dmims Chapter 24 Puerta Cup
Chapter 24 Puerta Cup
the next day.
It's 9 PM local time in Spain.
The friendly match between Roma and Sevilla at the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán Stadium started on time.
This match was Di Francisco's first test of his core players.
The starting lineup is the strongest lineup currently determined by the coaching staff.
4-3-3 formation.
Goalkeeper: Alisson
Defenders: Kolarov, Hector Moreno, Manolas, Bruno Perez
Midfielders: Strootman, De Rossi, Nainggolan
Forwards: Lorenzo Pellegrini, Dzeko, Perotti
Sevilla fielded their strongest lineup to better prepare for the Champions League play-offs.
Joaquín Correa, Ben Yedder, Nzonzi, Banega, and Lenglet lead the team.
With home advantage, Sevilla naturally dominated the attack, while Roma, playing away, switched from a 4-3-3 formation to a 4-1-4-1 formation on the defensive end.
Chang Huan sat on the bench, watching the game with complete concentration.
The brain will involuntarily think about how to help the team gain an advantage in certain areas if it were in the starting lineup.
Lacking an advantage in absolute speed, even when attempting to break through using changes in rhythm, they are easily caught up by faster full-backs.
Therefore, breaking through can only be used as a means to ensure possession of the ball, and passing the ball to a supporting teammate after gaining space becomes the top priority.
Perotti didn't rush to pass the ball to his forward-pressing teammate, but instead passed it back to Nainggolan who was making the playmaking.
The attack had to be reorganized.
Chang Huan shook his head, clearly disagreeing with Perotti's passing strategy.
Karlsdorp on the right asked, "What are you thinking about?"
"I'm thinking... what choices I would make if I were on the right wing."
What would you do?
Chang Huan explained in English: "While getting close to my teammate who is passing the ball, I will observe the positions of the defenders, prioritize a precise one-touch pass, and actively run to create space if my area of activity is closely marked, then send the ball to the weak side of the defense..."
"I really don't know what your brain is made of, your ideas are too brilliant."
Karsdorp greatly admires players like Chang Huan who use their brains to play football.
"Ha~ Just guessing."
Chang Huan waved his hand and turned his gaze back to the court.
Sevilla's attack was more direct than their own, using the Escudero + Joaquín-Correa combination on the left flank to constantly attack the right defensive zone.
Fortunately, Strootman and De Rossi provided timely defensive support, preventing any decent opportunities.
Twenty minutes later, Sevilla's attacking system changed.
The positioning was changed from 4231 to 325, creating a local numerical advantage on the flanks.
De Rossi, Strootman, and Nainggolan played a crucial role in the passive situation, always providing support when the defensive zone was about to be overwhelmed.
Alisson was also in superb form, making several crucial saves to keep the goal intact.
Dzeko lacks effective support from his teammates and cannot carry the team alone.
The first half ended with the scoreboard still showing 0-0.
Assistant coach Tome called out to Chang Huan, Ünder, and Juan Jesus, who were about to enter the field to warm up: "Go straight to the locker room."
Before the start of the second half.
Both sides made large-scale personnel changes.
The home team, Sevilla, made five substitutions.
Roma made three substitutions.
Chang Huan↑, Yundaer↑, Juan Jesus↑
Lorenzo Pellegrini↓, Perotti↓, Hector Moreno↓
The second half has just begun.
Chang Huan, who was assigned to the right wing by coach Di Francisco's team, has recently increased his training in cutting inside, making his playing style more threatening than when he first joined the team.
However, the Sevilla defenders were very aggressive, and he opted for a relatively safe approach when his rhythm wasn't quite right.
Play to your strengths and avoid your weaknesses!
It mainly uses inward connection.
A broad field of vision and precise, concise one-touch passing accelerates the pace of Roma's attacking play.
When Sevilla's defensive focus shifts to the left flank, he can deliver precise long diagonal passes to the weaker side of the defense.
Turkish winger Ünder, perhaps nervous, had his one-on-one dribble exposed by Korchi.
They were also hit with a highly efficient and rapid counterattack.
Banega received the ball and passed it straight to Nolito, but De Rossi was a fraction of a second too late with his lateral tackle.
Nolito, facing Manolas and Juan Jesus who were retreating, advanced about ten meters with the ball before sending a through pass.
Munir, a product of La Masia, understood perfectly and ran into an open space to receive the ball and create a one-on-one opportunity.
Alisson made a decisive move, but he was tricked and lost his balance, allowing Alisson to score into an empty net.
Di Francisco was very disappointed with Ünder's performance.
It's normal to lose possession when trying to break through one-on-one; the key issue is that the 3-second counter-attack rule wasn't followed when the ball was lost.
This... is a matter of awareness and attitude towards the game.
The game has restarted.
Trailing behind, Rome intended to intensify its attack.
Chang Huan has created numerous scoring opportunities in the past four warm-up matches, becoming Roma's most trusted attacking threat.
Before the match, the Sevilla coaching staff carefully studied the video of Roma's warm-up game and developed a targeted defensive tactic against 17-year-old Chinese player Chang Huan.
Multiple players are surrounding and surrounding the area!
However, Chang Huan was more difficult to deal with than expected. His tireless running and ghostly positioning often allowed him to appear at the best support point.
He was decisive in passing the ball.
It's very troublesome to defend against.
With the game reaching the sixty-minute mark, both sides made further adjustments to their on-field personnel.
Almost all 11 players in the starting lineup were replaced.
The introduction of numerous substitute players caused problems for both sides on both offense and defense.
In the 68th minute, Sevilla made a mistake in passing the ball in their own half, and Chang Huan, on the right side of the penalty area, passed Gonalons' forward through ball to the left.
Using his explosive power to create space in front of the defense, he swung his left foot and curled a shot with the inside of his foot, but the ball went wide of the far post.
Although the shot was far from the target area, it still gave the nearly 40,000 home fans in the stands a real scare.
Chang Huan raised his hands to cover his forehead, scratched his hair hard with his nails, and roared to the sky: "Damn it!"
"Chang should practice his inside-cutting long-range shooting technique more."
Roma assistant coach Tomé said.
Di Francisco nodded slightly: "Indeed."
Three minutes later.
Roma intercepted the ball in their own half and launched a quick counter-attack.
After three passes and two turnovers, the ball was passed by Gerson to the right flank of the attack, about thirty meters from the baseline.
While running, Chang Huan keenly spotted a direct pass route that could break through Sevilla's defense!
He swung his left foot and delivered a high-quality pass.
However, Schick, who came on as a substitute, did not realize that by the time the ball broke through the defense, his running route had been blocked.
Chang Huan created a series of scoring opportunities, and the Sevilla players on the field knew what to do without coach Berizzo having to tell them.
With increased defensive intensity, Chang Huan lacked chemistry with the substitutes, and Xie seemed somewhat unaccustomed to it.
In less than five minutes, the red jersey was covered in mud.
Their performance declined due to being closely monitored.
This is a long time.
Sevilla gradually found their rhythm with the support of their own fans.
The counterattack was well-executed.
81 minutes.
Nolito received the ball on the left edge of the penalty area, dribbled past Fazio, and fired a low shot with his right foot into the bottom corner of the far post.
Sevilla are leading by two goals at home.
"Their teamwork is terrible."
Di Francesco pulled out his notebook and took notes: Tactical integration is imperative!
With the home team leading by two goals, they adopted a tactical adjustment of securing the win.
Roma had few opportunities in positional play and could only threaten Sergio Rico's goal from set pieces.
Time ticked by, and soon the usual ninety minutes had passed.
The second minute of stoppage time.
Chang Huan received Dzeko's pass and instinctively completed the taco, getting past Nzonzi and Escudero.
Ganso, who was defending aggressively, was too slow to react and tripped Chang Huan, who had broken into the edge of the penalty area.
"Beep~"
The referee promptly blew his whistle.
Roma were awarded a direct free kick in a very good position.
With Kolarov off the field, Chang Huan has priority to take free kicks.
The whistle blew.
Chang Huan adjusted her breathing and took two steps to run up.
The ball was touched by the inside of the left foot.
The football, rising rapidly from the ground, spun quickly into the air at a speed visible to the naked eye, bypassed the wall of players, and spun rapidly toward the upper right corner of the goal.
The Seville fans behind the goal clearly saw Rico take two steps to the left.
The body leaps into the air, the movements in mid-air are very graceful.
The fingertips of his left hand, which he had opened wide, grazed the football, which wasn't flying particularly fast.
It was this slight touch that caused the outward-spinning football to deviate from its original trajectory, striking the top post of the right goal at a 45-degree angle and bouncing out.
"Ooh ooh ooh ooh—"
The home fans behind the goal only saw a red figure appear at the ball's landing point before their own players could react, and instinctively let out a gasp.
Rico had barely landed after making the save when he landed, and had no time to react.
Edin Dzeko!
He took a right-footed shot and easily kicked the ball towards the left goal.
He immediately turned to look at the assistant referee, and only when he saw that the other side had not raised their flag did he run into the goal, retrieve the ball, and kick it towards the center circle.