The top leagues in various countries have ended, and the top league champions in each country have also been announced.
And the UEFA Cup also ended on May 20th.
Valencia, led by young coach Benitez, defeated Marseille 2-0 and won the UEFA Cup.
Therefore, the European football competition is over as it should be.
Now there is only one competition left in the whole of European football. A competition for the club's highest honor.
Champions League final.
But to be honest, the appeal of this season's Champions League final has dropped significantly. Even if people don't say it, everyone can see it. From the intensity of media reports, it can be seen that it is an indisputable fact that the appeal of this season's Champions League final has dropped.
It can be said that this season's Champions League final is the least attractive one in the past ten years.
Let’s talk about the Champions League final after entering the 21st century.
The UEFA Champions League final in the 1999-00 season was between Real Madrid and Valencia, the UEFA Champions League final in the 2000-01 season was between Bayern and Valencia, the UEFA Champions League final in the 2001-02 season was between Real Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen, and the UEFA Champions League final in the 2002-03 season was between Bayern and Valencia.
It's Milan and Juventus.
This is clear at a glance.
Every Champions League final will feature a traditional European giant.
Real Madrid, Bayern, Milan, Juventus.
In addition to teams like Valencia and Leverkusen, they are also teams that have performed very well in recent years.
But what about this time?
Chelsea and Porto.
Chelsea is an upstart. They even have two top league titles in England, and this is the first time in their history that they have entered the Champions League final. Although Chelsea has received a lot of attention from the media because of Abramovich.
But its influence is far from comparable to that of traditional European giants.
The players in the Chelsea team seem to be very valuable, but most of them are due to the addition of Abramovich. They are completely different from the superstars of those traditional giants.
Influence is not the same thing.
As for Porto.
Their historical achievements are quite brilliant. They even won a Champions League championship seventeen years ago. But what's the use?
If we talk about history, Ajax and Benfica completely defeated Porto.
But it's no use.
Since the Bosman Act, except for the four major European leagues, other leagues have suffered a huge blow. Like Ajax, without the Bosman Act, maybe they can now challenge Real Madrid, Milan, and Bayern
A wealthy team.
Not sure.
But definitely.
But so what now.
Ajax now doesn't have much resistance even when faced with poaching from ordinary strong teams in the Premier League, let alone the giants from the four major European leagues.
Therefore, Porto entered the Champions League final this time and was considered a dark horse by the European media.
Chelsea and Porto are not teams that UEFA does not want to see in the finals. Because both teams are not well-known. They are both dark horses in the Champions League this season.
The legend of the big dark horse is indeed very good.
But similarly, being a dark horse means not being famous enough. Not being famous enough means low ratings. Low ratings means loss of economic benefits.
Of course, what UEFA hopes most is to have a European giant and dark horse come to the final.
Because having a wealthy family means fame and ratings.
In addition, there is a beautiful dark horse legend, so no matter who wins the final, there will be enough to watch. Only at this time can the dark horse show their value.
It's a pity that the final turned into a duel between two dark horses, which was not what UEFA wanted.
European football is responsible for its own profits and losses.
The Champions League is one of UEFA's biggest revenue sources.
Therefore, UEFA is very dissatisfied with Chelsea and Porto entering the Champions League final. It would be much better if one of their two teams was Real Madrid, Milan, or Arsenal.
But there is nothing you can do once you enter.
They could only hold their noses and admit it.
Schalke.
Schalke is a city in the Gelsenkirchen region of North Rhine-Westphalia in western Germany.
This was once a large industrial city in Germany.
But it declined a bit later.
Recently, Schalke has become very lively. Because the Champions League final is about to be played at the Schalke 04 home stadium in the Schalke area.
As the game approached, Chelsea fans and Porto fans began to flock to Schalke.
UEFA is not satisfied with Chelsea and Porto reaching the Champions League final. But their fans are overjoyed.
Porto is the first team to break through the four major European leagues and enter the Champions League finals after the implementation of the Bosman Act. Since the implementation of the Bosman Act, other small league teams have suffered a fatal blow, and there are no four major leagues.
Teams outside the league have entered the Champions League final.
This time Porto gave those minor league teams an example. Porto fans were very happy because they just won the UEFA Cup last season and now they have entered the Champions League final. So they came to Schalke in droves
among.
Not to mention Chelsea fans.
This is the first time Chelsea has entered the Champions League final in its century-old history. Chelsea fans are already extremely excited.
Champions League final.
Chelsea fans in the past wouldn't even dare to think about it.
Entered the Champions League final.
excited.
Chelsea fans are not short of money.
Judging from the distribution of fans in England, Chelsea fans have very good living conditions. Although it definitely costs a lot to go to Schalke and watch a Champions League final. But for fans who regard football as their life, they still
Don't care.
Especially Chelsea fans who have good living conditions don't care.
According to current rough statistics from the media, as of the day before the game, more than 40,000 Chelsea fans had come to Schalke. Even more Chelsea fans had already left for Schalke.
But what about actually?
This time, only 20,000 tickets were allocated to Chelsea fans for the Champions League final.
But according to the current influx of Chelsea fans, there may be more than 50,000 Chelsea fans who came to Schalke from London on the day of the game. About 20,000 people have tickets, but the remaining tens of thousands do not.
Ticket fans.
It's not that exaggerated in Porto.
But many fans also came.
There will also be thousands or even tens of thousands of fans without tickets.
These are all destabilizing factors.
Some of these fans without tickets will watch the big-screen TV outside the stadium. If they all watch the game outside the stadium, there will be no big problem. After all, there will be a lot of police officers to maintain order. But I am afraid that many people will be there.
Watching football with various drinks.
It's very possible for a fight to happen while drinking.
This is the scariest thing.
Therefore, Schalke's side was very nervous.
I'm afraid something will happen.
…………
Both sides of the game, Chelsea and Porto, were very quiet.
There was no quarrel before the game.
Su Yun was surprised by this.
Because the young coach Mourinho of Porto, the opponent he is about to face, is no ordinary person. In this season's Champions League, many people have realized his ability to speak quickly.
Especially when facing Manchester United.
Faced with Ferguson, who has a high reputation in European football, Mourinho is not afraid at all.
He even satirized Manchester United several times.
In the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals, Porto won 2-1. After that game, Ferguson refused to shake hands with Mourinho to congratulate him: "I didn't shake his hand. I'm fed up with his players constantly diving."
.”
Mourinho immediately retorted to Ferguson: "I don't agree with Ferguson's criticism of my players. When I watch the video and find that my players were wrong, I will apologize to him. Otherwise, I hope he can do the same."
This point. Manchester United is a great team. The market value of our players is less than one-tenth of Manchester United. They should beat us by a big score."
This is Mourinho who is fearless.
In the second round, Ferguson criticized Porto's diving and refereeing. But Mourinho immediately hit back: "Why are they so afraid of us? I don't understand. They are favorites and their players are better than mine. They should advance, but they don't."
It is necessary to talk about boring topics such as diving, acting and refereeing."
The nearly 41-year-old coach has been the most popular head coach in European football in the past two years.
Last season, he led Porto to win the UEFA Cup, the Portuguese Super League Championship, and the Portuguese Cup, completing the Triple Crown. At that time, he was already a sensation in European football. This season, he won the Portuguese Super League Championship again, and now he has scored
Champions League final.
This is the rising young coach in Europe at the moment.
Entering the Champions League final, Su Yun thought Mourinho would start a scolding war. Unexpectedly, Mourinho was very low-key, and even barely appeared in the media after arriving at Schalke.
Of course it would be better if there was no scolding.
Su Yun can also prepare for war with peace of mind.
The time is getting closer.
Slowly came May 27th.
At 6:30 in the evening, Su Yun led Chelsea to the venue of the final and headed to the Schalke Stadium.
The Champions League final kicks off at 8:45 local time.
UEFA regulations require that players must arrive at the stadium one hour and forty-five minutes before the start of the game. Su Yun came here early because Su Yun wanted to familiarize the players with the atmosphere of the final before the final.
When the bus arrived at the stadium, all you could see were Chelsea fans. There were far more Chelsea fans than Porto fans, and it wasn't just one or two more, it was tens of thousands more.
Really a lot.
More than 60,000 Chelsea fans flocked to Schalke. As a result, more than 40,000 Chelsea fans did not get tickets for the Champions League final today.
No tickets. They were frustrated.
But it didn't affect their excitement at all. They were all outside the stadium, surrounding them in circles. They were watching the big screen outside the stadium. They were equally happy.
So when they saw the Chelsea bus approaching, they shouted excitedly. Even some fanatical fans kept following the bus and surrounding it.
"Chelsea! Chelsea! Chelsea!"
"Su! Su! Su!"
"Give us a championship! We want a championship!"
From the bus, it looked like a sea of blue. It was all there, all of it. They completely occupied the outside of the stadium. And they kept waving Chelsea scarves and shouting "Chelsea".
