Before the second leg of the Champions League semi-finals, the situation in the Premier League suddenly changed. Manchester United, which had occupied the standings for more than half a year, fell to second place in the standings!
Overturned in the gutter!
After Manchester United was eliminated from the Champions League by Monaco, they did not expand their lead in the league. Instead, they drew with Newcastle United, which was still in danger of being relegated, at Old Trafford. In the same round, Arsenal swept their local derby rivals Wenland 5:0 at Highbury.
Bourdain surpassed Manchester United by 1 point to take the top spot.
With the last three rounds of the Premier League remaining, the championship situation has undergone earth-shaking changes. Not only has Manchester United lost the initiative, but they may not even be able to keep the runner-up spot!
In addition to Leeds United and Crystal Palace, Manchester United's opponents in the last three rounds also had a guest appearance at the Lion's Den Stadium to challenge Millwall in the last round. The goal difference between the two teams was only 2. Manchester United was in the lead, but in terms of points, Manchester United was ahead of Millwall.
Wall scored 3 points.
Arsenal's opponents in the last three rounds are Barnsley, Everton and Aston Villa.
Millwall is 4 points behind the leader and 3 points behind second place Manchester United. With only three rounds left, Aldridge bluntly declared: Defeat failed!
Fleet Street found that the current situation is very similar to the final championship situation of the previous season, except that the top three at that time were Newcastle United, Manchester United, and Millwall. Now Arsenal has replaced Newcastle United and is competing with Newcastle United.
Same, with three rounds left, they still lead the standings. The only difference is that Arsenal no longer have to compete with direct competitors. Instead, there will be a clash between Manchester United and Millwall. Obviously, Arsenal's probability of winning the championship is
Much better than Newcastle United two years ago.
With continuous campaigns from August to April, Millwall was completely relieved in the league. Although it was a blow to not be able to defend the title, they have been chasing since September. The psychological blow is definitely not as strong as Manchester United. Furthermore, they are determined to
In the Champions League, this is no longer a secret. No matter how tough Aldridge was before, the attitude they showed is to hit the Champions League. The league can always maintain pressure on the leaders. Fleet Street said that this is still a very successful one for Millwall.
This season, at least I have won a trophy.
The second leg of the Champions League semi-finals was a life-and-death battle imminent, and the entire Millwall team had no idea what the situation would be like in the Premier League. They set out on the road to Monaco as one.
Monaco, Stade Louis II.
Aldridge led his team here today and showed a very low-key attitude before the game, even a little pessimistic.
He emphasized that Monaco has the advantage of home court. Millwall did not win the first round and with Southgate suspended, they have lost the opportunity to advance to the final.
This time, Aldridge did not talk to Tigana before the game. As the owner of the place, the other party came over to shake hands with Aldridge before the game, then patted each other's arms and separated. The two of them were actually not at peace inside.
As a new generation of young coaches, whoever gets a ticket to the Champions League final after this game will be the pinnacle moment of his personal coaching career. It will undoubtedly bring his personal fame and achievements to a new level in European football and world football.
height!
"In the second leg of the Champions League semi-finals, Monaco will face Millwall at home. Before this season, not many people would have guessed that one of these two teams would enter the Champions League final. Monaco will succeed its previous coach.
After Wenger led the team to win the Ligue 1 title, they are already close
He has not played in the Champions League for ten years, but new coach Tigana won the French Ligue 1 title last season. This season, he stepped into the Champions League where Monaco had not played for many years. From the group stage to the knockout stage, he made it all the way to the semi-finals, and was a guest in the first leg.
0:0 draw with Millwall, now
At their home court, the situation of advancing to the finals is very favorable to them. Millwall is led by young coach Aldrich Hall. The club competes in the Champions League for the first time in more than a century. He also achieved a brilliant record, winning all the group matches.
The winning line shocked Europe, with a double defeat of Barcelona in two games
A classic game, the quarter-finals relied on tenacious will to eliminate the favorite Juventus at the last moment. Although they are not favored at the moment, they must not be underestimated. In Turin, they created a miracle, and in Monaco,
What will they bring? We’ll see!”
Southgate, who was fined and suspended, came to the away game in suits and ties with his family and sat in the stands to watch the game. His suspension was only for one game. If the team advances to the final, he will definitely be able to play as long as he is not injured.
Millwall's starting lineup today is 4231, with two changes in personnel.
Materazzi replaced Southgate's starting center back partner Helguera. In the past two league games, Aldridge specifically asked Helguera and Materazzi to partner in the league, and consciously let the opponent attack to test the two.
The tacit understanding between people has worked well. Materazzi has been steadily improving since he has been with the team for four years. Moreover, his brave and tenacious style of play is also very suitable for the characteristics of the Premier League. His technical ability has reached the finalization stage this season.
His performance in more than 25 appearances in the league and cup competitions has won critical acclaim.
Another personnel change was that Shevchenko sat on the bench and was replaced by Danish golden wing Grenjaer.
If Millwall wants to play more conservatively today, it needs some personal abilities when attacking from the wing, especially the speed characteristics. The two Nordic wingers, Larsson and Grenjaer, are the most critical points in the team's counterattack.
The game started quickly. Monaco took advantage of the home court and controlled the rhythm of the game first. They played unhurriedly and tested the opponent's state first.
Millwall was not so polite. Once the defense was successful, they immediately passed the ball forward quickly. Although there were not many attackers, the offensive threat from the wing was very intuitive.
The dribbling lines of Grenchar and Larsson after getting the ball today were very clear: cut inside, cut inside, cut inside like crazy!
Glenshaal is the team's dribble king. His average number of dribbles per game in his limited appearances ranks first in the Premier League, giving Larsson room to start. He is also very fast with the ball, but
Due to his role, he doesn't often pass by, but instead moves to cut into the opponent's ribs and directly threaten the opponent with his shot.
The two of them were deliberately told by Aldrich before the game today. After getting the ball, they should go inside. When passing people, they only need to pass one defensive player of the opponent. They should not make consecutive passes. As long as they pass one person, they must start with a clear head.
Observe, when the opponent's second player comes to intercept, the defense must have an opening, and then it is necessary to seek cooperation with teammates.
In a static defense, Nedvěd was guarded by the opponent's two midfielders, and Trezeguet was also flanked by the opponent's two central defenders. However, in a dynamic game, as long as the side gap is opened and the inside route is taken,
The opponent will definitely pay attention to players with the ball, especially Larsson. If he dribbles the ball in front of the goal and no one comes to block it, then his long shot may penetrate his own goal.
Monaco fans are relatively optimistic. They played a friendly match at the beginning of the season. Monaco defeated the opponent 4:4 in the away game. In the first round that ended half a month ago, Monaco also took away the draw from the away game. Today at home
, the hope of winning the game is very high.
But they were wrong, very wrong.
Friendly matches can be ignored. In the last game, Millwall was hit by a deadly counterattack by the opponent after the opening game, which led to Southgate's red card. With one less player early on, Millwall naturally did not seem to be a threat.
But in this game, Monaco wants to win and resolve the battle within 90 minutes. In addition, it is at their home court, so their posture is definitely more positive than the away game in the previous round. On the other hand, Millwall has put up a good fence.
In the attack, a small number of troops are relied on to attack the opponent's defense in a targeted manner in the frontcourt. During this opening and closing, Millwall's characteristics and power are far more powerful than in the previous game.
Monaco fought a positional battle to tear apart Millwall's defense. They found that Millwall was monolithic. Even Henry, who caused Southgate's red card in the last game, could not sprint at the winger position without any sprinting space.
Directly threatening the opponent's goal, in a sense, he is not the Henry of Highbury, not only in terms of technical experience and ability, but also in terms of football awareness!
The two teams went back and forth, and the twenty-minute game time passed. No one got a great opportunity, but the situation was changing little by little.
Aldridge stood on the sidelines with his chin held high and his hands in his pockets observing the game. Monaco's defensive formation had fallen into a passive rhythm. After suffering the impact of Gronzal and Larsson's inward cuts, their two full-backs began to gradually
Approaching the center, the intention is to compress the space for the two wingers to advance after cutting inside, and also to prepare to cover when teammates rush to block.
In the 28th minute of the game, Makelele stole the ball and handed it to Pirlo. Pirlo passed the ball to Grenciar. The latter's repeated inward breakthroughs caused Monaco to switch from attack to defense for the first time.
Someone was marking him closely, but this time Grenchar cleverly did not stop the ball, directly knocked the ball back to Pirlo, and then ran forward himself.
Pirlo also kicked the ball when it was passed back, turning the ball to the left. Larsson dribbled the ball forward and broke through. At the same time, there was a teammate behind him who was running forward at high speed. Larsson wiped out an opponent's defender.
After midfield, the ball was passed to Nedved who ran out of space in the middle.
Monaco shrunk its defense in the middle. Nedvěd controlled the ball and observed the situation, then passed the ball to the left baseline area. Capdevila, who came up with the assist, unexpectedly rushed through the opponent's entire back line. This time Monaco
The entire defense line was shocked.
Capdevila controlled the ball and didn't rush to pass it. He just waited for Monaco's entire defense to move backwards, and then knocked the ball back to the front position before anyone pressed him.
Pirlo appeared in that position, that position that sent chills down the spines of Juventus fans. It was in this position that Pirlo defeated Juventus!
Monaco also realized that they cannot let Pirlo start here, absolutely not!
The defense was pressed out again for a while. During this period of closing and releasing, there was a loophole in their marking. Pirlo calmly did not take a kick, but instead passed the ball past the Monaco defenders.
Trezeguet ran horizontally on the left side of the goal line. Facing Pirlo's wonderful assist, he pushed the ball without stopping.
Monaco goalkeeper Barthez fought hard to make a save, but his reaction was still a step too late, and the ball rolled into the goal post and rolled into the goal!
"Trezeguet! Millwall opened the scoring in the away game. The Millwall team scored a goal through pleasing cooperation. The whole process was unforgettable. Pirlo's calm pass at the end was a masterpiece. Everyone was impressed.
I thought he would take a long shot, but he passed the ball and made sure his teammates were not offside. Trezeguet's shot also showed his killer qualities. He didn't
Without any hesitation, he pushed the ball with the inside of his foot. The ball was not very fast, but the angle was very tricky. It hit the post and rolled into the Monaco goal! Millwall led 1:0 away from home. Monaco was in danger. They must now win the remaining games.
You have to score two goals within a certain period of time to advance. When this goal occurs, it is declared that there will be no overtime in this game." (To be continued.)
