[Champions League Qualifiers: The dream stage of civilian teams, and weak teams also have counterattacks]
The Champions League qualifiers have started again! Isn't this the annual drama of our civilian fans? Watching those little-known teams sweat on the big stage of European football and fight for that glimmer of hope of qualifying, to be honest, is more interesting than watching the big teams play!
No, in the second leg of the first round of the qualifiers that just ended, a lot of wonderful plots were staged. The Riga Football Academy in Latvia was a pleasant surprise. Can you imagine, brothers? A team from a small Baltic country swept its opponent 4:0 away from home, and advanced with an aggregate score of 7:0 over the two legs! This is simply the football version of "turtle beating rabbit"!
Looking at other games, some teams narrowly won with home advantage, while others stubbornly defended on the road. There were even teams that came back from a penalty shootout to advance after a draw in regulation time. Where is this qualifier, it's simply a football version of the "dark horse miracle"!
But then again, while the names of these teams may sound a bit awkward, their performances are anything but unambiguous. Take the Riga Football Academy as an example, people kicked the game out of the style of giants - 7 shots and 4 goals, this efficiency, I'm afraid even Messi and Ronaldo are ashamed of themselves, right?
Of course, some might say that this is just a battle between small teams, so what's there to see? Hey, don't say that! This is someone's "football dream"! For these small teams, it is already a great honour to be able to play in the Champions League qualifiers. And, who says a small team can't play well? Maybe one day a "dark horse" will emerge and enter the main circle?
In retrospect, wasn't Leicester City also from obscurity to Premier League champions? Isn't the charm of football its uncertainty? So, don't underestimate these little-known teams, maybe one day they will become the protagonists of the next "black swan" event!
In the end, we still have to give a thumbs up to these small teams. Regardless of the result, isn't the way they sweat on the Champions League qualifying stage a microcosm of how each of us can chase our dreams?
There are no eternal underdogs on the football field, just as there are no eternal losers in life. As long as you don't give up, there is always a chance to create miracles. So the question is, in the next Champions League qualifiers, which team do you like to stage a dark horse miracle?