Jagged Wings

Chapter 33 Meeting Mourinho

It's time to make a decision. Arsenal, which has reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League and the semi-finals of the FA Cup, must make a choice.Arsenal suffered a lot of injuries this season, and the depth of the bench is too weak to withstand the requirements of two-line combat.

On the bench, Arsenal can't keep up with Chelsea, who are spreading rubles everywhere and buying people crazy.What a heart-wrenching luxury that the top scorer in the Eredivisie like Kežman has to play in garbage time?
"How many high-level foreign players will be introduced next season?" Wenger suddenly had such a strong thought.

But this idea just turned around in Wenger's mind, and then he eliminated it by himself.Next season, teenagers like Famini, Flamini, Van Persie and Senderos will all mature, and there is no need to buy people to strengthen the lineup.

Moreover, the morale of the team is not stable now. Wenger clearly knows that if they don't win a championship title, they may not stay with the Gunners for too long.

Speaking of the championship, I am back to the topic at the beginning. Judging from the current situation, there will be games on April 4, 2, and 9, while the two rounds of the Champions League will be held on the 16th and 7th.

Of course, on March 3, the players still have a 30 World Cup qualifier to play.The Spanish national team will challenge Serbia and Montenegro, the top team in their group, in the away game, because only the No.06 in each group in the European zone can qualify, and then the six No.1 with the best results will participate in the play-offs.So to put it bluntly, this is a game worth six points.

Spanish coach Aragones of course hopes that he can field the strongest team. Reyes, who has been in hot form recently, has of course been the object of his attention, so Reyes received a call from Aragones.

"Antonio, how's the injury?" Aragones' tone showed concern.

"The team doctor said he's recovering well," Reyes shrugged, "But I guess we won't be able to catch up with Serbia and Montenegro. How is your North Station?"

If Spain, which is two points behind in this game, cannot win, they may even fall to No.3.

"These young people make me full of energy!" Aragones said. After he took office, he vigorously promoted some young players such as Torres and Villa. Even Fabregas, who was only 18 years old, was also selected for the national team.

"Well, save me the main position on the left!" Reyes asked for the main position with a big mouth.Although the "main position" of a general team is a restricted area that cannot be discussed, it is harmless to make this joke in front of Aragones.

"If you want the main force, go discuss it with Vicente!" Aragones cleverly shifted his gun.

"It's okay to discuss the main position?" Reyes said, "Then I'll go and discuss with Igor, will I be able to play goalkeeper next time?"

"Ahem," Aragones spat out a mouthful of old blood at this time, no matter how unrestrained he was, "I won't stop you as long as you go, by the way, I have to hang up beforehand!"

Aragones, who hung up the phone, at least knew that Reyes' mental condition was surprisingly good.

***********
Wenger finally decided to assist the Champions League and give up the league.But this does not mean that Arsenal will play negatively. In the game on April 4, Henry, the King of Highbury who was injured for a round, once again staged a hat-trick, but Vieira's injury is always worrying.

The next thing Arsenal will face is an alternative "Premier League Derby". They will challenge Chelsea away in the first round of the Champions League quarter-finals.

Arsenal received a "gift" from UEFA before the game. Mourinho was banned for two games by UEFA for insulting the referee in the quarter-final against Barcelona, ​​​​just missing two legs of the Champions League. .

Of course, Mourinho's suspension is not the first time.At Porto, he relayed orders by phone and notes; when the FA Cup was suspended he was allowed to use the walkie-talkie.But this time, none of these three methods will work, and UEFA is determined to shut him up completely.They specially arranged for two staff members to "close press" him and banned him from directing Chelsea's Champions League match with Arsenal in any way.

"We have to appeal, this is UEFA's insult to me! If one appeal fails, it will be twice, and if two appeals fail, it will be three times! I want to let them know that Chelsea is not so easy to mess with!" At this time, Mu, who made his debut on the European stage Rinho is full of vigor, and he unscrupulously expressed his dissatisfaction with UEFA.He has a strong fighting spirit, fighting against the sky, the earth, and UEFA.

At the pre-match press conference, when Wenger was asked about Mourinho, although Wenger had already laughed in his heart, his mouth was very strict, and he did not admit that "Mourinho's absence" was wrong. Chelsea's huge impact.

The media in the audience curled their lips at Wenger: pretend, just say it if you are happy!

But they did misunderstand, Wenger's character is like this.Just as the outside world changes, he still insists on his business philosophy.

The final score of the first round of the game was 4:2, with the home team leading the visiting team.The Blues, without Mourinho in command, exploded with a strong combat effectiveness, although Gilberto's timely return strengthened the strength of the Gunners' midfield.But the defensive teenager Senderos was completely defeated in the match against Didier Drogba.Although she worked very hard, the gap in strength still existed.

The commentator after the game summed up and said: "Although he was defeated by Drogba, the fighting spirit he showed when facing Drogba determined that this teenager will have a bright future. Here I also want to say something that has been said many times this season, Arsenal's young talent is enviable!"

Reyes did not participate in the first round of the game, but watched the normal game in the stands.When leaving the field after the game, Reyes accidentally bumped into Mourinho.

It was in the aisle at the time, Mourinho raised his head, leading two UEFA staff members to attract attention.Reyes was in casual attire, with a peaked cap and big sunglasses.However, as opponents who are often studied, the two recognized each other at the same time.

"How's the leg injury?" Mourinho was in a good mood, and said with a smile, "But I think you should thank me. If you lost four in the first round, don't struggle in the second round. Just ask Mr. Professor to give it to you again." Rest for a few more days!"

"That's not necessarily true," Reyes said with a smile, without taking off his glasses, "We still have two away goals, but you yourself, I'm afraid you'll have to sit in the stands for another 90 minutes."

Both of them smiled, but the people passing by had already felt the strong smell of gunpowder.Mourinho's smile is insolent, but Reyes' smile is tough.

"Hmph, don't use your tongue, first consider whether you can play in the second round!" Mourinho, who has been arrogant since coming to the Premier League, has ever experienced someone confronting him head-on and arrogant?The toughness in Reyes' eyes made him very uncomfortable.

Mourinho walked around Reyes and walked forward.

"By the way, Mr. Coach," Reyes thought of something, and turned to Mourinho's back and said, "You'd better go and practice some of your backup right backs to see if they can guard me! "

"You wait!" Mourinho didn't stop, and left in a hurry.Reyes' words hit Mourinho's sore spot.

Since the second half of the season, Mourinho has been having a headache for the team's right back. After Ferreira was reimbursed for the season due to injury, neither Johansen nor Huth performed satisfactorily.One of Arsenal's goals in this game was that Pires broke through Johansen and then assisted Henry to score.

When Reyes pointed it out, Mourinho couldn't hold back anymore.He made up his mind to go back and must formulate a strategy to see the Spanish winger dead.

In the Premier League on the next 9 days, Arsenal and Chelsea hid most of their substitutes. In the end, Arsenal lost. Reyes came on as a substitute in this game after a month of injury. A draw.

Before that, Reyes, who had been training alone in the weight room, finally got permission from the team doctor to participate in the team's training.

"Welcome back!" Bergkamp came up to greet.

"Brother's big knife is already hungry and thirsty!" Reyes showed off his well-developed upper arm muscles, with clear lines on them. This month's upper body strength training is still effective.

"Such a strong bicep, wouldn't it be masturbation every day?" Ashley Cole came up and touched it, with a look of jealousy.

"..." Reyes was speechless.

Everyone showed a knowing smile.

Although there are still two games in between, everyone no longer cares about the outcome of these two games. Everyone is focusing on the second round of the UEFA Champions League at Highbury three days later.

Although Reyes' physical condition has fully recovered in this game, if he does not touch football for a month, it is also a question of how much of his condition can be achieved.So to be cautious, Wenger still put him on the bench.

For Chelsea, Mourinho is absent, and fitness coach Faria is in command of the Blues.Just 3 minutes into the first half, Lampard got the ball in the frontcourt and shot a strong shot. Lehmann couldn't make a save and watched the football fly into the net.

5:2, in the total score, Chelsea's lead reached three goals!

The moment the football hit the net, the entire Highbury Stadium fell into complete silence.Most of the people in the stands acted in the same way: holding their heads with their hands, their faces were full of despair, and their eyes were filled with sadness...

Unlike the previous game where there was a counterattack based on defense, Chelsea completely gave up counterattacks in this game and hoarded everyone in their own half.

It was as if a strong man suddenly fell to the ground with his head in his hands during a fight, shouting: "Come and hit me."

As time went on, Arsenal's possession time continued to increase, but they still couldn't find a chance to score.All the fans are standing up and cheering for them, although they know that their chances of making a comeback are slim

They need a hero to stand up!

At the end of the first half, after Pires cooperated with Cole from the left, he got past Huth's defense and knocked the ball across to Bergkamp who ran out of the penalty area to catch the ball.

Terry quickly followed to prevent Bergkamp from turning around.But Bergkamp slipped the ball with one leg and turned around Terry.

Bergkamp, ​​who had passed Terry, flicked the ball sideways again, past Lampard, and then shot on the penalty area line.

The football crossed a wonderful arc and flew towards the far corner of the goal.

Reyes on the bench stood up. If this goal is scored, there may be a chance in the second half.

But Cech made a world-class save, lifting the ball over the baseline with one hand.

There was a loud sigh at Highbury.

(End of this chapter)