Chapter 262: Two consecutive league wins! Roma's Champions League journey, a divine move by UEFA?
After scoring the goal, Roma had no intention of stopping and the whole team wanted to score more goals.
Mourinho hopes to score more goals against weaker teams, which will not only allow him to rank higher and boost morale when multiple teams have the same points at the beginning of the season, but also allow him to deal with various possible situations at the end of the season.
In addition, the players also have their own ideas.
Abraham wants to compete for his starting position with goals, while Dybala wants to prove that he is still one of the best players in Serie A. Not to mention the midfielders, everyone hopes to show themselves more in the limited playing time and fight for playing time in the next Champions League.
And Cremona became the little fat sheep in the eyes of these red wolves.
Not long after the first goal, in the 40th minute, Chen Xiaoliang advanced through the middle and faced the frontal defense of the defensive midfielder and passed the ball diagonally to Dybala on the right, and then the two completed a mutual counter-running cover cooperation.
After Chen Xiaoliang passed the ball, he ran to the right towards Dybala, while Dybala cut in from the left along the front edge of the penalty area and dribbled the ball.
When the two met, Dybala made a fake move to pass the ball to Chen Xiaoliang. Before the defender had time to judge, Dybala accelerated and broke into the penalty area, while Chen Xiaoliang passed by him in an instant and moved to the right side of the penalty area.
This type of attack that involves rapid position switching while dribbling the ball is a great test of the opposing defensive players' coordination in terms of defensive areas and defensive cooperation.
If the player who is defending keeps following, he will lose his original defensive position;
And if you stop following halfway and switch to the teammate responsible for defending that area, it requires extremely high tactical literacy and tacit cooperation.
A common defensive strategy is to compress the ball handler's space by pressing him with multiple players, preventing him from shooting or passing the ball.
However, this was indeed a bit difficult for a newly promoted team that finished second in Serie B last season. When double-teaming Dybala, they missed Chen Xiaoliang again, just like the situation before the first goal.
Dybala returned the favor by moving his left foot inwards and passing the ball back to Chen Xiaoliang.
Chen Xiaoliang gently blocked the ball with the arch of his right foot and stopped it steadily half a meter in front of him. At the moment the ball stopped, he also created space for shooting, and then raised his right foot to prepare for shooting.
After two years, my shooting attribute has finally reached 15. I can finally stand up straight and shoot openly in the penalty area!
However, this time, the left center back Lokhovishvili who double-teamed Dybala decided to take a risk.
It’s too late to block it, so just use a shovel!
In a flash, the fellow countryman from Kvaratskhelia tackled the ball.
As soon as Chen Xiaoliang's right foot touched the ball, his left foot, which was a step ahead of him and supporting the ground, was tackled by Lokhoshvili.
In an instant, the whole person's balance was destroyed, he fell down, and the ball flew away.
"Why!!!"
In the stands and in the coaching booth, all the people on the Roma side shouted in dissatisfaction!
The referee did not hesitate at all. Although it was late, he gave a "beep!" and then showed a yellow card to Lokhoshvili who was still quibbling, and gave a penalty kick.
The nearby Roma players came over to inquire about Chen Xiaoliang's situation as soon as possible.
No matter how many injuries there are, the backbone of our team cannot be injured. Without him rushing forward and passing left and right in the midfield, everyone has an idea of how the team will perform.
Fortunately, Chen Xiaoliang was fine, just his butt hurt a little, he sat for a while and then stood up.
A group of attackers came up.
The captain created the penalty himself, so of course the captain was given priority to take the penalty. However, Chen Xiaoliang just waved his hand and refused it as usual.
He also didn't expect that he had just added a penalty kick before the game, but before he could complete his magic trick, the opportunity came and he had to continue to be selfless and humble.
Dybala wanted to take the penalty, but Pellegrini meant that Dybala had already scored a goal in this game and should give the opportunity to other players, such as himself.
Abraham was of course happy to hear this, but he was not here to support the old captain. As a striker, he thought he was the one who needed to score the most.
Pellegrini's thought was right. After all, the season had just begun. Scoring goals was a small matter, while improving the team's form was a big matter. He had already given up his position as captain and core player, so there was nothing wrong with giving up a penalty.
But he and Abraham made an agreement that if he missed the free throw, he would have to take the free throws in the future.
The two men made the deal in the presence of Chen Xiaoliang and Dybala. Abraham picked up the ball and kissed it before solemnly placing it on the penalty spot. He also stepped on the grass near the penalty spot to press it down to avoid slipping.
"Beep!" The referee blew the whistle and Abraham took a run-up!
He pushed the ball to the left side of the goal!
But it was a half-high ball!
Cremona goalkeeper Radu guessed the direction correctly, blocked the ball with his left arm, and the ball bounced to the left side of the penalty area!
Players from both teams rushed into the penalty area as soon as possible!
The ball landed in front of Zalewski. The Polish youngster had no time to observe the positioning of his teammates in the middle. He just swung his left foot and shot. If not now, when? !
The opponent's central defender Kirikesh rushed to the goal line and tried to block the ball with his body, and the fallen goalkeeper Radu also wanted to get up immediately, but they were both a beat too slow.
The ball went straight into the top of the goal, causing the net to shake.
After scoring the goal, Pellegrini and Dybala turned around to look at Abraham, and then ran happily to Zalewski to congratulate him.
Zhan Jun: "In the 42nd minute, Roma led 2-0 at home! Zalewski, who came on as a substitute for the injured Zaniolo, scored with a penalty kick!"
"Some fans said that this is a situation where one fight is not over yet, another fight arises!"
"But Abraham failed to knock the ball into the opponent's goal and missed a great opportunity to score his first goal of the season!"
Zhang Lu: "Last season, Cesco had just joined the team. At that time, the gap between the two was not obvious. After all, Abraham had been in Chelsea for several years and had played in some games. In terms of experience, especially in big games, he is much better than Cesco."
"But after one season, looking back now, the gap between the two is already obvious."
"In a game like today, Mourinho put Cesco on the bench. On the one hand, it gave Abraham a chance to accumulate playing form, and on the other hand, it also allowed Cesco to save energy and fully cope with the third round of the league against Juventus."
"I think Abraham is in trouble as he can't even score against a newly promoted team."
Soon the half ended and players from both sides returned to the locker room.
Zhan Jun in the live broadcast room also gave an introduction to Roma's prospects for the Champions League group stage draw this season.
Zhan Jun: "Many people are looking forward to Roma's prospects in the Champions League this season! And three days after this game, on the evening of August 25, after all the play-offs are over, UEFA will hold the Champions League group stage draw in Istanbul, Turkey!"
"Roma, as the champion of Serie A last season, will appear in the first tier of teams! In the second tier, there are Barcelona, Atletico Madrid and Sevilla from La Liga, as well as Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur from the Premier League! The remaining two are RB Leipzig from the Bundesliga and Juventus from Serie A."
"According to the principle of avoiding domestic leagues in the group stage, Roma will face a tough battle against any opponent except Juventus."
"Among the teams in the third tier are Benfica and Sporting CP from the Portuguese Super League. You should know that Roma just lost to Sporting CP in the pre-season warm-up match. In addition, there are Dortmund and Leverkusen from the Bundesliga!"
"Among the teams in the fourth tier, Xiaoliang's former club Glasgow Rangers lost 2-0 away to St. Giles of the Belgian First Division in the first round of the qualifiers. If they can turn the tables in the second round, they may be drawn in the same group as Roma!"
"The suspense will be revealed in the evening of three days from now! We at Penguin Sports will also broadcast the entire draw ceremony live!"
Mourinho is generally very satisfied with the team's performance, but often at times like this, coaches like him will deliberately make some demands to prevent the players from over-inflating.
However, in some difficult situations, the players will be encouraged more.
Not surprisingly, he focused on Abraham.
As a center forward, Mourinho once again emphasized to him the value of acting as a fulcrum in the opponent's penalty area and receiving the ball with his back outside the penalty area.
When the midfield cannot effectively pass the ball in the first place, such a center forward is the best target for passing the ball directly from the backcourt to the frontcourt.
In the end, Mourinho even made it clear that in his team, there is no such thing as letting others do all the dirty work while you enjoy the chance to score goals.
If you are not willing to improve yourself according to the team's requirements, then accept the reality of being a substitute.
Although the tone of the words was a bit serious, for Abraham, who has played in the Premier League, won the Champions League, and will be 25 in two months, and can no longer be called a young player, these words are all helping him to become a better player.
However, after the start of the second half, Abraham could still remember Mourinho's instructions in the first 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, he naturally played the game in the way he was most familiar with.
It seems like he is trying to learn from Cristiano Ronaldo in the past, wandering outside the penalty area, waiting for a through ball from the midfield, relying on speed or changes of direction or dribbling to break through the defense and score.
The problem is that there is only one Messi and one Ronaldo, and he is Abraham.
But this helped Chen Xiaoliang.
Due to the lack of fulcrum in the penalty area, Cremona, which lost two goals, began to defend intensively in the second half. Roma could not pass the ball into the penalty area in the frontcourt and could only rely on Zalewski's sprint on the left and Dybala's dribbling on the inside of the right to find opportunities.
Many times they created opportunities on the wing, but because there were no good passing points in the middle, they were unable to cross the ball.
Under such circumstances, Chen Xiaoliang played further and further forward. Although he was still drawn as a central midfielder on the formation diagram, he was actually like an attacking midfielder. Many times he rushed directly into the penalty area to compete with the opponent's defender for headers.
Of course, he did this based on the current situation on the field and the tactical ideas Mourinho had when he talked to him before the season.
But Forti didn't know all this. He half-jokingly said to Mourinho: "Why is this kid not satisfied with Gerrard? He is starting to learn from Lampard."
Mourinho smiled confidently. In private, he never hesitated to praise Chen Xiaoliang: "In my opinion, although there are still some flaws, he can be compared with those two guys."
"Back then, I put Makelele and Thiago behind Lampard, and later I bought Essien."
"And that guy Benítez also paired Gerrard with Alonso and Mascherano."
"Behind them, there is both a metronome and a meat grinder, which relieves them of the pressure on organization and defense, allowing them to move forward more and attack more, so that their presence and data on the court will become more impressive."
"Look at this kid. He almost never relies on others. If he can catch up to the ball, he will grab it himself. If he can defend someone, he will not use his teammates to fill in the position. If his teammates have a better opportunity, he will choose to pass the ball to assist."
"It's true that he is still young. He may not be able to do what those two old guys were able to do back then, but what he can do for us now is something those two old guys never did in their entire lives."
However, Chen Xiaoliang's forward run still slightly increased the defensive pressure on the defensive midfielder position. Mourinho did not hesitate and replaced Abraham with Cesco and Dybala with Volpato in the 65th minute.
Pellegrini played as right winger, Volpato played as defensive midfielder, and Sesco played as center forward.
Compared to Dybala's smiling face when he left the field, Abraham, who missed the penalty, looked depressed.
And the Englishman certainly didn't expect that this was just the beginning of his decline.
In the penalty area of Cremona, whose physical strength declined, Cesco's performance can only be described as overwhelming!
In the 71st minute, Pellegrini retreated to the center line and got the ball, then passed it directly to Chen Xiaoliang in front.
Chen Xiaoliang took a few steps forward and passed the ball to Cesco near the penalty spot in the penalty area. The latter received the ball with his back to the goal, attracting almost all the defensive attention in the penalty area, and then passed it back to Zalewski who was making a run.
The Polish teenager, who had already opened the scoring, shot from the edge of the penalty area, and Radu immediately jumped up and reached out to grab the ball.
Despite his quick reaction, he was still not faster than the flying ball. With a "bang", the ball hit the crossbar and bounced back!
When Cesco saw the ball flying towards him, he jumped up immediately, but the ball bounced too fast and he was still half a beat slow.
As a result, after the ball was passed, Chen Xiaoliang who rushed into the penalty area immediately rushed towards the ball, slipped, stretched out his right foot and swept out a shovel shot!
It was too late for Radu to make his second save after he stood up, and the ball fell into the goal in front of everyone!
Roma 3-0!
After scoring the goal, Mourinho, who was sitting in the coaching booth, turned his head and looked at Abraham.
This ball is a classic example of a fulcrum striker playing a vital role in the penalty area.
The latter had a worried look on his face even though he was applauding his teammates.
This is not over yet. In the 81st minute, Cesco met Pellegrini's corner kick, ran two steps in the penalty area, found the landing point, jumped high, and headed the ball directly into the goal.
The ball was like a heavy artillery smash by the main attacker in a volleyball match. It didn't give the opponent any chance to block and flew directly into the goal and landed to score!
4 to 0!
Mourinho then replaced Chen Xiaoliang, Pellegrini and others, allowing young players Tacirovic and Faticanti to make their Serie A debut in their professional careers and played for about 10 minutes.
In the end, Roma won by 4 goals and successfully achieved two consecutive victories, and maintained a clean sheet with a net score of 8 goals in two rounds!
In this round, Inter Milan beat Spezia 3-0, while Napoli defeated another newly promoted team Monza 4-0 at home, the same score as Roma.
Juventus drew 0-0 with Sampdoria away, and AC Milan drew 1-1 with Atalanta away.
After two rounds, Roma continued to top the list with a 6-point and 8-goal advantage, while Napoli and Inter Milan ranked second and third with 6 points each.
Following them are Juventus, AC Milan and Atalanta, who drew in the second round and ranked 3rd to 6th.
The three newly promoted teams, Monza, Lecce and Cremona, all lost in two games and are now in the relegation zone again.
The performance of the three giants did not surprise Roma, but Napoli seemed to be repeating the rapid progress in the first half of last season.
And their forward Osimhen seems to have ushered in a period of explosive growth after adapting to the rhythm of Serie A.
You know, Napoli was not favored before the season. Their biggest purchase in the summer was just the purchase of South Korean defender Kim Min-jae from Turkish Super League Fenerbahce for 18.05 million euros. Spalletti also trusted him and directly put him in the position of main central defender.
Of course, the team that attracted the most media attention was Roma. Their performance not only attracted attention in Italy, but also attracted the attention of media from all five major leagues.
On the evening of May 25, although the players were at their respective residences, their attention was focused on the Champions League draw ceremony.
Istanbul was chosen because the Ataturk Olympic Stadium here will host this season's Champions League final.
Two retired football stars, Yaya Toure and Hamit Altintop, served as guests for the draw in the presence of UEFA Secretary General Marchetti and hundreds of chairmen, owners, general managers and directors from various European clubs.
However, before the draw, UEFA first awarded the season's awards.
Ancelotti, who led Real Madrid to win the Champions League last season, won the UEFA Coach of the Year award, and Benzema won the UEFA Player of the Year award.
In the best 4-3-3 lineup of the season, three midfielders including Modric, who was the champion and runner-up of the Champions League last season, and Fabinho and De Bruyne were selected.
Although Chen Xiaoliang's performance was very eye-catching and he was awarded the Serie A Player of the Season, according to "sources", he was not selected for the team in the end because Roma did not enter the Champions League and Chen Xiaoliang did not have any performance outside of club competitions.
In the final 11-man list, except for Chelsea's Rudiger and Paris Saint-Germain's Mbappe, the other 9 are from Real Madrid and Liverpool, which also indirectly confirms this statement.
However, these are not what Chen Xiaoliang cares about. The "magic hands" of the next two guests are the focus of tonight.
Cesco and Kva were also sitting in Chen Xiaoliang's house, and the three of them watched the live broadcast together on the sofa.
Compared to Kwa, who was new to everything, Cesco was so nervous that his hands were sweating.
The first tier consists of eight teams, including the champions of UEFA's top six leagues, as well as the champions of last season's Champions League and Europa League.
If there is any overlap, the league will be postponed to the 7th place or later.
The remaining teams will be ranked in the second, third and fourth tiers according to their current accumulated UEFA points.
However, no one expected that when Ivorian legend Yaya Toure took out the first ball from the glass basin containing the names of the first-tier teams, he opened it and saw ROMA (ITA) written on it!
From Rome, Italy!!!
The first one was picked out! The first team in Group A!
The camera immediately turned to Pinto and team ambassador Totti who were attending tonight's ceremony on behalf of the board of directors!
The two smiled slightly.
In the live broadcast room, whether it is the Red Country, Italy, or other places, everyone is anxiously looking forward to which team will be drawn in the second tier!
Many people even brush Barcelona, Tottenham and Chelsea there, because these three second-tier teams have deep pasts and grudges with Mourinho!
Soon, all eight teams in the first tier had drawn their places and each selected their group.
The second gear begins!
Only then did Chen Xiaoliang feel his heart beating faster.
The teams in the second tier can be said to be the strongest opponents among the teams that can be drawn. The result of the draw almost determines whether the entire group will be difficult or easy!
The second tier of teams is composed of Turkish legends, Hamit Altintop and Yaya Toure. Yaya Toure draws the team, while Altintop draws the group based on the avoidance principle.
He spun around among the 8 balls in the bowl and tapped one out!
Open it, unfold the paper, and turn it over to face the people in the audience and the camera!
There were actually a few exclamations at the scene!
LIVERPOOL (ENG)
Liverpool, runner-up of the Premier League and the Champions League last season!
This is obviously a second-tier team that no one wants to touch!
Altintop excluded Group G, where Manchester City was, and began the draw.
I saw that he had an A in his hand!
Group A!
"Fuck! Hahahaha!"
In front of the TV, someone shouted!
But he is not Mourinho, who looks calm in his residence in Rome.
If you want to go on in the Champions League, it is normal to encounter strong opponents. If you can't overcome those mountains, you will never achieve great things.
He wouldn't be excited.
It was Gerrard who was excited!
He can finally see his former disciple Chen Xiaoliang appear at Anfield, the home of Liverpool!
Even as an opponent!
Gerrard immediately sent a text message to Chen Xiaoliang: "Chen, I will definitely go to your home stadium to watch your game against Liverpool!"
Of course, Chen Xiaoliang understood at a glance that the home ground Gerrard was referring to was Anfield.
What followed was another series of thrusts, with several orgasms in between.
Bayern, which was in the first tier, met Barcelona, which was in the second tier, and Paris Saint-Germain, which was in the first tier, drew Juventus, which was in the second tier.
Especially Bayern and Barcelona, it was a drama where the newly transferred striker Lewandowski faced his old club.
But UEFA’s script-killing is not over yet.
In the third tier of draws, it was Yaya Toure’s turn to take action.
His black hand felt around inside and found it was still a ball and still a small piece of paper.
Inter Milan!
Chen Xiaoliang and his three-man team relaxed for a moment, as Inter Milan had no chance of meeting Roma.
But the drama lies in the fact that Inter Milan actually went to Group C!
Grouped together with Bayern and Barcelona!
A definite group of death!
The camera turned to Inter Milan’s chairman Zhang Kangyang, his face was ashen and he said nothing!
Second, Yaya Toure touched out Dortmund!
Despite selling their star player Haaland, they are still the strongest team in the third tier!
Cesco kept praying: No A… No A… No A…
Altintop picked out Group G! It's Manchester City!
Chen Xiaoliang was stunned.
Is this the script for Haaland to return to his old club?
He suddenly had a strange premonition.
Don’t let Benfica, the third tier team in our group, come and bring back the 100 million striker Nunez to his old club.
Before he could finish thinking about it, Cesco jumped up from the sofa!
Altintop drew his old club Salzburg Red Bull and the Austrian League champions into Group A!
Forehead……
Is Cesco, who is called Little Haaland by the media, also going back to his mother's home?
But it seems that Cesco's status is not big enough, so the drama of the draw is increased.
After the fourth tier teams had drawn 7, Chen Xiaoliang waited silently until only the last one was left. He knew the result without even having to draw.
Glasgow Rangers, also in Group A!
UEFA has figured out how to play with memes and traffic.
Without waiting for the next day, the homepages and front pages of major media outlets that night were filled with various reports about "going home".
Gerrard added another text message: "If you go to Glasgow, I will go too, haha!"
The end result is:
Group A - Roma, Liverpool, Red Bull Salzburg, Glasgow Rangers.
The first game will be played on the evening of September 7! They will face the Premier League giants Liverpool at home!
