radicalducati Chapter 31: The Serie A "Chinese Derby" and the "East Asian Derby"?
Chapter 31: The Serie A "Chinese Derby" and the "East Asian Derby"?
"Good good good!"
The first team training ground at the Trigoria training base.
After two days of recovery training, Roma players were very satisfied with the tactical drills conducted by head coach Di Francesco.
This Saturday at 8:45 PM, the team will host Inter Milan at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.
Both teams won their opening matches of the new season, making it a true top-of-the-table clash.
This league match was also the only high-profile clash between two strong teams in the second round of the 2017-2018 Serie A season.
The players are in excellent form, which means there is a higher chance of beating Inter Milan at home.
The coaching staff was extremely satisfied with Chang Huan's performance in the medium-intensity group scrimmage.
While maintaining the original threat in the attacking third, the direct pressure from cutting inside from the right flank or right side has increased significantly compared to the summer training camp!
Aside from the poor final shot, the preceding technical maneuvers were practically perfect.
Wednesday afternoon.
Rome played a moderately intense match, consisting of three 30-minute quarters for a total of 90 minutes.
Chang Huan was assigned to the substitute team.
The match started about five minutes ago.
He moved in the right flank of the attacking third, and flicked Lorenzo Pellegrini's forward pass to the left, just barely getting past Strootman's frontal defense.
The wide field of vision revealed that the main team's defensive focus was not being shifted towards the breakthrough.
Clearly, they were wary of their own long diagonal passes that could find their way behind the defense.
It's too late to say.
He astutely spotted a passing lane exposed by the overlapping runs of the two teams!
Without making any further adjustments, he forcefully kicked the rolling football with the instep of his left foot.
The ball, released from the foot, skimmed the ground and sped straight across the right flank, passing the starting midfield and center-back lines, precisely finding Schick between the two center-backs making a diagonal run.
"Oh mio Dio! (Oh my God!)"
Di Francisco's pupils constricted sharply, and he blurted out.
Schick didn't expect Chang Huan to pass the ball to him. By the time he noticed and stretched out his foot, it was too late, and the ball was caught by Alisson, who breathed a sigh of relief.
After his regret, he immediately turned to Chang Huan, raised both hands, and gave her a thumbs-up.
At first, the coaching staff thought that Chang Huan's through ball was just a flash of inspiration.
This continued until the subsequent medium-intensity group matches and the group matches that took place over the next two days.
With the ball in hand, he swiftly moves forward, delivering precise and deadly through balls in a rapidly changing and complex situation!
The football, close to the ground, is like a ground-guided ball that penetrates gaps in the defense and finds a teammate in a critical area.
The coaching staff of Di Francesco were overjoyed.
Chang Huan has made further progress in creating opportunities!
Sports director Monchi, who often stands in front of the floor-to-ceiling window in his office to watch training sessions, is very proud.
This... is a talented player he bought from Liverpool's U18 team for 100 million euros!
Two days passed in the blink of an eye.
It's already the day before the second round of the 2017-2018 Serie A season.
Roma concluded their final training session at their Trigoria training ground, and shocking news broke in the European football transfer market.
Borussia Dortmund winger Ousmane Dembélé has transferred to Barcelona for €1.05 million.
The floating clause could reach an astonishing 40%!
€1.47 million!
Many people are mocking Barcelona for being ripped off, buying a 20-year-old player worth 40 million euros for more than 100 million euros over the price.
However, Barcelona had no choice.
The whole world knows that Neymar's move to Paris Saint-Germain left behind 2.22 million euros.
cash!
Now that the new season has started, and they desperately need a left winger, it's no wonder they're getting ripped off!
Chinese fans are also paying attention to developments in the European transfer market, but they are also interested in the key Serie A match on Saturday.
Roma vs Inter Milan
In a sense, it can also be called a Chinese derby.
Roma has a Chinese player, Chang Huan, and Inter Milan has a Chinese owner.
PP Sports is the full media rights holder for Serie A in China.
It is also controlled by the Zhang Kangyang family, who are also members of Inter Milan's board of directors.
Before visiting Rome to challenge them, how could Young Master Zhang miss such an opportunity to show his face?
Back in midweek, the eldest son of Suning was interviewed by PP Sports during the 2017-2018 UEFA Champions League group stage draw ceremony, maximizing his online traffic.
He didn't give interviews to two other distributors, CCTV-5 and Tencent Sports, until Friday.
Speaking about his goals for Inter Milan, he stated bluntly: "Nerazzurri, to recreate the glory days of the Great Inter Milan era!"
With a major battle looming, Chang Huan was naturally mentioned.
Mr. Zhang smiled at the camera and said, "The 2016-2017 Premier League season just ended. We actually made an offer of over five million euros to Liverpool, but it was rejected. It's a real shame..."
PP Sports, CCTV-5, and Tencent Sports wanted to interview Chang Huan, another protagonist of the "Chinese Derby".
However, Rome rejected him because Chang Huan was underage.
……
There are two days left until the highly anticipated match between Roma and Inter Milan.
The draw for the 2017-2018 UEFA Champions League group stage was held at the Grimaldi Conference Center in Morocco.
Roma, a team in the third tier, was drawn into Group C, which includes Chelsea and Atletico Madrid.
This creates what is known as the "group of death".
The unfortunate fourth tier is Karabakh from Azerbaijan.
Strictly speaking, however, the top three tiers of teams are the unlucky ones.
London is 3970 kilometers away from Baku, the city where Karabakh is located, and 4460 kilometers away from Madrid.
Rome is slightly better, but it's still 3100 kilometers.
Long journeys inevitably lead to physical fatigue, which is not conducive to preparation for domestic competitions.
Friday at 5:30 pm.
Roma's head coach Di Francesco and captain De Rossi arrived at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.
Press conference hall.
Attended the pre-match press conference.
The two typical Italian tough guys didn't mince words during the interview.
They will give their all in their first home game of the new season and defeat Inter Milan!
Later, Inter Milan coach Spalletti and Icardi attended.
The Italian coach, who had twice managed Roma, left his post this summer and then quickly took over as Inter Milan's head coach, naturally becoming the focus of the crucial Roma vs. Inter Milan match.
Especially given the unpleasant and even public conflict with the legendary Totti, who retired this summer, reporters who always like to stir up trouble will not let this opportunity pass.
When interviewed by reporters, Spalletti remained clear-headed and was not swayed.
His main theme revolved around gratitude to Roma, not opposing Totti, expressing understanding regarding the boos from Roma fans, stating that he would focus on Inter Milan, and concluding that tomorrow's match would definitely be difficult...
Finally, Chinese media and fans got what they wanted to hear.
A reporter from *La Gazzetta dello Sport* asked, "Mr. Luciano, which players do you think Roma should be paying the most attention to?"
Spalletti paused for a moment to think: "Edin Dzeko is a top striker, we need to mark him closely. De Rossi is Roma's midfield linchpin, we must contain him if we want to win... and... Chang Huan, he can pose a threat to the defense both on and off the ball..."
The football community Dongqiudi and the sports aggregation website Live9, two major football platforms, quickly published news about Chang Huan.
One after another.
Fans spoke freely, expressing their high expectations for the highly anticipated Roma vs. Inter Milan match.
Sushi Media and fans are also paying close attention to this Serie A match.
Although Yuto Nagatomo has been affected by injuries in the last two seasons, which has reduced his appearances, he has always been Inter Milan's first choice left-back when he is healthy.
Besides focusing on the match itself, Chinese media and fans are also eagerly anticipating the potential "East Asian Derby" between Chang Huan and Yuto Nagatomo!
Since joining Roma, Chang Huan has primarily played on his weaker right wing, and he will face off against Yuto Nagatomo whenever he plays!
The sushi media and fans were dismissive and arrogant.
Meanwhile.
At 8 p.m. local time in Italy, the 23 players on Roma's roster returned to the Trigolia training ground.
Attend the evening tactical meeting.
The coaching staff reinforced the players' understanding of the tactics and fostered a unified overall mindset.
Inter Milan has significantly strengthened its squad compared to last season.
The team has invested a total of €1.67 million to bring in players such as Bastoni, Skriniar, Vecino, Dalbert Enrique, and Gagliardini!
They performed well on both offense and defense in the International Champions Cup and the first round of the new season.
The 3-0 home victory against Florence in the first round speaks volumes.
Therefore, every player listened very attentively.