Ajax's coaching staff and the players watched and analyzed all the videos of Porto's Champions League games.
It took two days.
In the group stage, Porto's playing style was not particularly outstanding. They also had the painful experience of being directly crushed by Real Madrid.
But after the knockout stage, Porto's style was very obvious.
A powerful defensive counterattack!
Qin Xiong and his teammates frowned after watching the video of Porto's game.
If Porto only played a defensive counterattack tactically, it would be fine.
This was a common occurrence.
But Porto was still using the rules, or wandering around the edge of the rules, to play borderline football.
They had a lot of small moves in defense, which would cause a lot of controversy and penalties.
Manchester United manager Ferguson, Lyon manager Logan, and Deportivo de La Coruña manager Irueta all criticized Porto's players for "cheating" on the field after the game against Porto. They either committed fouls to cheat or pretended to be fouled to cheat.
These criticisms did not only come from losing the game after the game, but also happened after one of the two rounds of the game.
In the knockout stage, Porto disrupted their opponents in this kind of local confrontation to gain an advantage in the game. They created scoring opportunities in an uncommon way and restricted their opponents from scoring.
Obviously, Ajax and Porto were two teams with very different styles.
One was an offensive team, and the other was a defensive team.
This kind of style impact would naturally cause psychological fluctuations in the players.
The players would have disdain and disgust in their hearts.
Especially when they saw that Porto's players would deliberately create conflicts on the field, cause controversy, and make the game as chaotic as possible. But they premeditated to use the chaos to create a favorable situation for themselves.
This was smart. It could only be said that the players and teams had different pursuits and different philosophies. It was not difficult to understand why Ajax's players frowned.
It looked like Porto's team did not play fair and square on the field. It was that simple.
Everyone did not play the same kind of football.
Comain emphasized two points in terms of technical summary.
The first was mentality!
But it was not just their mentality for the game. They also had to be mentally prepared to not fall into Porto's trap and be irritated by them to distract the game. Even if it seemed that they were in the right, they had to restrain their emotions!
The second was to restrict Porto's counterattack.
This required the team's defensive players to perk up.
I really can't tell how exquisite Porto's tactics are!
In terms of tactics, they did not even have as many tricks as Arsenal's golden left wing.
In terms of momentum, they didn't have the wild passion of Monaco.
However, Porto's counterattack was based on the premise of space, which put Ajax in an innately passive state.
There was no other way.
It was impossible for Ajax to abandon and deny the offensive style that he had persisted in for one season, two seasons, or even five, ten, or thirty years.
If all of them played defensive and counterattack, the Jax Empire might not be able to fight.
In the Champions League, the results of the defensive line conceding goals many times when they took the initiative to shrink back were still vivid in their minds. Ajax's defense relied on taking the initiative to attack in exchange, and not purely on defense to restrict the opponent.
Therefore, Porto would definitely have space to defend and counterattack. Even if they did not have a rich set of techniques and tactics, they could still play a very threatening role. This was something that Ajax's coaching staff focused on reminding the defensive players.
On the morning of May 23rd, Qin Xiong was packing his luggage in his apartment.
After packing his travel bag, he went to Sylvia's house and sent the two siblings tickets for the Champions League final. He also sent tickets to Dekoze and the other two, as well as Zeller's friends. The club only gave him three tickets, and he spent money to buy the others.
He felt that he was about to bid farewell to the Netherlands. Regardless of the success or failure of the Champions League final, it was very likely that he would not play for Ajax in the next season.
Therefore, he hoped that if it was convenient for his friends, they could go to Germany to watch the game. Moreover, the Netherlands and Germany were neighbors. The distance was not far, and the transportation was convenient.
Sylvia and George had already walked out of the sadness of their father's death. Life went on step by step. George seemed to have grown up overnight. He no longer kept saying that he wanted to be a big star player. Instead, he studied hard and became a hardworking student like his sister.
He also began to secretly help out at the convenience store in the community like his sister used to do, hoping to get some compensation to relieve the pressure on his sister's shoulders.
When Qin Xiong once again placed the ticket in front of Sylvia, this time, she did not refuse. She accepted it with a smile and told Qin Xiong loudly, "We will cheer for you in the stands!"
After Qin Xiong delivered the ticket, he returned to the apartment, carried his travel bag, and went to the club.
All the players on Ajax's First Team, even the players who were not on the roster for the game, boarded the club's bus and left Amsterdam together.
They first had to go to Utrecht.
But their minds were completely focused on the Champions League final.
They arrived at Utrecht in the evening. Ajax first went to the hotel they had booked to stay. After putting away their luggage, the team went to Utrecht's home ground.
The scale of this trip was relatively large. In addition to all the coaches and players of the First Team, there were also the club's executives. Of course, they had to participate in the second leg of the Dutch Cup final and the Champions League final.
Utrecht played at home with a mournful attitude, while Ajax sent out a full substitute lineup to play.
To be on the safe side, Comain froze Pinaar, who would be on the substitute list for the Champions League final.
It was difficult to tell how many Ajax fans there were in the stands.
In the second leg of the Dutch Cup final, Ajax attacked with a huge 5: 0 advantage. Many Utrecht fans became scalpers and sold tickets to Ajax fans at a high price. It could be said that they killed Ajax fans off the field to comfort themselves.
Niowu-Gargenvoorde Stadium.
Qin Xiong and his teammates wore clean and fresh jerseys and sat on the substitutes' bench. He, Van Der Vaart, and the other main players did not sweat because they just walked into the stadium and sat there. They did not even warm up.
They watched the game quietly, applauding and cheering for the team's performance.
Ajax's substitute lineup, led by Sonke, played more easily against Utrecht, who gave up defensive counterattacks.
There was no pressure in 90 minutes and they finally defeated Utrecht 3: 2. The total score was 8: 2 and they won the Dutch Cup this season!
The award ceremony was relatively simple. Ajax's players were not overly excited. They just seemed a little wild at the moment when they held the trophy. Then the passion quickly cooled down. Everyone took the trophy in the stadium and took photos in the locker room. Then they left the stadium together and returned to the hotel to rest before 12 o 'clock in the evening.
When they woke up, the Dutch media sang praises for Ajax's double!
But at this time, Ajax's team was already on their way to Gelsenkirchen in Germany.
They were going to the last stop of the season, the venue of the Champions League final.
FC Porto had arrived in Gelsenkirchen a day earlier than them.
May 24th, 1: 20 pm.
Ajax's bus stopped in front of the hotel they had booked in Gelsenkirchen.
Ajax's players were shocked when they got off the bus.
There were reporters in all directions in front of the hotel. They quickly picked up their cameras to take pictures of Ajax's team's arrival.
This was more spectacular than the groups of reporters they had encountered in the past. Were there 30, 50, or more?
They did not know. Perhaps there were many media reporters from all over Europe and outside of Europe. The annual Champions League final was the focus of attention. Its influence was naturally incomparable to the usual games.
Qin Xiong's eyes were blinded by the flashes after he got off the bus. He felt a little uncomfortable, so he raised his hands to block his vision. It was also the first time he had experienced such a large-scale photoshoot by reporters. He looked a little embarrassed as he walked quickly into the hotel.
As for the reporters' questions, he could not hear them clearly at all. He seemed to hear someone speaking in Chinese, but he did not have time to look back.
Porto and Ajax finally arrived in the city where the final was about to be held.
Two dark horses who had fought their way out of the encirclement. Who would be the dark horse to take the crown?
There were still 56 hours before the start of the 2003-2004 Champions League final …
The countdown clock had already rung.
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