Chapter 440: Beat up little Rome?
On the afternoon of September 9th, London time, a bus carrying Roma players slowly drove into the stadium on the road next to Stamford Bridge."Kevin, Kevin!"
The fans were greeting the players on the bus, but the Roma players on the bus simply waved and then pulled down the curtains.
Today, Roma needs to bear pressure from two aspects. One of them is from Chelsea. Facing a team that has won all the Premier League games this season, the pressure on Roma coaching staff must be very great.
There is also pressure from the fans. From the moment the Roma bus entered the Fulham area, it was surrounded by fans. If the London police had not come out to rescue it, the bus would probably still be stuck on the banks of the Thames.
England and Germany, these are the two most passionate fan groups!
Coach Di Francesco couldn't accept the current atmosphere of the team, so he stood up from his chair: "Guys, come on, focus on me. Listen, our opponent today is not easy to deal with, but I need you to cheer up. We are not completely hopeless of winning. Chelsea is not much stronger than us, but if you think you can't win, then we can only say that we have lost."
Di Francesco gestured as he spoke, his hands moving very quickly, but he himself didn't know what the gestures meant.
Italians are like this.
“I totally support it!”
De Rossi stood up. He was not a starter in today's game, but as captain, he felt he needed to stand up like Di Francesco.
"Do you know why Chelsea haven't lost a single game this season? Because they were facing weak teams. But today is different. We are different from those bottom teams in the Premier League. Chelsea will not be our opponent."
This is how De Rossi comforted his teammates, and this is also how he answered reporters' questions at the pre-match press conference.
When the Roma captain said this, Tottenham fans went red.
Am I also a weak team?
……
"CCTV, CCTV, good evening, dear audience friends, here is the live broadcast of the 2017-18 UEFA Champions League group stage, Chelsea's home game against Roma"
"The venue for this game is Stamford Bridge in west London. We can see that Stamford Bridge is full of people today without any surprise."
The camera of CCTV's live broadcast room was focused on the player tunnel. Chelsea captain John Terry was standing at the front of the team holding the Chelsea flag. Behind him were Courtois, Azpilicueta, and Hazard. Jiang Yuan was standing at the end of the team. He was whispering to the little ball boy next to him.
Volunteers quickly ran out from between the players, holding the team flags of the two teams and the Champions League league flag.
The three flags were fully deployed facing the player tunnel, and the referee blew the whistle.
Jiang Yuan pulled the caddy's arm: "We have to go"
“Ce sont les meilleures équipes!”
"Sie sind die allerbesten Mannschaften!"
"The main event!"
"..."
The Champions League March echoed at Stamford Bridge. Jiang Yuan was perhaps even more familiar with this song than Chelsea's team anthem.
Thanks to the singing, he is now a little excited!
After the Champions League March was sung, the players from both teams dispersed and ran to their respective positions. Pogba reminded Jiang Yuan, who then turned his attention to the stands on the south side of the stadium.
Chelsea fans threw out a tifo from the third floor of the stands and slowly pulled it down.
This was an attempt by the Blues fans. Because it was an attempt, it was not as good as the Germans'. The left and right hems of the tifo were not on the same horizontal line. However, the fans adjusted it immediately under the command.
Jiang Yuan pursed his lips and said nothing, because this tifo was for him.
"Hey, well, the home team fans are here to cheer before the game!"
"Jiang Yuan kissed the Champions League Golden Boot, Chelsea fans are a bit arrogant"
"Look carefully, there is a 140M logo on the jersey Jiang Yuan is wearing, hahahaha"
[Fuck, personal tifo, Xiao Jiang is so impressive? ]
[If you find out that your home team may have a Messi and Ronaldo, you may be much more excited than these people in the stands]
[Does this mean that Xiao Jiang can win the Golden Boot again? I have no objection. The problem is that Ronaldo is too strong in the Champions League. Xiao Jiang only won the Silver Boot last season.]
[My opinion is that if Chelsea goes a few more rounds in the knockout stage, Ronaldo's Golden Boot will probably be in jeopardy. Chelsea's performance in the Champions League last season was too f*cking lame]
[It used to be the head coach's tifo. This is the first time I've seen one made specifically for a player. Jiang Yuan must be under a lot of pressure right now.]
[Chelsea fans are very ambitious this season, they want both the league title and the Champions League Golden Boot. Is Tuchel going to replicate Mourinho's peak as soon as he comes to Chelsea? ]
[To be honest, Tuchel has many tactical changes, but Mourinho is also strong. He should be the most suitable coach for the Chinese national team]
[First, let me take a screenshot. The Chinese conquered London. Jiang Yuan did what Cixi couldn't do! ]
"Okay, China Central Radio and Television Station, this game will be reviewed by me (He Wei) and coach Zhan Jun. Let's first introduce the starting lineups of both teams."
Chelsea (3-3-3-1)
Goalkeeper: Courtois
Defenders: Christensen, Terry, Azpilicueta
Midfielders: Kyle Walker, Kante, Hazard, Pogba
Forwards: Willian, Ibrahimovic, Jiang Yuan
Head coach: Thomas Tuchel
"Then it's Roma. The Roma players looked good today. They must have been well prepared for this game."
Roma (4-3-3-)
Goalkeeper: Alisson
Defenders: Kolarov, Juan Jesus, Fazio, Bruno Perez
Midfielders: Strootman, Gonalons, Nainggolan
Forwards: Perotti, Dzeko, Gerson
Head coach: Di Francesco
"Chelsea's starting players are worth almost five times as much as Roma's, but we have also said that a player's value can only represent his personal ability, not the overall strength of his team."
"The overall strength depends on how the coach utilizes these top players from various countries."
"Nainggolan, move forward. This is a bit dangerous. Jiang Yuan, come up..."
"Steal!"
"What a pity! If a defensive midfielder had been in Jiang Yuan's position, Nainggolan might have lost the ball."
"Fortunately, Jiang Yuan is a forward. He really doesn't have much experience in stealing the ball."
Less than 5 minutes into the game, Roma midfielder Nainggolan made a shocking move on the wing.
Although he didn't get it, I have to say Jiang Yuan's reaction speed was really fast.
Kante and Pogba can steal the ball from Nainggolan, but they may not be able to react in time and run up.
Jiang Yuan reacted, but he didn't have Kante's ability.
Unfortunately, Chelsea did not seize the opportunity to score at the beginning of the game.
"What are you kicking? Get the ball and pass it!"
Di Francesco yelled at Nainggolan: "Pass the ball, pass the ball!"
Chelsea's front-court pressing is among the best in the entire top five leagues. Jiang Yuan, William and Ibrahimovic, three passionate guys, always put a lot of pressure on the opponent's defensive players.
When facing this kind of striker, passing the ball directly is a wiser choice.
Nainggolan waved his hand to the coach, then moved towards the middle, with Jiang Yuan following in the blind spot behind him.
Jiang Yuan hoped that his teammate on the right would steal the ball so that he could launch a very quick counterattack. Unfortunately, his teammate on the right failed to steal the ball, so Jiang Yuan had to give up the idea of stealing the ball and run back.
In Roma's attack, Stroman and Perotti made a one-two combination and easily got rid of Walker.
"Come back, come back quickly!"
Courtois started to get nervous and quickly called Terry back in front of him, but Terry did not listen to Courtois' advice. Instead, he rushed forward and stuck to Roma's center forward Dzeko.
After finishing the run, Stroman ran up and made a cross pass to give the ball to Gonalons, but Kante came out from nowhere and blocked the ball.
"Pretty!"
"Kante made an excellent blind spot run, and neither Stroman nor Gonalons noticed his position!"
"Kante, turn around and quickly pass the ball to Pogba. Haha, Kante almost tripped over himself!"
"Now it's Pogba who's dribbling the ball forward!"
The division of labor between the two defensive midfielders in Chelsea is very clear. Kante's task is to intercept and steal in the backcourt, while Pogba can use his excellent physical condition and ball control ability to make a forward move.
Pogba doesn't have speed, but he has height and ball control, and ordinary players can't steal the ball.
Snapped!
A straight pass was accurately given to Ibrahimovic who was in the front. Ibrahimovic passed the ball back to Hazard and ran into the penalty area. Hazard was not in a hurry. He ran forward, suddenly stopped, and then accelerated again. The back and forth movement directly confused Nainggolan who was defending him.
Looking left and right, Hazard really wanted to pass the ball to Jiang Yuan, so he looked to the left first.
Jiang Yuan was trapped by three defensive players, as if he was locked in a cell.
"..."
He passed the ball to William on the right and then walked into the penalty area.
William understood Hazard's intention, and he didn't stick to the ball, but passed it back with one foot.
This is a way of passing the opponent similar to a one-two pass. Hazard temporarily gave up the ball to reduce the opponent's attention on him. The Belgian took this opportunity to slip into the penalty area.
Step on the ball and pull it back.
As Hazard expected, Jiang Yuan has now run out.
boom!
A volley shot hit the crossbar and bounced out. Jiang Yuan was about to give up, but the ball bounced straight towards him.
wow！
The thigh unloads the ball.
then……
A kick in the air!
“GOOOOO—AAAAAAA—LLLLLLLLL!!!!”
"Jiang Yuan, great! Although the first shot missed, he seized the opportunity for the follow-up shot!"
"1:0, in the 9th minute of the game, Chelsea is leading by one goal!"
Jiang Yuan opened his arms and rushed out, his joy overshadowing the pressure he had just felt.
After half a minute of reaction, Jiang Yuan realized that he was really lucky just now.
If Chelsea had been a little unlucky, not only would they have scored one less goal, but they would have also lost possession of the ball to the opposing team!
10' Jiang Y
CHE:ROM
1:0
"Olé Olé Olé Olé~"
"Olé Olé Olé..."
After scoring the first goal, the home team fans started singing as expected.
Let De Rossi show off at the pre-match press conference.
Chelsea has only one mission today, and that is...
Beat up little Rome!
The game continued. In the 20th minute, the screen showed the ball possession rate of both teams so far. Chelsea temporarily led with a slight advantage of 55%.
Di Francesco could see that there was not much difference between Roma and Chelsea in terms of ball possession and tactics.
Chelsea's strength lies in their players' ability to seize opportunities. William, who was ruled out last season, has found a second life and his fancy breakthroughs have given Roma players a headache.
There is also a Jiang Yuan, and that guy is even more amazing.
Di Francesco knew that he lost to the players, but because he could see this, he was very unwilling to accept it. Tuchel did not win by his own ability!
"Tuchel asked Zouma and Hudson-Odoi on the bench to warm up. Many people saw Hudson-Odoi for the first time."
"This player was promoted from the U18 team after Kennedy was demoted. He has dual English and Ghanaian citizenship and is a typical talented player."
"As for Kennedy's demotion, you can search for the specific reasons on Baidu. It's not convenient to explain in detail in the live broadcast room."
"Chelsea started to adjust after scoring a goal. There was no other way. They had just played a game three days ago. Even if modern sports medicine is so advanced, it still takes time for players to recover."
"..."
"Jiang Yuan! Go directly into the penalty area and pass to Hazard!"
"This is an opportunity, let's see if Hazard can seize it!"
"Adjust your pace, the rhythm is very good, Roma's penalty area is very chaotic now, Hazard, push and shoot!"
"Goal! Goal! Hazard made a cold shot in the chaotic penalty area that no one noticed"
"41 minutes!"
"Chelsea scored another goal in the last minute of the first half! The score is 1:2!"
Although the two teams played back and forth on the field, the score and shot statistics gave fans the illusion that Chelsea was suppressing Roma.
This is the characteristic of Tuchel's new tactics. He knows how Mourinho trains the Blues players, so in the early days of coaching, he did not emphasize the team's ball possession so much.
It’s okay to let the other side have possession of the ball.
As long as the opponent's attack is really launched, it will be enough!
Hazard and Jiang Yuan slid out together to celebrate, Tuchel on the sidelines cheered and then sat back in his chair.
The situation of the entire game is still unclear, but the first half was definitely stable.
However, Roma's players were still very powerful. Before the end of the first minute of stoppage time, Dzeko scored in the penalty area and successfully equalized a goal.
"Good shot! Good shot!"
Di Francesco jumped up directly on the spot.
He has told the players that there is every chance of beating Chelsea.
Dzeko's goal perfectly confirmed his words!
An opportunity is an opportunity!
Di Francesco was ready.
We were one goal behind in the first half, but we scored another goal in the second half by taking advantage of the kick-off opportunity.
Then in the 80th minute Dzeko scored a hat-trick!
MVP?
Take it!
Chelsea?
reverse!
……
"Hey, Jiang"
In the locker room, assistant coach Love handed Jiang Yuan two bottles of water.
A bottle of pure water for washing hands.
Another bottle of electrolyte water, this is for drinking.
"Thank you"
Jiang Yuan stood up and took the water, then sat back on the bench.
Tuchel is now snapping the magnetic buttons on the tactical board. He has studied Roma's tactics in the first half and now needs to share this information with the players in the room.
In the visiting team's locker room on the other side, Di Francesco made detailed arrangements for the tactics and substitutions for the second half, and then began an exciting speech.
"We had a difficult time in the first half, but you know, the opponent's game was also very simple. Their forwards consumed a lot of energy to limit our backcourt passes, and their midfielders also consumed a lot of energy to supplement the defense of the three defenders."
"We held on in the first half and even scored a goal. Aidin's goal was crucial. We are not too far behind now."
"Come, everyone, come here"
Di Francesco gestured and the players who understood the signal moved closer to him. The Italian coach put his hands on the shoulders of De Rossi and Dzeko.
"After the group stage, no one thought we could qualify in the same group as Chelsea and Bayern, but I don't think so. Whether it's Chelsea or Bayern, we have a chance to beat them, do you understand what I mean?"
"There are still 45 minutes left in the second half, and we can get 45 points in 3 minutes."
Di Francesco put his hands in front of himself and pushed his palms outward: "Let those British people in the stands know that their home team is not as strong as they think."
……
CCTV5 Sports
"Welcome back, dear audience friends, this is the second half of the Champions League group match between Chelsea and Roma..."
"Rome, the fight is fierce!"
"Roma was much stronger in the second half than in the first half. Now it's Chelsea's turn to be under pressure."
"Let's see if Chelsea can get rid of Roma's frontcourt pressure? Terry ran up directly, wow, and walked forward with the ball by himself. Zouma's move was very bold. Now there is no one standing in the central defender position of Chelsea."
"Zuma, is this how you're going to play right after you came on? Pass the ball to Pogba, and Pogba passes it to Jiang Yuan!"
There was a lot of shock in the stands.
It’s not that Chelsea fans are narrow-minded, but Zouma’s ability to play with fire in the backcourt is too strong.
Although the play was very fancy, Tuchel did not curse anyone, because Zouma's sudden forward pressure did solve Chelsea's dilemma of passing the ball from the backcourt.
Jiang Yuan is very comfortable now because Roma has basically no players on his side.
Just rush forward!
"Very fast, Jiang Yuan! He wants to run out alone."
"Roma sensed something was wrong, Jesus and Fazio were both returning to defence!"
"Unfortunately, it was a little short. Perez blocked the position just in time and Jiang Yuan didn't get the chance to take the lead."
"Cross, Fazio clears the ball and Chelsea get a corner kick"
[Damn... the second half was so much more exciting than the first half, but Jiang Yuan and Kante can really run, being young is good]
[Roma is stronger than expected. They control the ball and press just right.]
[I think we still have to look at Chelsea. Damn, Chelsea seemed to have hyperthyroidism today. A Zouma defender rushed out to pretend to be a midfielder, and Jiang Yuan forced a single shot from the center circle. I laughed to death, haha]
[As long as Xiao Jiang starts, you will definitely see the 100-meter race in Chelsea games]
[This isn't going right, guys. Don't let Chelsea get overturned.]
The CCTV live broadcast room was very lively. Walker raised his big butt and swung his thigh hard to kick out a corner kick.
Move forward!
coming!
Jiang Yuan, who had deciphered the secret code in advance, was entangled with Fazio. In the end, Jiang Yuan failed to push Fazio away, so he could only choose to run to the side and use his speed to get rid of the Argentine.
Find an opportunity to jump.
Head the ball out!
The distance was so close that Jiang Yuan didn't even need to open his eyes to see.
This ball definitely went in.
Shaking his head which was a little uncomfortable after being hit by the ball, Jiang Yuan ran out of the penalty area quickly, slid on his knees and directly tackled Azpilicueta who was running up from the left.
fuck!
Azpilicueta rolled on the ground twice, stood up and followed Jiang Yuan out of the field.
"Can't a person see it when it's that big?"
Alisson yelled at Fazio: "He came in like that, he came in like that! What are you doing!?"
Fazio was a little embarrassed. What happened just now was that he knew Jiang Yuan was running past him, but he couldn't stop him.
His height of 1 meters limits his ability to change direction and accelerate!
Chelsea's players surrounded Jiang Yuanqing and celebrated wildly, while the Roma players put their hands on their hips and looked unhappy.
Originally, the Italians had a relatively good chance, but Jiang Yuan hit them head-on and woke them up.
In the first Champions League match of the season, against Serie A powerhouse Roma, Jiang Yuan successfully scored twice!
"Come here, come here quickly!"
Di Francesco waved to the field, signaling the players to come to the outside quickly.
Jiang Yuan's header made the Italian realize that the tactical emphasis he made in the halftime was not detailed and complete enough.
It is now the 64th minute and Roma has basically lost the chance to counterattack Chelsea.
But it doesn’t matter, you can still get 3 point if you lose 1 points.
There was a change of plan, and they scored two goals in 25 minutes to tie the score!
……
"Hiss, Chelsea's advantage was not that big originally, but they have three goals. With these three goals, Roma is under a lot of pressure now."
"That's right. Actually, Roma had a chance to counterattack at the beginning of the second half, but they didn't seize it. Roma's offensive threat was slightly weaker."
"Fans in the live broadcast room should be able to hear the sound on the scene. The home team fans are putting pressure on the visiting team."
"Can Roma get any points at Stamford Bridge?"
“Oh, here it comes. Hazard’s mistake here is obvious. He is out of touch with the striker. Gonalons reacts quickly and passes the ball directly to Dzeko!”
"Dzeko, slow down actively, he needs to make a choice"
Dzeko was ready to sprint, but he was not a very fast player after all, so he needed to think carefully about this ball.
The changed Perotti is a good passing option!
To Perotti!
Perotti started to go down the field, Azpilicueta signaled Pogba to pay attention to Dzeko, and he ran towards Perotti.
However, Azpilicueta still trusted Pogba too much in the second half. Dzeko made a simple feint and ran directly to an open space in front.
Pogba's defense is useless!
Perotti and Azpilicueta were in a one-on-one duel on the wing, and Pogba ran towards Dzeko in a hurry.
Before Pogba formed an effective defense against Dzeko, Perotti's inverted triangle pass was successfully passed to Dzeko's feet.
A scoring opportunity has been created!
……
(End of this chapter)
