Pirated Ronaldo

Chapter 334 The Myth of the Submarine
The countdown to the first match day of the 2005-06 UEFA Champions League group stage!
Manchester United does not have any free time at all. Immediately after the derby with Manchester City is over, it is time to prepare for the away game against Villarreal in La Liga.

"Yellow Submarine" Villarreal is by no means a weak team. Uruguayan striker Diego Forlan can grab the throne of La Liga top scorer, and he is no longer a "stupid". This team has strong strength , Their technical and tactical level is better than that of Manchester United.

When a Premier League team plays against a La Liga team, the physical confrontation ability can basically be reduced to the point where it is visible to the naked eye.

From another point of view, the technology of La Liga teams is what the Premier League teams are afraid of. Not weak physical confrontation ability + excellent skills and tactics make La Liga teams in the forefront of the football world throughout Europe. Once similar to neighboring Portugal in terms of football, it has been completely reborn, completely different from the complacency of Portuguese football, and embarked on a glorious path.

Of course, the development and growth of La Liga has a lot to do with Spain being a big country.

Modern football needs economic support. If a league does not have enough fans and enough sponsorship companies, it will definitely make the road of development thorny. A typical representative is the Eredivisie, where there are many stars, but because the fan market is small , the Eredivisie can only become a second-tier league in grief.

The Premier League's top four teams will all play in the Champions League group stage, two hosts and two away, Chelsea and Arsenal will face the enemy at home, while Manchester United and Liverpool will travel to the European continent.

The most high-profile is of course Mourinho, this awesome figure always stands at the pinnacle of public opinion.

"The Blues will make a qualitative leap in the new season. We are no longer satisfied with the results of the domestic league. The Blues fans are extremely eager for European honor. After a season of hard work, the new Chelsea has matured. The winning streak is not just a start, we now need to pursue the glory in Europe."

"I'm here, Chelsea will rise!"

Mourinho's self-confidence is undoubtedly revealed. He has already stood at the top of the Premier League, overlooking all living beings. The former kings, Manchester United, Arsenal, and Liverpool, were all trampled under Mourinho's iron hoof. The new king from Portugal worships!
However, the problem has to be looked at from both sides. Although Mourinho is awesome, if he lacks the money of the Russian rich man Abramovich, can he lead Chelsea to dominate the Premier League?
What would happen if, say, hundreds of millions of funds were provided to Ferguson or Wenger, or some other well-known head coaches?
Mourinho is too arrogant. Judging from his remarks, he has completely taken the credit for the club, and kicked the boss Abramovich away. The honor of "Europe's best coach" just won is very eye-catching. This kind of light has even made it impossible for anyone else to stand beside Mourinho.

In contrast, even if the coaches of the other three Premier League teams are high-profile, it is impossible for them to ignore everything like Mourinho.

Ferguson: "La Liga Villarreal is a strong team. They completed a gratifying leap last season. The strength of the third place in La Liga is a difficult test for Manchester United. However, the two teams in Group D We definitely have to occupy one of the qualifying places, and we must qualify as the first place in the group!"

"Diego Forlan? I don't think the Uruguayan striker will cause trouble for Manchester United. We have better ones! Ruud, Wayne, Ryan, and even Cristiano are no worse than him!"

The reason why the name of Villarreal's "yellow submarine" began to attract attention all over the world is because of their magic.

This is a team from a very small city. "Villarreal" has an area of ​​only 55 square kilometers and a population of more than 4, which is too small for Spain. Years ago it was just called "The Village".

However, the team in the small village of Villarreal was not reconciled to dormancy. After nearly 70 years of struggle, they were promoted to the La Liga in 1992, and then in 1998, they advanced to the second league for the first time. La Liga, since then, the name "Yellow Submarine" has entered the world football.

In 2003, Villarreal won the first European trophy in the history of the club - the Intertoto Cup, and fantastically reached the semi-finals of the Europa League that year.

Villarreal finished eighth in La Liga in 2003-04, a remarkable achievement, but there was more to come. The Yellow Submarine exploded in 2004-05, just behind Barcelona and Real Madrid, ranked third in La Liga, successfully qualified for the Champions League. Leading striker Diego Forlan won the La Liga top scorer with 25 goals. This series of achievements has lifted Villarreal to the sky.

In contrast, the two teams that will face each other in Group D are of comparable status only from the performance of last season.

Manchester United is the third place in the Premier League, and Villarreal is the third place in La Liga. The battle for the third place in the two top European leagues just shows the advantages and disadvantages of the two leagues.

Of course, the visiting team Manchester United has the psychological advantage of the European giants. They are the seed team in Group D. They compete in the Champions League every year and rarely fail in the group stage. It's difficult, and Villarreal, the new team in the Champions League, has nothing but home court advantage...

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"Villarreal" means "King's Town" in Spanish. It was a military fortress built in eastern Spain by King Jaime I of Aragon in the [-]th century to defend against terrorist attacks. Turning the surrounding dry land into arable land, people gradually became populated, but the main body of the city is still small, surrounded by arable land, where citrus is mainly grown. In this season, at a glance, the mountains and plains are full of red. A piece of it is impressive.

The city is really small. Although it looks like 55 square kilometers on the map, in fact the so-called urban area is only so "slap-sized" that you can see the head at a glance.

Villarreal's ability to break into the Champions League group stage is an absolute honor for this small city!

The residents here are mainly related to citrus planting and ceramic tile industry. They are relatively low-grade manual laborers, but their enthusiasm for football is not small at all. In the past two years, almost any Villarreal The residents of the city are walking on the street with their heads held high and they are full of energy.

Spain has a population of nearly 5000 million and only 20 first-tier teams, but this small palm-sized place near the Mediterranean Sea occupies one of the 20 teams!
What's more, Villarreal also entered the Champions League, came to the top club competitions in Europe, and competed with the most powerful teams in Europe, all of which made Villarreal The inhabitants of Yar are proud.

The Red Devils Manchester United from the Premier League are very strong?Which team is sure to top Group D and easily beat three opponents including Villarreal?

Residents of Villarreal don't think so!Almost all residents of the city are big fans of this team!

"Submarines will sink all enemy ships! This is the Ballad Stadium, a great stadium!"

"Reject red! This is the Mediterranean Sea, red will not have good luck!"

"The first Champions League match! A holiday for Villarreal!"

In fact, this is the case. The game on September 9 is one of countless Champions League journeys for Manchester United, but it is of great significance to Villarreal. Since its establishment 14 years ago, it is the first time to enter the top European club league. This is the first match!
It is not easy for Villarreal to get to this point.

As the third runner-up in La Liga, Villarreal needs to participate in the third qualifying round. The knockout target they drew is precisely a Premier League team: Everton!
Everton, No.4 in the Premier League last season, beat the Champions League champions Liverpool in the league rankings. The strength of such a team must not be underestimated. Spin around and leave in embarrassment?
Not so!The Champions League rookie Villarreal beat Everton out with two home and away games 2:1.

So there is the current scene. Villarreal has just solved the Premier League No.4 Everton, and then ushered in the Premier League third place Manchester United.

The No.3 runner-up is definitely better than the No.4 runner-up, and Manchester United’s prestige in European football is not comparable to the little Everton, but Villarreal’s team is confident from top to bottom full.

Manuel Pellegrini, 52, is a Chilean who is known as an "engineer" because of his civil engineering certificate.

Manuel Pellegrini is an old-fashioned coach. He mainly worked with Chile and Argentina football. In 1991, he served as the head coach of the Chile U20 national team. Renzo, who won the Copa Libertadores in 2002, reached the pinnacle of South American football in one fell swoop, which made Manuel Pellegrini one of the hottest ace coaches in South America.

Today, Manuel Pellegrini, a Chilean coach, is honored as a "myth" in the city of Villarreal!
He started to take charge of Villarreal in July 2004. At that time, no one would have imagined that a small team that had just been promoted to the top league for four years would undergo earth-shaking changes in the following year. , Become a force to be reckoned with in La Liga.

The team's financial budget is obviously not rich. The players introduced by Manuel Pellegrini are basically a gamble in the eyes of outsiders. No one knows whether these players can succeed here. For example, Diego Forlan, who was sold by Manchester United, was worth 2002 million euros when he was transferred from the Argentine Independiente to Manchester United in January 1, but when he was sold in 750, his worth was only 2004 million euros. .

Stars like Diego Forlan who proved to be "waste" in the Premier League, Manuel Pellegrini, the South American coach who made his first European debut, all of this is a gamble.

Since it is a gamble, the saying of ten bets and nine losses also applies to Manuel Pellegrini, that is to say, most people are not optimistic about his future in Villarreal, but, After one season, the facts proved that Manuel Pellegrini is a coach with super luck or super ability, and his big adventure succeeded!
(End of this chapter)