The Young Lion

After the Champions League group stage qualifying this season, it was the quarter-finals, the draw division, there is no avoidance of the same team in the country, there is no group first against the group second, after all, there are six teams that are the first group qualifying.

The three German teams advanced strongly, but the lottery was tragic, all in one and a half districts, plus a Real Madrid.

Millwall and Juventus, Manchester United and Monaco, four teams in the same half.

The situation in the two halves is quite similar. To reach the finals, there will inevitably be a fierce battle. Millwall will play the Champions League two years ago. Last season’s runner-up Juventus, only listen to Juventus in the Champions League in the past two years. Know the strength of this opponent!

At the press conference before the game, Fleet Street was relatively pessimistic, thinking that Millwall's luck was back home, and facing Juventus in the sky, there was little hope of promotion.

From player strength to coaching level, Juventus' advantage is obvious. Although Aldridge is highly praised, he can't really compare with the famous coach of Lippi such as Champions League champion and Serie A.

In the final of the League Cup, smoke bombs were put on, and before the psychological warfare in the league, Aldridge came to the Champions League, low-key and pragmatic. At the press conference, even if the media from Italy had the "over the dragon" momentum Force him to ask the goal of the game and compare the strength of the two teams.

Aldridge admitted frankly: "Juventus is a giant club in Italy. First of all, they have a great coach. The achievements of coach Lippi make me envious. Juventus' lineup is also very powerful. In recent years, they have been in Serie A. The achievements in the Champions League are glorious. You think Millwall is weaker than Juventus. I don’t refute. In fact, we do have a gap with Juventus. Judging from the ability and experience of players, Juventus is stronger. If I emphasize that Millwall is stronger than the opponent or is on the same level, I am afraid that fans around the world will think that I am too arrogant. However, football games are often not strong winners, Millwall wants to advance, first Take the courage and determination to advance to death! My players are eager for honor, the European Champions Cup, in front of this club's supreme honor, of course, we must take the super fighting will to go further, if we are destined to be eliminated by Juventus Then, the game at Wembley and the Alpi Stadium is our final! Losing is not terrible, and being eliminated is not the end of the world, but Millwall will have to leave his head even if he loses!"

This kind of low-spirited speech has won unanimous praise from the media.

Even the Italian media who had mocked Aldridge before thought that opponents like Millwall deserved respect.

The style of a coach often reflects the style of the club. Moreover, Audridge's identity is not only the coach. On the stage of the UEFA Champions League, he sets his position very clearly.

It feels humble, but it does not make him feel confident.

I thought that when he met Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona last year, Aldridge never uttered any rhetoric. The young commander gave his opponent enough respect. As for whether the opponent respected him, he did not mind, just like Barcelona’s Coach Van Gaal defies him, he hasn't fought back in the public.

Fair and comfortable, Aldridge is not a chameleon, he is not a gentleman, he is a gentleman, he is a scumbag, he is a rogue, he has his own principles, others like to ridicule him, belittle him, defame him, maybe not a personal grudge, It's psychological warfare. It doesn't matter. The manners he displayed gave Millwall a special spiritual temperament.

Juventus coach Lippi also talked about the importance of Millwall when talking about the confrontation between the two teams. He believes that the England team has begun a full recovery. Manchester United reached the semi-finals last year and this year in the group stage In the midst, Manchester United let Juventus endure hardships and advanced to the knockout tournament hard, while Millwall was the Premier League champion last season and is comparable to Manchester United in strength. More importantly, Millwall is young, motivated and players They and Aldridge are also teachers and friends. In adversity, the general can always overcome the difficulties together. Juventus wants to advance and must not underestimate each other.

When the day of the game came, Wembley's tickets sold out early. Not only were fans of the Lions, many neutral fans were eager to walk into Wembley to watch this peak matchup.

Millwall was the Premier League champion last season. This season's UEFA Champions League group stage is in full swing. Juventus dominated the Serie A in the world's first league. At the same time, in the past two years, the Champions League champion and the Champions League runner-up, said Juventus is the strongest in Europe. The team is not an exaggeration. Even if some people disagree, it is undoubted that the top three teams in Europe are among the top three.

What kind of spark will the two teams collide with each other?

Compared with the other three quarter-final matches, this Millwall vs Juventus battle is the most watched game.

Manchester United vs Monaco

Leverkusen vs Real Madrid

Bayern Munich vs Dortmund

These three games are far less impressive than Millwall and Juventus' focus battle.

At the beginning of the Chinese lantern, Wembley Stadium shined the audience.

The players of Millwall and Juventus warmed up before the match, the substitute players sat directly in the bench, and the starting players returned to the locker room.

Aldridge stood in the locker room, gazing calmly at the blank tactical board, as if contemplating.

When the starting 11 players were all in the locker room to change the jersey for the official game, everyone looked firmly at Aldridge.

He turned around and opened his mouth lightly.

"From the day I took over the team, every morning when I woke up, I asked myself a few questions: What is Millwall missing? How far is it from the world's first? Every day, I ask myself this way, and then myself Thinking about the answers while washing my face, brushing my teeth and taking a shower, day after day, year after year, until recently, I asked myself these questions again, and could hardly think of an answer that convinced me."

He glanced at everyone in front of him, and then continued: "The 11 of you came to the team four years ago at the earliest, and three years ago later, playing together for almost three or four years, over 1,000 here. In the long process of the sky, you have changed from an unknown player to a star. Your technical ability has matured and you have experienced many important games. Your mentality will not be as trembling as when you were young. We have created brilliant together, which represents our progress. With maturity, technical and tactical aspects have also reached their peak. Although they are not perfect, they are close to the limit of what you can do. Yeah, what is the difference between your team and the world’s first? Can you still say that you are young? But your average age is now 24 years old. It was your year of playing. Can you run and be aggressive? We still lack experience? We have played more finals than any team in these two years. Some of you also play a pivotal role in the national team. We are the champions, we have proved ourselves in England, and now, I think it’s time, it’s time to prove to the world that you are the world’s first, we have Ability to impact European champions, use trophy to prove our strength!"

The players' eyes became sharper and more energetic.

Captain Southgate stood up and exclaimed passionately: "Boss, we will not find any reason for ourselves, never will! In the past, we can think in our hearts that we are still immature, we need more competition to improve, need to grind Practicing skills requires establishing a tacit understanding with teammates, but now, we can no longer give ourselves any excuses! Now we are the most powerful team! Of course, Juventus are also very powerful, they have honors that we do not have, but Isn't such an opponent exactly what we hope to meet?"

At the end, Southgate turned his head and asked each teammate with his eyes.

Everyone nodded and nodded in spite of battle!

In the past three or four years, they have grown and improved from a nameless one to a champion player. What other reasons can they give themselves to fear of enemies?

Aldrich was happy when he saw the confident and determined expression of the players. He needed the players to be psychologically incapable of fearing their opponents in order to play better. Otherwise, it would be terrible to be afraid of the future. The battle is not open, the defeat is revealed!

"Today's game, to play well, we have to play our own style, to show a stronger fighting spirit than our opponents. I believe you can do it. If we want to challenge the championship throne, we must first defeat the former king, Juventus. !"

Aldrich turned and left after finishing the talk. The remaining three captains will also inspire the teammates' fighting spirit.

When Aldridge walked out of the player's tunnel and came to the sidelines, he deliberately went to shake hands with Lippi. The silver fox Lippi was still middle-aged, and he could still see the handsome appearance of his youth. The two greeted in Italian, and then Austrian Deric turned around and the war will be on. He and Lippi must have one fall after two wars!

Sitting down in front of the coach seat, Aldridge sipped his lips, Benitez and Jenson, the two assistants were very nervous today.

Strange to say.

It's hard to measure whether it is the FA Cup final, the Premier League competition, the League Cup final, the European Winners Cup final, which of the four final scenes and the UEFA Champions League quarter-final scene is more stressful .

But Benitez and Jenson just felt unusually nervous today. In fact, Audridge was not at ease in his heart. After thinking about it, he thought that maybe it had nothing to do with any occasion, but an opponent.

Manchester United, Arsenal, Barcelona, ​​Paris Saint-Germain, etc., these teams are not as good as Juventus, which is why people are more stressed.

"It's unlucky to play at home first! Lippi's old fox has an advantage in platoon formation."

Jenson repressed too much and said something to ease the tension.

Aldrich's rare game drank half a bottle of water before the start, which was actually caused by tension.

After hearing it, he smiled and said nothing.

Host first, guest second, guest first.

Which one has the advantage?

Statistically, the customer first has the advantage.

But the statistics are dead and not absolute.

In particular, such statistics are not objective and fair, because there is a difference in strength between teams.

If there are two teams with strong and weak disparities, the strong team will come first and then the home team, then the weak team is very unfavorable. In the first round of the contest at home, is it conservative or unrestrained? If you are conservative, the fans don’t agree. If there is no goal, is there hope for going away? If you are unrestrained, the strong team will play against the weak team.

Against this background, it is of course beneficial for the strong team to come first before the host, but conversely, even if the weak team comes first before the guest, the estimated probability of promotion is not necessarily much higher.

When there is no obvious difference between the strengths of the two teams, first come first, then come first, then there is no absolute advantage. Anyway, this theory will be subverted from time to time. Time again thinks that it is better to host first and then guests.

The key is to play on the spot, everything else is a secondary factor.

Players from both sides enter the stadium and the Champions League theme song resounds from Wembley.

The peak match between the Premier League champion and the Serie A champion is about to begin!