Chapter 314: Chapter 313: The Next Opponent in the European Union Cup
Lisbon Sporting easily defeated their opponents two to zero.
Deng Kai had a little test this round, scoring a goal with a long-range shot.
Deschamps delivered an assist.
Viana continued his good form from the European competition into the league, completing both a pass and a shot.
The attention for this round of the Portuguese league was noticeably higher than before, and after summarizing, the media found the extra traffic came mostly from countries in Europe, mainly Italy.
This is the bonus effect of a European competition on a team.
Soon, Lisbon Sporting’s opponent in the round of eight of the European Union Cup was revealed.
It was Kaiserslautern, the Bundesliga team that pulled off a miracle a few years ago!
This team once put huge pressure on Bayern in the league.
Their coach is one of the most legendary figures in football, Rehhagel.
The most notable player on this team is the young German player Miroslav Klose.
The reason he is referred to as a young player rather than a young star is that at this stage, Klose couldn’t yet be considered a big star.
He joined Kaiserslautern last year, getting the chance to play in one of the top five leagues.
In his first season in the Bundesliga, he scored nine goals for his team.
He also helped the team reach the semi-finals of the European Union Cup.
This led most people to favor Kaiserslautern.
They have the European Union Cup in their DNA.
As for Lisbon Sporting... they can only be considered giants in the Portuguese league, but when looking at the entire European club scene, they’re just a somewhat well-known dark horse. In terms of brand value, they don’t even match Kaiserslautern, which recently finished second in the Bundesliga.
Klose, who played as a winger last season, saw his attacking abilities further developed after moving to center forward this season.
Based on his current performance, he has a very high probability of becoming the Bundesliga’s top local scorer this season, and he can compete for honors such as the Bundesliga’s best newcomer.
To encourage Klose, Rehhagel has repeatedly stated this season that Klose has the qualifications to be selected for the German national team.
Unfortunately, such talk hasn’t been heeded.
But if Klose continues his current form, even if he doesn’t make it into the German team this year, he will next year.
Another key player for Kaiserslautern is Djorkaeff the Younger.
He’s a second-generation star; his father, Jean Djorkaeff, was a French national team defender and he followed in his father’s footsteps onto the national team path.
Before the emergence of Zidane, he was rightfully the core of the French team’s front line.
The arrival of Zidane cast a magical spell over the French team.
During the World Cup in ’98 and the European Championship in 2000, Djorkaeff reached the summit of the world with the French team.
At club level, Djorkaeff was equally brilliant during his time with Internazionale.
He was the only superstar whose form did not significantly decline when Internazionale adopted a strategy centered around big stars.
He smartly chose to leave Internazionale just as Lippi arrived, being one of the earliest to express dissent about the Juventus-born coach taking over Internazionale.
And the results proved Djorkaeff’s foresight correct.
After coming to Kaiserslautern, Djorkaeff continued to shine, undisputedly being the core of the team’s front line.
Rehhagel, Djorkaeff, Klose.
Legendary coach, superstar player, future superstar.
Kaiserslautern hardly has any weaknesses in any aspect.
Although Lisbon Sporting defeated Internazionale, after the big discussion ended, everyone agreed that Internazionale’s collapse was internal, they lost to themselves, and it didn’t have much to do with Lisbon Sporting.
Anyone facing an Internazionale like that would find it hard not to win the game.
This was further confirmed in the Italian Cup.
Internazionale Milan faced a tough competitor in the league, Parma, and lost six to one over two legs.
The media started to dig up what Deng Kai had said in an interview before: "Internazionale Milan are bound to lose against Parma, by at least three goals over two legs"!
Now it seems, Deng Kai was conservative.
Internazionale Milan lost by five goals!
The worse Internazionale Milan performed, the less significant Lisbon Sporting seemed to people.
So much so that, half a month before the first leg of the UEFA Cup quarter-finals, the betting companies had already offered quite high odds.
The probability of Kaiserslautern not losing any goal in the first leg was as high as eighty-six percent.
The probability of Lisbon Sporting winning was only fourteen percent.
German Bundesliga VS Portuguese Primeira Liga.
Rehhagel VS Trigella (a nobody).
Djorkaeff (in his prime) VS Matthaus (the old and decrepit).
Miroslav Klose VS Viana, Quaresma
Aside from the always equally hyped young talents, Kaiserslautern had the advantage in all aspects.
...
On March 1st, the quarter-finals of the Portugal Cup kicked off.
From this round on, the competition was almost entirely between Primeira Liga teams, with only one second division team making it to the top eight.
Lisbon Sporting’s opponent was their "B team" Moreirense.
The two teams had met last season, and Moreirense had defeated Lisbon Sporting under the leadership of Deng Kai and Ronaldo.
To be precise, they had defeated the big three of the Primeira Liga!
The Portugal Cup they won last season was the most legendary in the history of the tournament.
The match took place at Estadio Alvalade, and Lisbon Sporting gave half of the tickets to Moreirense.
This match was very profitable for Moreirense.
After more than twenty rounds of the Primeira Liga, Moreirense had almost certainly secured a spot for relegation.
Without an excellent head coach like Trigella, and without talent stars like Deng Kai, Ronaldo, and Kilop, Moreirense was indeed not up to the strength of the Primeira Liga.
Their signings were proven to be mediocre; the players they bought to replace Ronaldo and Deng Kai were nowhere near the standard of a Primeira Liga core player.
The most promising players in the team right now were forward Anderson and right-back Alex.
They continued to perform well this season.
Anderson had already scored ten goals in the Primeira Liga; for a player new to the league, this record was certainly impressive.
Alex had become a full-back with distinctive attacking attributes, thanks to his offensive prowess.
Many mid-table Primeira Liga teams were interested in Anderson, but a number of top teams from the five major European leagues were eyeing Alex.
Top teams are in great need of attack-minded full-backs.
In the players’ tunnel, Deng Kai greeted Anderson, Alex, and other teammates from last season.
Having already clashed in the league, the atmosphere between the two sides was relatively harmonious.
After the players entered the pitch, the fans of Lisbon Sporting also gave applause to Moreirense.
With the blow of the whistle, the match officially began.
Because of Trigella’s influence, Lisbon Sporting was all too familiar with Moreirense’s tactical system.
In just five minutes, the football was firmly under Lisbon Sporting’s control.
Moreirense continued the strong team play from last season for half a season, but this season they entirely regressed to a weaker team’s style.
