Chapter 343 At that moment, he raised his hands to accept the worship of all people
1-1, Pogba equalized the score, and the Juventus players who had just blamed him now smiled and came forward to celebrate with him.
Especially the veteran players in the team, such as Szczesny, Bonucci, etc., they all know Pogba's abilities, and of course they also know where this guy's problems lie.
Pogba prefers offense to defense, so his clever header from behind did not surprise his teammates too much. This is the level he should be at when he is focused.
The impact of this goal was not limited to restoring the score to a tie. In terms of confidence, it made Juventus players and fans forget the overwhelming media predictions before the game that Roma would win the championship and the low handicap for Roma offered by bookmakers. They felt that Roma was actually a team with many loopholes. It would be difficult to beat them, but it was far from impossible.
However, the biggest contributor to this goal was the 35-year-old Di Maria. It was his sharp dribbling on the left that created a series of chaos in front of the goal and eventually led to the goal.
Binya defended very hard, but facing Di Maria, even though his opponent was 35 years old, his level was still a little behind.
Chen Xiaoliang went to comfort Juventus when they were celebrating, and specifically reminded him that if he was not 100% sure, he should not take any action easily, but should try to use pressure and obstruction as much as possible, wait for his teammates to come and double-team, and improve the success rate of defense.
Sesco kicked off and the game continued. Juventus continued to play their safe-first football, not retreating too deep, but not pressing too hard forward either. The distance between the three lines was well maintained and the formation was very compact.
Seeing that Pogba was playing with confidence, Chen Xiaoliang began to strengthen the explosion from his side of the midfield. This was not only a tactical plan before the game, but also an inevitable countermeasure based on the situation on the field.
In the 42nd minute, Vlahovic forced a left-foot shot from the penalty area line, but it was blocked by Cristante's leg. Wijnaldum, who was also double-teaming him, got the ball and immediately pushed it to Chen Xiaoliang who was not far ahead.
Chen Xiaoliang received the ball and turned around, immediately moving forward to the left side of the midfield.
Sure enough, after scoring the goal, Pogba rushed over as if he had been injected with chicken blood, and as soon as he got close to Chen Xiaoliang, he began to squeeze him with force.
Chen Xiaoliang could obviously use his speed and body to get rid of Pogba, but he chose not to do so. He used his left hand to block Pogba while keeping control of the ball and moving forward, neither letting Pogba catch up to him nor getting rid of him.
Pogba, who tried to use physical confrontation to slow down Chen Xiaoliang's advancement, found that he could not push him at all, but was delighted to find that Chen Xiaoliang's speed could not be increased any further, so he began to stretch out his right leg and kick to intercept the ball.
For a moment, the two men seemed to be wrestling, one pushing the other with his hands, one stepping on the other to protect.
As a result of this, Chen Xiaoliang's speed really slowed down. Locatelli, who originally wanted to double-team him, was surprised that Pogba defended well, so he waited behind and did not approach him immediately.
It seemed like the defense was quite effective to others, but Pogba was becoming more and more anxious.
"I've used my hands and my feet, but I can't do anything to this kid even after following him this far."
He was a man who held a grudge very strongly. In a panic, he suddenly exerted force on his body. Chen Xiaoliang's left foot was first tripped by his right leg, and then he was pushed by his hand. The whole person immediately fell to the ground.
In fact, Pogba's strength was not enough to shake him. In the process of moving forward, Chen Xiaoliang's own strength completely neutralized Pogba's strength. But at this moment, he was so angry that he stretched out his legs to trip him. Obviously the time was ripe, and Chen Xiaoliang suddenly stopped his strength and let Pogba push him out.
"oh!"
Fans from both teams cried out in surprise at the same time, and the content of their surprise was exactly the same:
"Pogba actually managed to knock down Chen Xiaoliang?"
It’s just that when Roma fans think about it, the emphasis is on Chen Xiaoliang, while when Juventus fans think about it, the emphasis is on Pogba.
“Beep!”
The referee Maria Caputi, who had previously made an offensive gesture when Pogba was pulled and pushed, trotted over and directly took out a yellow card at Pogba.
The Frenchman's eyes suddenly widened like two light bulbs, and he looked at the female referee with surprise and innocence.
He told Locatelli before the game that today's female referee was not his cup of tea, and now his prediction has been proven true!
Volpato, who was sitting on the bench, was stunned. Chen Xiaoliang, who usually seemed to be as immovable as a mountain and indestructible as a diamond, actually fell down like a piece of paper. He couldn't help but say to Matic beside him: "Brother Ma, do you think the captain really can't get rid of Pogba?"
Before Matic could speak, Mourinho, who was standing in front, turned around and said, "What do you think? Use your brain."
Allegri shook his head in disappointment and said to assistant coach Landucci: "This guy has been at Manchester United for so many years, but he hasn't matured at all."
Landucci was helpless: "No one can understand what's going on in his mind."
At this time, seeing that the referee ignored him, Pogba walked up to her and wanted to have a good argument with her, but Di Maria and the captain Danilo ran over and pulled them apart.
Danilo was still polite in his words, asking Pogba to calm down and not to make trouble by getting another yellow card. However, Di Maria, who was very dissatisfied with Pogba after conceding the goal just now, was not so gentle. He directly told Pogba that he should wake up, do what he should do, and not drag down his teammates on the court.
Perhaps because God was afraid that he would be beaten on the spot, he left Pogba a way out. That is, he seldom quarrels with others in person. Most of the time, he does things after the fact or behind the scenes. Getting rid of Mourinho from Manchester United was a major "successful case".
Not only that, after the club officially announced the dismissal of the Portuguese, he immediately posted a photo of himself with a meaningful smile on his personal social media.
When Pogba heard Di Maria's "education" to him, he immediately showed a strange smile, then ran and jumped away, as if he had forgotten about arguing with the referee.
Roma got a free kick, not far from the half-court, 40 meters away from the goal, Cristante made a short pass and gave the ball to Chen Xiaoliang again.
Chen Xiaoliang was still moving on the left side of the center, but this time Pogba returned to his standby state after the start of the game, strolling slowly behind and not coming up to defend...
Chen Xiaoliang deliberately slowed down his dribbling speed, wanting to wait for Pogba. He also kept turning his head to observe the positions around him, but until Rabiot quickly came over to defend him, Pogba was still strolling and did not come over.
As soon as Rabiot arrived, Juventus 's other side of the midfield was missing a central midfielder who could retreat. Chen Xiaoliang immediately transferred the ball to the right and passed it to Dybala.
Facing Kostic, Dybala pretended to cut inside, then suddenly rushed to the baseline!
Kostic immediately turned around to chase. Dybala did not have a clear speed advantage, but the frequency and rhythm of his dribbling were very delicate. Just when Kostic was about to catch up, an emergency stop allowed Kostic, who was originally behind him on the left, to rush to his left front in an instant, then turned around and cut inside to rush into the penalty area!
Seeing Kostic was dribbled past, left center back Danilo stepped forward to fill the position. Only Bremer was left in the middle of the penalty area, and Locatelli immediately retreated to assist in defense.
At this time, Chen Xiaoliang had already cut diagonally from the left midfield to the penalty area line.
Rabiot chased all the way and tried to pull Chen Xiaoliang, but as soon as he grabbed the clothes on the back of Chen Xiaoliang, he was almost knocked down by the force of his forward run.
Facing the double-team of Bremer and Lokalit, Dybala passed the ball back to the top of the penalty area. Chen Xiaoliang received the ball and shot a curved ball with the inside of his right foot!
When the ball rolled towards Chen Xiaoliang, Bremer and Locatelli turned around and rushed out immediately.
One jumped up, the other slid, both used their bodies as shields to block Chen Xiaoliang's shot.
Locatelli really touched the ball, it hit his back, changed direction slightly, and flew out of the right post!
"Woo!" Roma fans sighed in regret in unison.
Corner kick for Roma.
Dybala kicked the ball from the right side, which was slightly inside and was directly caught by Szczesny. At this time, the 46th minute had passed. After Szczesny kicked the ball out after a while, the referee immediately blew the whistle to end the first half.
The score was 1-1 and Roma almost took the lead again before halftime.
Players from both sides turned and walked towards the player tunnel, and Rabiot trotted to Pogba.
He was very unhappy with Pogba's stroll just now, and in the end he was not only embarrassed to defend Chen Xiaoliang, but also almost lost the ball.
Rabiot: "What were you doing? Why didn't you come and help me defend?"
Pogba turned his head in surprise, then shook his head and said confidently: "We don't need two people to defend him. If we put some strength on him, he won't be able to run."
Rabiot: "Are you fucking asleep? Can you fucking handle him?"
Seeing that Rabiot was "unreasonable", Pogba immediately stopped talking, showing his white teeth again, looking at him as if he was an idiot, and at the same time showing his indescribable smile.
The meaning is very clear. There is nothing much to say to a noob like you.
Rabiot was so angry that he wanted to beat him up. If fighting within the team was not a serious violation of team rules and regulations and would result in suspension and fines, he would definitely punch him on the spot.
Damn it, I'm trying to advise you with good intentions, but you're just treating me like a donkey's liver and lungs?
He just said, "Okay, you idiot, just wait."
You know, Pogba is indeed not a normal person, but Rabiot is no worse.
In European football, some fans have sorted out that Icardi's wife, Rabiot's mother, Neymar's father and Ronaldo's sister can be called the four weird flowers in the star's family. Many times the players themselves did not say anything, but these family members made a big fuss.
What the Juventus management team hates most is Rabiot, who brings his mother to the club for salary negotiations. Not only does he ask for an exorbitant amount of money, but he also exaggerates and sells all the negotiation details to reporters afterwards. Not only does he make a profit from the announcement fee, but he also reveals the inside story of the club's operation.
Can Rabiot, who has lived with such a mother for more than 20 years, be willing to endure this kind of tone from Pogba?
During the half-time break, Allegri repeatedly stressed the importance of midfield defense. Knowing Pogba's character, he didn't say it directly, but his eyes were looking at the Frenchman almost 80% of the time, and his meaning couldn't be more obvious.
Pogba was also listening "carefully", his eyes almost never moving away from Allegri, which made the Juventus coach think that he really listened.
However, Pogba is like a student who sees his teacher distracted during class. He is watching but all that comes to mind are images of his mind wandering off.
Although he appears calm and smiling, he is actually outputting a lot of energy in his heart.
"What's so great about that Asian kid? Look how anxious these idiots are, especially that idiot Rabiot. They're so excited about defending an 18 or 19-year-old kid, as if they've never seen the world before."
"Who am I? I am Paul Pogba, the invincible first midfielder today, who can control Deschamps with his left hand and beat Mourinho to death with his right hand!"
"What have I done? 2013 Golden Boy Award, 2014 World Cup Best Newcomer, 2015 FIFA Best Team, 2016 European Cup runner-up main force, 2018 World Cup champion main force, 2021 UEFA Nations League champion main force."
"Four times in the top 30 of the Ballon d'Or, three of which were in the top 15, is that something you weaklings can compare to?"
"Besides, the Europa League Team of the Year, the U20 World Cup Player of the Year, the Serie A Assist King, the Premier League Team of the Season, these personal honors that you have dreamed of all your lives, I don't even bother to mention them."
"You dare to teach me how to do things with your level? Did you take the wrong medicine?"
"What's the big deal about getting a yellow card? I didn't know the kid from the Red Country was so inexperienced. He fell down when I exerted my strength. And Rabiot, that weakling, said he couldn't carry him. What a joke!"
"Just now I deliberately didn't defend and watched them get anxious. Now it seems that the time has come. Since the head coach has spoken and talked so much, I will defend that Asian guy tightly in the second half and make him avoid me whenever he sees me!"
"Oh, by the way, I can also teach that old bastard Mourinho a lesson. It makes me happy to see him lose, hehehe."
Pogba's heart was filled with excitement and turmoil.
In the locker room on the other side, Mourinho focused on arranging targeted defensive strategies for the defenders and midfielders. At the same time, he also asked the players, especially the midfielders and frontcourt players, to try to "get" Pogba off in the second half.
Soon, both sides returned to the field and Roma kicked off the second half.
Cesco passed the ball back and Chen Xiaoliang received it. As soon as the ball reached his feet, he was happy. Look, Pogba is coming, and we were afraid that he wouldn't come.
However, you can't be so direct in luring the other party into falling for it, you have to put on a full show, especially for someone with abnormal brain circuits like Pogba. Normal people cannot understand his world.
Chen Xiaoliang took a few steps forward, and when Pogba approached, he immediately passed the ball back.
Sure enough, Pogba immediately felt proud:
"Look, this kid doesn't dare to fight me physically anymore!"
Roma organized the attack from the wing, with the full-backs joining in and cooperating with the wingers to use the numerical advantage on the wing to implement single-point blasting.
This is also the reason why Spinazzola started today. Like Kva, he is right-footed on the left and can go down the flank and cut inside. The two cooperate well. Juventus, which mainly relies on single wingbacks, can easily lose sight of one while focusing on the other.
Sure enough, after a series of short passes and two-on-one passes back and forth, left and right, and with the support of the left midfielder Wijnaldum, Juventus' right wingback De Sciglio soon couldn't hold on and was completely beaten by Kovač.
De Sciglio kept waving to Pogba. He was a right wingback, and when the opponent's left side was advancing intensively, he needed Pogba, the right central midfielder, to come over and assist in defense.
But Pogba didn't even look at him. He symbolically ran a few steps to the sidelines and pretended to stretch his legs to intercept. After being easily shaken off by Spinazzola, he returned to the rhythm of walking and chasing back.
Kwa made a diagonal run into the left side of the penalty area, but the diligent Gatti rushed out.
The 24-year-old Gatti is a product of the youth training of a small club in Chieri, a small town below Turin. He has played in amateur clubs and low-level leagues for most of the time. In 2020, he joined Serie C Propatria and transferred to Serie B Frosilone in 2021. At the end of the season, he was selected into the Serie B best team. Then in the summer of 2022, he was bought by Juventus for a "sky-high price" of 5.4 million euros in Serie B, completing a three-step counterattack story of a "loser".
After arriving at Juventus and adapting to the game for half a season, Allegri unexpectedly entrusted him with an important task and made him a regular starter. In addition to his solid basic skills, what impressed the coaching staff was his conscientious attitude.
For a player who still vividly remembers his time in the amateur league in his dreams, he cherishes the opportunity before him more than anyone else.
But despite playing repeatedly, his price tag of 5 million still betrays his ability.
In terms of spirit and willpower, he is facing the Georgians at the moment, was forced to leave Russia which was involved in international political competition because of the outbreak of war, was almost without a ball to play and was suddenly spotted by the top five leagues. In terms of cherishing opportunities and risking his life, Gatti may be unbeatable in Juventus, but when he meets Kva, he can only be "slightly inferior in literary talent and charm."
What's more, the Georgian player, who has 14 goals and 19 assists this season, is worth a staggering 85 million euros, which 11 Gattis combined cannot catch up with.
Kva rushed towards Gatti with the ball, first dribbling the ball with his left foot to force the bottom line, then leaning towards Gatti. Seeing that his opponent was approaching and the distance of the dribbling ball was a little far, Gatti immediately exerted force on his body and stretched his feet forward, trying to kick the ball out of the bottom line!
In just a moment, Kva pushed the ball towards Gatti's crotch with his left foot, then stopped suddenly and accelerated, flashing past him from behind!
"Oh oh oh oh!" Roma fans shouted excitedly, not only because it was a clean and smooth pass, but also because he perfectly replicated Di Maria's move to pass Binya in the first half!
Di Maria, who was looking back at his own penalty area from a distance, couldn't help but open his mouth!
The Georgian, who turned 22 on February 12, is faster, more flexible in turning, more coherent in movements, and has a shorter interval between emergency stops and restarts than his 35-year-old self!
The key is that he was able to replicate the moves he had just used in a more gorgeous way in a short period of time, which shows that he not only has outstanding abilities, but also carefully observes every detail on the court every second and is constantly learning!
For a moment, Di Maria seemed to see the shadow of the unyielding, young Cristiano Ronaldo in Kvar!
In a split second, Kva had already rushed to the left corner of the small penalty area. Szczesny chose to rush forward to save the ball, but the Juventus defense, which had already suffered a cross in front of the goal, had Danilo blocking Dybala all the way, leaving him no chance to rush forward to score!
Seeing this, Kva pulled the ball. Szczesny thought he was going to take a step back to increase the angle for the shot, so he immediately opened his arms and rushed forward.
Kva made a triangle pass towards the penalty spot, and Sesco rushed forward to receive the ball and shot to the right side of the goal, but Bremer, the central defender who Juventus bought from Turin for 41 million euros to replace De Ligt, rushed in front of him, ignoring the possibility that his upper body might be kicked by Sesco, fell to the ground, poked the ball, and shoveled it hard out of the penalty area!
The ball flew out, but Bremer's hasty tackle did not exert much power. Locatelli, who was returning to defense, wanted to turn around and rush out of the penalty area to receive the ball, but he saw Pogba running back to receive the ball about 3 meters outside the left side of the penalty area arc.
Locatelli slowed down.
But suddenly, a man rushed out from behind Pogba and instantly overtook the Frenchman!
At this time, all the Juventus players who were looking out of the penalty area, like Locatelli, exclaimed "Oh shit" in their hearts!
He had just slowed down, but immediately burst out with all his strength and rushed towards the ball again!
The Roma players opened their eyes wide, as if they were excitedly looking forward to what they would witness next, just like the fans in the stands!
It was Chen Xiaoliang! He cut in from behind Pogba and took two steps to hit the ball with the outside of his right foot, about 2 meters to the left of the arc.
Locatelli rushed forward to block the ball with his arms crossed to protect his chest. When he saw Chen Xiaoliang shooting, although he tried his best to block the ball, his subconscious self-preservation consciousness as a living being still made him turn his upper body to the side!
The reaction force of the ball coming from the opposite direction, coupled with Chen Xiaoliang's outstanding long-range shooting ability and explosive shooting power, makes this long-range shot with the outside of the foot not only incredibly powerful, but also has a strong outward rotation arc!
Szczesny, who had already stood up, reacted immediately and flew to his left.
But the moment he flew out, he knew it was too late. The ball was too fast and the arc was too strong, so he was so frustrated that he didn't even straighten his left arm...
The ball flew straight towards the goal, then began to spin outwards, and finally drew a perfect arc, flying over the goal line and hitting the right side of the net!
The Roma players in the penalty area immediately rushed over, and Chen Xiaoliang turned around with a smile and opened his arms towards the Roma fans area in the distance, behind their own goal in the second half.
Suddenly, thunderous shouts rang out, and countless fans raised their hands and stepped forward in worship.
Watching this scene, Dilita Leotta, the beautiful host of Italian Sky Sports, who was in the live broadcast room, couldn't help but said something appropriate:
"This is the King of Rome listening to the worship of his people!"
