They defeated PSV Eindhoven 3-1 at home and successfully advanced to the Champions League semi-finals in the 2004-05 season. Tottenham Hotspur's stunning performance in the Champions League attracted close attention from the entire European football world!
Although Tottenham attracted many people's attention when they defeated Chelsea and Manchester United to win the Premier League runner-up last season, if you compare the scope and shock of these two times, the former is obviously much smaller than this time. .
It's not surprising that this happens. You know, in the eyes of fans, although Tottenham finished second in the Premier League last season, many people believe that this was mainly because several major competitors were in trouble - Manchester United first lost in the summer Beckham was the midfield pillar, and then the defense general Ferdinand was banned for a long time due to drug testing problems, coupled with the aging of the main lineup; Chelsea, with a lot of stars, was overly cautious and conservative by Ranieri. The guy ruined the good situation with his life.
What's more, Tottenham are a completely new team in the Champions League. Without experience in European competitions, they will easily encounter a series of problems in a multi-line combat situation. Coupled with the fact that rivals such as Arsenal and Chelsea have optimized their lineups during the summer transfer period, these are enough to cause many difficulties in their journey to the Champions League.
However, Tottenham's performance shocked all those who were not optimistic about it - in the face of so many unfavorable conditions, this new Champions League team actually went all the way, defeating Ajax, Bayern, Juventus, Real Madrid, PSV and many other strong opponents have qualified for the semi-finals of the Champions League!
Moreover, in the just-concluded quarter-finals, Mourinho's Chelsea were eliminated by Juventus after two games totaling 180 minutes, relying on the advantage of more away goals. In addition, although the British media has always liked to hype and is afraid of causing chaos in the world, they have always had an extremely keen sense of smell and know very well which people and forces must not be provoked. Therefore, after becoming the only representative of the Premier League team in the Champions League this season, Tottenham Hotspur has naturally become the target of unanimous praise from the British media!
Tottenham advanced to the semi-finals of the Champions League and became the biggest dark horse in this season's Champions League. This result naturally brought them many positive or negative impacts. The most direct negative impact is that more and more teams are making transfer offers for Tottenham players, hoping to successfully poach these players who have proven their strength from White Hart Lane!
Real Madrid is interested in Robben and Ronaldo to make up for the decline in midfield and frontcourt strength after aging superstars such as Zidane and Figo; Juventus hopes to poach Mascherano and give Emerson the defensive midfielder position. to obtain a qualified partner; Manchester United is preparing to continue to use Ferguson's relationship to acquire some high-quality assets from Tottenham, such as Vidic and Frank Ribery, both of whom are the key targets of David Gill's investigation!
"Reject! Reject them all!" When Marotta came to ask how to deal with these transfer offers, George's attitude was very clear, "Tell them that Tottenham will not accept any offer now, let alone We will start any negotiations on player transfers!"
At this critical moment, George must make this tough stance to temporarily dissuade all those who covet his own players. If at this juncture there are players who are unable to devote themselves to the game due to transfer matters, then it will not be Tottenham Hotspur who will suffer!
What gratifies George is that the players did not become dissatisfied with him or the club because of his statement, or directly expressed their hope of leaving. On the one hand, this is because the wages offered by Tottenham Hotspur under George are considered top-notch in European football. Even if they transfer to other teams, it will be difficult for them to earn more than they currently earn; on the other hand, This is because Tottenham are now quite hopeful of competing for the Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup at the same time. Under the stimulation of honor, no one is willing to disturb the morale of the military at this time, thus affecting the status of himself and the team!
Therefore, from the perspective of Tottenham players, whether it is a transfer or a contract extension, it is best to wait until the overall situation has been decided. As for now, they'd better concentrate on the game and try to win one or two championships at the end of the season!
Since Tottenham basically played a game every two or three days on average during this period, in the 32nd round of the Premier League two days later, George only brought 18 players on the roster to Liverpool, leaving the rest Everyone stayed in London to rest!
Although the Red Army has to deal with the UEFA Cup competition while competing for the top four in the league, compared with the Champions League where there are so many strong players, the pressure of the UEFA Cup is obviously much less. What's more, compared to the tasteless UEFA Cup, Liverpool undoubtedly attaches more importance to a ticket to the Champions League next season. Therefore, in this game, Benitez naturally sent out the strongest lineup without reservation, with the purpose of defeating Tottenham and thus retaining the hope of competing for fourth place in the standings!
Although George made a substantial rotation of the starting lineup and tried his best to ensure that the players were in the best condition to challenge Liverpool at Anfield, the Champions League match against PSV in midweek and just two days of rest made it difficult for them to It is simply impossible for Tottenham players to be in such good shape to deal with the eagerly awaiting Red Army!
Under the circumstances, Tottenham's visit to Anfield actually fell into a hard battle against Liverpool, which was much inferior in strength. Naturally, it is reasonable.
However, despite having the upper hand on the field, Liverpool has never been able to penetrate Cech's fingers. Whether it was Baros who started the game or Cisse who came on as a substitute, they did nothing under the defense of Dawson and Vermaelen. Their demeanor as European Cup Golden Boots and former French Ligue 1 Golden Boots could not be seen at all!
In the 87th minute of the game, the persistent Liverpool finally found the defensive loophole in Tottenham's substitute lineup. Gerrard distributed the ball in the middle, and Riise sent a direct pass from the left sideline. Kewell in front stopped the ball and made a slight adjustment, then faced Kompany who came to block and made a pass with his left foot. At this time, after scoring the ball, Gerrard ran all the way from the midfield to the Tottenham penalty area, leaping high to face Dawson's defense, and directly shook his head twelve yards in front of the goal!
Although Cech made a save immediately, Gerrard's header was too powerful and too fast. Only the tip of his glove touched the ball. The Czech goalkeeper was unable to prevent the ball from flying into his guard. in the gate!
One to zero! With Gerrard's lion's head, Liverpool finally defeated the league leader who played as a substitute at Anfield and won an extremely crucial victory and three precious points!
Tottenham Hotspur, who lost this game, undoubtedly suffered a heavy blow. Because after losing, not only did Tottenham's lead over Chelsea in the standings shrink to just one point, but the magical record of 47 consecutive unbeaten league games also came to an end!
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