Hero of the Penalty Area

Chapter 58: New Goals (First Guaranteed)

Naples, ranked sixth in the league, defeated ac Milan, ranked fifth in the league. The most intuitive result is that Naples became fifth in the league, while ac Milan fell to sixth in the league.

Naples stepped on the corpse of AC Milan to consolidate their qualifications to participate in the UEFA Cup next season.

And the fans in Naples also found that they are only four points away from Genoa, fourth in the league.

This is not an insurmountable moat, this is a four-pointer that can bring them endless hope!

Two games! With only two games, they may be able to surpass Genoa and set foot on the fourth place symbolizing the UEFA Champions League!

This reality makes Naples fans crazy.

"Why can't we go to the Champions League next season?" Many fans issued such a rhetorical question.

Similarly, the local media in Naples is also asking Mazzari this question.

And this issue is also something that Naples coach Mazzari seriously considered.

The Champions League is obviously more attractive than the UEFA Cup.

If it is purely a comparison, of course everyone will choose to go to the Champions League instead of going to the UEFA Cup. Generally speaking, there is nothing to consider, and there is no need to hesitate.

But what Mazzari is thinking about is-is Naples ready to go to the Champions League?

This season, the team finally qualified for the UEFA Cup through the Toto Cup, but the team’s performance in the UEFA Cup is obvious to all-a mess.

It gives people the feeling that Naples is not ready to go for a walk in the European arena. They were beaten to a loss. They have not been to the European arena for many years. They did not expect that in these years of sinking, the level of the European arena has already reached the level. The upside-down changes are no longer what they were when they won the UEFA Cup.

Originally, according to Mazzari's plan, it was to play the UEFA Cup for another season, use the UEFA Cup to exercise the team, let them feel the atmosphere of the European war and have a first-hand experience of the level of the European war.

Next season, he does not require the team to achieve any good results in the UEFA Cup, but at least it must be able to enter the knockout stage of the game. Then try to get into the top four in the domestic league and get the qualification for the UEFA Champions League.

In this way, the team that has gone through the baptism of the UEFA Cup can avoid becoming the object of the same group of teams to slaughter and score the goal difference in the Champions Cup.

At this moment, he received a call from the boss de Laurentiis.

Since meeting the boss when signing a contract, Mazzari has not contacted the club owner for a long time. The movie tycoon is always busy, and he is more accustomed to contacting the team general manager Marino to report on his work. .

"I read the latest newspaper. Do you have any thoughts, Walter?" The boss was straightforward without any greetings. This was the first sentence of the call.

"Uh... My original plan was for the UEFA Cup..." Mazar told the boss in his heart, and explained his innermost thoughts and thoughts.

After listening to Mazzari's plan, de Laurentiis said: "But the team now has the hope of qualifying for the Champions League."

"After all, that will not be known until the end of the season, Mr. Laurentis."

Mazzari thought to himself that this boss really doesn't understand football. How can anyone think that he can qualify for the Champions League when he sees the current rankings are close?

As a result, De Laurentiis's words made Mazzari almost startled in a cold sweat.

"Well, I don’t know much about football, Walter. But I think no matter what I do, there is always something in common—for example, when I want to make a movie with a box office of 50 million, I always give it to everyone. Make a plan with a box office of hundreds of millions. So even if we fail in the end, we can get a score better than 50 million, and if we accidentally... succeed, then... Hahaha, you know mine Mean?"

Mazzari is not a fool, he knows what his boss means.

"Yes, I understand, Mr. Laurentius." He was still a little scared. De Laurentius' first words seemed to be nothing, but he always felt that the moody boss knew that he was treating him in his heart. Expressing disdain...

"Very good, so let me hear what you think about Champions League qualification?"

So Mazzari expressed his concerns about the Champions League again.

"Well, if the team can qualify for the Champions League next season, who do you want to buy, give me a list, I will try to satisfy you and get our team ready. What do you think?" De. Laurentiis asked.

Mazzari opened his mouth wide. He didn't expect that he would get such a promise in the end.

Naples is famous for its financial stinginess. This can be seen from their “salary cap” regulations. Except for Chen Yingxiong and Arshavin, the team’s highest salary is only 1.4 million Euros. Everyone is only a few hundred thousand euros. A team like Ravizi is a star player who wanted to raise his salary and was rejected by the boss, let alone others.

But today the boss was so generous, it surprised him.

"What do you think, Walter?" De Laurentiis asked again.

"Ah... Ah, this... this, I think... I don't have any problems, Mr. Laurentis!"

Mazzari feels that if the boss is really willing to meet his requirements in the transfer market, then even if it is really a high-income league in the Champions League, Naples and himself may not have the strength to make a breakthrough...

"Very good, so now you can lead the team to qualify for the Champions League wholeheartedly, right?"

"Yes, the team's goal now is the Champions League!"

After Mazzari hung up the call from the boss, his first thought was not to lead the team to the Champions League, but... he was already thinking about which players he would target this summer.

He took over halfway through this season, and the team's situation was not well understood. Due to the limitations of the team's existing personnel, he could not give full play to his abilities. But next season is different, he can participate in the team's construction from the summer. He can give a list of players according to his own tactical ideas, and then discuss with Marino, so that he can make full use of the money given by the boss to bring these people to the Sao Paulo Stadium.

For example, he does not intend to continue to use the risky 343, he intends to use the more secure 433, so that the defense is guaranteed, so he needs a full-back. Lavezi must be sold, this guy is not conducive to the unity of the team, so he also needs a forward...

※※※

When Mazzari rushed to talk to Marino about his vision for the next season, Marino's reaction made him a little disappointed.

"You said very well, Walter, but have you considered the issue of the team's salary? Our team is able to make continuous profit by strictly controlling the team's salary. In this case, we want to attract those players. Joining is a very difficult thing."

"But the boss told me that he would increase investment..." Mazzari felt that the general manager's worries were unnecessary.

"Walter, Walter..." Marino shook his head. "Don't you know that our boss is famous for being'moody'? He is always changing his mind. Maybe you will receive a call from him tomorrow morning, telling him that he drank too much yesterday and asked You better forget what he said to you yesterday..."

Mazzari frowned and left Marino's office. He always felt that his boss shouldn't be such a shameless person, right? No matter how moody, this kind of team's general policy, he shouldn't be so trifling.

However, Marino and De Laurentiis have worked together longer than himself. Maybe his boss is like this?

Forget it, don't think about it.

Mazzari feels that he is a head coach after all, and the management of the team is not his job.

He decided that no matter what the boss thinks, his own efforts to bring the team to the Champions League are always right. After all, this is his record.

※※※

"Well, guys. Now we have to revise our goals." At the beginning of the new day of training, Mazzari greeted the players to gather around him, and he had something to say.

"I know that the local media are also talking about this recently, so everyone should know what it is. What I want to tell you now is-from now on we are no longer pursuing UEFA Cup qualifications, but Europe. Champions League!"

Someone in the team blew the whistle, and others exclaimed. Many more people stared, unable to believe what they were hearing.

"Yes, don't be too surprised. Now that we are so close to fourth in the league, why can't we work hard?"

Chen Yingxiong smiled happily.

Personal goals and collective goals coincide.

"So from now on, you have to pay more in training than before! Let's take a look in the Champions League next season!"

※※※

Goals higher than the UEFA Cup did not let the Naples players retreat, but inspired their fighting spirit.

In the 30th round of the league, Naples struggling to beat Sampdoria 3:2 away. This is a very difficult game to play. Naples finally won. It is the goal of going to the Champions League that inspired the Napoli players.

However, because Genoa also won, they beat Regina 1-0 away.

In the thirty-first round, Naples beat Atlanta 1-0 at home, while Genoa defeated Juventus 3:2. Until the 84th minute, Genoa led Juventus 2:1 at home. In the 84th minute, Iaquinta helped Juventus equalize the score.

This is a good opportunity for Naples to close the points gap with Genoa.

Who would have thought that only four minutes later, Genoa would rely on Palladino's (raffaele_palladino) goal to kill Juventus.

Naples is still fifth.

Perhaps Chen Yingxiong was too excited in the match against AC Milan. In the next two games, he didn't score a goal.

The last time he failed to score more than two consecutive rounds, or before the match against Rome, they lost 0:1 to Turin in the 17th round of the league, and drew Catania 0:0 in the 18th round, and the 19th. In the round 1:2 lost to Chievo, in these three games, Chen Yingxiong did not score a goal.

But he seemed to just accumulate the goals of these three games to the fourth game, and immediately followed him in the game against Roma staged an amazing big four.