Chapter 310: There are only two kinds of teams in Italy: Chen Xiaoliang's and other
After head coach Spalletti was sent to the stands, the mentality of Napoli players was obviously affected.
They played more and more impatiently, rushing and attacking hard, but without any arrangement.
As time passed, Roma's confidence became stronger and stronger. They calmly faced the high balls that Napoli kept forcing through, and then cleared and destroyed them with desperate defense. If the opportunity was good, they would launch a counterattack on the spot, forcing Napoli to return to defense and consume their remaining physical strength.
In the 89th minute, Roma launched a positional attack after taking a goal kick.
The fourth official has raised the electronic scoreboard on the sidelines, adding 5 minutes of extra time.
At this point, Roma became the side that could kill time by passing the ball back and forth, while Napoli launched a suicidal high-pressure defense at the end of the game.
Despite the fierce competition, Roma has Chen Xiaoliang in midfield.
Just 5 minutes ago, Mourinho replaced Enzo and Kva with Cristante and Wijnaldum to increase the hardness of the midfield in order to cooperate with Chen Xiaoliang to control the ball as much as possible.
The entire Napoli team was no longer surprised by Chen Xiaoliang's abnormal physical strength. Even Elmas, who had only been on the field for a short time, felt that Chen Xiaoliang, who had played the entire game, could run faster than himself.
Roma kept passing the ball back and forth, and Napoli kept chasing. Chen Xiaoliang kept running without the ball in the midfield to create gaps, and after receiving the ball from his teammates, he passed it to other teammates in open positions.
This forced Napoli to use fouls to interrupt Roma's possession of the ball, making their rhythm inconsistent .
In the stands, Napoli fans kept booing. As Roma was passing the ball back and forth to kill time, they could only use booing to help the home team on the field.
Some burly guys in the front row were so angry that they gnashed their teeth. While cursing, they couldn't help but rush into the field to hug the Roma players and prevent them from passing the ball.
In the 93rd minute, Roma pushed Napoli back to their own half through passing the ball in a positional battle.
Abraham, who has not had any good opportunities since he came on the pitch, has been running hard. He is very eager to score a goal. More than half a season has passed, and he has only scored 5 goals in total. The long time as a substitute has seriously reduced his data.
Coupled with the arrival of Kva and Dybala, his chances of playing were further reduced.
Chen Xiaoliang wanted to help him, but Napoli's defense was relatively dense and there was little time left, so he couldn't pass the ball hastily. As a result, the ball was passed back and forth outside the penalty area and was never brought into the penalty area.
At this time, Chen Xiaoliang passed to the right and took the initiative to cut into the penalty area, attracting the attention of Ndombele and Simeone.
Pellegrini, who received the ball on the right, was not as capable of breaking through and passing as Kvart, and was better at long-distance footwork. He knew that Chen Xiaoliang was acting as a wingman, feinting an attack on Abraham to disperse the defensive pressure, so he passed the ball to the back point.
Abraham tried his best to hold on to Kim Min-jae. All his teammates who were watching in front of him, as well as Mourinho on the sidelines, could see that a desire to prove himself was ignited in the English striker's body.
In terms of toughness, the 190cm tall, 88kg Korean central defender Kim Min-jae is not inferior to him, but in terms of jumping height, Abraham, 194cm tall, is slightly better.
The two men staged a head-on collision in the air in the penalty area, and Chen Xiaoliang moved towards the penalty spot, pretending to receive a header.
As Kim Min-jae involuntarily shouted "Oh my God", Abraham pushed his body away and headed the ball, and the ball immediately rushed straight towards the goal!
Meret saved the ball at the near post!
But the distance was too close and there was no way to hold it, and the ball actually bounced towards the penalty spot!
Ndombele and Elmas tried to block Chen Xiaoliang out like the door of an elevator closing, but Chen Xiaoliang rushed between them like a bulldozer.
Seeing him start, the other Napoli players defending near the small penalty area immediately became nervous and all subconsciously rushed towards him, but the distance between them was so short that it was too late. Chen Xiaoliang raised his foot and pushed the ball forward!
The 25-year-old increasingly mature Italian goalkeeper got up from the ground, fell sideways again, and blocked Chen Xiaoliang's follow-up shot with his belly!
"oh!"
"oh!"
As the shot was blocked, the shot was shot again, and the shot was blocked again, tens of thousands of fans in the stands were shouting excitedly. Seeing Meret save the game again, they raised their hands excitedly.
Napoli's performance this season is inseparable from Meret's performance at critical moments.
However, when his hand was just halfway raised, the ball was blocked by Meret again, and it rolled twice outside the goal and suddenly stopped!
Because of the fierce tug of war in front of the goal, after a game, the players stepped on a small hole here, and the rain poured in, forming a small hole!
Abraham, who was standing in front of the goal, came over and hooked the ball with his long legs, which was standing there motionless and beyond everyone's expectations, into the goal!
"ah!!!!!!"
The Englishman rushed towards the Roma fans' stands at full speed, pulling at the hem of his jersey as he ran.
However, all Napoli players raised their hands, and the referee Osato did not blow the whistle towards the center circle immediately.
Next comes the inevitable VAR confirmation phase.
This may also be the most obvious disadvantage of VAR among the many benefits it brings to the sport of football . In some controversial moments, it prevents players and fans from celebrating immediately after a goal is scored, and the celebrations can only come to an abrupt end with the intervention of VAR.
Osato didn't talk much to VAR in the headset, and the broadcast footage also clearly showed that Kim Min-jae and Meret, who were defending Abraham, were both close to the goal line, and Abraham was not offside at all.
The goal is valid!
Naples' lamentations and Rome's cheers came late.
Mourinho took the initiative to walk to the sidelines and applauded Abraham.
The rain had stopped by then, and the dark clouds had finally dispersed. Under the bright moonlight, there was a tragicomedy unfolding for tens of thousands of people, and even hundreds of thousands or even millions of people around the world behind the screen.
Why spend money and time watching football?
According to a non-famous performing artist, if you put the 500 or 800 yuan on the table at home, you will not laugh when looking at it. If you can laugh, your illness cannot be cured by 800 yuan.
But coming to the stadium and turning on the screen for more than two hours can make your mood fluctuate with the progress of the game. For some fanatical fans, this effect will last for a whole week until the league starts again next week.
The joy or regret brought by some competitions may even stay with you for a lifetime.
For example, winning the World Cup, winning three consecutive Champions League titles, defeating a rival in the same city, and a super-bad defeat that broke a century-old score record...
With VAR and the celebration after the goal, the time had already exceeded 95 minutes, and the outcome of the game was no longer in suspense, but Osato still followed the rules and symbolically added 2 minutes.
In the 97th minute, when Napoli was preparing for the final attack, he retreated to the outside of the penalty area to receive the ball, but he slipped and fell to the ground. His hand touched the ball while supporting himself, and he was inexplicably called for a handball.
Goalposts, puddles, slips...
They didn't show any strength advantage, and even God didn't seem to be on their side...
Many Napoli fans lowered their heads, some even hugged their necks, and looked at the scoreboard with disappointment.
“Beep!”
After Gvadiol kicked the ball out, Osato finally blew the whistle!
This decisive battle ended with Roma's away victory. At the same time, they also defeated their top rival Napoli twice in this season's Serie A!
The beautiful host Dilita Leotta asked the four famous players in the live broadcast room whether they thought there was still suspense in this season's Serie A?
Rijkaard and Hitzfeld feel that with the strength, form and cohesion Roma has currently shown, as long as there are no large-scale injuries, the championship is basically a sure thing.
Capello believes that we still have to wait and see the results of the Champions League draw to see what kind of opponents Roma will face next.
Only Matthäus thinks that the 6-point gap is nothing and all possibilities are not over yet.
But even though Rijkaard and Matthäus disagreed on whether Chen Xiaoliang would surpass them in ability, they and the other two legendary coaches had one thing in common, which was what Capello said after the game:
"Mourinho once said something when he was coaching Real Madrid. Since I have coached Real Madrid before, I will pay more attention to his dynamics in Real Madrid."
"He said there are only two kinds of teams in the world, the ones with Messi and the others."
"Roma has not yet proven itself in the Champions League, but after 20 league games and my understanding of Italian football, I can say that there are only two types of teams in Italy: one with Chen Xiaoliang and the other with others."
Back in the locker room, Roma's players sang, danced and rapped in the locker room to celebrate the victory in the heavy rain, as if they had won a championship.
Mourinho did not, as he usually did, ask the players to keep a low profile and not get carried away so as to avoid setbacks in subsequent games. Instead, he celebrated with the players and lined up in several rows in the locker room to take a group photo and posted it on his social media platform.
At the end of this round of the league, Roma not only leads Napoli by 6 points with 53 points, but is also 13 points ahead of Inter Milan, which is in third place with 40 points.
Even if there is still suspense, only Naples can still catch up.
As if by consensus, AC Milan lost 2-5 to Sassuolo at home, and Juventus' morale plummeted after being penalized, as they were defeated 0-2 at home by newly promoted Monza.
Among the top few teams, only Atalanta won the game. They have the same 38 points as AC Milan, 15 points behind, and have bid farewell to the possibility of winning the championship this season.
The next day, February 1, the main team followed Mourinho back to Rome to prepare for the Italian Cup which was to start on February 2, just one day later, and to face Cremona at home, who had not won a single game in Serie A this season and was ranked at the bottom.
Chen Xiaoliang and Pinto set off from Naples and headed straight to the UEFA headquarters in Bern, Switzerland, to prepare to attend the draw ceremony for the first round of the Champions League knockouts that night.
At night, a group of European celebrities gathered here.
The presidents or CEOs of clubs such as Real Madrid, Barcelona, Liverpool, Manchester City, etc., all appeared in the draw hall with representatives of current players or club legends.
In front of these people, Pinto can only be regarded as an insignificant young man. This is why the Roma board of directors asked Chen Xiaoliang to participate, in order to attract a wave of attention and prevent the club from being overshadowed by the giants.
The first round of knockouts still has the rules of "avoiding the same group" and "avoiding the same country", so Liverpool and Milan will not be able to meet Roma.
The first ball drawn was from the box of the second team in the group. The host opened the ball and it was RB Leipzig!
Chen Xiaoliang's first reaction was: This is good! I can fuck him!
But then I changed my mind and immediately thought: No! I can’t do that to him!
This season's defensive mainstay Gvardiol is on loan from this Bundesliga team. The loan agreement contains a special clause that requires players to avoid playing against their parent team, which means that if they are drawn against them, Gvardiol will not be able to play in either round.
The result was just as Chen Xiaoliang expected, they drew the powerful Manchester City.
The second team drawn from the second group was Bruges from the Belgian First Division, which is arguably the weakest of all the second-placed teams.
Chen Xiaoliang glanced at Pinto beside him and saw that his lips were moving silently and his hands were quietly making the sign of the cross. It seemed that he was praying that Roma would draw such an opponent just like himself...
Unfortunately, Bruges' opponent is Benfica, who beat Paris Saint-Germain to take first place in the group.
The second place in the third group drawn is Liverpool. Their draw can be described as extremely lucky. They will once again play against Real Madrid in last season's Champions League final.
At that moment, Andy Hughes, general manager of Liverpool club, seemed to have his face twitched... Under the camera's capture, he tried his best not to frown, and acted calmly, as if he was confident that the team could defeat anyone who stood in his way.
Next, AC Milan drew Tottenham, which was a evenly matched match.
Subsequently, Roma missed the last Europa League champion Frankfurt, and their opponent was Chelsea.
When the draw came to this point, Chen Xiaoliang's heart couldn't help but start beating faster.
There are three second-placed teams in each group left, Inter Milan, Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain. Inter Milan will definitely not be drawn, which means that Roma will have to choose between the Bundesliga Hornets and the French aircraft carrier.
Although in order to reach the end, one must be prepared to face the strongest opponents, but draw luck is also an undeniable and important factor that can help the team move forward.
As Inter Milan was drawn against Porto, Chen Xiaoliang's heart began to beat nervously! Pinto, who was beside him, put his hand on his chest and made the sign of the cross with his fingers secretly and constantly, and he almost shouted spells like "Hallelujah" and "Mamma Mia".
With excited hearts and trembling hands, the supporters picked Paris Saint-Germain!
Then he turned the glass bowl of the group leader with only two balls left over again and again, and finally took out one of them...
Chen Xiaoliang cursed in his heart: Why the hell just start driving? Why are you creating suspense?
The small black ball was slowly opened, revealing a piece of paper.
“Bayern München (GER)”
Bundesliga champion, Bayern Munich!
call……
Chen Xiaoliang and Pinto exhaled at the same time... looked at each other and shook hands...
There is only one last option left, and their opponent will be Dortmund, which is also from the Bundesliga!
Since we are the first place in the group stage, the schedule will be away first and home later.
The draw has just ended. Germany's Bild and Kicker, Italy dello Sport not only published the draw results as soon as possible, but also listed two photos.
They are Chen Xiaoliang vs. Bellingham, a head-to-head showdown between two talented European midfielders worth 100 million euros, and Cesco vs. Adeyemi, two new strikers who also came from Salzburg Red Bull. Among them, Cesco is known as the new Haaland, while Adeyemi came to Dortmund and took over the striker position left by Haaland.
Chen Xiaoliang, who was on his flight back to Rome overnight, was reading these reports and felt something was not right. He asked Pinto:
"Last season's Champions League final is a repeat... Bayern, who repeatedly ravaged Barcelona, met Messi's Paris Saint-Germain again... What kind of 100 million midfielder showdown is this..."
"Do you think such a coincidence can really happen when drawing lots?"
Pinto laughed: "If you keep doing this, when you are 40 years old, have won many championships and honors, and have retired, UEFA will probably hire you as a guest for the lucky draw. You will know then."
Chen Xiaoliang: "I remember Totti also smoked before, didn't you ask him?"
Pinto: "Brother, being a guest like this not only comes with a good appearance fee, but also a confidentiality agreement to sign. You are provided with both carrots and sticks. Who would say that you think UEFA is stupid?"
