Chapter 306: Crazy January, Crazy Gemini
Similar to other events held in the Middle East , the common champagne is not allowed to appear in the stadium or be brought into the locker room at the luxurious awards ceremony after the game. Instead, it is replaced by a bubbly juice drink similar to that of F1 events.
Roma owner Dan Friedkin did not come to the event. The changes in the global economic situation and the sharp rise of electric vehicles have posed a considerable challenge to him as the agent of Japanese brand fuel vehicles.
How can I have the energy to watch football if I can’t even make any money?
Under the super cool red, white and yellow lights in the stadium, Chen Xiaoliang, as the team captain, was the last one to walk up to the podium and received the Italian Super Cup trophy from Saudi Crown Prince Salman.
This is his fourth trophy in Rome. Although it is only a one-match cup match, it is still exciting for all the players to be able to add to the club's trophy room and the personal championship honors of all coaches and players.
After walking around the field to thank the fans, Chen Xiaoliang also received a separate trophy representing the best player of the game for his assist hat trick.
This game not only gave him 18 skill points (24→42), but also a single-game skill card given by the hat trick mission.
In the lucky draw for [Big Club Mission], he drew the shooting card of Van Basten at his peak (5 minutes).
All the celebrations were limited to that night. The whole team flew back to Rome early the next morning. After only one day of rest, they will start this season's Italian Cup at home on January 15.
The home game on the 15th was against Genoa, who had been relegated to Serie B.
On the 18th, they will continue to play against Fiorentina at home;
Next up is an away game against Spezia on the 23rd and an away game against Napoli on the 30th.
There will be a total of 15 days and 4 games, after which the draw ceremony for the Champions League knockout stage will be held.
Due to Genoa's weak strength and fatigue from the flight, Mourinho did not field most of the main players, but instead used rotations and substitutes.
Goalkeeper Svilar;
The three central defenders are Mancini, Matic and Ibanez;
Celik is the right wingback , Zalewski is the left wingback;
The double defensive midfielders Cristante and Volpato;
The double midfielder Pellegrini and Wijnaldum who returned from injury;
Center Abraham.
Chen Xiaoliang, Kwa and others sat on the bench and watched the game.
In the end, after 25 shots and only 5 shots on target, Roma was one-sided in the 64th minute. Pellegrini intercepted Genoa's pass in the frontcourt and then passed it directly to Wijnaldum who was next to him. The Dutch midfielder, who had been absent for 4 months, rushed through the outside of the Genoa defender with the ball and then shot from a small angle under the pressure of two people.
The ball bounced off the hands of Genoa goalkeeper Martinez who fell to the ground to save the ball, but still flew into the goal.
After scoring the goal, Wijnaldum was very excited. He ran to the stands and kept tearing off the team logo on his chest. While he was yelling at the top of his lungs, his eyes were bloodshot and red with excitement.
All his teammates, including those on the bench, ran over to celebrate with him. What was important was not the goal, but the encouragement to this Dutchman who had risen from the ashes after suffering.
On the 18th, facing Fiorentina at home, Mourinho fielded all the main players this time, and Chen Xiaoliang returned to the starting lineup and continued to serve as central midfielder.
Kva, Dybala, Cesco, Guevadiol and other main players also all took to the field.
Originally both sides played conservatively after the opening and there were not many threatening shooting opportunities, but Brazilian right-back Dodo, who had met with Riise in Ukraine to discuss a transfer to Roma when he was playing for Shakhtar Donetsk, "changed" the situation of the game on his own.
This Brazilian right-back who finally rejected Roma and chose to join Fiorentina, I don't know if he regretted his decision and wanted to get Roma's attention again through good performance, or if he wanted to prove that he made the right choice of Fiorentina and help his mother team defeat the opponent. In the 18th and 23rd minutes, within 5 minutes, he defended the ball-holding attacking Dimitrov twice, and then lost his position. The first time he pulled, and the second time he made a big sliding tackle, successfully allowing himself to apply for two gold God of War cards, which were converted into ruby God of War cards, and he enjoyed the treatment of leaving the field early under the attention of the whole audience.
They were originally playing away from home and were slightly weaker, and now with one less player on the field, the balance of the game suddenly tilted completely towards Roma.
In the 35th minute, Cesco received a long pass from the backcourt, used his chest to pass the ball on the penalty area line, and directly blocked it to Kva who was making a run. Kva received the ball and rushed directly to the baseline, then made a reverse triangle pass to Chen Xiaoliang who was making a run from behind.
Chen Xiaoliang shot directly with his right foot in the Florence penalty area. Although the angle of the shot was not very tricky and Florence goalkeeper Terraciano was in position to make a save, the ball was slightly refracted by the blocking central defender Milenkovic.
This sudden change caused Terraciano, who had already bent his knees to prepare to exert force, to finally kneel on one leg and watch the ball go into the net.
Roma 1-0.
In the 62nd minute of the second half, Celik threw a sideline ball from the right side. Matic stepped forward to meet the ball and pushed it directly to the front court with his right foot, sending a straight pass that tore through the defense line.
Dybala dribbled forward and passed the ball to Cesco who was on the other side near the small penalty area. Cesco pushed the ball into the goal post and the score was widened again.
Roma 2-0!
Seeing that Fiorentina was leading with one man less and had no power to resist, Mourinho then replaced several substitutes including Tacirovic, Bove and El Shaarawy.
Chen Xiaoliang, who told Mourinho before the game that he had too much energy to vent and wanted to play more games, was left on the field, and this was the best time for him to use the energy recovery card. (3→2)
In the 89th minute, midfielder Amrabat, who performed well with the Morocco team in the World Cup, passed the ball to midfielder Bonaventura, but the latter made a mistake when stopping the ball and stopped the ball more than 2 meters away. Chen Xiaoliang who was nearby quickly approached him, then used his body to block Bonaventura and intercepted the ball.
Then he dribbled the ball sideways, Bonaventura tried to counter-steal, Chen Xiaoliang took a few steps and suddenly kicked forward and sent a straight pass, the ball quickly passed by Bonaventura, Amrabat and Milenkovic, Kva suddenly inserted himself between Venuti, the right-back who came on as a substitute and Milenkovic, and after receiving the ball, he immediately had a one-on-one opportunity and shot towards the near corner.
The distance was too close and the ball was too fast, Terraciano didn't even have time to make a subconscious move, and Roma eventually won 3-0 to continue their winning streak.
At the end of 18 rounds of the league, Roma won the true half-time championship with a record of 15 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss, and 47 points.
However, Napoli, who defeated Juventus 5-1 in this round, continued their excellent record of 14 wins, 2 draws and 2 losses, accumulating 44 points, closely following Roma with a 3-point disadvantage.
AC Milan, Inter Milan and Juventus ranked third to fifth with 38 points, 37 points and 36 points respectively.
Everything seems to have returned to the rhythm where the three northern powers, Roma and Naples occupy the top of the standings.
But just two days after the game, on January 21, the Italian Football Association dropped a bombshell. They announced that due to financial fraud, Juventus was immediately punished by deducting 15 points this season.
As a result, Juventus' ranking instantly dropped from 5th, only 2 points away from 3rd, to 11th, behind Empoli with 22 points.
The Juventus board of directors said it would definitely appeal, and although the Roma team did not comment publicly, if the evidence is conclusive, they also support the Football Association's punishment for fraud.
After all, Juventus cannot challenge Roma's leadership at the moment.
On January 23, the team came to Spezia to play an away league game, and getting all 3 points was still the consensus of the whole team.
Wijnaldum, who returned from injury and is in good shape, partnered with Enzo as a double defensive midfielder in this game. Mourinho also gave him instructions to make big contributions in the attack.
Facing a weak team ranked 15th in the league, Roma, which had been unbeaten in the last 11 league games with only one draw, did not give the opponent any chance and maintained high-intensity pressure throughout the game.
In the 44th minute of the first half, Wijnaldum made a straight pass in a counterattack. After receiving the ball, Chen Xiaoliang used his "crazy" speed in the eyes of his opponents to dribble the ball forward and rush directly into the penalty area.
Facing the goalkeeper who was rushing out, he passed the ball to the left side of the penalty area, and Kva followed up and shot into the empty goal, helping the team take a 1-goal lead.
Just four minutes into the second half, Kva cooperated with Spinazzola on the left to intercept the ball from the opponent's right wingback Holm. Then Kva took the ball forward a few steps and saw a red light moving forward and waiting for him to pass the ball.
With a big kick from Kva, the ball flew through the sky like an arrow, and the man was like a flying horse trampling on the joint camp. Chen Xiaoliang shook off a group of defensive players at an extremely fast speed. Even when the opponent's central defender Caldara was forced to pull his jersey behind him with his hands, he accelerated and knocked Caldara to the ground, and then formed a one-on-one with goalkeeper Dragowski.
This is also Chen Xiaoliang's first one-on-one goal this season.
16's shooting ability cannot be called top-notch, but his strong concentration allows him to calm down and choose the most appropriate shooting method to score when he is one-on-one with the goalkeeper.
Finally, Chen Xiaoliang chose to suddenly kick the ball low, and the ball rolled between the goalkeeper's legs, scoring his 14th goal in Serie A this season, surpassing Lautaro and second only to Osimhen who scored 17 goals.
Mourinho once again replaced the young players for training, giving the main players a short rest.
After the game, "Gazzetta dello Sport" counted that in the six games in January, Chen Xiaoliang and Kvaratskhelia assisted each other to score seven goals.
The connection between the two, whether it is a straight pass in the front or back field or a combined advancement from the side and center, has become the strongest two-player cooperation in Italian football.
And there is no other.
They simply titled it "The Roman Twins Shining on the Apennines"
So far, Chen Xiaoliang, who has 14 goals and 8 assists in Serie A, and Kva, who has 4 goals and 8 assists, have contributed a total of 18 goals and 16 assists. Their total in all competitions is 24 goals and 30 assists.
Therefore, in Mourinho's lineup, no matter how the players in other positions are rotated, he will first fill in the names of Kva and Chen Xiaoliang in the positions of left winger and central midfielder.
If we include Dybala, who has scored 12 goals and provided 9 assists in all competitions, the Corriere dello Sport, which has always spared no effort in praising its own team, has called the three the strongest trio in Italian football after AC Milan's Dutch Three Musketeers and Inter Milan's German Three.
Although their status in football history and the honors they have received are still far from comparable to their predecessors, their terrifying 85% win rate in games where the three of them are on the field at the same time this season is far higher than the 52% when all three appeared on the field and the 54% when all three musketeers appeared on the field.
However, the media publicity is not entirely to praise Roma's superb performance this season. They are also building momentum for the suspense of the Serie A championship and the upcoming game that can be called the decisive battle.
Napoli also won 2-0 away against the weak team Salernitana in this round. They and Roma seemed to be in a state of "whoever loses first will be the grandson".
Still trailing by 3 points with one win less, and chasing closely.
AC Milan and Inter Milan, the two city rivals, lost to their opponents at the same time. AC Milan even lost 4-0 to Lazio away from home at the Olympic Stadium in Rome.
After their Italian Super Cup collapse against Roma, they have now gone two league games without a win.
With 38 points and 37 points respectively, they are 9 points behind second-placed Napoli, which basically means that the two Milan giants have completely withdrawn from the championship race just after the halfway point of the league.
The only opponent standing in Roma's way of defending the title is Napoli led by Spalletti.
After five days of rest and training, the entire Roma team flew to Naples.
If they win, they will tie with Roma; if they lose, they will fall behind by 6 points and lose a good situation. From the moment the Roma plane landed, the fans of Naples have never stopped harassing their strongest opponent.
At the airport exit and next to the bus, they began to blow horns, set off fireworks, and sing songs that slandered Rome.
Below the hotel, there were even more than two dozen diehard fans who were still beating drums and gongs at 3 a.m. After being warned by the police, they used laser pens to shine at the glass windows of the hotel rooms from a distance.
Although they didn't know which room the players lived in, their indiscriminate "attacks" would always hit their target.
Although the Napoli club did not make any verbal statement, they acquiesced in this behavior and even leaked the training time of the Roma training ground to the fans through third-party media through unknown channels.
Therefore, after Roma left the hotel and arrived at the training ground, there were also Napoli fans playing harsh, uncomfortable and weird music, or setting off fireworks into the air inside the stadium.
In this famous Italian "City of Sin", except for physical attacks, kidnapping and death threats, all possible tricks have been used by their fans.
However, such behavior is still despised by the vast majority of the Italian media and fans of other teams. People will judge right from wrong.
The Italian Football Association and Serie A had no choice but to issue warnings to Napoli Club and several fan associations, stating that if the fans' malicious harassment without bottom line is not effectively stopped, they may restrict the entry of fans or even play the games in empty stadiums.
Eventually, after a pretentious and belated joint announcement, the harassment stopped, but there was only one night left before the competition.
Mourinho did not say anything about this in the pre-match press conference, but only teased: "This shows that we are really strong, so strong that some people feel that they cannot beat us in a fair duel on the field."
Spalletti only had one response to this: "Roma is indeed very strong, but in our home stadium, I think we are stronger than them."
Although the pre-match bickering did not escalate into flames under the instigation of reporters, the fact that both teams had complete lineups and no injured players still made fans around the world full of expectations for this game.
When the two coaches were arranging tactics and the two captains were mobilizing in the locker room, they all mentioned the word "final" repeatedly.
For both sides, this direct dialogue is not only a direct plus or minus of points and goal difference, but also the key to whether they can have enough morale to hold their breath when dealing with the remaining league games.
Both teams have not lost in the league for quite a long time, but no one can guarantee that this state can continue. Once Roma loses and Napoli equalizes the points, it will put tremendous pressure on Roma in the subsequent games.
After all, falling from the top to second place and the second place team remaining second are two completely different feelings.
Roma won the game and gained a 6-point gap, but after the start of the Champions League knockout rounds and the Italian Cup follow-up matches, they will have enough psychological space to cope with the more difficult three-line battle.
In addition to the above macro-influences, at the micro level within the team, this will also be Enzo's last battle in Rome.
Mourinho did not hesitate at all and made the new World Cup champion the starting defensive midfielder.
As a replacement, they loaned 20-year-old defensive midfielder star Maximo Perrone from Argentina's Sarsfield ahead of several Premier League teams.
Although Pinto intends to keep the Argentine directly in Rome with an 8 million euro buyout clause, his agency in Argentina has already signed a preliminary contract with Manchester City with a two-way option at the end of the season.
The player himself also prefers Manchester City and the Premier League football environment.
But he knows that if he goes to Manchester City in his current situation, he will not be able to get stable playing opportunities. Coming to Rome, on the one hand, he can partner with Chen Xiaoliang, who is very popular and plays a similar position, and understand why this magical 18-year-old Chinese player can play such a strong performance. He also has a high probability of winning a Serie A championship trophy with the team.
At the end of the season, if everything goes well, Perrone is willing to sit down and have a good talk with Roma at that time, instead of making a hasty choice now.
Mourinho, who was short of players, agreed to this option. After all, he made 120 million euros by selling Enzo. In the winter window, since major teams were unwilling to let go of their main players in the middle of the season, he could not buy strong players. It was better to simply rent a new star recommended by Chen Xiaoliang than not to add any players.
Even if the effect is not strong in the end, it will not be a waste of money. In addition, Wijnaldum's return also gives the team more options.
On the evening of January 30, at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium, when Chen Xiaoliang and his teammates entered the stadium, the first thing they saw was a huge TIFO (a giant puzzle or banner covering the stands) of the head of the great football king Maradona appearing in the diehard stands, commemorating the greatest player in the team's history and used to inspire the Napoli players on the field.
After the TIFO was removed, countless diehard fans wearing dark blue jerseys waved towels, clapped and sang in unison.
Although the atmosphere at the Olympic Stadium in Rome has been one of the hottest in Europe in the past two seasons, the Napoli fans tonight still showed a fiery emotion that excited the Roma players.
Although the more than 2,000 Roma fans of the visiting team were also cheering hard, the difference in numbers was too great and they were completely drowned in the boiling blue ocean in terms of momentum.
On the field, Chen Xiaoliang and Di Lorenzo shook hands on behalf of both sides. On the sidelines, Mourinho and Spalletti also shook hands "kindly" without any communication.
The atmosphere is already like this, and pretending to be a modest gentleman would seem artificial.
In view of the recent discussions about the Roma trio, the Dutch Three Musketeers and the German Three, and especially Chen Xiaoliang's fiery performance, Sky Sports Italy directly invited two former "world's best midfielders" Rijkaard and Matthäus, as well as two legendary coaches who once coached them, Capello and Hitzfeld, to serve as commentators.
The golden whistle Osato continues to be entrusted with the important task of leading the referee team to referee this decisive battle that may determine the ownership of the season's championship.
Everything is ready, just waiting for the whistle, a showdown representing the strongest strength of Serie A will unfold here!
