Football Feast, Starting From the Acquisition of European Clubs

   Chapter 318

After    arranged the strategy to deal with the Abu Dhabi consortium, Chen Ran turned his attention back to the team.

  There is no way, some things will come as they should.

  The wheel of history is not something that Chen Ran's small arms and calves can stop.

   Even if the Abu Dhabi consortium really acquired the Manchester City club like in the previous life, it would just add another rival for the championship.

  Crystal Palace, Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal, if you add a Manchester City, the future Premier League will be even more lively.

   On February 17th, in the fifth round of the FA Cup in England, Crystal Palace will meet the challenge of Portsmouth at home.

   However, because on February 20th, the Champions League quarter-finals will be played again, and Crystal Palace will go to Italy to challenge Rome away this time.

   Compared with the Champions League, the importance of the FA Cup is naturally not worth mentioning.

   Therefore, in the FA Cup match, Chen Ran sent a lineup dominated by substitute players.

   Even so, with goals from Dzeko, Mascherano and Yaya Toure, Crystal Palace beat Portsmouth 3-2 at home.

   While reaching the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, Chen Ran also got a "Level 1 Rehabilitation Card" from the system.

   The day after the FA Cup match, Chen Ran flew to Rome, Italy with the team.

   Under the leadership of head coach Spalletti, Roma not only won the Serie A runner-up last season, but also won the Coppa Italia.

   is the only team that can compete with Inter Milan after the outbreak of the "Telegate" incident in Italy.

   Moreover, Spalletti also pioneered a tailor-made set of no strikers for Roma, and even without a serious striker on the field, he still played offensive football well.

   The Champions League draw was won by the defending champion Crystal Palace, which made the club of Rome frustrated from the management to the fans.

   However, Spalletti himself was quite happy.

  Because he is very clear, with the strength of Roma's lineup, it is definitely not as good as Crystal Palace.

   So even if Roma were eliminated by Crystal Palace in the end, no one would put the blame on him.

   In this way, without any pressure, he can instead give Crystal Palace a go.

   Anyway, the worst result is to be eliminated. In case of a miracle, Roma knocked out Crystal Palace, then his head coach must be the biggest contributor.

  So, after calculating the pros and cons, Spalletti made his best strikeless lineup.

  Left midfielder Giuli, midfielder Totti, right midfielder Mancini

   Perrotta, De Rossi, Aquilani

   Left-back Panucci, center-back Mex, center-back Juan, right-back Cicinho

   Goalkeeper Dhoni

   On the Crystal Palace side, before this game, Chen Ran also ushered in a piece of good news. Thiago Silva, who had been sidelined for more than a month, finally returned from injury.

   In the FA Cup game against Portsmouth, Chen Ran sent Thiago Silva on the field to adapt to the rhythm of the game in advance.

   As a result, Thiago Silva's performance was very good, which also made a stone in Chen Ran's heart finally fall.

   After entering the Champions League knockout stage, there can be no relaxation in every game. To this end, Chen Ran dispatched the main lineup that was hidden in the FA Cup.

   Center Tony

   Left midfielder Cristiano Ronaldo, midfielder Kaka, right midfielder Ribery

   Midfielder Vieira, Midfielder Modric

  Left-back Chiellini, center-back Thiago Silva, center-back Vidic, right-back Maicon

   Goalkeeper Cech

  Spalletti's no striker is indeed a bit interesting. When the referee blew the whistle to start the game, there were no Roma players in the penalty area of ​​Crystal Palace.

   This made Crystal Palace's centre-backs very uncomfortable for a while, because they were used to marking the opponent's forwards, but now they found that there was no target.

   Can't keep them out of the box and run to the midfield to mark Totti?

   However, when the ball fell to the Roma team, the Roma players could be seen rushing towards the Crystal Palace penalty area together like a tide.

   Moreover, this tide is also divided into echelons.

   First, Totti, Giuli and Mancini were the first tier, followed by Perotta, De Rossi and Aquilani's second tier.

The advantage of    is that if the attack of the first echelon is blocked, the second echelon can arrive in time, whether it is to strengthen the offensive force or to counterattack and destroy the Crystal Palace counterattack on the spot, it is simply a stroke of genius.

   So, regardless of the fact that there are usually no Roma players in the penalty area of ​​Crystal Palace, but the way they suddenly move forward at the same time, the general team really can't stand it.

   Seeing that the Crystal Palace players were a little uncomfortable with Roma’s style of play, Guardiola approached Chen Ran again.

   "Boss, shall we strengthen the defense of the midfielder?"

   In front of Roma's two-tiered attack, with a total of six players advancing at the same time, only Vieira and Modric's Crystal Palace midfielder positions are very thin.

Chen Ran also discovered this problem, but these players of the Roma team usually shrunk in their midfield and backcourt. Only when they have the ball will they move forward to attack. Once the attack is blocked, they will quickly return to their own half. field defense.

   Chen Ran would be a little unwilling if he sacrificed Crystal Palace's offense to strengthen defense because of this.

   But Guardiola's concerns are not unreasonable. The momentum of the group charge of the Roman team is quite scary. It is indeed a bit thin to rely on Vieira and Modric as the barrier of the back line.

   After thinking about it, Chen Ran really came up with a solution.

   The players of the Roma team started to move forward collectively after they got the ball, so as long as they were not allowed to easily grab the ball, they would naturally have no chance to move forward.

   After making up his mind, Chen Ran turned to look at Guardiola beside him.

   "Josep, you immediately inform the players on the field, from now on, you should fully press and use the set of offensive tactics you designed."

   "Suppress the Roma players in their half. Once they lose the ball, they would rather foul than give them a chance to move forward."

   "Eh, boss, do you mean to suppress the opponent's offensive with offense?"

   Guardiola was taken aback for a while, but it took him a long time to react. His suggestion was to strengthen the defense, but Chen Ran came directly to a full-scale attack.

   "That's right, it's attacking attacking. Fighting attacking, we Crystal Palace have never been afraid of anyone!"

"Ok, I see."

   Soon, Guardiola passed Chen Ran's order to the players on the field.

   Under the gaze of more than 60,000 fans of the home team at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, the Crystal Palace side, except for goalkeeper Cech and two central defenders Thiago Silva and Vidic, all overcame the center line.

   "What is Crystal Palace trying to do?"

   "Too arrogant? This is the home court of Roma."

   "Overall pressure, is Crystal Palace going to launch a general attack?"

   "I didn't expect that the Chinese man was so courageous, and the Crystal Palace's formation was so advanced. Isn't he afraid that Roma would attack them and counterattack?"

"Being so suppressed by the opponent at their own home usually only occurs when two teams are playing against each other. If you can't beat Crystal Palace back, then Spalletti will be too embarrassing in front of the Roma fans. ."

   Seeing Chen Ran's latest adjustment, before Spalletti could react, the commentators of major TV stations were anxious for him first.

   As for Spalletti, seeing the changes on the Crystal Palace field, he couldn't sit still any longer. He quickly walked from the bench to the sidelines, and began to shout loudly that his players could not step back and push back the Crystal Palace formation.

   Originally, Spalletti had already calculated the pros and cons of this game very clearly. Everyone knows that the Roman team is not as strong as the defending champion Crystal Palace. It is normal to lose the game, and no one will blame him.

   However, it is the same loss, and the impact of different scenes will be different.

  Crystal Palace is now pressing heavily, suppressing Roma to the half-time.

   If he loses so suffocatingly, Spalletti can imagine what kind of end he will have in the future.

  From the fans to the media, the overwhelming boos and insults are definitely indispensable, and even the club owner may leave a bad impression on him.

   This was not the result he wanted.

  So, under the strong request of Spalletti, the players of the Roma team began to compete fiercely with Crystal Palace in the midfield, trying to push back the Crystal Palace formation.

   However, Spalletti didn't realize that the Roma team who did so had abandoned their good playing style and began to unknowingly enter the game rhythm that Chen Ran designed for them.

   On the sidelines, Guardiola, Southgate and Simeone got together again to discuss the current game situation.

   "I also suggested that the boss should strengthen the defense of the midfielder position. As a result, the boss not only did not strengthen the defense, but instead attacked in an all-round way. Now it seems that the boss is still very powerful, and one move will disintegrate the Roma team's offensive routine."

  Guardiola sighed while watching the game on the field.

   "Hehe, I don't think that Spalletti is very smart. Doesn't he know that he has fallen into the trap designed for him by the boss now?"

   Southgate pouted in disdain and glanced at the bald head on the Roman bench.

"Gareth, don't be rude. This is Roma's home court. If Roma is besieged at half-time by our Crystal Palace and can't fight back, the head coach Spalletti will be scolded to death. No."

  Simeone helped Spalletti speak a fair word.

   "You said, has the boss already taken into account what you just said, Diego?"

   "I'm afraid that's true. The boss is so smart, what he's best at is digging holes and waiting for you to jump in."

   "Alas, it's so miserable to be a rival to the boss!"

  At the request of Spalletti, although the players of the Roma team ran and scrambled at all costs, due to the personal ability of the Crystal Palace players, it would be difficult to grab their ball if they did not foul.

   Therefore, after robbing for a long time, Crystal Palace still pressed Roma to the halftime.

   However, the physical consumption of Roma players is far beyond normal.

   At the end of the first half of the game, when the Roman players' physical fitness entered a bottleneck period in advance, Crystal Palace finally got the chance to score.

  According to the attacking routine designed by Guardiola, the players of Crystal Palace constantly pulled the Roma team’s defense through short pass coordination.

  Due to the excessive consumption of physical energy, the placement rate of Roma players has dropped significantly, and the situation of being half a beat continues to appear.

   Spalletti on the sidelines also noticed this problem, but he looked at the time and found that the first half of the game was about to end, so he decided not to make adjustments for the time being, and waited until halftime.

   At this time, Modric passed the ball to Ronaldo on the left with a big foot.

   grabbed in front of Roma's right back midfielder Aquilani, Cristiano Ronaldo returned the ball to Chiellini with his head, then turned around Aquilani and started to charge forward at a high speed.

   At this time, Chiellini's position has also passed the center line due to the full pressure of Crystal Palace's formation.

   After receiving the ball returned by Ronaldo, Chiellini, who has been very tacit with Ronaldo for a few years, did not stop, and directly passed the ball forward to Ronaldo who was advancing.

   found that the situation was not good, and Roma's right back Cicinho rushed up to intercept Cristiano Ronaldo.

  Cristiano Ronaldo didn't make any fake moves this time, just slammed the ball forward, and then directly competed with Cicinho for speed.

   Cicinho is also a full-back who is known for his speed, and he has never been afraid of speed.

   But Ronaldo will not make him feel better. While the two are fighting for speed, Ronaldo keeps using his strong body to hit Cicinho.

   And after years of training, Cristiano Ronaldo now has a lot of game experience.

   He didn't hit Cicinho very hard, but he left after one touch, and then left again.

   This will not make the referee blow the whistle, but also make Cicinho constantly sway between losing his balance and regaining his balance, and his speed is inevitably affected.

   Soon, Cristiano Ronaldo left Cicinho behind and charged directly towards the penalty area of ​​Rome.

   This time, Roma's right center defender Juan had to come up to intercept Ronaldo.

   In the face of the tall and majestic Juan, C Ronaldo directly played a trick with his heel. He knocked the ball well with his heel. While shaking Juan to the ground, he also smoothly turned the ball to the inside.

   Before another central defender of the Roma team, Mex, came over to make up the defense, Ronaldo kicked the shot directly, and the ball flew directly towards the upper left corner of the Roma goal like a cannonball.

   Goalkeeper Dhoni's reaction was also quick, he flew up and wanted to save the ball.

  Unfortunately, Cristiano Ronaldo's shot was from a very awkward angle. Although Doni tried his best, he couldn't touch the ball. In the end, he could only watch the ball fly into the goal he was guarding.

   "GOAL!"

   Before the end of the first half, Crystal Palace led Roma 1-0.

   (end of this chapter)