Chapter 30 Familiar battlefield

2011/2012 season, the last game of the European battlefield, representing the UEFA Champions League final of the highest level of European football, started at Celtic Park Stadium in Glasgow, Scotland.

The two sides are Barcelona from Spain and Chelsea from England.

Like last season, Degan entered Barcelona's 18-man list, but he is still on the bench. The main position is far away from him.

In fact, Barcelona's head coach Bilanova was also very confused about whether to include Degan in the 18-man list before. Finally, the nightmare of the final last season made him withstand the pressure and put Degan on the bench.

On Chelsea's side, the Italian Di Matteo led the team. At first, he was Chelsea's assistant coach, but later, because of Boas's poor performance, he has been away from the top four positions in the league for a long time. In February 2012, after Chelsea lost 1:3 to Naples in the first leg of the eighth final of the UEFA Champions League, Chelsea's management finally lost patience with Boas. Boas was dismissed and Di Matteo took over as head coach.

Di Matteo's first challenge after taking office is the Champions League knockout. Chelsea has lost 1:3 to Naples in the first round and a backwater battle in the second round.

But Chelsea performed well under the command of Di Matteo, defeating Naples 4:1 in a 120-minute battle at Stamford Bridge and successfully made it into the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

Di Matteo established his position with this battle, and then Chelsea made a double attack in the FA Cup and the UEFA Champions League, and was relatively passive in the league.

After successfully defeating Benfica in the Champions League quarter-finals, Chelsea encountered Real Madrid in the semi-finals. In the face of Real Madrid's full-line suppression, Di Matteo resolutely implemented defensive counterattack tactics in the game, making the powerful Real Madrid at a loss.

In the first round, Drogba's goal was 1:0 to beat Real Madrid. In the second round, Chelsea unexpectedly chased two goals in a row, drew with Real Madrid 2:2 at the Bernabeu Stadium, and eliminated their opponents to enter the Champions League final with a total score of 3:2.

In addition to the Champions League, Di Matteo's Chelsea also performed well in the FA Cup. They defeated Tottenham Hotspur 5:1 in the semi-finals, and finally beat Liverpool 2:1 at Wembley Stadium to win the FA Cup, which was the first championship Di Matteo won as the head coach.

But at the same time, Chelsea only finished sixth in the league because they focused on the UEFA Champions League and the FA Cup.

You should know that since Abramovich became the owner in 2003, Chelsea's worst ranking has only been the third in the league. However, the internal consumption of this season has greatly damaged them. If the Blues want to appear in the Champions League for the tenth consecutive year, their only choice is to beat Barcelona in the Champions League final. Then he will participate in the Champions League next season as the defending champion.

In order to meet this life-and-death battle, Chelsea has given up the Premier League several rounds in advance. Now it is time to solve the mystery.

Of course, Di Matteo hopes to have a good result. This job at Stamford Bridge is his first time to be in charge of a rich family. Previously, he only coached Wimbledon and West Bromwich.

However, after Di Matteo replaced Boas, Chelsea's results have indeed improved a lot, with 13 wins, 4 draws and 3 losses in 20 games, with a winning rate of 65%.

Another problem that worries Di Matteo is that even if he leads Chelsea to win the first Champions League Big Ear Cup in the history of the team, it will be difficult to become a head coach next season, which may more or less bring him some psychological burden.

However, in the face of the media, Di Matteo performed greatly. He said that he did not care about personal gains and losses. Now the most important thing is to help Chelsea reach the top of Europe: "Now I am still an acting coach. As for whether I can become a regular, it depends on the boss's arrangement. If I lead the team to defeat Bayern to win the Champions League, and then In addition, the FA Cup can't convince the boss, so I have nothing to say.

Di Matteo's mouth is a manifestation of his own modesty, but people are not concerned about whether this Italian version of Crayon Shin-chan can finally impress Abramovich's heart and become the new favorite of the oil godfather.

Because of Degan's transfer to Tottenham Hotspur, Degan, who had almost turned into a cold meal before, was fired again. Now people are concerned about whether he can play in the finals.

What will it look like?

Is it a gorgeous farewell and a slap in the face of the old employer?

Or is it rotten to the end, making Tottenham Hotspur secretly hurt himself?

These are obviously much more reliable than an old guy who can find a job!

Stepping into the Celtic Park Stadium, Degan was excited for no reason, yes! I'm just excited. This is the place he is most familiar with!

When he was at AC Milan, he and Kaka teamed up to conquer the Champions League final for the first time, and then three consecutive championships in Florence. Although they were not as domineering as Real Madrid at the beginning of the Champions League, it is estimated that the results of three consecutive championships can also be the best.

Last season, Degan also went to the final of the Champions League, but that time, he only acted as a spectator and did nothing, but witnessed the team's failure.

This time, Degan is here again, and it is still the final of the Champions League. Can he play?

This depends on Bilarova's idea.

Since last season, after having a conversation with Bilanova in the locker room, the two have not had any communication since then. Even if Bilanova took over the position of head coach of Guardiola later, the relationship between the two in the team seemed very embarrassing. After a season, the two said Together, there are less than 20 sentences.

Although Degan has now let go of his stubborn self-esteem and just wants to leave here and go to another place to save his career, the problem is that if he has the opportunity to walk out of Camp Nou with his head held high as a winner, Degan will never give up this opportunity.

The game is about to start. Degan sits on the bench. All he can do now is wait and wait for the opportunity to come. If the opportunity really comes, what he has to do is to seize it.