Chapter 618: Tying Points

At the end of 2012, the most exciting event in football was the selection of the FIFA Ballon d'Or.

Although 2012 is the year of the European Cup, it stands to reason that the Ballon d'Or winner will be selected from the European Cup champion and runner-up teams, but this year's champion Spain and runner-up Italy do not have very convincing stars to shine.

The final list of three players for the Ballon d'Or is still Ricardo, Messi, and Cristiano Ronaldo.

The media joked that the Golden Globe Awards have been monopolized by these three people. The duration of this monopoly is likely to be more than 10 years.

The end result was not much of a surprise.

Although Messi scored 50 league goals in the past season, Barcelona failed to score any, which lowered his evaluation.

Although Real Madrid won the league with 100 points, Ronaldo's performance was not as outstanding as Messi's, and Real Madrid did nothing in the Champions League.

Ricardo once again broke the Premier League's single-season scoring record with 44 goals, and also led the newly promoted team to win the double championship. Such results have amazed the whole of Europe.

So the 2012 Golden Globe winner naturally became Ricardo.

Entering 2013, QPR's first game was the Derby.

They challenge Chelsea away from home.

The game played at Stamford Bridge on the evening of January 2 was a hot one. Both sides received a total of 12 yellow cards and 3 red cards. Terry, Fernandinho and Maicon were sent off one after another. QPR had to win in the away game. 9 against 10.

But in the 79th minute, QPR took the lead.

At that time, Neymar switched to the left, used some skillful tricks to trick Ivanovic and then broke into the penalty area. Facing the tall central defender, he chose to go down, get out of the space and pass the ball to the goal.

Liccardo faced the goal sideways, tapped the ball with his left foot, and swept the ball into the net.

This late goal devastated the Chelsea people. In the last ten minutes of the game, QPR completely controlled the rhythm with skillful ball control and did not give the Blues any chance.

The performance of the young player Hazard was very outstanding. He caused Maicon's red card, but then Walker, who came on as a substitute, froze him.

The "battle between the two top young wingers in the Premier League" that was hyped by the media before the game ended with Neymar's victory.

The victory in this derby battle made QPR full of confidence.

In the first leg of the subsequent EFL Cup semi-finals, Simeone used a mix of main players and substitutes. QRP defeated Aston Villa 4:1 at home and had already entered the final with one foot.

Back in the league, in the 22nd round of the Premier League, QPR defeated Tottenham 2:0 at home.

In the 23rd round of the Premier League match, QPR challenged West Ham United away. In the first half, Neymar scored first, but West Ham United stubbornly equalized the score in the 80th minute.

However, Ricardo stepped forward at this time. In the 89th minute, he used a direct free kick to seal the victory for QPR, which also gave QPR their third consecutive league victory.

Then came the second leg of the EFL Cup semi-finals. QPR's youth team beat Aston Villa 1:0 away.

Next is QPR's appearance in the FA Cup. This is the 5th round of the FA Cup. QPR hosts Milton Keynes Dons.

QPR, which played all young players, fought hard to catch up after falling behind by 2 goals, and finally reversed the opponent 4:2 and won 6 consecutive victories in all competitions.

Having accumulated so many wins, QPR's morale is unprecedented. On the last day of January, they welcomed Manchester City, currently ranked third in the league, at home.

Simeone did not seek stability in this game. The main players, who had rested for more than ten days, launched a fierce frontcourt battle, leaving Manchester City exhausted.

In the 17th minute, Ricardo sent a through ball for Ronaldo, who broke the deadlock.

Two minutes later, Modric's pass was sent into the bottom of Manchester City's net by Liccardo, giving QPR a two-goal lead.

After entering the second half, Kompany took advantage of a corner kick opportunity to get a point back for Manchester City, but QPR then entered the ball control mode, firmly grasped the rhythm of the game, and launched a fatal counterattack in the 77th minute.

Neymar assisted Liccardo to score, rewriting the score to 3:1.

In the end, QPR won the victory as they wished and continued to bite Manchester United in the standings with their 4th consecutive league victory.

Since Manchester United drew with Tottenham in the 23rd round of the league, the two teams now have the same points, and QPR only ranks second with a 2-goal difference disadvantage.

Starting from late February, QPR's schedule will become very intensive, and for a period of time, they will have to fight on four fronts.

Of course, the FA Cup can be given up.

However, the EFL Cup has entered the final and there is no reason to give up.

As for the league and the Champions League, there is no giving up.

So Liccardo called the players for another meeting and reiterated the team's goals.

He also asked the team to score enough points in mid-to-early February so that they could not be distanced by Manchester United.

There is no room for error in the home games against Norwich in the 25th round and against Swansea in the 26th round.

Because right after that, February 16th will be the FA Cup match; February 20th will be the first leg of the Champions League knockout round; February 23rd, they will face Manchester United at home; February 26th, they will welcome Europa League final. These are tough battles and cannot be neglected.

QPR's luck in signing is pretty good. Their opponent in the Champions League quarter-finals is not a strong opponent, Galatasaray from Turkey. Among the eight second-place teams, their strength is only average.

Manchester United is more miserable. Their opponent is Real Madrid... In other words, Manchester United will first have a head-to-head match with Real Madrid away from home, and then challenge QPR away from home.

For Manchester United, the schedule is even more unfavorable.

Liccardo very much hopes that the team can take this opportunity to defeat Manchester United and reach the top for the first time this season.

Of course, everything depends on the performance of the players.

On February 2, QPR faced Norwich at home.

Norwich put on a defensive posture. Except for one forward wandering in the midfield, the other 10 players were all huddled in their own penalty area.

Although QPR maintained possession of the ball, it was difficult to penetrate such a bus. After all, they are not Barcelona. They are still not as good as Barcelona in using the ball to create gaps in the opponent's defense and then suddenly speeding up.

However, after 81 minutes of stalemate, QPR finally took advantage of a set-piece opportunity to score. This was a free kick created by Liccardo on the wing. Modric took the penalty and accurately found the top of Van Dijk's head. Van Dijk headed Attacking the goal gave QPR a rare victory.

On February 9, QPR challenged Swansea away from home.

I thought this was a hands-off game, but in just the 6th minute, Michu hit Miranda's leg with a non-threatening shot and bounced into the goal. Courtois could only watch the ball and sigh.

QPR stepped up their attack, but in the 32nd minute, Swansea took advantage of a corner kick to score another victory.

QPR were cornered.

At times like these, there are always heroes who have to step forward.

It was Ricardo who set the example. In the stoppage time of the first half, he received a through ball from Pogba, suddenly started to shake off the player marking him, turned around with Cruyff near the baseline, and then pushed the ball from a small angle, and the football missed the far end. The post rolled into the net and QPR pulled a point back.

In the second half, QPR did not make any adjustments, but the players' condition gradually improved. In the 55th minute, Neymar switched positions to the left, stepped on his bicycle continuously and forced a breakthrough. Then he made an emergency stop and pushed the ball to the edge of the penalty area. Pogba adjusted after receiving the ball and volleyed hard into the far corner, hitting a A wonderful world wave equalized the score for QPR.

Swansea's morale dropped, and QPR bombarded the opponent's goal indiscriminately.

In the 79th minute, Vardy came on as a substitute. Just one minute into the game, with his first touch of the ball, he received Modric's through ball and succeeded in countering offside, and shot low into the corner, giving QPR the lead.

In the 88th minute, Modric's corner kick was headed into Swansea's goal by Gary Cahill, and QPR led 4:2.

Although the process was thrilling, the final solution was good.

However, Manchester United also won both games, and also got 3 goal differences. Currently, Manchester United and QPR have 66 points together. Manchester United ranks first in the standings with a slight advantage of 2 goal differences, and QPR ranks second. .