Chapter 441 Chelsea has secured the semi-finals in advance!
Chapter 441 Chelsea has locked in the semi-finals in advance!
Author: Ant who loves watching football
Chapter 441 Chelsea has locked in the semi-finals in advance!
Just as Pan Yi expected, Chelsea took advantage of the field from the beginning of the game.
Benfica's lineup is, strictly speaking, only at the mid-table level of the Premier League.
The most important thing is that their style of play is also relatively typical of the European Latin school, which is more coordinated on the ground.
But in front of Chelsea, this kind of playing style is nothing compared to Gargamel.
Only one minute into the game, Chelsea had a great opportunity.
Marcos Alonso passed from the left to Hazard in front, and then he and the B seat on the other side formed a series of dazzling and exquisite cooperation at the front of Benfica's penalty area. Hazard kicked a goal
A curve ball was recorded, but Cesar blocked it out of the baseline with a sideways dive.
This shot aroused bursts of cheers from the Stamford Bridge fans.
Amid such cheers, Chelsea continued to launch a fierce attack.
In the 5th minute, Hazard crossed the center from the left side of the penalty area. Lukaku headed the ball from close range in front of the goal, but the ball was cleared by the opponent's defender Louisson on the goal line.
One minute later, Hazard missed the goal with his right foot from the left side of the penalty area.
In the 19th minute, Gaitan brought down seat B and Chelsea got a set kick on the left side of the midfield. Hazard took the penalty and directly hit the goal with his right foot, which went slightly wide.
In the 21st minute, Cantera made a pass from the right. Van Dijk stepped in and headed the ball from the left side of the penalty area. Lukaku headed the ball from close range in front of the goal. Cesar flew up and beat the ball out with one palm.
After a fierce attack in the first 20 minutes, Chelsea still failed to score a goal.
This also made the fans in the stands of Stamford Bridge a little worried.
After all, if you continue to squander opportunities like this, the situation will not be good.
Some people are beginning to feel that Chelsea's state is still stuck in the first two games and they are still unable to perform at a high level...
Sure enough, after withstanding Chelsea's attack for the first 20 minutes, Benfica also began to launch its own counterattack.
In the 23rd minute, Turkish forward Mitro Oglu got a chance to shoot during a counterattack and hit the goal with a powerful kick from the front of the penalty area, forcing Courtois to make a wonderful save.
And this shot obviously aroused the fighting spirit of the Benfica players. They seemed more confident and dared to push the formation a little higher.
At this time, Pan Yi saw an opportunity.
He signaled to his disciples on the sidelines that they could step back a little and let the opponent attack.
This is a move of "retreating to advance". As long as Benfica's formation is no longer so flat, Chelsea's transmission space will become larger.
However, Chelsea's retreat also gave Benfica more offensive opportunities.
In the 28th minute, Van Dijk was given a yellow card for bringing down Mitro Oglu. Benfica received a free kick on the right side of the center field. Gaitan took the penalty and shot directly into the far corner with his left foot. Courtois flew to resolve the ball.
In the 31st minute, Gaitan sent a wonderful pass with his heel in the penalty area. Mitroglu faced Courtois with his right foot from the left side of the penalty area and pushed the ball. The ball was blocked by Courtois and then hit the crossbar and bounced out.
But Chelsea's patience was rewarded five minutes later.
Benfica's midfield attack was intercepted by Chelsea's Kante. Although he was immediately pressed by the opponent, he quickly turned around to protect the ball and passed the ball back to David Luiz.
After David Luiz got the ball, he made a diagonal pass and quickly transferred the ball to the left.
Hazard sent a precise through ball without stopping the ball. Bernardo Silva stopped the ball on the right side of the penalty area and then made a slight adjustment with his left foot to score!
1:0!
Chelsea's attack only passed through the feet of three people before breaking through the door of Benfica!
This goal made the entire Stamford Bridge stadium completely excited.
Chelsea fans cheered for joy, and their hearts that had been hanging just now were finally relieved.
Everyone began to understand that this was another desperate attempt by coach Pan Yi.
As a native of the Dragon Kingdom, he must be familiar with Sun Tzu's Art of War and Thirty-Six Strategies!
At this time, Benfica's head coach Vittoria also realized that he had fallen into a trap.
He also immediately woke up. With Chelsea's strength, they would actually shrink their defense at home. Isn't this just tempting them to attack?
This trick of "inviting you into the urn" is really a slippery move.
He also felt that he was a little confused, or that he was a little carried away by Chelsea's recent performance and Pan Yi's low-key remarks.
Benfica has performed well domestically this season and has been firmly at the top of the Portuguese Super League standings. It seems that it is only a matter of time before they win the championship;
In the Champions League, Benfica also advanced all the way to the quarterfinals of the Champions League. Although they did not encounter any strong opponents, such results are quite good for a Portuguese team.
So Vittoria's heart is a little bloated.
Coupled with Pan Yi's intentional or unintentional "show of weakness" and the fact that Chelsea drew with Villa, Vittoria wants to do something at Stamford Bridge.
If he could really break Chelsea's home victory record, wouldn't he be able to become famous all over the world?
When the time comes to be spotted by a wealthy family, you can reach the pinnacle of your life...
But what he didn't expect was that this dream seemed to be shattered after he only had it for more than half an hour.
Chelsea is definitely difficult to deal with, and Pan Yi is full of intrigues!
Therefore, Vittoria, who came to his senses, immediately signaled to the team not to be greedy for credit but to stabilize the defense first.
After all, there is nothing to be ashamed of when Chelsea lose to Pan Yi in an away game, but it would be hard to say if they lose too much.
If you concede too many goals, the return game at home in the second round will become meaningless, and it will be difficult for you to explain yourself in front of the fans of your own club.
However, Chelsea have now revealed their ferocious true colors!
They took advantage of the fact that Benfica was a little flustered after conceding the ball and could not fully implement the new instructions of the coach, and continued to launch fierce attacks.
Just three minutes after scoring the first goal in seat B, that is, in the 39th minute, Hazard dribbled the ball from the left into the penalty area and then crossed the ball. Kanter advanced with the ball and his left-foot shot was blocked;
Then Bernardo Silva scored twice with an unmarked header near the penalty spot!
Chelsea expanded the score to 2:0!
After scoring two goals in a row, Chelsea's morale was greatly boosted, while the Benfica players were all in a daze.
But fortunately, Benfica stabilized their position after a brief panic, preventing Chelsea from expanding the score in the final stages of the first half.
After halftime, Chelsea led Benfica 2-0 at home.
In the second half, the two sides changed sides and fought again.
Vittoria made some formation adjustments during the halftime break, changing the original -1 to -1, hoping to strengthen the defense and interception in the midfield and backfield.
But Chelsea, who were leading by two goals, had no intention of relaxing at all, and continued to attack from the opening stage of the second half.
In the 46th minute, Harry Kane knocked back from the left, Kanter hit the goal hard with his right foot from the outside center, and the ball hit the crossbar and popped out!
In the 55th minute, Benfica defender Jader brought down Hazard and received a yellow card.
In the 62nd minute, Almeida tackled Seat B and was also given a yellow card. Subsequently, Benfica took the lead in making substitutions. Samaris came on the scene to replace Mitrouoglu, which replaced all the main forwards.
Chelsea's offensive continues unabated.
In the 66th minute, Hazard broke through with the ball and was tripped to the ground by Eliseu. The referee again showed Eliseu a yellow card and awarded a free kick on the left side of the frontcourt.
Hazard took the penalty and dropped the ball into the penalty area. Ake's header hit Eliseu's leg and then refracted into the net!
This goal was counted as Eliseu's own goal, and Chelsea changed the score again, 3:0!
These successive blows left Benfica at a loss. Head coach Vittoria had to force the players to focus more on defense, otherwise they would be defeated!
Chelsea also slowed down the pace of the game a little. After all, even the Iron Man couldn't maintain the fastest speed throughout the game.
With three goals in hand at this time, the Chelsea players' mentality has obviously relaxed a lot, they are playing more freely on the court, and there are still many opportunities to score goals.
In the 83rd minute, Harry Kane's right-footed shot from a small angle on the right side of the penalty area was resolved by Cesar.
In the 84th minute, Lukaku was replaced by Abraham.
In the 89th minute, Mbappe came on to replace Harry Kane.
In stoppage time at the end of the game, Gaitan's ball was intercepted in midfield, and Chelsea quickly counterattacked.
Seat B distributed the ball, Mbappe received the ball and went straight into the penalty area. Abraham followed up with Cesar and easily pushed the ball with his right foot and scored. Chelsea secured the victory, 4:0!
After the goal, the Chelsea players hugged each other.
They were celebrating this goal and the early arrival of victory.
In the words of the on-site commentator: "Chelsea has locked a spot in the semi-finals in advance!"
In the history of the Champions League, no team can reverse a four-goal lead in the first round!
(Except for the future 2016-2017 season, Barcelona performed a miracle at Camp Nou. After falling behind 0:4 in the first round, they came back from a 6:1 slaughter of Paris Saint-Germain in the second round)
Moreover, the leader this time is Chelsea, a Chelsea that has always been in stable condition!
Even if the level of this Chelsea team is a bit ups and downs sometimes, the lower limit is still very high.
The fact that he has remained undefeated so far this season is proof of this!
On the sidelines, Pan Yi and Arteta also high-fived each other.
"Their condition is back," Arteta said with a smile, "your hair dryer is working."
Pan Yi nodded.
He could feel that the players were very involved in this game.
Especially in the second half, after taking a big lead, they all enjoyed the game, which is a good thing for the team.
"But we can't be too relaxed. After all, Benfica is not very strong. No matter which team we encounter in the semi-finals, it will not be as easy as today."
Hearing what Pan Yi said, Arteta also agreed.
Chelsea played well today, but they were still a bit poor at seizing opportunities. Many good shooting opportunities were wasted.
When you encounter a stronger opponent, you can't be as casual as today.
"So, we still have to keep beating?" Arteta asked.
"No, that's enough for today." Pan Yi smiled, "We have won so much, so don't dampen their morale."
"The mentality of the players now is that... a little relaxed, but a little stressed. This is just the right way to perform at their best."
"It's not good for them if it's too loose or too tight."
Arteta nodded and silently kept Pan Yi's words in mind.
Every day beside Pan Yi is a step for him to grow into a world-class head coach in the future!
——
The four first-leg games of the Champions League quarter-finals were played in two days. Except for Pan Yi's Chelsea victory over Benfica 4-0 at home, the other three games were also played one after another.
At the same time as Chelsea, there is a domestic war between Barcelona and Atletico Madrid.
The first leg between the two sides is Barcelona facing their opponents at home at Camp Nou.
Enrique's team conceded the goal after the first 25 minutes, and Torres, the "El Nino" who returned to Atletico Madrid, opened the scoring.
But after the start of the second half, Barcelona began to show its strength, especially Suarez, who scored two goals in a row in the 63rd and 74th minutes to take the lead to 2-1.
This was also the final score of the game, and Barcelona had the upper hand in this quarter-final.
The next day, there were two more quarter-final matches.
The first is an upset.
Wolfsburg beat Real Madrid 2-0 at home!
At the Volkswagen Arena, Wolfsburg took the lead in the 18th minute.
Casemiro fouled Schürrer while defending in the middle of the penalty area. The referee awarded a penalty kick. Ricardo Rodriguez took the penalty. The Swiss defender volleyed from the left side of the goal. Navas made a mistake in judgment, 1:0.
Navas' record of not conceding a goal in the Champions League this season has been broken, and this is also the first time Real Madrid has fallen behind in the Champions League this season.
In the 25th minute, Wolfsburg expanded the score. Bruno Enrique sent a cross from the right rib of the penalty area. Arnold outflanked the center and succeeded with a left-foot shovel shot, 2:0.
And these were the two goals in the game. In the following more than an hour, the two sides went back and forth, but neither of them could break through the opponent's goal.
Wolfsburg also achieved a crucial victory!
In the final strong dialogue, Bayern Munich challenged Manchester City on the field.
Although Bayern Munich is in better shape, Manchester City is playing at home after all, and the outside world still prefers Pellegrini's team.
Moreover, this game has the feeling of "the soon-to-be-divorced wife sees her husband's future wife". Everyone thinks that Pellegrini will beat Bayern harder.
Facts have proved that Manchester City, playing at home, did have a better start. De Bruyne scored a goal in the 10th minute to break the deadlock on the field.
And this goal also allowed both sides, who had been cautious at the beginning, to completely let go.
Both sides got chances frequently, but many shots were wasted.
Until the end of the first half, Bayern Munich got a corner kick opportunity. After the ball was ejected, Vidal made a powerful long shot and scored, equalizing the score for Bayern Munich.
After changing sides and fighting again in the second half, Manchester City began to focus on Vidal and Thiago.
But Costa, who started the game today, performed well. He frequently made breakthroughs in the frontcourt and sent excellent passes to the frontcourt many times.
After surviving the first ten minutes, Bayern Munich once again exerted its strength. Douglas Costa broke through and crossed, and Thomas Muller shot to reverse the score.
This goal severely damaged Manchester City's morale.
Just five minutes later, Ribery assisted and Lewandowski scored, locking the score at 3-1.
In the end, Bayern Munich won Manchester City on the field.
——
"Pellegrini seems to be no match for Guardiola," Arteta said.
Chelsea's coaching staff also gathered in Pan Yi's office to watch the match between Manchester City and Bayern Munich.
As a professional football coach, not to mention studying future opponents, you also need to watch such games;
Even as an ordinary fan, such a strong dialogue itself is attractive enough.
People who work in football are often avid fans themselves, otherwise it will be difficult to devote enough enthusiasm and persevere.
For example, Guardiola is a typical football fanatic; and Bielsa devotes almost all his free time in the day to football, watching 50,000 game videos in 25 years...
Of course, in the professional football circle, there are some people who only regard football as a profession and do not really like the sport of football, so they are not fans.
In other words, there are other sports in life that attract him more than football.
The most typical example is Welsh star Gareth Bale.
Bale loves playing football - or at least he loves playing for Wales, but he said it himself in a 2018 interview with ESPN:
"I don't watch a lot of football. Frankly I'd rather watch golf."
It is also known that Bell likes to amuse himself by looking for signs of alien life.
There is another star, Ronaldinho.
Watching Ronaldinho play always brings us great joy, even now.
But for him, watching other people play football does not seem to bring the same sense of joy.
In 2021, in an interview with a Spanish media, Ronaldinho said: "I have never been a person who watches football games. I like to watch highlights and wonderful goals, but I don't like to watch a 90-minute game.
the match of."
There are many such examples, Ben White, Tevez, Ter Stegen...
Of course, Pan Yi has not found anyone like this among the current Chelsea coaching staff.
After all, people like Bell are in the minority. Most of them go through many selections because of their love for football and gradually move towards the path of professional football.
When they watch Manchester City VS Bayern Munich, they are actually like ordinary fans in many cases, cheering for a wonderful goal and lamenting for some missed opportunities.
It is only when some more professional tactical discussions are interspersed that people realize that this group of people themselves are also the most professional group of people in the football world.
"Pellegrini is too honest, but Guardiola is very smart." Pan Yi said with a smile, "Otherwise, the Emiratis would not have chosen Guardiola to replace Pellegrini.
It will be the other way around.”
In this game, Manchester City itself has the advantage of home court. In theory, it has an advantage against Bayern, and more people are optimistic that they can beat Bayern.
Therefore, Pellegrini assumed an attacking posture with confidence and indeed took the lead in the first ten minutes.
But Guardiola took his time and responded with the -1 formation he has used more skillfully recently.
The real "Brother Long" Alonso dispatched from the defensive midfielder position, and the four midfielders in front surrounded Thiago and Vidal and launched attacks in turns.
When Pellegrini discovered that Bayern's formation was focused on Thiago and Vidal and began to strengthen the attack, Guardiola waved the flag and asked the two wingers to strengthen their attack, and finally achieved results.
Goal.
The two-goal victory in this away game also put Bayern Munich on the threshold of the semi-finals.
This also made Pan Yi a little emotional.
Because the -1 currently used by Guardiola is actually somewhat similar to the -1 that Pan Yi sometimes uses this season.
In this Bayern team, Javi Martinez is standing at the center back position, but when the team switches offense and defense, the versatile Spaniard sometimes moves to the midfielder position to play with Alonso.
Form a double back waist.
At this time, Lahm and Alaba on both sides will move inward, forming a three-center-back position.
In this way, Bayern has completed the transformation from -1 to -1.
This is more offensive-oriented, because the two temporary wing-backs Lahm and Alaba have very strong offensive attributes.
There will be another more complex variation of this formation.
That is, Alonso retreats from the defensive midfielder position to the central defender position, thus forming a three central defender position with the original two central defenders, Javi Martinez and Boateng.
At this time, the two full-backs Lahm and Alaba will move into the midfielder position, forming a double midfielder.
This change will be more balanced, and it is also an advanced play style of the "tuck-in full-back", which also means that not every team can play like this. After all, there are not many full-backs who can play as a defensive midfielder.
In a private chat with Pan Yi, Guardiola also revealed that he was inspired by Pan Yi's -1 and came up with such a style of play.
As for why -1 is not used directly, it is actually the same reason as Pan Yi did not use this formation as a regular formation, that is, the composition of the team.
Bayern has full-backs like Lahm and Alaba who can play up and down. If they are allowed to play as regular central defenders or as double midfielders for a long time, it will be a waste of the team's resources.
Apart from anything else, for a player like Lahm who is "short in the team", if he plays as a central defender, his ability to compete for the top will indeed be a bit poor.
Another thing Pan Yi is "looking forward to" is that due to the influence of his own time travel, the situation of the Champions League this season is somewhat different from that of the previous life.
In the previous life, Bayern drew Benfica in the quarter-finals, and after passing the test, they met Atletico Madrid in the semi-finals.
As a result, Bayern lost 0:1 in the away game and won 2:1 at home. In the end, they were eliminated due to the disadvantage of away goals and stopped in the top four for several consecutive years.
In the other semi-final, Manchester City faced Real Madrid.
As a result, two teams that are good at attacking only scored one goal in two rounds, and it was Fernando's own goal...
Real Madrid eliminated Manchester City with a total score of 1:0, and finally had another Madrid derby with Atletico Madrid, and finally won the championship again, thus starting the "Qi Xuanzong" era.
But now, history has obviously changed.
First, Pan Yi's Chelsea entered the quarterfinals, and then knocked Benfica away.
Bayern had a head-to-head contest with Manchester City in the quarterfinals and won the first game.
Moreover, Guardiola incorporated tricks stolen from Pan Yi into his own tactics, making them obviously more difficult to deal with - although Pan Yi actually took these tricks from the future Guardiola.
Therefore, it is difficult for Pan Yi, as a time traveler, to predict the final direction of the Champions League this season.
Perhaps, it is really possible to have a final meeting with Guagua in the finals?