Chapter 294: Six consecutive wins to welcome the Anfield final
In the 72nd minute, the score was 4-2 and Napoli was in a dilemma.
If they still want to equalize and get one point, they have to go all out and attack. There are still 20 minutes left in the game, so it is not impossible to score two goals.
But the speed of Roma's counterattack, especially Chen Xiaoliang's strong ability to advance vertically, really made the Napoli players feel uneasy.
This kind of fear can only be experienced after playing against each other. It is completely different from watching the coaching staff's analysis report on the big screen before the game.
It seemed that the opponent's psychological weakness was hit, and coaches from both sides made substitutions.
Mourinho replaced Cesco with Abraham and Dybala with Pellegrini to ensure the ability to move and run in the midfield and frontcourt.
Then Matic replaced Cristante to improve the defensive level.
Spalletti also replaced Rahmani, who was exhausted after being attacked repeatedly, with Juan Jesus, and replaced Oliveira, who had just been chasing Chen Xiaoliang but couldn't even get a scratch, with Portuguese left-back Mario Rui.
The last substitution was to replace Politano with 23-year-old Laspadori, who was worth 35 million euros and was loaned from Salosso.
The tactical intention was very clear. With two substitutions on the left side, we tried to launch an attack while keeping the lineup unchanged.
This is all the tricks Spalletti can use.
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but feel angry again: "If I had bought Kvaratskhelia in the first place, we would have taken off this season!"
If, there are not so many ifs. If there really were so many ifs, Wenger's Arsenal would have swept Europe for many years.
However, whether it was the 31-year-old Rui or the 23-year-old Raspadori, after they decided to go to the left, they both found a huge mountain named Chen Xiaoliang standing in front of them, and they couldn't get over it.
What's more, Enzo is behind him to assist him in defense.
Pellegrini, who replaced Dybala as right winger, became the attacking midfielder. With Chen Xiaoliang helping him defend behind, the old captain did not have to think about retreating at all.
In one word: comfort.
Mourinho gave Spalletti no chance of hope and replaced Celik with Binya, who had better running ability.
If you change the entire left side of the road, I will change the corresponding entire right side of the road for you as well.
On the other side, Gvadior gradually adapted to and became familiar with Osimhen's style and tactics through constant offensive and defensive confrontations with him.
After his physical strength declined, Osimhen made Gvardiol feel a bit like Lukaku...
Hmm... what a nostalgic taste. It was Lukaku's wonderful performance of passing the ball three times without scoring that led to the perfect result of Roma defeating Inter Milan 4-0 away from home.
As a key player for Croatia in the World Cup, Gvardiol hopes that Lukaku can continue this "good" form in Qatar as they are in Group F with Belgium.
It’s a pity that Nigeria failed to enter the World Cup, otherwise they would have had another showdown with Osimhen in Qatar.
Mourinho on the sidelines was calm and confident.
The few young players introduced this season are almost all growing in a way that is visible to the naked eye.
Take Gwadiol for example. Although he has outstanding physical conditions, he never gives people the impression of being strong in body and simple in mind.
Like Enzo and Kwa, he feels like he is thinking every second on the court, and then constantly summarizes his thoughts and improves himself.
At least at this time, he was able to fight Osmeen on equal terms in a one-on-one fight.
Of course, football is not a simple one-on-one game. Osimhen is now in a state of fighting alone, mainly because the other players of Roma cut off his connection with the midfield and frontcourt, giving Gvardiol the space to easily defend alone.
In this way, with Chen Xiaoliang and Enzo blocking Napoli's left and center, the two sides were deadlocked until the last minute of the game, and the score did not change. Roma finally won the top battle without any danger.
Dybala won the best player of the game with 2 goals and 1 assist. He received a small honor and congratulations from his teammates.
Fans of the Red Country expressed their regret, and left comments suggesting that next time Chen Xiaoliang passes the ball to himself 3 seconds later, the tournament committee should count it as an assist to himself.
As the referee Osato blew the whistle, Spalletti walked to the intersection of the two coaching seats with his bald head and smiled, and extended his right hand to Mourinho.
As the winner, Mourinho tried his best to show his grace. He not only shook hands but also hugged Spalletti and said some polite words like "It was a wonderful game".
In Serie A, AC Milan's Pioli and Inter Milan's Inzaghi are too inexperienced and have a bleak resume in the coaching circle compared to Mourinho.
Although Juventus coach Allegri has more league titles than Mourinho, most of his honors came from the nine consecutive championship period of Juventus. He has not proven his shortcomings in other leagues and European competitions, so he is still a little worse than Mourinho.
In addition, Spalletti, who had coached Roma for 2038 days, was unwilling to fall out with his old club. Therefore, in Serie A, there was really no one with whom Mourinho could provoke a war of words.
Previously, due to the derby in the same city, Lazio coach Sarri had ignited some gunpowder smoke at the press conference, but now the difference in results between the two teams is quite obvious, and the season goals are also very different. The gap is too big and there is no feeling of tit-for-tat.
In addition, there is a well-known unspoken rule in Italian football, which is that there is too much internal mobility.
Today he is the head coach of AC Milan, and tomorrow he may go to work for Juventus. This season he is coaching Napoli, and next season he may go to Lazio.
It is not impossible for players from city rivals to transfer, such as Calhanoglu transferring from AC Milan to Inter Milan.
If this happened in the Premier League, it would be absolutely impossible for Liverpool to sell players directly to Manchester United. The last time this happened was in 1964. Even players like Paul Ince and Michael Owen who spent several years in a club or foreign league before switching to their arch-rivals would be scolded by fans of their original clubs.
Veterans like Sarri and Spalletti certainly don't want to offend their possible future workplaces.
Sarri's predecessor at Chelsea was Conte, and Inzaghi's predecessor at Inter Milan was also Conte;
Allegri’s predecessor at Juventus was Sarri, and Spalletti’s predecessor at Napoli was also Sarri;
This tongue-twisting relationship of appointment shows that Italian football has long been in a kind of "academic kinship" relationship, and the best coaches in the past, such as Ancelotti, Capello, or now Conte, have all chosen to leave the Apennine Peninsula to coach in the Premier League and La Liga.
After the 11th round of the league, Roma won at home, broke Napoli's unbeaten streak and returned to first place in the standings.
Another previously undefeated team, Atalanta, lost 0-2 at home to Lazio, also from Rome, and also tasted the bitter fruit of its first defeat of the season.
AC Milan, Inter Milan and Juventus all scored 4 goals, defeating their opponents at home and away with scores of 4-1, 3-4 and 4-0 respectively.
In the standings, Roma ranks first with 28 points, Napoli and AC Milan are ranked second and third with 26 points each, and Lazio and Atalanta are ranked fourth and fifth with 24 points.
Inter Milan is in 6th place with 21 points, and Juventus is in 8th place with 18 points.
When everyone was getting on the bus to return to the Trigoria base, Enzo suddenly remembered and asked Chen Xiaoliang. Even Patricio, who usually didn't like to get involved in gossip, was curious.
Enzo: "Captain, what did you say to that Nigerian?"
Chen Xiaoliang laughed, then mumbled something in bird language.
Enzo and Patricio were confused.
"Captain, is this what aliens say?"
Chen Xiaoliang translated it: "This is Yoruba in Nigeria. It means you are too slow. If you come to our team, you will have to eat at the same table with the kids from the youth training team."
Patricio was puzzled. "That's it? That made him so angry?"
Chen Xiaoliang told them that after Osimhen became famous in Nigeria, many European teams wanted to sign him. Later, because his family liked Germany, he accepted the invitation from Wolfsburg.
But this experience became his most miserable memory.
At that time, the minimum playing age in the Bundesliga was 18 years old. Because he was too young, he could only be in the youth training team. After finally waiting until he was old enough, he played 16 games for the first team, but failed to score. He was kicked out of the first team and kicked back to the youth training team, eating at the same table with the children again.
This was a humiliation he would never forget.
Enzo and Patricio immediately understood why this sentence made Osimhen so angry.
But on second thought, the captain is worthy of being the captain. In the game, he not only uses his body and skills to find the opponent's weaknesses, but also conducts investigations and research in advance to dig out the opponent's inner soft spots...
High, really high...
There was no rest the next day because the 5th round of the Champions League group stage was right next.
It was supposed to be a relaxing recovery training day, but early in the morning Pinto found Mourinho with a serious face and said that Napoli was ready to make an offer of 120 million euros.
Mourinho was in a good mood, so he asked Pinto with a smile on his face: "What is your opinion?"
Pinto remained serious: “Jose, listen to me.”
Mourinho's name "JosE" is pronounced "Jose" in Portuguese, but in Spanish and English, which are more widely used in Europe, this word is pronounced "José".
There are actually many such examples, the most famous of which is the French legendary superstar Thierry Henry. H is silent in French, so if you read it according to his French pronunciation, "Henry" should be very appropriate.
Or rather, Henry has been called this by his family and friends since he was a child.
But the word Henry is pronounced "Henry" in English, so almost everyone in the world, except the French, calls him Henry.
The same is true for Arsenal's legendary manager Wenger, whose name should be pronounced "Wenger" in French.
However, many past translations, considering that Henry and Wenger became famous throughout the world after becoming famous in the Premier League, countries around the world have also carried out secondary translations based on the English pronunciation.
In the past decade, the translation of personal names has begun to emphasize and respect literal translation from the native language.
Early examples include James Rodríguez, who is no longer pronounced as "James" in English, but as "James" in Spanish, and Manchester United coach ten Hag, who is also pronounced in the Dutch pronunciation.
But Jose Mourinho is still Jose, because there is no pronunciation of Jose in Spanish and the British cannot pronounce Jose...
Just like Americans can't pronounce Wang Zhizhi's ZHI...it sounds more like Wang Jiujiu...
However, as Mourinho's fellow countryman, Pinto still communicates with Mourinho in private in his native language.
"Jose, I don't know about other things, but I feel that the boss will be interested in this offer. Of course, 120 million is too low, but I am worried that if Napoli is willing to raise the price and it exceeds the 150 million we agreed on, the boss will probably agree to let him go."
Mourinho sneered: "Will you be interested, or will the boss be interested?"
Pinto quickly explained: "Jose, you have to believe me. I certainly know how important Chen is to the team. We also agreed in his contract at the time that the 150 million liquidated damages are only valid for foreign clubs."
Mourinho: "If you knew there was a contract, why did you tell me?"
As a junior, Pinto is used to Mourinho's aggressive tone in negotiations: "But precisely because there are no restrictions in Italy, it depends on the boss's personal wishes."
Mourinho: "Then go and tell the boss that my opinion is not to sell, no matter how much, and I don't believe Napoli can come up with that money."
Pinto said helplessly: "Jose, don't be like this, I came to discuss this with you."
Mourinho chuckled: "Don't play tricks on me. I know exactly why the boss asked you to take charge of the daily operations of this club, but I will also tell you two things clearly."
"First, think about it while touching your chest. How many players in this team were recruited by the scout team you led? Or how many players came to join the team because of your fame?"
"Secondly, he wants you to turn Roma into a black shop like Benfica. That's your business. The boss gives you a certain amount of annual quota, and that's also your business. You can choose not to give me the transfer money, but if you dare to touch my team, I'm sorry, I will never play with you here again."
Pinto saw that Mourinho had already understood what the board and he were thinking, so he put away his pretended aggrieved expression on his face: "Mr. Mourinho, you know the current economic situation in Europe. The boss has spent a lot of money to come to this team, but everyone has to survive..."
Before he finished speaking, Mourinho opened the door to his office.
Pinto was a little annoyed: "What do you mean?"
Mourinho coldly asked back: "How should the forwards run, how should the midfielders pass the ball, how should the defenders defend, how should the team win? That is my job. I will not come to you to tell you. If I can't do it well, the boss will let me go."
"How the club makes profits, how the market value is increased, how to negotiate to maximize benefits, that's your business, I have no interest in listening to it."
"But remember, if I don't do well and the team's performance is a mess, your life will definitely not be easy. If I were you, I would never embarrass the head coach."
After saying that, Mourinho waved towards the door as a farewell gesture. Pinto had nothing to say and had to leave obediently.
Compared to the tension between the head coach and the general manager, the players are quite pleasant and harmonious with each other.
Pinto did not do nothing. Zaniolo, who had been exiled to the reserve team, finally found a new club and will transfer to the Turkish powerhouse Galatasaray in the winter window.
Without the troublemaker, we welcomed the guests.
Dave brought the Glasgow Rangers first team coaches and players to the Trigoria base.
As a courtesy, to thank Rangers for twice giving their training base and home stadium to Roma for training and playing, Roma also opened their base and Olympic Stadium to Rangers for use this time.
Chen Xiaoliang was naturally delighted to meet his old friends.
But at the same time, another happy event seemed to be about to happen.
After returning home from training that day, Riise came to Chen Xiaoliang mysteriously and said that Director Zhu of the Red Country Football Association, who is based in Europe, had been urgently recalled to the Red Country a while ago.
At first, he proudly told Reese that he had enough overseas experience and would have new arrangements when he returned, but then Reese tentatively called his number, but it was always turned off.
Now there are a few new people coming to Europe, but they are not here to replace Director Zhu. It is said that they are investigating files and talking to those staff members every day.
Chen Xiaoliang didn't say anything after listening to it. Thinking about the text message Boss Wu had sent him before, it seemed that the big shot Boss Wu visited instructed the investigation department to start intervening after receiving the materials.
Back to the Champions League group stage, since Rangers had already missed out on qualifying for the Champions League, they played very relaxed in the game two days later.
Head coach Van Bronckhorst fielded a lineup of two-thirds of the main players and one-third of newcomers, and Mourinho also made the same rotation.
In the end, the two teams ended up with a 2-1 draw, and everyone was happy.
For Roma, in the first and second half, Matic scored a long-range goal after receiving a pass from Abraham, and Pellegrini scored a direct free kick.
Rangers captain Tavernier scored a penalty in the second half, breaking the team's goalless streak against Roma.
In another match, Liverpool beat Red Bull Salzburg 3-0 away.
So the last round became a real decisive battle among the four teams.
Roma with 4 wins, 1 draw and 13 points and Liverpool with 4 wins, 1 loss and 12 points will decide who will be the first in the group at Anfield. Liverpool can only take the first place if they win, while Roma can retain the top spot if they draw.
Salzburg Red Bull with 2 points and Glasgow Rangers with 1 point will also decide at Ibrox Stadium who will finish third in the group and go to the Europa League to continue their European journey this season.
The two teams leading in points can achieve their goals by drawing, while the teams lagging behind have home advantage, which adds endless possibilities to the game.
Chen Xiaoliang did not play in this game, and Pellegrini, who was in the rotation starting lineup, replaced him.
But the day after the game, Chen Xiaoliang was busy, giving each Rangers player a box of Siwei Dihuang Pills...
After being promoted by Morelos and Davis Sr., this medicine has become a prop that everyone in the team is vying for.
Everyone agrees that eating it can effectively increase endurance, and whether it is used in the arena or elsewhere is a tacit understanding...
After only one day of rest, the team flew to Verona, which is adjacent to Milan in the west, Venice in the east and the Alps in the north.
In preparation for the next decisive battle with Liverpool, Mourinho continued to rotate the lineup.
Mancini and Ibanez started together again, Chen Xiaoliang played as the single defensive midfielder, and Pellegrini and Volpato, one old and one young, played a rare double central midfielder role.
Chen Xiaoliang and Kva were substituted after playing for 65 minutes, Cesco and Dybala did not play, and El Shaarawy played the whole game.
Relying on half of the main players, the team was already leading 2-0 away from home in the 65 minutes that Chen Xiaoliang was on the field.
They were Pellegrini's pass to El Shaarawy in a counterattack in the 11th minute, who scored a one-on-one goal, and Spinazzola's cross from the left in the 52nd minute, which the opponent's central defender headed, giving Abraham the opportunity to shoot into the empty goal.
In the last 30 minutes, both sides scored a goal. Verona had just equalized a goal through a header from a set piece, and Zalewski, who replaced Kva, received Pellegrini's inverted triangle and scored the goal that sealed the victory.
The day after the game, the team did not return to Rome, but flew directly to Liverpool without stopping.
A fierce army thirsting for revenge is waiting for them.
After losing 1-2 to Leeds United in the Premier League last weekend, the team's core player Salah threatened to use good performance in the Champions League to boost the team's form and morale in the league.
And they emphasized the need to avenge the 4-1 defeat in Rome in the first round.
His remarks were immediately ridiculed by fans, who said that Salah had set up a new account book for Rome in addition to the one for Real Madrid. As a result, Salah got a new title of "accountant in football".
At the pre-match press conference after Roma landed in Liverpool, Klopp focused on criticizing the game environment. He threatened that if Liverpool had not suffered so many injuries this season and if the team could get more fair penalties from the referee, it would not be in the current ranking at all.
He also said that Roma does not have the problem of injuries, and that Serie A also hopes that teams like Roma will emerge to bring more confrontation to Serie A.
What this means is that Mourinho can have the current situation because, firstly, he has good luck internally with few injuries, and secondly, he has the external care of the referees.
Mourinho's response was also amazing:
"He should think about why I always have good luck and won 28 championships, while his luck ran out so quickly."
The reporter asked: "Do you know how many championships Jurgen has won?"
Mourinho said he was dismissive.
The reporter told him there were 11, Dortmund had 5, and Liverpool had 6 titles in 7 years.
Mourinho laughed and said that in the past, with such a level of performance, Chelsea might have been fired after just one season.
He was, of course, referring to Chelsea during Abramovich's time at the helm.
Unexpectedly, these remarks, which seemed to be ridiculed by the public, were unanimously welcomed by Chelsea fans.
Among the Blues fans who are in dire straits due to the new owner and new coach, many have expressed their hope that Mourinho will return to the club for the third time.
However, compared with the mutual provocations at the press conference, Mourinho's attitude towards this game within the team was very cautious.
This point also received high support from the locker room headed by Chen Xiaoliang.
Anfield, a temple of English football, was completed in 1884 and has a full capacity of 54,074 people.
The Reds Liverpool will definitely not let Roma have any pleasant experience here easily.