The strongest winger

Chapter 456 Intense Rain Fight
Players from both sides of the game occupied half of the court. The referee stood in the arc of Chelsea's half, holding a whistle in his right hand and staring at the electronic watch on his left wrist. The fans at Stamford Bridge also lost their voices at this moment, waiting for the start of the game with the players on the court.

Mourinho still has the expression that someone owes him 500 million, his mouth is pursed and his brows are tightly frowned, sitting on the coach's bench of the home team, always holding a small notebook in his left hand.

The commentators from various countries in the on-site studio of the Stamford Bridge Stadium also made final preparations. With the silence in the stands, they also focused on the screen, waiting for the referee's whistle to start the game commentary.

beep~~~
At this moment, the referee blew his whistle.

Aiello stepped on the football under his feet to David Villa next to him, and then walked slowly towards Chelsea's half. At the same time, Chelsea's No. 12 Mikel followed Aiello and went to his position together.

"With the referee's whistle, the first leg of the 2006-2007 UEFA Champions League quarter-final match between Chelsea and Valencia officially began..."

Basically, this is the unified opening speech of the national commentators in the live studio at Stamford Bridge.

After the opening, Valencia took advantage of the kick-off and quickly pressed the offensive line to Chelsea's 40-meter defensive area. Except for Moretti and Albiol who stayed near the center line, the other eight players basically covered the half.

"Valencia entered the game very quickly. This time they did not blindly use Ai's point to attack Chelsea's defensive right. Instead, they chose a relatively safe approach. However, judging from the opening 30 seconds, this choice is still very good..."

Sky TV commentator Andy Gray said.

Now he has become the number one candidate for Sky TV to explain the Valencia game.

Faced with Valencia's advances, Chelsea's defenders did not panic, but performed their duties. The representative of the classic midfielder, Makelele, stuck to the middle. Lampard, who ushered in his 300th official match for Chelsea in this game, also retreated to the front of his penalty area to assist in the defense. Only Drogba and Shevchenko were left cruising in the frontcourt.

Chelsea put on a full defensive posture at home.

Seeing that Chelsea, who were playing at home, put on a defensive stance at the first time, the BBC commentator was very upset and said, "You must know that this game was played at Stamford Bridge. I really don't understand why this stubborn Jose Mourinho chooses to defend at his home court. Can't you take off your conservative coat and choose to attack?"

In fact, the BBC commentator also misunderstood Mourinho. It's not that he doesn't want to make achievements in offense, but that Chelsea currently have too few offensive personnel.

The Dutch winger Robben, who was originally optimistic, did not expect to bid farewell to this season with a serious injury after the winter break. Essien, who is good at attacking and defending, is also recuperating from his injuries. Joe Cole has just returned from injury.

It's just that sometimes fans and the media expect too much from him.

***
Judging from the first 10 minutes of the game, although Valencia has the advantage on the field, the offense has not made any practical achievements, and they are still testing each other.

Under the leadership of Mourinho, this Chelsea team is not only full of combat effectiveness, but also very bloody. It can be fully seen in the opening 10 minutes, because they do not give up an inch of ground.

The defensive level is also maintained perfectly. Chelsea can give up the insignificant proportion of possession, but they will never let Valencia's players calmly control the ball in key positions of Chelsea's defense. This is why Valencia failed to burn the flames of war to the dangerous area of ​​​​Chelsea's defense in these 10 minutes.

Valencia's two very threatening wings also lost their due ability in the first 10 minutes. Under the defense of the two muscular men Diarra and Mikel, Aiello on the left could not control the ball calmly at all. As for breakthroughs, let alone hope.

Similarly, David Silva on the right also encountered this problem. Ashley Cole is not only very strong in assists, but also very powerful in defense. Without the help of his teammates, he basically completely restricted David Silva.

In addition, it was still drizzling in the sky, which made the Valencia players who are good at pass and cut cooperation be more careful when passing the ball, because the football will have a forward acceleration once it hits the ground, which adds a lot of difficulty to them when passing and controlling.

For Chelsea's defensive players, it only needs to destroy the football to complete the task.

***
After the defensive players gradually adapted to Valencia's offensive rhythm, starting from the 11th minute, Valencia, who was playing away from home, slowly gave up a little possession of the ball.

Although the current Chelsea players are technically inferior to Valencia, Victory is more direct in attack.

Using the width of the court and crossing from the bottom is the traditional style of play of the English team. Chelsea has not forgotten, especially on the left side of the attack. With the offensive combination of Ashley Cole and Kalou who was pulled to the left side, Valencia's defensive right side quickly felt the pressure.

David Silva, who was still thinking about offense before, was also forced to enter a defensive state, and Albelda also needed to come over from time to time to supplement the defense.

Coupled with the abilities of Drogba and Shevchenko, the two powerful forwards, Valencia's defensive pressure is increasing.

After the first 10 minutes of testing, Chelsea, who were playing at home, gradually took the initiative on the field, and the fans of the home team in the stands sang the team song louder and louder, especially when the attack was smooth.

"Chelsea's offense is very smooth and direct. Should we put our forces on the right and limit their crosses?" Paul asked Flores.

Flores shook his head, "It is necessary to leave enough defenders in the middle. After all, Lampard's long-range shooting ability and attacking from behind cannot be ignored."

Paul nodded half-understood, then looked at the field again.

This time it was still Chelsea's offense. After a few kicks from the midfield, the football passed to the left. Kalou took the ball from the left to face Albelda and Miguel, who came to help defend.

Therefore, Miguel had to devote part of his attention to Ashley Cole on the high-speed sleeve. At this moment, Kalou suddenly swung the ball horizontally to the right, and made a pass with his right foot.

Kaluli made a fake move with his right foot, and then used the arch of his right foot to pass the ball covertly to Albelda and Miguel.

It was too late when Miguel turned around. After running for more than ten meters just now, Ashley Cole had fully picked up his speed, and he still needed a start-up process, and the defense was obviously behind when he turned around.

Facing Kalou's through ball, Ashley Cole passed a high-quality cross directly with his left foot, which was flat and fast.

Immediately, the cheers of the home team fans in the stands of Stamford Bridge rose eight degrees.

Ashley Cole's back pass is also one of Chelsea's scoring methods.

Drogba and Shevchenko leapt forward one after the other, immediately putting great pressure on the two central defenders Albiol and Moretti. Although Albiol is not inferior to Drogba in height, but the tonnage of the body is too different, so when he defends Drogba, he chooses to interfere more than compete for the top.

It was the same this time. At the same time when Ashley Cole made a cross, Albiol put his body on Drogba to prevent him from taking off easily, especially at the moment Drogba was about to touch the football.

The football passed over the heads of the two, and Moretti grabbed the ball before Shevchenko and directed the ball in front of him. Ballack, who returned to the defense, continued to rub the ball back, temporarily relieving the crisis.

Unexpectedly, Lampard, who had been waiting at the front of the penalty area for a long time, saw where the football landed and went directly to meet it. Ballack was half a beat too late to turn around and block the ball. Lampard's non-stop long shot was blocked by Ballack's vision.

But fortunately, the football flew off the baseline against the crossbar.

***
"Chelsea's style of play is more concise and direct than Valencia's tactics. If Valencia does not make any tactical changes in the coming time, then Chelsea will most likely be the first to open the situation at home... If they are allowed to score first at home, it will be difficult for Valencia to reverse the situation, and it will definitely be even more difficult to equalize the score..."

After watching Chelsea's offensive, Huang Jianxiang explained worriedly.

Similarly, after watching Chelsea’s offensive, the head coach of the visiting team, Flores, couldn’t sit still anymore. He rushed to the sidelines, put his hands and tail fingers together, put them in his mouth, and blew an artificial whistle. David Silva on the right turned his head and said, “David, don’t stay in the middle when you are attacking. Let Michael retreat a little bit. You play the second striker position. Remember to ask Ai to increase the number of balls. In the past few minutes, he has put too little defensive pressure on Chelsea!”

After David Silva nodded, Flores turned around and returned to the coach's bench, because the weather in London was terrible, and the rain was a little heavier than it was at the beginning of the game.

The team that has been in the Iberian Peninsula for a long time is very uncomfortable with the rain.

At the same time, Mourinho on the coaching bench of the home team more than ten meters away looked much more relaxed.

Taking advantage of the time when Canizares kicked the goal kick, the big screen of the stadium also switched out the wonderful shots just captured. As one of the most influential figures in the stadium, Mourinho was naturally among them. Just now Lampard's long shot hit the crossbar and flew out of the baseline.

(End of this chapter)