In the stands of the packed Sao Paulo Stadium, excited Naples fans were cheering wildly. Many people put up slogans to celebrate the team's return to Serie A, and everyone celebrated with singing and dancing.
De Laurentiis was sitting in the chairman's stand, with a stubbornness and sharpness in his old and cloudy eyes.
"Six years, two months and nine days!" De Laurentiis muttered.
Marino sat aside and sighed with emotion after listening.
This is when Napoli were relegated to the present time.
The whole city, all the people, have been waiting for this day for six years, two months and nine days.
In the past six years or so, Naples has also experienced bankruptcy and reorganization, and everyone has experienced despair and rebirth.
The arrival of Gao Shen injected new soul and vitality into this team, allowing everyone to see hope again.
Therefore, at this moment, in the stands of the Sao Paulo Stadium, the faces of Naples fans are filled with celebration, encouragement, and hope, because they believe that Naples this season is not to avoid relegation, but to compete for the championship.
!
Although, it is very difficult!
But they know that if Gao Shen shouts, they can do it.
Just like the football champion named Maradona back then, they will all become heroes of this city.
"There's a bit of trouble tonight." Marino said solemnly.
After De Laurentiis looked over, he hurriedly explained: "Cagliari's defense has not moved this summer. It was one of the best defenses in Serie A last season. Giampaolo obviously wants to keep the tie.
, so the 4321 Christmas tree formation was adopted, which would cause trouble for the team's offense."
It’s not that De Laurentiis doesn’t understand football, he also knows that Serie A is not easy to get along with, but...
"I believe he will find a way." De Laurentiis said with a smile.
I don't know when he started to have full confidence in Gao Shen.
That is a kind of confidence that is difficult to describe.
Perhaps, Gao Shen's words when they first met gave him this kind of confidence.
"Tonight, more than 50,000 Naples fans are here, and they are all here for Gao Shen and the team. This is the most meaningful event for Naples in more than six years, no, it can even be said to be ten years.
game."
After De Laurentiis finished speaking, his eyes couldn't help but fall to the home team's coach's bench.
The players from both sides had not yet taken the field, and there was still no one there, but De Laurentiis seemed to be able to see Gao Shen standing there directing the team.
He's always been like this.
"He never disappoints, does he?" De Laurentiis murmured.
This is like asking Marino, but it is also asking myself.
…………
…………
"Do you know what this game means to us tonight?"
In the home team's locker room, Gao Shen was doing his final mobilization before taking the field.
After hearing this, all the players nodded in unison.
They all know it.
Whether it's the media reports before the game, the cheers and encouragement from the fans, or the attention of the coaching staff and management, they can all feel it.
This is Napoli's most important game in recent years.
In other words, the most symbolic battle!
After an absence of more than six years, after experiencing bankruptcy and reorganization, and rebirth, Naples finally stood on the stage of Serie A again and finally appeared in front of fans all over the world.
Only those who have experienced it personally, such as captain Montevino, know how difficult and difficult it is for Naples to get to where it is today, and how many people have put in so much effort and sweat.
Two days ago, Gao Shen even asked Montevino to introduce the entire process of Napoli's bankruptcy and reorganization to the players, hoping to arouse more resonance among the players and mobilize their enthusiasm.
In fact, the players' mood and state are very good.
"There are more than 50,000 Napoli fans waiting for us outside. I believe that you, like me, don't want to let them down, because they have been waiting for six years!"
Six years, what a long time it is!
Many of the people present were still children six years ago.
Young people don't know what it's like to be sad. They can't understand how long six years is for a person.
But they can feel that the group of people outside, everyone in the club, is eager for this game.
"I won't say any more. We have to win tonight's game no matter what, and we absolutely cannot afford to lose anything!" Gao Shen said fiercely.
"Our opponents are very strong, and they are not weaklings who can be slaughtered by others. They will use all means to stop us, and may even adopt defensive tactics, so you must be mentally prepared for a hard fight."
"Remember, my players, you are about to start a Serie A match!"
"You are about to take the first step towards the Serie A championship!"
…………
…………
Striving for progress while maintaining stability, we formed a 4, 2, 3 formation.
The goalkeeper is Handanovic, the defense is Vargas, Cannavaro Jr., Bonucci and Lichtsteiner, the double midfielders are Biglia and Rakitic, and Di Maria is in front.
, Hamsik and Sanchez, the center is Cavani.
This is already the most offensive lineup that Gao Shen can put together.
Giampaolo's Cagliari played in a 4321 three-back formation.
Goalkeeper Fortin, the defense is Del Grosso, Blanco, Diego Lopez and Ferry, the midfielder is Parola, Conte and Biondini, the front is Fini and Foggia, the lone forward is
Matri, co-owned by Cagliari and AC Milan.
…
As soon as the game whistle blew, Napoli immediately launched a wave of attacks towards Cagliari.
This has become Napoli's signature tactic.
But the teams in Serie A are indeed different.
In Serie B last season, those teams could easily become confused when encountering Napoli's high-pressure approach, but Cagliari did not do this and instead organized a tight defense in an orderly manner.
With four defenders, three midfielders, and two midfielders, Cagliari's three lines of defense were firmly stationed inside and outside the penalty area, making it difficult for Naples' attack to be effective.
They also learned lessons from experience and did not stick to the ball at all. As soon as they grabbed the ball, they immediately passed it forward, as if a football would burn their feet. This made Naples' on-the-spot counterattack effective and they lost the ball.
Grab it again quickly.
But after grabbing it, he still faced the opponent's tight defense.
As Gao Shen expected, Cagliari was strictly defensive and had no intention of leaving a gap for Naples.
After about ten minutes of attacking at the beginning, the team had to slow down the pace and attack, trying to let Cagliari press out.
As a result, this team still defended steadily. The offense was mainly based on Matri, with the support of Feeney and Foggia. The other players basically stayed in the backcourt and were not willing to invest troops at all.
This is actually the characteristic of 4321. It is easy to get disconnected from the front and backcourt, but after the disconnection, the defense is still very strong.
There is no way, seven players are stuck inside and outside the penalty area, how can it not be strong?
…
Gao Shen had long expected this situation, and he was not in a hurry. He stood on the sidelines with leisurely time, reminding the players on the field from time to time to avoid being impatient and to be patient. At the same time, they should pay more attention to passing the ball, running and pulling the opponent's defense.
.
Time passed bit by bit, and Naples had the advantage on the court, but was never able to form a threatening shot.
It took Cagliari until the 24th minute to hit a long shot, the first shot of the game.
But defensively, they did a pretty good job.
As an opponent, Gao Shen also has to admit that Giampaolo's defensive ability is still very good.
Gao Shen quickly made adjustments, signaling Di Maria and Sanchez to pay attention to creating threats on the two wings.
Naples quickly started to create murderous opportunities on the wing, but when it was passed to the center, it was often difficult to pose a threat.
It was so dark and full of people, one after another, that Cavani and Hamsik were helpless.
After all, the efficiency of crosses from the bottom is not high, and Cagliari is very defensive, making it difficult for Naples to launch a wing attack.
Later, Gao Shen signaled Rakitic to press forward and actively participated in the frontcourt attack, especially the long shot.
But Cagliari has also been prepared in advance to prevent any leakage.
Both Rakitic and Hamsik soon had a long-range shot, but the problem was that with the three midfielders and four defenders there, the long-range shots basically hit people, making it difficult to form a threatening shot.
Napoli could only watch helplessly as time passed by bit by bit, but they still failed to break through Cagliari's goal.
It was the first time for everyone, including Gao Shen, to truly experience the defense of a Serie A team!
Especially when this team, when this group of people, adopts a very conservative tactical strategy, they can really defend you until the end of time.
…
"Ma Dan, you really made zero mistakes!" Gao Shen cursed with a wry smile.
Carlo and others also had wry smiles on their faces.
Naples performed very well, the players worked hard, and the advantage on the field was obvious, but they just couldn't convert it into goals.
"Actually, it's not that we made zero mistakes. We just relied on the numerical advantage and we couldn't convert the advantage into goals." Carlo explained with a wry smile.
The key is that the opponent has too many people on defense.
"In such a rigorous defensive formation, I'm afraid it will be difficult for Parejo to be effective," Carlo continued.
Gao Shen nodded. Faced with this defensive tactic, all teams around the world feel a headache.
Moreover, there is almost no effective way except to continue to attack, continue to apply pressure, and force the opponent to make mistakes.
The key is that the opponent's actions were clean and basically did not give Naples any threatening free kick opportunities.
This was obviously prepared.
Giampaolo is like retracting himself into a turtle shell, and then pointing his fingers towards the depths.
If you have the ability, come here!
However, Gao Shen really couldn't do anything about him for a while.
"Continue to attack in the second half! I don't believe it. He can really not let up for ninety minutes!" Gao Shen also became angry.
