"Alright, friends and viewers!! Welcome to the first round of the 2009-2010 Europa League group stage match between Luton and CSKA Sofia!"
Laytekinsen's voice came from the television, and at this time, in various pubs in Luton town, the fans were already on high alert.
Gao Bo's figure began to appear on the TV screen, and the fans quickly cheered, then downed the beer in their hands.
The pub owner loved match days!
Gao Bo walked out of the players' tunnel and met CSKA Sofia's head coach, Penev, at the technical area.
After shaking hands, they walked to their respective positions.
Gao Bo had already reviewed Penev's profile.
Speaking of which, this coach was quite young, only thirty-eight years old this year.
Of course, compared to Gao Bo, he was older, but in the coaching industry as a whole, Penev could be considered young and promising.
In June 2008, CSKA was temporarily excluded from European competitions by UEFA due to financial problems.
To alleviate the financial crisis, the club began selling star players, which led to the departure of the then head coach, Mladenov, in anger.
The newly appointed coach, Penev, set about building a young team and won the cup competition.
This was a showdown between two young teams.
At this moment, the players of both teams began to enter the field led by the referee, and the fans in the stands all stood up.
CSKA Sofia fans naturally cheered for their team, while Gao Bo applauded his players.
Gao Bo looked around the stadium.
Bulgarian Army Stadium - just by the name, you know what kind of relationship this stadium has with the Bulgarian army.
In fact, many teams from former socialist countries have connections to the army or government departments.
The most famous, of course, is CSKA Moscow, which is considered the team of the Soviet Red Army.
And in Russia, there is also a team called "Wings of the Soviets," which has a close relationship with the Soviet Air Force...
And at this time, in the stands of the stadium, the fans of CSKA Sofia were basically bare-chested, with various slogans and patterns written and painted on their bodies.
They roared with clenched fists in the stands, looking quite fierce.
"I didn't expect the fans here to be so passionate!"
Gao Bo said to John, who was next to him.
It was his first time in Bulgaria.
It was also John's first time in Bulgaria.
This small country on the Balkan Peninsula doesn't have a strong presence in Europe.
Even for tourism, Britons probably wouldn't think of going to Bulgaria.
John looked at the CSKA fans in the stands with a curious gaze.
He was quite interested in their bare-chested way of cheering, as it was quite different from England... In England, if two men were bare-chested and hugging...
That scene would be too beautiful; wouldn't that solidify the reputation of the 'land of fujoshis'?
Against the backdrop of the majestic Europa League anthem, the players of both teams entered the field!
As the players of both teams shook hands, the CSKA Sofia players looked at this team from England with curious eyes.
In this Europa League competition, Luton was a rather special team.
On the one hand, they participated as the FA Cup champions, and on the other hand, they were only a team from the third tier of English football.
These two pieces of information made Luton's opponents very conflicted, because before the match started, it was difficult to accurately gauge Luton's strength.
Penev did make a judgment before the match.
He told his players that they must not underestimate the Luton team, and that their strength was comparable to that of CSKA Sofia!
In this group, the media generally believed that the two weakest teams were Luton and CSKA.
The other two teams in the same group would most likely treat Luton and CSKA as teams to get points from!
And for the two teams facing each other in this match, if they wanted to qualify, they had to get points from the group's "minnows"!
But when the match started, the CSKA players discovered that what "weakest in the group"?
If a team like this was the weakest in the group, then how should CSKA view themselves?
The match had just started, CSKA kicked off, but as soon as they kicked the ball, they found they were completely suppressed!
Luton pressed high and started pressing in the opponent's half!
High press!
One of Gao Bo's favorite tactical approaches!
Almost every CSKA player was tightly marked, which made it very difficult for them to pass the ball, so they could only resort to a long ball forward from the goalkeeper.
CSKA's striker met Sol Campbell.
Sol Campbell accurately headed the ball back to Drinkwater's feet!
Drinkwater passed the ball to Griezmann in front!!
Griezmann flicked the ball with the outside of his foot, splitting the ball to the wing.
Adam White on the wing advanced very quickly.
He charged forward directly, then sent a cross with his left foot.
His left foot was not Adam White's dominant foot, so he couldn't control the ball well on this occasion, and the cross was a bit too deep.
But it didn't matter, Kevin Keane on the other side also followed up, and he controlled the ball on the right side of the penalty area.
Under Luton's pressure, CSKA's defense was a bit chaotic.
This was the advantage of the high press.
If they could win the ball back right there, then launching a counterattack immediately would be a huge threat.
And at this moment, the players inside the CSKA penalty area were startled by Luton's extremely fast passing.
Sol Campbell headed the ball forward, then Drinkwater passed it forward again, and Griezmann also made a forward pass.
Forward, forward, forward!!
Three consecutive passes were all vertical, without any hesitation, no horizontal or backward passes.
It was so fast that the CSKA players were completely unprepared.
Gao Bo was standing by the touchline when Sol Campbell headed the ball forward.
At this time, the opponent was in an attacking stance, so such a counterattack would be a very threatening attacking opportunity.
Indeed, Kevin Keane did not send a high cross directly but passed the ball back with a cutback!
Griezmann's agility was on display.
After a few runs, he got rid of the defender's entanglement, and then directly shot with his right foot, meeting Kevin Keane's pass!!
Amidst the gasps of the fans at the Bulgarian Army Stadium, the ball flew towards the goal, skimming the grass.
This... impossible?!
The CSKA players had faces filled with unbelievable shock.
The ball had already crossed the goal line and hit the net behind the goalkeeper!
How long has it been?
The match had just started, less than a minute!
In less than a minute, Luton scored!
Not only the CSKA players, but the fans in the stands were also dumbfounded.
Before the match started, even the most pessimistic Bulgarian media said that this match would at most be evenly matched, because Luton was, after all, a team from the English League One.
Although Bulgarian football was not as developed as England's, it wouldn't be so bad that even their top league's most elite giants couldn't beat an English third-tier team, right?
But now...
Judging from the first minute of the match, the situation was indeed not as optimistic as the Bulgarian media predicted.
And for the CSKA fans, it was indeed difficult for them to accept the scene on the field at this moment.
Didn't they say Luton was the weakest team in the group?
Now, who exactly is the weakest?!