Chapter 195 Penalty Shootout! An unexpected situation occurred!
A short break of 5 minutes is totally insufficient to compensate for the players' fatigue.
Even Cesco, who is always full of fighting spirit and energy, showed signs of fatigue.
Atalanta also played slowly and still maintained possession of the ball.
However, the players under Gasperini are not unable to run, they are just controlling the tempo.
They failed to kill the game before the end of the 90 minutes of regular time. Now in overtime, they still have to consume first and then reap.
On this point, Gasperini and Allegri have similar ideas.
However, it is understandable that such a "survival" tactic is used in a civilian team like Atlanta, and the fans are much more accepting of it than those of the fans of the giants.
But if it were Juventus, the previous nine-time champion, they would only be labeled as "conservative" and "unambitious".
But when facing the current Roma, even the most conservative team would not dare to call themselves conservative in front of Mourinho.
Ball possession? What is that? No, I'll give it all to you.
In the first 10 minutes of extra time, Atalanta's ball possession rate was close to 72%, but Mourinho was not panicked at all, because the only statistics of the opponent that kept increasing were the ball possession rate and the number of passes, while the number of shots remained unchanged.
Moreover, with Chen Xiaoliang's running, Atlanta's midfield and backcourt did not press too high, and they had to pass the ball back to the backcourt from time to time.
In Mourinho's view, these are all ineffective ball control. In order to control the ball, he must constantly run without the ball and compress the distance of the formation, while reducing risky long passes and through passes. Controlling the ball for the sake of controlling the ball will reduce the threat of the attack.
Once the ball is lost and the counterattack fails, the back line is full of gaps. As long as the opponent's counterattack can penetrate the midfield, the threat will be very great.
But in the eyes of those who advocate ball control, as long as the ball is at their feet, they are in control. How can the opponent attack and shoot if they can't even get the ball?
By constantly controlling the ball and suppressing the opponent, we can trap the opponent in our own half, away from our goal. Even if the ball is lost, we can quickly double-team and take the ball back on the spot, and then reorganize the attack.
Neither side can overwhelm the other, and the best way to judge the strength of the two groups is what Beckenbauer once said - it's not the strong that wins, but the winner that becomes strong.
Football only remembers the final result.
But it's not just the 22 players on the field and their coaches who can influence the outcome.
In the 13th minute of extra time, Roma launched a quick counterattack after Atalanta's cross was headed out.
Pellegrini passed the ball to Chen Xiaoliang who was on the side. Chen Xiaoliang dribbled past Zappacosta and passed the ball to Zaniolo in the middle.
Zaniolo, who came on later, repeatedly fought with the opponent's defense in headers, but he could never gain an advantage. In addition, he was suspended from the league, and he was already depressed. He finally got such a chance for a ground counterattack, he was very excited.
Just like the goal he scored in the previous game that was ruled out, he received the ball on the right side of the penalty area line, tried to cut inside and pass Palomino before shooting with his left foot.
However, when he saw Zaniolo moving sideways, Palomino predicted that he was going to cut inside, turned sideways in advance, and always kept blocking the left front in front of him to block the shooting route.
Zaniolo was helpless. Seeing that cutting inside was impossible and that Fruller, who was returning to defense in the middle, was about to catch up with him, he had to use his left foot to try to make a sudden stop and change direction to break into the penalty area from the right.
Given his current physical level, this trick really works.
After all, the two Atlanta players defending him had already played for more than 100 minutes. Even with Jens' guidance in physical training, they could not be compared with the players who had only been on the court for a short time.
After Palomino stopped suddenly, Zaniolo had already rushed in from his left side.
Seeing that he was about to have a one-on-one chance, the Argentine central defender made a tackle in desperation!
Zaniolo was hooked by Palomino's outstretched right foot and fell to the ground immediately!
"Why!"
"Why!"
Not only did Cesco nearby shout that it was a penalty, but almost everyone on the Roma bench shouted in dissatisfaction!
However, the referee remained indifferent!
Seeing this, Atlanta goalkeeper Musso immediately rushed up and kicked the ball towards the front court.
"Such an obvious foul was not called?!"
Zaniolo stood up and shouted in the direction of the referee.
The referee still turned a deaf ear.
The ball had already flown to Atlanta's left side.
Zappacosta and Celik were chasing the ball at the same time, running side by side. When they were about to catch up with the ball, they both fell to the ground and stretched their legs to try to hook the ball!
Just like the "chicken game", when two muscle cars collide head-on and neither of them is willing to steer the wheel, someone is bound to pay the price.
The ball rolled out of bounds, and both Celik and Zappacosta lay on the ground holding their calves.
The team doctors of both teams entered the field and gave feedback to their respective head coaches that substitutions were needed.
Mourinho had no choice but to replace Celik with Kumbulla, letting Kumbulla play as a right wingback, and then replaced Matic with Cristante, using his physical advantage to assist in defending the right.
At this point, all six substitutions have been used up.
Gasperini also replaced Zappacosta, who performed outstandingly in this game, with Italian defender Pesera.
In the face of the mutual tackles just now, the referee still did not make any comments and signaled Roma to take a sideline kick.
Mourinho is already in a state of disarray.
The result of a brief communication between Lapetti and the team doctor was that Celik at least had a ligament sprain, and if it was serious, it might be a muscle tear.
A strain can be recovered in a month, and a muscle tear takes about 80 days to fully recover. However, the period from early February to early April is the most important time in the second half of the season.
Whether the league can maintain its points advantage depends on the results of this wave of matches against non-strong teams. The more points the team can get, the stronger its ability to resist risks will be.
The Europa League round of 16 will start in mid-April. Even if Celik recovers from his injury by then, it remains a question whether he can recover in time after returning to the team.
If we win the Italian Cup today, the two-legged semi-final will begin in early April.
As one of the few pure full-backs in the team, after Karsdorp's stupid performance today, Mourinho has decided to completely abandon him, just like he did with Diawara.
In order to make room for non-European quota, Niles was returned to Arsenal in the winter window;
Young player Calafiori was loaned to the bottom team Genoa for training;
Malaga can only play on the left side. Although Smalling played as a right back for a while at Manchester United, Sir Alex Ferguson had not retired at that time, and Smalling was still a young man. Now he is 33 years old, and his speed and explosiveness have declined. It would be boring for him to play on the right side again.
This means that if Celik is really seriously injured, he will have to use Karsdorp again.
Make peace with an "insider" or "traitor"?
Mourinho would never accept this.
What's more, when he thought of Karsdorp's behavior in the locker room at halftime, he couldn't help but get furious.
But think about it, if we don’t use him, who should we use?
Just when he was feeling upset, the court added fuel to the fire.
Kumbulla, who came on as a substitute, was ready to kick off.
Looking left and right, he found that only Cesco was leaning on Demiral.
Kumbulla threw the ball over, but at the moment the ball was released, Demiral actually used a hug and throw to knock Cesco to the ground!
This action was beyond everyone's expectations, even Atlanta's home fans exclaimed "Ah!"
However, the referee did not blow the whistle until Demiral received the ball and passed it to Pesera who had just come on the field.
Just like the shovel just now, there was no expression.
Now, Mourinho, who had been enduring to the point of failure, completely exploded.
"You won't even blow this! Will you blow this if you have to beat him to death?!"
"Do you have any professional ethics?"
Pesela, who received the ball, was about to rush forward, but was pulled to the ground by Kumbulla's tactical foul.
The referee seemed to be activated and showed Kumbulla a yellow card.
But it wasn't over yet. He walked over, took out the red card, raised it expressionlessly towards Mourinho, then stretched out his left hand and made a "get out" gesture.
Comment:
[I give up. They didn’t even blow the whistle after such a hug. The referee must have come here with a mission.]
[They were thrown into the ground by a hug. The referee is really blind.]
[Alas, the football environment in Italy is getting worse and worse]
Of course, Mourinho has his haters everywhere:
[Back then, Manchester United also said that there would be no penalty unless someone died in the penalty area. Why don’t you think about why birds are targeted wherever they go?]
[It’s okay, I can win it back with a hat trick at the press conference after the game]
…
Not only was there an uproar in the live broadcast room of Zhongyang TV, but many fans from all over the world also began to criticize today's referee on Rat and YouTube.
He Wei couldn't help it, but as a professional in the system, he couldn't just curse:
"Perhaps because he was afraid that the fans would get sleepy after watching this, the referee performed a comedy today to entertain everyone."
"The local temperature in Italy, especially at night, is still very low. Before the game, the local media showed it was 6 degrees Celsius."
"It reminds me of a line from a poem by Tang Dynasty poet Lu Tong: What good is winter like? It makes one eye blind."
"We ordinary people basically have a physical examination every one to two years."
"The items in the physical examination vary, depending on the package you choose, but vision and hearing tests are mandatory."
"I just don't know if this good tradition exists in Italy. Do the Italian Football Association and the Referees' Committee also conduct regular physical examinations for their referees, especially whether vision and hearing tests are included."
"I saw a fan asking me why I had hearing loss? Does it mean that the referee did not hear the complaints of the Roma coach and players?"
"I kept watching the referee wearing headphones, but it didn't seem to work, so much so that even the VAR on the sidelines was unwilling to go over and take a look."
"This is the third time Mourinho has been sent to the stands this season. As he is a repeat offender, he may be given an additional ban and fine by Serie A after the game."
"Besides, since it's an away game, he probably doesn't have sufficient equipment to remotely direct the game. It all depends on how his assistants and the players on the field handle the crisis."
Several players wanted to rage, but when they saw that the referee was serious and sent Mourinho off directly, they had to endure it.
The referee's behavior directly led to a dramatic change in the situation on the field.
Atlanta became more confident, especially after more than a minute of rest and entering the second half of overtime, their movements became more aggressive.
Although the referee also showed two yellow cards to Atlanta, at this stage of the game, such late penalties were not enough to reverse the overall trend.
In the last few minutes of the second half of extra time, players like Cesco and the three central defenders could no longer run, and only Zaniolo was still struggling to hold on.
But without support from the rear, relying solely on running and grabbing the ball in the frontcourt would have little effect.
Chen Xiaoliang also played further and further back, frequently helping Pellegrini, who was not good at defense, and Cristante, who ran slowly, to make up for the defense.
Defend from left to right, from inside to outside.
There are Red Country people in every threatening position near the penalty area.
Even Jens couldn't help but marvel at it.
Gasperini asked him: "Why is this red country kid so good at running? Is this something he has trained? Or is it natural?"
Jens shook his head. "This is the first time I've seen a player with such good physical strength in actual combat. Really, I want to see what kind of personal training subjects Roma has arranged for him."
"Football is not a marathon. In addition to repeated back-and-forth runs, there are also non-stop high-speed sprints. The only one who can still charge on the field now, apart from the few who played in overtime, is him."
Gasperini: "Mourinho is really good at coaching the team . He was able to keep the ball even at this level."
Having said this, neither of them said anything else.
They both knew in their hearts that the referee's whistle today was a bit "blind".
But this referee was not hired by the two of them, and Atlanta has been fooled by bad whistles in the league before.
After several unsuccessful long passes into the penalty area, the game officially entered the penalty shootout!
This is the first time for Chen Xiaoliang to participate.
Players from both teams gathered on the bench and formed a circle, while the coaches on both sides arranged the details of the penalty shootout.
On the Roma side, Forti naturally announced the order of the penalty kicks according to the prior preparation and the players still on the field.
Pellegrini was first, Zaniolo was second, Mancini was third, Cristante was fourth, and Cesco was fifth.
Next came Ibanez and Malaysia, and Chen Xiaoliang was eighth.
The referee called on the captains of both teams, Chen Xiaoliang and Fruller.
Chen Xiaoliang chose the tail side of the coin, and Fruler chose the front side.
The referee tossed the coin high up and did not catch it with the back of his hand, but let it fall directly onto the grass.
The reverse side!
Roma kicks first!
Chen Xiaoliang breathed a sigh of relief!
According to statistics, the side that takes the penalty kick first undoubtedly has a clear advantage, and this advantage mainly comes from the psychological level.
Once a goal is scored first, it will cause great psychological pressure on the opponent's player who will take the next free throw!
After about 3 minutes, the two teams were ready, and the players lined up on the center line on both sides of the center circle, shoulder to shoulder, with their hands on the shoulders of their teammates on both sides, silently praying for each other.
"Pellegrini was on the penalty spot."
“Beep !”
"The referee whistles!"
"Roma No. 7 takes a slow run and shoots!"
"Bottom left corner of the goal!"
"Musso didn't move, the ball went in!"
"0 to 1! The total score is 1 to 2!"
"The first penalty kick for Atalanta was taken by the Russian player Milanchuk who replaced Boga."
“He’s also a left-footer!”
"Run-up, with a slight pause!"
“It’s also in the lower left corner!”
"Patricio misjudged the direction, the total score is 2-2!"
" Zaniolo came over and crossed himself and prayed."
"His run-up was a little long."
“Shoot!”
"Oh!"
"Although Musso still didn't judge the direction correctly, Zaniolo's kick went flying! It went straight to the stands behind the goal!"
"The Atalanta fans at the scene also responded to Zaniolo's poor footwork with boos and cheers of gloating."
"Now the pressure is on Rome."
"Patricio stood on the goal line and looked at Atalanta's second penalty kicker, No. 7 Kupmenas."
"The Dutch midfielder is worth 30 million euros and is also left-footed!"
"Run up and shoot!"
"Patricio touched the ball with his fingertips. Although the angle was not tricky, the speed of the ball was too fast and it still flew into the right side of the goal!"
"Atlanta made two free throws, the total score is 3 to 2!"
"The third player to come up for Roma was centre-back Mancini, who played for nearly 125 minutes. I wonder what kind of penalty he will take!"
"Almost no run-up, shot in the middle!"
"Musso dived to the left and the ball went in!"
"Mancini is a skilled and daring man! If the goalkeeper is slow to react to this kind of ball, it is equivalent to passing it to the goalkeeper."
"The total score is now 3 to 3!"
"The third person to come up for Atalanta is their captain, Fruler."
"The 30-year-old Swiss international is right-footed and played the entire match."
"Patricio kept waving his hands, as if trying to interfere with the opponent!"
"Fruler takes a run! Shoot!"
“The ball goes in!”
"This ball is too tricky."
"Patricio got the direction right again, but it was still too far to reach."
"After three rounds of penalty kicks, Atalanta leads Roma 4-3 on aggregate."
"The fourth one in Rome, the one coming up is Cristante!"
"As a member of the Italian team for the 2021 European Championship, Cristante experienced the penalty shootout in the final against England!"
"Although he did not participate in the free throws, I believe he has experienced this kind of pressure!"
"Cristante repeatedly placed the ball to make sure it was in place."
"Standing up, he glanced at Musso, then took five steps back!"
"The referee whistles!"
"Cristante runs and shoots!"
"Oh!"
"That was a close call! Musso pounced on the ball and it changed direction, but luckily it hit the post and bounced into the goal!"
"Roma almost put itself on the edge of a cliff ahead of time! Cristante raised his arms and roared, expressing his frustration."
"The score is now 4-4, but Atalanta hasn't played this round yet. The Italian defender Pesella comes on to replace Zappacosta."
"Pecera's dominant foot is also left-footed. It seems that Gasperini trusts left-footed players to take penalties very much."
"Pecera didn't have much preparation, just a run-up and a shot!"
"It jumped out!"
"It jumped out!"
"Pecera kicked a half-high ball that the goalkeeper likes , and the angle was not tricky. Patricio judged the direction correctly and saved the ball without any difficulty!"
"Penalty shootout! It's so up and down!"
"Look, the Roma players, including Xiaoliang, are encouraging each other!"
"After 4 rounds, the score was 3-3 on penalties and 4-4 on aggregate. The two teams are back on the same starting line again!"
"The fifth penalty for Roma was taken by Cesco. The Slovenian striker is undoubtedly the striker of Roma this season!"
"11 goals in the league, 3 goals in the UEFA Champions League, 1 goal in the Coppa Italia, 15 goals firmly rank first in the team."
"But in normal penalty kicks, his pecking order is behind Veretout and Pellegrini."
"Cesco's run-up was also very short."
"Kick and shoot!"
"Oh my God! Even the Roma players and coaches were stunned by this goal!"
"Cesco chose the spoon shot!"
"But Musso didn't move at all, and the ball just flew slowly into his arms!"
"I never thought that Cesco would choose this way of shooting at such a critical moment!"
"Now, all the pressure is on Patricio!"
On the Atlanta side, several players pointed their hands to the sky and prayed silently.
As long as this goal is scored, all the hard work and suffering tonight will be worth it.
The fifth player to come on was Dutch midfielder De Jong, who fought together with Frouller in front of the three central defenders throughout the game.
Patricio made the sign of the cross over his chest with his right hand, jumped twice, lowered his body and spread out his hands.
De Jong’s run-up is very long!
After taking a series of small steps, he swung his right foot back with a big swing, as if he was going to kick the ball through the net, and kicked the ball out!
"Pounce out!"
"Patricio, the hero of Rome!"
"He pulled the team back from the brink of death!"
"Sesco breathed a sigh of relief! He is the one who should be most thankful now!"
He Wei cheered excitedly in the live broadcast room!
The Atlanta players could not hide their regret. The victory they had in hand turned into a draw, and the penalty shootout was about to enter the most brutal single-round death stage!
Although De Jong's ball was extremely powerful, the angle was too straight!
However, after Patricio saved the ball, he fell to the ground and waved to his teammates twice with his hands!
