February 29, afternoon.
Wembley Stadium, located in northwest London, was packed today.
Nearly 90,000 spectators came to the scene to watch the League Cup final!
The Wembley Stadium where the game will be held today is the largest professional football stadium in Europe and can also be said to be one of the greatest stadiums in the world. It is also known as the temple of world football.
It is the home stadium of the England national team and has hosted the World Cup finals, Olympic football finals, European Cup finals, eight UEFA Champions League finals, and it is also the final venue for England's domestic cup competitions.
During this period, it also witnessed England's glorious moment of winning the 1966 World Cup.
It is the dream of countless people to compete in such a hall of glory venue full of history.
Pan Yi and his Chelsea team have come here for the second time this season.
The last time they defeated Arsenal 3-0 in the Community Shield final, they won Chelsea's first championship this season.
"Just treat this place as your home, we will come often."
When walking into the field through the players' tunnel, Pan Yi smiled and said to Arteta beside him.
Arteta smiled and nodded.
He understood what Pan Yi meant by this.
Because in addition to the Community Shield and League Cup finals, the FA Cup semi-finals and finals will also be held at Wembley Stadium.
If Chelsea can participate in all these games, everyone will have at least four opportunities to stand here in a season.
If you come to Wembley so often, wouldn't it feel like home?
Of course, this "home" only represents the familiarity with this place, which is still incomparable with Stamford Bridge, his home stadium.
For example, in the stands now, the fans of Chelsea and Manchester City are separated and occupy the surrounding stands. It can be said that they are clearly divided and evenly matched.
In such a neutral venue, the distribution of tickets is of course even, so the number of fans on both sides is about the same.
Both sides also sent their main forces to fight.
Compared with the previous round of 16 match against Chelsea in the FA Cup, Manchester City's lineup has certainly undergone extensive changes this time.
On the front line are Aguero, Sterling and David Silva.
The midfield three will be Fernandinho, Yaya Toure and Fernando.
The back four will be Clichy, Otamendi, Kompany and Sagna.
Goalkeeper Joe Hart.
As for Chelsea, except for the goalkeeper who still uses the second-door Martin, the other positions are basically the main force.
Except for Seat B who had a cold and needed rest, he was not included in the squad.
Forwards: Harry Kane, Lukaku
Midfielder: Marcos Alonso, Hazard, Matic, Kante, Azpilicueta.
Defenders: Ake, Van Dijk, David Luiz.
Goalkeeper: Martinez.
This is mainly because Pan Yi promised Martin to use him in the domestic cup, so even in the finals.
Besides, although Martin is not as good as Courtois in terms of playing the ball, his goal-line skills are not much worse, and he often makes magical saves to save the team.
Another point is that Martin's ability to save penalty kicks is also outstanding, and he can still play a key role in such a game that determines the outcome.
As soon as the game started, Martin withstood the test.
Manchester City launched an almost crazy press against Chelsea from the very beginning.
In the 2nd minute, Manchester City successfully stole the ball from Chelsea near the halfway line.
After Yaya Toure stole the ball, he quickly launched a counterattack and handed it to the left.
Clichy cut in at high speed from the left, handed the ball to Sterling, and then went straight to the baseline along the sideline.
After attracting Azpilicueta's attention, Sterling suddenly passed the ball across.
After stopping the ball, Fernandinho shook off Matic's defense and fired directly.
However, the Brazilian midfielder's shot was still blocked by Matic, who was focused and stretched his legs.
After David Silva stopped the ball, he quickly passed the ball forward to Sterling.
The happy Englishman dribbled the ball forward quickly, so fast that even Azpilicueta was chasing him all the way, but he couldn't find a chance to make a move.
After Sterling rushed into Chelsea's 30-meter area, he was already leaning in the middle and passed diagonally to the right rib space.
Aguero followed up to stop the ball, and at this moment he faced David Luiz who had retreated to the line of the penalty area.
The Chelsea central defender chose to grab the ball and pounced directly on Aguero.
But Aguero is a brave man. In a one-on-one situation, he first made an emergency stop and then suddenly threw away David Luiz.
He dribbled the ball in from the right rib, to the right side of the top of the penalty area, and hit a long curved shot with his left foot.
This shot was very sudden, but Chelsea goalkeeper Martin was very focused. After moving quickly, he flew out to save the ball and lifted the ball over the crossbar with one hand.
When Martin landed, the entire Wembley Stadium burst into thunderous applause.
"Chelsea goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez was brilliant."
"This goalkeeper from Argentina previously played for Arsenal, but he was only the team's third goalkeeper. It was difficult to get playing time in the team, so he could only be rented out most of the time."
"But after being introduced to Chelsea by Pan Yi, although he still couldn't compete with Courtois for the main goalkeeper position, he got stable playing time in the League Cup and FA Cup."
"And he performed quite well, helping the team reach the League Cup final and the FA Cup quarter-finals. He is the best goalkeeper in these two cup competitions, bar none."
"It is reported that Emiliano Martinez has attracted the attention of many teams. Even Wenger is considering whether to repurchase the goalkeeper who joined Arsenal's youth training camp at the age of 17..."
"Let's look at this save again and see why so many people want him."
"You can see from the slow motion that Aguero's arc is very beautiful, almost going straight to the blind corner of the goal."
"But Emiliano Martinez reacted very quickly. After pushing his feet to the ground, he quickly moved to the back point and then reached out to block the ball."
"As the saying goes, a good goalkeeper is worth half of the team, and Chelsea's second goalkeeper is so good. It's really impressive how thick their bench is."
"It is precisely because their lineup is so deep that they are able to attack on all fronts and have not shown any signs of fatigue so far!"
"Of course, Manchester City is fully prepared today, just to prevent Chelsea from winning all the championships!"
"Today's League Cup final, the game entered the fast lane from the beginning, and neither team held back at all."
——
However, in addition to Martin, Manchester City's goalkeeper Joe Hart also showed a brave state today.
When people talk about Joe Hart, they often only think of him as the backdrop for those god-level goals, but sometimes they forget that he is also the kind of goalkeeper with extremely quick reactions and excellent goal-line skills.
In fact, Joe Hart is already considered the best goalkeeper in England after Seaman, otherwise he would not have played in a Premier League champion like Manchester City, nor would he have secured his main position in the England national team.
Of course he has his weaknesses, that is, he is just a traditional English goalkeeper with a narrow attack range and average ball-playing ability.
When the team attacks and the front line moves forward, the goalkeeper needs to be good at attacking and have a wide range of control, which is not his characteristic.
In other words, he is better at playing as a squatting goalkeeper - a bit like De Gea, but not qualified for the duties of a sweeper goalkeeper.
So when Guardiola arrived, he had no future at Manchester City.
However, like today, Chelsea's strength took advantage and quickly controlled the situation. After controlling the ball, Joe Hart had many opportunities to perform.
Less than three minutes after Aguero tested Martin with a left-footed shot, Chelsea launched an attack from the left.
Hazard passed the ball to the center of the penalty area with his left foot. Lukaku beat Otamendi and headed the ball into the far corner. When it was still in the upper right corner, Joe Hart flew sideways and fished the ball out. The same thing. Won applause from the audience.
This is just the beginning.
This head-to-head battle organized by the two teams from the very beginning made the entire Wembley Stadium of nearly 90,000 fans excited to watch.
After that, almost every one or two minutes, there would be a threatening attack or even a shot.
Chelsea's shots are obviously more.
However, Joe Hart's outstanding performance on the goal line prevented Chelsea's several threatening shots from scoring.
The England international was at his best from the start and Chelsea were soon punished for their missed chances.
In the 25th minute, after Manchester City stole the ball in midfield, they quickly broke into the frontcourt.
Clichy passed the ball across the left to Sterling in the ribs, who then passed it across to Fernandinho.
After Fernandinho passed the ball to Yaya Toure, he quickly started and ran laterally.
After receiving the counterattack from the Ivorian, he passed the ball to the penalty area to find Aguero, changed his direction and went straight into the penalty area.
But Aguero's counterattack failed to reach Fernandinho's feet smoothly, but was blocked by Van Dijk.
At this time, Sagna, who came up from the right, received the ball near the wing and passed directly to Aguero, but this time the ball was pushed out by Ake.
The ball still fell to the right, and Sagna ran to the rib area to catch the ball.
As soon as he stopped the ball, he passed the ball across the ball before David Luiz could rush forward.
David Silva stood on the right side of the top area of the arc, turned his back to the right, and without stopping the ball, he directly took the ball behind him.
As if the ball had eyes, it slid past David Luiz and appeared in the path of Yaya Toure.
The strong midfielder got the ball and headed into the penalty area, right into the space between Chelsea's three centre-backs.
The next thing was simple. Yaya Toure shot a close shot through Martin's goal and opened the scoring for Manchester City!
This goal can be said to have ignited the entire Wembley Stadium.
Manchester City scored first, something most people didn't expect.
But Chelsea quickly responded, silencing the cheering Manchester City fans, and instead the dark blue stands on the other side jumped.
In the 27th minute, Matic shot a shot from more than 30 meters away from the goal, creating a world-shattering wave and equalizing the score for Chelsea!
This Serbian star always comes forward at critical moments!
In Pan Yi's previous life, he could be said to be Mourinho's favorite player. Basically, Mourinho would take Matic with him wherever he went.
And Matic has lived up to Mourinho's trust. Even at the age of 30 or 35, he will still run tirelessly on the court and contribute all his strength to the team.
For this reason, many fans affectionately call him "Donkey Teach", praising his diligent playing attitude.
Obviously, Pan Yi also admired Matic very much, so he was relieved to let him play in this final, and he really scored!
After scoring, Matic also rushed to the coaching bench to celebrate the goal with Pan Yi and the substitute players.
After Chelsea scored, Manchester City was still not conservative at all. They still insisted on their original style of play and started an offensive battle with Chelsea.
Both teams adopted high-position pressing tactics and let go of their hands and feet to attack, which made the game extremely exciting.
For a time, there was a lot of fighting on the scene, and both the fans at the scene and the audience in front of the TV were enjoying watching it.
"Perhaps Pellegrini has realized that defense is meaningless in the face of Chelsea's three-dimensional attack."
"Perhaps Mr. Pei wants to leave a wonderful game to the world before leaving office?"
"But no matter what, today's game can definitely be called a world-class duel. If it is a Champions League final-level game, I believe no one will have any objection."
"In such a fast-paced, high-level game, time flies really fast. The referee has already blown the whistle to end the first half!"
"Look at the faces of the fans in the stands. They all seem to be saying, ah, halftime is so soon?"
The score at halftime was 1:1.
This score does not reflect the excitement of the game at all.
In these 45 minutes, both sides kicked nearly 30 shots in total!
It was precisely because the defense of both sides showed world-class performance, especially the outstanding performance of the goalkeepers of both sides, that these shots were not converted into goals.
During the halftime break, neither head coach made any adjustments to the lineup or playing style.
It seems to be a tacit understanding, and it also seems to be a feeling of "encountering good talents and meeting opponents". Everyone wants to continue this competition, rather than which side shrinks the lineup.
At the beginning of the second half, Manchester City launched an attack from the start.
They launched an onslaught almost desperately, and their suffocating high-post press made everyone in the audience look stupid.
To be honest, if their opponent hadn't been Chelsea today, there was a high probability that they would have been defeated by them.
But under Pan Yi's calm command, Chelsea also used offense instead of defense, gradually defusing Manchester City's offensive attacks and creating many opportunities.
In the 50th minute, Hazard sent a wonderful pass, but Harry Kane's shot from the left side of the penalty area hit the post and unfortunately missed the opportunity to overtake the score.
But Chelsea made a comeback 3 minutes later. This time it was a pass from Kante. Lukaku's header from close range was saved by Joe Hart, but the ball fell right at the feet of Harry Kane.
Harry Kane fell to the ground and shot past his national team teammates.
2:1, Chelsea overtook the score!
It seems that Manchester City's situation is a bit dangerous.
But the Manchester City players were not discouraged at all, and still followed the established tactics to launch a fierce attack on Chelsea.
In the 65th minute, David Silva dribbled the ball into the left side of the penalty area and then turned back with his heel. Aguero followed up and shot into the far corner, breaking Chelsea's goal. 2:2, the two sides were back on the same starting line!
This goal also allowed Manchester City to once again suppress Chelsea's momentum.
But after playing for another ten minutes, Manchester City's full running and fighting finally brought disadvantages to themselves.
That is when his physical fitness began to decline and he began to gradually lose control of the scene.
This is actually what Pellegrini has been worried about early on.
His strategy is to press the whole game, strive to get a score advantage of one or two goals, and then shrink the defense in the last ten or twenty minutes after his physical fitness declines, and survive until the end.
This is the best way he can think of to beat Chelsea!
But unfortunately, after 75 minutes, the score on the field was 2:2, and they did not take the lead.
On the premise that the physical fitness of the overall players is not as good as Chelsea's, Manchester City adopted this desperate style of play. In the last ten minutes of the game, it seemed that it was beyond its capabilities, and the team's loopholes began to increase.
Pan Yi subsequently replaced Mbappe, Cancelo, Gnabry and other new players, which further amplified Manchester City's disadvantage in front of Chelsea!
In the 81st minute, Cancelo broke through from the left and passed in. Gnabry shot hard, helping Chelsea take the lead again! ! 3:2.
In the 90th minute, Mbappe got the ball in the middle and drove straight in, but no Manchester City player could keep up with him.
Mbappe easily rushed into the Manchester City penalty area, passed the attacking Joe Hart and then pushed the shot into the empty goal, 4:2.
This goal also killed the final suspense of the game.
Chelsea finally defeated Manchester City 4:2 and won the League Cup, ending this exciting battle! ——
After the game, when Chelsea players were celebrating their victory happily, Manchester City players were a little disappointed, but had no regrets.
They all tried their best.
Pan Yi walked over and shook hands with Pellegrini: "Wonderful game."
"Wonderful game, and congratulations on winning the championship." Pellegrini said heartily.
Indeed, in the past few seasons, he has not taken advantage of Pan Yi at all, no matter what tactics he uses...
If you say you are still not convinced by Pan Yi, you are definitely deceiving yourself.
It's a pity that he is leaving Manchester City soon, and maybe also the Premier League, so he won't have the chance to compete with Pan Yi so happily.
Well, it’s not a pity.
As a coach, when you encounter a monster like Pan Yi, you will always feel a deep sense of powerlessness. It is better to meet him less often.
"Where are you going after the season is over?" Pan Yi suddenly asked.
This can be regarded as a kind of concern among peers.
As for Pellegrini, although strictly speaking he is not the real top player in the world, he is still very good in the coaching field, otherwise he would not be able to join a team like Manchester City.
But precisely because he was far from the top, he only stayed at Real Madrid for one year and was about to be replaced by Guardiola at Manchester City.
"I don't know, maybe I will go back to La Liga." Pellegrini sighed, then smiled, "Anyway, I won't go to Paris Saint-Germain."
The two burst into laughter.
Pellegrini became famous in La Liga. It was at Villarreal that he became famous and was noticed by Real Madrid.
Later, he went to Malaga and finally to Real Betis.
Perhaps Peigong's technical style of play can be fully realized in the mid-range teams of La Liga.
"I think it's good to go to Paris Saint-Germain, at least the salary is high." Pan Yi joked.
"Farewell, I am an old man who wants to lose face." Pellegrini waved his hand, "Although I have been dismissed a lot, at least I can complete a complete season every time. If I am fired in the locker room, I will But I’m too embarrassed to see anyone.”
Pan Yi smiled and said: "Let me introduce you to a place where the salary is not less than going to Paris, and the pressure will not be as great, how about it?"
Pellegrini's eyes widened: "There are not many clubs with wages that are not lower than Paris... except for the Premier League BIG6, which are Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, and Bayern, right? How can these teams not have pressure?"
"Haha, don't stick to the five major leagues." Pan Yi smiled even more happily, then pointed to the east with his hand, "There is also a sixth league over there!"
"You mean...Chinese Super League?" Pellegrini reacted immediately.
In the past few seasons, the Chinese Super League has been throwing money around and has poached many people from the five major leagues and even wealthy teams. Of course, it will also attract the attention of these coaches.
They may not know the level of the Chinese Super League, but they all know one thing, that is, the Chinese Super League is extremely rich!
"Yes, after you take Manchester City to finish this season, I can help you contact a team to check it out."
The team Pan Yi is talking about is Hebei China Fortune Team.
This season’s Chinese Super League is about to begin, and Hebei China Fortune is preparing to recruit players.
People like Argentina international Lavezzi, Cote d'Ivoire international Gervinho, Cameroon national team captain Mbia, and Turkish international Gulum are all on their purchase list.
And their current head coach is... the future head coach of the Dragon Kingdom national team, Brother Tiezi!
Of course, Brother Tiezi is still blowing his bangs in high spirits now, and has not yet qualified for the "Prisoner's Cup".
But his coaching level was indeed average. Later, with a team of this level in the Chinese Super League, he could only achieve a record of 23 games, 10 wins, 5 draws and 8 losses, and was finally dismissed.
And the person who took Brother Tiezi’s place was none other than Chilean engineer Pellegrini!
Therefore, Pan Yi was trying to be a "foreseeer" and offered Pellegrini to Hebei China Fortune as a favor.
And will Hebei China Fortune Land Development give Pan Yi face?
Nonsense, who is Pan Yi now?
He is almost universally recognized as the number one coach in the world, and he is from the Dragon Kingdom. It is very expensive to have a relationship with him. Pan Yi came to chat with him in person, why should he be so respectful?
Have you ever seen how Shanghai SIPG did business with Pan Yi?
80 million to buy Oscar, all at a fixed price without gasping!
And when Pan Yi said this, Pellegrini could only nod slightly and sighed: "We'll see when the time comes. Sorry to bother you. You are really a warm-hearted person! Not only will you do everything for Blanc After class, he spoke uprightly and..."
Before Pellegrini finished speaking, a staff member ran over and interrupted the chat between the two of them.
It turns out that the podium has been set up and the two teams can start preparing to receive their awards.
So, Pan Yi and Pellegrini shook hands again and returned to their respective teams.
Runner-up Manchester City took the stage first, followed closely by champion Chelsea.
This is the first time Pan Yi has won the League Cup since coming to the Premier League.
And this is also the fourth championship trophy Chelsea has won this season!
Of course, these four trophies are relatively unimportant.
Among the "seven crowns", there are three more important trophies, namely the FA Cup championship, the Premier League championship, and the Champions League championship!
These are also the three championships covered by the "Triple Crown" that everyone often talks about.
Therefore, next, Pan Yi will lead the team and continue to move forward!
(End of chapter)
