Alright, I admit that this competition in a different dimension is unbearable for me, but I still demand monthly votes. Old Chen must fight to the very last moment!!

  The match was scheduled at R?sunda Stadium in Solna, a northern suburb of Stockholm, for the evening.

  Although it's early summer, the climate here is still a bit cold. They have big temperature differences between day and night in the summer, which Yang Cheng and others only discovered after arriving in Stockholm.

  Apart from this, the nights here are very bright. It is said that even if you walk to many places in the evening, the sky can still see the sunset glow, and the whole horizon is still very dazzling. Therefore, many people call Stockholm the city of no sunset.

  Yang Cheng stood in front of the visiting team's coaching bench at the Rason Stadium, looking up at the sky. Under the bright lights of the stadium, the sky seemed relatively dark, and he believed that if they were outside, it should be around the time when the sun had just set elsewhere.

  Since UEFA expanded the Champions League, the influence of the Winners' Cup has been declining day by day. Last season saw a slight rebound, after all, big clubs like Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and Liverpool participated, so its influence was re-promoted, but this season it has declined again.

  Kaiserslautern has made it to the final with a thrilling and adventurous journey!

  However, Viali's Chelsea was not weak either. Although Yang Cheng was well-prepared, he still had some apprehension in his heart. The reason for this lay in the opponent's team, that fierce-looking guy.

  Dennis, Weiss!

  English football has always been known for its strong will and bloody confrontations, so in this country what is least lacking are those players with a strong style, even to the point of being vicious and dirty, and Dennis Wise is one of them.

  In those years, the three big villains of Wimbledon, Dennis Wise, Vinnie Jones and John Scales, were all notorious on the Premier League pitch, but now they have gone their separate ways. Among them, Dennis Wise even became the captain of Chelsea and was hailed as the core figure of this Chelsea team.

  Don't look at Danny Granger, who is only 1.68 meters tall and a small player, but he is not a simple little guy. If you are not careful, you may even be eaten alive by him.

  However, Yang Cheng still has great confidence in this game, because since Chelsea suddenly announced Gullit's dismissal and Vialli took over as player-manager in February, the team has never won a match outside Stamford Bridge, what does that prove?

  In addition, in the starting lineup of this game, Vieri and Flo formed a dual striker partnership!

  Chelsea seems to have a fetish for player-manager, from Guus Hiddink in the past to Vialli now, all of them have walked this path.

  The biggest limitation of being a player-coach is the control over the situation. As the saying goes, "You don't know the true face of Mount Tai, only because you are in the mountain!"

  Those in power are confused!

  "This match will be a midfield battle!" Yang Cheng said very affirmatively.

  Guti emphasized sexy football, and Viari inherited this after taking over. After all, the time is still short, and it's sudden to take over halfway, so there's no way for him to change anything.

  However, Chelsea's midfielders are all-around players who can both attack and defend, such as Petrescu, Di Matteo, Dennis Wise and Poyet. Among them, Petrescu was originally a full-back but has been used as a winger this season to utilize his defensive ability on the flank.

  "It's going to be tough!" Paul said with a serious face, Bayer also said.

  If purely from a technical standpoint, Chelsea's midfield is not just about strength, but also their style of play.

  Yang Cheng came to this world and after experiencing these few years, he had long understood that some of the judgments made in his previous life were not accurate.

  For example, this Chelsea team, everyone says that Gullit's Chelsea kick is very sexy, but in fact, there are no shortage of players like Dennis Wise and Vinnie Jones who are violent on the court, and players like Petrescu and Di Matteo also have big moves.

  Moreover, many people who think of Wenger's Arsenal will say that they are attacking, fluent and elegant. In fact, this is one aspect, another aspect is that Wenger's team has been criticized by the Premier League media as a red card team all day long. From October 1996 to now, Wenger's team has received a total of 13 red cards.

  As the head coach of a team, Yang Cheng cannot only look at Arsenal's offense without looking at their red cards. The same logic applies to Chelsea as well. He not only needs to see Chelsea's smooth offense but also their rough defense.

  "Don't worry, Paul, we've never been the kind of soft persimmons that can't withstand a bit of turmoil!" Yang Cheng said with a confident face.

  With N'Doye, Barak and Gatusso, these three midfield iron men on the field, Chelsea's midfield will definitely not get half a chance. On the other hand, Yang Chen's tactics are very clear, hard-hitting, directly swallowing Chelsea!

  The capital TV station received the live signal relatively late, so they specially inserted a short segment of Stockholm's scenery, some very beautiful pictures that are pleasing to the eye.

  When the screen appears, players from both sides have already appeared on the field, lined up in formation and ready to kick off.

  "Now, let me introduce the starting lineups for both teams in this match. First, we have Kaiserslautern's starting lineup: goalkeeper Reinke, defenders Lucio, Kyer and Koch from left to right, midfielders Bellon and Gattuso playing deep-lying midfield, Nedved on the left wing, Vrba as attacking midfielder, Schneider on the right wing, and forwards Van Nistelrooy and Dollner."

  The chief referee blew the whistle to start the game, and Kaiserslautern kicked off first. They immediately launched an attack... Foul! The chief referee blew his whistle again, "Foul!"

  "Chelsea's No. 2, Petrescu, committed a foul on Schneider, it was a big tackle, directly knocking Schneider to the ground, but the referee only gave Kaiserslautern an indirect free kick without showing any cards."

  "This should be a test of Chelsea's standards for the referee in this match!" Huang Jianxiang, who is responsible for commentary, is one of the most prominent football commentators on Beijing TV, and he himself is a fan with rich experience.

  "Kaiserslautern's free kick went straight into the penalty area, Lucio inserted from the back row, headed the goal, and was disturbed by Leberf, missed!"

  "De Jonghoef sends the ball to the goal, Kelleher steadily stops the ball and passes it to Bellon, who exchanges several passes with N'Diaye on the left flank before passing the ball to Barak, committing a foul. It was a clear pull by Danny Hoesen. Kaiserslautern missed an attacking opportunity but got a free kick chance from about 25 yards out!"

  "It's obvious that Chelsea's tactics are to disrupt Kaiserslautern's offense with fouls, and the referee's leniency has allowed them to make some big moves. Clearly, they're trying to intimidate Kaiserslautern's players and prevent them from playing their best. This is a common trick in professional matches, hopefully Kaiserslautern won't fall for it!"

  Yang Cheng also noticed this on the sidelines, and when he saw Chelsea's defensive actions being applied to his teammates one after another, he shook his head and sighed: "This referee is quite lenient!"

  Paul, Byler also noticed this point, if the referee is too soft, it will be more beneficial to Chelsea's tactics.

  After some thought, Yang Cheng directly walked to the edge of the field and made a series of commanding gestures towards the players on the field, especially towards team captain Balak, telling him to be tougher.

  Sure, here is the translation:

  As expected, when Chelsea committed a foul again, Ballack rushed up as captain and directly pressured the referee, believing that Chelsea's tactical fouls should be punished. However, Chelsea players were not to be outdone, especially Danny Murphy, who even went forward to scold Ballack for misleading the referee.

  Both captains were visibly annoyed, glaring at each other, but the main referee also seemed to be aware of Chelsea's issues. Although they hadn't committed any major fouls, there were constant minor infringements, and some tackles and interceptions were indeed too robust, so he showed a yellow card to Di Matteo for this foul.

  Dennis Weaver looked at Barack with an angry expression, and the latter also stared back at him. Then he saw a slightly shorter Weaver threateningly pointing at Barack, as if warning the German to be careful.

  Yang Cheng saw this scene, his heart was secretly angry. If you say that the most annoying thing on the football field is the iron barrel formation, then it's this kind of stubborn and even brittle team.

  "Come on, press up!" Yang Cheng thought for a moment and put aside other issues, first scoring a goal and then talking about it. After all, two minutes had already passed, and continuing to drag on was not feasible.

  Under the command of the head coach, Kaiserslautern's offense gradually became more fierce. Although Chelsea had good ball control ability in the Premier League, they were facing Kaiserslautern, facing Bellon and Schneider, this midfield controlling combination, plus Nedved, Ballack and Gattuso, as well as a Dernis in front and a Keil behind, they basically had no hope.

  Kaiserslautern's offense started, and Chelsea's back line was suddenly a gust of wind.

  But just as Kaiserslautern launched an attack, the ball was passed to Schneider on the right flank, who had pulled out a gap. The German was about to take the ball when Dennis Wise suddenly appeared with a sliding tackle, showing the sole of his boot directly at Schneider.

  "Ah, oh no, it's dangerous!" Even the live commentator Huang Jianxiang was startled.

  "Danny Green's swing was really big this time, fortunately Schneider reacted quickly and turned back to dodge in time. Although he lost the ball, he didn't get hurt, this should be a warning sign!"

  Yang Cheng was also furious on the sidelines, and rushed to the sidelines "Hey, sir, didn't you see that his action was very dangerous? Do you think this kind of action should appear on the court?"

  "I'm afraid not, sir," said the linesman, "the referee thinks it's all right!"

  "What's this, a football match or a wrestling arena?" Yang Cheng complained as he paced back and forth.

  It was as if Chelsea's players had been stimulated by Dennis Wise, and their subsequent actions became more frequent, especially when facing some 50-50 balls, almost every one of them fought fiercely, as if they wanted to knock down Kaiserslautern's players directly.

  Seeing the opponent's ferocious and evil behavior, the players of Kaiserslautern were really stunned at this time, and their offense slowed down. Yang Chen was very angry in his heart on the sidelines.

  "Since you want to play tough, then let's do it!" Yang Cheng steeled himself and made a gesture towards the players on the field.

  "What's up, Italian?"

  After using a dangerous tackle to cut down Drenthe, and even knocking the Brazilian to the ground, Dani Alves walked away with a smirk on his face, passing by Gattuso's side and shouting.

  This little guy's performance on the court can be described as either tenacious or violent.

  The thing is, it's not that he hurt anyone, but almost every one of his actions has a very obvious intention to hurt people, especially when defending and competing for the ball. Elbows, pulls, hooks, trips... It's not just him, this kind of action is everywhere in Chelsea.

  They're doing this because they can't beat others with their skills, so they have to resort to this method!

  Gattuso noticed Yang Cheng's gesture, knowing that the head coach had also tolerated it to the limit, so he became gloomy, a pair of wolf-like eyes searching for opportunities everywhere.

  It's not just him, the entire Kaiserslautern team is like this!

  Gatusso quickly found his target in Ballack, Chelsea's attacking focal point. As soon as he got the ball, Gattuso used a very dangerous sliding tackle to take the ball away from him. If not for his quick reaction and jump, this tackle would have almost certainly taken out his ankle.

  The ball was quickly given to Bellón, who launched a counterattack.

  Suddenly, the counter-attack was launched, and Kaiserslautern's response was extremely quick. Two or three passes later, they arrived at Chelsea's penalty area. After Denilson brought the ball back, he directly faced Dennis Wise, made a vengeful move with a single bike action, directly shaking off his opponent, sending the ball into the penalty area where Van Nistelrooy pounced on the ball before Duberry and Leboeuf to poke it past De Goey's goal.

  Zero compared to one

  "Goal! Dutch striker Van Nistelrooy scores in the 14th minute to put Kaiserslautern on the board!"

  "It was a sharp and precise counter-attack, from Gatuso's interception to Belotti's pass, then to Barak's slanting shot, the whole process was very fast, almost in the blink of an eye, Chelsea's defense didn't even have time to organize."

  "Vialli looked very annoyed, constantly telling his teammates and players something, presumably warning them not to always think about fouling, which would distract them, because Chelsea's foul count was extremely high in the first half, they almost relied on fouls to stop Kaiserslautern's offense!"

  Huang Jianxiang's teasing was drowned out by the cheers of the Kaizer Chiefs fans in attendance, as the players wildly celebrated Vannie's goal.

  Not only did Ballack rush into the penalty area, but also Gomez, Berbatov, Nedved and Barak joined in the celebration of the goal, even with a bit of provocation.

  "This goal is a huge blow to Chelsea's morale, as they were passive throughout the game but at least didn't concede. But now Van Nistelrooy's goal has given Kaiserslautern the lead, which is like a slap in Chelsea's face, making them realize that even with their dirty tactics, they can't stop Kaiserslautern!"

  Looking at his teammates nodding their heads one by one, Kaiser Slautern was the only exception, looking spirited. In Dani Alves' heart, there was a burning fire, he absolutely did not want to fail like this, he hated and detested failure!

  But Danny Welbeck is not that kind of guy who would shout at his teammates, he likes to use actual actions.

  He soon found an opportunity and saw that the opponent's organizational core Bellona was about to make a forward pass, so he directly confronted him. Bellona clearly did not expect his opponent to use such a hard defense method, and was startled, but it was already too late.

  Just then, Danny Welbeck deliberately ran into the path of Burroni, turned his back to him and brutally knocked the Argentine to the ground, sending him tumbling to the turf in agony.

  "Hey, stop pretending!" Dennis Weiss had an extremely innocent expression on his face as he spread open his arms, as if telling everyone that nothing was wrong with him, how could anything be wrong?

  Not far away, Barak and Nedved reacted immediately, the two rushed up to pull away Danny Whis, who wanted to get close to Bellon, pointing at each other with force, "Don't pretend, you bastard!"

  "What did you say?" Danny Heusis also got angry.

  Barack stepped forward inch by inch, and the two almost bumped heads, word by word, he shouted: "You're a damn fool!"

  Denny Wiese was furious and wanted to take action, but Ned Flanders rushed forward and directly pushed Denny Wiese away. "Are you looking for a fight?"

  Seeing two burly men blocking his way, Danny Whis shrugged and made a face, his purpose had been achieved, so he didn't care!

  Yang Cheng was furious at the sidelines, he could understand Chelsea's desire to win, and also knew that if they were not as skilled, they should make up for it with hard work, but they shouldn't use such brutal and rough tactics, that's destroying football!

  Just like Gatusso, he claimed to be a butcher, and was very persistent in his pursuit of the ball, but he rarely used foul play with the intention of hurting others. As a result, although he received many yellow cards, he had never been directly sent off with a red card until now.

  Bellon was not injured, just badly shaken and after treatment from the team doctor he soon recovered but players from both sides began to get more agitated especially in midfield where Ballack, Nedved and Gattuso frequently clashed with Chelsea players seeking revenge while Chelsea players did not back down especially Dennis Wise who had previously collided with Bellon and escaped punishment now became even more aggressive.

  For this reason, the main referee had to frequently show cards, including Gattuso, Barak, Petrescu, Flo and others who were all given a yellow card one after another.

  Seeing this chaos, everyone felt disappointed, because it didn't look like a football match at all, but rather a wrestling match.

  But no one had expected that this yellow card battle would truly begin just before the end of the first half.