Jagged Wings

Chapter 89 The most familiar person
The trajectory of Arsenal this season is very similar to that of last season. They are not far from Chelsea in the league and reached the quarter-finals in the Champions League.

At this time last season, Wenger chose the Champions League.As a result, Arsenal, who abandoned the Champions League, lacked stamina in the league and were left far behind by Chelsea.

But even in the Champions League, they lost to Chelsea. At the end of the season, they only won one FA Cup, and they almost lost all four.

Facing the same situation this season, the difference is that Arsenal have too many injuries this season, and they will definitely not be able to persist in such a tired battle in two-line combat.Especially in the final stage of the league next month, in order to make way for the World Cup, the Football Association has arranged five league games.

If we play in the Champions League, then at least two more games will be added. Seven games are nothing at the beginning of the season, but at this final stage, the players' physical energy is basically exhausted, and every game is a difficult one. battle.

Wenger still has half a month to make a choice, and they only have two games to play in this half month.

One is against Charlton at home in the league.

One is against Juventus at home in the Champions League.

It was the penultimate and seventh games at Highbury.

So far, there have been a total of 20 home games at Highbury Stadium this season. Arsenal have achieved a record of 16 wins and 4 draws. three points.

And now, the media who initially regarded Arsenal's "unbeaten home season" rhetoric as a joke have gradually begun to pay attention to Arsenal's words.

No way, maybe Arsenal can really complete this rhetoric!

Arsenal's remaining opponents in the league are more difficult.Among them, Charlton and Wigan Athletic rank in the middle, and they have nothing to desire.Villa and West Brom are deep in the relegation zone and will definitely be desperate.In the final stages of the league, teams fighting for relegation are often more difficult to deal with than those fighting for the league title or qualifying for the Champions League. Arsenal should be well aware of this.

Not to mention Tottenham, as a city rival Tottenham does not need to be mobilized.And now Tottenham's ranking is second only to the top four of the Premier League, ranking fifth. They are definitely eyeing a Champions League spot.

The media began to report on Arsenal.Unbeaten at home in the season is not unbeaten in the season after all, and it is not difficult to achieve it.The reason why Arsenal's "undefeated" has attracted so many people's attention is that on the one hand, they shouted it outrightly, and on the other hand, this "undefeated season" includes the Champions League. You can guarantee that in the Champions League Didn't lose at home?
You said that if you are undefeated, you will be defeated. Don't you think too little about the heroes of the Premier League?

This time without the instigation of the uncrowned kings, many Premier League teams jumped out to express their disdain and ridicule for Arsenal's record.

Ferguson: "Unbeaten at home? I think there will be teams that won't let them do what they want!"

Mourinho: "It is sacred that Highbury is unbeaten, the championship belongs to Chelsea!"

Tottenham coach Joel: "I look forward to ending their unbeaten run at Highbury, it will definitely drive all Tottenham fans crazy!"

Of course, they were just talking about it. In fact, the two matches between them and Arsenal were over, and the rest was just watching the show.

Arsenal's opponent in this game is Charlton.

Originally, a team like Charlton, which has no desires and desires, is the least noticeable, but as Arsenal's opponent, everyone hopes that Charlton can beat Arsenal.

Charlton, who has no desires and desires, is of course very happy to join in such things. Anyway, there is nothing left and right, so it is better to show his face.

The countdown number on the Highbury stands has become "7".

At the beginning of the game, Charlton turned away and launched a fierce attack on Arsenal.And Arsenal didn't expect Charlton to be so motivated, and they were in a hurry for a while.

At the beginning of the game, there was danger in front of Arsenal's goal, and they were almost scored several times. If it was not for luck, Lehmann played well, and Arsenal was already one goal behind.

There have been too many fights against strong teams recently, and Arsenal are a little at a loss when playing against weak teams.

At the critical moment, Reyes made continuous breakthroughs from the left to win penalties, and Henry made a penalty to tie the score at 1:0.
After the goal, Henry came up to hug Reyes.

Reyes muttered in a low voice: "Another chance to get assists wasted!"

"It's okay, I'll add it to you in my heart!" Henry comforted him.

"You calculated without joining the authority." Reyes rolled his eyes.

He and Henry were close enough to have a good relationship that they could make some harmless jokes.

Reyes has assisted 18 times this season, leading the Premier League assists list of OPTA, and Lampard, who ranks second, has only 12 times.

But he is not reconciled, he will continue to brush.

He finally had a chance. In the 33rd minute of the first half, Reyes and Hleb made a two-for-one break into the penalty area. Yes got his wish and got an assist.

Charlton, who fell behind by two goals, was discouraged. They were playing football with a lot of momentum, not for relegation or for qualifying for the European war. Of course, it is impossible to persist for too long.

Arsenal's two goals were like needles stuck in a balloon, which immediately discouraged Charlton.

In the end, Adebayor scored another goal and Arsenal defeated Charlton 3-0 at home.

Arsenal won their 17th league game of the season!

At the same time, Arsenal has once again widened the gap with the teams behind. Although the distance with Chelsea is still far away, it is relatively safe to sit second in the league.

Next, the focus of Arsenal's work shifted to the Champions League again. Their next opponent is Juventus in the Champions League quarter-finals.

For Arsenal, this will be another tough bone.

Today's Juventus is the No. [-] team in Serie A. Whether it is in terms of record or team lineup, under the leadership of Capello, Juventus is sprinting towards another league championship trophy. They are also in the Champions League. go ahead.With many stars including Buffon, Cannavaro, Nedved, Ibrahimovic, Del Piero and other players, in fact, the strength of Juventus on paper alone must be compared with Real Madrid up.

For Arsenal, there is another person in the Juventus lineup who is very familiar with them: Vieira.

No one expected that in the quarter-finals, Arsenal's opponent would be the old captain who had only left the team for half a season.

Today's Arsenal and Vieira basically did not change when they left. Except for one Hleb and one Adebayor, Arsenal's players, including tactics, are still the same as when Vieira was there.

Before the game, almost everyone was unanimously optimistic about Juventus. The odds for Juventus to beat Arsenal even exceeded the odds for Real Madrid to beat Arsenal in the last round.

Although Real Madrid's lineup is gorgeous, it is flashy, and the fatal injury is very obvious.Just last month, a few days after the match against Arsenal, Real Madrid chairman Florentino announced his resignation and stepped down as Real Madrid chairman.The reason is well known to everyone, because of the abnormal development of the team structure caused by the wrong Zidane + Pavon strategy, which eventually led to Real Madrid's four big players this season, and Florentino's resignation is a matter of course.

But Juventus is different. Their lineup is not only full of famous stars, but also very practical.

Of course, this is not the biggest factor for everyone to choose Juventus to win.

The biggest factor is Vieira.

Vieira stayed at Arsenal for nine seasons. He was the first player brought in after Arsene Wenger led Arsenal. Until last season, he was the most solid mainstay of Arsenal.

If there is one person who knows Arsenal best, it must be Vieira.

He not only understands Wenger's tactical thinking, but also understands the characteristics of each player in Arsenal.

For Arsenal, Vieira is like knowing his own palm prints.

Under such circumstances, is there any reason for the Gunners to beat Juventus?
At least Capello can't think of it.

(End of this chapter)