Chapter 218: The Champions League knockout is coming
With the 23rd round of La Liga coming to an end, fans in Europe and around the world have turned their attention to the upcoming Champions League.
On February 13, Malaga took an international flight to Porto, a city in northern Portugal.
Porto Football Club was founded in 1893. After its establishment, it became the leader of the Portuguese First Division. There was a period of decline in the middle, and then it began to rise completely, sweeping multiple league championships.
Porto Club has won multiple league championships and has become the team with the second most Portuguese league championships.
Porto has won two UEFA Champions League titles in its history.
In 1987, Porto ushered in its first glorious year in the history of the team. In that year's European Champions Cup, they defeated their powerful rival Bayern Munich 2-1.
From 2002 to 2004, under the leadership of Portuguese coach "Madman" Jose Mourinho, they first won the UEFA Cup.
In the 2003-2004 season, they defeated Manchester United, Lyon and Deportivo La Coruna. In the final held in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, they defeated the French club Monaco 3-0!
Became the European Champions Cup champion again after 17 years!
Becoming the second team to win the UEFA Cup and UEFA Champions League for two consecutive years after Liverpool from 1975 to 1977.
In the 2010-11 season, Porto, led by coach Villas-Boas, won the Portuguese Super League, Portuguese Cup and Europa League triple crown.
This is a strong team, and judging from its historical record, Malaga simply cannot compare with it.
However, this season, under the leadership of the "Twin Stars", Malaga defeated Real Madrid and Barcelona to occupy the top spot in the standings, and qualified two rounds ahead of the Champions League group stage.
Therefore, Malaga and the media believe that Malaga has greater hope of advancing.
At noon on the 23rd, Malaga and his party landed at Porto International Airport.
When they came out, reporters from all over Europe who had been waiting there for a long time called to them.
Pellegrini and Joaquin accepted media interviews as representatives.
The reason why Li Chuanqi did not go was because the media would definitely ask about his relationship with Blanca Padilla.
He doesn't want to talk about his love life in front of the media.
However, his thoughts are beautiful, but the reality is "cruel".
Reporters flocked to him, and airport security couldn’t stop them.
Li Chuanqi had no choice but to accept interviews from the media.
When talking about tomorrow night's game, he said modestly: "After the draw, many people thought that our draw to Porto was a good draw. But our whole team believes that Porto is a strong team.
Tomorrow night's game will be very fierce, and our goal this time is to first get away goals, then strive for a draw, and if possible, we will strive for victory."
The media was used to his modesty and didn't pay much attention to it.
They shifted their focus to his relationship, asking how they met and why they got together without any warning.
Li Chuanqi told them that they had known each other five years ago. They went to the same school. Blanca Padilla studied in Malaga for one year and then returned to Madrid.
While filming an advertisement, they met again after five years and naturally came together.
This is the first time he has officially acknowledged their relationship in front of the media.
The reporters were very satisfied and thought that just because of this, they had not waited in vain for so long.
When faced with reporters' questions, Pellegrini said: "Porto is a team worthy of respect. Their history is glorious. They have won the Champions League twice, and this is our first time to participate in the Champions League.
It is a good thing for us to play against Porto this time.
We can learn from them."
The reporters were extremely surprised. Mr. Pellegrini, why are you so humble?
Having defeated Real Madrid and Barcelona in succession and aiming to compete for the La Liga championship, can Porto compare with Real Madrid and Barcelona?
Pellegrini ignored them and continued: "It will be very difficult to play against a team like Porto that has a lot of experience in the Champions League.
Now that we have entered the knockout stage, every game is important and will determine the final promotion situation.
Therefore, our tactical strategy is to defend firmly and wait for opportunities to counterattack!"
Is this a smoke bomb?
Reporters don't know.
Some people say that football is the epitome of modern warfare. In order to achieve victory, coaches and players battle wits and courage, and there are endless schemes, false and true. You have no idea whether what they say is true or false.
Joaquin said in an interview: "We are eager to play against teams like Porto, which will allow us to accumulate a lot of experience in the Champions League knockout rounds.
There are not many players in our team who have participated in the knockout rounds of the Champions League, and they need to train."
Joaquín is telling the truth, and this is also Malaga’s biggest shortcoming.
A reporter asked him if he expected Li Chuanqi to play tomorrow night.
Joaquin said: "Lee is the most talented player I have ever seen! Not only that, he is also the hardest-working player I have ever seen. When we had holidays, he did not rest, but trained on the training ground.
In the evening while we were training our family, he was doing strength training in the weight room.
For such a player, do you think he should succeed?"
The reporters were surprised and then gave a thumbs up. With top talent and hard work, such a player should certainly succeed.
…
After checking into the hotel, Li Chuanqi put down his suitcase and called his mother to tell her that he had arrived safely and had checked into the hotel.
His mother told him to be careful outside.
Joaquin, like him, called home after putting down his luggage.
After Li Chuanqi reported to his mother that he was safe, he called Blanca Padilla.
After the call was connected, it was a bit noisy on the other side. According to Blanca Padilla's description, it should be a dressing room.
The buzz of the phone soon died away, and Blanca Padilla should walk out of the dressing room.
"Dear, have you arrived at the hotel yet?"
Blanca Padilla's sweet voice rang on the phone.
The two chatted for half an hour before ending.
In the afternoon of that day, Malaga conducted adaptive training at the venue provided by Porto. Laughter could be heard from time to time in the training ground, and reporters outside the training ground set up long shots and cannons.
The platform of the Champions League is indeed different.
Pellegrini did not arrange targeted tactical drills. After warming up, he conducted simple technical training and then started intra-team confrontation.
Li Chuanqi was in average condition and failed to score in his first three shots.
The Portuguese reporter's eyes lit up. Malaga's top scorer was in poor condition, which was good news for Porto.
Li Chuanqi seemed to know that his condition was not good, and in the following confrontation, he focused on passing the ball to his teammates.
At the end of the first half, Li Chuanqi was knocked to the ground by a defender.
He limped to his feet, and Pellegrini immediately replaced him and asked the team doctor to deal with it.
Reporters outside the training ground fiercely photographed Li Chuanqi sitting on the ground!
