Chapter 345: Serie A comes to an end, Guardiola and Mourinho meet, and the two strong teams move towards the peak of the treble together!
The Juventus team lined up as a group and walked across the podium one by one to receive the runner-up medals.
Allegri congratulated Mourinho in a friendly manner, and Mourinho also shook his hand and said some compliments.
Indeed, with the current situation of the Zebras, they were able to reach the finals of both the domestic cup and the Europa League, especially eliminating Manchester United, who was in good form, in the Europa League semi-finals, and ranked third in the league without any points deduction. Allegri has indeed done a lot of fruitful work under difficult circumstances.
Compliments are not just politeness.
What made Mourinho feel even better was that Pogba, who was sent off with a red card, did not appear in the Juventus queue to receive the award.
If we were to say who in this world would be unlucky enough to make Mourinho happy, Pogba would be ranked second. I'm afraid no one could be ranked first.
As for how Allegri will manage this troublemaker next, that is not something Mourinho needs to worry about. Let him fend for himself.
Afterwards, the stadium announcer loudly called out the name of each Roma player, and the award ceremony, which was already familiar to most of the players, was staged again.
Although they had already won the league title, this was the first major championship they won this season.
Strictly speaking, together with winning the Italian Super Cup in Saudi Arabia in January, this Italian Cup title is already the team's second title of the season.
Mourinho wanted Chen Xiaoliang to be the last one to go on stage, receive the trophy as captain and then hold it high to boost morale and strive for the last championship.
Chen Xiaoliang wanted Mourinho to take the stage last. Not counting the league trophy of this season that he has not yet received, this would be the madman's 30th championship in his career.
Finally, the two of them were humble for a while under the attention of the whole audience, and decided that Chen Xiaoliang would take over the trophy on behalf of the team. Then he and Mourinho each held the pedestal on one side and lifted it up together.
The two put on their medals, took the trophy from the hands of Football Association President Gravina, and walked to the center of the team.
The entire audience immediately cheered like a volcano slowly accumulating energy and finally erupting. As the two men bent down slightly, slowly raised the trophy, and finally held it up high together, shouts rang out:
“Oh~~~~~~ Yeah!”
"Bang! Pop!" Various red and yellow fireworks and golden streamers fell, and Chen Xiaoliang held up the fifth championship trophy in his career!
After the game, not only the Italian media, but also major sports media in European countries reported on Roma's invincible performance in domestic competitions this season.
Now the appetite of all of Europe and even the world is whetted as to who will win the Champions League final in half a month.
Unlike the Serie A which ended its suspense early, the Premier League title race is becoming increasingly fierce. In the decisive battle on April 27, Manchester City defeated Arsenal 3-1 at home, finally falling behind Arsenal, who had led for most of the season, by one point with one game less with only one month left in the league.
In the subsequent game, Arsenal lost away to Newcastle, who had conceded the fewest goals in the Premier League this season and was striving to stay in the top four, and completely fell to second place.
In the last round of the league on May 28, Manchester City, who is leading by 3 points, can win the championship as long as they draw with Brentford. Even if they lose, there is still a difference of 6 goals. Arsenal must win against Wolves and win big to have the possibility of a final comeback.
In addition, Manchester City also entered the FA Cup final on June 2, and their opponent Manchester United was full of injuries, which means that the Blue Moon still retains the possibility of challenging for the treble.
However, these are not what Mourinho and Chen Xiaoliang care about. They cannot control the opponents' affairs. After winning the championship, the team reduced the celebration to the minimum, rested for a day, and took the high-speed rail to Florence to participate in the penultimate round of the league.
The previous championship win earned Chen Xiaoliang 9 skill points (4→13). At the same time, the reward for the wealthy mission was [Juventus Zidane Interior Ball Control Package (five minutes)], which increased his ability to control the ball in the middle of the midfield by +3.
One is the defending champion Red Wolves who won the championship in advance and are preparing to gather their strength to impact the Champions League, and the other is the Purple Lilies who are ranked 12th, neither high nor low, have no desire and only want the season to end quickly so as to start the vacation early. Both teams played very casually, which can be called a health-preserving game.
Before the game, Idalliano also asked the players to line up in the player tunnel to welcome Roma. In terms of the starting lineup, he also rotated and rested several main players who had played more games this season. At the same time, he also told the players that they should play the game seriously, but they should pay attention to their body movements. There was no need to disgust others or hurt Roma's players at this point.
It is always a good idea to leave some way out for when we meet again in the future. No one knows what the situation of this Roma team will be at the end of the season. I am leaving some way out today in the hope that we can be equally gentle when we meet again next season. Otherwise, if we go all out and attack the whole field and commit a massacre, it will affect the seat below.
With a harmonious, friendly and tacit attitude between the two sides, they presented each other with a game that could be described as a high-quality tactical training session.
Chen Xiaoliang did not play in the whole game. He watched the 11 players on the field reduce unnecessary physical confrontations as much as possible and use tactical running and personal skills to implement the established tactics.
There were few pauses and fouls in the game, not to mention quarrels and conflicts, and for a moment it gave people a feeling of the return of pure football.
In the end, with El Shaarawy's assists, Abraham's double, and Pellegrini's pass and shot, Roma defeated Fiorentina 3-2 away and won the 99th point in the league.
On the same day, the last round of the Premier League also ended. Although Manchester City was tied by Brentford away from home, they still came from behind to win the Premier League championship. The young Arsenal could only lose with 1 point, but head coach Arteta still received unanimous praise.
After returning to the Trigoria base, the entire Roma team began to prepare for the final Champions League final.
In response to Manchester City's tactical play, Mourinho and the coaching staff held several meetings overnight and conducted a frame-by-frame analysis of some commonly used tactical routines.
Guardiola is still the same Guardiola, Manchester City is still the same Manchester City, De Bruyne, Mahrez, Gundogan and others are players Mourinho has played against many times, but Haaland, Foden, and Grealish who came to Manchester City have added many new variables to the team.
Haaland, in particular, is a headache for Mourinho. Whether it is speed, confrontation, or running awareness, except for Gvardiol, the other central defenders in the team all have their own obvious weaknesses.
Mancini is good with the ball at his feet and has good passing skills, but he is slow and slow to turn;
Smalling is 33 years old after all. He is good in confrontation and in the air, but his footwork is a little lacking.
As for Ibanez, his personal skills are pretty good, but he is sometimes too reckless and prone to sudden short circuits.
Thinking of this, Mourinho couldn't help but sigh. If he had an extra 30 million euros last summer, it would be enough to buy another strong central defender to deal with today's predicament.
However, compared to Haaland, Manchester City's more troublesome thing is the strong passing and control ability in the midfield and backcourt. Therefore, during this stage, Roma focused its training on how to quickly pass the ball from the backcourt, either by counterattacking or forcing Manchester City's overall formation to retreat, thereby creating offensive opportunities.
At this eagerly anticipated juncture, another bombshell hit. Sheikh Jassim, chairman of Qatar Investment Group, announced that after three months of tug-of-war, he had officially signed an agreement with the Glazer family to acquire Manchester United in its entirety for 5.7 billion pounds. The agreement also stipulated that the new board of directors would pay off Manchester United's debt of more than 600 million pounds in one lump sum, comprehensively renovate and rebuild Old Trafford Stadium, and invest heavily in the club in the summer.
Adding up the total, the Qataris will shell out an astronomical sum of about £8 billion.
This is also the largest acquisition in football history.
After this big news came out, almost all media immediately linked this acquisition to Chen Xiaoliang.
The most authoritative and credible European media, France Football and Kicker, as well as the famous Italian journalist Romano, all stated that Qatar has instructed Manchester United management to buy Chen Xiaoliang at all costs.
The famous toilet newspapers "The Sun" and "Daily Mail" have vowed that Manchester United will offer Chen Xiaoliang a weekly salary of 2.5 million pounds, far exceeding the offer of Mbappe, the current highest-paid player in Europe, and also said that they will invite Mourinho back to Manchester United again.
Regarding this news, neither party accepted any interviews, and Roma's press officer said that everything was a rumor and the club would actively renew the contracts with the two.
In the past few days, Chen Xiaoliang's phone has been almost blown up by calls. The overwhelming media inquiries and tens of thousands of social media messages increasing every hour have made him dare not touch his phone at all.
He had to ask Helena to get another phone card in her name and open a series of social media accounts, so as to maintain necessary contact with his parents, Reese and other closest people.
Erica also did not miss the opportunity to tease him. Since the news came out, she would shout to Chen Xiaoliang every morning and evening when she saw him: "Good morning, Mr. 250~", "Good evening, thank you for your hard training, Mr. 250~"
On May 31, Mourinho simply handed the training to Chen Xiaoliang, and asked physical coach Lapetti and several others to help him continue according to the established plan. He, Forti and chief data analyst Michele Salzarulo went to Wembley in London to watch the FA Cup final between Manchester City and Manchester United the next night.
That night, Juventus defeated Leverkusen and won the Europa League. Even though their penalty appeal was rejected, they actually qualified for next season's Champions League through the Europa League.
While congratulating Juventus, many Italian media also posted a message: "It's up to you, Roma!"
The fully committed Roma players did not slack off at all due to the absence of the head coach.
After finishing the training during the day on June 1st local time, the players were not idle at night. No one asked to go home first. Even many reserve team players who were over 18 years old stayed in the club and watched the game attentively in the conference room with the first-team players.
In the end, Manchester City, with a well-organized lineup, attacked throughout the field and won 2-1 against Manchester United, whose main defenders were missing and who fought defensive counterattacks throughout the game but ultimately failed to hold on. As many people had predicted, they won the double championship of the league and domestic cup after Roma.
After a whole season of ups and downs , there is only one final and most important battle left, and this game has almost all the dramatic elements.
Mourinho versus Guardiola, two old enemies who have accumulated grievances for many years meet again, and both are for their third Champions League trophy;
Roma vs. Manchester City, whoever wins the Champions League will become the eighth team in European football and the second team in their country to win the treble;
Chen Xiaoliang and Haaland, the two people who have created the most exaggerated data in the top five leagues this season, are likely to completely overshadow Mbappe and become the new duo. Whoever reaches the top will definitely be crowned the new Golden Globe winner.
Hotels, restaurants and even homestays in Istanbul, Turkey have been fully booked. The 75,145-seat stadium ran out of tickets half a year ago. Fans who want to watch the game can only buy second-hand tickets at high prices online, from ticket scalpers and on the black market. The seats behind the bench near the stands have even been sold for 50,000 euros each, which is simply insane. But it also shows how popular this Champions League final, which fans hailed as the most anticipated and most eventful in 15 years, is.
But before that, there was a small incident.
On June 4, Roma faced Spezia, their last league opponent, at home.
In this game, Mourinho sent out all the main players, not only to maintain the main players' condition through the game, but also to take the opportunity to practice the counterattack tactics.
But before the game, Spezia's main midfielder Kevin Agudelo took the initiative to find Chen Xiaoliang in the player tunnel.
He told Chen Xiaoliang that there was a flood disaster in his hometown of Colombia, and many people were displaced and homeless. He and his friends were going to launch a charity auction to raise some relief funds for their hometown. He wanted to seek Chen Xiaoliang's help and hoped to get a jersey with his autograph.
Chen Xiaoliang agreed on the spot and said that he would give him his championship suit and medal after the game.
Agudelo was so moved that he almost burst into tears on the spot.
But in the subsequent games, the league championship trophy placed on the sidelines waiting to be awarded after the game seemed to shine with a different kind of brilliance, stimulating Roma's main players to show a bloodthirsty fighting spirit.
In the 7th minute of the first half, Kva passed two players on the left and broke into the penalty area, passing the ball to Wijnaldum to score the first goal;
In the 18th minute, Dybala took a corner kick from the left side. Spezia goalkeeper Dragowski saved the ball before Smalling, but then he lost his balance and fell to the ground. Sesco quickly retreated a few steps and headed the ball into the goal, making the score 2-0.
Then in the 42nd minute, Chen Xiaoliang made a straight pass to the front left in a counterattack. The ball passed between the opponent's midfielder and central defender. Kva took the ball after offside and shot into the far corner, 3-0!
In the second half, Roma did not weaken its offensive at all.
In the 61st minute, Dybala took a direct free kick from 28 meters away from the goal on the left side outside the penalty area. The ball hit the upper left corner of the goal. After passing the wall, the ball flew into the goal along the left post, making it 4-0!
Just 2 minutes later, Roma counterattacked. Chen Xiaoliang passed the ball directly from the backcourt to the frontcourt. Cesco rushed forward at full speed and after receiving the ball, he did not miss the one-on-one opportunity like he did against Juventus. He steadily lobbed the ball into the net at the moment the opponent's goalkeeper attacked, 5-0!
In the subsequent game, Mourinho used up 5 substitutions in a short period of time, and Spezia, whose will had been completely defeated, made a mistake in passing the ball back in the 81st minute and was intercepted by Chen Xiaoliang. Facing the opponent's goalkeeper Dragowski, he unexpectedly did not use his signature shot, but suddenly changed direction to the right when the goalkeeper was about to approach him, dribbled past the opponent and shot into the empty goal!
6 to 0!
A perfect game, a perfect score, and seeing the captain score a goal, it was simply the perfect ending to this season's league!
After the game, with almost no one leaving early among the 70,000-plus people in the stadium, everyone witnessed Roma's fifth league title in the nearly 100-year history of Serie A. What made the fans even more excited was that after achieving consecutive league titles, a result that they had never dared to dream of before, there are actually even greater expectations!
Many of them have already bought tickets to Turkey, and some even choose to take a train to other cities and then fly there because flights out of Rome are sold out.
Even if you can't book a hotel or buy game tickets, you will still set up a tent in the park to accompany your beloved team.
Chen Xiaoliang served as captain for the third time this season and held up the trophy on the podium!
Abraham and Malaysia each poured a bottle of champagne on Chen Xiaoliang's head, soaking him completely.
But Roma was happy, but Spezia players were quite unhappy.
Even though there was a clear difference in strength between the two teams, the score of 6-0 was far beyond their expectations. No one wanted to suffer a tragedy in the last game of the season.
Agudero and his teammates were a little angry in the locker room. They had no intention of paying attention to the award ceremony in Rome and had long forgotten about asking for jerseys before the game.
But after a while, the cheers and celebrations on the field could even penetrate through the player tunnel and the door panels into the visiting team's locker room. However, a Roma staff member walked in cautiously and told Agudero that someone was waiting for him outside.
At this time, Agudelo still didn't remember what he said before the game, but 30 seconds later, his three views were refreshed.
A few days later, Agudero returned to Colombia and successfully held his charity auction. In an interview with the media, he had the opportunity to tell the public what happened at that time:
"I heard someone calling me, so I went out and saw Chen waiting for me outside the door. He didn't want to disturb our team's rest."
"I saw him holding a stack of jerseys in his hands, and I immediately realized that he still remembered what I said!"
"He said to me, 'You can take all these jerseys. Mine has the signatures of our whole team on it.' Then after I took the jersey, he took off the championship medal from his neck and gave it to me."
“I just cried, hugged him and thanked him.”
"Then I went back to the locker room and my teammates were stunned when they saw my eyes were red."
"I flipped through the jerseys and there was not only Chen's jersey, but also Dybala, Kvaratskhelia, Mancini, Patricio, and he gave me the jerseys of the players who played that day. He even had the names ."
"I will never forget Chen's actions at that time."
"Finally, I want to say that on the day of the Champions League final, no matter where I am or what I have to do, I will put everything aside, watch the game seriously, and cheer for Roma."
"I wish Roma good luck, I wish Chen good luck."
