Chapter 242: Serie A Round 38, the decisive battle for the championship!

The straight-line distance from Rome to Turin is about 530 kilometers, which is neither far nor close.
But for the entire Roma team, this is how close they are to the championship trophy.
As the center of Catholicism in the world with more than 700 churches and monasteries, the club invited priests from the Vatican to pray for the players who believe in Catholicism in order to help the players prepare mentally.
Of course, for players with different beliefs, the club has also hired a psychological counselor to help the players relieve pre-match tension.
These were all Forti's ideas, and Mourinho accepted them all.
The stiff performance in the first half of the Italian Cup final is still vivid in his mind, and he doesn't want such a scene to happen again in the last .
He was not afraid that God would blame him for being impious, but he was worried that his heart could not bear it as he was old.
Although Mourinho is a veteran and fully qualified to say to other coaches, "What kind of game have I not seen?", with countless buzzer-beaters, reversals, comebacks, and even collapses, but in the final analysis, being a head coach is still a high-pressure, high-risk job in terms of psychology and spirit.
If you play well, you will be scolded by the fans of the opposing team; if you play badly, you will be scolded by your own fans. Once the situation gets out of control, you may lose your job at any time. Unemployment is not a big deal, but when you open the Internet, you will see nothing but curses and ridicule in the comments.
For professional coaches, being revered as a god is only a highlight for a very small number of people and at very few moments. Leaving the stage in disgrace and being criticized by everyone is the norm in their career.
Not only the head coaches, but also the players and other football professionals are facing tremendous pressure.
Just a few days ago, the famous agent Raiola died a few days after being hospitalized due to overwork and severe lung disease.
For a while, Pogba, Ibrahimovic, De Ligt, Donnarumma and Haaland all came out to mourn him, which became a hot topic in the football world.
Mourinho was born on January 26, 1963. He is now 60 years old. In addition to his more restrained personality, his health is also not as good as before.
I remember that in the 2004 Champions League quarter-finals, he led Porto to Old Trafford to challenge Manchester United. After the victory, he ran dozens of meters on the sidelines wearing an Armani coat.
Now? Even if he wanted to run, he was unable to do so.
I'm old now, and I have to direct the entire game from the sidelines. The pressure is high and the task is heavy. Then I have to run a distance after the game and I'm out of breath.
In this regard, Reese is more Buddhist.
In the agent circle, with the gradual fame of Chen Xiaoliang and Cesco, although he is not very important, he is also a well-known figure.
What's more, they also signed young and potential practical players such as Malaysia and Kvaratskhelia.
He is not as dedicated to his work as Raiola. He returned to work immediately after being rescued from the ICU due to lung disease in January.
Reese's idea is very simple. Having a work like Chen Xiaoliang in his life is enough to make him proud for the rest of his life.
As for the other players, they would hit the ball wherever Chen Xiaoliang pointed.
Although the two of them formed a cooperative model for this, and part of Riise's agency fee had to be given to Chen Xiaoliang, Riise, who had already earned a lot as a player, was not short of money. What's more, look at Raiola, who had to live to spend the money he earned.
Another super agent, Mendes, seems more open-minded in this regard. His main business is to monopolize the agency rights of Portuguese players. Most of the business is handed over to his team, and he only focuses on those core players. Unlike Raiola, he is not always planning to transfer his players continuously to achieve a double harvest of player salaries and personal agency fees. Instead, he tends to send core players to giants and keep them there for a long time. Although he will earn less this way, his network of contacts and channels to giants will be more stable.
Just now, Riise, who was on the plane to Turin with Chen Xiaoliang, received feedback from the team. The name Chen Xiaoliang gave him a few days ago - Enzo Fernandez - was very interested in joining Roma. However, Roma is not without rivals. A few days ago, AC Milan's chief scout Geoffrey Moncada had already gone to Buenos Aires in person to watch and observe Enzo's game on the spot.
Although Moncada is only 35 years old, he had worked at Monaco for 6 years before joining Milan as chief scout in 2018.
During those six years, Monaco became a black shop in the football world comparable to Benfica and Porto.
Not only did Moncada go to watch the game, he also met with Enzo after the game and personally expressed AC Milan's interest in him.
The price that River Plate offered to AC Milan was exactly the price that Chen Xiaoliang told Riise, 12 million euros.
This made Reese once again feel that the network of relationships behind Chen Xiaoliang was "unfathomable", and the tentacles of the intelligence system even extended to Argentina.
In addition to AC Milan, Roma director Pinto also "accidentally" learned from an old colleague that Portuguese Super League powerhouse Benfica has also contacted the Argentine and is willing to meet a one-time payment of 12 million euros.
As Benfica's former football director in charge of transfers, Pinto knows very well that once a player enters Benfica, unless he becomes useless in the end, the next club will have no chance of taking him away unless his price increases by 6-10 times.
Recently, this old black shop has been hoarding players, specifically those who are young and not yet famous, but are sure to be on the World Cup roster.
The Portugal national team's 21-year-old striker Gonzalo Ramos, 19-year-old central defender Antonio Silva, and if Argentina's Enzo are added, they will definitely make a lot of money in the transfer market next summer after the World Cup.
Mourinho has also considered 19-year-old Antonio Silva, who is also a client of Mendes. This Portuguese fellow countryman is valued at 15 million euros in Transfermarkt. He has performed well in the European Youth Championship and the Portuguese League, and has also been selected for the World Cup roster.
But Benfica asked for 65 million euros without any bargaining, because this was the amount of the penalty clause agreed in the contract.
Mourinho directly said "Fak", and then Mendes had to give up the idea of ​​​​making this transfer.
Mourinho never expected that the competition between Roma and AC Milan would extend to a 21-year-old Argentine midfielder.
In view of the early intervention of AC Milan and Benfica, Pinto has taken joint action with Riise.
It's a bargain price of 12 million euros. As long as they can make a fortune in the World Cup, even if Argentina doesn't get very good results in the end, it will be a sure-win deal.
What's more, the club's transfer team has already looked at the player information collected by Riise's team. His qualities in all aspects, especially his defensive and running abilities, are definitely better than the existing midfielders in the team except Chen Xiaoliang.
However, compared with the two clubs, Roma has an obvious advantage, that is Riise.
Enzo currently does not have a full-power agent. AC Milan has entrusted an intermediary, Martin Guastadisegno, who specializes in helping South American players transfer to Italian teams, to assist Moncada in handling Enzo's transfer.
They want Enzo to be a replacement for Kessie, who is set to move to Barcelona next season.
But Riise not only wanted to arrange Enzo's transfer, but also wanted to become his exclusive agent. The selling points they put forward were very direct and naked, but they were successful every time - their team successfully transformed Chen Xiaoliang from an unknown Tottenham youth training product into the football pope of Rome in just two seasons.
And now there is a new success case, that is, Cesco, who is nicknamed the Pope's big protector by fans. This guy's value has risen to 45 million euros, and he has become one of the favorites for the 2022 Golden Boy Award and Kopa Award.
Enzo was very tempted. For a player like him, the first stop after leaving his hometown and going to Europe is to join a championship team in the top five leagues and play in the Champions League under a championship coach. This is simply a dream start.
And given Roma's current midfield configuration, with old and young players, only Cristante is truly in his prime, and he is a player with very distinct strengths and weaknesses. Therefore, there is no choice between him and Chen Xiaoliang. They can coexist on the field or take turns to rest each other during intensive competitions.
But in the final analysis, intention is just intention. The acceptance of the offer and the finalization of the contract details are the key to the transfer, and Roma still needs to move quickly.
At this point, Pinto, who just won the Serie A Club Manager of the Year on May 17, is fully motivated.
Owner Dan Friedkin has told him that if the first year of the club's acquisition is successful, the club will hand over the general manager position currently held by the board of directors to Pinto, allowing him to take full control of the club's day-to-day management in the future.
Given these conditions, anyone would be motivated.
At this moment, as the club boarded a chartered plane to Turin, Pinto was already on a flight to Buenos Aires.
If we win directly and win the championship, it will be enough as long as the boss is there. The honor and success all belong to the leader.
If we don't win, then the fact that I have finalized a transfer in Argentina that pays little for a big deal can be considered a compensatory performance.
There must be a reason why a 37-year-old Portuguese player can be appreciated by an American owner of an Italian club.
After talking about the transfer, the plane had already landed.
The group got off the plane at the airport tarmac and took a bus directly to the hotel.
For the first time, the club arranged single luxury suites for all the players so that they could get enough rest.
The fans of Turin did not express much hostility. Instead, they lived up to the saying, "the enemy of my enemy is my friend", especially those Juventus fans, who would rather Roma win the championship than see the two old rivals in Milan return to the top.
After all, the feud between the three northern powers is the longest and most intense dispute in Serie A history.
But Turin Sports Daily did not think so and used several full pages to publish a lot of reports that were unfavorable to Roma.
Some of them are exaggerated, while others are simply nonsense.
For example , regarding financial issues, Roma is heavily in debt and will be punished by UEFA for violating the Financial Fair Play Act.
For example, there are many conflicts within the team. Mourinho will fully reuse the new players he brought in, and the old players in the club will be dealt with.
Coupled with two seemingly realistic photos, it really looks like that.
At the same time, AC Milan's fan association organized a group of fans to drive from Milan, which is only 120 kilometers away from Turin, just to boo Roma during the game.
There were even Milan fans who wanted to go to the hotel in Rome in the middle of the night to set off fireworks and make noise to disturb the players' sleep.
But due to warnings from the local city council and police, this bizarre idea was not implemented.
On the morning of May 11, 2022, when the whole team was training at the training ground for the last league practice of this season, Forti also announced the starting 4-2-3-1 list of the league for the last time on behalf of Mourinho.
A few hours later, the same voice was shouted out by the live broadcast in Turin Olympic Stadium:
No. 1, Patricio;
No. 3, Ibanez;
No. 6, Smalling;
No. 7, Pellegrini;
No. 8, Matic;
No. 9, Abraham
No. 12, Malaysia;
No. 17, Wellertu;
No. 19, Celik;
No. 20, Cesco;
No. 33, captain, Chen Xiaoliang!
The one who exchanged team flags and guessed the side with Chen Xiaoliang was Belotti, who will be the captain of Torino in his last game and is currently negotiating a contract with Roma.
On the Torino side, head coach Ivan Juric still used the team's usual configuration, setting up a 3-4-2-1 formation with three central defenders and two wingbacks.
However, the total value of 110 million euros for the starting 11 is still a bit shabby in front of Roma.
In particular, the injury of the main central defender Brazilian Bremer made the already star-studded lineup even more mediocre.
In addition to Brehmer, only two other central defenders, Ricardo Rodriguez of Switzerland and Sasa Lukic of Serbia, were selected for their respective countries' World Cup rosters.
However, after the game started, the huge difference in mentality between the two sides was still clearly displayed.
For Roma, who were determined to win the championship with a victory, this was a must-win final, so they played very cautiously.
Although Mourinho put out an offensive configuration and formation, the players generally had little desire to press forward. Instead, when they lost possession of the ball, they would actively retreat and participate in defense.
In this situation, Torino, who had no desire and only wanted to play the last game seriously to prove themselves, took advantage of their home advantage and easily controlled the situation. Their ball possession rate in the first 20 minutes after the opening was always above 60%.
The number of shots for both sides was almost the same, but the difference was that with Roma's resolute and quick defense, most of Torino's shots were hastily taken long shots outside the penalty area, and none of them hit the goal frame.
In the 5th minute, Belotti took the initiative to withdraw from the penalty area, took the ball on the left side of the penalty area, was tripped by Matic in the physical confrontation, and Torino got a free kick opportunity in a good position.
Lukic took the free kick and shot directly at the goal, but the ball was blocked by Chen Xiaoliang who jumped up as a human wall. The ball bounced at Ibanez's feet and was cleared by him with a big kick.
In the 7th minute, Roma quickly counterattacked. Chen Xiaoliang received the ball on the right front court and passed it directly into the penalty area. Abraham, who started as a left winger but was cruising in the penalty area, dived to head the ball from the back post, but was blocked by the opponent's central defender David Zima who was blocking the goal.
In the 14th minute, Chen Xiaoliang made a forward run and got the ball on the right side of the penalty area. After a slight adjustment, he took a long shot, but the ball went over the crossbar.
In the 19th minute, Roma launched another counterattack. Chen Xiaoliang once again went to the right and sent a precise cross. This time Abraham was distracting the defense. Cesco headed the ball from close range, but the opponent's 33-year-old Albanian goalkeeper Berisha flew to save it!
After 20 minutes, Torino head coach Ivan Juric could no longer sit still and walked to the sidelines to direct the team to change its formation.
Although Torino, ranked 11th, is 6 points behind Verona, ranked 10th, and 3 points ahead of Udinese, ranked 12th, and based on the win-loss record, even if they lose 100 goals in this game, Udinese takes all 3 points, and the two teams have the same points, Torino will still be ranked 11th.
But Chen Xiaoliang's performance of running all over the field and taking on both offense and defense still aroused the interest of the former Croatian midfielder. He waved his hand and shouted, and the players on the field immediately began to implement their defensive arrangements against Chen Xiaoliang according to the pre-match arrangements.
In the 21st minute, Chen Xiaoliang received the ball again, but at this time, in addition to Torino's left wingback Ansaldi defending Chen Xiaoliang head-on, the defensive midfielder Pobega and the attacking midfielder Blacarlo near the left also surrounded him, immediately forming a three-defense-one formation.
Coincidentally, the three players defending Chen Xiaoliang were also the three most active players on the field for Torino.
Like Belotti, the 36-year-old Argentine Ansaldi's contract is about to expire. Torino has informed him that it will not be renewed. He hopes to win another contract through his good performance so that he can continue his career in Europe.
Pobega and Blekalo are on loan from AC Milan and Wolfsburg respectively. They will return to their parent teams at the end of the season to compete for the starting positions next season.
In particular, the 22-year-old Italian midfielder Poberga, who is worth 18 million euros, has been made clear by AC Milan that he will no longer be loaned out next season and will remain in the team for rotation.
If I could perform well in the match against the championship rival today, and even drag Roma down and make them lose the championship, wouldn't I be the hero of my home team's championship? !
Seeing that the space for the triple team was getting smaller and smaller, and the space for passing the ball was blocked, Chen Xiaoliang decided to start with Ansaldi, the weakest of the three.
He took two small steps to the inside and dribbled the ball twice, then suddenly dribbled the ball between Ansaldi's legs, then immediately started at full speed, preparing to use the pass to break free from the encirclement.
The 36-year-old Ansaldi has played for Atletico Madrid and Inter Milan, but failed to gain a foothold. Moreover, even when he was young, his speed was not enough to keep up with Chen Xiaoliang's explosive start, let alone now.
But the veteran also had his own way. He swung his calves, stretched out his feet, and then pretended to raise his hands carelessly and shook his head. He watched Chen Xiaoliang tripped by him at high speed and fell several times on the ground. Then he quietly received a yellow card from the referee as if nothing had happened.
The fall happened on the wing, and he fell in front of the Roma bench and in front of Mourinho.
The Portuguese were so heartbroken, it was like a blow to Xiao Liang, and the pain was in Jose's heart.
Chen Xiaoliang was also feeling depressed; the fall was quite severe.
Moreover, as the name suggests, the Turin Olympic Stadium, like the Rome Olympic Stadium, is a professional comprehensive stadium. It was the main venue for the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2006 Turin Winter Olympics. It is not a professional football stadium.
There is a distance of a running track between the football field and the audience seats. In addition, since the floor drains and floor heating systems do not meet the standards of UEFA five-star stadiums like the Bernabeu and Old Trafford, in order to prevent water accumulation during heavy rain, there is an obvious slope at the edge of the stadium so that rainwater can flow into the depressions on the lawn.
This also caused Chen Xiaoliang to fall directly down the slope outside the venue after being tripped by Ansaldi...
After getting up, Ansaldi gave him a provocative look, meaning that if you come again, I will fuck you again.
Chen Xiaoliang had a blank expression on his face, but what he was thinking was: Okay, you wait.
Ivan Juric, who was watching all this in the coaching booth on the other side, smiled but said nothing.
Anyway, it’s the last game, there’s no desire, and Ansaldi won’t be in the team next season anyway.
Just foul if it's a foul.
Even if there is a foul, Roma cannot be allowed to run wild easily in their home court.
What's more, in the first half of the season, Torino lost 1-0 at Roma's home ground, which made Ivan Juric very dissatisfied.
He always believed that a head coach like Mourinho was only in office because the club was rich and had stars, and that a non-giant team like Roma was able to reach this position this season entirely because of the two "little stars" that Mourinho got from nowhere.
He just wanted to try and strangle Chen Xiaoliang. How much strength would Roma's offense have and whether they deserved to be at the top of the league.
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