Chapter 185: Facing two old enemies at the same time! Rome's dream start!
The match with Juventus is imminent, and then bad news comes one after another.
First, Mancini, who was sent off in the last game, was automatically suspended for one round;
Next is Pellegrini, who has accumulated 4 yellow cards and is suspended for one round;
Finally, there is Zaniolo, who has performed well recently. He felt discomfort in his thigh during training. After examination, it was found to be a muscle strain and he needs to rest for 2 weeks.
This means the team loses a main player in each of the front, middle and back fields.
Although Juventus' right-back Danilo, left-back Sandro and center-back Bonucci are definitely unable to play due to injuries, De Ligt, who did not play in the first leg, has performed well recently and is expected to form a center-back partnership with Chiellini in this game.
At the same time, Cuadrado, McKennie, De Sciglio and others can also make up for the impact of injuries.
What gave Mourinho the most headache was that Fiorentina, which had been reluctant to let go, agreed to complete the transfer of Vlahovic, originally scheduled for January 17, a week earlier, that is, on January 10, because of the adjustment of the additional fees in the transfer terms.
This means that in the match on January 12, the striker with the best form in Serie A this season and Chen Xiaoliang's old rival is likely to use the match against Roma as a gift to curry favor with his new club.
With the addition of Dybala and Chiesa on the left and right, Juventus' forward line suddenly became the most powerful, currently scoring the most goals and attracting the most attention from all sides in Serie A.
This is obviously not a good thing for the entire Roma team.
Forti took over Joao's job and analyzed in detail Juventus' usual tactical style of play, each player's personal habits and tactical responsibilities, and how to respond at the pre-match tactical analysis meeting.
Mourinho then arranged the starting lineup.
Smalling and Ibanez are the central defenders, Celik is the right back, and Malacia is the left back;
In the midfield, from Veretout's performance against Lecce, it seems that his "injury" has not fully healed and he is unable to make a large-scale leg-stretching interception, so Matic and Cristante were sent in as defensive midfielders;
Chen Xiaoliang is still the central midfielder;
Due to Zaniolo's injury, the left winger was replaced by Zalewski, the right winger was Mkhitaryan who had not started for a long time, and the center forward was still Cesco.
Although Abraham's goal scoring has improved recently, the wing has never been his main position. The reason for choosing this pair of wingers is more because they are required to retreat a lot during the game to help the full-backs defend.
Crossing will still be Allegri's main tactic.
At 18:30 on the evening of January 12, players from both teams were already sitting in the locker room of the Olympic Stadium.
When Mourinho saw the starting lineups of each other announced one hour in advance, although he was mentally prepared, his heart still tightened - Vlahovic appeared on the starting lineup.
This means that Juventus's biggest lack of central support has now been solved.
Vlahovic is not Morata who has "double weak feet". He has scored 17 league goals for Fiorentina this season, ranking first in the league. Although Cesco, the striker who ranks first in league goals in Roma, has 8 goals, he can also rank in the top 10 of the league, but it is less than half of Vlahovic.
Mourinho clapped his hands a few times and reminded the players loudly:
"I believe you all know what kind of head coach Allegri is. His tactical thinking is always to survive first, then consume, and finally reap!"
"So we have to get off to a good start today! We can't be caught off guard by the opponent in the opening like we did in the last league game against AC Milan!"
"He wants to hide, we can't give him the chance! Only by getting the start and scoring a goal can we force them to attack earlier!"
"If we want to be in the Champions League in September, we must win today's game! Otherwise we won't have any room for error in the following games!"
"But you know, it's human to make mistakes."
Mourinho paused and repeated the sentence again:
"Yes, it is impossible for a person not to make mistakes."
"But we made mistakes in the last round. We gave the opponent a penalty! We made a mistake and the opponent intercepted the ball! We also mistakenly believed that the referee would give us a fair game!"
"So today, this is our home court, we have to take the initiative back into our own hands!"
"AC Milan won, Napoli won, Inter's game started later than ours. This is what you go through every week."
"I want to tell you to forget about it and focus on the competition, but I also want to tell you that if you can't handle this kind of pressure, you will never be qualified to go to the highest stage!"
"Boys, get ready to play!"
After saying that, Mourinho looked at Chen Xiaoliang. Although the master and apprentice had not had any communication due to the serious and somewhat weird atmosphere in the team in recent days, Mourinho still gave today's on-field captain the last time to lead the team and give encouragement before walking into the player tunnel.
Chen Xiaoliang nodded slightly to him, stood up and said:
"Guys, the coach said a lot, I believe you all remember it in your heart, responsibility and pressure, you are all professional players, you don't need me to share anything more."
"But I still want to tell you a good news. Tonight, the opponent's head coach is in the stands."
At this point, Chen Xiaoliang paused for a moment, but except for young players Jian and Darbo who smiled, other players did not express anything.
"I have even better news, our head coach is not in the stands."
"Hey, hey, whoosh..."
This time, there was more laughter. After Abraham finished laughing, he secretly glanced at Mourinho. He looked still very serious, but his frown had relaxed a little.
Although it cannot and should not be swept away completely, the tense atmosphere has obviously dissipated a little.
It is necessary to maintain pressure. Without pressure, players will lose urgency, but too much pressure will only affect their performance on the field.
"Every time I play an important game, I will set myself an extra goal. For example, today, I set myself a personal goal to run more than 15,000 meters, and then help the backcourt defense so that their new signing Vlahovic can't score."
“And of course, victory!”
"In a game like this, we should always come up with something different after completing the coach's tactical arrangement. Only when everyone does more can the team as a whole perform better."
"In the player tunnel later, everyone can think about what more I can do tonight."
"If you go online, read the news, read the fan forums these days, you will be very frustrated."
"People outside always say that our defense is not good, that we are not good at attacking, that some of our players can play because the lineup depth is zero, and that some of our players were bought purely for retirement purposes."
"And I only know one thing - when you lose, everything you say is just an excuse"
"I'm glad that today's game came so soon, instead of having to wait a whole week, which means we can answer all the doubts with action tonight."
"Come on! Guys! Follow me out of the locker room now. Our battle has already begun! In the player tunnel, let's overwhelm them with our momentum!"
"This is our territory, tell them to go back to Turin!"
Everyone stood up and formed a circle, stretching their hands toward the middle and stacking them on top of each other.
Chen Xiaoliang: "One! Two! Three!"
He stretched out his hand: "Go back to Turin!"
Chen Xiaoliang, standing in the player tunnel, had a calm expression on his face, his slightly raised head showing that he was confident and determined to win.
In fact, he always thinks of his days in Glasgow when he looks at the light at the end of the player's tunnel, especially the first time he walked onto the field from the player's tunnel at Ibrox.
Although the level of football there is lower and the gap is greater, it is purer.
It is a place where a group of slightly frustrated players who aspire to play in the top five leagues but may not have the opportunity to play, or who cannot make it in mid-level teams in the top five leagues.
Less money, less media, fewer endorsements, but also less trouble, less conflict, and fewer inner thoughts of the players.
There is less pressure from the outside world.
Reaching the quarterfinals of the Europa League will make the fans very satisfied, and winning the league title six rounds in advance will definitely move this city for years.
Not to mention myself at that time, even the world-famous Gerrard’s monthly news volume in Glasgow was not as much as the daily volume in Aston Villa.
A Japanese striker in his prime with a transfer fee of 5 million euros can become the main striker of Celtic, the biggest team in the Scottish Premier League, and dominate the entire league.
A player worth 5 million and in his golden age can usually only be a substitute who comes on after 60 minutes in the top Serie A teams.
Thinking of this, Chen Xiaoliang couldn't help but sigh that football in Europe, which is at the forefront, is like a huge pyramid.
The Scottish Premier League is at most the middle level of the tower, and Serie A is only close to the top of the tower.
The three giants in Serie A are still a long way from the top of the pyramid, although they are already good enough to look down on 99% of the clubs in Europe.
For many players climbing up this road, it can be said that it is a life-and-death struggle.
The closer you get to the top of the tower, the more disputes and confrontations there will be, and the more conflicts of interest there will be.
There are more and more opponents to defeat.
As he was thinking, Chen Xiaoliang had already walked into the light and came to the court.
"oh!!!!"
“Woo!!!!”
When they saw the home team come out, the fans in the Olympic Stadium suddenly became ignited and burst into cheers.
The old routine, after exchanging team flags with Juventus' captain Paulo Dybala, the two guessed the sides and Juventus attacked first.
After everything was done, Juventus set up their formation:
Center forward Vlahovic, this is his debut for Juventus.
The left winger is Chiesa and the right winger is Dybala. Dybala has been injured frequently this season, but he has scored 5 goals and provided 3 assists in the league. He is one of Juventus' absolute offensive focus.
American right midfielder McKennie was brought in from Schalke 04 by Juventus for 20.5 million euros last summer. He has good physical fitness and is more defensive in ability.
Bentancur is the left midfielder, and Locatelli is the central midfielder;
The two full-backs are De Sciglio on the left and Cuadrado on the right. The 34-year-old Colombian veteran played as a right back in this game.
As for the central defender, Chiellini was not sent to assist De Ligt as Mourinho expected, but the 27-year-old Rugani was substituted;
The goalkeeper is still Szczesny.
Because he criticized the referee after the last round of the league against Napoli, Juventus head coach Allegri was sent to the stands for this game, and his assistant coach Landucci was replaced by the one standing on the sidelines to direct the team.
Just as the referee was about to blow the whistle to start the game, Chen Xiaoliang's system rang first.
【Dong Dong Dong】
[Enemy detected: Vlahovic, Federico Chiesa]
[Rival Mission: In this game, the rival's passing, steals, interceptions, headers, and assists are all less than the host's and no goals are scored]
[Restriction conditions: Player rating after the game, enemy rating is lower than the host]
[Mission Reward: 1 Legendary Star Card of the Enemy's Team]
Although he was mentally prepared, this moment still surprised Chen Xiaoliang.
It turns out that I have to face two old enemies in the same field.
Moreover, the content of today's mission also confirmed his idea that the requirements of the enemy mission will change with the change of one's own position.
When playing as a defensive midfielder, the emphasis is more on defense, and the task requirement becomes to prevent the enemy from scoring goals and assists.
But now I am playing as an all-around midfielder, I need to take both offense and defense into consideration, it is impossible to focus solely on defense, so what I will compete with my arch-rival is the overall performance.
“Beep!”
The referee blows the whistle and the game begins!
Vlahovic passed the ball back to Locatelli, and Juventus' midfield and frontcourt players rushed to the front together!
Just like the first time they met, they wanted to get a head start!
Locatelli made a diagonal pass to McKennie on the right, and McKennie passed it directly to Dybala!
Facing Malaysia, Dybala didn't hesitate at all. He cut inside to the middle and shot a curved ball towards Cristante!
Although the force was good, the angle was too straight and Patricio hugged and threw him under him.
After confirming that there was no interference around him, the Portuguese goalkeeper immediately stood up and kicked the ball to Mkhitaryan on the right.
Mkhitaryan did not confront De Sciglio head-on when receiving the ball, but passed it directly to Cesco.
Sesco received the ball straight away and shot at a small angle under the close push of Rugani, but Szczesny blocked the ball at the near post!
Penguin Live invited General Fan as the guest commentator for this game.
Zhan Jun: "The pace of both sides was very fast after the opening! Two shots were made in just two minutes! Good news for the fans who stayed up late in the morning!"
General Van: "It feels like neither side can afford to lose this game. If a team like Juventus doesn't make it to the Champions League, the negative impact will be huge."
Zhan Jun: "The impact on the club's financial situation is also huge!"
General Fan: “That’s right.”
Zhan Jun: "Which team does Lao Fan support tonight?"
General Fan: "Of course we support Roma. I believe many fans watching the game in the live broadcast room are here for Xiao Liang." He paused, "Of course there is also Wu Lei."
Zhan Jun: "There is news coming out, such as the well-known transfer reporter Romano revealed that Roma has finalized the transfer of Georgian winger Kvaratskhelia, and the player will join Roma after the summer window opens.
However, due to the limited number of non-European quotas for the team, it is very likely that Wu Lei, who has played few games in the league this season, will be sent back to Espanyol after the loan expires. What do you think of Lao Fan? Do you think Wu Lei can achieve a breakthrough in Serie A with his strength? "
General Fan paused.
At this time, Mkhitaryan stood at the corner kick spot and kicked the ball forward!
Smalling headed the ball towards the middle. Sesco in the middle was closely guarded by De Ligt. Although he headed the ball, he was unable to exert force and was easily caught by Szczesny.
Juventus started their slow "Old Lady" attack mode.
General Fan continued the topic he had not mentioned earlier:
"Xiao Wu is already 30 years old after all, which means he is 31 years old according to his lunar age. From a striker's perspective, even if he is not declining, he is at the end of his golden age."
"His skills and habits have long been established. Unlike Xiaoliang, he is only 17 years old and can make progress in almost every game. Every coach, teammate and opponent he meets can teach him something new. It is difficult for Xiaowu to learn any new skills at this age."
Zhan Jun: "What about the philosophy of football?"
General Fan: "Oh, you hit the nail on the head! Many people always say that they can learn concepts when they go abroad. I've been there. When we went abroad, we were already quite old. What concepts do you think we learned?
On the other hand, is it so easy to learn the philosophy of the most developed football places in Europe? If it is really so easy to learn, the Football Association does not need to send more than 30 or 50 officials and coaches to Europe for three years of training every year. In 10 years, won’t our country’s philosophy be the same as Europe’s?
Impossible.
Concepts are something that can only be truly learned by growing up and learning in this kind of football environment from a young age.
I saw many fans disagree in the comments, so I asked, for example, in Spain, are the youth training and football philosophies of Real Madrid and Barcelona adopted by every club and team? Obviously not.
You say that in the same city, the Spanish and Barcelona play the same football? Obviously not. "
Zhan Jun: "Sometimes even changing a coach can change the team's tactical thinking."
General Fan: "That's right. So let's not talk about the distance between us and Europe. There are also differences in culture, language, and way of thinking. Even if we are two clubs in the same city, everyone has different philosophies. For example, Xiao Wu has only been in Europe for three or four years. How can he learn the philosophy?"
"Look at how many years Japan has spent studying Brazil. They have hired so many Brazilian foreign players and coaches, and have also naturalized a number of Brazilian players, including Ramos and Rubis, and later Sandu and Tanaka Tokasa. It took decades to get to where they are today. It's not that easy to learn concepts."
“But some fans said, why go out then?”
"You have to wait until I finish."
"You have to go out. If conditions permit, the sooner you go out, the better. We always say that football should be taught from a young age. Go to Europe for training when you are young and train with their youth training camps, just like the youth training camp that Xiaoliang is running at Glasgow Rangers, where Coach Xu lets 10-year-old kids at Chongming base train for a year."
“You think you can learn a lot in this year? That’s impossible, but it’s an opportunity. Even if you can’t learn the concepts, you can increase your understanding and broaden your horizons. Once you play well and stay in the echelon of a European club, then in time, after five or ten years, when these kids are 20 years old, they will definitely be able to separate themselves from the young players who have always stayed in China.”
"Even if he doesn't make it, he can still be a youth training coach."
"It is indeed difficult for Xiao Wu to stay in the top five leagues. Although he played well in the Europa League this year and scored four or five goals, the quality of the Europa League and the level of the opponents are far inferior to Serie A. This also confirms Coach Xu's evaluation of him, that he is probably at the level of the Spanish Second Division."
"But I don't think it's important. This year, I watched how a club like Roma, which is considered a big team in Europe, operates and manages, and how a famous coach like Mourinho trains. Even if I can't stay in the team next season, this is also a very valuable resource.
Like Ji Hai, he still maintains a good relationship with Manchester City and is also doing some youth training through this relationship.”
"These things are small when viewed individually. Only when more people continue to join in can qualitative changes occur in the end."
As General Fan was speaking, the time had reached the 7th minute.
Zalewski cut in from the left and passed the ball to Mkhitaryan who was also moving inwards. The latter's long shot hit De Sciglio who was defending and bounced out of the baseline.
Roma got another corner kick and all the top players in the team rushed forward.
Mkhitaryan raised his hands and drove forward again!
"Sesco!"
“Header!!!”
"Szczesny didn't touch it!"
“The ball goes in!”
"Juventus made a big mistake in set-piece defense! De Ligt and Rugani both thought the opponent would follow Sesco, but by the time Rugani reacted, it was too late! Sesco headed the ball into the inside of the near post with almost no defense!"
"In the 7th minute, Roma got off to a dream start! Leading 1-0 at home!"
