London, Stamford Bridge Stadium.
George Li on the sidelines covered his face with his hands and kept rubbing it up and down.
Just now, the referee on duty blew the whistle to end the game. Chelsea players hugged each other excitedly to celebrate that their team had entered the next round of the Champions League semi-finals.
In contrast, Leeds United's players lay on the ground, and most of the players covered their faces with their hands or held their heads.
The game ended. Chelsea scored at home with a header from Drogba's corner kick, breaking Leeds United's goal in the first half.
In the subsequent games, even if Leeds United kept using offense to try to rewrite the score, they all failed.
The result was a 2-2 draw on aggregate between the two teams, with Chelsea eliminating Leeds United through a key away goal.
"It's over, it's over, this year's Champions League is over for us." George Li said to himself.
Chris Kasper, who was standing aside, crossed his arms with his chest. After hearing what George Li said, he said to him: "So, now we are going to attack the league with all our strength."
"There is also the FA Cup." Colin McGee on the other side added with his hands in his pockets.
No one continued to discuss the topic.
The other coaches of Leeds United began to pack their things, and Sheridan came to George Lee and asked him if he needed to go to the court to give his players some encouragement and help them relax.
"Wait a moment, wait for someone to calm down first, and then we go up." George Li stretched out his hand to block Sheridan who wanted to step forward.
At the same time, Speed, McAllister, and Kelly, who had finished packing their things, also came over. Several coaches stood in a row and looked at their players.
"The Champions League is over, what do you think?" George Li asked several assistants around him.
"Let's continue next year." Casper shrugged, saying that he didn't care about losing the Champions League this season.
"We have made great progress. At least we have reached the top 16 and the top eight this season, right?" Sheridan said he is very satisfied.
McAllister and Speed did not speak, after all, they had just joined not long ago.
"That's right, let's at least go one step further next year and reach the top four." George Li suggested to several people.
At the same time, the Leeds United players on the field also gathered their spirits and began to stand up one after another. Their Champions League game was over, but there were other games waiting for them to fight.
"I thought you were going to say win the championship next season." McGee glanced at George Lee and said.
"That's not the case. You can't set goals that are too high or unreasonable for yourself, right?" George Li rolled his eyes at McGee and continued, "If we are still far from the goal in the end, wouldn't it be very disappointing? face."
On the court, Smith pulled up Bell, who was secretly wiping away tears, and squatted down to comfort the Welsh teenager sitting on the ground.
"Let's go, let's go too." George Li said to both sides, and then walked into the stadium first.
Behind him, several assistant coaches followed Li George into the field one after another, finding the young Leeds United players and comforting them.
Bell, Black, Granqvist, and Arnesen are all still young and still have a lot of time to chase the Big Ears Cup.
There are also Schmeichel, Ross, Sigurdsson off the court, and Milner, Baines, Sneijder, etc. sitting in the stands. They still have time, as long as George Lee is still in Leeds. One day together, they still have a chance to win the Champions League.
Every year, Leeds United are improving.
^^^
"Press up, press up."
George Li waved his hands desperately on the sidelines, beckoning his players to join in.
This is the 36th round of the Premier League, and the two sides fighting are Leeds United and Arsenal. Arsenal is currently ranked fourth this season. With two rounds of the league left, there is no big suspense about finishing fourth and entering the Champions League.
Arsenal is now in a stage where it is better than it is, and Liverpool behind it has no chance of catching up. It is impossible to catch up with Chelsea before it.
However, it is different here at Leeds United.
Prior to this, Leeds United had been 1 point behind Manchester United, but in the last round of the league, Manchester United was tied by Blackburn Rovers away from home, and Leeds United successfully won West Ham United and successfully overtook.
But just today, Manchester United defeated Chelsea 2-1 in an earlier game, helping Leeds United and itself win second place two rounds ahead of schedule, while regaining the top spot.
"Hey~"
Seeing that Leeds United had just hit the ball high with another shot, George Lee couldn't help but sigh.
Looking at the fourth official on the side, he was already holding up a sign to indicate the final 3 minutes of stoppage time. He felt that there was not much time left for Leeds United.
Not just game time, but the entire season is running out.
If Leeds United does not win this game, then Leeds United will fall behind again in the standings. Manchester United's opponents in the last two rounds of the league are West Ham United and Wigan Athletic, and they are not strong.
Therefore, there is a high probability that Manchester United will win these two opponents. In this way, even if Leeds United also wins the next Blackburn and Reading, it will still miss out on the championship.
Therefore, the key to Leeds United's season lies in these 5 minutes.
After Arsenal goalkeeper Fabianski placed the ball on the line of the small penalty area, he began to kick his legs and throw his hands away, stalling for time.
After urging the referee to no avail, he finally couldn't bear it and took out the yellow card.
It's just that Fabianski didn't care at all. He didn't play much time anyway, so he didn't know when he would get a yellow card next time.
Finally, after another half minute of delay, the ball was passed by Fabianski to Arsenal's full-back Clichy.
As soon as Clichy got the ball, he was immediately double-teamed by Kevin Davis, who was replaced in the second half, and Kuyt, who had moved to that position after Robben came off the field.
But Klich immediately passed the ball back to Fabianski.
Davis could only turn around and continue to press the opponent's goalkeeper, because if he didn't go up to press him, who knew how long the Arsenal goalkeeper would linger.
As a result, while still halfway, Fabianski passed the ball in the direction of Toure on the other side.
After Toure took the ball, he kicked the ball forward with a big foot.
The ball kept flying towards Arsenal's forward Bendtner today, and the Danish forward actually got the ball.
Leeds United immediately had two central defenders press forward at the same time, trying to grab the ball and then counterattack.
But Bendtner is very smart. He knows that he needs to delay the game at this time and cannot give the opponent a chance to steal the ball. The best way is to shoot directly, or to kick the ball away.
"Whoosh~"
Bendtner made a move similar to a big kick, and kicked the ball towards the Leeds United goal between the center circle and the penalty area.
Sure enough, the ball flew over the crossbar and went directly out of bounds.
Van der Sar quickly wanted to get the ball for the goal kick, but at this time Arsenal's ball boy did not throw the ball to Van der Sar, but ran away.
Van der Sar, who jumped anxiously, could only pick up the kicked ball by himself, which wasted a little time.
The ball was kicked out by him with a big kick, and Davis used all his strength to get into position and stop the ball. However, when he turned around, Alexander Song poked the ball away again.
After that, the referee blew the whistle to end the game.
The angry Leeds United players took over as the referee, and the Leeds United coaching staff also called on the fourth official. In such a crucial game, it ended because Arsenal frequently delayed time and the referee blew the whistle early. It would be frustrating for all Leeds United players and coaches.
However, all this is in vain. The only fault is that they themselves did not seize the opportunity.
