There are five games left, but they are five points behind the leader Florence. This situation makes almost a Juventus fan feel desperate. Juventus fans can’t figure out how the team performed so strongly in the season, and a wave of winning streak made all Serie A teams silent. Even Florence was crushed by them. Why is it that Viola is behind now?
Of course, Mourinho also paid a considerable price for maintaining the hardwon advantage of points in the doublematch schedule for a week in a row. This is not because Lazio did its best in the first leg of the Champions League semifinal in the middle of the week. Lazio invested too much energy in the league battlefield. Florence lost a goal at the Olympic Stadium and was grabbed by the Biancocelesti to advance to the final.
Although I was prepared for losing to Lazio, Mancini’s remarks at the postmatch press conference still made Mourinho quite unhappy. We have now found a way to deal with Florence. The victory of this game is the best evidence, and after nearly a season of runningin, the team’s chemical reaction is getting better and better. I believe that if we play normally in the next games, we have a good chance to bring the St. Ballard Cup back to Rome by the end of the season!
I have to say that at this time, Mancini, while boasting about the great victory of the Biancocelesti, selectively looked at the precarious situation of Lazio in the league standings (in order to make a breakthrough in the Champions League, the Biancocelesti is currently only ranked fifth in the league), and the reporters present took care not to pour cold water on the proud Manjo in Lazio.
Slice! If Juventus hadn’t chased us in the league until now and refused to announce its withdrawal from the title race, we wouldn’t be able to go to Lazio in the Champions League and how could we have a chance to beat us! After leaving the press conference, Mourinho angrily told Lala that the latter could calm the Portuguese with a wry smile at this time and went to Mancini for a real PK.
However, no matter how unhappy Mourinho is, and how many reasons and feelings Florence lost to Lazio, the Portuguese coach will have to wait until the second leg of the match a week later if he wants to get back.
Chapter 1329 The final is in danger?
The semifinal first leg was defeated by Lazio 20, which cast a shadow over Florence’s promotion.
After all, although Mancini’s coaching ability and hardfought level have been criticized for a long time, this Lazio team is really good. In Abramovich’s open pocket, Lazio is already the firstclass configuration in Europe, from the main lineup to the bench. Even Florence is not as good as the Biancocelesti at this time. Therefore, it is quite difficult for Mourinho to make a reversal in the second round and eliminate Lazio in the semifinal.
We should know that although Mancini has no talent in training the team’s offense, most of the time he relies on the star’s personal play and an epiphany to solve the problem, but on the defensive end, the former Italian international is a good player. Don’t say that just before Abramovich took office, Mancini was able to reknead the aging defense line after losing Grandoni into a whole and rely on this defense line to almost qualify for the Champions League, which fully reflected the young marshal’s ability and talent in defense.
Most people in Lazio are not optimistic that Fiorentina can attack and settle the Biancocelesti before being scored by their opponents.
However, before that, Mourinho and Fiorentina players must first solve a strong enemy and ensure their advantage in the league battlefield before they can have time to think about how to deal with Lazio.
On May 1st, the 34th cycle of Serie A came to Frankie Stadium, and Florence faced the challenge of AC Milan.
For Florence, a direct confrontation with AC Milan is equally important, because the outcome of the game will largely determine the trend of the title battle between Florence and Juventus. If Florence wins, it will lead the second place by five points in four rounds, and their hope of winning the Serie A championship will be further increased; If Florence is drawn by the Rossoneri and even loses at home, Juventus may take the opportunity to narrow the gap and blow the counterattack horn again.
Mourinho dare not pin his hopes on Bologna (Juventus’ opponent in the round league) and expect them to give the Bianconeri a good look at the Alpi Stadium. It is better to ask for help than to ask for it. No one can put his hopes on the opponent’s initiative.
It is safer to wait for Juventus to take the initiative to make mistakes and lose points in the league than to take the initiative to lock the championship trophy before winning the next four rounds of the league.
Therefore, Florence, the main force, and the plan to add some obstacles to the road of Viola’s championship competition, AC Milan killed a dark place at Frankie Stadium. Players from both sides played everywhere and fell to the ground frequently in the process of physical confrontation and ball competition, forcing Luo Saidi to blow his whistle frequently to interrupt the game in order to make the players calm down and avoid worse events.
It is reasonable to say that AC Milan should also prepare for the semifinal of the Champions League. At this time, AC Milan should not die with Florence in the league because the Rossoneri have now locked in the third place in the league, but it is necessary to ensure the team’s qualification for the Champions League this season.
However, at this time, AC Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti’s personal will played a decisive role. This coach, who has a lot of entanglements with Florence in his coaching career, is bent on ruining the other side’s hope of winning the league championship trophy. At least, he should make enough trouble for Viola in the game, consume their physical strength and make them not have enough energy to cope with the second leg against Lazio in three days and create opportunities for the Biancocelesti to advance to the Champions League final.
Of course, Ancelotti didn’t do this because his mother wanted to help Lazio, but because Lazio, who has less experience in European games than Florence and the same number of veterans, wants to meet his opponent in the Champions League final most.
Although AC Milan’s tenacious resistance has brought some troubles to Florence, compared with the Florence players who chose to retain their strength in the Champions League in midweek, their physical fitness and competitive state are relatively good. They only fought Eindhoven for 90 minutes three days ago. AC Milan players are suspicious of staying in the wind in these two aspects, and with the deepening of the game and the passage of time, the Rossoneri’s disadvantages in this area have become more and more obvious and finally planted in this area!
Ancelotti is such a fool, Mourinho said naively to Lala after the team beat AC Milan 31. Why doesn’t he want to make trouble for Florence and AC Milan will consume too much physical strength because of this game, making it difficult for them to meet the challenge of Eindhoven at their best?
Maybe it’s because coach Ancelotti thinks that Eindhoven’s strength is difficult to create many obstacles for them to advance to the final. For Ancelotti’s move, Lala can also guess so. After all, Anpang’s tactic of killing one thousand enemies is really unwise in his view.
Hehe Mourinho smiled and didn’t continue to discuss this topic. The Portuguese knew that Hiddink won the fourth place in the World Cup in 2002. Although there was great controversy, his coaching ability was recognized by people. Therefore, if Ancelotti underestimated Hiddink, it would probably be overwhelmed by this Dutchman.
In addition, after 34 seasons of that upset, if someone still looks at a game with the mentality that a strong team will win, then reality will teach this guy to turn over a new leaf.
Three days after defeating AC Milan, the second leg of the semifinal of the European Cup between Florence and Lazio started as scheduled at Frankie Stadium on May 4th!
Because the result of this game will directly determine whether Florence can reach the Champions League final, it is natural for Florence fans to show their support for the team at this critical moment. So when the players from both sides walked out of the player channel, Lazio was dismayed to find that more than 30,000 tickets seemed to have been secured by Florence fans except for the thousands of tickets that UEFA stipulated must be reserved for visiting fans …
This action of Florence fans led to the complete transformation of Frankie Stadium into a purple ocean tonight. Lazio fans came to the away game with the team and huddled in the corner of the stands to cheer, which was covered by the sound of Florence fans around them.
In this way, Florence and Lazio played the second leg of the semifinal of the Champions League with the enthusiastic support of more than 30 thousand Florence fans and the referee’s whistle!
Chapter 133 A glimmer of hope
Now let’s introduce a game here. The two sides started in Florence tonight. Because Mancini made a big speech at the press conference after the first leg, Mourinho and the Fiorentina players are full of fighting spirit for the second leg against Lazio. They are determined to give Mancini a good look at Frankie Stadium and let this guy know that Florence is not something he can arrange at will. The consequences of angering Viola are absolutely unbearable for him!
The position of the starting goalkeeper naturally belongs to Buffon. Although Mourinho has decided to ensure the top priority of the league title at this time, it does not mean that he will choose to give up this key battle directly. After all, since the team has reached the semifinal of the Champions League and the players have not been troubled by any injuries, and Florence is in the next few rounds of the league, the opponents are either eager for the middle team or have already decided to relegate to the bottom, so it is not unreasonable for Mourinho to give Lazio and Mancini a try in this game.
On the fullback, Mourinho decisively chose Chivo and Zambrotta for defending Ronaldinho’s magical wings, but his physical fitness was much smoother than that of the peak. Carlos sat on the bench and started the central defender. It is still Starr and Lucio. It is a matter of fact that gamberini or thiago silva have not yet competed with them for the starting position.
In midfield, Mourinho sent Makelele, Pirlo and Ballack, the most powerful combination, who can attack and defend well and have rich experience in the game. They are able to cope with most situations and are the strongest link in Florence at present.
Strike line diego milito center Vincent and Cristiano Ronaldo, the two rear players, are separated on the left and right wings. This set of offensive trident has proved to be powerful enough to cause several troubles to Lazio’s defense line that has not yet completed its metabolism!
Lazio are determined to win a Champions League title, and Mancini will also do his best to secure the position of coach of Lazio, including Cech, Maxwell, Favali, Mexes, pancaro, Davies, Deco, Stankovic, Ronaldinho, Giuly and Drogba. These are the eleven starting players of Lazio!
Compared with the beginning of the season, after more than half a year’s adaptation and runningin, Lazio introduced several new signings last summer, all of which have successfully become one of the main players, making the Biancocelesti a blockbuster in the season. They will make it to the semifinal of the Champions League and win at home tonight. They will keep a ticket for the final of the Champions League and hold a enter the dragon exhibition in Florence under the leadership of coach Mancini!
After the game, Lazio, as expected by Mourinho, chose to defend the counterattack. Except for Ronaldinho and Wakuri, other players retreated to the square half to defend. Its intention is naturally selfevident.
What a stupid choice. Because of the prejudice against Mancini in advance, Mourinho naturally sneered at Manjo’s many choices in the formation. It is a good idea to choose defensive counterattack in the case of winning the first leg, but Mancini seems to forget the important point that Deco is never a good point in the counterattack!