The Rise of Millwal

Chapter 312: The Path of Redemption

Before the second leg of the Champions League semi-final, the Premier League landscape took a dramatic turn: Manchester United, who had dominated the points table for over six months, slid down to second place!

After being eliminated by Monaco in the Champions League, Manchester United failed to extend their lead in the league and instead, found themselves held to a draw by a Newcastle team still at risk of relegation. In the same round, Arsenal trounced their local derby rivals Wimbledon 5-0, leapfrogging Manchester United by a single point to claim the top spot.

With just three rounds left in the Premier League, the title race had completely flipped. Not only had Manchester United lost control of their destiny, they were now in danger of losing even the second place!

In the final three rounds, Manchester United faced Leeds United and Crystal Palace, along with a last match at The Den against Millwall. The goal difference between the two teams stood at just two, with Manchester United in the lead, but in points, they had only a three-point advantage over Millwall.

Arsenal's remaining matches included Barnsley, Everton, and Aston Villa.

Millwall are four points behind the leaders and three behind Manchester United. With only three rounds left in the game, Aldridge bluntly said: The title defense has failed!

Fleet Street noted that the current situation mirrored the final title chase of the previous season. The teams in contention were Newcastle United, Manchester United, and Millwall then, but now Arsenal had replaced Newcastle. Just like Newcastle before, Arsenal was at the top of the table with three matches left, and the difference was that Arsenal would not have to face directly competing teams. Instead, Manchester United and Millwall would have a head-to-head clash, making Arsenal's chances of winning far superior to Newcastle's two years ago.

After battling from August to April, Millwall found themselves free from the pressure of the league. Although not being able to defend their title was a blow, they had been chasing since September and thus the psychological impact was undoubtedly less severe than for Manchester United. Moreover, they were aiming for success in the Champions League—a fact well-known by now. No matter how tough Aldrich tried to sound before, their aspirations for the Champions League were clear, and maintaining pressure on the leaders in the league was still a sign of success for Millwall, as Fleet Street pointed out. So far, they had already secured a trophy.

As the Champions League semi-final second leg approached, the entire Millwall team was focused solely on the match against Monaco, undeterred by the unfolding Premier League events, as they embarked on their journey to Monaco with determination.

In Monaco, at the Louis II Stadium, Aldrich led the team today with a rather low-key and somewhat pessimistic demeanor.

He emphasized that Monaco had the advantage of playing at home, and that Millwall had missed the opportunity to secure a win in the first leg, compounded by Southgate's suspension, leading to a loss of their edge in advancing to the finals.

This time, Aldrich didn't converse with Tigana before the match. As the home coach, Tigana walked over to Aldrich, shook his hand, and they exchanged a brief pat on each other's arms before parting ways. Both were far from calm inside.

As the new generation of up-and-coming coaches, whoever secured a ticket to the Champions League final from this match would mark a pinnacle in their coaching career, undeniably elevating their reputation and achievements in European and world football to new heights!

"The second leg of the Champions League semi-final is about to begin, with Monaco hosting Millwall. At the start of this season, few would have guessed that one of these two teams would make it to the Champions League final. Monaco, under their previous coach Wenger, won the Ligue 1 title almost ten years ago and hadn't played in the Champions League since. However, their new coach Tigana led them to last season's Ligue 1 title, and now they return to the Champions League after years away, progressing from the group stage to the knockout rounds and reaching the semi-finals, having drawn 0-0 in the first leg against Millwall. With the advantage of playing at home, their chances of reaching the finals look promising. Meanwhile, Millwall, under the young coach Aldrich Hall, is embarking on their first Champions League campaign in over a century, achieving remarkable success with a perfect record in the group stage that stunned Europe, and they took down Barcelona in two classic matches. In the quarter-finals, their tenacity allowed them to eliminate the favorites, Juventus. Though not favored, one shouldn't underestimate them. They created a miracle in Turin; what will they bring to Monaco? We shall see!"

Southgate, dressed sharply and accompanied by family, took his seat in the stands to watch the match, having been suspended for just one game. If the team made it to the finals, he would surely play unless injured.

Today, Millwall started with a 4-2-3-1 formation, with two changes in personnel.

Materazzi replaced the suspended Southgate as a central defender alongside Helguera. In the last two league matches, Aldrich had deliberately paired Helguera and Materazzi together to test their synergy against opponents. The results had been promising. Materazzi had been with the team for four years and steadily improved, showcasing a fierce style of play that suited the Premier League well. With over 25 appearances across league and cup competitions this season, his skills had reached a settled stage, earning him unanimous praise.

The other change saw Shevchenko on the bench, with Denmark's golden winger Gronkjaer taking his place.

Today, Millwall planned to play conservatively, which called for individuals with strong abilities on the flanks. The North European wingers, Larsson and Gronkjaer, were essential for counter-attacks.

As the match quickly kicked off, Monaco leveraged their home advantage to control the game's tempo, playing deliberately and cautiously to gauge their opponent's condition.

Millwall, however, wasted no time. Once they successfully defended, they quickened their pace to advance forward. While their attacking numbers were few, their threat from the wings was very apparent.

In this game, Gronkjar and Larsson's dribbling route after getting the ball was very clear: cut inside, cut inside, keep cutting inside! !

Gronkjaer, already the best dribbler on the team, led the league in average dribbles per appearance, providing space for Larsson to accelerate. While Larsson was also notably fast, his role didn't often call for him to dribble; instead, he would exploit space by slicing through the opponent's flank, threatening with direct shots at goal.

Before the match, Aldrich had specifically instructed both players to cut in upon receiving the ball. He emphasized that they only needed to beat one defender at a time instead of trying to make consecutive dribbles. After getting past one, they should keep a clear mind and start scanning for opportunities. When a second defender approached to intercept, there would surely be vulnerabilities in the defense, and passing to teammates would become crucial.

In static defense, Nedved was marked by two opposing midfielders, while Trezeguet was trapped by the enemy's center-backs. However, in dynamic game play, as soon as they opened space on the wings for a cut-in route, the opponents would necessarily pay close attention to the player with the ball—especially Larsson. If he appeared unmarked when bringing the ball forward, his long-range shot could very well pierce through Monaco's defense.

Monaco's fans were feeling optimistic. Earlier in the season, they had drawn 4-4 in a friendly match against Millwall, and just a fortnight ago, they had managed a draw in the first leg away from home. With home advantage today, hopes of securing a win were high.

But they were wrong—very wrong.

The friendly match didn't count, and in the previous encounter, Millwall had suffered early when a lethal counter-attack led to Southgate's red card, leaving them with one less player and appearing less threatening.

In this game, Monaco's goal is to win and resolve the matter within 90 minutes. With home court advantage, their offense was significantly more aggressive than in the previous round. On the other hand, Millwall strengthened its defense and used limited forces to break through the opponent's defense in a targeted manner. This tactical change made Millwall's style and quality even more threatening than in the previous game.

Monaco tried to break through Millwall's solid defence, but quickly realized they were in trouble. Even Henry, who used the gap to cause Southgate's red card before, has difficulty threatening the goal without sprinting space, which weakens his flank threat to a certain extent. In a sense, after all, he is not the King of Highbury who later played at Arsenal - not just technical ability, but also game experience and awareness!

As the teams exchanged possession back and forth, the first twenty minutes passed without anyone getting a clear-cut chance, but the dynamics began to shift.

Aldrich stood on the sidelines, chin up with hands in pockets, keenly observing the match's flow. Monaco's defensive formation was already falling into a passive rhythm. After enduring the impacts of Gronkjaer and Larsson cutting inside, their two full-backs began moving closer to the center to compress the space the wingers needed to advance. This adjustment was also to ensure that they could cover for teammates rushing in for interceptions.

In the 28th minute, Makelele intercepted the ball and passed it to Pirlo, who then sent it to Gronkjaer. The latter's successive cut-in attempts forced Monaco to closely mark him when transitioning from offense to defense. But this time, Gronkjaer cleverly left the ball without stopping, redirecting it back to Pirlo before making a forward run.

As Pirlo received the return pass, he made a choice to redirect the ball to the left flank, where Larsson carried it forward. Meanwhile, a teammate sprinted toward the front at high speed. Larsson evaded an approaching midfield defender and sent the ball to Nedved, who had found space in the center.

As Monaco tightened their defense in the center, Nedvěd looked around while controlling the ball. He then sent a surprising chip assist to the left near the baseline, allowing Capdevila to unexpectedly burst through the Monaco backline and shock them.

Capdevila intelligently controlled the ball, not rushing to make a pass. He waited for the Monaco defenders to retreat before executing a deft back-pass into the penalty area, catching everyone off guard.

Pirlo emerged in that space, in the spot that used to send chills down Juventus fans' spines, just where he had once delivered a decisive blow against Juventus!

Monaco also understood they couldn't let Pirlo shoot from that position—absolutely not!

In a moment of caution, their defense surged forward, but their marking faltered. Pirlo, calm as ever, didn't take the shot but instead passed the ball smoothly past Monaco's defenders.

Trezeguet made a lateral run to the left of the small box, and as he received Pirlo's exquisite assist without stopping the ball, he took a quick shot.

Monaco's goalkeeper Barthez lunged desperately but was a step too late; the ball rolled inches past the post and into the net!

"Trezeguet! What a beautiful moment! Millwall scored first away from home and it was a beautiful goal! The whole team worked together like clockwork and the goal was truly a joy to watch! Pirlo's The last pass was pure genius - everyone thought he would pull the trigger from outside, but that was not the case, he passed the ball to his teammate perfectly! What about Trezeguet? What a natural! Think, just a clean touch with the inside of your foot - the shot may not have had the pace, but boy, the angle was cheeky as it went over the post and into the net! Millwall were 1-0 up and Monaco were now in trouble; they were in trouble; Two goals were needed to keep hope alive and extra time was no longer possible - what a drama!"