Every inch of land in West London was worth its weight in gold. This was London's financial district. The Chelsea Club was located in West London, a bustling area where celebrities came and went.
Chelsea was not just an ordinary club here. In the era before Abramovich, the ambitious Bates built Chelsea Village here. Unfortunately, Chelsea's achievements did not lead to an increase in their popularity, and their income was not optimistic. Chelsea Village, which had a huge commercial chain, was deserted. It was not until Abramovich took over Stamford Bridge that the heritage of the previous era was slowly developed and used to revitalize Chelsea Village.
On the top floor of the largest commercial hotel in Chelsea Village, it was transformed into an airport.
On the evening of April 7th, Abramovich's private plane landed here. Surrounded by bodyguards and attendants, the boss Chelsea went to Stamford Bridge calmly.
Ajax's bus had driven into the boundary of West London. The prosperity here did not touch the players' minds. They were not country bumpkins. Amsterdam was also flourishing, and Amsterdam had comfortable weather. London? The gloomy sky and humid air would not make them too fond of this place.
Chelsea's position in England may not have been completely improved, but on this day, Chelsea received more attention in England than the other local powerhouses!
The reason was simple. On the day of the Champions League, Chelsea was the only team left representing the Premier League in Europe!
Newcastle United was unlucky to stop in the qualifiers, Manchester United lost to Porto at Old Trafford, and Arsenal was sent back to the league by Ajax. The only remaining Premier League team was Chelsea!
It was for this reason that Chelsea, who returned to London to play, received great attention from Fleet Street.
The pressure on Ranieri's shoulders was enormous. He had always been disliked by Abramovich. When he was no longer able to compete with Arsenal in the league, only the Champions League was left as a lifeline. He knew that if he was eliminated from the Champions League, then his fate of being dismissed at the end of the season could not be reversed.
Ajax's players were relatively calm.
They had the opportunity to create the team's best record in the Champions League in the past eight years. In other words, since the previous generation of Ajax was dismembered, the new generation of Ajax had achieved a substantial achievement.
Last year, it was already amazing to fall into the top eight and made the European football world look askance. This year, it took a step further and was only 90 minutes away from the game.
When Qin Xiong walked into Stamford Bridge, he thought he had understood the atmosphere of the English stadium, but he was wrong.
Perhaps it was due to the difference in the composition of the fan groups. At Highbury, the Arsenal fans were quieter than the Chelsea fans in the stands.
In the "narrow" Stamford Bridge stadium, the fanatical Blues fans shouted themselves hoarse as they cheered for the team. When they walked out of the players' tunnel, they could feel the provocation, stimulation and even humiliation from the fans who leaned half of their bodies out of the stands within a few meters from both sides.
The Blues flag fluttered in the stands. Only a small number of Ajax fans came to Stamford Bridge. It was not that they did not want to follow the team, but there were too few tickets given to the visiting fans. Just like in the Amsterdam Athletic Stadium, there were almost no Chelsea fans. There was a strong contrast between the home and away team's "human balance" advantage.
When the players from both sides lined up in the stadium for the opening ceremony, the camera swept across the players from both sides. Every player's expression was very serious. Even Ajax, who came to Stamford Bridge with the lead and the aura of a league champion, was the same.
Before the game, Van Der Vaart, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and the others kept reiterating that the team should pay attention.
They did not want a repeat of last year's events.
Do not let your guard down!
"The second leg of the Champions League 14 finals is about to begin at Stamford Bridge. Ajax leads Chelsea by a total score of 3: 1. This is a gap that cannot be ignored. If Chelsea wants to make a comeback at home, they will have to score at least two goals! Ranieri's position will depend on the result of this game. Although there had been rumors that Chelsea's boss would find a new manager to replace Ranieri, Chelsea's top management stopped Abramovich. They advised Abramovich to wait and see. Rashly sacking a manager who led the team to the knockout stages of the Champions League and reached the top eight of the Champions League would cause an immeasurable blow to the team. The resulting turmoil was a price that the team could not afford. Now it seemed that Ranieri's fate had come to be decided. The outside media was unanimously optimistic that Ajax would advance to the semifinals. This was not without reason. Ajax's victory in the Eredivisie was a foregone conclusion. They could concentrate on the Champions League. Moreover, by tracking and observing their performance in the Champions League, no one could question this team because they were young and immature. They had reached the top eight last season. This season, they had a win and a draw against Arsenal in the knockout stages. They had also convincingly destroyed Chelsea at home. Would they suffer a crushing defeat to Chelsea in the away game? Not many people thought that Chelsea could do this. Chelsea looked strong, yes, but in terms of overall strength, players like Snede, Qin Xiong, and Galasek, who were not as famous as Lampard, Crespo, Hasselbaink, and so on, formed an unimaginably strong Ajax!
Compared to the previous matchup, Chelsea made a change in personnel. Glen Johnson, who had a strong assist ability, replaced Melchiot. Ranieri needed to attack. Everyone on Earth knew that Chelsea needed to score goals, so he needed the team to have a stronger offensive strength.
Chelsea's starting lineup: 442.
Goalkeeper: Cudicini.
Defenders: Johnson, Terry, Gallas, Bridge.
Midfielders: Glen Charles, Lampard, Makelele, Duff.
Forwards: Hasselbaink, Crespo.
Ajax's starting lineup: 433.
Goalkeeper: Lobonte.
Defenders: Grygera, Heitinga, Escude, Maxwell.
Midfielders: De Jong, Galasek, Qin Xiong.
Forwards: Van Der Vaart, Ibrahimovic, Snede.
Well, the game is about to start. Ajax will kick off first. "
Ajax's starting lineup and lineup were unchanged from the previous game.
However, there was a change in tactics. They would not launch an aggressive offensive. After the start, they would focus on stability. Playing in an away game, they could not be led by the nose by the opponent. They would slow down the pace first and drag the overall formation behind.
In fact, Comain asked the team to come to Stamford Bridge today to mainly use the midfield to instigate a quick counterattack.
Since Chelsea had to score at least two goals, then the opponent would definitely attack, or even attack wildly!
Then Ajax should focus on taking advantage of the opportunity after the transition between offense and defense to play a quick, accurate, and deadly counterattack.
Qin Xiong carried out a step-by-step pass coordination with his teammates in the midfield, striving to unify the rhythm of the team and quickly get into the game state.
Chelsea mobilized the whole team, including the forwards, to frantically press. They needed the ball and needed to race against time to launch an attack. More attacks to create more opportunities to score goals.
At the start of the game, Crespo rushed back to intercept Qin Xiong. Although Lampard was active, he did not dare to rush and attack. Once Qin Xiong broke through in the midfield, forget about the offense, the defensive line would be in danger first.
Crespo's return could not threaten Qin Xiong. He protected the ball in place, turned 180 degrees, and easily avoided Crespo's pressing. Then he passed the ball to Galasek, who had the most space to receive.
The players of Jax were able to control the ball with their skillful footwork and teamwork.
When Johnson rushed forward to intercept Snede, Ajax launched the first threatening offensive of the game.
Snede passed the ball back to Maxwell, who then passed the ball to Qin Xiong. Qin Xiong kicked the ball straight to Ibrahimovic. Ibrahimovic diagonally passed the ball to the empty space on the left side of the penalty area. Snede got rid of Johnson and did not hesitate to shoot.
Perhaps because his injury had not healed, Snede's shot was a bit outrageous and flew directly into the stands.
"Although Snede's shot is not flattering, we have to admit that Ajax's overall talent in creating opportunities is obviously better than Chelsea's! Snede is injured, which we can understand. It will affect his technical play, but it will not affect his thinking. Look at his running awareness and choice of timing to enter the penalty area. These are the embodiment of a player's excellent football awareness. The reason why the outside world is not optimistic about Chelsea is because Chelsea's situation is too difficult. They have to attack, which will certainly give Ajax more space to attack. Under the huge creative impact of Ajax's team's passing and cutting cooperation, I think Snede's direct confrontation with the goalkeeper Cudicini is not accidental. It will happen frequently in this game! "
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