Chapter 434: Three Finals, Three Championships (Part 2) - The rage of revenge reaches the sidelines
Who won the last Premier League Ballon d'Or?
Cristiano Ronaldo at Manchester United at the time.
What about the one before that?
It was Michael Owen of Liverpool.
Both men achieved success in the Premier League before moving to Roma, but their subsequent trajectories were completely different.
What is the reason?
In addition to skills, environment, luck, competitors, etc., a very important factor is injury.
Owen became a starter for the national team and club too early, so that his physical development and muscle training could not keep up with the increase in game intensity. Eventually, his legs and knees developed lifelong hidden dangers, making the peak period of the former "Golden Boy" very short.
Looking back on his career, all the injuries originated from the hamstring tear during a high-speed rush after a confrontation against Leeds United at Elland Road on April 12, 1999.
If this kind of injury happened today, the player would definitely be sent to the operating room for surgery, followed by a thorough recovery period of about half a year. A typical example is Kevin Durant from the NBA, who was able to recover to a similar level after surgery even though his right Achilles tendon was ruptured.
However, due to the medical level at the time and Liverpool and England's need for Owen, he died hastily after receiving the wrong conservative treatment. From then on, the unbalanced power of his legs caused him to struggle with repeated injuries throughout his career.
This is obviously not a good thing, but it was once used by many people to warn the current rising stars in football - naturally including the former Chen Xiaoliang.
At the age of less than 20, he has to play more than 50 games in a season, most of which he will play the full game. The average running distance per game is more than 14 kilometers. In addition to offense and organization, he also has to undertake a lot of defensive tasks. This makes many people wonder how long Chen Xiaoliang can continue such an intense career, whether he will become ill from overwork and become the next Michael Owen.
Among the doubters is Klopp.
Whether it was out of sincerity or he hoped that Chen Xiaoliang would play less at Manchester United, Klopp once told reporters in an interview that if he were Chen Xiaoliang's head coach, he would not let him play under such a load, and implied that Mourinho and Ten Hag's use of Chen Xiaoliang was unscientific and even inhumane.
Although in addition to these two head coaches and even Gerrard have responded publicly that under the monitoring of modern scientific methods, Chen Xiaoliang's health level has been in good condition, and he is gifted and his body strength is far beyond that of ordinary people. Forcing him to sit on the bench will only make him and his teammates feel uncomfortable.
But to many people these words still sound like just excuses, and of course "these people" also include Klopp.
He has always firmly believed that there is no such person as Wolverine in this world, and that Chen Xiaoliang only needs one intense confrontation to trigger a lifelong injury like Irving.
In that case, the team will face less of a huge threat in tonight's game and future games.
In the locker room during the half-time break, he gave clear instructions to the players to significantly intensify physical confrontation in the second half, and designated the key area of confrontation as the midfield, not forgetting to add, "Be careful not to get a card if you make big moves."
As a conceited championship coach, he disdains to tell the players directly that someone is useless, but Barella, who had long been full of resentment, was the first to "understand" Klopp's true intention.
Anyway, it's the last game of the season. Even if the referee does something, the affected games will only be the relatively unimportant games at the beginning of next season. But if he can pull one back tonight and end the losing streak against Chen Xiaoliang, he can totally accept it even if he is suspended for a few games.
From then on, starting from the second half, the flavor of the game began to change.
In the 46th minute, Timber intercepted Lavia's through ball and made a long pass to Milinkovic who made a forward run in the first time.
The 181cm tall Lavia is no match for the 191cm tall and burly Milinkovic-Savic in headers, but in his one and a half seasons at Southampton, like all midfielders of relegation teams, he has learned what it means to do the dirty work.
Milinkovic-Savic leaned on Lavia with his back and jumped to head the ball, while Lavia jumped directly behind him to head the ball. However, as there was no accompanying action, although the hit hit Milinkovic-Savic's back hard and knocked him forward, the referee did not blow the whistle immediately, because the ball rolled to the feet of Chen Xiaoliang who followed, which was a favorable position for attack.
After receiving the ball, Chen Xiaoliang glanced at the fallen Milinkovic to see if he was injured. He paused for a moment while handling the ball, but he didn't expect that Barella, who was chasing him from behind, had already rushed over.
Since the team is currently leading 1-0 and the referee has already made a gesture in favor of an attack, and Chen Xiaoliang was not in a threatening area when he received the ball, if Milinkovic-Savic really has something wrong, he can choose not to move forward, or directly kick the ball out of bounds, allowing the referee to make up for the previous penalty and giving his teammates the opportunity to be examined by the team doctor immediately.
But he didn't expect that he wanted to wait. Barrera didn't want to wait for a moment. He rushed over from behind Chen Xiaoliang and kicked the ball, and his knee hit the back of Chen Xiaoliang's thigh.
This was very painful and Chen Xiaoliang subconsciously retracted his legs and fell to the ground. The Manchester United fans in the stands and the Manchester United bench on the sidelines immediately burst into shouts of dissatisfaction.
The referee Paul Tierney had no choice but to stop the game. Players from both sides surrounded the player, and the hot-tempered Bruno Fernandes even hit Barrera with his chest.
Seeing that the game was about to move towards the "King of Fighters" championship between the two sides in the first half of the season, the protagonists were still B Fee and Barrera who were sent off, and players from both sides hurried over to pull the players.
Referee Paul Tierney called several players involved aside and gave them stern warnings, but ultimately chose not to issue a card.
Although it hurt, Milinkovic-Savic and Chen Xiaoliang did not feel any other discomfort after getting up.
The game continues.
Less than five minutes later, Ten Hag asked Casemiro and McTominay to warm up quickly. At this time, not only he, but even the players on the field could see that Liverpool came prepared for the second half and were determined to not give up until they achieved their goal.
It was okay when meeting other Manchester United players. Although they fought and scrambled and their movements were big, they were careful to stop their hands and legs when colliding to avoid injuries to themselves and their opponents.
But once the target of pressing becomes Chen Xiaoliang, the situation becomes completely different.
In the 48th minute, Dalot made a diagonal pass from the right, Chen Xiaoliang chased the ball, but was stepped on the instep by Lavia who intercepted it.
In the 50th minute, Luke Shaw made a long pass from the backcourt to Chen Xiaoliang who was making a forward run. Chen Xiaoliang competed for a header with Konate who was rushing forward. Barrera pretended that he was unable to jump and bent down under Chen Xiaoliang, causing the falling Chen Xiaoliang to fall on his back, lose balance and fall to the ground.
The referee awarded a free kick, but this kind of passive physical contact still would not result in a card.
Now Chen Xiaoliang himself understood that he was being targeted.
But this wasn't the first time he'd encountered this sort of thing.
He stood up and glanced at Barrera, but Barrera's eyes did not meet his. He continued to look at the ball and his own position, looking as if he was concentrating on defense.
However, B Fee took a free kick, Cesco headed the ball back, and when Chen Xiaoliang wanted to receive the ball and shoot from a long distance, Barrera intercepted it laterally, and this time his outstretched right foot stepped directly on Chen Xiaoliang's left ankle.
“Beep!”
This time, Paul Tierney finally gave Barrera a yellow card, but at the same time, B Fee also received a card for rushing over and pushing Barrera.
Klopp looked up at the time, feeling a little uneasy and anxious.
But he didn't know whether he was uneasy about the decision he made or about the 40 minutes left in the game. In short, when he saw Ten Hag in the opposite command area complaining loudly to the fourth official, he ignored him.
Ten Hag replaced B Fee with Casemiro, letting him form a double defensive midfielder with Chen Xiaoliang. Milinkovic played as central midfielder. He also specifically asked Casemiro to come on the court to give a message to Chen Xiaoliang, asking him to reduce the frequency of participating in the attack.
This was Ten Hag, a bystander, making active adjustments to protect Chen Xiaoliang from being targeted by the opponent.
After Chen Xiaoliang retreated actively, he did give Barrera some peace of mind. After all, it was impossible for a central midfielder to rush to the opponent's backcourt and stare at the opponent's midfielder man-to-man.
However, it was Milinkovic who soon became unlucky.
Klopp's physical strategy in the midfield was not a spur-of-the-moment idea. It was originally used by him against Arsenal and Newcastle.
Arsenal's midfield is relatively weak in confrontation. Once they gain the advantage in confrontation, the team's control in the midfield will be greatly improved. Newcastle, on the other hand, has Joelinton and Longstaff in the midfield, who are both tough guys. Confrontation is necessary to slow down Newcastle's positional warfare advancement.
Therefore, Milinkovic, who was responsible for transferring the ball in the middle, became the focus of Barella and Lavia, and fell to the ground twice in 3 minutes.
With the improvement of midfield control, Liverpool did get more time to possess the ball in the frontcourt, but because of Chen Xiaoliang and Casemiro, even if Liverpool's midfield can press forward, it is still very difficult to penetrate head-on.
However, in the 63rd minute, someone was still caught.
Dalot received the pass from Chen Xiaoliang on the wing. His step was a bit too big and his body was entangled by Tsimikas. He wanted to catch up with the ball, but Barella rushed over sideways and shoveled the ball out of the sideline.
After tackling the ball, Barrera did not retract his legs and his knee tripped on Dalot's calf. Dalot, who was rushing forward at high speed, fell forward on his face and covered his left calf in front .
The team doctor came in to check and felt something was not right. Two substitute players went up and carried Dalot on each side and walked into the player tunnel. Ten Hag immediately replaced him with Wan Bissaka.
There was nothing wrong with Barrera's shot according to the rules, but from the player's perspective, his action was dirty anyway.
Barrera, who was walking back with an outsider look on his face, suddenly felt someone grabbing his shoulder forcefully. He turned around in anger and saw that it was Chen Xiaoliang!
This undoubtedly made his anger burn!
Chen Xiaoliang's left hand just grabbed Barrera's right shoulder. When Barrera turned around, Chen Xiaoliang pushed him directly: "You've gone from Italy to England, you're not done yet, are you?"
Barrera was about to fight back, but when he remembered that he already had a yellow card, he immediately held back and pointed his finger at Chen Xiaoliang: "Shut your mouth. If you don't want to stay in the hospital for half a year, get the hell out of here."
Chen Xiaoliang pushed him again, even though the referee's whistle had already sounded at him and Casemiro had already run over and grabbed him.
"You wimp, remember what you are saying now, or you will regret it later because your mouth is the only thing that is tough."
Barrera was also pulled by McCollisti. He backed away while pointing at Chen Xiaoliang: "Just wait and see, you idiot."
Paul Tierney called Chen Xiaoliang aside and said, "Chen, you shouldn't do this."
Chen Xiaoliang: "Then what should I do? Just watch them do something dirty?"
Paul Tierney: "But you know that's not going to solve the problem by provoking him, right? I can only give you a yellow card if you do that."
After saying that, he raised the yellow card he had already taken out to Chen Xiaoliang.
Chen Xiaoliang smiled coldly: "It doesn't matter, just do your job well."
As he walked back, he turned back and said to Paul Tierney: "I promise I won't get another card today, but if something happens later, I hope you can be mentally prepared."
As superstars, whether in the Premier League, La Liga or the Champions League, the referee committee will pay more attention to these superstars when studying case law.
After all, they will receive a lot of attention from their opponents on the court, and from the perspective of event organizers, properly protecting these superstars is a win-win situation for everyone.
Chen Xiaoliang has a very good reputation in the English Referees Association.
Although his defensive moves are sometimes very tough, whether it is on-site penalties or subsequent review and analysis, his defensive moves are fast, accurate and ruthless, without any additional actions, which also means that he rarely gets given a few cards throughout the season.
Referees also need to do pre-match preparation and understand the playing styles of the players, especially the main players, in advance. This will help them control the scale of the game and prevent the situation from getting out of control.
Chen Xiaoliang is undoubtedly an excellent student, so what he said to Paul Tierney just now, to the experienced referee, was just a harsh remark to vent his emotions.
But he was just a referee after all, unlike Chen Xiaoliang's teammates, who knew that he was really angry.
Because he almost never takes the initiative to find someone and warn him at the cost of taking a card.
Casemiro, who was holding Chen Xiaoliang aside, said: "Chen, don't get into any conflicts. If anything happens today and it goes too far, it will not only affect today, but also the league this weekend. The team cannot do without you."
Chen Xiaoliang patted him on the shoulder, a stiff smile flashing across his face: "Don't worry, I won't be stupid enough to let that idiot take advantage of me."
Casemiro: "I will go forward to help Savic (Milinkovic) share the burden later, you stay for me, remember, the team really can't do without you."
Casemiro meant well. Moving forward at this time meant that he had to actively help Milinkovic-Savic and Chen Xiaoliang to share the opponent's defensive pressure, which was equivalent to allowing Barrera's players to foul him.
But he was really worried. Many people said that Chen Xiaoliang was the best captain in Manchester United's history, surpassing Roy Keane. However, the players also knew that Chen Xiaoliang was definitely a ruthless man who was no less than Roy Keane, but his skills were much more comprehensive than Roy Keane's, and his attention was attracted by those goals, assists and sprinting forward.
Who can guarantee that he will not do something like breaking the leg that Roy Keane did to Haaland's father, Alfinger Haaland, in anger?
Chen Xiaoliang nodded and said nothing more, but he had already made up his mind:
"The team will not be without me, but I must make this idiot disappear from my sight today."
When he said this in his mind, he was naturally looking at Barrera.
But the most urgent task right now is to kill the game completely.
In fact, even though Liverpool's midfield was very aggressive, the players were also nervous.
Victory in confrontation must be converted into an advantage on the field, and then passed to form a shot, before it can truly become a goal.
What's the point of just having confrontation but no shooting, and time is still passing.
As the game continued, Casemiro was forced to retreat to defend after just a few forward runs, because he found that Chen Xiaoliang did not listen to him at all, but continued to run forward as usual. Even Milinkovic-Savic was forced to retreat and participate in the defense in order to fill in for him.
Ten Hag simply replaced Milinkovic-Savic with McTominay, forming a double defensive midfielder with Casemiro, which was equivalent to using substitutions to support Chen Xiaoliang's decision.
In the 71st minute, his decision paid off.
Chen Xiaoliang made a run-in and Casemiro, who was in control of the ball on the left flank, passed the ball to him horizontally. Before the ball arrived, Barrera had already rushed towards him from the penalty area line.
Chen Xiaoliang pushed the ball to the right with his right foot, then jumped forward lightly, avoiding Barrera's extremely fierce and fast double-leg sliding tackle.
Barrera quickly covered his head with his hands. He was afraid that Chen Xiaoliang would retaliate against him and step directly on his head with his falling foot.
But Chen Xiaoliang jumped over and ran directly into the penalty area.
Rashford received the ball on the right side, stayed where he was, adjusted his step and made a direct cross.
At this time, Chen Xiaoliang, who had already rushed into the penalty area, jumped between the penalty spot and the small penalty area line!
The ball flew over and Cesco had already jumped on his right side, but the ball passed over Cesco's head and Gvardiol, who was defending Cesco, missed the ball!
Konate was defending Chen Xiaoliang, but facing Chen Xiaoliang who was sprinting over and taking a run-up, his jump seemed so weak and delayed.
Chen Xiaoliang shook his head, and his left forehead hit the ball, and then he passed the ball at a high speed into the lower left corner of the goal.
The moment the ball flew across the goal line, Alisson, who failed to catch the ball, knelt on the ground and felt that he could not hear any sound, even though Manchester United fans were already cheering loudly in the stands.
2 to 0!
McAllister and Gvardiol were also shaking their heads. In their hearts, they did not agree with the instructions from midfielder Klopp to deliberately use physical force. Although Klopp did not say anything, the players were not stupid and knew that Klopp's real purpose was to change the situation by injuring Chen Xiaoliang.
Instead of celebrating, Chen Xiaoliang walked to Liverpool's bench, stared at Klopp, then raised his right hand and made a gesture of closing his mouth.
Seeing their captain openly humiliating the head coach of their mortal rival, Manchester United fans shouted even louder. On the other side, Liverpool fans were also furious, but at this moment they could only hold up a sign with last season's 7-0 score and give a weak response.
Teammates ran over to pat Chen Xiaoliang on the shoulder to congratulate him, as they knew they were very close to winning the FA Cup.
But Casemiro always felt that what Chen Xiaoliang had just said to Paul Tierney was not as simple as hitting back at Liverpool with a goal.
In fact, he was not the only one who noticed it. Kva and Cesco on the field, Gerrard in the stands, even Guevadiol in the opponent's team, and Mourinho and Dybala who were watching the game on TV in Paris also noticed it.
Mourinho: "If my name is Jurgen Klopp, I will not provoke him, and then I will pray that Ten Hag will save his strength for the league and the Champions League final and replace him quickly."
Gerrard was also furious. He really wanted to rush to the bench and question Klopp: "Why did you pick on this guy when you could pick on anyone else?"
I remember when he was at Rangers, Kento Hideo provoked Chen Xiaoliang who had just got a chance to start. As a result, he was chased and defended by him for the entire game, and the Scottish Premier League's top scorer didn't even touch the ball, let alone take a shot.
At that time, Gerrard knew that this guy was a person who would not hold grudges overnight, and he would repay him double.
But most of the previous grudges were confined to the scope of football. Obviously, Barrera's behavior in the second half today has exceeded the limit.
Gerrard was praying in his heart:
"Damn, although I don't want you to win for Manchester United, you must not do anything stupid! I have also bought a ticket for the Champions League final, and I am still waiting to see how Paris Saint-Germain will beat you..."
"Forget it, stop lying to yourself..."
"Boy, I'm still waiting to see you create new miracles!"
