Messi was so scared that he cried when he maxed out his header talent at the start of the game

Chapter 676

"The most important matchup since the start of the season, the battle between Manchester City and Chelsea is coming!"

"Preview of the fifth round of the Premier League: Manchester City will visit Stamford Bridge to face Chelsea!"

"The focus of the top battle of the new season has arrived in advance!"

"Mourinho accepted an exclusive interview: the team's goal this season is to win the league and Champions League titles and recreate the glory of the 04-05 season."

Before the fifth round of the Premier League, major Premier League media have already begun to exaggerate and lay the groundwork in advance.

September 2, three o'clock in the afternoon.

As the Manchester City bus slowly drove into the Stamford Bridge stadium.

Mourinho also met the owner Roman Abramovich who rushed to the stadium in the reception room.

More than three years have left obvious marks on Mourinho's hair, but the Russian oligarch has not changed at all.

"Jose! Long time no see!"

"Haha."

The two shook hands and greeted each other, and Mourinho squeezed out a smile on his face.

Those conversations in the summer.

An invisible gap was created between the two, and neither of them was as comfortable as before.

"Will we win today?"

"Yes, sir. The players are in good shape, and we are well prepared before the game."

"Okay, then I will wait until the game is over and go to the locker room to celebrate with everyone."

Abramovich got straight to the point, and Mourinho's answer satisfied him.

Mourinho watched his boss leave.

There was a lot of pressure.

Frowning.

He also learned before the game that his boss actually came to the scene to "supervise the battle" in person today.

Turning his head, Mourinho quickened his pace back to the locker room.

In the home team's locker room.

Chelsea players had just finished warming up and were changing their equipment. Mourinho pushed the door in vigorously, causing everyone to consciously stop what they were doing.

Drogba, Terry, Lampard and other Chelsea players raised their heads and looked at the coach who was hesitant to speak.

After thinking it over again and again.

Mourinho decided not to tell the players that the boss was there in person, as that would only increase the slightly tense atmosphere in the locker room.

"Hey! Why are you looking at me? Is there something on my face?"

"No..."

The players looked at each other in bewilderment when they saw Mourinho opening his tactical book after saying this.

Terry whispered in Drogba's ear.

"Based on my understanding of the boss, he definitely had something to say just now... It definitely wasn't that nonsense just now."

"Yeah."

Drogba nodded in approval.

Since the start of the new season, he could clearly feel the changes in Mourinho. He was still strict but no longer sharp. He seemed to be worried and stood there in a daze.

But what exactly affected Mourinho?

Drogba couldn't guess the answer.

Could it be the rumors of dismissal that circulated in the media in the summer?

This idea was quickly thrown out of Drogba's mind.

Impossible.

Those are just unscrupulous reports published by the media to create gimmicks and topics.

How could the boss leave Chelsea?

Drogba, who also joined Chelsea in the 2004-05 season, can't imagine this Chelsea without Mourinho.

What would it be like?

Drogba not only can't imagine it, but also can't accept it.

No.

The boss will not leave Chelsea.

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"Our opponents today are very strong!"

"It was around 2005... I was playing in the Qatar League as a player at that time... I have a deep impression... On that day, the news that Chelsea won the Premier League with 95 points occupied the front page headlines of all the sports media I could see in Qatar!"

"This is my deepest impression of Chelsea. They broke the record of winning points in the entire European top league with only 1 loss in 38 games."

"And this season, their head coach is still Mr. Mourinho, and their core players are still the same group. This is destined to make them one of Manchester City's biggest competitors for the championship this season!"

At the pre-match press conference, Guardiola did not mention the better record of Manchester City and Chelsea in the past two seasons.

Instead, from a personal perspective, he recognized today's opponent, and the above are also Guardiola's true words.

For today's game.

Guardiola is not 100% sure to win.

......After finishing the interview, Guardiola met Mourinho at the exit of the venue.

Guardiola's eyes lit up, and Mourinho's brows also dispersed.

"Hi, Jose!"

"Hey, Josep! Haha, I haven't seen you for many years."

The two head coaches greeted each other like old friends, and they were indeed old friends.

During 1996-98, the two had been colleagues for three years.

At that time, Guardiola was a main player of Barcelona, ​​and Mourinho was the assistant coach and translator of Barcelona head coach Bobby Robson.

This relationship.

It was destined that the two would communicate a lot at that time.

They also became friends.

However, after the two left Barcelona one after another, this connection was broken, and it had been nearly 10 years since they worked together at that time.

Mourinho looked at Guardiola's bald head.

"Fate is amazing. You have become a coach, and the head coach of Manchester City, and we will play as coaches today."

"Yes, I told you that year. My plan after retirement is to become a head coach. But everything went smoothly beyond my expectations."

"Haha, yes. When I was your age, I was still an assistant coach. And now you have become a coach of the Triple Crown."

Guardiola was a little uncomfortable when he heard this.

It has been too long since he communicated with Mourinho. He couldn't tell whether this was a sincere compliment or... sarcasm?

Seeing Guardiola fall into silence, Mourinho frowned slightly.

To be honest.

Mourinho was not in a good mood today because of the sudden visit of his boss Abramovich. When people are in a bad mood, they tend to get excited and start some inappropriate topics.

"Joseph. Why didn't you contact me after you came to England?"

"......"

Mourinho felt that he was just saying it casually, but from Guardiola's perspective, it was more like a question.

This made Guardiola feel very uncomfortable and asked back.

"I thought you would contact me first when you came to England first... and you didn't contact me after you returned to Portugal."

"......"

Relationships between people.

Sometimes they are far more fragile than imagined.

At this moment, a huge crack suddenly appeared in the friendship between the two more than ten years ago.

They parted unhappily.

Mourinho walked into the interview scene with a dark face.

After the media reporters at the scene asked some questions about preparations, naturally some reporters dug out the time when the two worked together in Barcelona more than ten years ago.

"Mr. Mourinho, are you still in private contact with Mr. Guardiola now?"

"No."

Mourinho recalled the unpleasantness between the two just now and added.

"When we were at Barcelona, ​​I loved him and he loved me, and we both knew it."

"But now."

"We are in different positions, we are opponents, we are no longer friends."

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