The God of Football Starts With Passive Skills

"We haven’t given up. We still have a chance!"

Chelsea’s manager, Ancelotti, was even more direct.

"This isn’t the worst first leg I’ve ever lost in my career. In fact, I’ve lost even more badly than this before, but in the end, we still won the tie!"

Ancelotti reminded everyone that a Champions League knockout tie is a two-legged affair, and Chelsea had a precious away goal.

"In fact, for us, scoring two goals at Stamford Bridge Stadium isn’t a difficult task!"

But as for who would be responsible for scoring those goals, Ancelotti didn’t give a direct answer.

This sparked speculation in the British media and drew attention from the German media.

Although Drogba scored in the first leg against Dortmund, it was actually the Côte d’Ivoire striker’s only goal in his last dozen or so matches. He had been in a goal drought before that.

Since joining Chelsea, Torres had been slow to integrate into the team.

Many said that after his serious injury, he had long lost the lightning-fast attacking prowess he displayed at Liverpool.

As the Daily Mirror commented, "No one would deny Chelsea’s strength, but the key question is, who does Ancelotti plan to have lead the attack?"

"Will it be Drogba, who is deep in a goal drought? Or Torres, who has been slow to integrate into the team? Or perhaps the aging Lampard?"

There were various opinions regarding the lineup for the second leg.

The Sun Newspaper believed they should return to Chelsea’s most familiar 4-3-3 formation, reuniting the familiar and well-coordinated attacking trio of Malouda, Drogba, and Anelka.

But some pointed out that none of these three were young.

Drogba was already 33, Malouda was 30, and Anelka was 32. On top of that, the midfielder Lampard was 32.

Was Chelsea planning to rely on this group of players in their thirties to go head-to-head with Dortmund’s pack of young guns?

In addition to publishing an article urging Chelsea to return to a 4-3-3 formation, the Sun Newspaper also revealed another piece of news.

Many fans’ impression of the Sun Newspaper was limited to celebrity gossip and its Page 3 girls.

What they didn’t know was that the Sun Newspaper was also quite adept when it came to gathering intelligence.

The Sun Newspaper had been the first to break the news on many blockbuster transfers, even capturing photographic evidence. The most famous case was Beckham’s transfer to Real Madrid.

At the time, the Sun Newspaper had obtained firsthand, concrete photos of the meeting.

And this time, the Sun Newspaper revealed that Abramovich had personally traveled to Germany to oversee the match, witnessing Chelsea’s disastrous 3-1 comeback defeat to Dortmund away from home.

"Abramovich is extremely disappointed and dissatisfied with the team’s current situation. He believes Ancelotti is no longer fit to continue coaching Chelsea and will initiate a managerial change this summer."

"Dortmund’s manager, Klopp, has entered Abramovich’s shortlist of potential replacements!"

More importantly, the Sun Newspaper revealed that Chelsea was preparing for a major summer overhaul, planning to rebuild the squad.

"Abramovich and his team are seriously considering a feasible plan to sign Wang Shuo this summer!"

In other words, Chelsea might rejoin the race to sign Wang Shuo!

"According to reliable information obtained by our reporters, there are currently three Premier League teams publicly scouting Wang Shuo with clear intentions to sign the Chinese striker: Manchester United, Manchester City, and Arsenal."

"Now, you can add Chelsea to that list."

"Additionally, in La Liga, both Real Madrid and Barça have considered signing Wang Shuo, but the presence of Ronaldo and Messi has become the biggest obstacle to him joining either of the La Liga Giants."

The Sun Newspaper also revealed that the club closest to signing Wang Shuo at the moment was not Manchester United or Arsenal, but rather Manchester City.

Although Manchester City was currently fourth in the Premier League and highly likely to qualify for next season’s Champions League, the club’s management was not entirely satisfied with Mancini’s coaching.

"They are currently in contact with Dortmund’s manager, Klopp, hoping to persuade him to coach Manchester City."

"If Klopp were to coach Manchester City, then as Klopp’s star pupil, it’s highly likely Wang Shuo would join him there."

However, the Sun Newspaper also revealed that Dortmund was currently in contract extension talks with Klopp and was unwilling to let him go.

Klopp had not yet made an official statement.

Because right now, the most important thing for the team was to play well.

...

In a meeting room at Strobelaler, Dortmund was holding its first tactical meeting.

The topic of discussion was the second leg of the Champions League quarter-final.

Unlike the previous group stage and the Round of 16, after entering the quarter-finals, the two legs were only a week apart.

This placed greater demands on both participating teams.

The coaching staff first summarized the successes and failures from the first leg.

For example, in that match, Chelsea’s counter-pressing was not ideal. Furthermore, after winning back possession through the counter-press, their passing success rate in the immediate aftermath was very low, not even reaching forty percent.

What did this mean?

It meant that Dortmund’s midfield pressing tactics were highly effective.

This was something Dortmund had to maintain in the second leg at Stamford Bridge.

As for Chelsea’s tactics at Stamford Bridge, Klopp truly couldn’t guess what they would be.

Just as no one had guessed that Ancelotti would substitute Drogba in the second half, leaving Torres on the pitch.

In a way, this also sent a signal.

After all, Torres was young, while Drogba was a veteran who was already on his way out at Chelsea.