Chapter 350 The Collapse of Naples (Sixty-Three/One Hundred and Thirty-Four)

<> Mazzarri's idea is to contain Lazio's offense through three layers of defense, making Lazio pay a heavy price for every step forward. Then Naples' defense finally huddles in the penalty area, completely blocking Lazio's offensive space. . m

His idea is quite good.

This strategy did create trouble for Lazio in the first half.

As long as Lazio's offense enters Naples' half, their players will face Naples players everywhere.

But Lazio played very patiently.

If they can't score immediately, they won't pass the ball forward - everyone in Lazio thinks that Napoli is planning to counterattack them when they press forward to attack.

But Naples wanted to drag the game into a penalty shootout.

Amidst this misunderstanding, Lazio shook hands with Naples 0:0 in the first half.

During the halftime break, Mazzarri praised all Naples players and asked them to continue playing like this in the second half.

However, some Naples players raised questions.

"Coach, do we really have to persist like this until the end of overtime?"

Speaks of the team's captain, Paulo Cannavaro.

Mazzarri nodded: "That's right. Any questions?"

Paul Cannavaro hesitated for a moment, then shook his head: "No, there is no problem."

Mazzarri didn't want to let him go easily, because he had clearly seen that Cannavaro seemed to be hesitant to speak.

Since the other party is unwilling to tell, then take the initiative to ask.

See if there's anything he didn't consider, which might have serious consequences during the game.

He asked: "It's okay. Just tell me. If you have any problems, it's better to tell them now than to expose them again during the game."

Paul Cannavaro hesitated for a moment, then turned to look at his teammates, and then said to Mazzarri: "Coach. It's actually nothing. I just feel that we are tired after playing for forty-five minutes. If we play for 75 minutes...I don’t know if our physical fitness can last until that time without making mistakes..."

The younger brother of Fabio Cannavaro.

Cannavaro Jr. said.

Mazari frowned.

It's not that he was dissatisfied with Paul Cannavaro's statement.

But he discovered that it was indeed a problem.

He was enjoying himself in the first half, but now he realized that everyone was really tired during the halftime break.

It stands to reason that they did not allow Lazio to score in the first half, which should be a great performance, and they should be happy with their performance.

But during the halftime break, these players were somewhat silent.

Thinking about it now, they were too tired.

But this is only the first half. If a professional player feels tired even in the first half, it must be abnormal.

Although the players' physical strength is not a problem, it only means that they are very tired.

in the first half. They expended too much physical energy.

At this time, Mazzarri began to reflect on the situation in the first half.

First half. Lazio didn't score a goal though. But they have a lot of possession and a lot of movement. Football is always being passed on.

As a result, the defending Napoli players have to keep moving their positions. Carry out corresponding defense.

Although the distance they ran was not too long, they started to feel a lot of psychological pressure.

Lazio will constantly try to pass the ball into the penalty area during the attack. This will make the Napoli players responsible for defense nervous.

Being in a tense atmosphere for a long time can make players more tired than usual.

When Mazzarri thought of this, he understood.

Why his players are more tired than usual.

This is a problem...

Lazio's winning coach is not an idiot.

In the second half, he found that Naples still couldn't hold on, so any fool knew what Naples wanted to do.

Overtime is definitely not Naples' goal, so there is only a penalty shootout.

At that time, Lazio stepped up their offensive, and Naples had little physical strength, so what should they do if they collapsed?

Lazio can score even if there are only five minutes left in the game.

Mazzarri had to worry about that.

But what can be done?

Defending until the penalty shootout was the strategy Naples formulated before the game. A week and a half before the start of the game, the entire Naples team had been preparing for this game.

Now you find that you can't defend it, and you need to temporarily modify your tactics?

That will only make the players more confused.

Mazari is now in a difficult situation.

If you don't stick to it, the consequences may be even worse.

So after thinking for a long time, Mazzarri finally told his players to continue to hold on in the second half.

"I don't know if we can hold on until the end of the game and successfully drag the game into a penalty kick. No one can guarantee this, but no matter what, we should try. Because, very simply, this is the only way we can succeed. Method."

※ ※ ※

In the second half, Naples went on the field with this fight-to-death mentality.

They continued to cause Lazio problems defensively.

And just as Mazzarri was worried, as the game time passed, Chang Sheng realized that his opponent was not trying to counterattack, but was planning to drag the game to a penalty shootout!

He stood up from the coaching seat, waved the flag, and Lazio accelerated the pace of attack.

After passing the ball forward again and again, Lazio's passing and running speeds were obviously accelerated, which made the Naples players feel very painful.

They would be more nervous and it would be more difficult to defend.

This physical strength was like water from a floodgate, flowing away.

Generally, the physical strength of a team will enter a bottleneck period after 75 minutes.

But this time, around the 68th minute, the Naples players couldn't bear it.

There were problems with their originally airtight defense, and the cracks were getting bigger and bigger. Finally... collapsed.

In the 71st minute, Lazio scored the first goal of the game by Candreva.

This goal completely defeated Naples' fighting spirit.

Because the game will enter the "Lazio rhythm".

This is the most terrible.

When Mazzari saw Candreva score, the whole person seemed to have lost his strength, and he was not angry. Without any regret, he just turned back to his seat and sat down quietly.

Staring at the court in a daze.

It was all over.

Naples lost the chance to compete for the only championship of the season.

※ ※ ※

After Candreva helped Lazio take the lead, the game was just as Mazzarri expected. It entered Lazio's rhythm.

Lazio completely took the initiative.

If they want to attack, they attack.

If they want to be fast, they are fast.

If they want to be slow, they slow down the pace and deal with it slowly.

This kind of free-flowing kick made Naples completely unable to adapt.

Coupled with the score behind, the Naples players lost their direction on the court.

Should they attack and try to equalize the score as soon as possible, or continue to defend and not lose the ball again?

The Naples players could not unify their thoughts. They were out of touch in the game.

Such a team. Cannot compete with Lazio.

In the 77th minute. Rocky scored another goal, expanding the score to 2:0.

Everyone understood, even those who still had a fluke mentality. They all understood.

Naples was doomed to lose this game. They had been eliminated in advance!

Lazio will advance to the semi-finals of the Italian Cup, and they have once again reached the semi-finals.

With their league championship basically in hand. If they can also reach the Italian Cup final, the chances of winning the championship are also very high.

If Lazio wins both the Italian Cup and Serie A, they will have another chance to win the triple crown!

If that's the case... that would be amazing!

The reporters in the media seats suddenly thought of this possibility.

They began to wonder uncontrollably whether Lazio would really defend the triple crown.

It's not easy to win the triple crown once, and it's even harder to win it twice. The most difficult thing is to win it for two consecutive years!

※ ※ ※

The game ended with Lazio defeating Naples 2:0 away.

The fans at the San Paolo Stadium almost shouted to the sky, but it didn't save Naples from defeat.

After the game, they seemed a little excited. The stadium quickly strengthened security.

And the Lazio players did not stay on the stadium any longer, and they quickly retreated to the locker room.

Changsheng's time at the post-match press conference was also very short. He only answered four questions.

One of them was about the treble.

When a reporter asked him whether the team would go towards the goal of defending the treble, Changsheng smiled and asked back: "Why not?"

So everyone knew what Changsheng was planning - he really planned to defend the treble!

But now the shock everyone received is not as great as before. They are just surprised, but not shocked, and they will not exclaim "This is a fantasy" or "This is impossible"...

Because of Changsheng's speech on the plane, everyone's acceptance is now very high.

Since Changsheng said that he would take a road that no one else has taken, it must include defending the treble.

If there is no defense of the treble, what is the "road that no one has ever taken"?

Changsheng also thought so, so he now generously admitted his goal for this season.

He was not worried that his words would increase the pressure on Lazio players.

Because he had already tested the players' acceptance level on the plane from Abu Dhabi to Rome after the Club World Cup.

Since the players are full of enthusiasm to be pioneers with him, they should also know what the team is going to do this season.

They have been mentally prepared for a long time.

Now it is time to let them understand this.

So Changsheng admitted this very directly.

I just want to defend the triple crown!

Let me put it here, come and try if you want to stop us!

You are all the touchstones for our final championship, and you will make our championship shine even more!