podium hard, "Please remember that he is the most dangerous player in Ajax and the most terrifying killer. Don't give him any chance, don't imagine that he will make mistakes."

In the conference room, the CSKA players were also as if they were facing a great enemy and did not dare to be careless at all.

How could a player who can compete for the best scorer in the Netherlands at the age of 18 and break the Ronaldo record?

"In theory, Yang Yang is the right winger, but in fact, his position is becoming more and more erratic. He will appear in any area that is threatening and can create threats, right, middle, left, and in short, he is very dangerous."

"No matter where he appears, our defensive players must limit him as soon as possible, not let him get the ball, not let him shoot, not give him a slight chance."

Whether in previous training or today's tactical meeting, Gasayev has given enough reminders to the players to know Yang Yang's danger and hope to attract the attention of the players.

Of course, the war is imminent, and Gasayev is not willing to increase his opponent's ambition and destroy his own majesty.

Then, he told the players, "This is not a final match with a huge gap in strength, as we fixedly remember. Ajax sold five main players, and his strength was no longer as outstanding as when he won the Champions League last year, and we were not the lambs that were slaughtered by our opponents. This was a close-knock final."

"Our domestic fans are waiting for us to send back the news of winning the championship!"

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For giant teams, the League Cup is a bit useless.

But whether it is for Portuguese Super League, Dutch Eredivisie or Russian Super League teams, the League Cup is still very attractive.

Ajax and Moscow CSKA met in the final of the League Cup, which attracted the attention of fans of the Netherlands and Russia.

Alvarad Stadium can accommodate more than 52,000 fans, but the tickets were sold out before the finals.

Portugal is also very concerned about this event. Not only will the Portuguese president and prime minister and a group of political officials come to the scene in person, but even Russian President Putin sent a special envoy to Lisbon, the Dutch government has also paid great attention.

In order to ensure the safety of the final, Portugal invested 600 policemen and 300 security personnel just to maintain the scene.

The wealthy CSKA Moscow even used five planes to carry more than 2,000 Russian VIP fans to Lisbon Airport on the day of the final, including Chelsea owner Abramovich.

The gathering of many political and business celebrities has undoubtedly greatly increased the weight of this final.

Since Yang Yang will represent Ajax, China is also very concerned about this final. Not only does it live broadcast, but it also sent a media group to Lisbon to report on the spot to this focus of the country that is highly anticipated.

After the UEFA Cup, they will also follow Ajax back to Amsterdam to continue tracking the weekend's Eredivisie to meet the eagerly anticipated needs of domestic fans.

This is not just Yang Yang’s own business, but the whole Chinese football business.

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The CSKA Moscow was wearing red clothes and black pants, and the traditional three-five-two formation was shipped.

The goalkeeper is Akinfeyev, and the Berezuski brothers are separated from the left and right central defenders in the back line. These two players are twin brothers, and they are both playing in the center, and Ignashevich is in the center to dispatch.

The midfielders are Jerkov, Rashimic, Artonin and Odiah, and Brazilian midfielder Daniel Carvalho suddenly stepped forward.

The two frontcourt strikers are Brazilian forward Wagner Love and Croatian forward Olic.

Ajax also sent all his main players to play in this game.

The goalkeeper arranged veteran Hans Fonk, and the defense was a combination of Maxwell, Fermuren, Heatinga and Macon. The midfielder arranged double midfielder Galassick and De Jong to partner, Sneider broke through, Pinal, Charlie Steyas and Yang Yang formed the frontcourt trident.

This is also the strongest lineup that Ajax can currently rank.

It is not difficult to see from Ronald Koeman still arranged two back midfielders that he is quite afraid of the counterattack ability of Moscow CSKA, especially Brazilian midfielder Daniel Carvalho, who repeatedly reminded players to pay attention before the game.

Arranged Galasek and De Jong to partner with double midfielders, which probably also means limiting Daniel Carvalho.

The CSKA Moscow adopted a three-back style and was still at a disadvantage in the 433-3 winger tactics against Ajax, especially in the defense of the two wings. The specific situation must be waited until the game to see how the CSKA Moscow arranged it.

The referee of this game was Graham Pohl from England. He is a referee with rich law enforcement experience. When he was in the pre-match player channel, he clearly told the players on both sides that he wanted to get a smooth game and that the players on both sides could enjoy the fun of the game.

Maxwell and Macon were very familiar with Daniel Carvalho and Wagner Love. Four Brazilians stood in the queue of two teams and talked endlessly. No one could understand what they were saying.

Yang Yang learned some Portuguese with Maxwell and Macon, and vaguely guessed that they should be talking about things in Brazil.

Yang Yang was not interested in these things.

He stood silently at the end of the Ajax queue, slowly adjusting his emotions and gradually entering the game state.
Chapter completed!