Napoli hosts Lazio for the second time in four days.
When the referee Gianluca Rocchi blew the whistle to start the game, Napoli once again launched a fierce attack on Lazio, just like the Italian Cup three days ago.
Lazio was helpless in the face of this style of play and soon lost the ball again.
But this time, after Naples grabbed the ball, they did not immediately launch a counterattack, but patiently controlled the ball.
After Thiago Motta dropped back to receive a pass from his teammate, he raised his right hand high to signal his teammates to stay steady.
Next, Napoli slowly advanced their formation and pressed forward, while Lazio quickly returned to defend and get into position.
After advancing into the frontcourt, Naples first tried to open a breakthrough from Sanchez's side on the right, but left back Kolarov held on to the position and did not give Naples a chance. He was forced to pass back to Thiago Motta and then moved to the left.
, try to let Di Maria break through.
Finally, the attack completed the first shot of the game in the third minute.
Cavani's long shot from outside the penalty area went directly over.
Lazio goalkeeper Balota took a goal kick, but David Luiz grabbed the spot and headed the ball down. Thiago Motta grabbed the second spot, stopped the ball and quickly passed it to Bonucci.
Under Tare's pressure, Bonucci hit Motta again, and the Brazilian midfielder moved to the left, passing it to Vargas in the gap.
Lazio was forced to retreat quickly to defend.
But Napoli continued to advance slowly and steadily.
At this point in the game, everyone realized that Naples' strategy had changed.
…
Lazio still adopts a 4-3-1-2 formation, and the lineup has only adjusted one position from the cup match.
Naples has undergone great changes.
Advanced transformation four three three.
Goalkeeper: Handanovic.
Defence: Vargas, David Luiz, Bonucci and Lichtsteiner.
Midfielder: Biglia, Thiago Motta and Parejo.
The front trident is Di Maria, Cavani and Sanchez.
As early as Thiago Motta took the initiative to come to the door, Gao Shen told him very clearly that he was not in the cup plan.
Gao Shen wants him to play in the league.
The tactics adopted by Naples tonight are also very clear, which is to control the ball.
Give full play to the team's advantages in ball control and technical aspects, and use ball control to draw opponents away.
This tactical play can effectively save Napoli's physical energy and give full play to the team's technical and ball control advantages.
Gao Shen now wishes Lazio would rush out and grab the ball.
As long as Lazio presses out, the Blue Eagles' defense will definitely reveal gaps, and Naples will have a chance.
The biggest fear is that Lazio cannot defend, and that will be troublesome.
The biggest headache for Naples right now is the war of attrition, because the team can't afford it.
That's why Gao Shen frequently created momentum before the game and used psychological warfare to stimulate Lazio. He just hoped that Rossi and his players could adopt more active tactics under pressure.
But now it seems that Rossi is still quite conservative.
If you don’t press out to grab and just tighten up your defense, then everything will be fine?
Gao Shen doesn't fight such uncertain battles, and he specially arranged for Parejo to partner with Biglia.
When the game reached the 15th minute, when Parejo tried to pass the ball outside the penalty area, he was blocked by Lazio midfielder Mutarelli, but the ball was still intercepted by Parejo first.
After the Spanish midfielder stopped the ball, he quickly turned around and got rid of the defensive player, then took a step forward, trying to find Cavani, but suddenly sent a through ball and passed the ball into the right side of the penalty area.
Sanchez quickly crossed into the right side of the penalty area, caught up with the ball, and shot low.
Unfortunately, the angle was a bit tight and goalkeeper Ballotta fell to the ground and tackled him.
He failed to create a goal, but Sanchez still gave Parejo a thumbs-up from afar.
This beautiful pass also won warm applause from the fans at the Sao Paulo Stadium.
"Great job, Daniel!" Gao Shen shouted.
Although he didn't score a goal, it was equivalent to giving Rossi a warning and telling the Lazio coach: You can't defend it, so you should just obey.
…
Sanchez's shot almost sent Rossi running wild.
He rushed straight to the sidelines and roared at his players.
He felt that the mistake just now was caused by a defensive problem in the midfield, and it was actually got rid of by the young player.
But after yelling at the players and walking back, he was also frightened for a while.
I have to admit that the pass just now was very beautiful and very thoughtful.
It confused Lazio's defensive players and the pass was also quite accurate.
"You bastard, your life is so good!" Rossi glanced at the home team's coaching bench, loudly cheered for Parejo, and muttered sourly.
The entire Serie A league is almost worried about creativity and midfield organization.
Therefore, during the summer transfer, Inter Milan and AC Milan were competing for Emerson because Emerson is one of the few midfielders in Serie A with strong creativity.
In addition, Aquilani of Roma and Montolivo of Florence, which one is not the star of the team?
Naples is a team with strong creativity, and the players' skills are also very good. Rossi even felt very puzzled, where did Gao Shen recruit so many players?
Now, what faces Rossi and Lazio is a difficult choice.
If they continue to defend, Napoli will definitely still resolutely play pass, control and penetrate, taking advantage of Parejo's through ball and the advantages of the two wings. This will depend on how confident Rossi's team's defense is.
But if you don't stick to it and press it out, the risk is also very high.
Once the pressure is out, it will be easier for Naples to open up gaps and create opportunities, and Lazio will be more dangerous.
Of course, after pressing out, Lazio has every chance to create a tug-of-war with Naples, and even more chance to counterattack.
Rossi couldn't come up with any good ideas at this moment.
He had to admit that Lazio was indeed at a disadvantage in terms of strength and did not have an advantage in tactics, so he had very little room for choice. In fact, no matter how he chose, the risk was very high.
Before there was a good solution, Rossi chose to continue with the status quo.
…
Lazio continued to hold on, and Naples' ball possession rate increased significantly.
Gao Shen was not in a hurry and continued to work steadily.
Nearly 70% of the ball possession, this advantage is indeed quite huge, but as a time traveler who has personally experienced the Barcelona Dream Team 3 dynasty, where does this come from?
Seventy percent?
An 80% ball possession rate is nothing to be surprised about.
Gao Shen is also constantly fine-tuning the team's tactics. The most important thing is that the players keep pushing.
In the 25th minute, Thiago Motta sent a direct pass. Cavani leaned against the defender with his body, stopped the ball, turned around, and shot with his right foot, but the shot was saved by the goalkeeper.
beam.
The subsequent corner kick also caused chaos in the penalty area, but still failed to score a goal.
Just four minutes later, Naples created another opportunity.
Biglia formed a strong attack with Di Maria and Vargas on the left, creating a corner kick in front of the baseline.
Parejo took the corner kick and accurately found Thiago Motta in the penalty area.
The Brazilian midfielder is tall and strong. After grabbing the spot, he directly headed the ball towards the goal and hit the crossbar.
This is also Naples' most threatening shot since the start of the game.
Everyone felt a little lost.
Gao Shen continued to cheer for the team on the sidelines, and at the same time applauded Thiago Motta's performance loudly, signaling him to keep up the good work and asking the players not to worry.
"Thiago is in very good condition," Lucas praised.
Judging from various data such as passing success rate and performance activity, Thiago Motta can be called the backbone of Naples' midfield.
Even so far, he has made zero mistakes in passing, which is very rare.
What's even more rare is that he also made several threatening passes.
It can be said that he organized Naples' midfield in order, allowing the team to organize wave after wave of attacks.
"This kid needs competitions like this to slowly build up his confidence." Gao Shen said with a smile.
Things like confidence are accumulated slowly.
"It seems that Rossi's strategy is to continue to defend. When we have exhausted our physical strength to a certain extent in the second half, they will come out and fight." Carlo guessed the opponent's intention.
Gao Shen nodded, which was not surprising.
In fact, he had already made plans for this.
If he still can't open up the situation, then he will consider directly grabbing a wave before the end of the first half, or at the beginning of the second half, and try to score a goal.
After all, it would be very detrimental to Naples to really delay the game.
…
After that, the two teams continued to control and defend.
Napoli patiently passed, controlled and penetrated the ball, while Lazio defended steadily.
However, as the rhythm of the game unfolded, and Lazio's defensive players on both wings were very good, Napoli made several long passes to the wing, but failed to pose a threat.
On the contrary, it was in the middle, first in the 30th minute, Motta passed the ball, and Cavani took a long shot from more than 20 meters away from the goal, and it went slightly wide.
Three minutes later, Thiago Motta and Parejo cooperated again. The Spanish midfielder sent a direct pass. Di Maria shot with his left foot, but the goalkeeper threw him under him and failed to pose a threat.
Naples created more than a dozen shots in the first half, and without exception, most of them were long-range shots from the outside.
The most threatening shot was a header from Thiago Motta, but it hit the crossbar.
And this kind of continuous siege made Lazio's defense become more and more stable, and it had the momentum of being impregnable.
Gao Shen also gave up the idea of attacking in the closing stages of the first half.
But no one expected that in the 42nd minute near the end of the first half, during an attack by Naples from the right, Sanchez failed to break through Kolarov and was forced to make an emergency stop and pass the ball back to Lichsch.
Tanner.
After receiving the ball, the Swiss defender was pressed and immediately passed it to Thiago Motta who raised his hand to ask for the ball.
The Brazilian midfielder is always in the right spot to receive the ball.
After getting the ball, Thiago Motta did not wait for the defensive player to come forward, and directly passed the ball diagonally to the unguarded left wing.
After Di Maria stopped the ball with his chest, Lazio right back De Silvestri quickly came forward. The Argentine started the ball without thinking. Before the opponent was ready, he had already cut open the opponent like a sharp knife.
The defense line rushed into the penalty area with the ball. After attracting Sivilla, he passed the ball across the center with his left foot.
Cavani used his body to force away central defender Stendardo, took a direct shot, and sent Di Maria's cross into the bottom left corner of Lazio's goal.
