Chapter 329: A heavy responsibility on shoulders, rushing towards the end of the season
As soon as the game ended, the sensible live broadcast turned the camera to the representatives of the Red Country Olympic Committee in the stands. They were happily shaking hands with their colleagues around them, and then hurriedly left the venue under the escort of security.
Back in the locker room, the players were still savoring the victory, but Mourinho asked them to forget the joy of defeating a "newbie" team with internal and external troubles. Before leaving for the press conference, he asked Forti to play the players a goal clip of another game that started at the same time.
AC Milan tied Real Madrid 1-1 at home. Benzema scored in a counterattack in the first half, and Ibrahimovic responded with a penalty kick as a substitute in the second half, but AC Milan was still eliminated by Real Madrid with a total score of 1-4.
Chen Xiaoliang understood Mourinho's intention. He told his teammates that Real Madrid and Manchester City in the other half of the zone were basically out of the chance to win the league championship this season, and they would focus all their attention on the Champions League next.
It goes without saying that Real Madrid has unparalleled confidence and resilience in the Champions League. As the defending champions, both the coach and the players have rich experience in winning the championship. Last season's final, they defeated Liverpool with a single strike despite being behind, which is the best proof of this.
Manchester City has not won the Champions League trophy for many years. This season, with Haaland's amazing performance, their strength has definitely increased greatly in the cup competitions with sufficient preparation time.
Although the match between Manchester City and Bayern will not be decided until the next day, neither team is easy to deal with.
The winner will have to play a two-round semi-final against Real Madrid to decide who will advance to the final.
For Roma, whether facing Inter Milan or Benfica in the semi-finals, they will be seemingly weaker opponents, but if they want to make it to the end, they must not only concentrate on defeating their opponents, but also face the strongest team in the final.
A team that has fought against the champions of the Premier League, La Liga and Bundesliga, it is no exaggeration to call it the team with the strongest strength in tough battles this season. It will also be Roma's ultimate opponent.
In this game, Chen Xiaoliang, who contributed excellent performances on both offense and defense, was named the best player of the game. His 14 skill points became 28 points (33→61) due to the doubling coefficient of Chelsea's elite reputation, plus 28 training points converted from the season BUFF (18→46).
In this game, they continued to keep a clean sheet and scored 1 goal. Including the last away game against Torino, they also kept a clean sheet and scored 1 goal. The two games combined earned them 2 breakthrough points (2→4).
For the giants mission, I drew a card of Ashley Cole dribbling on the left side at his peak (5 minutes). When dribbling on the left side, his dribbling ability is +2.
The card is good, but when Chen Xiaoliang saw Ashley Cole's face, he always felt a little uncomfortable...
That night, the replay of Chen Xiaoliang's goal in which he shot Kepa in the face with two people hanging on his body became the hottest video on the Internet. Many netizens also made two-dimensional changes to it, such as Ten Times Kaio-ken, Shinra Tensei, and Lightning Five Whips, which successively occupied the sports area, game area, animation area, and ghost animal area. Even the "News Lianbo" the next day reported the incident seriously.
The next morning, the team only carried out recovery training. At the end of the season, in order to prevent injuries, Mourinho reduced the number of vacations and instead used recovery training and health monitoring more frequently to control the players ' physical condition in a timely manner.
However, what makes him most gratified is that Chen Xiaoliang's body is like cast iron. He can fully recover with proper rotation and rest. And as long as he is there, the team can ensure that the combat effectiveness will not fluctuate too much after partial rotation.
The next night, Bayern drew 2-2 with Manchester City at their home ground, the Allianz Arena in Munich. Manchester City eventually relied on the first-leg victory to eliminate the Bundesliga giants, which had just changed their coach, with a total score of 3-4 and advance to the semi-finals to face Real Madrid.
In the Roma half, Inter Milan beat Benfica 2-0 at home. Lautaro, who had a sluggish performance in the national team, immediately showed his prowess when he returned to the club, scoring a goal himself and assisting Calhanoglu to score a long shot.
However, neither side was able to score again in overtime. In the penalty shootout, Gonzalo Ramos, a hot player of Benfica and hailed as the next billionaire, missed the only goal. In the end, Inter Milan reversed the game 5-4 on penalties at home and met Roma in the semi-finals of the Champions League.
All major Italian media outlets reported extensively the news that Serie A had booked a place in the Champions League final in advance, something that had not happened in Serie A for many years.
In addition, Juventus and Napoli reached the Europa League semi-finals to face the Red Devils Manchester United and Bayer Leverkusen, and Fiorentina reached the UEFA Champions League semi-finals to face the Swiss team Basel. Serie A's multi-line attacks in European wars and even occupying half of the Champions League and Europa League semi-finals made many people believe that this is a full recovery of Italian football.
The team held a first-team meeting on the morning of the third day, April 15th.
On the 17th, the team will play against Udinese at home, on the 23rd they will play away against Atalanta, on the 27th they will return to their home ground to play the second leg of the Italian Cup semi-final against Fiorentina, and on the 30th they will also play against AC Milan at home.
There are still "plenty" of games in April, but the schedule will be tough starting from May.
On May 4th, they will play against Monza away, on the 7th, they will play against Inter Milan at home in the league, on May 11th, they will play against Inter Milan at home again in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final, on the 14th, they will play against Bologna away, and on the 18th, they will play against Inter Milan in the second leg of the Champions League semi-final.
They will play against Salernitana at home on the 21st, the final of this season's Italian Cup will be held on the 24th, and they will play against Fiorentina away on the 28th.
In the 24 days between the 4th and the 28th, they are scheduled to play 8 games, including major events such as the Champions League semi-finals and the Italian Cup final, which they are likely to participate in. On average, there is a game every three days, and considering the travel time to away games, there is basically no time for rest and proper training.
Because the World Cup is interspersed in the season, this season's cycle will be longer than usual and will not end until early June.
The last round of the league will be against Spezia on June 4. If they reach the Champions League final, they will participate in the final battle of the season on June 11.
With such a schedule, Mourinho must mobilize all the players and coaches. Now that the game has come to this point, there is no need to talk about strategically giving up any part to protect the others. We must grit our teeth and fight for it, never let up, and strive to win it all.
The players then realized why the treble achievement is so rare. They cannot relax in the league and cannot be distracted in the cup competitions. If they lose any game, they may miss out on the honor.
According to the performance in the league this season, they would have been ready to win the championship 3-4 rounds in advance, but this year Napoli was so strong that they held on to the 6-point gap.
Playing a game in a different city every three days is good enough to relieve fatigue, let alone full recovery and intensive tactical training.
After the meeting in the morning, the main players continued to receive medium and low intensity training in the afternoon.
But at the same time, the Trigoria base welcomed a guest, who was the representative of the Red Country Olympic Committee who came from afar.
Dan Friedkin, the owner of the car business, who had been busy with his car business in Florida for many days, flew to Rome overnight to prepare in advance to welcome this distinguished guest.
This is how businessmen in the United States are. On the one hand, they secretly donate money to those who advocate political correctness every day, and on the other hand, they never miss the important opportunity to curry favor with the world's largest market country.
The visit of the Red Country's Olympic Committee representatives was widely reported by the media in Europe and even the United States, but was deliberately treated coldly in the Red Country.
The reason is obvious. The shock caused by football in the Red Country's sports world at this time can no longer be described as a turmoil, it is simply an earth-shaking event.
Dan Friedkin and his son Ryan Friedkin took the Red Country Olympic Committee representatives around the club and took enthusiastic photos with Mourinho and Chen Xiaoliang. Then the representative asked to have a private chat with Chen Xiaoliang.
They are just fellow villagers talking to each other in private, and Chen Xiaoliang is just a football player. It does not involve any secrets and does not violate any rules, so naturally no one would have any objection.
The two of them were walking and chatting near a training ground in the Trigoria base that was far away from the crowd, yet visible to the crowd and quiet.
Chen Xiaoliang saw that they were far enough away, so far that even the lip reader couldn't make out his mouth shape, so he said, "The representative uncle definitely didn't come to me just to ask me if I'm used to it or if my life is good here, right?"
Mr. Representative obviously didn't expect Chen Xiaoliang to be so direct, but he didn't find it strange. After all, this kid who looked only 18 years old had to compete in front of tens of thousands of people every few days. Mr. Big Scene: "You disrupted my opening remarks. I asked a few people who have met you, and they all said that you have wisdom beyond your age. Now it seems to be true."
The two exchanged a few more pleasantries, and the representative said that he did not have much time, and since it was nominally a chat, the time could not be too long. After all, he was a representative of a major country's Olympic Committee, and his every move would be watched by others. Suddenly, he found Chen Xiaoliang and chatted for a long time without planning, and did not allow others to be around, which was bound to arouse endless reverie.
Mr. Representative: “Are you paying attention to domestic news?”
Chen Xiaoliang nodded. Of course he knew.
Europe is not too concerned about recent events in the football world of the Red Country, but they have caused huge news buzz in the Red Country.
In the past few years, many relevant practitioners of Chinese football, from the core figures of the Football Association Cheng, Xu, and Yuan, to coach Li who led the team to be dismissed, and Director Zhu who is based in Europe and has blackmailed Riise, as well as several players and people who have transferred and left the football industry, have all started a new career waiting to step on the sewing machine.
Mr. Representative: “Do you have any ideas?”
Chen Xiaoliang shook his head: "I don't have any ideas. My idea is to play well in Europe and do well what I can do."
The representative smiled and told Chen Xiaoliang not to be nervous.
He told Chen Xiaoliang that the report materials submitted by Boss Wu last time played a great role in promoting the work. Although the relevant personnel had long been targeted by the inspection department, since the country is governed by law, there must be solid evidence.
As soon as Director Zhu entered, his legs went weak and he confessed everything about him and Reese.
Everyone who goes in will be recruited immediately.
Now that they have evidence, the inspection department can investigate thoroughly and will definitely not show any leniency.
He said that in 2015, the sports industry wanted to reform football, but everyone has seen the results. Football is a concentrated reflection of a country's comprehensive sports level and an important project that gathers the national sense of glory. No one is satisfied with the current state of things.
The goal of this rectification is to start over from scratch, replace people if there are problems with the people, and adjust the system if there are problems with the system.
Chen Xiaoliang walked with him and listened, never saying a word.
Seeing his uncertain look, the representative simply called him out directly: "Time is limited, and we both understand each other tacitly, so I will tell you directly what the higher-ups think."
He said that this World Cup has ended, and the next two World Cups, namely the 2026 Mexico City World Cup and the 2030 World Cup, will be impossible given the current situation and foundation.
The preliminary consensus now is to try to bid for the 2034 World Cup. By then, Chen Xiaoliang, who was born in 2004, will be exactly 30 years old, and the players born around 2010 will be around 24 years old, and will be entering the golden age of their sports career.
Now it is 2023, and the children of 2010 are about 13 years old. The leaders hope to start with this group of children and try to introduce and establish a youth training model that is completely different from the original one, and let the subsequent young players accept this new youth training system in large numbers. This is why he specifically asked to go to Manchester to take a close look at the top clubs that year.
Later, the sports department tried to do some work with Slavia Prague, Atletico Madrid, Local, Wolves, Espanyol, Southampton, Grasshoppers, and even a fund that is still one of the major shareholders of Manchester City's parent company, City Football Group, and so on.
In the end, some are determined to run football but have limited financial strength, some are unable to do much due to the system and cooperation model, some are taking advantage of football to cause capital outflow, and some just want to play and wanted to help, but after experiencing some things, they are no longer willing to wade into the muddy water of Chinese football.
But the overall effect is very limited, or basically zero. Of course, it also has a lot to do with the fact that those who were about to operate the sewing machines misinterpreted the sutra.
But now it’s different. Everyone from top to bottom is very happy about Chen Xiaoliang’s appearance. The representative said that not only himself, but also his superiors will take time to watch Chen Xiaoliang’s games. No matter how busy he is, watching the highlights is one of his hobbies.
In view of the current situation and environment, some people have indeed suggested that Chen Xiaoliang should come back to lead the team to the next World Cup.
But the higher-ups vetoed it. They neither asked nor wanted Chen Xiaoliang to come back now. This was not a singles event. He could win a gold medal immediately by skiing, jumping or naturalizing. It was useless if only one person was strong in an event with eleven people. Everyone knew that this was a pure waste of time and would waste Chen Xiaoliang's sports career.
They hope that Chen Xiaoliang will make full use of his resources and platform to play well and expand what he is doing. When necessary, they are willing to mobilize the national power behind the relevant departments and the platform to cooperate.
Having said that, the representative stopped and turned to look at Chen Xiaoliang. It was time to express his opinion.
After hearing this, Chen Xiaoliang finally resolved his doubts.
As the saying goes, governing a big country is like cooking a small fish, but governing a big country like this is not just one dish, it is a banquet with hundreds of dishes.
You have to prepare the soft and the hard, the cold and the hot. The key is that there are always people with bad intentions outside who see that your family is eating well and want to cheat or attack you.
It's easy to say that there are so many things to do, but whoever does that job has to bear a huge burden.
There is no perfect script in this world. While moving forward at the same pace, a few things may go astray or slow down. Although it is regrettable, it cannot be said to be unreasonable.
Football can never be the most important thing for a country, but it is something that a major country cannot always be absent from.
Now what the representative said was in line with his plan, and Chen Xiaoliang immediately expressed that he would do more within his ability.
The representative patted Chen Xiaoliang on the arm and said, "Don't feel burdened. You are still young. You can walk your own path in the future."
Then the two returned to the crowd. Roma also presented the representative with a No. 53 jersey, which symbolizes the 53rd anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries and has the signatures of the entire team.
After seeing off the representative, many reporters came to ask Chen Xiaoliang what the two had talked about. Chen Xiaoliang simply replied that the elders asked him if he was used to the life there, whether there was tofu pudding in Italy, whether it was sweet, salty or spicy, and other life topics.
Seeing that they couldn't find anything, everyone gave up.
Two days of incomplete training gave 6 training points (46→52), and the team welcomed Udinese at home.
Udinese, ranked 10th, has a balanced offense and defense this season, scoring 38 goals and conceding 37 goals. Moreover, when the two teams met for the first time this season, careless Roma was tied 3-3 by Udinese away from home.
However, although the team was a little tired at this time, the continuous defeats of strong opponents in the Champions League put the whole team in extremely high morale.
Mourinho continued to rotate players actively, sending out the left and right winger combination of Zalewski and Pellegrini. Abraham continued to start. Cesco, who had some hamstring discomfort during training, was kept on by Mourinho and was determined not to send him on the field casually to avoid turning it into an injury.
In the defensive midfielder position, Perrone, who has become more and more adapted to Serie A football in recent years, continues to start, partnering with Cristante. The double central defenders return to the combination of Gvardiol and Smalling. Spinazzola and Celik, who did not play in the last game, are respectively on the left and right full-backs.
There is only one person who cannot be shaken, and that is the team leader Chen Xiaoliang.
However, Udinese gave everyone a "surprise". In the 17th minute of the game, the backcourt organized an attack. The captain, Argentine Roberto Pereira, sent a lob ball. Portuguese striker Beto actually shook off Gvardiol and broke into the penalty area. Due to the small angle, he then leaned on Gvardiol who was chasing back and passed the ball back to another striker, Nigerian Sexes, who followed behind him. The latter shot directly at the left post. Patricio failed to save the shot and Roma fell behind 0-1 at home.
The long-lost opening deficit brought both the fans and players back to reality.
This is not an invincible team. Despite their hot performance, they still have problems of one kind or another. However, it is better for problems to come early than to appear in important games. Soon Chen Xiaoliang led the team to launch a counterattack.
In the 27th minute, Zalewski dribbled the ball forward on the left and then passed it to Chen Xiaoliang in the middle. Chen Xiaoliang took a few steps to attract the attention of two defenders and the penalty area, and then made a penetrating through ball to Pellegrini who rushed into the penalty area from the right after offside.
Pellegrini swept the ball directly in front of the goal, Abraham followed up and shot into the goal, and Roma tied the score 1-1!
The following scene returned to normal operation, with Roma taking the initiative and continuously launching shots, while Udinese retreated and held on, occasionally launching counterattacks.
In the 46th minute, in the first half overtime, Chen Xiaoliang made a large-scale transfer on the right side of the center circle and passed a long ball to Zalewski who was rushing up from the left. The latter did the same and passed the ball to the inside of the top of the penalty area. Perrone followed up and calmly shot the ball to the left post. The ball rolled along the ground and went into the net. Roma overtook 2-1 and Perrone also scored for the second consecutive game.
In the 53rd minute, Chen Xiaoliang, Cristante and Pellegrini made consecutive short passes in the middle, creating an opening and then a 34-meter shot. Udinese goalkeeper Silvestri made a desperate save to block the shot, and then Abraham made a follow-up shot to score, and Roma extended the score to 3-1!
Abraham, who hadn't scored twice in a long time, smiled like a flower, making Cesco and others on the bench laugh.
But the Roma players are not ready to stop. The important initiators of the three goals were captain Chen Xiaoliang, but he has not been able to score a goal today. His teammates have tried their best to help him solve the goal drought of less than 90 minutes.
And they also know that the closer the game gets to the second half and the more tired the opponent becomes, the better time it is for Chen Xiaoliang, who has almost unlimited physical strength, to perform.
In the 74th minute, during Roma's counterattack, Chen Xiaoliang made a crazy advance along the middle, attracting a desperate double-team from three players. He passed the ball directly to Spinazzola who was on the left. When the latter broke into the penalty area from the left rib and approached the small penalty area, he made a triangle pass back to Chen Xiaoliang who had advanced to the front of the penalty spot.
Chen Xiaoliang squeezed past two defenders and fell to the ground to shoot before the goalkeeper could make a move. Although Udinese goalkeeper Silvestri touched the ball, he was unable to change the trajectory of the ball. In the end, Roma won the game 4-1!
