After the Toyota Cup, Millwall split into two groups, with Aldridge leading the team back to London to prepare for the league game a few days later.
The other group was led by club CEO Carter, who accompanied Ronaldinho, Nedvěd, Thierry Henry, Larsson and Nesta to the Golden Globe Awards ceremony.
Five players from the Millwall team made it into the final selection list, among which Ronaldinho has the highest voice for winning the Ballon d'Or.
He has been the runner-up for the Golden Globe Awards for two consecutive years, and he has already been nominated before that, so his popularity foundation is very strong.
Although Henry, who is recuperating from injury, is not a low voice, his poor performance in the European Cup and the French team's elimination in the group stage will lower his rating. In addition, he has been recuperating from injury since the new season and has no court appearance. Obviously, he cannot match the momentum in terms of momentum.
Compared to Ronaldinho, who has performed well throughout the year.
In addition to Nedvěd's outstanding performance at the club, he also led the Czech team to impress the outside world in the European Cup, and the same is true for Larsson.
Nesta will definitely not be able to win the award. The club gave him a holiday, allowing him to take a short break and go shopping with his teammates to save energy for the Christmas Express campaign at the end of the month.
At the awards ceremony, Ronaldinho was as relaxed as before, with no burden on his face. Perhaps he had been extremely disappointed before, but as time went by, his mentality became better and better.
When the final result was announced, the applause was deafening.
Ronaldinho won the Ballon d'Or with a clear advantage!
Moreover, Millwall took the top three spots!
Ronaldinho, Nedved, Henry.
Ronaldinho's outstanding performance throughout the year can be attributed to the emergence of a group of dark horses in Europe!
In the club arena, Millwall plays Porto in the Champions League final. Porto is the dark horse.
The England team that aspires to win the European Cup is also characterized by its overall team style. In terms of individual performance, it is good, but it has not yet reached the level of eye-catching. Especially the offensive players who won the European Cup, most of them were eliminated by the club.
Being dragged down by his record, he failed to produce a brilliant record in the club.
A week later, they went to Switzerland. After Ronaldinho continued to become the winner of the new Golden Globe Award, he ascended to the throne of World Footballer in one fell swoop!
In 2004, Ronaldinho reached the peak of personal honors in his career.
At this point, Millwall coach Aldridge has a new title: Golden Ball coach.
...
In the 18th round of the Premier League, Millwall went into battle lightly. The team not only returned from Japan to prepare hastily, but also had many main players absent. Aldridge sent most of his substitute players at home. In this game, they were defeated by Newcastle United at home.
The teams were tied, and Chelsea used Norwich at home to reduce the points gap between the two teams to 6 points.
Aldrich celebrated the birthday of little princess Bonnie at home this month. The adorable daughter is two years old!
I originally wanted to let Ronaldinho and others rest during the Christmas game, but Ronaldinho, who had just won the double Footballer of the Year award, rushed back to the club without stopping. Aldrich was surprised by his eagerness to compete.
It seems that he is not too worried about being chased by Chelsea by another 2 points in the standings. Ronaldinho is more nervous than him.
The Christmas Express is approaching, and according to tradition, Aldrich still adjusts the team and gives some players a holiday.
Let Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka take a break. They are the main players at the beginning of the new season. For the sake of the upcoming schedule, they should not be overused.
Alonso and De Rossi were given leave last year and took the initiative to fight this year!
The Christmas Express have 3 games to play in 7 days.
The test for Millwall is just physical fitness, nothing else, because Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, and Liverpool have all played once in the first half. The Christmas Express is just a simple impact of the intensive schedule. At this point, Millwall, who is strong, has
Wall wasn't worried at all.
In the Christmas Express battle, Millwall ended all competitions this year with three consecutive victories!
Ronaldinho, the double Footballer of the Year, shined and dominated the standings. Millwall won a total of 5 championships in 2004, which was almost perfect.
After a period of highlights, Fleet Street comments on the performance of each Premier League team in the first half of the new season.
In terms of the league alone, Millwall is undoubtedly the best and has yet to lose.
But if we refer to the results on other fronts, Mourinho's Chelsea has half-stepped into the ranks of the top teams!
Premier League, Champions League, League Cup. Before the Premier League teams competed in the FA Cup, Millwall had already lost the League Cup in the first half, but Chelsea advanced to the semi-finals and performed well in the Champions League.
It is considered outstanding, so in terms of overall performance, Millwall and Chelsea are the two most outstanding teams in England in the new season. Especially Chelsea also achieved three consecutive victories in the Christmas Express battle, which did not disappoint Fleet Street's previous expectations.
Falling behind occurs before the month.
Since their defeat at the Lion King Stadium, Chelsea's league performance has been better than Millwall's. They have shortened the gap by 4 points. Even if there is still 6 points, it is actually not a short gap.
At the beginning of the new year, the battle between Chelsea and Millwall has also entered a fever pitch. Everyone in the league is competing to see who can avoid making mistakes!
Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaká returned to the team after a short break. After a short rest and adjustment, they began to explode in the second half of the league!
With the experience accumulated in the first half of the season and the psychological accumulation in actual matches, their performance on the court has made a small leap.
In the three Premier League games in January, Millwall and Chelsea scored 9 points!
Including the Christmas Express battle, when other teams basically lost points, the giants in East London and the power in West London gradually began to make other Premier League opponents feel desperate!
As described by The Times.
"We are very happy to see that the competition in the Premier League is fierce and cruel! Chelsea has made a qualitative leap after investing huge sums of money. In addition to exposing some problems in direct dialogue with the defending champion, their performance at other times has made many teams feel scared.
, such as Manchester United and Arsenal. In the past, Millwall covered the sky with one hand. Now, they still need to look up to Chelsea. This is a reality that makes Manchester United, Arsenal, and Liverpool, who are aiming to revive, feel extremely helpless. But
Objectively speaking, Chelsea has improved the competitive landscape of the Premier League. Without Chelsea, there may be no suspense about the ownership of the Premier League championship now! It is foreseeable that if there are no major events that affect the two teams, then Millwall has a 99% probability.
We will defend the title successfully, but the FA Cup has already started, and the Champions League knockout rounds will follow at the end of February. Also, if a core player is injured, this is also an important factor that can affect the team's record!"
In January, when the FA Cup started, Millwall defeated Burnley in the third round with its substitute lineup and defeated Bournemouth in the fourth round, successfully advancing to the top 16 of the FA Cup.
In the same month, Chelsea defeated Manchester United in two rounds of the League Cup semi-finals and reached the League Cup final and the FA Cup round of 16.
Although the record this month is good, Aldrich is not happy. Nesta was slightly injured and will be out for a month. Alonso also needed to be suspended due to a red card in the league.
Come February, Millwall has two consecutive draws in the league. After Chelsea's first victory, they narrowed Millwall's points gap to 4 points.
Millwall played first in the second game. When the news came that Millwall had drawn, Stamford Bridge burst into cheers. Mourinho believed that Chelsea was staging a great comeback!
However, this season, the first team to become their nemesis appeared.
Manchester City!
In the first half of the league, the first defeat was away to Manchester City. Mourinho did not expect that Manchester City would draw with Chelsea at home.
Chelsea missed the opportunity to shorten the score to 2 points and were still 4 points behind Millwall!
Aldrich finally felt better because Henry was back.
In two consecutive draws, the problem exposed was that Villa was not experienced enough. After their excellent performance in the first half, the opponents in the second half of the match against Millwall would naturally focus on Villa.
!
It is also possible that during the Christmas campaign, Villa did not rest before and after. After all, Millwall's center substitute was still relatively weak, so his condition also declined.
At this time, Henry came back and announced his strong return by scoring two goals in the fifth round of the FA Cup!
Millwall reached the quarter-finals of the FA Cup!
As Chelsea made rapid progress on all fronts, Mourinho became active again after the New Year, frequently putting pressure on Aldridge in front of the media.
Aldridge ignored him, and reality slapped Mourinho in the face.
In the fifth round of the FA Cup, Chelsea were defeated at St. James' Park and missed the top eight!
After the game, although Mourinho said that Chelsea would focus on the league and the Champions League, with the subtext being that exiting the FA Cup would avoid distraction and physical exhaustion, everyone knew that he was forcing a smile and pretending to be optimistic.
At the end of February, the Champions League knockout rounds begin.
Henry returns to the starting lineup!
Sixty thousand Lions fans in the stands of the Lion King Stadium welcomed Henry's return, and they faced the challenge of Bayer Leverkusen at home.
In the first round, Millwall took an overwhelming advantage and won 4:0 at home, laying the foundation for advancing to the top eight.
On the penultimate day of this month, England’s first crown of the New Year was born!
Mourinho won a championship trophy as quickly as possible in his first season in charge of Chelsea.
Although it is an inconspicuous League Cup, it is very important for morale boosting.
When Millwall returned to Leverkusen in March, Fleet Street exploded.
"Chelsea and Millwall meet in the Champions League quarter-finals!"
Chelsea's Champions League match is one day earlier than Millwall's, so after they advance, the top 8 matches are also announced. It is almost impossible for Millwall to be overturned by Leverkusen!
Millwall sent a substitute lineup in the away game, not to despise Leverkusen. Although there are only two Premier League games in March, they still have an FA Cup quarter-final match to play. At the same time, there is a FIFA match day this month, so for the players
Physical exertion is a test.
Millwall, who came on as a substitute, lost to Bayer Leverkusen 1:2 in the away game and advanced to the Champions League quarterfinals with a total score of 5:2!
In an interview after the game, Aldridge talked about playing Chelsea in the quarterfinals and said lightly: "We have nothing to worry about. Chelsea should be worried. Chelsea spent the early part of the season, and now it seems they are gradually getting better."
It's a good situation, but Millwall's overall strength has improved this season. Players such as Ronaldo, Kaká, Lahm, and Silva have made very obvious progress. We defeated Chelsea in the league, and now, we are better than then.
powerful."
His words were in response to Mourinho's remarks that Chelsea were stronger than at the beginning of the season. It seemed that Mourinho was making excuses for the huge loss to Millwall in the first half of the league, thinking that Chelsea was still adjusting at the time.
It didn't break out. After Chelsea started to break out, they chased Millwall by 6 points in the league and also won a championship.
Millwall, who returned to England, took a short break and immediately won Leicester City with a score of 2:0 at home and advanced to the semi-finals of the FA Cup!
Glenchal has become Millwall's value-for-money signing this season. He has played an indispensable role in reaching the semi-finals of the FA Cup. On the basis of avoiding Millwall's excessive consumption, his role on the field also includes support.
Messi, Moutinho and other young players.
In the two Premier League games in March, Millwall successfully won the match. Chelsea was able to save their breath and rely on utilitarian counterattacks. Their record was very good and they also won the game.
When April is coming, Fleet Street defines April as: the month of Armageddon!
In addition to Millwall playing two games with Chelsea in the Champions League at the beginning and the middle of the month, at the end of April, in the penultimate round of the Premier League, the two teams will also face off in the second half of the league, which may be the final decision on the championship.
The battle! (To be continued, please search Piaotian Literature, the novel is better and updated faster!