Chapter 378 Atletico Madrid's Bus
Although the team's performance is average, the value of nine players in Chelsea has increased.

The biggest increases were for Hazard and Jiang Yuan, both at 3000 million euros, followed by Pogba at 2500 million euros and Kante at 2000 million euros. The total value of these four players alone increased by 4 million euros, which also helped Chelsea become the team with the highest value of starting players in the entire Premier League.

Is Pogba the starter? The answer is yes. An hour after Mourinho left the Cotswolds, Abramovich called the Portuguese coach again.

"No matter how you arrange the lineup, no matter how you arrange the tactics, Jiang, Eden, and Paul must be the starters. Don't emphasize your professionalism to me again, it won't work this time."

Abramovich's attitude on the phone was very indirect and he didn't give Mourinho any chance to speak.

"Fuck!"

Beep! Beep! Beep, beep, beep—!!!
Mourinho pulled the car aside and pounded the steering wheel in anger.

It's always like this, outsiders only see data!
Especially an idiot like Abramovich!
……

On the morning of February 2st, London time, Chelsea players gathered at the Cobham base, but the purpose of today's gathering was not for training, but to prepare to leave for Madrid, Spain.

Tomorrow evening, Chelsea will face Atletico Madrid in their first Champions League knockout match of the season. In accordance with the principle of arriving one day in advance for cross-border matches, the Blues players will arrive in the Spanish capital of Madrid this afternoon.

"well..."

Brown looked up and counted carefully. A total of 18 players were present. Then he looked at Mourinho: "Jose"

Mourinho, who was originally looking down at his notebook, raised his head and looked around at all the players present. If it were usual, Mourinho's gaze would stay on Jiang Yuan and Hazard for a while, but today Mourinho reserved this time for Pogba.

This Frenchman seemed unaffected by public opinion, and in just a few days he changed his hairstyle to a new one that he learned from nowhere.

"Let me first announce the starting lineup for tomorrow's game..."

coming!

Fabregas, Alonso, and Remy held their breath. When the coach announced the starting lineup for the game, that was when these marginal players were most focused.

"Defenders: John, Kurt, Natan (Ake), Cesar"

call……

Alonso sighed. Although he had guessed the result long ago, the feeling of getting confirmation from Mourinho was different.

Professional football is very cruel. The fact is that in this kind of Champions League, the head coach will tend to use the team's strongest lineup. Mourinho considers himself to be "the most special one", but when faced with such serious matters, his choice is the same as other coaches.

Then in the midfield, Hazard and Kante both started as expected.

Playing 4231, there is still a midfielder to choose from Fabregas and Pogba. Mourinho glanced at Fabregas and finally stopped his gaze on Pogba: "...Paul"

At this time, Pogba was chewing gum and looking at Mourinho with a idle expression.

……

Before leaving for Madrid, Pogba called his agent Raiola. Pogba had previously revealed to Raiola the inside story of his conflict with Mourinho, and the Italian said that if anything happened, Pogba must contact him as soon as possible.

Pogba, who is immersed in electronic music and hairstyle, doesn't understand these things at all. Asking Raiola for advice is of course his best choice.

"You're still the starter, awesome!"

Raiola's excited voice came from the other end of the phone, but he immediately calmed down: "Paul, you had a direct conflict before, but Mourinho kept letting you start... There are only two possibilities!"

"what?"

"The first possibility is that your tactical position in Mourinho's mind is irreplaceable. If Chelsea wants to win, they must let you start. This is definitely very good news for you."

Raiola used his traditional Italian skills, holding a mobile phone in one hand and waving the other hand in the air. The endless body movements coupled with Raiola's round head made him look even a little cute.

“Good news indeed”

Pogba thought about it carefully and agreed with Raiola's words. Based on Fabregas' performance this season, Mourinho has no second choice in the defensive midfielder position.

The previous game against Burnley proved this point. Without Pogba, Chelsea could only rely on long passes from the defenders to move the ball from the backcourt to the frontcourt.

What kind of thing is it that a top team from a top league can only advance by long passes?
If Mourinho wants to win, he can only endure the humiliation and let Pogba start.

"But I don't think Jose is that kind of person..."

Raiola murmured that as an agent, he and Mourinho had a lot of exchanges. The Portuguese gave him the feeling that even if he lost the game, he had to win dignity.

"So what's the second possibility?"

“Management pressure”

Raiola was smiling when he spoke: "It may not be Jose's own idea to let you start, he was forced to do so"

Pogba frowned: "So I'm not an integral part of Chelsea's backline?"

"No, you misunderstood me!"

Raiola held his forehead and smiled bitterly. Pogba's train of thought was also a bit abstract: "What I mean is, Mourinho doesn't want you to start because of a conflict, but someone in the management doesn't want to lose, and they asked Mourinho to put you in the starting lineup!"

So that’s it!
Pogba blinked, as if he understood what Raiola meant.

It seems that I was able to play in two consecutive games because of the help of an expert!

"Then... Mino, if someone helps me, then I don't have to worry about my relationship with Mourinho. I really don't like him!"

Pogba said angrily, he felt very uncomfortable when he thought of the scene where Mourinho instructed him to return to defense.

Do Portuguese people like to talk nonsense so much?
Thinking of this, Pogba added: "I don't want to stay in Chelsea. In Chelsea, I have to listen to that Portuguese old man. Eight out of 10 sentences he says are scolding me!"

"It can't be helped. You just have to bear with it. Um...how are you getting along with your teammates?"

“My teammates are all very good”

Pogba told the truth: "Jiang, Eden, and John are all great. I can't be the boss here, but the relationship between everyone is very good, so it doesn't matter."

"But teammates are not a problem, I don't want to be in the same club as Jose!"

Raiola is really troubled.

According to his understanding of Pogba, if this guy has the idea of ​​leaving the team, he will no longer play well. Once he stops playing well, Pogba's value, which has just exceeded 100 million, will drop back down, which is very unfavorable to Pogba's own commercial value.

After comprehensive consideration, Raiola advised: "Don't be anxious, you must play seriously"

"How can I be serious with Mourinho?"

"You can force him to leave!"

Raiola's words directly confused Pogba: "Force Jose to leave, how...how to do it?"

"I have analyzed it before. You starting in the team is probably the decision of the management. There is a guy with more power than Mourinho who controls Chelsea's lineup. In that guy's heart, you are more important than Mourinho!"

"so what?"

"You can try to deliberately cause conflicts with Mourinho during training or life, and see if you can still start next time."

"If you keep having conflicts with Mourinho but always start in the end, it means our guess is right"

Pogba kept nodding, and finally realized that he didn't understand, so he continued to ask: "Then what?"

“And then we won.”

"Come, I'll tell you what to do"

……

At 2 a.m. on February 23rd, Beijing time, the two teams that were about to start the game announced their starting lineups. Among Chelsea's starting lineup, Paul Pogba, who was guilty of contradicting the coach, was on the list.

Comment section of the football expert.

[Leaking secrets in the locker room will result in a penalty, is this what a Premier League giant is like? 】

[Isn’t one game enough? Pogba’s level doesn’t matter if he gets a little less punishment. Hazard is late for training every day, and Mourinho doesn’t say anything.]

[It's so funny, Pogba didn't just leak the information, he also hired reporters to speak for him. Mourinho was so embarrassed, how could this make Pogba so arrogant? ]

[What can we do? Chelsea is relying on the 3 million this season. Can Chelsea beat Atletico Madrid without Pogba? ]

[Pogba's talent is phenomenal. If you don't let Pogba play and Chelsea doesn't use Pogba, they will be eliminated in the round of 16 in this season's Champions League! ]

Before the 20th, most Chelsea fans still preferred Mourinho, but after the 20th, public opinion changed. A series of newspapers such as Mundo Deportivo and L'Equipe were almost praising the Frenchman to the sky.

Fans are ordinary people, and their views are easily influenced by public opinion. Everyone also remembers Mundo Deportivo's evaluation of Pogba: the world's best midfielder in three years.

With an immediate market value of 1 million euros and becoming one of the best players in the world within three years, Pogba's status in the hearts of Chelsea fans is no less than that of Jiang Yuan last season.

But there is a conflict between Mourinho and Pogba, what should we do?
The Portuguese won four league titles with Chelsea, but the fact is that these four titles were not won consecutively, and Mourinho has never won the Champions League with Chelsea, which also means that he is destined to not get the absolute obedience of Chelsea fans.

Pogba who costs 8000 million can leave, but Pogba who costs 1 million must not leave!

As for the conflict between the two...

Or Mourinho should just take a step back?
“Everyone pays attention”

In the visiting team's locker room at the Vicente Calderón Stadium, Mourinho skillfully gave a pre-match speech. All 18 players from the starting lineup to the substitutes were sitting on the bench, adjusting their socks or shin guards while listening to Mourinho's instructions.

"You all know that our opponent today was very strong, especially in defense. Atletico's defensive tactics were very good."

Mourinho analyzed it carefully, and it sounded very organized, but these words were actually improvisations by the Portuguese. This is also what makes Mourinho different from other coaches, he can always come up with endless words in a short time.

"If nothing unexpected happens, they will send out a 550 or similar formation. At that time, there will be a lot of people on the defensive line. If we want to score a goal, we must find a way to narrow the disadvantage in personnel."

Mourinho looked at Azpilicueta and Ake respectively. The pressure on the two Chelsea full-backs in today's game was relatively large. As Mourinho said, if the opposing team has more defenders, we must find a way to narrow the gap in numbers if we want to score.

The central defender can't come out, so the only option is to let the full-back push forward.

"I know"

Azpilicueta raised one hand, obviously he had anticipated today's situation.

"Then……"

Mourinho turned to look at Brown, wanting the latter to remind him if there was anything he had not mentioned. Brown glanced at the notebook and shook his head.

"Ok, right, everyone gather here"

At Mourinho's call, the players in the locker room stood up and formed a circle. Pogba stood directly on the first position on Mourinho's left hand side because of his seat. Jiang Yuan reacted quickly and stretched out a hand to block the two of them.

“Paul, come on!”

"Of course!"

……

The dressing room at the Calderón Stadium is on the basement level, and players have to go up a staircase consisting of 21 steps to get to the pitch.

"Woww!!"

The Atletico Madrid team song sounded at the scene, followed by the Champions League entrance music. As the entrance music sounded, the referee led the players of both teams slowly out of the steps.

In the middle of the stadium, 18 volunteers wearing gray vests waved the black and white football flag of the Champions League, and the circular icon made a rustling sound as it shook violently.

Players from both teams walked to their team logos and stood still.

next second.

"Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump."

“Ce sont les meilleures equipes (French)”

"Sie sind die allerbesten Mannschaften (German)"

“The main event (English)”

"..."

The sound of "Champions League Anthem" at the scene was very shocking. Jiang Yuan held the fans' hands tightly. He hadn't heard the theme song of the Champions League for 2 or 3 months.

Different from the passionate team songs of the teams in the five major leagues, the UEFA Champions League theme song is very ceremonial, making the fans at the scene and even in the live broadcast room remain in awe, as if they were attending the coronation ceremony of a European emperor.

It is no exaggeration to say that this song has inspired everyone to feel patriotic for a country that does not exist at all.

The music gets louder and louder, coupled with the sound of the flags floating up and down behind them, even the most tired and sleepy players will become extremely excited when they encounter this moment.

Both are top leagues, but the Champions League is more solemn than the Premier League. This is because qualification for the Champions League is hard-won, and the number of games is much less than that of the league.

This theme song, in three languages, English, German and French, tells the athletes present: You must devote yourself to the competition!

At 2:45, the live broadcast room screen turned green and then white.

UEFA Championship League & Heineken
UEFA Championship League & GAZPROM
【Official Partner of UEFA Champions League】

"CCTV, CCTV, good evening, dear audience friends, this is the live broadcast of the first leg of the 2016-17 UEFA Champions League quarter-finals, Atletico Madrid from La Liga vs Chelsea from the Premier League at home."

"As you can see, both teams are ready to play on the field. Now let me introduce the starting lineups of both teams. First up is Atletico Madrid, wearing red and white striped jerseys, attacking from the right side of the screen to the left!"

Atletico Madrid (4-2-2)

Goalkeeper: Moya

Defenders: Felipe, Savic, Jimenez, Vrsaljko
Midfielders: Carrasco, Koke, Gabi, Saul
Forwards: Griezmann, Gameiro
Head coach: Simeone

There are many different playing styles among teams in different leagues. In the Premier League, everyone likes to play 4231, but in La Liga, 442 is the absolute mainstream.

Of course, the same 442 formation has different concepts when applied to different teams. According to Mourinho's inference, Simeone's 442 can last for a maximum of 15 minutes, after which they will start to park the bus.

The game had just begun and Atletico Madrid's team song had not yet been finished. Chelsea took advantage of the first kick-off and launched a quick break. It was still the most classic routine. Ibrahimovic passed the ball back to Pogba, and then Pogba made a long pass to the frontcourt.

This kind of surprise attack is very feasible, because once it succeeds, it can create a very threatening attack. Unfortunately, Atletico Madrid had already guessed that Chelsea would do this, and locked Falcao and Jiang Yuan's positions in advance.

Especially for Jiang Yuan, Atletico Madrid also gave enough respect to this newly crowned billionaire. As soon as Pogba made a long pass, Saul pulled and dragged Jiang Yuan, fearing that Jiang Yuan would run past him without even knowing the direction of the attack.

The two were about to fight when Saul realized that Pogba's long pass was actually for Falcao.

"Nima's"

Jiang Yuan pushed Saul away and began to look for an opportunity to advance, but the situation on Falcao's side was not very good. Felipe blocked the position in advance. Falcao was not good at confrontation, and he had no way to deal with Felipe. Finally, Felipe protected the ball with his back, Savic took the ball and turned sideways, passing it to Jimenez who came to the right to respond, successfully completing the ferry from left to right.

call!
Mourinho swung his arms and tried to launch a sneak attack at the beginning, but for an experienced team like Atletico, Chelsea's intentions were too obvious.

They are known as the iron-blooded Atletico Madrid. Wouldn't it be embarrassing if they were ambushed by you?

"Go back, go back!"

Hazard noticed Pogba running up from the left wing to support and pushed him back directly. Chelsea's counterattack was awesome, but Atletico's counterattack was not bad either. Pogba absolutely could not have run out at this time.

okok
Pogba paused and temporarily gave up pressing forward. Jiang Yuan from the left sideline suddenly rushed out and ran towards Jimenez. At the same time, Falcao pressed towards Savic.

Chelsea's frontcourt is top-notch in the top five leagues, but that doesn't mean Chelsea's players are good. That's one reason, but not the main one. The core reason why Chelsea's frontcourt can break through all the defenses in the Premier League is their rhythm. Take the last wave for example, Jiang Yuan and Falcao directly strangled Atletico's only two central defenders.

Falcao was very smart. He did not rush directly towards Savic, but left a way. After Ibrahimovic came up, Falcao turned to Koke to maximize the utilization.

As for Jiang Yuan, as a pure attacker, Jiang Yuan doesn't need to think so much, just rush to the end.

!

Jimenez should have passed the ball forward at this time, but to be on the safe side, the central defender chose to pass it back.

Leave it to goalkeeper Moya!

"Chelsea put a lot of pressure on the frontcourt, and Atletico Madrid encountered problems in passing the ball in the backcourt, very serious problems!"

"I believe that the Atletico fans in the live broadcast room should be very nervous now, and the Atletico coaching staff should also think of a solution. After all, not being able to get the ball out from the back is indeed a very serious problem."

Jiang Yuan and Ibrahimovic both play in a relatively aggressive style, which will put a lot of pressure on Atletico's defensive players.

As for goalkeeper Moya, the Spaniard himself is a goalkeeper who is good at attacking and long passes, but the two forwards Griezmann and Gameiro are 1 meters tall and 76 meters tall respectively. Moya can imagine what it would be like if he made a long pass to the frontcourt.

This is very uncomfortable.

The problem was very serious. The live camera was given to coach Simeone, who was chewing gum at the time, and there was no sign of nervousness on his expression.

In the 10th minute of the game, Simeone directed the players on the field to form a bus, 541 formation, leaving only Griezmann in front as center.

He is called a center forward, but because he plays very far back, it is not wrong to call Griezmann a midfielder.

Atletico took the initiative to defend, and Chelsea was sure to make a big push. In the 21st minute, Jiang Yuan suddenly made a forward run on the wing, forcing Saul to make a mistake. The pass originally sent to Vrsaljko was not strong enough and was caught by Jiang Yuan who rushed out.

"Joder!"

Simeone, who witnessed this scene up close, was so frightened that he spoke his native language and loudly signaled the players to pay attention to defending Jiang Yuan.

Jiang Yuan didn't show any courtesy to Atletico and ran forward with the ball. In order to avoid physical contact with Vrsaljko, Jiang Yuan ran diagonally, aiming at Atletico's penalty area.

It seems to be a very smart choice, but in fact, this decision is problematic. When Jiang Yuan ran forward about 7 or 8 meters, Gabi and Vrsaljko blocked Jiang Yuan from the front and the back.

"shit!"

Jiang Yuan felt something was wrong and realized that his previous choice was wrong.

Looking for teammates, Hazard and Ibrahimovic were both outside the penalty area, and their positions were very ordinary, so Jiang Yuan could only choose to do it alone.

Facing Gabi right in front of him, Jiang Yuan chose to ride his bicycle closer, while constantly glancing to the side with his peripheral vision.

Before stepping into the penalty area, Jiang Yuan needed to be wary of Vrsaljko behind him to prevent Vrsaljko from knocking him down directly.

After getting close to Gabi, Jiang Yuan pulled the ball to the bottom line with his right foot. It seemed that he was going to pass the ball to the middle, but he was actually pulling the ball to his left foot.

Snapped!
Kick the ball with your left foot and go straight to the middle!
!

Gabi was quick to move and stretched out his left foot to stop Jiang Yuan from cutting in. He thought he had blocked the attack, but unexpectedly Jiang Yuan's right foot suddenly twisted.

With a "pop" sound, Jiang Yuan completed a through-the-crotch pass to Gabi. Azpilicueta ran into the penalty area from behind Gabi and used his left foot to pass the ball to the front of the small penalty area in the middle.

Ibrahimovic always had a keen sense of goal. The Swede pushed Savic away, rushed up from the middle and poked the ball.

boom!
Moya's butt hit the grass heavily, and the Atletico goalkeeper used his Guanyin Lotus posture to block Ibrahimovic's shot, and the bounced ball fell to Savic's feet.

He had already escaped from danger, but unexpectedly Hazard suddenly rushed up at this moment and stepped between the ball and Savage, making Savage dare not move at all.

"Hazard, get the ball! Get away!"

"Adjust yourself and look at your teammates at the same time. Their positions are not very good!"

"I can only do it myself, but Hazard is controlling the ball with his left foot, which is his weak foot."

"Fight yourself!"

"Hey! This is a huge, huge mistake!"

The sound of his shoe touching the ball was heard, and Hazard fired a cannon towards the stands of the Calderon Stadium.

"Wow!"

Atletico Madrid fans in the stands exclaimed, and an uncle on the second floor hugged the ball, then pushed it downwards with one hand. The ball was sent down little by little and finally returned to the court.

"Jesus!"

Hazard grabbed his hair with both hands, and it was obvious that he was not very satisfied with his shot.

Jiang Yuan ran over and high-fived Hazard: "You ate too much barbecue"

"what?"

Hazard spread his hands helplessly.

The game continued. The failure of an attack did not discourage Chelsea's players. Mourinho immediately instructed the two full-backs Azpilicueta and Ake to increase the frequency of forward runs.

Keep inserting it, I don’t believe that I can’t ejaculate!

来到第37分钟，这时候场上的比分依旧是0：0，但切尔西这边的控球率已经达到80%了，甚至在31-34这3分钟时间里，切尔西的控球率来到了100%。

With a high ball possession rate, fans in the live broadcast room also saw a feast of passing and controlling performed by all Chelsea players.

It’s fun to watch, but you just can’t score a goal!
It’s still the 37th minute!

"Chelsea's player with the ball is Pogba, who is looking for a chance to pass the ball"

"None of my teammates in the frontcourt have found any good open space, which is a challenge for Pogba. Here he comes! He dribbles the ball forward by himself. Pogba's idea is very bold!"

"Kante will follow and serve as a passing point for Pogba!"

As early as when Pogba just joined Chelsea last year, the CCTV commentator introduced the Frenchman's technical characteristics, which are very comprehensive, especially good at advancement and long passes.

Long passes are Pogba's talent. He can keenly capture and even predict the movement of his teammates. Pushing forward is also Pogba's talent. A 1-meter-tall defensive midfielder, this monster-level confrontational defensive midfielder is extremely rare in any league.

After knocking Koke away, Pogba successfully reached the top of the arc. Facing Gabi and Griezmann who were trying to steal the ball at the same time, Pogba chose to pass the ball to Kante, who then made a straight pass to the right.

The one with the ball now is Falcao!
"Chelsea finally found a new opportunity, Falcao, can Falcao seize this opportunity, Hazard run over to meet it"

"Falcao could have gone down the flank himself, but he chose to pass the ball to Hazard, Hazard..."

"Ugh! Hazard suddenly paused after getting the ball, and Carrasco ran past him!"

"Hazard, kick a high ball with your right foot into the penalty area!"

"Ibrahimovic was near the penalty spot, but Hazard passed the ball to Jiang Yuan at the back post."

"Jiang Yuan, head the ball!"

duang!

The ball hit the crossbar, bounced upwards, and finally hung on the net of the goal.

[This...it feels like Chelsea is in average form today. What's going on? ]

[Hazard fired a cannon shot, Jiang Yuan hit a crossbar, there weren't many chances to begin with, and the two players who were most likely to score the most goals were not very good]

[Traditional performing arts, after the value exceeds 100 million, they will play a few poor games]

[Atletico Madrid's bus is really disgusting. Why do they play like this? The game is not interesting anymore! ]

[Pure attack and defense is indeed not as exciting as the transition between offense and defense, but Atletico Madrid just parked the bus and it was not a foul. It was not easy to beat Chelsea. If you want Atletico Madrid to beat Chelsea by attacking, Simeone might as well just resign.]

[Hey, if they play a head-on attack, Atletico will definitely lose. If they park the bus, they still have a chance. Chelsea is in average form today.]

[Zhaqiuwang's anti-aircraft gun is really amazing...]

[Chelsea has only had one shot on target so far in the game, and it was Ibrahimovic's shot. Are Chelsea losing their temper? ]

[It's not that Chelsea is weak, it's that Atletico's defense is too damn awesome. With 10 defenders, even if you let Ronaldo and Messi cooperate, they can't score a goal.]

Fans were talking about it, saying that the Chelsea striker didn’t wear shooting boots today and his feet felt very ordinary.

In fact, as players on the field, Jiang Yuan and Hazard believed that their shooting feel was pretty good. The reason why they failed to score was mainly due to lack of opportunities.

There have been a total of 5 shots since the start of the first half. No matter how good Chelsea's strikers are, it is difficult to score!
Jiang Yuan was knocked away in the air and fell to the ground. Pogba ran over to help him up. Hazard, who was returning to defense, ran over and patted Jiang Yuan on the back: "Did you eat too much barbecue?"

"come on!"

It was exactly the same reaction as Hazard.

"Pay attention to marking, pay attention to marking!"

Simeone was shouting and gesticulating outside the field. As long as he found that a Chelsea player was unguarded, the first thing Simeone did was to remind the players on the field.

This also resulted in several Chelsea forwards playing very uncomfortably today.

Especially Jiang Yuan, take the present for example, Ake on the right noticed the empty space where Jiang Yuan ran out, and passed the ball to him with a low kick. Jiang Yuan rushed forward to grab it, but was directly dragged to the ground by Saul.

Atletico Madrid's attitude is very clear. Even if we get a technical foul or a yellow card, we will not let Jiang Yuan get the ball.

Jiang Yuan rolled on the ground for one and a half circles, got up, and spat at his feet.

CCTV live broadcast room gave out a new data.

Number of times violated (Jiang Yuan): 7 times.

Number of yellow cards received (Jiang Yuan): 2 times.

The fans in the live broadcast room finally reacted.

Jiang Yuan is being kicked around like a ball by Atletico Madrid!

……

(End of this chapter)