Chapter 176 Lion and Dragon

There are still two days before the match with Porto, in the physiotherapy room of Cobham Base.

"Hiss—damn it, why is our schedule so tight?"

Zuma was lying on the physiotherapy bed, wailing and yelling. It was another two games in four days, and the schedule was so tight that he hadn't been to the bar for many days!

Terry snorted: "The Premier League is like this, and there are still the League Cup and FA Cup to come. If you want a less intensive schedule, you can, withdraw from the top six in the league, and without the European war, wouldn't it be easier?"

Zuma curled his lips and said: "Well... forget it, I don't think there is any need to be so anxious, it's not a problem to play more games"

"Ha ha!"

While his teammates were joking, Jiang Yuan was lying on the therapy bed receiving muscle relaxation treatment from Sean.

Sean took a silver fascia knife and scraped Jiang Yuan's soleus muscle: "Jiang, it's strange, the competition is very intense, but your muscles are still very elastic!"

Jiang Yuan trained all night after the game yesterday, which just triggered a cell regeneration, so the muscles all over his body are in the best condition.

The fascia itself is in a relaxed state, so even if Sean tries very hard, Jiang Yuan will not feel unbearable pain.

Jiang Yuan, who was lying on the bed, turned his head and gave Sean a middle finger: "Sean, I have a question. Do you have a tendency to abuse others? If I don't cry out in pain, you will be unhappy, right?"

Jiang Yuan was very surprised. If he didn't shout "hiss!" or "ah!", Sean would use more and more strength. Because Jiang Yuan didn't even dodge from beginning to end this time, Sean almost crushed his calf!
"of course not!"

Sean tapped Jiang Yuan's calf with a fascia knife: "If you don't cry out in pain, it means the massage is not effective!"

"All right!"

Jiang Yuan licked his lips, then...

“Ah! Hiss—it hurts, damn it, you bastard!”

Sean: ???
Of course, Jiang Yuan stopped shouting after shouting twice as if joking. He asked Sean to help him get his cell phone and then he lay on the therapy bed and played with his cell phone.

As expected, Lopetegui, who was far away in the Iberian Peninsula, sent him a message.

First, there was a "Hello" squirrel emoji, with the following sentence: "Are you ready to be beaten?"

amount……

Jiang Yuan almost laughed out loud, his fingers moving rapidly on the phone screen: "Forget it, how strong can Porto be without me and Carlos? Just wait for the loss!"

After sending the message, Jiang Yuan has not received any Whatsapp message from Lopetegui. According to the time, the Portuguese team has not yet started training, so Jiang Yuan prepared to put his phone aside.

It was at this moment that his iPhone dinged again and Lopetegui replied.

"Jiang, I tell you the truth. Do you remember this kid Ruben? He is getting better and better, especially his long-range shooting ability. In last week's match against Benfica, Ruben shot directly through Cesar's goal with a long-range shot!"

Neves?
Thinking of this Portuguese guy who is only one year older than him, Jiang Yuan smiled: "Hu Lun, Reuben has always been very talented. I think you can consider letting him start now. He won't let you down!"

"Ding!"

"You don't even need to tell me that, he's already the starter!"

I have to say that Lopetegui types really fast, at least much faster than Jiang Yuan.

After talking about Neves, Lopetegui talked about the goalkeeper position. After the end of last season, Porto loaned the original starting goalkeeper Fabuano to Fenerbahce of the Turkish Super League, and then introduced a new Spanish goalkeeper.

As for his name, Jiang Yuan was not unfamiliar with it at all.

Iker Casillas Fernandez
Igor Casillas, the Spanish goalkeeper who was named the world's best goalkeeper for five consecutive years from 2008 to 2012, has the nickname... "Saint Casillas"!
"How did you buy Igor's? How much did it cost?"

Jiang Yuan raised the question in his mind: as the meritorious captain of Real Madrid, Casillas should not be cheap.

When did Porto become so rich?

Unexpectedly, Lopetegui’s answer almost made Jiang Yuan laugh: “Visa-free, just like you were back then! Hahaha!”

"call……"

Jiang Yuan breathed a sigh of relief. Ruben Neves has grown and Casillas has joined the team. From this point of view, it is really uncertain who will win or lose in the match on the 29th!
The pressure is on!

……

With 36 hours to go before the Champions League match against Porto, the Blues players landed at Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport after taking off from Heathrow Airport.

Jiang Yuan ran down the plane excitedly, opened his arms and took a deep breath: "Hmm, a familiar smell!"

"rua!"

Zuma covered his mouth and seemed about to vomit: "The air smells very strong of fish. What I hate most is fish!"

"It's fine!"

Jiang Yuan patted Zuma on the back and said, "Little Kurt, once your nose gets used to the smell here, you won't feel sick anymore. It will only take about an hour. I almost vomited when I first came to Portugal!"

"Jiang, don't call me Little Kurt. You're not even as old as me!"

Hearing Jiang Yuan's address to him, Zuma lost all desire to vomit and stared at Jiang Yuan's eyes angrily.

Captain Terry called him Little Kurt, and he endured it!

The team's star player Hazard called him Little Kurt, and he endured it!
But Jiang Yuan, a little kid who is not even 18 years old, why does he call himself "Little Kurt"!
"Good good!"

Jiang Yuan spread his hands: "How do you feel now? Do you still want to vomit?"

Zuma nodded while pushing his suitcase: "Of course. I don't understand. England is also on the seaside, why doesn't London have a strong fishy smell?"

"It's easy!"

Jiang Yuan, who has been staying in Porto for the first half of the year, gave an explanation: "Xiao Querte, Porto is a port city. If you keep walking west, you may see the Porto Port, where there are all kinds of ships. The fishermen here like to do some graffiti on their ships."

Zuma shrugged: "I really don't understand, what's so good about fishing boats, it's disgusting"

At this time, Hazard came over and put a hand on Zouma's shoulder: "I think Jiang means to let you experience the sea breeze here at the port. Porto's sea breeze is very famous, gentle and cool. Now is the time to blow the sea breeze! It's a pity that we came here for the game, otherwise I must go to the port to take a look!"

Hazard also looked a little unhappy, but not as exaggerated as Zouma's.

"Alright, alright! Let's go!"

Terry was waving in front, the team bus had been waiting for a long time!

……

That evening, at the InterContinental Porto - Palacio Das Cardosas (Cardozoro Luxury Hotel), Mourinho called all 18 players to his room for a tactical preparation meeting.

"Dong dong!"

Mourinho tapped the tactical board twice: "Focus, our opponent this time is not Maccabi Tel Aviv, Porto, or the Portuguese Super League giants. You should all know that!"

"I predict that Porto will use a 442 or 433 formation tomorrow. The forwards will most likely be a combination of Brahimi and Aboubakar. That means their forward line tomorrow won't be too tall, so a corner kick is a good choice. Jiang, Eden, if you go down the flank, your first task will be to find a way to break through and make an inverted triangle. If you can't make an inverted triangle, try to get a corner kick. Our headers are definitely better than Porto's!"

"understand!"

Hazard and Jiang Yuan nodded at the same time. It might be difficult to cut inside from the bottom, but it would definitely be much easier if it was just to get a corner kick.

After breaking in, just kick the person hard, and then it will be a corner kick. Simple and efficient!

"Then there's the issue of the players. Porto has a midfielder named Ruben who has strong long-range shooting ability, so I hope that Fabregas and Mikel, you two must not let him get the ball at the top of the arc. His long-range shooting ability is even not weaker than Jiang's!"

"If you can't block the shot, try to block his right foot, and you can use his left foot..."

At this moment, Jiang Yuan suddenly said: "Jose, Ruben can also shoot from a distance with his left foot."

"what!?"

Mourinho frowned: "Are you sure? The statistics I got show that Neves has zero long-range shots with his left foot this season."

"He didn't use his left foot because his right foot wasn't blocked. Anyway, I guarantee that Ruben's long-range shooting ability with his left foot is also very strong. Half a year ago, we even competed in free kicks with the non-dominant foot at the Gaya Training Center!"

Jiang Yuan was telling the truth, he and Neves had been teammates for at least six months and were very familiar with each other's technical characteristics.

"Too!"

Mourinho nodded. Technical analysis was reliable, but it was not as good as seeing it with your own eyes. Jiang Yuan and Neves were teammates. Could data analysis understand Neves better than Jiang Yuan?
So Mourinho motioned for Jiang Yuan to stand up: "Jiang, come up!"

"what?"

Jiang Yuan looked left and right, and his teammates were looking at him with a gloating look.

Jiang Yuan had no choice but to stand up and walk to Mourinho: "Jose, is there anything I can help you with?"

Mourinho handed the pen to Jiang Yuan and asked Brown to wipe the tactical board clean: "Jiang, I need you to tell everyone about the technical characteristics of each Porto player. The more detailed the better!"

"arrow"

Since Mourinho has said so, it would be hard for Jiang Yuan to continue to make excuses.

"Guys, let me talk about Neves first. First of all, he is definitely not what you think. His weak foot ability is very strong. In the FIFA game, he is at least a 4-star. So if possible, I think both feet should not be used."

"Then there's speed. He runs very slowly, slower than anyone else on the team, but he has very good tackling skills. If you want to pass him, I suggest you suddenly accelerate with the ball. I used this method to pass Reuben during training before, with a high success rate, and he really doesn't turn fast." "I have a problem!"

Fabregas suddenly raised his hand: "You use speed to pass the opponent because you are very fast. If we let us do it, forcing it may not work, right?"

"Ha ha!"

Jiang Yuan had a smile on his face: "Ceske, believe me, you can definitely run faster than him!"

……

"Zhuang Mater Terrace!"

"Zhuang Mater Terrace!"

"This is the live broadcast of this season's Champions League Group G focus match, Porto's home game against Chelsea. We can see that the players of both sides are already in place in the player tunnel."

"This game is full of highlights. First of all, Chelsea's head coach Mourinho led Porto to win the Champions League in 2004 and is one of Porto's meritorious head coaches. Then there are the players. Chelsea's No. 7 is Jiang Yuan, the most valuable local player in my country. He transferred from Porto to Chelsea in July this year and is very familiar with the opponent."

"The director showed the player tunnel. Haha, Jiang Yuan and Neves were standing side by side reminiscing about the past. I don't know what they were talking about."

In the player tunnel, Neves put a hand on Jiang Yuan's shoulder: "Jiang, have you grown taller again?"

"Grown taller? No, I gained weight. Why? Are you afraid you can't stop me?"

Jiang Yuan raised his eyebrows and said jokingly.

"You can pull it down!"

Neves rolled his eyes at Jiang Yuan. At this moment, Brahimi, who was standing in front, suddenly came down and shook hands with Jiang Yuan: "Jiang, long time no see!"

"Long time no see! You look great, my good friend!"

Jiang Yuan smiled. He had some minor conflicts with Brahimi before because of the competition for the starting position.

However, Brahimi has already apologized, and what’s done should be done. Now Jiang Yuan and Brahimi are not only old teammates, but also good buddies!
Marcano put his head on Neves' shoulder and came over: "Jiang, you are now the second scorer in the Champions League. Are you so amazing?"

"No no!"

Jiang Yuan felt extremely embarrassed when he heard someone talking about the Champions League scorer list. He had only played one game and luckily scored a hat trick, but people ended up saying that he was going to win the Silver Boot!
The player tunnel before the game started was very lively. A group of Porto people surrounded Jiang Yuan, as if they had endless things to say.

It is normal if you think about it carefully. Among the starting 11 of Porto, except for the newly joined No. 25 Imbula and No. 12 Casillas, Jiang Yuan knows all the other 9 people!

"Hahaha, the Porto players are reminiscing about the past with Jiang Yuan. I have to say Jiang Yuan is really popular. It's obviously the Champions League group stage, but the two teams give people the feeling of a friendly match."

"Of course, being friendly off the field does not necessarily mean being friendly on the field. Players from both teams walked out of the player tunnel under the guidance of the referee, and the fans at the Dragon Stadium were cheering."

"Now let me introduce you to the starting lineups of both teams!"

"First up is the home team Porto, last season's Portuguese Super League champions!"

Porto (4-4-2)

Defenders: Maxi Pereira, Maicon, Marcano, Indi

Midfielders: Andre Andre, Danilo Pereira, Ruben Neves, Imbula
Forwards: Brahimi, Abubakar
Goalkeeper: Casillas
Head coach: Lopetegui

"Then there's the visiting team Chelsea, last season's Premier League champions. Oh, I didn't expect that two league champions would meet in the Champions League group stage. I wonder if both teams can advance to the knockout stage!"

Chelsea (4-2-3-1)

……

"I'm so tired~"

"Tem no meu porto mais um arco triunfal!~"

"PORTO PORTO PORTO PORTO PORTO PORTO!"

Abubakar stepped on the ball in the center circle and the team song was sung by fans in the stadium. Jiang Yuan felt an indescribable complex emotion as he looked at this scene. He should have been wearing the blue and white striped home team jersey, but now he was wearing the pure black away team jersey.

Porto is the first professional team he played for. Although the time was not long, he has a deep affection for the team!
"Beep!"

The game started. The fierce confrontation left Jiang Yuan no chance to think too much and he devoted himself to the game.

Because Jiang Yuan, Quaresma, and captain Martinez left the team at the same time, Lopetegui had to make some adjustments to Porto's lineup.

The original trident composed of Jiang Yuan, Martinez and Quaresma has now become a single striker of Abubakar. Brahimi is noted as a forward in the starting lineup, but his position is strictly speaking an attacking midfielder.

It can be seen that the departure of all the starting forwards has had a great impact on Porto.

Because Jiang Yuan was the first to complete the transfer, he didn't know that the club also had the idea of ​​selling Martinez and Quaresma. When both forwards were about to leave, Lopetegui not only did not try to keep him, but encouraged him to seek a transfer, which Jiang Yuan found quite incredible.

"Mikel took a corner kick and Maicon headed the ball out! We have said before that Mike has an obvious height advantage. Only Zouma in Chelsea has the same height as him, but Zouma is far less experienced than Maicon."

"Hazard and Pereira are fighting for the second point, Hazard got it! Pass the ball to William, long shot!"

"It's a pity that William's long shot was blocked by goalkeeper Casillas, and Chelsea's second corner kick attack still ended in failure."

"..."

"Jiang Yuan made a cross! Indi kicked the ball out with his knee, a corner kick for Porto! Wow, only 20 minutes had passed in the first half, and this was already the fifth corner kick for Porto in this game!"

"It's Mikel who's responsible for this corner kick, kicking it out... to the back post! Ouch, it's Maicon again. Maicon's height of 1 meters is too outrageous. This is the third time Maicon has cleared the ball with a header. Zouma had no chance to shoot under Maicon's defense."

"And Indi, Jiang Yuan was also defended very tightly. If you often watch Jiang Yuan's games, you will find that Jiang Yuan will make a fake move to the left or right before jumping for a header, but Indi was not moved at all and just stood in front of Jiang Yuan. It can only be said that he is too familiar with Jiang Yuan's movements and habits."

Outside the field, Mourinho was chewing gum with a frown in his face.

Originally, it was thought that the goal of Porto could be scored with a header, but it seems that there are not many players in Porto who can header the ball. However, Maicon and Marcano, who can header the ball, are really good. Not only do they have the height advantage but also they are very experienced in defense. Zouma and Costa basically have no chance to shoot under their defense.

Not only with headers, but also when Jiang Yuan attacked from the right, Porto's left-back Indi could often guess what Jiang Yuan wanted to do, making Jiang Yuan feel like he was showing the color of his underwear to others, which was very uncomfortable!
"Stay back a little! Hit the middle!"

"No more corner kicks!"

Mourinho and Brown shouted loudly that judging from the current situation, if they continued to play high-altitude bombing, Chelsea would definitely lose the ball before Porto!
After receiving the instructions from the coaching staff, the Chelsea players on the field immediately made corresponding adjustments. The two central defenders Zouma and Cahill stood further back and took on the task of passing the ball from Chelsea's backcourt.

According to Mourinho, Chelsea will have to find a way to penetrate the attack through short passes.

"Take it!"

Facing pressure, Fabregas immediately passed the ball back to Zouma, who stopped the ball and immediately made a long pass because the space near Hazard on the left was empty.

But I don’t know if it was due to nervousness or other reasons, Zouma’s pass didn’t even get past the front point and was headed out by Pereira.

"shit!"

Azpilicueta cursed inwardly, then shouted: "Back! Back!"

There is no doubt that this was a quick counterattack opportunity for Porto. After intercepting the ball, Abubakar strode forward, and Brahimi took advantage of his speed advantage to run without the ball and rush in front of Abubakar.

Similarly, Imbula and Andre were also rushing forward. Now all the Porto players needed to do was to create as many passing opportunities as possible for Aboubakar.

"Abubakar dribbles the ball! Abubakar slows down, look at his choice... pass it to Imbula! This is Porto's new signing this season, he has very good dribbling ability"

"Jiang Yuan chased back very quickly, he had already caught up with Imbula, and fell to the ground to tackle! Just a little bit, just a little bit! Imbula jumped and successfully avoided Jiang Yuan's tackle! Imbula continued to advance with the ball, Porto wanted to launch an attack on the left!"

"Ivanovic's defense, Jiang Yuan got up from the ground and quickly got to the position, wow! Ibra and Indi cooperated with each other in the wall, and Ibra successfully completed the bottom pass."

"Cross! No pass, Imbula is still dribbling the ball, keep dribbling! Porto's defense has shrunk a lot now"

"A reverse triangle pass, Ruben Neves gets the ball at the top of the arc!"

Imbula had lost his balance before passing the ball, so the pass was not very accurate. Neves did not shoot directly, but took some time to take the ball down from the air and stop it at his feet.

It was during these two times that Fabregas stuck to him.

Neves took a step and swung his right leg. Fabregas put his hands behind his back, trying to block Neves' shooting line.

"!!!"

As a result, Neves' right foot just hit the ball, it was obviously a fake shot!
"shit!"

Fabregas adjusted quickly, and Neves pretended to pass the ball to the right, but in fact he lightly tapped the ball with his right foot, and the ball came to the front left of his body.

Shift your body to the right and lift your left leg.

"watch out!"

Jiang Yuan realized something bad was happening and shouted it out.

But it was too late. Fabregas was fooled and failed to block Neves' left foot in the first time, so the latter successfully completed the shot.

"clatter!"

The high-speed shot hit Cahill's outside ankle and changed direction slightly.

……

(End of this chapter)