The curtain was about to fall on the English Premier League. Liverpool would send in their substitutes for the last round of the season. After the game, they would be involved in the preparation for the Champions League final.
On May 22, the 38th round of the 2010-2011 English Premier League season concluded. Ten games started at the same time.
Liverpool made their debut at Villa Park with a group of young players and substitutes. Comain was also reviewing the summer purge targets in the process of training the young players.
Aston Villa had no desires at home, but since their opponent was Liverpool and Liverpool had sent a lineup that looked down on them, Aston Villa was naturally eager to teach the defending champions a lesson.
Liverpool did not care about winning or losing the game, and the game was unsurprisingly lost.
Aston Villa defeated Liverpool 1: 0 at home. The defending champions immediately put the defeat to the back of their minds and set their sights on the Champions League final seven days later.
The results of the other games in the closing game were that Manchester United defeated Blackpool 4: 2 at home and sent their opponents back to the English Premier League.
Manchester City defeated Bolton Wanderers 2: 0 in the away game. It was a perfect end to their season goal!
The remaining two games were the most eye-catching.
Chelsea put on a conservative stance at Goodison Park. As long as they did not lose by a large margin to their opponent, they would be able to get a ticket to the Champions League.
But Chelsea did not expect that they would be killed by Everton!
Ancelotti's team ended the season with three consecutive defeats in the last three games.
Arsenal's closing game came to an away game against the farm owner Fulham.
They tied with Fulham at 2: 2 after 90 minutes of fierce fighting.
Arsenal, who did not even get a victory, fell behind Chelsea by two points and were out of the Champions League next season!
The press conference hall at Craven Farm stadium was filled with reporters who had been waiting for a long time.
The Fleet Street reporters were naturally waiting for Wenger here.
After all, before the final game, the probability of Arsenal not being in the Champions League was more than 99%.
Wenger appeared in front of everyone with a grief-stricken expression.
Naturally, his heart was filled with pain.
The economic loss of the team not being able to qualify for next season's Champions League was very real, which would hinder Arsenal's progress.
And just after the end of the game, Fàbregas left the team and embarked on a trip to Barcelona. There were signs that Arsenal's captain would change sides in the summer.
Wenger told the reporters, "The miracle did not happen. We made a lot of mistakes during the season. The team's immaturity is the main reason for the decline in results this season. We can't ignore the strength of other competitors, such as Liverpool and Manchester City. Since last season, Liverpool has become the top favorite to win the league title. This season, Manchester City has also played steadily. They will enter the Champions League for the first time. They are improving. Not only did Arsenal make mistakes, but the team's immaturity is also the price to pay. "
A reporter below the stage shouted loudly, "Arsenal has not only not won any titles since 2006, but now they have also lost the qualification for the Champions League. It is obvious that Arsenal is declining! Is Arsenal still not going to bring in star players and make a big investment this summer? "
Suddenly not having the Champions League for a season might not be a big blow, but if Arsenal could not catch up and invest in the transfer market in time to bring in high-level players, then once they missed the Champions League for many seasons in a row, Arsenal's attractiveness to top players would really become lower and lower. At that time, Arsenal would not be able to buy players even if they had the money, unless they were as rich as Manchester City, who did not care about spending money at all and completely used money to attract star players.
Wenger said expressionlessly, "If football can be solved with money, then it represents the death of modern football. This sport will not become the world's number one sport. Arsenal will stick to their philosophy. We still have a very competitive lineup. We don't have the Champions League task next season. We can concentrate on the league. This is our advantage. I believe Arsenal will not be far away from the Champions League for too long. We will soon return to the stage that belongs to us!"
Wenger's declaration would probably break the hearts of countless Gunners fans. From that day onwards, Arsenal's fan camp began to split, and voices of defection to Wenger began to surface.
On the other side, Chelsea, who lost the game but retained the qualification for the Champions League, also ushered in a drastic change.
Chelsea fired Ancelotti, which might not be too surprising. Since Abramovich took over at Blue Bridge, no manager who did not win the title in any season could escape the fate of being fired.
However, the way Ancelotti was fired reflected the "barbarism" of the Russians.
Afterwards, the media revealed that Ancelotti did not expect the club's decision to be so fast. After the 1-0 loss to Everton, he boarded the team bus as usual. Under the "witness" of all the players, the chief executive, Gorley, informed the Italian of his decision to dismiss, which stunned Ancelotti on the spot.
During the interview after the game, Ancelotti was in a good mood. He expected Abramovich to arrange a more formal meeting next week to inform him of the final decision.
"I'm on vacation now. I don't know how long the vacation will be!" An Shuai said after the game, not knowing what would happen in two hours.
"We haven't arranged a meeting yet, but I think it will be next week."
What the Italian did not expect was that the Russian boss did not think about any meeting at all, and the dismissal was effective immediately.
Of course, Ancelotti was prepared for this result. "I don't want to say anything to the club. They can judge my work for two years. I can only wait and see what will happen."
Less than two hours later, An Shuai waited for the judgment of fate, but he probably did not expect it to be so fast and so simple and crude.
The dismissal of Ancelotti on the bus reminded people of the cold-blooded dismissal of assistant manager Wilkins during the season.
On a Thursday morning, Chelsea's reserve team and Bayern's reserve team played a friendly game at the training base. The Blues won 4 to 0. Wilkins and Ancelotti were there to watch the game. During the half-time, he received a call saying that the chief executive, Golley, wanted to talk to him. He went to the office and never returned.
In the office, Wilkins was told that Chelsea would not renew his contract with immediate effect. The media commented that Chelsea cruelly asked Wilkins to leave at half-time.
Abramovich took over Chelsea in 2003. In eight years, he had changed six managers: Ranieri, Mourinho, Grant, Scolari, Hiddink, and now Ancelotti. Many famous managers in football were arbitrarily manipulated and abandoned in the face of capital.
The Red Army defended their title, the Red Devils replaced them, the Blue Moon rose, the Blues changed, and the Arsenal fell.
After the first decade of the new millennium, the traditional structure of the Premier League would never return!
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