Chapter 272: Pulling a purple lily

Xiao Ming's wish was not realized. In a later league game, Manchester United did not miss the chance to lose the second place behind Leeds United. They beat Leicester City 2-0 away and sneered in the standings with a five-point advantage, expanding their lead.

There are nine rounds left in the league, and the five-point advantage is not very big, but among the next nine opponents of Manchester United, there are no strong teams like Leiden Oriental, Leeds, Arsenal and Liverpool. The strongest opponent is Chelsea, which is now ranked sixth, and then there are veteran teams such as Tottenham, Villa and West Ham. Other opponents are mid- and lower-level teams with average strength. Manchester United has always had a high winning rate against these teams.

Xiao Ming did not consider whether he should focus on the league or the Champions League next, because these two games do not mean that Leiden Oriental will definitely win the championship if he concentrates on one. What Xiao Ming has to do is to continue playing one game after another, and to play as much as he can. For a team that can always hover in the middle of the first half of the season, it is already a miracle to achieve the current results, at least to outsiders.

On the way to fly directly to Spain, Xiao Ming calculated his next opponent. The situation of Leiden East in the league is not so optimistic. The next opponents include derby opponents like West Ham, strong teams like Arsenal and Liverpool, and Tottenham, a team in good shape this season. The only thing that makes Xiao Ming feel at ease is that Leiden East has now thrown away the fourth place Arsenal by as much as six points, and the position of the top three is still stable for the time being. As long as you don’t lose several games in a row like a plague, there will be no problem in participating in the Champions League next season.

In the last round of the Champions League group stage, Xiao Ming planned to give most of the main players a break. This time he went to Spain, he brought eighteen players on the roster, such as Phillips and Jinklaze, who are not very physically healthy, and older main players like Deselli and Garney, let them go back to London directly and have a good rest.

After this game, after playing against West Ham United, there will be another week of buffering period, and the players' physical fitness will recover. The next sprint should not be affected too much. Maybe their condition will fluctuate, but they will not lose some games that should not be lost due to physical fitness issues.

It was precisely because Leiden East only brought eighteen players to Spain that after learning the news, the whole of Florence was sighing.

Now in this group, Leiden East has twelve points and has already qualified in the group in advance. At the same time, because they once defeated Valencia 3-0 at home, they will lose the first place in the group due to goal difference, even if they lose to Valencia with a score of 1-4 or 2-5.

Valencia's points are nine points, and the goal difference is two fewer than Leiden East, while Fiorentina is seven points, while Bordeaux only has one point, because Valencia won 2-0 at home and 0-1 away in the two games against Fiorentina. So as long as they get one point in the last game, they can suppress Fiorentina and become the second in the group, no matter how many goals Fiorentina can win Bordeaux.

Trapatoni said helplessly in an interview: "Leedon Oriental performed well in the last game. I just hope they can perform the same in the last round to help us qualify."

In fact, Fiorentina is also a little unsatisfied. They each beat Leiden Oriental and Valencia, but only scored one point at Bordeaux, while Leiden Oriental and Valencia won all the wins in the two games against Bordeaux...

Fiorentina captain Batistuta seemed a little pessimistic: "Our Champions League road has come to an end. I don't think we still have a chance to continue. If there is a chance (Leedon East defeats Valencia), I will say 'Thank you, Leiden East!' and go to the church to light a candle..."

It was the famous Italian coach Sachi who excused Fiorentina, or was speaking for Trapattoni: "With Fiorentina's strength, it's already pretty good for them to get to this point. What else can we demand from them?" But it is obvious that Fiorentina fans do not like to listen to them, or Fiorentina's boss Cecchi. Gauli does not like to listen to them. Sachi's words are undoubtedly saying that the Fiorentina players are not outstanding enough to let Trapattoni show their strength...

Xiao Ming didn't care much about all this. If he was asked to choose, he certainly hoped that Fiorentina would qualify instead of Valencia. However, in the situation where the main players were already exhausted, he could not let his main players fight hard against Valencia, who had already made up his mind to fight to the death in order to help Fiorentina, and fight to the death with injuries that affected the subsequent games - he was not that great yet.

So when I came to Spain and stayed in one of the best hotels in Valencia, known as the "Pearl of the Mediterranean", the only thing Xiao Ming did was to let the players have a good rest and then go to adapt to the stadium.

After the first day of training, Xiao Ming was blocked by a group of reporters outside the training ground, which surprised Xiao Ming. He originally thought that this should be a very ordinary game, but he forgot that this game was very important for both Valencia and Fiorentina - the third place in the second stage of the group stage was not qualified to participate in the League Cup!

The revenue of the UEFA Champions League after the restructuring was much richer than before. Going forward a little further means more income. You should know that the financial situation of Fiorentina and Valencia is not particularly good.

"Mr. Xiao, Leiden Oriental only brought eighteen players on the roster to Spain. Does it mean that Leiden Oriental will give up its last game?" A reporter shouted first in English with an Italian accent.

"Leedon East never gives up on the game." Xiao Ming shrugged his shoulders and gave a very formulaic answer: "I only brought eighteen players because we played more than a dozen games in the previous two months. I have to let the players preserve the physical fitness that they didn't need to be consumed."

"There are four main players in Leiden East who stayed in London and did not come with the team. Is Mr. Xiao so sure to defeat Valencia with half of the main players?" A local Spanish reporter asked with a little hostility. This reporter was obviously a rookie. The main players were fewer. Isn't Valencia more likely?

"I am a head coach who cares a lot about the health of players. I don't want the players to continue playing if they have injuries. I hope they can get better treatment... Kevin and Jozell both have injuries, so I didn't bring them to Spain. As for whether they are sure... there is no game that can be sure to win. I can only say that the players who come to Spain are our best players, and we still have to win this game."

After answering several more questions, Xiao Ming took off from the group of reporters, but what he didn't know was that the next day there were completely opposite reports in the sports newspapers in Spain and Italy. The title of the Spanish newspaper was "We can win even if we lack four main players - the arrogant English team", while the Italian newspaper was "The loss was determined before the game was played, and Fiorentina placed its hopes on the wrong person"...

Xiao Ming rarely reads newspapers. He reads newspapers basically just social and financial versions. He has no interest in sports versions. He has other ways to get information. He doesn't care about so-called gossip news, because he has basically read these gossips in his previous life, and he will not read Spanish and Italian newspapers.

However, in response to the attitudes expressed by the reporters during the interview, Xiao Ming felt that this was something that could be used.

On March 22, two games in the last round of the Champions League Group B started at the same time. At this moment, I don’t know how many fans of Fiorentina and Valencia are paying attention to both the matches played in Italy and the matches played in Spain.

Compared to them, Leiden Oriental fans are obviously much simpler to pay attention to, and sometimes this is also a kind of happiness.

The lineup sent by Xiao Ming today has almost changed a lot. The goalkeeper is still Jasqueline. The four defenders are Daniel with the captain's armband, Ashley Cole who appears as a substitute Garney, Karaze and Hypia who appear as a substitute Deselli. Midfielder Marklele and Boban are in the middle, Joe Kerr and Gerrard appear in the two wing forward positions respectively, and the forwards are Fanny and Robbie Keane's one-high and one-speed partner.

Valencia is the main players, including Canisales, Caboni, Angnoma, Pellegrino, Jukic, Gerard, Farinos, Mendeta, Kili Gonzalez, Lopez and the "Cobra" Ilier from Romania.

Ilier has been in good shape recently and scored twice in the last game in the league. All Valencia needs is a goal. Although Valencia only needs one draw to qualify from the group, if he faces four main players and is at his own home court and Valencia does not aim for victory, Cooper feels embarrassed.

In the words of a martial arts master, if Cooper could not beat Xiao Ming in this situation, then Xiao Ming would plant a seed of failure in his heart, and he would not win if he met Xiao Ming again. Although it was not that unlucky, some so-called nemesis in the world football world were all exported after losing too much...

So in this game, Cooper's request was to win. If possible, he would strive for a three-to-zero victory, overwhelming Leiden East and becoming the first in the group...

During Cooper's coaching career, he had a rare impulse for a while.

But soon Cooper discovered that perhaps his impulse was quite wrong this time...

Leiden East seemed to be really only preparing to take a point away from the Mestalia Stadium. Facing the bat legion flying over the sky, the two-legged flying dragon chose to use its wings and claws to protect its entire body against the defense rather than attack.

Hypia and Karaze guarded the middle, Daniel and Ashley Cole guarded the two wings, while Marklele and Gerrard guarded the front of the penalty area. These defensive players kept the entire penalty area tightly. Valencia's two forwards are both good at speed and agility. Faced with such a defense, their impact is not enough to cause trouble to Leiden East.

However, the players on the field of Leiden Oriental have no physical problems. Some of them are substitutes who have not played many games recently, while the other is physical madman in the main lineup. Facing Valencia, who has a big offensive style, they are happy to compete with the Spaniards to see who has the strongest body.

The active running Leiden Oriental players turned their half-time into a pot. As long as Valencia players entered, they would be forced to confront Leiden Oriental players, press, big feet, and long shots...

"I was surprised that Cooper would actually make such a foolish move." Xiao Ming said to MacDonald in surprise: "The two fast and agile strikers were sent to attack. I know that they scored two goals in the last game and were in good condition, but in this case, they were not as good as Angulo, who had not scored in five games. At least Angulo has a good impact, and only Kili and Gonzalez's breakthrough on the wing, I know that their other midfielders are very good at running, but can they run just by running? Cooper really thinks I can only attack? I haven't suffered enough losses in the first round?"

"I don't think he can do anything about it. After all, these are the main players of Valencia. The strikers who are effective this season are only Lopez, Iliye and Angulo. Lopez and Iliye are in good shape during this period and have scored many goals. Of course, Cooper has to send him on the court. He probably doesn't want to have a draw at home. He has lost two games under your hands and will not be willing to lose three consecutive games, otherwise he will lose confidence when he meets you in the future." McDonald shrugged and replied that today's game is relatively easy, so his assistant coach, who is often more nervous than Xiao Ming, has also become relaxed.

McDonald was right. Cooper faced much more pressure in this game than Xiao Ming. No matter how outstanding the head coach is, he may have made a fool of himself under tremendous pressure. This time Cooper made a fool of himself. Valencia was not good at attacking, and they were better at quick counterattacks. However, in this game, they plunged into the defensive army of Leiden East and immediately broke into the bloody head.

However, Leiden East, who focuses more on defense, has no time to organize too many counterattacks, only Robbie Keane's several personal breakthroughs caused some trouble for Valencia's defense, but it was soon blocked by Valencia's experienced defense line.

This situation also brought Cooper an illusion that Valencia attacked very hard, and Leiden East defended in a very embarrassing manner. Perhaps as long as you work harder, you can break the deadlock...

At the end of the first half, the score was still zero to zero, and the news from another venue made Valencia feel relieved. Vertod scored a goal, and Bordeaux led Fiorentina 1-0 away...

This news made Cooper firmly determined to attack. Anyway, the hope of promotion has increased greatly, so he has to fight for a breath and fight to kill Leiden East and win the first place in the group!

So, Valencia's offense became more and more fierce in the second half...

In the 61st minute, when Fiorentina received a penalty from the Italian arena and Chiesa scored a penalty in one go, Leiden East had buried a sharp claw for a long time and stretched out. Fanny unexpectedly stole the pass from Farinos in the midfield, and then gave Robbie Keane a beautiful straight pass!

Single shot, goal! Leiden Oriental leads Valencia by 1-0!

The goal immediately poured cold water on Cooper, and he began to realize that he could still be eliminated!

But now he has no choice but to go, there is only one way to go: "Continue attack!"

However, in just ten minutes, two consecutive news came from the Italian arena that brought Valencia's heavy blow.

In the 65th minute, Chiesa counterattacked and made a cross from behind, and Batistuta scored a goal!

In the 71st minute, Rui Costa dribbled the ball into the penalty area, and the shot was blocked and then the shot was successful!

Fiorentina scored three goals in 30 minutes in the second half, completing a big reversal, and also surpassed Valencia with ten points in the temporary standings!

This put Valencia in a mud pond where he had to attack, but Leiden Oriental, who had sent many substitutes, became more and more braver in the battle. They had no problem with physical strength and their mentality. Before the game started, Xiao Ming told them that because the four main players of Leiden Oriental did not come to Spain, Spain believed that winning was easy...

The Leiden Oriental players who feel that they are being despised have no intention of letting go of Valencia. Anyway, they have nothing to do with Valencia, and there is no problem of meeting in the future - if you win, you will win, who knows if you will encounter Valencia in the future? We can't deliberately play counterfeit football, right? That's an immoral behavior...

When the game entered stoppage time, Cooper had used up all three substitutions, all those who replaced were offensive players, but still could not tear open the defense line of Leiden East. Xiao Ming also replaced three people, but all those who replaced were defenders.

Amid the scattering swearing from 50,000 Valencia fans, the referee finally blew the whistle to the end of the game. Valencia lost to Leiden East at home 0-1 to 1 at home, and was eliminated from the quarterfinals of the European Champions League this season! At the same time, they also became the only seed team in the four groups to be eliminated. The ones who won the right to qualify were Leiden East, who ranked first in five consecutive victories and survived the death of the last round...Fiorentina!
Chapter completed!