In the third round of the European Cup, a big upset occurred!
Vitesse beat Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 at home, with a large number of substitutes coming on the field.
When going to the Netherlands, Conte did not bring all the main players of the team, including Kane and Son Heung-min, who stayed in London to prepare for the next league.
For Conte, the Europa League is not in his plan. The most important thing is to fight for the top four in the league and win the Champions League.
But I didn't expect that Tottenham, who played with the substitutes, would play too hard. I thought they could at least get 1 point away from home, but Vitesse fought hard and had 15 shots to 6, far more than Tottenham. In the 78th minute, a cross from the right was passed to the penalty area line, and left midfielder Vitesse took a long shot, which hit Sanchez's leg and deflected into the net.
As a result, after three rounds, Roma ranked first in Group G of the European Cup with 2 wins, 1 draw and 7 points;
Vitesse is ranked 2nd with 2 wins and 1 loss and 6 points;
Tottenham Hotspur ranked third with 1 win, 1 draw and 1 loss and 4 points;
Mura lost all three games and continued to be at the bottom with 0 points.
According to the schedule, Roma will continue to play against Mura at home in the next game, and Tottenham Hotspur will also return to their home court to face Vitesse again, so Roma will most likely continue to maintain its top position in the group.
In the match against Mura, the best player award was given to Cesco who scored two goals, and the team failed to keep a clean sheet in the end. However, Chen Xiaoliang had an assist and gained a total of 7 skill points.
But Mura's reputation was too low, and the reward coefficient could only be 1, so he relied on the BUFF that doubled the European war rewards this season to finally obtain 14 skill points.
Skill value 11→25
A long accumulation process began again.
At three o'clock in the afternoon of that day, Mourinho did not give the players a day off, because this was the only half a day available for training before the match against Napoli.
After a short rest after lunch, Chen Xiaoliang invited Wu Lei, who lived nearby, to go to the Trigoria base together.
Unexpectedly, as soon as he got on the car, Wu Lei gave him a wicked smile when he saw him.
"Oh my god, Brother Lei, are you laughing at me too?"
Wu Lei really couldn't help but said: "Your sister-in-law couldn't help laughing when she saw it."
Wu Lei is relatively introverted, but when he gets to the training ground, his European teammates become very unrestrained.
People like Abraham and Zaniolo, who are in their early 20s and full of vigor, were even more enthusiastic in making a fuss.
"Chen, what does that feel like?"
"Do you feel soft in your hands or on your face?"
"Next time I score a goal I will rush to the sidelines and see if there are any hot girls hugging me too."
When men get together, once they let go, there's no stopping the direction of the topic!
However, the appearance of Mourinho and the coaching staff immediately interrupted everyone's obscene expressions!
João first asked everyone to jog around the field for 3,000 meters as a warm-up.
After the warm-up, everyone gathered together, with the main players naturally in the inner circle and the substitutes slightly behind.
Mourinho began to talk about the key points of tomorrow's match against Napoli.
Napoli has two characteristics: one is averageness and the other is speed.
Average means that the players in the midfield and frontcourt are evenly matched in ability and opportunities. There is no main attacking point that stands out particularly in a team like Immobile, Kane, Son Heung-min and Vlahovic. This also means that it will be more difficult to defend them.
As the name suggests, Napoli has a group of very fast players. It can even be said that more than half of the team's starting eleven are very fast!
Right back Di Lorenzo is also the main right back of the Italian national team. He is in his prime at the age of 27. He is good at steals, has excellent bursts of energy, and has a very fast maximum speed. He is also good at making assists, but these are not his main strengths.
Similarly, Portuguese left-back Mario Rui has the same characteristics as Di Lorenzo, he is also good at stealing, his assists are relatively average, and he has excellent flexibility and speed.
As a central defender, Senegalese international Koulibaly possesses all the qualities of a black player, and is proficient in marking, heading and tackling. His only weakness is the speed of his first few steps, but once he starts running, his maximum speed is also very amazing.
Another main central defender Maranos will definitely miss tomorrow's game due to a thigh muscle injury and is expected to be replaced by Kosovo central defender Ramani.
His frontal defensive ability is also excellent, but his speed may be the slowest among all Napoli players playing tomorrow.
Having said that, Mourinho looked specifically at Cesco and Abraham.
Given that the two central defenders have strong frontal defense and header capabilities, we should try to use fewer high crosses in tomorrow's game and instead use more reverse triangles and diagonal passes.
Next is the frontcourt.
The two midfielders, Fabian Ruiz and Anguiza, are a combination of passing and intercepting, but the Cameroonian midfielder Anguiza is not a ball-grabbing machine in the traditional sense. In addition to his excellent physical fitness and intercepting ability, he actually has a very good dribbling ability, which is very rare among African midfielders. He is not the traditional rough and beastly midfielder.
Left winger Insigne, the main left winger of the Italian national team, and Chiesa played very well in the European Cup. Their playing styles are somewhat similar, but Insigne's small skills and flexibility are better, but his speed is slightly slower than Chiesa.
The right winger may be Politano, who has performed well recently. Although his maximum speed is not fast, his acceleration in the first few steps is quite good. Whether he is cutting in to shoot or crossing on the wing, he has a certain accuracy.
Finally, there is the lone striker Osimhen.
This 23-year-old Nigerian striker is simply a speed demon in Mourinho's words!
Not only is the starting acceleration amazing, the top speed can even be called one of the fastest in Serie A!
There is no way anyone in the Roma team can catch up with him in a one-on-one run!
Although he has accurate shooting and excellent skills, his only weakness may be his relatively poor heading ability.
Finally, there is head coach Spalletti.
The Italian, born in 1959, served as Roma's head coach for a total of 2,038 days in two time periods, from 2005 to 2009 and from 2016 to 2017. After leaving Roma for the last time, he went to Inter Milan for two seasons and then coached Napoli this summer.
He may know more about the Roma club than many new players who have joined the team, especially those who came out of the Roma youth training camp.
After saying this, Mourinho began to arrange tactics and announce the list.
The tactical thinking is very clear.
On defense, since the opponent is fast, we have to compress the space when defending in the backcourt, especially around the penalty area, we have to stand densely, not giving the opponent a chance to speed up, not letting them counterattack, forcing them into positional warfare, and putting them on the two wingers to let them make high crosses , as heading is their most obvious weakness.
And in the offense, we should take advantage of every opportunity of offense-defense transition, launch a quick counterattack, force them to return to defense, and use round-trip runs to consume their physical strength!
Hearing this, several fast horses in Roma's lineup, such as Zaniolo, Abraham and others were very excited.
Especially these two players, they did not play in yesterday's Europa Cup. Zaniolo also rested for several days due to knee pain. Fortunately, the examination showed that there was nothing wrong.
If it is a positional battle, it will be difficult for these two attackers to perform well in the face of the opponent's dense defense.
On the contrary, it is this kind of quick counterattack that allows them to give full play to their strengths of focusing on the game!
The league leaders, who wouldn't want to bring them down!
With outstanding performance in such a game, are you still worried about not having a secure starting position?
Mourinho took out his notebook and began to read out the main list, which was also the group list for the next group confrontation.
"Patricio!"
"Mkhitaryan, Zalewski!"
"Mancini, Smalling, Ibanez!"
After hearing this, everyone understood that they would have to play with three central defenders again when facing a strong enemy!
"Chen, Wellertu!"
"Zaniolo, Pellegrini, Abraham!"
"Sesco!"
After reading the list, the teams will compete in groups.
Since most of these main players did not play in last night's game, Mourinho only asked them not to hold back except to avoid injuries caused by excessive movements.
The tasks of the group confrontation are also very clear. The substitute team is responsible for offense, the main team is responsible for defense, and the offense can only be carried out by quick counterattacks. Each counterattack is required to be completed within 12 seconds from organization in the backcourt to shooting in the frontcourt!
In order to ensure physical strength for the next day, the training of the main players this afternoon was strictly controlled within 90 minutes.
October 24th, 16:00!
After gathering at the Trigoria base, all the players boarded the team bus and headed to the Olympic Stadium!
When we arrived outside the stadium, the bus was stuck in a sea of ​​red fans and could only move slowly towards the goal entrance!
For these die-hard fans, every weekend home game is a regular holiday for them!
Whether you have bought tickets or not, you want to see your favorite team here!
“Pah, pah, pah!”
"The Eternal City! Rome!"
“Pah, pah, pah!”
"The Eternal City! Rome!"
They shouted slogans crazily!
Many players waved to the fans through the car windows. They didn't dare to open the windows because there had been incidents of passionate fans throwing scarves and jerseys into the car windows asking for autographs, and even grabbing the car windows to climb in...
In Chen Xiaoliang's memory, this was the scene on the night when they won the Scottish Premier League title six rounds in advance at Ibrox Stadium.
I hope we can get a good result tonight against the league leader and hold on to the lead in the first group.
It was a short distance of less than 100 meters, but even with the security and police keeping people away, the bus still took 10 minutes to get into the stadium.
As the players got off the bus one by one, the fans outside the isolation fence picked up their phones, cheering and taking pictures!
In the interview in the tunnel before the game, the female reporter Portman, who had been waiting for a long time, once again asked Mourinho about his opinion of Spalletti, the former coach of Roma and current coach of Naples.
Mourinho's eyes wandered left and right, deliberately avoiding Portman's clearly visible abyss. He didn't want to be like Chen Xiaoliang, who was caught in embarrassing shots by the media and then reported by the tabloids.
"Luciano has done a great job in Napoli, but it is only natural that he has achieved such results considering the excellent squad they have.
Our opponents today are very strong. To be honest, we are not as good as them in terms of lineup. Although some people will say that we spent a huge amount of money on buying players this summer, it is an undeniable fact that Roma was lacking in signings in the previous seasons.
Napoli is clearly on the right track. They have accumulated a lot of experience over the past few years and now they should make winning the Serie A title their goal this season. To be honest, I would be very surprised if they don’t win the title.”
Portman: "Do you think today will be Napoli's 9th consecutive win?"
Mourinho smiled meaningfully: "Haha, we will play the football we have prepared, but we have no pressure. Even if we get 1 point, it is a victory for us, but for Naples, the end of the winning streak may mean that their mentality will be destroyed."
With the current speed of Internet communication, just 5 minutes after Mourinho's words were released, several Italian media outlets gave them the title "Pre-match psychological warfare"!
Compared to Mourinho, Spalletti was much more low-key in his interview with Portman. He said that the eight-game winning streak was already a surprise, and any result in today's away challenge against Roma would be acceptable!
The media immediately made an analysis and both coaches were trying their best to relieve the pressure on their players!
But Portman also asked a question that made Spalletti a little annoyed!
"Previous teams, including Juventus, have not achieved good offensive results when facing Roma's frontal defense. Do you think your players can break through Chen Xiaoliang's defense today?"
"What? Who?" Spalletti pretended not to hear, but in his heart he couldn't help but curse this female reporter who was looking for trouble!
What does it mean to break through Chen Xiaoliang?
Could it be that we, the great Napoli, the leader of Serie A with 8 consecutive wins, are here tonight to challenge a 17-year-old brat from the Red Country?
I just don’t say it, but this year we really want to compete with the two Milan giants for the championship!
Although that kid did defend well, that was because the previous team’s offensive points were too single!
Unlike us, we can initiate an attack from any point in the frontcourt and any player can complete the attack!
"Chen Xiaoliang, Roma's defensive midfielder." Portman explained. As a young and experienced reporter, she also knew that Spalletti was making trouble, but what reporters have to do is to persist.
Spalletti suddenly realized: "Oh! He is a very good player. He is indispensable to Mourinho, but we are a team that pays attention to the whole. We will not change our style of play for someone."
After saying that, Spalletti left immediately.
Although they seem to be friendly on the surface, the competition between the two head coaches aiming for 3 points has quietly begun!
Spalletti's assistant Marco Domenichini walked away muttering : "What a stupid reporter."
But only he and Spalletti could hear the sound.
You can't speak carelessly these days. The same swear word, when used against an old white man, is at most rude, but when used against a black person or a woman it immediately becomes blatant racial discrimination and sexism. When amplified by the media, not only will the person be banned, but he or she will also be drowned out by the overwhelming politically correct saliva.
I can’t afford to offend you. I can’t afford to offend you.
"Welcome to watch the focus match of the 9th round of Serie A brought to you by Penguin Sports! Roma will face Napoli, who have won 8 consecutive games and are ranked first in the league, at their home stadium, the Olympic Stadium! I am Shi Qingsheng, and my commentator today is former international Liu Yue!"
Liu Yue: "Hello everyone, I am Liu Yue."
In the Penguin live broadcast room, Shi Qingsheng and Liu Yue sat in front of the commentary desk and started their work. At this time, the red country was approaching midnight.
Although it still does not adjust the games to noon like the Premier League, Serie A has tried its best to advance the focus games of each round to 18:00 local time, which is around 0:00 in the Red Country time, with the consensus of the clubs, to take care of Asian fans as much as possible.
Since Italy's latitude is much lower than England's, the daytime hours are particularly long. Rome, which is close to the Mediterranean Sea, will not get completely dark until 21:00-22:00 at night, and 18:00 is almost the same as noon in the Red Country. Therefore, starting the game at this time is already the limit of the players, clubs and local fans that the Serie A organizing committee can currently attract.
Thinking back to the reform of the Premier League, it was only implemented after overcoming numerous obstacles from all sides, and finally created the glory of the first league.
Shi Qingsheng: "In the previous eighth round of the league, Napoli defeated Torino 1-0 at home. Napoli's Nigerian striker Osimhen scored with a header, helping the team achieve eight consecutive wins at the start of the season and continue to rank first with 24 points.
AC Milan defeated Verona 3-2 at home, with 7 wins and 1 draw and 22 points, continuing to rank second;
Lazio beat Inter Milan 3-1 at home, causing the Nerazzurri to suffer their first defeat of the season. Lazio ranked seventh with 12 points, while Inter Milan ranked third with 17 points.
After Roma and Juventus drew 1-1, Roma has 17 points, the same as Inter Milan. Due to goal difference, Roma ranks fourth, while Juventus ranks eighth. "
Shi Qingsheng showed Roma's starting lineup to the screen and continued:
“Napoli’s starting lineup for this game is as follows:
Ospina
The four defenders from left to right are Mario Rui, Koulibaly, Ramani and Di Lorenzo;
two defensive midfielders, Fabian Ruiz and Anguiza;
Attacking midfielder Zielinski;
Two wingers, Insigne on the left and Politano on the right;
Forward Osimhen! "
"What does Liu Yue think about today's highlight?"
Liu Yue: "I think Napoli has a slightly better chance of winning away from home, because on the one hand, they are in such an outstanding state this season, not only have they won eight games in a row, but they have also scored 19 goals, averaging 2.4 goals per game and conceding only three goals, both of which are the best in the league in terms of offense and defense.
On the other hand, Roma has not found a solution to the loopholes in its two-wing defense this season. Judging from the list just released, Mourinho has re-adopted the three-center-back tactic for this game. In the games where Roma used three center-backs this season, their ball possession rate was more than 10% lower than their opponents, and their offense will be mainly counterattacks. It depends on whether they can withstand Napoli's offense. "
On the court!
Pellegrini and Insigne, as captains of both teams, completed the selection of sides under the notarization of the referee!
The players of both teams also stood in their respective half of the court!
At this moment, in the stadium's chief VIP box, Roma owner Dan Friedkin was watching the game with his new partner in the club and his old friend Boss Wu!
He spent 591 million euros to buy 86.6% of the team's shares from his former boss Pallotta, with each 1% equivalent to 6.82 million euros. Boss Wu paid a 40% premium and injected 128 million euros into him to buy back all the remaining shares from the open market, with each 1% equivalent to 9.55 million euros!
Right now, the two people have very consistent goals. Mourinho will be given three years. After the three-year team building period, the club must be able to generate positive cash flow and achieve book profits. At the same time, the club's valuation must be substantially increased through improved performance and increased traffic.
So when Pinto reported to Dan Friedkin that he wanted to buy players in the winter, he readily agreed.
As long as UEFA's Financial Fair Play regulations are met, money is not a problem.
“Beep!”
The referee blows the whistle and the game begins!
Roma, who got the ball first, started their attack!
Mourinho emphasized again in the locker room before the game!
The attack in this game must be fast! Whether it is a long pass or a quick short pass, we must ensure that there are people on the left, middle and right sides who are at the forefront when the counterattack is launched!
And for the first time, he also made a clear requirement that when launching a counterattack, if the players in the backcourt do not have a better passing point, they can pass the ball to Chen Xiaoliang immediately!
Obviously, in the last game against Mura, the tacit cooperation between Chen Xiaoliang and Cesco completely touched Mourinho's wavering heart!
Not only is his cross-boundary accurate, but he can also run tirelessly and is quite fast. Even when he is pressed forward to attack, he can return to his position quickly. He should be used sparingly in normal games, but in such an important game, there is no reason for him to hide his skills!
After Abraham kicked off, he passed the ball to Pellegrini behind him, who immediately passed it to Zaniolo on the right.
After getting the ball, Zaniolo did not choose to pass the ball to Insigne who was trying to steal the ball. Instead, he passed the ball between his feet, shook it to the right, and easily got rid of Insigne!
Mourinho was very satisfied when he saw this. It seems that Zaniolo was in very good shape today!
Although the cruciate ligaments in both legs were ruptured, the long-term post-operative recovery and tenacious rehabilitation training have enabled the young Zaniolo to increase his extreme speed, although his instantaneous burst has not yet reached the level before the injury. Moreover, because of the painful experience of serious injury, he pays more attention to the training of his body muscles, which has led to an increase in his overall strength!
What he is thinking now is that since he is in good shape today, he might as well carry the team more after the start and create opportunities for other teammates!
Spalletti and his assistant coach Domenichini said on the sidelines: "It's the wing, Mourinho is still very good. He wants to push our wingers out of the depth and away from their penalty area."
Mourinho was thinking: "Zaniolo is in good shape, but why is he dribbling the ball again? He should pass the ball as soon as he passes one player! What I want is the speed of the ball!"
Just as the two head coaches were making their own calculations, a scene occurred that made the Roma fans cheer.
Zaniolo was dribbling the ball across the center line when he looked up at his teammates' positions and Napoli midfielder Fabian Ruiz rushed over.
Facing Ruiz who was approaching, Zaniolo first slowed down, then turned his body sideways towards the middle of the court.
He acted as if he was going to pass the ball to Pellegrini in the middle, or directly pass it to center forward Cesco!
Ruiz immediately moved his position to block his passing route!
Before the game, Spalletti had made a key deployment. Roma's new Slovenian striker is very good at receiving the ball with his back to the goal and competing for headers. The focus should be on cutting off the connection between him and the two wingers!
As soon as Ruiz made a blocking gesture, Kosovo center back Ramani immediately stuck close to Cesco.
He played as a man-to-man defender today, and his task was simple, which was to closely defend Cesco in mobile warfare!
Koulibaly next to him played as a supporting defender to provide backup for himself.
Napoli's left-back Mario Rui also double-teamed!
Behind him is Insigne who was just left behind!
Napoli's defensive attitude was very clear. Either the ball was intercepted here, or the ball was intercepted after Zaniolo passed the ball. In short, the goal was to switch offense and defense as quickly as possible and launch a counterattack!
But just when Spalletti and the Napoli players who were double-teaming Zaniolo were full of confidence and believed that Zaniolo would definitely pass the ball, Zaniolo poked the ball under Rui's crotch and then accelerated!
Just like that, he broke through the triple-team!
Spalletti was stunned! Is this even possible? !
When did Mourinho allow his players to stick to the ball like this? ! Is this his main tactic today?
“This is a beautiful ball!”
Shi Qingsheng shouted in the live broadcast room!
"Zaniolo dribbled past Rui of Portugal and Ruiz of Spain!"
"Insigne didn't react yet and just watched Zaniolo run towards the baseline!"
"At the moment he passed the ball, Cesco also rushed into the penalty area!"
"Zaniolo changes direction and dribbles the ball into the penalty area!"
"There are no defenders in front of him!"
At this moment, the Roma fans in the Olympic Stadium cheered wildly!
Chen Xiaoliang, who was still in the backcourt, started running towards the frontcourt instantly!
Zelensky beside him was stunned!
What does this guy want to do? And what kind of speed is this? Isn't he a defensive midfielder? Why can he run so fast? !
He's only 17 years old and his hair isn't fully grown yet. If he continues to grow like this for another two years, by the time he's 19, his speed will be...!
Chen Xiaoliang's sprint to the right instantly attracted the attention of Ruiz and Insigne.
This Serie A record signing was also the focus of Spalletti's analysis before the game!
The coaching staff has made it clear that the Red Country midfielder has a very accurate long pass ability, especially a cross!
As long as he appears in the flanks and on the wing, we must be on guard against him!
As Zaniolo stepped into the penalty area line, Cesco in the middle and Abraham on the left were already running looking for opportunities to receive the ball!
Pellegrini even made a gesture of waving for the ball in perfect sync!
The reason why he said they were in sync was because he knew Zaniolo would not pass the ball in this situation!
Waving helps him divert the defense's attention!
However, past impressions cannot withstand Mourinho's strict demands!
Facing Ospina who was already blocking the near corner, Zaniolo was not sure of success!
After all, this opportunity was too good to waste!
Even if I don’t score a goal, it’s good to get an assist!
Facing the oncoming Koulibaly, Zaniolo slowed down, shook his ankle, and pushed with his right foot!
Inverted triangle!
It's Abraham! Koulibaly ignored him in order to block Zaniolo!
Pellegrini and Cesco helped him attract all the defensive attention around him!
Facing the football , Abraham twisted his body, swung his long black legs, and kicked the ball with the instep!
"Bang!"
A sudden thunderclap!
Abraham used all his strength to launch a violent shot from the left side of the penalty area!
However!
His habit of blindly shooting has shown up again!
The angle was too sharp! It looked like he was kicking Ospina's body!
The Napoli goalkeeper made a great save and the ball went to the right!
Napoli right-back Rui caught up with the ball and was about to make a long pass to launch a counterattack!
Chen Xiaoliang!
He rushed over from the backcourt, and before Rui could react, he stretched out his legs to snatch the ball!
Rui lost his balance and fell to the ground!
The linesman who was nearby did not make any comment!
Near the baseline, Chen Xiaoliang made a cross with his left foot! It spun inwards!
Abraham, Cesco, and Zaniolo all reached the top, but they all missed the target by a little bit!
Got it spread?
Everyone looked up and watched the ball flying!
Ospina had no reaction!
The ball spun into the far corner and landed on the inside side of the goal!
All the Roma fans stood up and jumped wildly, shouting at the top of their lungs!
"Beautiful! Beautiful!"
Shi Qingsheng and Liu Yue couldn't help but shout in the live broadcast room!
“24 seconds!”
"24 seconds! Roma scored a goal!"
"The goal was scored by Chen Xiaoliang!"
“A dream start!”
"Let's look at the expressions of the two coaches!"
"Obviously they didn't expect the game to start this way either!"
"Spalletti kept shaking his head! And yelling at the players on the field!"
"Mourinho also asked the celebrating players to return to their positions quickly! After all, the game has just begun!"
"Chen Xiaoliang's shot was like a pass, confusing all the Napoli defenders!"
"The ball drew a breathtakingly beautiful arc in the air!"
"This goal is also the second fastest goal for the club after Totti's 18-second goal in the Europa League on August 27, 2009!"
"It is also the fastest goal record in Serie A this season, and even in the top five leagues!"
"Tonight, this record belongs to Chen Xiaoliang!"