After the cocktail party, Prince seemed extremely excited during training. You must know that Prince has systematic assistance, and his usual training is basically perfunctory. Now that he is excited, other Chelsea players simply cannot bear it. In the training match, he was assigned to the substitute side.
, but led the substitute players to beat the main players to the point where they cried for their fathers and mothers, and finally unanimously asked Grant to exclude the prince from the training game.
It's no wonder that the prince is so excited. As an otaku, how can he have the opportunity to get up close to a beautiful woman, and she is also a rising star in Hollywood, not to mention that she has a little bit of affection for the prince. Of course, this is a little bit.
The prince thought so.
So the bull in heat appeared at Chelsea's training base, and the whole air was filled with the smell of spring.
But there will be no prince in the next game. Yes, in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals, the opponent is Olympiakos of Greece.
Although Grant also carried out drastic reforms to the team after taking charge of Chelsea, some of Mourinho's achievements will not be easily erased. And when Chelsea entered the latest round of European competition last night, Chelsea's past 5
Continuity in the elite competition mid-year means the Blues are Europe's best performing club. A leading football magazine has compiled a ranking based on domestic top flight and Champions League results since 2003.
, which includes the highest-ranked teams from Europe's major leagues (England, Italy, Spain, Germany, France and Portugal), listing their final percentage of wins and draws over that period, excluding participation in the Champions League
Teams with less than 3 seasons, and excluding qualifiers, are a measure of the best teams. The conclusive data shows the games that each club played but did not lose. Chelsea won an eye-catching 87% of the time
The number of games played or tied ranks first. In the past 5 seasons, the Blues have played and won more games in these 2 competitions than all other teams. Ranked second is the current Serie A leader Inter Milan.
They are at 86%, followed by a handful of teams at 85%, including Arsenal, who have won five fewer games than Lyon and have drawn the most draws of any elite team. Manchester United are in eighth place at 82%
, while Liverpool's failure in the Premier League has dropped them as low as 12th. These statistics are a striking sign of how extraordinary Chelsea are, even if they are still in search of a Champions League title, and under Roman Abramovich
During the Lamovich era, the Blues encountered the most difficult challenges every season.
Interestingly, in UEFA's own current team rankings, Chelsea are second behind AC Milan. Unlike their standings, those are based solely on all European teams since the 2003-2004 season.
tournament, and awards additional points based on the general performance of all clubs from each country. Liverpool is ranked 3rd on that list, followed by Barcelona and Manchester United, with Manchester United ranked 9th. Tonight's hosts Olympiacos are ranked 38th.
If Chelsea can follow up Arsenal's victory at the San Siro with victory, the Blues will top the UEFA club rankings for the first time in their history.
But the prince thinks that everyone should not be complacent. The rankings only measure past results. In frozen Athens, if they win, it is easy to say, but if they draw or lose, then they may be in the second round.
Chelsea were kept out of the quarter-finals in the game, and maybe they could get an away goal, of course through a set piece. In the memory of the prince's previous life, this game was tied at home by Olympiakos
, had to accept the 0:0 score and returned to London in despair. If history still develops on this track, when the score is 0-0, it will mean that the Blues need to score 2 or more, because
Away goals count as two at the end of normal time. A task like that might have raised concerns ahead of the game at the Boleyn Ground. But February's glitches looked to have been swept away in last Saturday's carnage
.We allowed one or two players who were not 100% ready and Chelsea now have a nearly complete squad to choose from. Andrei Shevchenko recently joined two senior players Steve Sidwell
Along with Claudio Pizarro, who has been left out of the Champions League squad, which played a reserve game on Monday night, he could be left out and almost everyone else could be included.
Grant can be said to be quite contemptuous of this opponent, although Olympiacos is one of the three traditional giants in Greece, and this season's Champions League group stage beat Lazio and Werder Bremen, two giants, and Real Madrid to qualify, and because of the net
They ranked second in the group due to the disadvantage of winning goals, and in terms of points, they were tied with Real Madrid with 11 points, but Grant just didn't care.
Because of the end of the African Cup, all Chelsea's African players returned to the team, which greatly strengthened the team's lineup. Therefore, Grant boldly rotated in this game. Prince was not even included in the squad, that is, Prince even went to Greece with the team.
No chance.
Fortunately for the goalkeeper, Cech took the starting spot without hesitation. Although he doesn't care about the opponent, it is better to be safer in the goalkeeper position. There is no need to rotate this position frequently; there is no difference between the back line and the last game. This is also the relative position in Chelsea's lineup.
There are some weak points, and the substitute players are not outstanding. If Terry rests, it can only be this lineup; in the midfield, the returning Essien and Makelele sit in the defensive midfielder, Malouda and Xiao Lai
Special rotation; Drogba, who returned on the front line, was at the front, and behind him was Anelka, who had never had a chance before. Due to the absence of the prince, Grant finally placed him in the starting position.
This is a lineup of muscular men. Although it is an away game, the advantage in strength is still difficult for Chelsea to lose. Anyway, for Grant, it does not matter even if he loses, as long as he returns to the home court and wins the opponent by a big score to advance.
No problem, it’s better to let the players rest more at this time, so the prince can only watch the live broadcast at home.
The final result made the prince a little pained. Although Chelsea had a certain advantage on the field, due to lack of scoring skills, they finally shook hands with their opponents and returned to home to wait for the second round.
Olympiakos made their first appearance in the knockout stages of the Champions League since the 1998/99 season. They were not overwhelmed by powerful opponents and were on par with their opponents in terms of possession and chances in a fiercely contested game. But Chelsea coach Grant may be happier
, because his team kept a clean sheet on the road and will have an advantage in the second leg at home on March 5.
Olympiacos responded with the crazy support of the home fans. It started with a fierce attack. After Galetti's shot was blocked by Makelele, Stoltitis received a pass from Djodjevic.
But he chose to cross when he could have shot, and the ball was intercepted by Chelsea defender Carvalho.
Chelsea had the advantage in possession of the ball in the first half, and the home team's defensive counterattack was also very threatening.
In the 4th minute, Galetti shot hard with his right foot from the outside, and the ball hit the defender and bounced out of the baseline. In the 11th minute, Ballack broke in from the wing and was knocked down. His free kick passed low into the penalty area, and the defender rushed to make a clearance. In the 13th minute,
Pantos got rid of Joe Cole's entanglement and shot with his right foot. The ball hit teammate Djordjevic and bounced out. In the 15th minute, Drogba made a pass from the left. The defender made a clearance not far away. Malouda took advantage of the situation in the penalty area.
Shot, Nicopolidis was in a good position to save the ball. In the 20th minute, Belletti took a free kick from the right. Alex nodded the ball in front and then bumped it. Carvalho, who followed up with a follow-up shot, was in an offside position.
The one who hit the door was blocked.
In the 23rd minute, Olympiakos took a free kick, Galetti quickly stepped in, and Cech struck out in time to get the ball. In the 29th minute, Djordjevic took a corner kick from the right, and Stoltidis made a good shot.
Torosidis responded with a header in the middle and missed the goal by a hair.
Stoltitis, who scored two goals in the 3-0 victory over Werder Bremen in the last game of the group stage, also got a good opportunity in the 30th minute. He received a corner kick from Djordjevic and scored a goal.
The header at the near post was unfortunately slightly wide of the left post. Both sides played relatively conservatively. Seeing the dull scene, there were harsh boos in the stands. Chelsea continued to put pressure on the home team's goalkeeper and seemed to be injured.
Drogba, who was suffering from pain, also shot a wonderful shot, but it was confiscated by Nicopolidis.
In the 34th minute, Alex was given a yellow card for a foul in the frontcourt. In the 43rd minute, Belletti took a free kick into the penalty area and Ballack headed the ball wide.
The rhythm of the field dropped after the start of the second half. The home team took the lead in attacking in the fifth minute of the second half. Stoltitis made a pass from the left, but unfortunately the ball was a little higher. Galetti, who came in at high speed, failed to score. Both sides
Unable to create any good scoring opportunities, individual performances and set pieces seemed to be the only possible ways to score.
Djodjevic tested Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech for the first time since then, but the latter cleverly deflected the opponent's low shot at the right post. The home team pressed hard to try to score, and Galetti volleyed it in the 65th minute.
The shot was slightly over the crossbar. Chelsea struggled to create opportunities. Malouda's long shot after 70 minutes was their first goal in the first 25 minutes of the second half. Grant sent Kalou and Joe Cole 15 minutes before the end.
, trying to strengthen the offense, but because the visiting team players seemed content with a draw, neither of them performed well after coming on the field.
Olympiacos relied on their outstanding performance at home to draw with the powerful Chelsea 0-0 in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16 knockout round.
