Chapter 339: If La is born, why is Liang born? !
There was no suspense in the rest of the game. Inter Milan, from coaches to players, realized that in such a hot atmosphere away from home, if they continued to press forward and attack, they would most likely lose another goal.
The score of 3 to 1 is barely acceptable, but if it was 4 to 1, then the game would really be over in one round of two rounds.
Chen Xiaoliang's perfect arc ball kicked away Inzaghi's plan of counterattack at the last minute. Inter Milan continued its defensive and non-counterattack strategy until the final whistle of the game.
After the game, as if to encourage young people, UEFA gave the best player of the game to Perrone, who scored one goal and made one assist. The young Argentine was very excited and his teammates also congratulated him in the locker room.
On the Inter Milan side, Lukaku was mumbling something as he got on the bus with the main group. Some fans analyzed that he was "mumbling".
To be honest, if it weren't for Lukaku's goal, Inter Milan might not even have the last bit of hope.
That night and until the next day, sports media around the world reported the game, and spent considerable space to reprint and broadcast the scene where the entire stadium shouted "We have a new Pope" after Chen Xiaoliang scored a goal.
What is even more terrifying to the media is that Chen Xiaoliang has completed a "double-double" in the Champions League this season. After breaking the historical record with 10 assists, he has scored 2 match-deciding goals in the first round of the semi-finals, bringing his number of goals in the Champions League this season to 10.
Behind him is Real Madrid's Vinicius with 7 goals, and in front of him is another monster, Haaland with 12 goals.
He scored a goal in each of the two rounds against Bayern, helping the Blue Moon eliminate the Southern Kings. And tonight, after Chen Xiaoliang's performance, the media put all their expectations on Haaland.
After taking the high-speed rail to Bologna, the Roma team rented a conference room in the hotel and watched the first round of the Champions League in the opposite half of the zone in a relaxed manner while drinking drinks.
In the end, Real Madrid drew 1-1 with Manchester City in the first leg at the Bernabeu.
It has to be said that although Real Madrid and Manchester City failed to take the top spot in their respective leagues this season, in the Champions League, the experienced Ancelotti met Guardiola who did not make whimsical arrangements. The level of these two teams can indeed be regarded as the highest level in European football today.
The three lines of the two teams, forwards, midfielders and defenders, can be the main players in any other team. Even the 37-year-old Modric is still running all over the field and is good at both offense and defense.
Although both teams did not completely let go in the first leg, the tug-of-war between offense and defense and the competition between individual players still made many Roma players unable to help but praise.
In comparison, Inter Milan’s timid and inability to attack was really like Cao Pi’s wife entering the vegetable garden - Zhen Ji pulling vegetables.
After the game that night, Mourinho said nothing. He just told everyone to gather at 8:30 the next morning and take the bus to the training ground for training. Then he left humming a little tune alone.
Seeing the expressions of the young men when watching the game, he felt that there was no need to say anything more. Although Real Madrid and Manchester City played high-level football, Mourinho was not panicked, because the outcome of football has never been determined by who is stronger on paper, who is more valuable, or who has more stars.
Returning to his single room at night, Chen Xiaoliang fiddled with the system. The last game gave him 9 basic skill points, plus Inter Milan's doubling factor, a total of 18 skill points (68→86) and 18 training points (24→42).
The card drawn from [Wealthy Family Mission] really shocked Chen Xiaoliang once again...
[Get the Peak Materazzi Talk Card (1 minute)]
[Function: Use words to lure the other party to attack you]
[Attribute: Sportsmanship -3]
The Suarez bite card in the system's card pack was left unused when I integrated 10 cards to upgrade their attributes last time, but today another Materazzi card appeared...
Zidane has retired, where can I find a bald guy to support me...
Chen Xiaoliang didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He turned off the system, had a video chat with the twin sisters for a while, then took a shower and went to bed.
The following two days of rest and training in Bologna were not as easy as imagined, and Mourinho's requirements for tactical classes became increasingly stringent.
This made players who played the whole game in the previous match, such as Dybala, Guevadiol, etc., feel somewhat tired .
Although they anticipated that there would be rotations for this game, after two days of training, when the team gathered at noon to prepare to leave for Bologna's home stadium, the Nerato d'Araia, the list Mourinho reported still surprised all the main players.
Goalkeeper: Svilar;
Right back Bigna, left back Spinazzola, center back Ibanez, and 22-year-old center back William Bianda, who was bought by Roma youth team from French club Lens and later loaned to French Ligue 1 Nancy.
Defensive midfielders Chen Xiaoliang and Tacirovic, central midfielder Volpato;
Left winger Zalewski, right winger Pellegrini, center forward Abraham.
In addition to Cristante, Matic, El Shaarawy and other first-team players, the bench also includes the third goalkeeper on the bench, Boll, Beauvais, and Faticanti and Claudio Cassano from the youth team.
According to the league's fair play principle, a team cannot play passively in order to avoid game risks and preserve its strength. One of the rules is that it cannot send out an all-substitute lineup.
Although after the list was released an hour before the game, it was originally thought that Roma, who had won the championship in advance and wanted to save their strength for the Champions League, would make large-scale rotations, but the extent of the rotation still surprised the fans and the media.
But no one can say that this lineup was playing passively, because the person who led the players into the stadium through the player channel and accepted congratulations from Bologna players on both sides of the stage for winning the championship in advance was Chen Xiaoliang.
He's on the court, who can say this is an all-substitute lineup?
Bologna's head coach Thiago Motta was a member of Inter Milan's treble-winning team that year. He was also the victim who was sent off with a red card by Professor La Masiab for pretending to be injured and falling to the ground to peek in the Champions League semi-final against Barcelona that season.
Whenever talking about Mourinho, Motta calls him "a very special person to me". Now that his mentor's team has won the championship ahead of schedule, he naturally has his disciples line up to welcome him.
Mourinho was also very happy. Bologna is currently ranked 9th in the league. According to the team's lineup, this ranking is quite good. There is even a chance to compete for the theoretical qualification for the European war. After some greetings, the two returned to their respective coaching seats to welcome the start of the game.
After both teams have chosen their sides, the whistle blows to kick off.
Soon, those who thought that today's game would be boring with a group of young players and substitutes on the field realized that they were totally wrong.
Out of courtesy, grace and mentor-apprentice relationship, Bologna lined up to welcome the champion into the stadium before the game. That was a gesture of kindness, but fighting for real on the field was the duty of a professional team.
Motta also wanted to have a good discussion and learn from his mentor.
This group of young players and substitutes of Roma rarely have a chance to start in the league. Although their skills vary and there is still a lot of room for improvement, their attitude is definitely to fight for their lives.
In the 18th minute, Chen Xiaoliang made a cross, Abraham's header was saved by Bologna goalkeeper Skorupski, and then Abraham made a follow-up shot and scored the goal, the score was 0-1.
In the 33rd minute, Bologna counterattacked. Captain Soriano made a lob pass into the penalty area. Gambian striker Barro fought hard against Roma youngster Bian Da. Neither of them could get the ball. The ball was punched out of the penalty area by goalkeeper Svilar. But Soriano followed up and made a lob shot. Svilar had no time to chase the ball back into the goal. The score was 1-1.
Seeing the loss of points, Chen Xiaoliang smiled bitterly in his heart. Well, the breakthrough points are gone again...
The following games became more and more open, and Mourinho, instead of his usual confident look, stood on the sidelines reminding the players, mainly those young players who were starting in the first team for the first time.
Sometimes they were told how to run, sometimes they were told how to handle the ball, making today seem like an internal training match rather than a serious league.
In the 41st minute, Pellegrini took a corner kick into the penalty area. Bian Da headed the ball, but he didn't know where he headed it. He rubbed the ball randomly and it flew to the far post in a strange arc. Bologna midfielder Schuten jumped up and wanted to head the ball out when he saw the ball retreating, but he didn't see that goalkeeper Skorupski behind him had already attacked.
As a result, the goalkeeper's one-handed shot hit Shu Teng on the back of the neck and bounced into his own goal...
Not only did the two of them jointly contribute to an own goal drama, they also collided with each other. The unprepared Shu Teng was hit on the back of the head by his teammate's iron fist and fell to the ground in pain.
Now not only Shu Teng felt pain, but also Auntie felt pain...
The stretcher entered the field, and two medical staff hurriedly put Shu Teng on the stretcher and carried him out. Halfway through, the guy in front ran too fast, and the guy behind jogged after him. The grass on the field was probably sprayed with too much water before the game, so he slipped and fell forward, and Shu Teng on the stretcher fell off again...
Chen Xiaoliang quickly turned his back. He told his teammates not to celebrate after the goal was scored. The other team scored an own goal and was lying on the ground. It was not appropriate for us to celebrate here.
But seeing this scene at this moment, he knew that laughing was a very inappropriate thing to do, but he really couldn't help it, so he had to find Bian Da who was walking back with him and had just headed the ball to an unknown direction, covered his mouth and pretended to discuss tactics with him, and then couldn't help laughing a few times...
In the first half, with the score 1-2, Mourinho replaced Chen Xiaoliang with El Shaarawy, who switched positions with Pellegrini, with the latter playing in midfield and Volpato retreating to the defensive midfielder position.
As soon as Chen Xiaoliang left the field, the hardness of the midfield immediately decreased and Bologna quickly became the side with a clear advantage.
After all, they are ranked 9th in Serie A. Not to mention that Roma has a lineup composed mostly of youth players, even if all the main players are on the field, it cannot be said that they will be able to score easily, because a football is round after all.
After holding out for 30 minutes, Bologna used continuous cross bombardment, and finally substitute striker and former Donghai Haigang team star Arnautovic scored a goal in the melee in front of the goal.
The final score was 2-2. The young players managed to withstand the fierce attack in the second half and avoided defeat in the first league game after winning the championship in advance.
After two days of training (6 points) plus this game (3 points), Chen Xiaoliang easily reached 9 points of training value (42→51).
The team did not return to Rome, but stayed in Bologna for one night and then took the high-speed rail directly to Milan further north.
When we arrived in Milan, from the moment we arrived at the train station and walked through the special passage to get on the bus, we saw Inter fans demonstrating, shouting, and giving us the middle finger from time to time along the way.
Even though they knew their team was in great danger, they must not lose in momentum, or at least in tone.
Anyway, the Roma players will not jump out of the car to look for them, so no matter how harsh the words they say, they have nothing to fear.
Before the game, Inzaghi once again played a low-key and psychological game. On the one hand, he said that the team would work hard to create a miracle, but on the other hand, he said that if it were not for Chen Xiaoliang, Roma would just be an ordinary team.
This means that you, Mourinho, will only rely on Chen Xiaoliang. If you want to prove that you are still a top coach and that the team does have the strength to get to where it is today, then use Chen Xiaoliang less.
But these are the kind of words people say in anger when they are in a desperate situation and have no other choice.
Although many fans were indeed making a fuss, after all, there were probably as many people who hated Mourinho as there were people who liked him, and they were making a fuss saying things like "Roma without Chen Xiaoliang can at best finish sixth in the league and be eliminated in the group stage of the Champions League", but these did not affect the team's preparations at all.
In the second round, the first game became the two teams in the other half of the group.
On the night before the game, Mourinho still gathered his players in the hotel in Milan to watch Manchester City's second match against Real Madrid at home.
Guardiola habitually made a few substitutions, replacing the "shaker" Grealish, who has been in good form recently, with Mahrez in the starting lineup.
The match between the two sides was a replica of last season's Champions League semi-final, with a goal-scoring battle at the Etihad Stadium.
In the end, Manchester City won two penalties and eliminated the defending champion Real Madrid 3-2. This will also be the second time that Guardiola has led Manchester City to the Champions League final.
The opponent in the final has been announced, and the entire Roma team has a greater sense of mission.
They understand that in tomorrow night's game at Meazza, they cannot give their opponents any chances, thereby ruining their chance to advance to the top of Europe.
After two days of closed training (3 o'clock, training value 51→54), when entering the field on the evening of May 11, Inter Milan did not make any last-minute counterattacks. Both sides sent their most capable and best-condition players into the starting lineup.
Home team Inter Milan:
Goalkeeper Onana;
The three central defenders are Bastoni, Acerbi and Skriniar;
The wingbacks are Dimarco and Dumfries;
The three midfielders are Mkhitaryan, Brozovic and Barella;
Forwards Lautaro and Lukaku.
At the critical moment, Inzaghi still gave Lukaku a chance. After all, for Roma, Dzeko is a very familiar presence. Smalling, Mancini and others have been his teammates and know him very well.
Mourinho fielded all the main players who had been rested in the previous match against Bologna, setting up a 3-4-1-2 formation away from home and deploying the long-missed three central defenders.
Gvardiol, Smalling and Mancini are in the middle, with Malacia and Celik on both sides. They are more like full-backs than wing-backs;
Wijnaldum and Cristante played as double defensive midfielders, Chen Xiaoliang as central midfielder, Cesco and Kva were in the middle and on the left respectively, one was still a center forward, and the other became a free man in the frontcourt who was both a winger and an inside forward.
Inter Milan did not play defensive counterattacks at home, but took the initiative to attack, and it was a simple attack that was straightforward and not restricted by ball possession.
The two wingbacks flew up and down, made one-two passes, and moved inwards. In short, as long as there was a route to pass, Dimarco and Dumfries would not miss it.
Lukaku was particularly well-behaved today, apparently because he received more ammunition from the midfield and backcourt. He spent most of his time moving in and outside the central penalty area, making full use of his physical advantages and playing the role of the king of sticking. He also frequently used his sense of liking, giving thumbs up again and again to his teammates who passed the ball to him.
But the problem that Inter Milan has never solved this season is still bothering them tonight, that is, the midfield does not have strong penetration ability.
Lukaku was also wronged. When he was substituted in the last game, although he didn't complain, he did feel bitter in his heart.
The ball couldn't pass through the midfield, and the right wing-back didn't come up to support him. He couldn't get the ball under the tight defense in the middle, so he could only actively move to the wing to find an open space.
But even though the team's formation was relatively high in this game, it would be wishful thinking to expect the 34-year-old Mkhitaryan to assist Barella in connecting the entire game.
It is extremely rare to find a monster like Modric who can still run all over the field at the age of 37. Otherwise, how could he win a Golden Ball between Messi and Ronaldo.
Mkhitaryan has clearly reached the end of his career.
There is nothing Inzaghi can do. In the last game, Calhanoglu tried to play as a front midfielder, but the effect was not very good. Sending him at the central midfielder position is equivalent to having one less defensive player in the midfield. After looking around, only Mkhitaryan, who has seen the world, can take care of organization, advancement and defense.
Barrera on the other side also played very torturously, of course, only when facing Chen Xiaoliang.
This all-round midfielder, who was once called "one of the best players in Italy" by Pirlo and the 70 million euro man who once made the top 30 of the Ballon d'Or, just happened to meet an opponent who was better than him in every aspect.
Among his previous midfield opponents, none of them were as good at organizing offense as he was, none of them were as good at defending offense as he was, and none of them were as good at organizing defense as he was. In addition, with his strong willingness to confront and good physical fitness, Barrera can perform midfield duties well in all situations.
But when they met Roma, their opponent was Chen Xiaoliang.
I can’t pass as accurately as him, I can’t run as fast as him, I can’t jump as high as him, I can’t shoot as hard as him, I can’t last as long as him, and the most hateful thing is, I’m not as handsome as him…
If you dribble past him, you will be intercepted. If you stick close to him to defend, you will be dribbled past again. If you jump up to compete for a header, you will be asking for humiliation. If you are not careful, a ball that is passed without knowing why may cost your team's life.
Barrera has never read "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", otherwise he would definitely shout:
Since La was born, why was Liang born?
Inter Milan’s board of directors has also had some “evil thoughts”.
They had applied to the Serie A several times before, requesting the Anti-Doping Agency to conduct a separate B-bottle urine sample test and a surprise inspection on Chen Xiaoliang. Of course, this is not the first time that Roma has encountered such a thing. When Chen Xiaoliang first arrived in Serie A, the first person to make such a request was Fiorentina head coach Idalliano.
Roma has complete inspection records, as well as records of various inspections by the Italian Football Association's Anti-Doping Agency, which are consistent with the official samples.
Inter Milan didn't really think that Chen Xiaoliang had taken drugs, they just wanted to interfere as much as possible off the field before the second round of the game.
Finally, this incident caused Nedved, the Czech iron man who had been in disgrace recently because of the club's penalty points, to stand up and express his support for Chen Xiaoliang.
Back then, he was a victim of doping, which was repeatedly questioned by the outside world because of his good physical strength and running all over the field.
Under the moral judgment of political correctness (Chen Xiaoliang is a minority in Europe) and the refusal to presume guilt, the matter disappeared.
But this instead inspired Chen Xiaoliang's fighting spirit on the field.
Don't you think I'm too good at running? Then I'll run more coverage to show you.
It happened that Mourinho played with three defenders in a counterattack today. Chen Xiaoliang, who was running back and forth in the midfield, was like a bulldozer with a sports car engine, plowing the land back and forth to sweep away any Inter Milan player with the ball who entered his defense area. Even this style of play made many Inter Milan fans who did not always watch Roma games feel that it was a bit like playing street football.
But the effect is really good.
Whether it was the 26-year-old Barella or the 34-year-old Mkhitaryan, they were pushed to the sides of the court by Chen Xiaoliang and did not dare to go to the middle easily.
It's okay if the ball is shoveled away. If you meet a madman, you just accept your fate. But it's not worth it to be shoveled and knocked down by a shovel...
At this point, once the thought of fear is born, it is difficult to dispel it. If the end of the rival mission in the last game against Inter Milan means that the system has determined that Barella is no longer a match for Chen Xiaoliang, then today's active avoidance means that in Barella's heart, he has also admitted defeat to the Roma captain.
The former top midfielder in Serie A has completely fallen into the status of a mortal in front of the cardinal.
