Chapter 318 It’s time for him to go to a bigger platform (Part 2)
Trailing 1-0, Juventus did not give up while playing away, but they also did not waste time.
The title of Old Lady was not obtained casually. Although this title had nothing to do with the team's tactical play at the beginning, over time, many fans have made the best of the situation and felt that this title is particularly suitable for Juventus, which once advocated the "1-0 doctrine" of defense, especially under Capello, Lippi and others.
Under this tone, the game was particularly fragmented.
Juventus would even create out-of-bounds situations on the wing and then advance by throwing the ball out of bounds.
But after Allegri returned to the team for the second time, this team became magical. When you thought they were good, they suddenly became bad. When you thought they were bad, they somehow became good again.
Just like this season, they were in a mess at the beginning of the season and once fell outside the top 10, but when people ignored them, they quietly climbed to the top of the standings.
If they are not penalized 15 points, they are currently ranked 3rd in the league, and they still have the opportunity to appeal for these 15 points. The Juventus board of directors is working hard on public relations, and the luxurious team of lawyers they hired has been constantly spreading rumors, expressing confidence in the hearing.
Although even if the penalty points are cancelled, there will be other penalties, but for such a giant club, whether or not they can enter the Champions League is a very important matter.
In the 34th minute, Danilo and Cuadrado cooperated on the wing, Rabiot and Di Maria continued to support in the middle, and finally got the ball to the frontcourt through two throws from out of bounds.
Danilo sent a 45-degree cross from the right, and Kostic, who came in from the other side, followed up with a header. The ball was saved by Patricio and hit the post and bounced back. Vlahovic made another shot, but it was blocked by Mancini and went out of the baseline.
This was Juventus' most threatening attack so far in the entire game. Regardless of whether it was smooth or not, as long as it was effective, it was a good way of attack.
On the left side, Di Maria took a corner kick and went directly to the area in the middle where Bremer and Vlahovic were.
Gvardiol and Matic were staring at the former, while Mancini and Perrone were beside the latter.
Seeing the ball coming, the two of them immediately ran and started looking for a landing point.
Bremer was okay, as the two people defending him had their own unique skills and experiences in defense, but Vlahovic was not easy to deal with. With just two steps, he pushed the young and slightly immature Perrone away, turning it into a one-on-one confrontation with Mancini.
Vlahovic jumped high, ready to head the ball, but the man would not let him succeed easily!
Chen Xiaoliang, who was not far away, judged the landing point the moment the ball came out. He moved and observed at the same time. After seeing Perrone set the ball, he immediately accelerated and approached, then jumped towards Vlahovic!
Vlahovic is good at heading and his height of 190cm is tall enough, but his jumping height is not very high. He usually relies on his excellent confrontation ability in the penalty area.
Chen Xiaoliang's jumping speed of 15 is not much better than Vlahovic, but thanks to his super explosive power, his jumping speed is very fast.
Not only that, when he rushed over and jumped and collided with Vlahovic in the air, the huge force immediately caused the Serbian striker to deviate from his original jumping path in mid-air.
With just this deflection, Chen Xiaoliang first touched the ball, and then the ball brushed Vlahovic's head and flew to the back point.
At that moment, Vlahovic could hardly believe the tremendous power he felt in his body, as if a moving rock was pressing down on him.
He may not care about others, but Chen Xiaoliang, the rising star in Serie A who is so popular that he has become the face of Serie A, remembers every match between the two clearly .
He clearly remembered the first time he met Chen Xiaoliang when he was still in Florence in the first half of last season. It was also a high ball. The two of them competed for the header in the air, and he could easily push him away. Why did it happen today... ?
Impossible! Absolutely impossible!
Vlahovic didn't believe that Chen Xiaoliang's ability to fight could surpass his own so quickly. He must have been careless just now.
The referee awarded Juventus a corner kick. When Chen Xiaoliang was competing for the header, he didn't notice that the ball finally hit Vlahovic's head. Vlahovic naturally didn't tell the referee.
Seeing that Perrone was having a hard time defending the tall players, Chen Xiaoliang simply switched positions with him and asked him to block the outside attack in front of the center, while he moved next to Vlahovic.
This time, the two of them started fighting directly on the ground.
At this time, Vlahovic discovered that there seemed to be nothing impossible in this world, and Chen Xiaoliang really suppressed him in strength.
No matter how he exerted force with his upper limbs and positioned himself with his lower body, he could only carry Chen Xiaoliang a short distance at most. As soon as Chen Xiaoliang exerted force, his efforts would immediately become invisible, and the position he had worked so hard to gain would be easily taken back by him.
Di Maria took another corner kick, still aiming for the middle.
Chen Xiaoliang calculated the landing point accurately and blocked Vlahovic behind him.
When the Serbians saw the ball coming, they tried their best to squeeze forward, but they could only do nothing but feel anxious.
On the small penalty area line, Bremer jumped, and Matic and Gvardiol followed suit, but in the end, none of the three could get the ball!
From the corner kick on the right side, Di Maria’s inward-spinning ball from the left side flew to the back post!
Kostic wanted to shoot at the back post, but he couldn't touch the ball due to the interference of Binya!
But in the chaos and without anyone touching the ball, the ball actually spun directly into the goal!
Huang Jianxiang: "Ouch...Di Maria scored directly from the corner kick!"
"Patricio never expected that Roma's defensive attention in the penalty area was also focused on the offensive players in the middle and back."
Xie Hui: "This is the footwork, a strong inner instep arc, passing and attacking at the same time. If teammates can get to the ball, it can create a killing opportunity. If they can't get to the ball, they can also rely on the arc of the ball to score directly. It is also very deceptive to the opponent's goalkeeper."
In the 36th minute, 1-1, Juventus equalized the score with a magical goal!
Chen Xiaoliang looked at the changing scoreboard, smiled helplessly and shook his head, his attention was focused on the center, but no one could forget Di Maria, the man who scored key goals in the World Cup finals, the man who was indispensable to the World Cup champion. Although he was getting older and on the decline, his skills and awareness were still top-notch.
Chen Xiaoliang took a few deep breaths, and began to encourage and pat his teammates around him, calling on everyone to work together to get back the lost ground.
After the kick-off, Roma's attack became more direct.
1-1, especially taking the lead and then being equalized, is a completely different feeling from 0-0.
When the side that fell behind equalized the score, it was called escaping from defeat. Although it did not win, it was more like a winner. On the other hand, when the side that took the lead was forced to tie, it was called losing a good situation. Although it did not lose, it was more like losing the game.
Two days ago, Roma's city rivals defeated Napoli 1-0 away from home. If Roma wins this game, the gap between the two sides will be widened to 9 points. In the remaining 13 league rounds, the team can focus more on the cup competition.
In addition, the team we are playing today is Juventus, which can be said to be the common enemy of all the strong teams. After all, in Serie A, Juventus is the team with the most championships. Defeating Juventus will make the championship seem more genuine.
But the more fiercely you attack, the more fiercely they defend.
In the 41st minute, Perrone lofted the ball into the penalty area. Sesco had no chance to turn around under Bremer's defense, so he simply passed the ball back to Chen Xiaoliang outside the penalty area. Facing three people blocking him, Chen Xiaoliang stopped the ball and kicked it with his heel to the left rear. Spinazzola who came in made a powerful shot, but the ball went wide of the post.
In the 46th minute, Chen Xiaoliang advanced through the middle and still attracted three defenders. He passed the ball straight to the front right. Pellegrini received the ball and made a low pass to the middle without stopping. Sesco shot as soon as he received the ball, but unfortunately he shot too straight and was easily caught by Szczesny.
At the end of the first half, Roma possessed the ball 54% to 46% and had 12 shots to 5, leading in all statistics, but the score was 1 to 1.
Mourinho neither talked about tactics nor lost his temper.
There is not much to say about the tactics, the execution was very good. What remains to be seen is whether the players can stabilize the defense and deal a fatal blow to the opponent without losing the ball.
There's no point in losing your temper. Although Di Maria's magical goal was due to the lack of preparation of the defensive players and the goalkeeper at the back post, this kind of direct corner kick only happens once in 50 times. We can only take it as a warning next time.
He sat in the locker room, pacing around in circles, counting on his fingers to tell the players:
"If we draw today, we will be 7 points ahead of Napoli. Is 7 points good? I think 7 points is pretty good."
“But why can’t it be 9 points?”
"Besides us, there are four strong teams in the league. After playing Juventus today, we only have the two teams in Milan to play, while Napoli only played us. I believe they will lose points when they play against the three northern powers."
“If we can get all the points in the small leagues where there are strong teams competing against each other, then even if there are some mistakes in other games, the championship will not be far away.”
"So today is very crucial. The whole team must be watching our game on TV, computers and mobile phones."
"Put yourself in their shoes and think about it. How much difference will it make to their hearts if we get 1 point or 3 points today?"
"If we get one point, they will think, 'It's not bad, the mistake was not too serious, it only widened the gap by one point, we can still catch up later'. But if we get three points, anxiety, panic, self-blame, regret, these messy emotions will erode their confidence and morale all at once."
"We not only beat them twice, but also beat Inter Milan and drew with AC Milan away. If we can beat Juventus twice today, then why would the entire Napoli team still imagine that there is anyone in Serie A who can stop us?"
"Boys, the next game will be a brilliant and smooth journey, or a nervous and cautious one. It all depends on today!"
Mourinho finished speaking and looked at Chen Xiaoliang, who stood up and said, "You played well in the first half, but our goal is to beat them!"
Everyone: “Okay!”
Roma's morale was good, but Juventus was not at all depressed. Whether it was the shining stars or the winning tactics, they were able to equalize the score, which gave them hope of remaining undefeated or even winning.
Juventus kicked off in the second half. Vlahovic and Di Maria fixed the direction. The Serbian striker focused on Gvadiol's side, while Di Maria focused on the left half. Kostic and Cuadrado on both sides played if they could, and stayed behind if they couldn't.
The game was extremely ugly. As soon as Roma's Chen Xiaoliang got the ball in the front third of the attacking zone, Facioli was close in front, Locatelli was behind, and another nearby defensive player formed a three-person block on him.
When the ball was divided into two sides, Juventus shrank the penalty area. Neither Kvadrat nor Pellegrini had the ability to score from high altitudes. It was a bit difficult for Cesco to fight against many opponents alone in the penalty area.
Juventus, on the other hand, would break through if they could, and if they couldn't, they would pass the ball. If the cross didn't work, they would let the midfielder pass the ball directly to the penalty area, or simply take a long shot.
In the 60th minute of the second half, Allegri replaced Di Maria, who had been suffering from minor injuries since returning from the World Cup, with Moses Keane in an attempt to strengthen the impact in the frontcourt.
Unexpectedly, today's Moses Keane was probably possessed by Balotelli and gave Mourinho and Roma a big gift.
In the 61st minute, Rabiot made a diagonal pass to Moses Keane who had just come on the field. The 23-year-old Italian winger was ready to use his speed to break through along the left side.
Unexpectedly, Mancini, who was in good form today, took the initiative to press forward to defend, and intercepted the ball at his feet just as Rabiot's diagonal pass came over.
Mancini turned his back and prepared to kick the ball back to Binya, but Moses Keane grabbed Mancini's jersey and tried to disrupt his movement and get the ball back.
But Mancini was already in a good position, he just stuck out his butt and passed the ball, and Moses Keane didn't have any chance at all.
After passing the ball, Mancini was about to return to his position, but Moses Keane was still holding on to his clothes, and was knocked to the ground by Mancini who ran out.
Just like that, Mancini ran about a meter away, and Moses Keane behind him was dragged more than a meter away on the ground...
The Juventus winger, angry and humiliated, stood up and kicked Mancini in the back of his left calf.
At that moment, Mancini was confused, and the Roma players and coaches on the sidelines who witnessed this scene were also confused.
No one even reacted at that moment. There were tens of thousands of people in the stands, but not a single person raised their hand to protest to the referee.
Chen Xiaoliang's reaction was still about 0.3 seconds faster than others. He immediately shouted in his heart:
"Shit! Fall down now!"
About 0.3 seconds later, Mancini, who was obviously stunned for a moment, suddenly felt like he was electrocuted, and his legs bent forward and he was "kicked down".
In this one-on-one confrontation about seven or eight meters outside the penalty area, the referee had no visual distraction at all and saw it clearly. He took the initiative to kick the opponent in retaliation and ran over to show Moses Keane a red card.
Poor Allegri, frowning on the sidelines, recreating his classic "embarrassed" face.
He never expected that the carefully planned replacement would have this result. Now, he himself has become the undercover agent.
With one player sent off, Juventus has now taken the "hiding" approach to the extreme.
Except for Vlahovic who was wandering alone in the front, the other eight non-goalkeeper teammates all huddled in the backcourt to defend.
Although Juventus's formation did not reduce the density in defense, it basically eliminated all threat in offense.
Mourinho waved his hand and replaced Pellegrini and Matic with Abraham and Wijnaldum.
Chen Xiaoliang took advantage of this dead ball opportunity to communicate with Perrone, Kva and Wijnaldum respectively.
After the next kick-off, Facioli found that Chen Xiaoliang was missing, while Kostic on the left side found that Chen Xiaoliang was approaching them.
The organization and transfer in the middle were handed over to Wijnaldum and Perrone. Since Juventus only had one center forward left in the frontcourt, Gvardiol plus any full-back were enough to deal with most situations. The rest should press forward significantly and use the increase in numbers to increase the creation of opportunities.
In the 67th minute, Chen Xiaoliang went to the right again. After Abraham came on the court he did not replace Pellegrini's right winger position, but formed a double tower with Cesco in the Juventus penalty area.
In addition, Wijnaldum and Perrone pressed forward to an area outside the top of the penalty area at the same time. It was impossible for Locatelli and Rabiot to give up the middle and follow to defend Chen Xiaoliang.
So for Chen Xiaoliang, the frontal block by three people turned into a 1+1 double team by Facioli and the winger.
This is much easier.
After receiving the ball, he tried to dribble forward along the right side, but Faccioli and Kostic immediately surrounded him.
He turned around and passed the ball to Binya behind him, then suddenly started sprinting forward in a state of no desire!
After receiving the ball, Binya immediately completed a two-on-two wall pass and passed the ball in front of Chen Xiaoliang. Kostic wanted to block the sideline to stop Chen Xiaoliang's running, but Chen Xiaoliang was now without the ball. He ran outside the sideline, half using his body to force his way through and half using a detour to the outside to forcibly get rid of Kostic.
Kostic wanted to turn around and pull, but he knew that the left center back Sandro was entangled with Abraham behind him, and he couldn't let Chen Xiaoliang pass even if he got a yellow card.
But in the face of absolute speed and hardness, any tricks are futile.
As soon as he stretched out his hand, Chen Xiaoliang had already run away.
After receiving the ball, Chen Xiaoliang made a diagonal run into the penalty area. Locatelli and Rabiot quickly retreated to the depths of the penalty area. Sandro rushed up after switching defense and prepared to block him.
Chen Xiaoliang originally wanted to pass the ball, but there were five or six people surrounding Cesco and Abraham, who were keeping close to them and blocking them. Not to mention their height of 195cm, even if Yao Ming, who is 2.26 meters tall, came instead, it would not have worked.
Chen Xiaoliang took another look and as Locatelli and Rabiot retreated, Wijnaldum and Perrone, who were originally outside the penalty area, also took advantage of the situation and pressed into the penalty area.
But there are still too many people in the penalty area. Even if a reverse triangle pass is made, with such a high density of people, the ball will most likely hit the defender no matter whether it is shot in the near corner or the far corner.
Of course, passing the ball is not the only option for him, he can also shoot from a small angle or switch inside to shoot with his left foot.
These thoughts seemed complicated, but they all flashed through his mind in the distance of about 3 meters between the right penalty area line and the penalty area line.
He raised his right foot, and Sandro, who was approaching, immediately put his hands on his body and moved sideways to block the shot.
When the right foot falls, it forms an inverted triangle!
Wijnaldum and Perrone, who were making the forward run, stopped and tried to reach the ball, but the ball was clearly not passed to them!
At the top of the penalty area, Mancini rushed forward!
If you say he is a good central defender, his defensive ability does have some flaws compared to his partner Guevadiol, but if you say he is a defender with delicate footwork and can get into the offense, few people in the Roma team would disagree.
Chen Xiaoliang's inverted triangle pass rolled smoothly in front of Mancini. The ball was completely stuck to the grass without any bounce. The speed was just right. If it was too slow, the reaction force would not be enough, and if it was too fast, it would not be easy to adjust the shooting amplitude.
Mancini swung his right leg back and kicked the ball with all his strength!
Locatelli and others who had no time to retreat to the penalty area and were blocked by Wijnaldum and Perrone had no time to move forward to block.
There was no one between the inside of the arc where Mancini was and the penalty spot, so his shot had enough distance to fly upwards, over the heads of the densely packed crowd in the penalty area, and into the upper left corner of the goal!
Dense defense is a strong barrier for the defending side in most of the time. Relying on the advantage of numbers and dense positioning in the area, it can help the goalkeeper block a large number of passes and shots.
But in one situation, it becomes a goalkeeper's nightmare!
That is, when a high-quality long shot that is not blocked appears in the fan-shaped area in front of the penalty area, the moment the ball is shot out, the goalkeeper's vision will be completely blocked by the players from both the attacking and defending sides!
Until he heard the crisp sound of the ball hitting the iron frame behind the net, Szczesny was unable to react at all, because he did not see the trajectory of the ball at all!
2 to 1!
Huang Jianxiang: "This goal basically sentenced Juventus to death in this game. If they can defend, they can still take away 1 point. If they can't defend now, according to their offensive ability when they are one man less, it will be impossible for them to equalize the score."
Xie Hui: "Indeed, Di Maria's direct goal from a corner kick in the first half had a certain amount of luck, catching the Roma defense off guard. From a purely offensive and defensive perspective, they didn't have any obvious chances to threaten Roma today, not to mention they were one man short."
Huang Jianxiang: "If it was another coach, they might have taken a gamble, but Allegri will never gamble. At the beginning of this season, his position as coach was very unstable. In the first two months, many Juventus fans asked him to resign. Later, the results improved, but they encountered penalty points. However, the Juventus board will actively appeal and want to retain the opportunity to restore points and fight for a Champions League spot."
"Although Juventus haven't scored many goals this season, they had conceded 21 goals before this round, the same as Napoli and Lazio, ranking second in the league. So they are ahead of AC Milan and Inter Milan in terms of goal difference. Even if they have one less goal in this game, they still have an advantage. If the points are restored in the end, it will probably depend on the head-to-head wins and losses and goal difference to determine who will rank third and fourth."
Xie Hui: "There is no suspense about the first and second place in Serie A this season. Now for Roma, there are two more suspense left."
Huang Jianxiang: “Which two?”
Xie Hui: "The closest thing is how far we can go in the Champions League. With Inter Milan facing Fiorentina in the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia and a great chance of successfully defending the Coppa Italia, can Mourinho reproduce Inter Milan's treble dominance in Rome?"
"The far end is the end of the season, whether Xiaoliang will leave or stay."
Huang Jianxiang: "Do you want him to leave or stay? There are already a lot of discussions and ideas among fans about this topic. Some say he can form a new midfield for Real Madrid and have a greater chance of winning personal honors. Others say he can go to Bayern Munich, where the pressure in the domestic league is relatively low, and he can have a better chance of making a breakthrough in the Champions League or even winning it again."
"Of course, the most common ones are from the Premier League, Manchester City, Liverpool, Manchester United, including those who went to Chelsea and even Newcastle with Mourinho. I saw a lot of them."
Xie Hui: "These are no longer secrets. Whether in China or Europe, Xiaoliang's next stop is already an open secret. I personally think Real Madrid and Manchester City may be better choices. The opportunities for stage, honor and championship are greater, and the heights that can be achieved in his career can also be higher. Of course, our discussion is meaningless. In the end, it still depends on the actual transfer offer and Xiaoliang's own decision."
Huang Jianxiang: "Will you discuss this with him in person?"
Xie Hui: "I haven't had the chance to meet him and discuss it in detail."
Huang Jianxiang: "You can tell him through Sun Jihai and Wu Lei."
Xie Hui: "I don't think it's necessary. There is too much paternalistic management in China, not just in the football industry, but in all walks of life. They intervene in everything and control everything. Young players can never make a breakthrough and always have to wait for the old players."
"I've been to Europe before, and Xiaoliang is in a very good environment now. Both Gerrard and Mourinho have given him enough space and freedom. Coupled with his ability and performance, as well as the team around him, there is no need for people like us to add unnecessary details. We can just watch, appreciate, and look forward to it."
