Chapter 171: Face the strongest opponent in Serie A!
Back in Rome, everything returned to its original rhythm.
Because of the 1-0 away loss to Bologna, which ranked 7th, Roma, with 31 points, dropped two places and was surpassed by Inter Milan and AC Milan to 4th place;
Napoli drew 2-2 with Sassuolo away. The team has shown signs of fatigue recently and has completely lost the winning streak at the beginning of the season. With 35 points, it still ranks first, but its leading position is already in jeopardy.
Inter Milan beat Spezia 2-0 at home, and ranked second with 34 points, only 1 point behind Naples;
AC Milan defeated Genoa 0-3 away and ranked third with 33 points;
Juventus beat Salernitana 0-2 away, and with 25 points, they have moved up to fifth place, 6 points behind Roma in fourth place, and saw the dawn of entering the Champions League zone;
Behind the top 5, Atalanta and Bologna are ranked 6th and 7th with 24 points each.
After Chen Xiaoliang returned home, he went into the room and turned on the system. A dazzling golden light flashed, and he knew that this was the light that appeared when completing advanced achievements!
【Dong Dong Dong】
[Best Young Player (Kopa Award) Achievement]
[Achievement Rewards: Stress Resistance +2, Professionalism +2, Leadership +2]
Stress resistance 12→14
Professionalism 14→16
Leadership 12→14
Wow! Three hidden attributes! It really elevates your personal qualities and temperament to a higher level!
Whether it is the Copa Award of France Sports or the Golden Boy Award of Tuttosport, although it is not explicitly stated, the unwritten rule has always been that a young player can only win it once. This is obviously different from the Ballon d'Or, FIFA World Footballer of the Year, UEFA Best Player and other awards.
After all, after a player wins the Copa Trophy or the Golden Boy Award, his next goal should be to be in the top 30 of the Ballon d'Or.
Therefore, this achievement is also a "one-time" "out-of-print" achievement.
etc!
The system prompts that there are achievements!
【Dong Dong Dong】
[The achievement of worth 50 million euros has been achieved]
[Achievement Reward: 2 Legendary Star Cards of the Same Position]
【The achievement of 60 million euros has been achieved】
[Achievement Reward: Injury -2]
Injury 5 → 3
Chen Xiaoliang pressed [Get Reward]
【Dong Dong Dong】
[Obtain a peak Scholes long pass attribute card (five minutes)]
[Obtain a Peak Kaka Long-Distance Attack Attribute Card (One Minute)]
When Chen Xiaoliang saw the glittering golden reward, his eyes sparkled with stars and he quickly put the reward away.
After all, star cards can be used at the most critical moments and can also be accumulated in the future to break through one's ability value of more than 18.
No more?
He had originally expected his net worth to exceed 70 million, but the system no longer had any unconfirmed achievements.
I opened the Transfermarkt and saw that, as expected, his value was just updated yesterday in the German transfer market, which is updated every February or March, and was fixed at 68 million euros.
The 19-year-old Pedri, who was compared to Chen Xiaoliang by the media as a "rival", also had his market value just updated to 90 million euros, surpassing De Bruyne and B Fee to become the world's most expensive midfielder.
Compared with the rewards given by the system, Chen Xiaoliang actually doesn’t care too much about the estimated worth of these things, but he also knows the reasons.
Not to mention himself, even the Korean superstar Son Heung-min, who has been in the Premier League for many years and leads the Premier League scorer list so far this season, is worth only 80 million euros.
In European football, strength is the foundation, but the platform of a wealthy club, EU identity and the background of a traditional football powerhouse's national team are the three biggest factors that determine one's worth.
The most obvious one is B Fee.
At Sporting CP, B Fee's value was estimated at 55 million euros. After being bought by Manchester United at the same price, his value increased to 90 million euros in just 4 months.
Even Manchester United's most die-hard fans couldn't see how Manchester United's Big B was 35 million euros stronger than Sporting CP's B Fee.
But that’s what platforms are for.
He meets both the conditions of EU identity and being a main player of the Portuguese national team, so he is worth 55 million. And when he came to Manchester United, the top team in the football world, he completed the last factor of the platform of a wealthy club, and his value also rose to an obviously inflated but reasonable level.
So in the final analysis, never equate net worth with ability.
【Dong Dong Dong】
[Host please pay attention to the changes in reputation]
I had just closed the Transfermarkt website on my phone when the system rang again.
World Reputation 7700
National reputation 9400
Local reputation 9200
Before Chen Xiaoliang could think about it, Reese called.
He was surprised that they had just separated at the airport.
"Mr. Reese, what's going on?"
Reese said excitedly: "Chen, listen, it's a big deal!"
Chen Xiaoliang frowned slightly: "Hmm?"
"Pinto called me and asked if you had returned to Rome. I said yes, and he said the boss had personally ordered that your contract be renewed!"
"That's it? I thought it was nothing...but my contract has only been fulfilled for less than half a year, just because of the Copa Award?"
"Yes, yes, oh, no, no, it's not that simple."
Reese calmed down and began to recount the story in detail.
It turned out that because Chen Xiaoliang won the Copa Award, and with his sunny and handsome appearance and low-key and gentle style, he created a huge traffic storm in the Red Country and even in Asia, and became an idol in the hearts of countless fans and young people.
Just yesterday, two large Red Country companies and a Japanese consortium contacted Roma and offered to sign a commercial endorsement contract with them, with sponsorship fees exceeding 20 million euros a year. However, there was only one condition: Chen Xiaoliang must be on the team during the sponsorship period. Once he leaves the team, the sponsorship amount will drop significantly.
After all, even a wooden fish brain knows that without Chen Xiaoliang, there are still a few Chinese and Asian people who will continue to pay attention to Roma's games and developments.
At the same time, since the exclusive broadcasting contract signed by Nanshan Bisheng Group previously also had the same clause, the owner Dan Friedkin clearly required at the regular board meeting that Chen Xiaoliang must be retained "at all costs" within the financial scope.
The contract offered by Pinto was 160,000 euros, and since Chen Xiaoliang was already 17 years old, the contract term was set at 5 years.
This price is enough to make him surpass Pellegrini's 140,000 euros and Abraham's 130,000 euros to become the highest paid player in the team.
But Riise explicitly rejected this request, because he was not idle during those days in Paris. When he was hanging around in the hotel, several chairmen or directors of top clubs came to him to test whether there was any possibility of arranging a transfer for Chen Xiaoliang.
It is not just because of Chen Xiaoliang's explosive performance. The online live broadcast data, membership sales and exaggerated results of the European Golden Boy Award online voting of Penguin Sports, a subsidiary of Nanshan Bisheng Group, in the past four months, coupled with the open and secret struggles between "France Sports" and "Torino Sports Daily", and the final explosion brought by winning the Copa Award, have made Chen Xiaoliang a top young player in Europe.
Although they knew that it would cost a sky-high price to buy Chen Xiaoliang from Roma, after signing a five-year contract and offering him a high salary, what they got was not only a super midfield star who could be used for 15 years, but also an inestimable treasure trove.
And there is one thing that these top club scouts did not say publicly, but mentioned to Riise in private.
The extremely poor performance of the Red Country national team caused strong dissatisfaction among almost everyone in the Red Country, from senior government officials to ordinary people, and a situation that no one expected occurred - everyone in the Red Country hoped that Chen Xiaoliang would not join the Red Country national team, believing that that group of people were not worthy at all.
The three presidents and vice presidents of the Football Association, Cheng, Xu and Yuan, were the first to be hit and became the pariahs crossing the street, being criticized and condemned by everyone.
Faced with tremendous pressure, the Chinese Football Association has repeatedly stated that it will not recruit Chen Xiaoliang and hopes that he will train well in Europe.
You know, although it is "politically incorrect", European top clubs have always been generally averse to their main players participating in the African Cup and Asian Cup held in January. Even many club owners and head coaches have publicly opposed it in front of the media.
Being absent midway through the season will not only affect the club's record, but long-distance travel and continuous fighting will cause fatigue and affect the player's condition. In addition, national team matches in these regions with relatively backward football levels often involve rough fouls, and players can easily get injured.
That would be an unbearable loss for the club.
For example, right now, Liverpool head coach Klopp has publicly stated that "the African Cup is an unimportant game" to put pressure on the team's main player Mane.
There are still many clubs that haven't spoken out yet, not because they are moral, but because they are not thick-skinned enough.
In this case, Chen Xiaoliang, who had no national team mission, naturally became more favored by the giants.
Even the football associations of Italy, Spain, England and other countries have begun to discuss whether it is possible for their country's top teams to sign the 17-year-old Chen Xiaoliang and keep him for a long time so that he can obtain the country's nationality and be eligible to represent the national team.
In response to this, Chen Xiaoliang's response was to focus on the game at hand and not respond at all.
As he and Reese said, "Only when you are full do you think about things that are far away."
Pinto was naturally aware of the above situations, so under the strict order of his boss, he immediately offered Riise a second contract offer - 200,000 euros per week, the contract period was still 5 years, but a 150 million euro penalty clause was added to face clubs outside Italy.
According to Pinto's original words, the 150 million was finally decided after taking into account external factors and Chen Xiaoliang's feelings. The club will not deliberately prevent Chen Xiaoliang from leaving in the future, but hopes to receive a "reasonable" transfer fee.
Why target outside Italy? Because in Italy, even the three major clubs cannot pay 150 million euros in cash at one time.
Reasonable? Riise thinks this is not reasonable at all, because in today's football world, only Real Madrid, Manchester City, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain can meet this penalty clause at one time, and Liverpool can barely meet it.
Although Bayern has the financial strength, it is unlikely to make such a decision.
However, a weekly salary of 200,000 euros is not a small amount.
According to the five-year contract, the total amount will reach 52 million euros before tax, and Riise and his team can collect 4.16 million euros in pre-tax commission at a rate of 8%.
But Riise is not Raiola. His attitude remains the same as before. He only provides suggestions and lets Chen Xiaoliang make the decision.
Chen Xiaoliang's reaction also surprised him.
He is willing to accept a new contract with the club, but has two requirements:
1. The club supports Mourinho
Second, the team should continue to introduce strong reinforcements in the summer window when the endorsement income increases and it can further meet the Financial Fair Play Act.
But Chen Xiaoliang and Riise confirmed again and again that these two requirements were not a threat to the club, but just a sincere suggestion, just like when he recommended Cesco to the team.
Even if Pinto did not come to Riise to discuss a new contract, he would do his best to fight for Roma in every game and fulfill the existing contract.
He doesn't want to be Roma's "Director Chen" like a certain star.
Messi's words are still lingering in my ears.
The call lasted a long time and ended at 1 a.m.
After hanging up the phone, Chen Xiaoliang collected the task rewards that he had not collected in the first two games.
In the 2-0 match against Vitesse, taking into account the 1.5 times coefficient of Vitesse's reputation and the [Double European War Reward] BUFF, a total of 21 skill points were obtained.
Skill value 25 → 46
In the 1-01 match against Torino, he made one assist and was awarded 5 hours of training value and 2 physical recovery cards.
Add to that the 4 hours of extra practice I did over the past few days, the total is 9 hours.
Training value 0→9
Stamina recovery card 3→5
He went to bed quickly and got up early. He, Cesco and Wu Lei were the first players to arrive at the Trigoria base for warm-up.
The club had notified Chen Xiaoliang in advance and asked him to bring the Copa Award trophy. The club will make a replica of the trophy and keep it permanently in the club's hall of honor.
Coaches and teammates arrived one after another and came to congratulate Chen Xiaoliang.
Mourinho, who was very angry because of the loss, immediately felt relieved after seeing Chen Xiaoliang.
During the warm-up, I pulled him aside and asked questions and laughed.
Mourinho was very satisfied when he heard about Chen Xiaoliang's chance encounter with Messi at night.
"When I was at Real Madrid I once said there are only two kinds of teams in the world, those with Messi and those without Messi. I am very happy that you have such respect for him. He is a living legend, even though I used to hate his crazy performances that embarrassed me on the court."
The physical training in the morning was very strict, especially for some players who lost the previous game. They were ordered by Mourinho to do high-intensity shuttle runs and aerobic endurance runs as if they were being punished.
After lunch, the team had a brief relaxation and then entered into a tactical meeting.
In the conference room, Mourinho showed an unprecedented serious expression, because he told all the players that the next round's opponent was not only the defending champion, but also the strongest team in Serie A in his eyes.
Only by defeating them at home can they prove that this Roma team is really qualified to challenge the three giants.
Joao began his tactical analysis report, and the subject was none other than Inter Milan.
The tone of the report is not optimistic.
Inter Milan's stable performance allowed them to climb to second place, and everyone knows that Napoli's crazy performance at the start of the season clearly showed signs of above-average performance, and this state cannot continue forever. If the myths of Kaiserslautern and Leicester City could be staged every few years, they would no longer be called myths.
The coaching staff believes that Inter Milan's front, middle and back lines, and left, center and right sides, are not the strongest in Serie A individually, but when integrated together, they are the strongest one.
On defense we have Skriniar, one of the best central defenders in Serie A. His confrontation, marking and positioning sense are all world-class.
There is also the fast-growing young man Bastoni. After winning the Serie A championship last season, his market value has reached 60 million euros. The fact that a central defender can have such a market value is enough to show how good he is.
Another main central defender, De Vrij, is injured and will definitely miss this game. Also absent is the full-back Damian.
In the previous few games, Inter Milan coach Inzaghi sent Dimarco on the left to form a three-man defense with Skriniar and Bastoni. It is very likely that this combination will be used in this game.
If this is true, then veteran Perisic will definitely continue to start in front of Dimarco on the left.
Although the Croatian has always been favored by Mourinho, time is not forgiving. His offensive ability is still excellent and he needs to frequently retreat to defend in the three-center-back system, which will greatly consume his physical strength.
This also means that Inter Milan’s left side will be their defensive weakness and Roma’s main attack direction.
On the right side, right wingback Dumfries will be deployed in front of the central defender. This player has very average abilities, does not have any obvious weaknesses, and has good physical strength to handle repeated insertions and withdrawals.
Next comes Inter’s strongest part, which is their midfield.
Joao directly took Chen Xiaoliang as an example. He claimed that Inter Milan's 28-year-old Croatian midfielder Brozovic, who is worth 40 million euros, is not inferior to Chen Xiaoliang in terms of physical fitness.
Although his speed is not as good as Chen Xiaoliang, his super physical fitness allows him to run continuously on the court without stopping for a moment, greatly increasing his coverage area.
In terms of average running distance per game in Serie A, his average data of 12.19 kilometers per game is only behind Chen Xiaoliang's 13.32 kilometers, ranking second. He ranks 8th in the steals list with an average of 2.2 times per game.
Turkish midfielder Calhanoglu is in the best position in Inter Milan in terms of long passes, crosses, set pieces, long shots and corner kicks. His successful crosses rank third in Serie A and his average number of threatening passes per game ranks first.
Don't forget their midfield ace Barella - the 24-year-old Italian is worth 70 million euros, second only to Argentine striker Lautaro in the team.
Barella is not only good at running and has outstanding physical strength, his average running distance of 11.4 kilometers per game ranks 6th in Serie A, and his average of 1.8 steals per game ranks 19th.
Although his statistics do not seem to be as good as Brozovic's, his position is not the former's defensive midfielder, but a central midfielder. In addition to sweeping the defense, he also needs to organize the offense.
His through pass data ranks fifth in Serie A, and his assist data is the same as Calhanoglu, with 6, ranking third in the league after Chen Xiaoliang and Berardi.
He is undoubtedly one of the best performing midfielders in Serie A. Except for his crossing and speed, he is simply another Chen Xiaoliang in other aspects, especially on the mental level. Barella's data proves that he is one of the most confrontational and melee midfielders in Serie A.
These data and evaluations alone are enough to prove how strong this midfield combination is.
These three players, with a value of 145 million euros, are good at crossing, intercepting, running, tackling and through passes, and are almost an enhanced version of Chen Xiaoliang.
On the forward line, veteran Dzeko just left Roma and transferred to Inter Milan this season. He is very familiar with most of the Roma players, especially Mancini and Smalling, and knows them inside and out.
Although the 35-year-old Bosnian veteran is not as fast as he used to be, his balance, strength and endurance are still maintained at a very high level. As a pillar center forward, his positioning, off-ball running, and his main jobs of scoring, heading and shooting are still top-notch.
Forming a tall and fast formation with him is Inter Milan's top star Lautaro Martinez.
The Argentine, who is worth 75 million euros, teamed up with Belgian striker Lukaku last season to defeat all the Serie A teams, scoring 17 goals and providing 10 assists in 38 games. After Lukaku left the team this season, he has scored 10 goals in 15 games, tied with Immobile, and only behind Vlahovic, who scored 15 goals and went crazy in Florence.
On the bench, they also have experienced veterans like Vidal and Sanchez, who can make significant contributions in the 20-35 minutes of substitute playing time.
Mourinho finally concluded that Inter Milan would definitely take the initiative to control the ball in this game, using repeated through passes and side passes to consume Roma's defensive attention.
At the same time, the strong running and intercepting ability of the midfield and defenders will have a very obvious curbing effect on Roma's counterattack.
But the more this happens, the more we need to play to our own tactical advantage.
Therefore, defensive counterattack is still the core tone of this game.
He told his teammates that he didn't like to avoid the strong and attack the weak, or take advantage of others' weaknesses. If he couldn't face up to his opponents' strengths, he would be swallowed up by them.
Since Inter Milan's strongest point is the midfield, we will compete with them in the midfield in this game and use running to cut and divide their midfield trio.
Although Mourinho did not look at Chen Xiaoliang when he said this, the players all knew that if they wanted to fight in the midfield, Chen Xiaoliang was their greatest reliance.
After this game, there are still two rounds left in the first half of the league, and the team will be able to welcome new players after the winter break.
If we beat Inter Milan, we will be able to open up space in terms of points, not only gaining an advantage in the fight for the top four, but also retaining all possibilities for the second half of the season.
If they lose, Atalanta and Juventus behind them will definitely try their best to catch up, so the pressure in the last two rounds will be very great, especially the away game against Atalanta in the 18th round. If they suffer another defeat like Bologna, not only will they lose their top four position, but they will also drop to sixth place.
Mourinho told his players that this game was the best test to see whether everyone present was gold or sand.
Everyone wants to be part of a big club and win the championship. Now there is a championship club ready for you to challenge.
If you can't beat the players on your side, it only proves that you are not cut out for the big clubs.
If you are a man, you should go and do it with real weapons, not to mention that there are 70,000 people cheering you on at home.
The team drew against Juventus at home, and also drew against AC Milan at home. If they still cannot win against Inter Milan at home, the team will have no psychological advantage when they switch to away games to challenge the three giants in the second half of the season. These three teams will be like three mountains that will always weigh on the hearts of the players present.
After he finished speaking, João began to break down the tactical arrangements and starting lineup in detail.
Mourinho is still very excited because Inter is a very special team for him.
Only by defeating Inter Milan can we prove that Mourinho is not the past tense who will always be resting on the laurels of Inter Milan's treble, but has really returned to Serie A once again!
At 18:45 on the evening of December 4th, at the Olympic Stadium in Rome, after the players of both teams entered the stadium, Chen Xiaoliang held up the Copa Award trophy and showed it to all the fans!
Roma’s 70,000 fans witnessed the team’s long-lost moment of glory, and are also looking forward to their new prince defeating the defending champion in the next game!
