Champions League matches are always scheduled to kick off at 7:45.
But the entry time for both participating parties is much earlier.
When the Naples bus left the hotel and headed to the Emirates Stadium, Arsenal fans were everywhere along the way.
Italian fans, especially those in the south, have always been good at causing trouble in away games, such as Roma.
Naples fans are even better than Roma.
Therefore, this time the UK strictly controlled the number of Naples fans coming to London and only gave less than a thousand tickets, but the venue was filled with 60,000 people.
It is conceivable that Napoli will be bombarded by the home team fans at the Emirates Stadium.
But Naples has long been used to it.
As soon as the Gunners fans saw the Naples bus, they started to attack in groups. If it weren't for the police cars clearing the way and protecting it, the Naples bus would probably have difficulty reaching the Emirates Stadium on time.
Arriving at the Emirates Stadium, Naples seemed to be in the eye of a storm, surrounded by opponents with grinning teeth and eager to pounce on Naples and tear Naples into pieces.
Naples players are very young, but they are already used to this kind of away treatment.
Entering the stadium locker room and going out for familiarization training, the whole process was carried out in an orderly manner, while Gao Shen was quietly waiting for news from Arsenal.
Finally, he got the Gunners' lineup for tonight.
Goalkeeper: Almunia.
Defense: Clichy, Gallas, Toure and Sagna.
Midfielder: Nasri, Song, Cesc Fabregas and Theo Walcott.
Forwards: Adebayor and Robin van Persie.
When Gao Shen saw the list, he couldn't help but clenched his fists. He guessed it right!
"442, Wenger is still at his home court and insisting on his own style of play." Gao Shen said happily.
In fact, this is not particularly difficult to guess, but before revealing it, who can guess Wenger's thoughts?
As Gao Shen said before, Arsenal's performance has been getting better and better in recent times, mainly because the team has become more skilled in switching back and forth between 4-2-3-1 and 4-4-2.
Now, the first leg of the quarter-finals is at home, and Wenger must be hoping to gain an advantage.
"Get ready, our tactics need to be slightly adjusted!" Gao Shen made a quick decision.
Now that he has seen the Gunners' lineup, Gao Shen must make some appropriate adjustments.
…
When Gao Shen got the Arsenal lineup, Wenger also got the Naples lineup.
Goalkeeper: Handanovic.
Defense: Vargas, David Luiz, Benatia and Lichtsteiner.
Midfield: Thiago Motta deep, Biglia and Rakitic in the centre.
Forwards: Di Maria, Cavani and Sanchez.
This was slightly beyond Wenger's expectations.
Bonucci received a yellow card while defending Drogba in the second round of the round of 16 knockout round and was suspended for this game.
At that time, Wenger believed that Gao Shen would probably use Cannavaro, but he did not expect that Gao Shen would take the risk of using Benatia.
This is quite surprising.
The young player Benatia's experience is similar to that of Gao Shen, and it is also very bizarre, just like taking off.
Before joining Naples, he couldn't even play as a main player in a Ligue 1 or Ligue 2 team. But after joining Naples, he became the backbone of the defense and his performance became increasingly outstanding.
Now, he is in the quarterfinals of the Champions League.
This is definitely a cheating life!
And Gao Shen is Benatia's plug-in.
"This kid likes to do things like this." Wenger cursed with a smile.
He still admires Gao Shen very much. This has nothing to do with life and death on the court. It is purely the kind of appreciation and love that a senior has from the heart when he sees the amazing junior.
Moreover, despite Gao Shen's aggressive behavior in the pre-match news, privately, he still respects Wenger very much.
But on the court, that may not be the case.
…
Head referee Stark from Germany led the players from both teams into the Emirates Stadium one after another.
At this moment, the surrounding stands were filled with 60,000 Arsenal fans.
Naples players are all facing a formidable enemy, and they felt the strong atmosphere of the finals as soon as they entered the stadium. Even if they had the experience of visiting the Bernabeu and Stamford Bridge before, they still felt very uneasy at this moment.
But when they came to the court and saw Gao Shen in a suit and leather shoes walking out of the tunnel, everyone's eyes seemed to have found their direction, and everyone's heart seemed to have weight, no longer as empty as before. .
When Gao Shen walked out of the tunnel, he did not go to the visiting team's coaching bench with his assistants, but saw Wenger.
Professor Arsenal has a rough face, gray hair, and looks thinner than the last time we met.
"Professor, have you had insomnia recently?" Gao Shen asked jokingly.
As he spoke, his eyes fell on the bench behind Wenger. There were many players sitting in it, such as substitute goalkeeper Fabianski, substitute center back Djurou, defense all-rounder Sylvester, and left back. Gibbs and more.
But there is a profound and familiar person inside, Gervinho.
The Ivory Coast winger moved to Arsenal for a high price of 15 million euros in the season Naples was promoted to Serie A, and it was he who took the initiative to find Gao Shen and asked to let him leave.
This transfer seemed like a huge deal at the time, but now, it actually means nothing.
If you pick any Naples player at random now, most of them will cost more than this.
On the contrary, Gervinho has adapted for a while after moving to Arsenal, but the competition within the team is very stressful, especially after the arrival of Nasri, the French winger has almost firmly locked onto Arsenal's left wing, resulting in Gervinho can only be reduced to a substitute.
When Gao Shen looked at him, Gervinho also looked at Gao Shen and nodded in greeting from a distance.
His hairstyle is getting more and more coquettish.
Gao Shen had no way of knowing what Gervinho was thinking at this moment, nor how he would feel when he saw that his substitute Di Maria was now shining brightly and becoming a well-known winger in Europe.
Gao Shen couldn't even guess whether Gervinho would regret his original decision?
But, these are not important anymore.
"Professor, I originally thought you would play a little more conservatively." Gao Shen smiled and chatted with Wenger, looking very relaxed.
Wenger has also been observing Gao Shen, obviously guessing whether he is really relaxed or is he pretending to be relaxed?
"This is our home court. We have played here in the Champions League for three years and have never lost!" Wenger replied confidently.
Gao Shen chuckled and said, "There is a first time for everything."
After a pause, Gao Shen added: "Before, when I played for Chelsea, they also said how unbreakable the Stamford Bridge stadium is, but the result..."
Gao Shen hesitated to speak, but shook his head and barely said the second half of the sentence.
Their vulnerability makes me very disappointed!
Wenger just looked at Gao Shen silently and leisurely.
Pretend, just keep pretending for me!
"Back then at Highbury Stadium, I was careless, but tonight, I won't be!" Wenger said.
Gao Shen smiled slightly again, "I'll tell you the truth, that Real Madrid team back then couldn't play the football I wanted, but it's different tonight. This Napoli team can better interpret my thoughts."
Real Madrid in 2006 could not run at all, nor was it fast. The whole team gave people the impression that they were old and decrepit. Although they defeated Arsenal, they were actually very embarrassed.
But Naples is different now.
Whether it's offense, defense, or running ability, they are obviously far better than Real Madrid back then.
"Be careful, professor, I won't show mercy tonight!" Gao Shen said with confidence.
After finishing speaking, he turned around and walked to the visiting team's coaching bench.
Wenger watched him leave, his brows wrinkled involuntarily.
Thinking about his high-profile before the game and listening to what he said now, Wenger couldn't help but wonder. Is he really that confident? Or has he really found a way to deal with Arsenal?
Or, does he really think Naples is that powerful?
Wenger felt a little unsure.
After all, Naples defeated Chelsea in two games, so there is no doubt about their strength.
Without this record in front of him, Wenger might still feel that Gao Shen is blindly trusting the big players, but now, he has to think about whether Napoli really has the strength to defeat Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium.
…
Following the referee Stark's whistle, Cavani quickly kicked the ball to Di Maria. The latter passed the ball directly back to the midfielder and handed it to Thiago Motta.
.
After the Naples midfielder stopped the ball, he glanced ahead and saw that Arsenal players began to press hard.
Yes, the Gunners are clearly aware of their problems.
It is easy to expose problems when switching from offense to defense. Therefore, the Gunners' strategy tonight is to take the initiative and actively press and press in the frontcourt to delay Naples' attack.
This is reflected in the fact that from the first minute of the game, Arsenal took the initiative to press forward.
Thiago Motta passed the ball back to the defense, and after several reverses, when Arsenal's defense was basically in place, the Gunners' pressing gradually returned to their own half. Biglia was near the left side of the center line and received a pass from his teammate.
After the ball, try a big foot transfer.
The ball moved from the left to the right, trying to find Di Maria.
Tonight, Sanchez and Di Maria still exchange positions and adopt the reverse-footed winger style.
But Di Maria was restrained by Clichy this time and failed to successfully take off, and the ball flew directly out of bounds.
Arsenal's throw-in.
The whole stadium was in jubilation.
Arsenal fans were obviously satisfied with this defense, which allowed Napoli's long pass to pass directly out of bounds. This was too late.
Di Maria was obviously aware of his own problem and quickly raised his hand to indicate that it was his problem.
He was obsessed with Krissy.
After the opening, the first time they scored within 30 meters of Arsenal, Naples made a long pass error and the ball changed hands.
By the time the Gunners took the throw-in, the time was almost one minute.
In this minute, Arsenal was not in a hurry to win the ball.
Naples seems a little cautious.
This puzzled everyone.
Is this the demonstration that Gao Shen is talking about?
