Chapter 82 The Shrinking Schalke IV

On May 11, the day of the UEFA Cup final, new developments about the Calciopoli incident came from Italy.

Juventus Club officially issued a statement announcing the collective resignation of the Juventus Club Board of Directors!

This basically confirms that the Juventus club is related to the allegations disclosed by the media.

In Italy, all eyes are on the progress of the Telpogate incident.

As for the UEFA Cup final, they didn't seem to care.

In this case, Lazio set foot on the field of the final.

Chang Sheng is in the locker room, his suit is straight, as usual.

Most of the players had already changed their clothes and sat in their seats, watching Chang Sheng pace up and down in the locker room.

After stamping for a few laps, Chang Sheng stopped, and then he also looked at his players.

This is the first time in two years that he reached the final of the competition again.

Having not won a championship for two years, some people wonder if they have exhausted their talent and started to go downhill. There is also the media who laughed at him for being so beautiful at the beginning, but he was just a shooting star.

He led the team in Lazio this season and performed well, and even attracted speculation from "someone above", which shows how far his reputation has fallen.

For Chang Sheng, this game is also a chance to prove that he is not dead yet.

He wants to let those who laugh at him know that he is still alive and well.

"Guys, how many of you thought you'd be able to play this kind of game so soon when you got here?" he asked.

No one answered him, because everyone knows that there is no need to answer.

No one could have imagined that they would have the chance to play in the UEFA Cup final.

When Lazio started to clean up, everyone felt that the team's goal for the new season was to avoid relegation. The players who stayed in Lazio began to prepare for themselves.

And those young players who have just joined the team are only interested in being here, and they have the opportunity to participate in more games. That's all. As for the championship and finals, they didn't even think about it.

"But here we are.

That's it. Looking back, the journey went fairly smoothly. No great difficulties were encountered. But this is not our good luck, but our strength. Even if there are difficulties, they are all stepped on by us. For us, the UEFA Cup is a very important game. If someone doesn't know what this final means, I don't mind explaining it to everyone. Seven seasons ago, in the 1997-1998 season, we reached the UEFA Cup final against Inter Milan, and we lost a clean 0-3. Those who were beaten had no power to fight back. Everyone must have seen Ronaldo's pendulum extraordinary many times. That goal was beautiful, but unfortunately, it was us Lazio who gave him the background. This reality is cruel. The goal that has been praised over and over again has us in the background. While people praised Ronaldo for his goal, they also laughed at Lazio. "

"Now we have this opportunity. Wash away this shame. We want to prove to the world that Lazio is not only the background of others, but also the protagonist!"

"Now in Italy, I think everyone is very clear about what happened. This incident has nothing to do with us, but it has affected us. During this period, the media kept asking us whether we were involved in the Phonegate incident, and even Some media questioned that our achievements are all achieved by black box operations. Do they think that every team is Juventus? But Lazio is not! We can prove this to the whole world in this game. Our Lazio Every achievement we have achieved is the result of our own sweat! Such achievements cannot be tarnished by others!"

Lazio are mostly young players, and the characteristic of young players is "great success". It's not a pejorative term here. Young people love praise, they love achievement. These are all positive and are the driving force for their continuous improvement.

Lazio has achieved enviable results. Young players want to hear praise. Such as "Lazio deserved it!" "This is the best Lazio in history!"

Rather than "Lazio's results are all obtained by cheating!" "Lazio's cheating team will end sooner or later!"

When they hear this kind of criticism, they will get angry. They think that the other party has insulted their efforts and insulted their personality. This anger will keep them motivated during the game.

And what Chang Sheng wants is such a result.

Looking at the discontented expressions on the faces of many young people, Chang Sheng knew that he had succeeded again...

※※※

Facing Lazio. Schalke 04's strategy is to defend firmly, strive not to concede the ball, maintain a stable defensive formation, and must not be easily torn apart by the opponent.

Schalke 04 head coach Mirko Slomka believes that as long as his team does this, they can guarantee that they will not concede a goal.

Of course, doing so will inevitably sacrifice scoring ability. Schalke 04's focus is on defense, what about offense?

Don't attack.

Sacrificing scoring ability to achieve an impenetrable defense.

That was Slomka's idea.

In the end, he hopes to take a penalty kick to a showdown with Lazio.

This is a very good idea.

From a strategic point of view, there is no problem at all, and there is a possibility of success.

Because as long as the game can be dragged to a penalty kick, all the advantages that Lazio had before will be wiped out.

What running, what passing, what passing and cutting cooperation, dazzling...all gone.

Penalty shootouts are all about psychology and luck.

At this point, Slomka firmly believes that the German team has an absolute advantage in this regard!

Penalties have never knocked down the German team!

※※※

Under such a guiding ideology, in this final, Schalke 04 shrunk their defense from the very beginning and let Lazio besiege outside. As long as they don't score, they can say anything.

He gave up possession of the ball, and directly gave up all the space outside the 30-meter area, allowing the Lazio players to back and forth outside, watching the ball possession rate rise. Just unimpressed.

In a football match, the maximum number of players on one side is eleven. There are so many football fields, but there are only so many people. If you want to cover everything and take care of every position, it is impossible. Scattering eleven people all over the stadium is simply not enough.

But if you want to shrink all eleven people into the penalty area, it will immediately appear very crowded, and will not give the opponent the slightest space and time.

This is Slomka's tactical thinking.

His team huddled in the penalty area. Lazio can't get in at all.

At this time, no matter how exquisite the pass is, there is no way.

Because there is simply no room for Lazio to exploit!

※※※

"This is really the most dull and ugly UEFA Cup final I have ever seen!" The commentator shook his head and sighed.

A good UEFA Cup final made Schalke 04 like this...

"Speaking of it, this seems to be the strategy that everyone will choose when they encounter a winning team. The last time there was a final with a winning team was the Champions League final in the 2003-2004 season. Mourinho's Porto in that game In the face of the ever-victorious Valencia, they also adopted a completely defensive tactic. Of course, they still lost the game in the end. But at present, the defensive is indeed the most effective way."

※※※

Schalke 04 huddled and defended, Lazio besieged, this kind of game is really not good.

It would be nice if Lazio could regularly threaten Schalke's goals.

The problem is, after Schalke 04 shrinks the defense. If Lazio can't make it in, this game will not be good.

But the two sides of the game don't care whether it's good or not...

Especially Schalke 04. They just want to win.

Slomka looked proud at Lazio, who could only shoot from long distances and crosses.

The game time passed by every minute and every second, and my own goal stood still.

※※※

Chang Sheng really did not expect Schalke 04 to do such a thorough defense in this game.

Because Schalke 04 has never played such a passive and conservative tactic in a game before.

When Chang Sheng saw this scene. It is clear why Slomka did this.

They want to go to penalties.

Although I also arranged for the team to practice penalty kicks before the game, it was simply a routine.

He believes that the focus of Schalke 04's pre-match preparations must be penalty kicks.

They spent a lot of time and energy in the penalty shootout.

In order to be able to beat Lazio in the penalty shootout.

Thinking about it carefully, this is indeed the safest way to beat Lazio.

You must not let the other party succeed.

Considering the finals in this game, Chang Sheng pays more attention to defense. So the game skills he chose are defensive skills such as offside trap, steel warrior and secondary defense.

Unexpectedly, Schalke 04, who had been playing offense in the previous game, suddenly changed to defense, and the defense was particularly resolute. Chang Sheng didn't expect such a large range.

As a result, his three game skills are almost useless.

Maybe just one Iron Warrior would do anything.

At this time, you can't rely on competition skills.

There are many ways to break the dense defense, set-pieces are one, long-range shots are one, and players' personal performance is one.

Because there are special training skills for set kicks, Lazio's ability in set kicks is still good.

But the most important thing is actually the long shot.

Long-range shots not only have the opportunity to go directly to the goal, but also create panic for the opponent.

Because when they discovered that the Lazio players had a high percentage of long-range shots, they would no longer be able to huddle inside and enjoy the goal with peace of mind.

When they want to jump out to block and defend Lazio's long-range shots, there will naturally be loopholes in the airtight penalty area behind them...

In this game, Chang Sheng did not use skills such as precision strikes, but he believed that his team's long-range shots would not be bad without game skills.

So he stood up, whistled, and after attracting the attention of his players, he made a long shot gesture at them:

Long shot!

Whether it's shooting at the goal or shooting at people! (to be continued)