Chapter 181 Milan's last trump card! Ibrahimovic is back!
After scoring a goal, Roma, with their morale boosted, continued to take the initiative on the field.
Although the ball possession rate was still behind, every counterattack was carried out in accordance with tactical requirements.
As his confidence and momentum grew, Cesco's performance got better and better when facing the double-team of Kalulu and Gabia.
Kalulu, who is 179 cm tall, is unable to compete with Cesco on high balls. He is mainly responsible for blocking positioning and preventing Cesco from turning around.
Although Gabia is 185 cm tall and can barely compete with Cesco in headers, his slightly slow speed makes it impossible for him to effectively protect other areas in the penalty area.
Pioli is also helpless because he only has two decent defenders, and Kalulu is a young man who is being trained by the club as a right back.
On the bench, Pioli also brought two defenders, one is the nearly 19-year-old young player Luca Stanga, and the other is the 27-year-old full-back Andrea Conte.
The combined number of appearances of these two players in the previous league is: 0
He never even came on as a substitute.
Unlike Florenzi who was eager to rush forward and participate in the attack, Theo's desire to join in this game was very restrained. In other words, Theo in this game finally took on more responsibilities like a left-back to help the two young central defenders protect the center.
However, momentum and toughness are things that are necessary but also not acceptable if they are excessive.
As Roma played harder and harder, in the 44th minute, as the first half was about to end, the accumulated conflicts between the players of both sides finally broke out.
When Theo was dribbling the ball into the middle and looking for an open space to pass the ball, he got entangled with Veretout. Both of them made small moves and ended up falling to the ground.
The AC Milan players around Theo suddenly surrounded him.
Seeing this, the Roma players immediately rushed forward.
In an instant, Abraham, Zaniolo, Malacia, Tonali, Krunic and Diaz were stuck together, with the fragrance of their mouths and the pushing of their hands.
The remaining players from both teams immediately came over and pulled the crowd apart. The referee blew the whistle several times in a row to warn the players from both sides, and it was finally possible for the players to separate from each other.
After communicating with the video referee team, the feedback they received was that Weletu pulled Theo, and Theo retaliated by hitting back with his elbow.
The referee gave each of them a yellow card, which was a slap on the wrist, and then gave them a stern warning.
Just when everyone thought the conflict was over, the referee turned around and saw Veretout, who had just received a yellow card, arguing with Giroud again. When he saw the referee looking at him, Veretout immediately shut up.
But as a result, the players from both teams who had originally dispersed immediately gathered together again and the conflict broke out again.
"What are you making a fuss about? You want to get out?!"
Chen Xiaoliang couldn't help it, so he came over and pulled Abraham out of the crowd, then reached out to grab Weletu.
Veretout was annoyed by Giroud's greeting but he didn't dare to show his anger in front of the referee. He felt someone pulling him hard and instantly became furious. He turned around and glared at who was touching him.
What he saw instead was a pair of eyes that carried commands and murderous intent.
Weletu immediately became intimidated and stepped back with his head down.
The two people who rushed most vigorously were "scared away" by Chen Xiaoliang. The rest of the Roma players were also very conscious. When they saw the leader come out to express his opinion, they knew that there was nothing for them to do and they all retreated.
However, Giroud seemed to be unsatisfied. When he saw Veretout walking away in shame, he chased after him and talked trash to him.
Chen Xiaoliang walked up to him and stared at him coldly.
"What are you looking at? Who do you think you are?"
Giroud was naturally not convinced. He didn't care who was the captain of Roma. His current mood was to scold any Roma player who came over.
“Beep, beep, beep!”
Seeing that the two were about to get close to each other, the referee blew the whistle again.
The two were called aside and warned separately, but no cards were issued. The first half of the game was directly stopped and the players were asked to return to the locker room to calm down for a while.
"We played well today! We controlled the game, except for those two stupid mistakes!"
Mourinho was still shouting at the tactical board.
"But I don't see hunger or thirst in you yet!"
"There are only 45 minutes left in the game, but you guys give me the feeling that the game hasn't even started yet!"
"There is no urgency! No desire to equalize and turn the game around!"
"You played tough, which is great, but it's not enough!"
"Speed! I want to see your speed!"
"Not only the running speed, I want to see your passing speed and reaction speed!"
“Bang!”
Mourinho took a picture of Theo's magnetic sticker on the tactical board.
"As long as Theo gets forward and steals the ball, we'll attack from the right side, behind him!"
"Snap!" Mourinho patted Florenzi again.
"Same here, if he comes up, hit him from behind!"
"As long as we play like this, they won't dare to press forward. Without the wingers, AC Milan's lineup today has no explosive points! There is no place that can threaten us!"
"Knock down their two full-backs! Don't stop the ball at your feet, pass it! Pass it behind them! Don't be afraid of losing the ball. Losing the ball is not scary, losing the opportunity is scary!"
"Lorenzo (Pellegrini), Carles (Carles Perez), Rick (Karsdorp), warm up quickly!"
Soon, 15 minutes passed and both sides returned to the court again.
AC Milan, which was leading, was the first to make changes.
Just like in the first match, Salemacols was replaced by Leo, another offensive weapon of the team.
The fact that he forced Pioli to risk getting injured again by replacing Leao shows how much he wants to win the game.
However, the effect of doing so is also very obvious.
Faced with Leo's speed, Celik, who successfully blocked Salemakos in the first half, immediately looked embarrassed.
Especially under the dual threat of Leo's run and Theo's cut-in, coupled with frequent short passes, two-on-one dribbles and position changes with Tonali and Diaz, once Leo runs into an open space without any need, it will be difficult for Celik to catch up with him easily.
In the 49th minute, Theo and Tonali made a one-two pass to get rid of Zaniolo and passed the ball to Leo before Chen Xiaoliang rushed over. Leo forced his way inside and broke through Celik, but Celik got stuck and stuck to him, never letting Leo get through.
Leo passed the ball back and the ball returned to Theo who was moving inward from the wing. Just when everyone thought the French left-back was going to take another long shot like he did in the first half, he made a diagonal pass to Messias who was rushing into the penalty area!
Messias received the ball diagonally and immediately returned to the middle of the penalty area, and Diaz followed up and prepared to shoot!
Just when the ball was about 2 meters away from rolling in front of Diaz, Matic stretched out his long legs, fell to the ground and poked the ball, slightly changing the trajectory of the ball!
Diaz immediately moved sideways to meet the ball again, and this time Veretout pounced on him again.
Just like blocking the eye, one after another came forward!
Diaz forced a volley, the ball hit Veretout and bounced out of the sideline!
The kick was so powerful that Veretout fell to the ground, covering his lower body and burying his head in the grass, not moving a muscle!
This behavior of not rolling around or wailing was clearly a sign of a real possible injury, and the Roma team doctor immediately rushed into the field!
Seeing him like this, Chen Xiaoliang felt amused, angry and worried.
What’s funny is that Veretout, who was about to fight with Giroud just now, is now lying on the ground like a stove cat.
What makes me angry is that Diaz knew there was no shooting angle but still shot with all his strength, which clearly showed that he had no good intentions.
What I am worried about is naturally my teammates getting injured.
The team doctor came forward and asked a few simple questions. He knew that the injury in that area could not be examined openly on the court. When Veretout told him that he could not stand up and walk off the court, he immediately called for a stretcher and carried him off.
Seeing this, Mourinho guessed that the injury might not be serious, but he could not return to the field for a while, so he simply replaced him with Pellegrini.
Just when the Roma players were still wondering about Veretout's injury, Florenzi threw the ball from the sideline, Messias passed the ball to the middle again, and Diaz did the same, taking advantage of Pellegrini's lack of movement when he came on the court, and shot another powerful shot!
"Bang!" Patricio flew to save the ball, but his outstretched hand couldn't reach the ball. Fortunately, the ball hit the upper right corner of the crossbar and bounced out of the bottom line!
"Focus! Focus!"
Seeing that they almost lost the ball because of the distraction caused by the substitution, Mourinho shouted anxiously on the sidelines.
After surviving the disaster, the Roma players regained their spirits and played a small climax on both offense and defense.
In the 57th minute, Krunic committed a foul in the backcourt and knocked down Chen Xiaoliang who was off the ball after passing the ball. The referee showed a yellow card and awarded a free kick.
Pellegrini quickly took a free kick, and after receiving the ball, Cesco leaned on Gabia and turned to shoot in front of the penalty area. The ball was saved by AC Milan goalkeeper Maignan who fell to the ground!
In the 61st minute, Chen Xiaoliang received a pass from Matic in the frontcourt and passed it back to Pellegrini, who made a powerful shot from 35 meters away. Maignan did not dare to receive the ball and tried to block it. Zaniolo made a follow-up shot, which was saved by Maignan again, but the linesman indicated that Zaniolo was offside.
With Pellegrini coming on, Roma's midfield attack and organization now has an additional visible passing point.
Compared with Veretout, Pellegrini's intercepting ability is a little weaker, but his ability to pass the ball and attack is much stronger.
When the ball was dead due to a foul, Pioli called Florenzi and asked him to remind the wingers on the field to move inward to help compress the space in the middle of Roma.
As a result, AC Milan players began to frequently shrink to the middle area to sweep and intercept Roma's passing and receiving cooperation, forcing Pellegrini to retreat to the defensive midfielder position to ensure that the ball can be safely passed forward from the backcourt.
The problem is, Chen Xiaoliang had told him not to pass long balls to him as they were "difficult to receive".
But Matic didn't know this.
In the 67th minute, Theo dribbled the ball inside and passed it to Diaz. Facing the blockade of Matic and Pellegrini, Diaz passed the ball diagonally to right winger Messias.
The Brazilian, who had been silent for a long time, got the ball on the right side after offside and shot it into the side net. Patricio immediately ran over to pick up the ball and quickly kicked the goal kick!
The ball came to Pellegrini's feet. Dias and the retreating Giroud surrounded him and Pellegrini had no choice but to pass the ball to the relatively safe Matic on the right.
AC Milan's frontcourt players turned around and prepared to press Matic in a high position.
"Ma Xiangqian" kicked a long pass with his left foot to the left side of the front court.
At this time, Abraham, who was watching the replay, had no time to head the ball. Chen Xiaoliang, who was near the center circle, rushed towards the direction of the ball, and Florenzi behind him immediately chased back.
Seeing that the ball was about to go out of bounds, Chen Xiaoliang jumped high near the left sideline, stretched out his left foot in the air, and slid forward while reaching for the ball with the instep of his foot.
At this time, the ball was obviously about to fly out of the sideline. Chen Xiaoliang hooked his left foot inward, and the ball was blocked and landed lightly within the boundary.
After he landed, he arched his back and blocked Florenzi who was returning to defense at high speed behind him. Florenzi had to stop suddenly. In this situation, he would definitely not escape a yellow card for the foul from behind.
Just when Florenzi pulled Chen Xiaoliang's clothes and tried to kick the ball out, Chen Xiaoliang took his signature step with his right foot, stomped his left foot hard on the grass, and his body rushed forward like an electric roller coaster!
Florenzi couldn't hold on at all, and was nearly knocked down by Chen Xiaoliang's starting speed because he held on to his clothes. In the end, he had to let go.
Seeing that there was a clear path ahead for Chen Xiaoliang, Cesco in the middle immediately rushed into the penalty area!
"Defense! Defense! Don't give him space!"
Pioli shouted anxiously on the sidelines!
Kalulu immediately moved to the right, ready to face Chen Xiaoliang who was rushing forward at high speed!
Gabia and Krunic entangled Cesco together, and Theo was also running back desperately!
With 2 against 3 in the frontcourt, they were not at an advantage in numbers, but everyone on the Roma side knew what would happen next!
Just like they had seen countless times in training!
Chen Xiaoliang changed direction slightly and sprinted towards the left side of the penalty area. Before he got close to Kalulu, he kicked a cross with the outside of his right foot!
The ball flew just right in front of Cesco who was running forward at high speed!
The Slovenian striker jumped high, almost without using any strength, and the spinning ball hit his forehead and bounced towards the goal!
Maignan blocked the ball!
AC Milan fans at San Siro cheered in unison!
However, under Gabia's pull, Cesco stretched out his right leg and kicked the ball without standing firmly after landing!
The ball rolled slowly towards the goal!
"Maignan, hurry up and chase after him!"
"Theo rushed back and slid to the ground to hook the ball!"
"Will they make it in time?!"
"The ball was hooked out of the goal by Theo!"
“But the referee still pointed to the center circle!”
"Signal that the ball has crossed the goal line as a whole!"
"Cesco! What a big-game player!"
Zhan Jun began to recount Cesco's performance so far this season in the live broadcast room:
"He can make a direct contribution against the team leading the standings!"
"In the face of Juventus and Inter Milan, he assisted his teammates to score. In the last game against AC Milan, he also scored a goal with the help of Chen Xiaoliang's pass!"
"Facing the then leader Napoli, he contributed one assist and one goal!"
"He also scored a goal in the Europa League away game against Tottenham, turning the game from 3-1 to 3-2!"
"The big-game guy , most of his 8 goals and 6 assists this season were converted into points, and there were few so-called bullying goals."
"His value has also increased from 12 million euros when he first joined the team to 35 million euros!"
Dong Fangzhuo: "He reminds me of Rooney."
Zhan Jun: "It seems that Xiaodong thinks very highly of Cesco. Generally, fans like to call him the second Haaland. For Xiaodong, Cesco has become the Slovenian Rooney!"
Dong Fangzhuo: "Their playing styles are different, I mean their performance in big games, especially the feeling of being a newborn calf that is not afraid of a tiger.
Rooney ended Arsenal's unbeaten streak twice at Everton and Manchester United, and scored a hat trick against Fenerbahce in his first Champions League appearance. He is a natural big-game player. On the contrary, Ronaldo spent some time under the old Sir Alex Ferguson's training to change his playing style, and his statistics gradually improved. "
On the court, although this ball was a follow-up shot by Cesco and was not counted as an assist by Chen Xiaoliang in the technical statistics, the two still hugged each other excitedly!
Mourinho was clapping and overjoyed!
It's worth it! It's really worth it!
18-year-old Cesco, 17-year-old Chen Xiaoliang!
The two spent a total of 53 million euros!
Only 53 million euros!
Judging from the current valuation alone, the two of them have brought an increase of 50 million euros to the club!
These two people are simply gifts from God to Mourinho to help him make a comeback!
If...if there is another person, a winger who can break through and control the ball, then Chen Xiaoliang will be responsible for the offense, defense and guidance in the midfield, the winger will be responsible for tearing open the opponent's defense, and Cesco will be responsible for scoring in the penalty area.
Such a combination will surely be able to dominate Serie A and even the European arena!
Of course, the club has made a list of candidates for this winger.
But Mourinho was never satisfied, and the board rejected Perisic, who wanted to satisfy him. Facts have also proved that Perisic's performance at Inter Milan has been declining compared to before he was 30 years old.
Coupled with his high salary, the cost-effectiveness is indeed a bit low.
However, recently Riise recommended another person to the club, and Pinto's feedback was "very satisfactory". The person not only fits the club's current financial situation, but also has the type of technology that the team currently lacks.
Mourinho was stunned when he saw the name.
Even though he has fought in many countries and participated in thousands of battles of all sizes in the football industry, he has never heard of such a person.
The price tag is 10 million, he has Georgian nationality, he couldn't stay in the Russian Premier League, so he returned to Batumi Dynamo in the Georgian League.
This team has no outstanding record in the Georgian League.
This player's name... maybe ninety-nine out of a hundred people would have to look at it for a while before they can pronounce it fluently:
Khvecha Kvaratskhelia.
183 cm, 70 kg.
The brief scouting report states that this player's main position is left winger, but he can also play right winger.
The right foot is the most powerful foot, but the left foot can also be used to break through, pass and shoot.
His speed and explosiveness are average, but his ball control and dribbling abilities are extremely strong, and his change of direction and small-area ball-holding techniques are first-class.
The ability to score with both feet is also excellent.
On the wing, he can perform a variety of tasks such as crossing from the bottom and cutting in to shoot.
Mourinho was at a loss whether to laugh or cry.
Did Roma's scouts take kickbacks?
For someone who can't even make it in the Russian Premier League, the scout report wrote him as Cristiano Ronaldo in the early days of Manchester United and Hazard in Chelsea?
And that's only 10 million euros?
Is it really that amazing? Are all the scouts in Europe blind?
However, Mourinho still agreed to send scouts to conduct a detailed on-site investigation of this "amateur" winger with a difficult name.
The reason is simple. He knows that the person recommended by Reese was not actually recommended by Reese.
Regardless of the channel or source of information, Chen Xiaoliang has never failed to recommend a player.
Moreover, due to the restrictions on non-EU quotas, even if the final decision is made to bring in this Georgian player, it will have to wait until the summer window at the end of this season.
Therefore, he still has plenty of time.
A head coach who is talented, far-sighted, experienced and capable of leading a strong team should not only focus on every game and every training session, but also on the club's development and echelon construction in one, two, or even three or five years.
Mourinho has always believed that he is such a super coach.
Thinking of this, the madman celebrated the goal and applauded, then crossed his hands in front of his chest and smiled triumphantly.
However, a tall figure awakened his self-admiration.
The spiritual pillar of AC Milan and the absolute boss of the locker room is ready to play!
