When the FA Cup draw results came out, most fans complained about the FA.
Millwall and Manchester United met in the FA Cup semi-finals.
Everyone is looking forward to the two meeting in the final. If luck is better in the Champions League, maybe Millwall will compete with Manchester United in the third tier!
What an exciting script this would be!
The third-tier title race is a bit far away, as Millwall fell out of contention in the 31st round of the league.
At Villa Park, Millwall faced Aston Villa, who was aiming to get a ticket to the European Cup, but the opponent united to hold on to a draw.
Unexpectedly, Manchester United drew with Wimbledon away from home, Arsenal also drew with Southampton away from home, and only Chelsea among the top four teams defeated Charlton with a goal away from home, and re-entered the title race.
With 7 rounds left in the league, Millwall is 4 points ahead of Manchester United and 6 points ahead of Arsenal and Chelsea. In the remaining schedule, Millwall will have direct dialogue with Chelsea and Arsenal. It is still unclear who will win.
There is no problem with the depth of the bench, and Aldridge has no worries about the formation of troops for consecutive battles. Before leaving for Kiev, he attended a press conference and announced the 18-man roster.
Media reporters from all over Europe who were following Millwall were stunned on the spot.
Giancarlo asked what everyone was thinking.
"Millwall will bring two strikers when they go to the second leg of the Champions League quarter-finals?"
Aldridge nodded and said: "Yes, I think it's enough. Larson will start and Henry will be the substitute."
The reporters did the math and found two goalkeepers, seven defenders, two forwards, and seven midfielders left.
Taking a closer look at the expedition list, everyone guessed Aldrich's plan.
This guy is going to set up a bus!
Makelele, Gattuso, Pedretti, Lampard, Van der Meyde, Nedved, plus Duff.
Neither Ronaldinho nor Pirlo...
He had a two-goal advantage in the first round. There was no need for Aldridge to go away to play against Dynamo Kiev. There were obviously many disadvantages to being a guest. Did he have to contend with the weather and the venue to tell outsiders that victory was certain?
The starting point of bringing some substitutes is to familiarize them with the rhythm of competing in Eastern Europe. At least they will have a psychological adaptability so that they will not be caught off guard when encountering them in the future.
It was a long flight to Kiev. After Millwall checked into a hotel in Kiev, the night before the game, local fans in Kiev held a massive harassment event outside the hotel.
A group of people held a rock concert outside until late at night. The fans also held slogans to undermine Millwall's morale.
It cannot be said that this effect will be fatal, but at least it will have a certain effect.
Van der Meyde and Duff were not in good spirits the next day. The soundproofing of the hotel was poor and they did not sleep for a while until four in the morning. Fortunately, they were not the main players. The main players like Nedved had experience and wore headphones before going to bed.
Listening to sleep music, even the sound of divine beasts crossing the sky and descending from the heavens with thunder can't stop them from falling asleep peacefully.
During the evening game, Aldridge put on a slim-fitting coat. He could take off his suit when directing the game in London, but it was so damn cold in Kiev at night.
Fucking temperature.
When he appeared, he was booed by all the Dynamo Kiev fans.
They have all heard that Millwall will have buses here.
When the starting lineup came out, their boos got even louder.
The most intuitive feeling about Millwall's lineup is that it is tough!
Goalkeeper: But.
Defenders: Mills, Materazzi, Ferdinand, Neil.
Double defensive midfielder: Gattuso, Makelele.
Bilateral midfielder: Pedretti Lampard.
Attacking midfielder: Nedved.
Forward: Larsson.
Millwall put up a 451, and the midfielder was completely armed to the teeth.
From the beginning of the game, Dynamo Kyiv fans have booed Millwall. As long as they take the ball, steal the ball, and disrupt Dynamo Kyiv's offense, the boos in the stands will be deafening.
Aldrich sat on the coach's bench, puzzled.
Dynamo Kyiv goes to Wembley with a bus, and Millwall is a guest but they still have a steel drum formation. What's the problem?
Why are you booing us?
Dynamo Kiev fans are right to boo their opponent.
Who makes you the defending champion?
Millwall announced the 18-man squad before arriving. Lobanovsky had heard about it, but he didn't dare to really believe it.
Can the intelligence spread by the opponent himself be trusted?
Even at home, Lobanovski is still very jealous of Millwall, losing to the opponent at home last season.
He is not afraid of Millwall attacking wildly, which will give Dynamo Kyiv more opportunities.
He is most afraid of Millwall's counterattack.
It just so happened that Millwall was extremely defensive today.
This is the biggest headache. Once a strong team becomes weak, there is almost nothing their inferior opponents can do.
Observing the running of the players on both sides after the kick-off, it is obvious that Millwall's players are slower. In the weather, which is about 6 degrees lower than the average daily temperature in London, the players are not used to it and the field is awkward to play on.
Henry was wearing a warm coat and hunched his neck. He was sitting in the back row, and his head was right next to Aldrich's ear. He asked curiously: "Boss, don't you feel embarrassed?"
Aldrich asked strangely: "Why is it embarrassing?"
Henry said of course: "Boos."
"Heh, what's there to be embarrassed about?"
"Ahem, you are a coach who has won the Champions League."
"So what? If I ask you to go up and kick as hard as you can, huh, maybe one of you will be injured in ten minutes."
Henry didn't ask any more questions after hearing this. He thought Aldridge would rather be booed than protect the players.
Although this is not entirely the reason, there must be this consideration.
When the weather is cold and you are in an unfamiliar venue, the probability of injury will increase.
This is completely different from the situation against Dynamo Kyiv in the group stage last season. At that time, the situation of qualifying for the group was unclear. Dynamo Kyiv could play at home. Today, Dynamo Kyiv has to compete with Millwall.
A desperate stance!
Once Millwall opens up the opponent's formation and the distance between the three lines shrinks greatly, Millwall's players will inevitably do more acceleration in order to keep up with the opponent, which can easily cause injuries.
Today, the five midfielders formed an all-round protection for the back line. With the space compressed, Dynamo Kyiv's positional warfare attack could not advance into the dangerous area at all. They only relied on long-range shots from the outside and personal breakthroughs, and the effect was very poor.
Millwall's offense is also very unsatisfactory. Most of the time, the ball can't be found in the frontcourt. There are too few troops involved in the attack. Even when Larsson is being targeted, Nedvěd will not be able to get the ball.
Today, Millwall's speed characteristics have been weakened to the limit. They can't break through the opponent's defense with speed, but they control the ball and wait for the opponent to grab it, which in turn consumes the opponent's physical energy and psychologically makes the opponent
Become anxious.
"The game ended in 45 minutes in the first half. Dynamo Kyiv only got three shooting opportunities in the first half, two of which were long-range shots, while Millwall had zero shots. Looking at the data, we can't see that Millwall
Hall has the momentum to defend the championship, but considering that they have a two-goal advantage and a total score of 2:0, Hall wants to get tickets to advance to the semi-finals at the minimum cost. This is reasonable, but the fans don't seem to agree.
, as long as Millwall players touch the ball, the fans in the stadium will let out huge boos."
Lobanovsky walked back to the locker room with a sullen face, while Aldridge remained calm. Even though the fans booed harshly, he ignored it.
As the game time became less and less in the second half, Dynamo Kyiv invested more and more troops in the offense. They had to score at least one goal before they could see any hope of advancement.
Aldridge seems to be telling the outside world through this game that if his team sets up a bus, it will make their opponents desperate.
When the game reached the 75th minute, Dynamo Kiev pressed forward from all sides, but the defense exposed a gap. Gattuso succeeded in stealing Berkovic and drove directly into the frontcourt.
Larsson had been walking almost all the time, waiting for this opportunity. After successfully countering offside, he rushed forward, and the opponent's goalkeeper attacked.
Shofkovsky rushed out of the penalty area to clear the ball, but he misjudged the placement and the ball bounced three meters in front of him. He took off and used his body to block the ball, but the ball jumped over his head...
...
Larson rushed past him, and the ball's bounce slowed down. Larson did not touch the ball. He looked back to see Shofkovsky's position, but the opponent gave up completely.
Larsson followed the ball and slowly watched it roll into the goal.
"Millwall scored a goal and led 3:0 with a total score. Dynamo Kyiv had no chance unless they scored 4 goals within 15 minutes. Well, the initiator of this goal should be Gattuso,
Larson deliberately did not touch the ball and let it roll into the goal. The goal was likely
It is the longest distance goal in the history of the Champions League. The length of Dynamo Kyiv’s home court is 120 yards. He kicked off about 15 yards behind the center circle, which means he scored from about 75 yards! Well, is it a record specifically?
, I need to check the Champions League historical information, I'm really sorry."
Gattuso's original intention was to make a long pass. Unexpectedly, the opponent's goalkeeper sent a big gift and made a mistake. The ball bounced to the ground and flew past his head. Then Gattuso saw Larsson running over. He had already lowered his head.
He clenched his head in celebration.
Larson was obviously not offside. If the ball could have been kicked away, Gattuso would have broken Larson's legs.
As a result, when he lowered his head and clenched his fists to celebrate, Makelele next to him pushed him and shouted at him: "You scored a goal!"
Just as Gattuso became happy, he was suddenly stunned. He raised his head and looked forward again, and found Larson slowly walking back and pointing at him with a smile on his face.
Only then did Gattuso realize that Larsson had not touched the ball.
Uh, I scored a goal!
His reaction was very funny. He was stunned for three seconds, and then suddenly started running towards the sidelines. At the same time, he took off his jersey, held it in his hands and waved it over his head.
From Millwall to the coaching staff and the bench, everyone stood up and applauded him. No matter where, it felt a bit incredible to score from that distance, but the process was not very exciting.
Dynamo Kyiv was completely defeated by this goal. Not only did they fail to stage a comeback at home, but their opponents also set a record.
The commentator also searched the records and confirmed that Gattuso's goal became the longest goal scored in the Champions League!
At the end of the game, the players on the Millwall bench stood up to celebrate with the players on the field.
"The defending champion defeated Dynamo Kyiv with a total score of 3:0 and entered the semi-finals. This achievement is very remarkable. Millwall is only two rounds and a final victory away from successfully defending the title. Of course, they first have to defeat the semi-finals
As for the opponents in the final, it is not yet known which team they will meet. However, Hall's team will not be afraid of their opponents. It should be the other semi-final teams praying to avoid this team that seems impossible to defeat.
