After returning from Bayer with great success, everyone knew that Southampton entered the Europa League quarter-finals, breaking Aachen's record of the top 16 for the longest run by a second-tier team in the Europa League.
It's a matter of time.
"Ah, will there be a reward of achievement points for every step forward? That is normal. After all, every step forward is a new record, and it is also a world-level record. The reward should not be too small, right?
." Ji Ya thought happily in his heart.
After defeating Leverkusen in the away game, Southampton was in good condition. In the midweek game, despite rotating many players, they still easily defeated Burnley in the away game and used their best form to welcome Leverkusen at home.
Workusen!
In the second round, they won even more bloodlessly.
At home, Southampton played quite securely. They constantly struggled with the opponent in the midfield and lured the opponent to attack - and Leverkusen also had to attack. The 2-3 loss at home left them with a one-on-one away game.
Zero can't advance, you have to win at least two goals.
Through two sharp counterattacks, Southampton scored a goal each from Lambert and Chamberlain in the game. Although Vidal scored a goal in the penalty area to recover a point, it still could not save Leverkusen's fate of being eliminated.
.
Southampton defeated Bayer Leverkusen 5-3 in two rounds and entered the Europa League quarter-finals, breaking the record set by Aachen for a second-tier team to go the furthest in a European competition!
"Hey, you only have twenty achievement points, you're so stingy." Ji Ya complained, and then focused on the next Europa League match.
But at this time, the English media was already in an uproar - because in the knockout round of the Europa League, although Southampton defeated Leverkusen, the other two Premier League teams failed at the same time. Liverpool was defeated by Brahma in two rounds.
Defeated 1-0, while Manchester City lost 1-2 to Dynamo Kyiv in two rounds...
In the blink of an eye, the only team that can continue to compete in the Europa League is Southampton, the English Championship team!
Although there are still three Premier League teams, Tottenham, Manchester United and Chelsea competing in the Champions League, there is no team in the Europa League. This undoubtedly makes the Premier League, which wants to compete in the first league, feel very unhappy.
After all, La Liga is too competitive. Real Madrid and Barcelona are still in the Champions League, and there is also Villarreal in the Europa League - but this time the four major leagues did not perform well in the Europa League. Serie A and Bundesliga
The whole army has been wiped out. There is only one team left in England in La Liga. Three of the remaining six teams are in the Portuguese Super League, Benfica, Porto, Braga, PSV Eindhoven in the Eredivisie, and Central Moscow in the Russian Premier League.
Army, Ukraine's Dynamo Kyiv make up the remaining teams.
And Southampton’s opponent happens to be Villarreal!
"We are so unlucky. We haven't encountered a weak team since the group stage."
Many Southampton fans have expressed dissatisfaction. In their view, this is UEFA deliberately making things difficult for them!
But yes, a new team has encountered strong teams along the way. If it was all a coincidence, no one would believe it.
We are all adults, who is still so naive?
However, it is precisely because they always encounter strong teams that Southampton's players have better channels to show themselves.
It is said that many Southampton players are now under the close attention of other teams, and the England national team has also joined in the fun. Capello said that it is time for the England national team to be updated, and Southampton has a group of outstanding local players.
, although they have not yet passed the test of the Premier League, their performance in the Europa League has proved their potential...
So on the next FIFA match day, Capello selected four Southampton players to join the England national team. Although the England national team is now in a transitional period after the World Cup, various players have come and gone.
Yes, it is not uncommon for players from low-level teams to be selected for the national team, but to be selected for four at once is still a bit exaggerated.
Ricky Lambert, Adam Lallana, Alex Chamberlain, Nathaniel Clyne.
The oldest among them is Lambert, who is already twenty-eight years old, Lallana is over twenty-two years old, Chamberlain is just over seventeen and not yet eighteen, and Klein is only in his early nineteen years.
.
There is no doubt that they are all fresh blood. Chamberlain and Klein have been selected for the England youth team. Lallana and Lambert have never participated in youth teams at any level. They are not cliques in the England national team.
.
The Southampton locals were very happy, and Le Tissier personally went to see them off. After all, after Le Tissier, it was very difficult for Southampton to produce a local international, let alone four in one go.
Although they rarely played in the national team, only playing as substitutes for dozens of minutes, they broke the embarrassing record of zero appearances for the national team. When interviewed after the game, they all thanked Noriya and said that it was Noriya.
Only after training and training can they perform so well...
"Why do these kids always tell the truth?" Ji Ya replied during the interview, causing the reporters present to laugh.
In fact, during this period of time, Kiya paid more attention to the performance of Villarreal. This La Liga team performed well this season and is firmly in the fourth position. It is certain to enter the Champions League next season, and
They also have many outstanding players. Goalkeeper Diego Lopez, defender Marchena, and midfielder Senna are old, but midfielders Sandy Cazorla and Borja Valero performed very well.
Giuseppe Rossi on the front line performed brilliantly, and it is normal for them to perform as they did now.
After all, Rossi was recognized as a genius by everyone before, but frequent injuries prevented him from performing well. This season, he has got rid of the trouble of injuries. It is normal to perform like this.
things.
Such a team has outstanding players on all three lines and is in excellent overall condition. At the same time, their position in the top four of La Liga is stable and there is no hope of winning the championship... From this perspective, they are the most difficult team to deal with.
"Their skills are very good and they are good at hitting the ground. If they revert to defense, we will not have a big problem, but this will have a huge impact on the offense." Benali said.
"Why should we defend? Just compete with them on offense! We have reached the top eight, what else can we be conservative about? Let's fully utilize our offensive capabilities and kill them!" Ji Ya waved his fist and said confidently
.
Benali glanced at Ji Ya in surprise, and then quickly came to his senses.
That's right, you have to attack to unleash Southampton's abilities anyway, so let's continue attacking.
