Chapter 219: April, every battle is a life-and-death battle
Before leaving, Heathfield gave Chen Xiaoliang two suggestions.
On the one hand, he feels that Chen Xiaoliang's ability is significantly better than other players in Roma. If he wants to continue to challenge himself and continue to improve, transferring to a top club is imperative.
Some skills and abilities can be accumulated through training and time, but the understanding of football philosophy can only be improved through competition with stronger opponents.
It’s like a state of mind. Once you reach a certain level, it’s difficult to improve again without new challenges.
At the same time, Chen Xiaoliang now shoulders a lot of defensive and backcourt passing tasks in the team, but except for a few players who have a tacit understanding with him, the rest of the time he plays more like an individual and is not in the same rhythm as his teammates.
However, since Chen Xiaoliang's position is usually not very forward and he has few opportunities to end the attack, this point is not obvious yet.
But the fact that his assist conversion rate for passing to Cesco is significantly higher than others can indirectly confirm this point.
Hitzfeld suggested that Chen Xiaoliang should not only integrate his teammates into his football, but also adjust his own rhythm according to the abilities and habits of his teammates.
The speed, path and way of receiving the ball passed to Cesco may not be suitable for others.
On the other hand, Hitzfeld suggested that Chen Xiaoliang should have the opportunity to get to know more famous and legendary figures in the football world, especially those legendary coaches.
There are many such figures in Italy, including Trapattoni, Capello and Lippi, each of whom has been a master in the football world.
When it comes to improving football concepts, communicating and discussing with them is much better than simply staying at home watching videos and looking at opponent analysis.
When leaving in the evening, Chen Xiaoliang shyly took out the signed jerseys that he had prepared to give to "Grandpa", but this part also turned into asking Hitzfeld for his autograph to keep as a treasure...
After two days of rest, Chen Xiaoliang received a notice from Mourinho, asking him to stay in Rome to train alone and not go to Genoa with the team to challenge Sampdoria, which is ranked 15th in the league.
Mourinho accepted the team doctor's advice and hoped that Chen Xiaoliang would completely heal his facial injuries.
On April 2, at the Ferraris Stadium, which can accommodate 36,348 people, Roma narrowly won with a one-goal victory and earned 3 points.
The match was described by the media as "arguably the ugliest match in Serie A this season". Both teams had only four shots in the whole match, and the winning Roma had only one shot on target.
In the 27th minute, Abraham received a cross from Zalewski in the small penalty area and his shot was blocked by the defender. Mkhitaryan made a follow-up shot in front of the goal and scored the only goal.
In this round, Napoli beat Atalanta 1-3 away, Juventus drew 1-1 with Inter Milan at home, and AC Milan defeated Bologna 1-0.
The order of the top five in the standings has not changed. AC Milan continues to rank first with 71 points, Roma is second with 66 points, Napoli is third to fifth with 62 points, Juventus is sixth with 60 points, and Inter Milan is fifth with 58 points.
After the team rushed back to Rome, Chen Xiaoliang joined the main force and flew non-stop to Thessaloniki, the second largest city in Greece, 900 kilometers away, to challenge PAOK.
PAOK is actually an abbreviation of the first letters of many words in the full name of this club. The full name is "Pan Thessaloniki Constantinople Sports Club".
This name is quite common among Greek teams. A typical example is AEK Athens, which is better known to fans because of its participation in the Champions League and its competition with strong teams.
PAOK finished third in the Greek Super League last season and therefore entered the newly-organized Europa Cup. This season, they are currently ranked second in the league, a state in which they cannot catch up with the champions but are unlikely to be overtaken by the third place either.
After the draw results came out, Chen Xiaoliang heard of this team for the first time and studied it carefully.
Roma's coaching staff did not underestimate the enemy at all, and they carefully explained the characteristics of each of the opponent's players during the tactical meeting.
What surprised Chen Xiaoliang was that, although it was only a strong club in a third-rate European league, the starting 11 was filled with transferred players from all over the world, with only three local Greek players.
The more famous ones among them are Cesco's national team teammate, Slovenian international Kurtic, the main central defender Ingerson who represented Iceland in the 2018 World Cup, and the left back Vieirinha who represented Portugal in the 2018 World Cup.
There is even Serbian international Zivkovic, who has already been selected for the 2022 World Cup.
Although he is already a core player of a well-known team in the five major leagues, Chen Xiaoliang is still shocked by the high level of professionalism in European football.
Such a little-known team can still have several national team players who have participated in the World Cup finals. This shows the number of professional players, the number of practitioners, and the extent of competition among professional players in European countries.
During the game, PAOK wanted to make a difference, and the home fans also made a deep impression on the Roma team.
Chen Xiaoliang, who has been to the Bernabeu, San Siro, Old Trafford, Turin Allianz Arena, and played many games at the Rome Olympic Stadium with more than 70,000 people cheering, once doubted whether the PAOK home fans would cough up blood from their throats after the game.
They give people the feeling that they are shouting at the cost of their lives, or rather roaring.
The home team played very well in this game. Their attack was neat and tidy, and they shot whenever they got the chance. They were far ahead of Roma in the number of shots.
Center forward Chuba Akim, 27, has been bought by Championship side Middlesbrough and will return to England to play next season.
He, who is worth 2.8 million euros, worked particularly hard in this game, shooting from all angles and long shots, making Abraham on the opposite side look useless.
But even so, the gap in strength still allowed Roma to calmly play their specialty of defensive counterattacks.
In the 36th minute of the first half, Mkhitaryan took a corner kick. Kumbulla, who got the chance to start in this game, headed the ball in front of the goal, but it was blocked by Greek goalkeeper Boscharakis. Then there was chaos in front of the goal and the ball fell to Abraham's feet by accident.
How could they not pick up the wallet they had in hand? Abraham poked the ball with his left foot and Roma finally got the three points.
In the second half, Mourinho, who was confident, replaced the main players such as Chen Xiaoliang and Pellegrini with five substitutes including Wu Lei and Carles Perez, including an 18-year-old Greek central defender Kramisis who was specially brought to participate in this game.
After the game, Chen Xiaoliang gained 14 skill points.
Skill value 16 → 30
After the game on April 7, he immediately returned to Rome on April 8.
Since the game was not very demanding, Mourinho did not let the main players rest, but instead they participated in training as usual.
This wave of devilish schedule in early April will last for 6 games. In addition to the games against Sampdoria and PAOK that have already been played, the team will face Salernitana on April 10, followed by the second round match with PAOK on April 14, and then go to Naples for a key away game against Naples on April 18, and then go to Milan to challenge Inter Milan on April 23.
The last game in April will be the semi-final of the European Cup, but the opponent is not yet known.
Leicester City and Roma are in the same half of the group. They drew 0-0 with PSV Eindhoven at home. In the second round, the two teams are destined to move to the Netherlands for a bloody battle.
Just looking at the schedule, you can tell that Mourinho dare not slack off even a little bit.
In particular, the results of the league games against Napoli and Inter Milan will directly determine whether the team can stay in the top four, while neither PSV Eindhoven nor Leicester City are easy opponents to deal with.
At the same time, the second leg of another Italian Cup semi-final also decided the winner.
AC Milan finally eliminated Inter Milan with a total score of 3-2 and will compete with Roma for the final championship on May 12.
For the Roma team that aims to achieve success on all three fronts, everything will come to fruition in May, but April is the critical moment that determines whether results can be seen.
For some clubs that are unwilling to fight on multiple fronts, they will be eliminated early in certain competitions. For example, Tottenham Hotspur voluntarily gave up the Europa League, and Napoli did not send all its main players to the Italian Cup, all in order to concentrate its efforts on the league.
For the final glory, club owner Dan Friedkin personally attended the players' tactical meeting to mobilize them and briefly introduced the club's financial situation and the team's budget for the summer transfer window.
Tell the players clearly that if they can win the trophy this year, it will be a major change for Roma after years of championshiplessness, which will greatly enhance the team's reputation and image, while attracting more sponsorship, thereby improving the club's bottom line.
In this way, the board can inject more funds in the summer window to meet the needs of the team in accordance with the Financial Fair Play Act, and can also take out more money to pay the players championship bonuses.
The American boss's words are direct and effective.
Professional players need to focus on both spirit and material things.
It is not enough to only focus on material things. Over time, the players will become zombies who only know how to get by, working without putting in any effort, and even get injured easily, not to mention self-discipline and professionalism. In just a few years, their bodies will be out of shape and their strength will decline greatly.
It is not enough to just talk about spirit. After all, we are all here to work. It is okay to rely on spiritual encouragement to get excited in important games occasionally, but if we always talk about ideology without talking about salary, capable players will sooner or later be poached by other teams.
As a successful entrepreneur, Dan Friedkin naturally understands this.
Under the watchful eyes of him and Mourinho, Chen Xiaoliang and Pinto signed their names on the new contract together, and Cesco also signed a new contract.
The club also officially announced the news as soon as possible.
The boss's material rewards, Mourinho's spiritual mobilization and the contract renewal of key players have created a positive atmosphere throughout the club.
In the match against Salernitana on the evening of April 10, although in the 22nd minute of the game, French veteran Ribery assisted central defender Radovanovic to score a wonderful 30-meter long shot, and Salernitana took the lead, but under Roma's comprehensive suppression and persistence, they finally scored two goals before the end of the game to take all three points.
In the 81st minute, Chen Xiaoliang pretended to make a cross from the left, attracting the opponent to steal the ball, and then passed the ball to the middle to Mkhitaryan who came on as a substitute. The latter made a series of long-range shot feints at the top of the penalty area, attracting three players to block him, and then passed the ball to Carles Perez who had been waiting for a long time in front of the right.
Carles Perez, who also came on as a substitute, shot the ball with his left foot and the ball drew a beautiful arc and went into the upper left corner of the goal.
In the 85th minute, Roma got a chance for a set piece in the frontcourt. After Veretout lifted the ball into the penalty area, Chen Xiaoliang and Cesco jumped in the middle one after another, attracting almost all the defensive attention. The ball flew over the heads of the two and flew to the back point. With no one defending, Smalling made a shot and Roma finally overtook with 2 to 1.
After the game, Chen Xiaoliang wanted to exchange jerseys with Ribery, the 38-year-old veteran who will retire next season, but his French compatriot Veretout rushed ahead, and finally the two found another way and exchanged sneakers.
You have to know that sneakers are not like jerseys. There is no difference between new and old ones. Professional players don’t change their sneakers often, especially during games, they rarely wear new shoes.
New shoes that have not been worn out may not fit your feet as perfectly as old shoes, which will also affect your performance in the game.
After getting a new pair of shoes, I will wear them for a while during training, and only use them in competitions after they have broken in and fit my feet.
Manchester City's Grealish and Real Madrid's Toni Kroos are both famous examples of players who can wear a pair of shoes for several years.
Therefore, the exchange of sneakers between the two was enough to show the recognition and importance that both sides attached to each other, and it became a popular story among fans.
After the 32nd round of games, there was almost no change in the rankings from 6th to 20th place, but AC Milan, which had won many games in a row, drew 0-0 with Torino away from home and still ranked first with 72 points. Its lead over Roma, which had 69 points, was reduced from 5 points to 3 points.
Juventus and Inter Milan defeated Cagliari and Verona respectively, but Napoli unexpectedly lost 2-3 to Fiorentina at home.
Juventus, with 63 points, moved one step further to third place, Napoli ranked fourth with 62 points, and Inter Milan ranked fifth with 61 points.
In this game, Chen Xiaoliang played the whole game again. Although he did not have any direct assists or goals, he was selected as the best player of the game with 8.8 points thanks to his 7 steals, 4 interceptions, 72 successful passes and 2 assists before goals.
Gained 8 training points and 1 physical recovery card, but he also used 1 physical recovery card during the game.
In addition to the 27 hours of training and 9 hours of extra training in the last 9 days, another 36 training points have been accumulated.
Training value 19 → 63
Hitzfeld's advice is still fresh in his mind. Chen Xiaoliang, who was originally planning to fill the vacancy at the end of the season, spent 60 training points on dribbling.
Dribbling 10 → 13
Training value 63 → 3
Move a little closer to the hexagonal warrior.
The continuous schedule and victories make the players extremely focused. There is no boredom in the day-to-day cycle, only full dedication.
Four days later, on April 14, the team faced PAOK in the second leg of the UEFA Cup quarter-final at home.
Led by Chen Xiaoliang, the starting lineup of half main players and half rotations also shows Mourinho's attitude - to ensure promotion at a relatively small cost.
There was no suspense about the progress of the game.
In the 11th minute, Zaniolo broke into the penalty area and was tripped by the opponent's central defender Crespo. The referee immediately awarded a penalty.
Zaniolo took the penalty himself and scored steadily, giving Roma a 1-0 lead.
In the 55th minute, Spinazzola, who came on as a substitute in the second half, made a series of two-on-one passes with Chen Xiaoliang and Volpato on the left. He broke into the penalty area and made a triangle pass back. Mkhitaryan followed up with a shot, but the goalkeeper had no reaction. Roma 2-0.
After scoring the goal, the players surrounded Spinazzola and hugged him happily to celebrate.
The assist represented a strong return for the Italy international after being away from the pitch for nearly nine months.
Afterwards, Wu Lei and young player Jian also got the chance to play.
In the 73rd minute, Veretout took a corner kick, Abraham headed the ball but missed it, and the ball flew to the back post like a pass or a shot. Kumbulla, who started the game, stood in place and headed the ball, making it 3-0.
Three minutes later, Chen Xiaoliang made a long pass from the backcourt to Wu Lei who successfully got out of the offside trap. Wu Lei took the ball to the penalty area and faced the goalkeeper who was rushing out. He unselfishly passed the ball to Abraham who was following him. The England striker pushed the ball into the empty goal and scored the last goal of the game.
Roma won 4-0, defeated PAOK twice and successfully entered the semi-finals of the European Cup.
A day later, after the team arrived in Naples and checked into the hotel, Mourinho gathered the entire team in the hotel conference room to watch the match between Eindhoven and Leicester City.
The intensity of the game surprised the Roma players. Both sides seemed to be defenseless and seized every opportunity to launch a charge into the opponent's territory.
Although Leicester City had a higher ball possession rate, the number of threatening opportunities created by both sides were equal.
Leicester City's top player Vardy did not play due to injury, while PSV Eindhoven set up the traditional Dutch 4-3-3 formation. Zahavi, who has twice won the Red Super League top scorer, played as a center forward, and on his left was Gakpo, who Cesco paid the most attention to.
The midfield position is former Bayern and Dortmund star Gotze.
The final score was 2-1, and PSV Eindhoven won the home game. The two goals were scored by Zahavi who took advantage of Leicester's defensive error to intercept the ball and shot into the far corner, and by Gakpo who cut in from outside the penalty area and shot into the goal.
This victory also means that in the first semi-final at the end of April, Roma's destination will be the Netherlands.
The Dutch's inherent desire for attack and their head coach, German Roger Schmidt's persistence in high-pressure defense, made the entire Roma team feel that this opponent was difficult to deal with.
Not only did Zahavi play in the Red Super League for many years, Roger Schmidt also has close ties with Red football.
As a former engineer who learned football knowledge as a hobby and became a coach, he was spotted by Rangnick, the then football director of the Red Bull system and current interim head coach of Manchester United, who invited him to become the head coach of Salzburg Red Bull.
This team is also the Austrian team where Cesco and Haaland once played.
In his second year as coach, Red Bull Salzburg, fully understanding Roger Schmidt's wild football, played a football that shocked Europe.
In the 13/14 season, the unknown player used a 4-4-2 formation and his high pressure to go 33 league games unbeaten and scored 110 goals in a single season.
The two forwards Soriano made 28 appearances and scored 31 goals, Allan made 29 appearances and scored 26 goals, and wingers Mane and Kampl made 33 appearances and scored 13 goals and 9 goals respectively.
Mane later went to Liverpool and became known as "the fiery King Kong and the smoky Tai Sui" by fans, while Kampl later followed Roger Schmidt to Leverkusen.
As for this Alan, yes, it is the Alan you are thinking of. He was bought by Guangzhou Evergrande and later became a famous Chinese player.
With his outstanding performance, Roger Schmidt later went to Leverkusen. His performance in the Bundesliga was also excellent, and was praised as "incredible" by Guardiola, who was coaching Bayern Munich at the time.
At the end of the Red Guoan's gold-dollar football, Roger Schmidt coached Guoan for two seasons.
However, his high-pressure defense, which requires tenacious perseverance, high concentration and super physical strength, is difficult to fully display in the soil of Red Country football.
After more than two years in the Red Country and winning a FA Cup, Roger Schmidt returned to Europe to coach PSV Eindhoven.
He discovered and trained Gakpo, and at the same time re-started his own pressing whirlwind in the Eredivisie. This season, the team is only 2 points behind the leader Ajax in the league, and defeated Ajax 2-1 in the final of the Dutch Cup to win the first championship after returning to Europe.
Through watching the game and providing detailed background information, Mourinho made the players fully aware of the difficulty of the upcoming game.
However, before that, they still have two away games and two big mountains to overcome.
On the evening of April 18, 2022, at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium, which can accommodate 54,726 people and is the home stadium of Naples renamed in memory of the King of Football, the Roma players walked out of the player tunnel.
Before the game, Spalletti had already said that in the last six league games, Napoli would do its best to fight for a place in the Champions League.
Any points dropped would see them fall behind Juventus and Inter Milan.
Napoli will not accept the result of finishing fifth in the league. Although there seems to be only one place difference between fourth and fifth, it is the difference between heaven and hell.
Apart from captain Di Lorenzo who was out due to injury, the team did not have any injuries.
Roma also sent out all its main forces.
All the main players who were rested in the last round of the European Cup against PAOK played on the field.
Although the team is ranked second, 6 points ahead of Juventus in third place, which is far beyond the plan made before the season, Mourinho is not satisfied with this. He also wants to catch up with AC Milan, which is 6 points ahead of him with one more game played.
In this round of the league, AC Milan's home opponent was Genoa, which was second from the bottom, and the score of 2-0 was completely in line with expectations.
If Roma still wants to compete for the Serie A title, they cannot afford to make any mistakes in this game.
With different season goals but the same belief in winning, a battle that is not a decisive battle begins!
