With Liverpool trailing 0: 3, Benítez was well aware that Liverpool had no chance to make a comeback!
It was impossible to perform the miracle of reversing Arsenal in any way.
He pragmatically gave up the offense and let Liverpool strengthen their defense. Arsenal also gave up. The game ended with Arsenal defeating Liverpool with three goals.
After the game, Wenger immediately asked his assistant, Chelsea, about the game.
After learning that Chelsea defeated Charlton 1: 0 at home, Wenger's joy became dull.
The situation still did not change.
Arsenal had a goal difference of nine before and was definitely ahead of Chelsea. It did not make much sense to change the goal difference from nine to eleven in the penultimate round.
The fight for the championship would only be revealed in the final game.
Stamford Bridge was shrouded in a pessimistic mood. The Blues fans were not reconciled!
Looking at the scoreboard, there was still a final game to be played!
Chelsea had already scored 94 points!
This was the highest single-season point record since the establishment of the Premier League, including the first two seasons when there were 22 teams plus the 20 teams after the restructuring, so far!
94 points!
In any of the past Premier League seasons, Chelsea had already won the title!
But now, Chelsea was second in the scoreboard. They were not behind Arsenal, who was at the top of the table, in terms of points. It was just that the goal difference had widened to 11!
Chelsea had conceded 13 goals, scored 70 goals, and had a goal difference of 57!
Arsenal had conceded 32 goals, scored 100 goals, and had a goal difference of 68!
Chelsea's defense was better, Europe's strongest!
Arsenal's offense was fiercer, Europe's strongest!
The most brutal Premier League championship battle in history!
Now, both teams had to prepare for the Premier League finale.
The background of the last round was very similar.
Chelsea was the guest to challenge Newcastle United.
Arsenal was the guest to challenge Birmingham City.
The opponents of the two London giants were ranked in the middle to bottom of the league. They did not have to worry about staying in the league!
Arsenal could win the title as long as they won the game. The probability of winning the game and not winning the title was very slim, unless Newcastle United played a basketball game with Chelsea.
.....
The week that Arsenal was preparing for the final match was relatively peaceful. The players declined interviews and focused on preparing for the match. Usually, after training, everyone would sit together to communicate, but they would not talk about the match. The more they talked about the match, the easier it was to aggravate the psychological pressure. This was the experience of the seniors. They would talk about topics that men would talk about, such as what kind of funny things happened in the nightclubs in the city, which nouveau riche player was making a fool of himself outside, or whether a teammate was seduced by a woman outside. Laughing and fooling around was also for self-relaxation.
As Arsenal still had the FA Cup final to play after the end of the league tournament, the club did not prepare a championship celebration and would postpone the celebration. Regardless of whether they won the league tournament or not, they had to wait until after the FA Cup before considering the celebration.
May 6th.
The day before the final match, Wenger attended the pre-match press conference. The professor faced the media in a confident state. When asked if Arsenal was under a lot of pressure in the final match and if they could face the result of being robbed of the title by Chelsea, Wenger said casually, "Chelsea had a chance at Stamford Bridge, but they did not grasp it. They did not dare to bravely play a championship game with Arsenal. They watched us leave with a draw and then hoped that Arsenal would lose points to other opponents. This is a huge mistake they made! They have no chance. Fate is in the hands of Arsenal. We will return to London with the championship trophy and make our fans happy, haha. "
Wenger's remarks were clearly to put pressure on Chelsea.
Recently, when Fleet Street reviewed the final stage of the Premier League campaign, it was undeniable that Arsenal and Chelsea's terrifying momentum was almost perfect and impeccable.
But in the battle at Stamford Bridge after the elimination of Arsenal in the Champions League, Chelsea did not bravely fight against Arsenal at home, which was seen as a major mistake in Mourinho's strategic decision!
Of course, if on that day Chelsea took the initiative to attack and lost when Arsenal also put on an extreme defensive stance, then Arsenal would have won the title one round earlier. In the end, it was still Mourinho's strategic mistake!
In short, the football world was like this. The media would create topics according to the situation. They guided the direction of public opinion and seized every opportunity to hype up the topic.
In the current situation, if Chelsea did not win the title, it would become the common saying in Fleet Street: a good-for-nothing who watched their opponent win the title!
Because Chelsea gave up the opportunity to defeat Arsenal in the sixth last round to take the initiative.
Such a trend of public opinion would indeed cast a psychological shadow on Chelsea.
They had a chance, but in the end, they did not grasp it. It was that simple. Did they regret coming to this day? It was useless to regret.
On a sunny afternoon on May 8th, Arsenal came to Birmingham City's home ground.
The outside world would say that Birmingham City and Newcastle United had lost their ability to resist because they had no desires.
That would be a big mistake!
Just think about it, in their territory, the championship trophy was right there!
Then, after the game, their home ground became the stage for other teams to celebrate the title. They were not even an audience. Who could accept this feeling?
Moreover, because they had no desires, there was no pressure from the results. They could more easily snipe their opponents to win the title.
It was not to help Chelsea or Arsenal. They just did not want the London powerhouses to celebrate winning the title on their own turf!
It was that simple.
Today, on the periphery of Birmingham City's home ground, the scalpers made a windfall!
Countless Arsenal fans came here to buy the tickets in the hands of the home team's fans. Obviously, they would be "extorted at a high price" by the other side. But for the relatively good financial conditions of the Arsenal fans, as long as it was not too excessive, they would accept it all.
The Football Association sent the real trophy to St Andrew's stadium. The St James' Park stadium was a replica. After all, Arsenal's chances of winning the title were higher than Chelsea's.
In the locker room before the game, Henry and Pires also sat there to encourage their teammates.
Qin Xiong sat next to Robin van Persie. Van Persie would be in the starting lineup today. Fàbregas was on the bench. Qin Xiong returned to the attacking midfielder position. He was communicating with van Persie. Van Persie would be the key player for Arsenal to conquer Birmingham City today.
In fact, every player was crucial. After all, there were only two or three players in the front line. Whoever dropped the ball would have a major impact on the overall situation.
When all the preparations were done, the Arsenal players, under the leadership of their captain, Patrick Vieira, shouted in unison in the locker room and cheered each other on. Then, the whole team walked out of the locker room in a state of incomparable confidence and high fighting spirit.
When he walked out of the players' tunnel, Qin Xiong did not see the league title trophy. He thought it would be like the Champions League final, but he was not disappointed.
The only thing they needed to focus on now was the last game of the season, the finale!
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