Southampton finally relied on its substitute lineup to draw 0-0 with the opponent in the away game and entered the Europa League quarterfinals.
Their next opponent is no longer a weak team, but Inter Milan from Serie A.
Inter Milan has been miserable in the past two years. They have been in decline since winning the Triple Crown. In the 10-11 season, they also won the league runner-up. Last season, they fell to sixth place in Serie A. They have played more than 20 rounds this season.
Still ranked sixth, it seems that there is little chance of returning to the Champions League again.
This problem arises mainly because Moratti has no money, otherwise he would not have sold the team to Indonesian Tohir after this season. Modern football is all about money. If the club has no money, the results will be natural.
Not much better.
However, Ji Ya will not underestimate his opponents. Such a traditional giant has a bad team, and Inter Milan has no hope in the league this season. Of course, they will invest more energy in the Europa League. Although they play in the Europa League
The cup has no money, but it is an honor anyway. Inter Milan is also one of the clubs that has won the most Europa League titles in history. In such competitions, they tend to appear more effective.
But now Ji Ya can't take care of Inter Milan, because the next game is the League Cup final - it is precisely because of this that Ji Ya takes the risk of using all the substitutes in the away game - you must know that doing so is actually very risky.
Although we had a three-goal lead in the first round, in the two rounds, this was not a guaranteed score to qualify. What if?
But for another championship, Ji Ya had to take risks.
In this game, let the substitutes get more cooperation and find the game state, so that they can perform better in this final.
February 24th, Wembley Stadium, League Cup final!
If Bradford wins the championship, they will become the greatest legend in the history of the League Cup - the previous legend was the second League Cup, that is, in 1962, when there was also a fourth-level team Roach Day.
We reached the final of the League Cup, but unfortunately we were beaten 4-0 by the then Premier League team Norwich in two rounds (the final of the League Cup was two rounds at that time). This 4-0 score was also the same as 05-06.
Manchester United defeated Wigan Athletic 4-0 in the final this season, which was the most disparate score in the history of the League Cup final.
But Southampton certainly won't let them do this easily.
Although Bradford eliminated three Premier League teams, including Arsenal, the process was relatively ugly. It was basically a counterattack and delaying the penalty kick. Arsenal was defeated by their penalty kick. In the overall game
In terms of strength, Bradford has nothing outstanding and no particularly outstanding players.
Ji Ya has already observed this point.
So on this day, when he led the team to Wembley, although he still sent out all the substitutes for his previous promise, he also knew that as long as he seized a few opportunities at the beginning and gained a score advantage,
Next, it will be easy to fight.
Bradford mainly relies on tenacious defense to not concede the ball. Once the ball is conceded, the game will be different.
More than 70,000 fans poured into Wembley Stadium today, of which almost 50,000 were for Southampton, and more than 20,000 were for Bradford fans - although their home stadium can accommodate more than 20,000
people, but the number of people who have supported them for a long time is only ten thousand people. The lack of financial resources has transformed this team from the previous top league team to the current fourth-level team. To say that this city is not poor, but Bradford
Germany is a rather special city. Football is not particularly popular here. Instead, it is a rugby-crazy area. Therefore, the football team is relatively struggling.
Reaching the League Cup final this time is not the most glorious time in their football team’s history (Bradford has won the FA Cup once), but it is also a rare highlight moment, so many people who don’t originally watch football
People from Bradford also came to support their team.
Unfortunately, watching the final this time was definitely not a good feeling for them.
"Southampton still sent a large number of substitutes in the starting lineup for this game...keeper Navas, defender Jenkinson, Otamendi, Kovac and Luke Shaw, midfielder Casemiro, Drinkwater
Te, Schneiderlin, forwards Nolito, Klose and Austin! Doesn't this approach seem a bit careless? Bradford's fighting spirit is still very tenacious."
Some commentators commented more cautiously. After all, this game is also a final. Even if the opponent is a League Two team, is it too much to send all substitutes?
After the game started, Bradford was still very motivated. They are currently in the middle of the League One rankings and can make an impact in the play-offs, but the hope does not seem to be great, so all their hopes are pinned on this.
in the finals.
Like Southampton at the time, they did not get a spot in the European competition by entering the final. After all, UEFA's current regulations are that if the winner of the FA Cup participates in the Champions League, then the runner-up
It is possible to participate in the Europa League competitions incrementally, but the runner-up in the League Cup does not have this qualification, and will only be postponed to the top-ranked team in the league.
So in this game, their fighting spirit is still quite strong.
Of course they knew that their overall strength was vastly different compared to Southampton, so they used a lot of running and defense from the beginning in an attempt to withstand Southampton's attack, wear down the opponent's patience, and then look for opportunities.
But Southampton seemed very patient.
After gaining possession of the ball, they began to dribble, control and pass the ball back and forth in the midfield, looking for opportunities.
You must know that Southampton's players are all substitutes, but most of their footwork is really good.
Especially in the midfield, Casemiro, Schneiderlin and Drinkwater are all players with good skills at their feet, and they can pass the ball back and forth. What's more, they have trained and played together during this period, and their mutual understanding has improved.
The level of tacit understanding is already very good.
The specific attack depends on Nolito, whose technique and breakthrough ability have always been good.
Coupled with the high center forward Austin and the agile and experienced Klose, Southampton's ball-control offense also has a good foundation.
Not to mention there is Luke Shaw, who is already infinitely close to the main force. He has exactly the opposite characteristics from Blind, good at assists and breakthroughs.
It was his decisive forward assist in the 16th minute of the first half that brought Southampton the first goal!
