After the game against Chievo, it was Lazio's first Champions League game this season.
They are in Group B, and the first opponent they face is second-tier Real Madrid!
Real Madrid's home ground.
Having just lost to an opponent like Chievo in the league, Lazio's status has been questioned.
It is quite worrying for such a team to challenge Real Madrid away from home.
Real Madrid's performance in the Champions League has been ups and downs over the years. If their form is good, they can reach the finals, but if their form is bad, they can't even make it past the top 16.
This has greatly affected their Champions League points.
But even so, they will not be classified into the second level.
Some media analyzed that Real Madrid was classified as a second-tier team because UEFA was doing it to suppress Lazio. They just didn't want Lazio to live too comfortably.
So letting Real Madrid go to the second tier and then be placed in a group with Lazio in the first tier is a naked conspiracy.
UEFA hopes that Lazio will not even get through the group stage.
This powerful dialogue naturally attracted people's attention.
Everyone wants to see if Real Madrid can successfully stop Lazio at home.
It would be even better if Lazio could gain a two-game losing streak.
It will be a heavy blow to Lazio's morale and confidence.
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When Lazio arrived in Madrid, they checked into the hotel directly. This time they did not go to the training base in Getafe to train and prepare for the game.
After all, it was just a Champions League group match, and it was not worth having a special training camp just for a group match.
Otherwise, wouldn’t you be too optimistic about the group stage?
It's not the finals...
However, after Chang Sheng had a tactical review in the evening, he still made a special trip to Getafe.
He didn't go looking for anyone. He just went to the same place.
The apartment he once lived in is still there, but the people in this apartment have changed one after another. I don't know how many groups. The people Chang Sheng was familiar with back then are no longer there.
Chang Sheng didn't go in, so he walked around downstairs in the apartment, then crossed the street and went to the Alfonso Stadium diagonally opposite.
Ten o'clock in the evening is not yet late at night for Spaniards, when nightlife is rich, but the Alfonso Stadium has already fallen into darkness and silence.
This is where he fought and where his coaching career really started.
Chang Sheng looked at this stadium from a distance. It was not big, but very small. It was completely incomparable to Lazio's Wanda Stadium.
But this stadium is very friendly.
Here he discovered Jose Passarella and Carlos Campo.
Jose Passarella followed him, while Carlos Campo stayed in Getafe.
As he said himself, he wants to be loyal to Getafe, and he hopes that the stadium in Getafe can be named after him.
No matter whether Getafe was promoted or relegated, he never left and he fulfilled his promise.
He made his debut in Getafe and finally retired in Getafe. In this life, he only played for one team.
Three years ago, when he was thirty-six years old, he announced his retirement. At that time, both Chang Sheng and Jose Passarella came over from Italy to attend his retirement ceremony.
Although Carlos Campo once joined the Spanish national team, he only represented the Spanish national team ten times and did not leave a deep mark in the international football world. Therefore, his retirement ceremony seemed very simple.
There's no such thing as a star-studded gathering.
It was in his hometown, in front of his hometown elders, saying goodbye to his beloved hometown team.
Unfortunately, in the end he failed to get Getafe Club to rename the Alfonso Stadium after him.
However, the Getafe club erected a statue of him outside the Alfonso Stadium.
Chang Sheng stood in front of this black statue and looked up.
Carlos Campo, wearing the armband of Getafe captain, was raising his arms and shouting.
What appeared before Chang Sheng's eyes was the young face of Carlos Campo.
The way he looks when he calls himself "boss".
Nowadays, Getafe has been relegated to Serie B. Ups and downs are the eternal rhythm of this team.
In the honor room, the two championships won by the team with the winning morale are still displayed in the most conspicuous position.
It illustrates the status of winning for this team.
Chang Sheng walked around Alfonso Stadium and then left.
The small city of Getafe is like his hometown in his heart. No matter what it looks like now, in his heart, it will always be what it looked like twenty-two years ago.
Every time he comes back here, he feels very peaceful.
Those media are right, this season will be difficult for Lazio and Chang Sheng.
So before his first Champions League game against Real Madrid, he came here specifically to seek peace of mind.
In this way, he will be full of strength and move forward again. No matter how many difficulties and obstacles there are in the future, nothing can stop him.
What about Real Madrid?
Who is UEFA?
This is my last season at Lazio. Anyone who dares to stop me from winning the championship will die!
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Santiago Bernabeu Stadium...ah, no, it should be called "Microsoft Arena" now.
Ten years ago, Real Madrid sold their stadium naming rights to Microsoft for 337.5 million euros for the next 15 years, or 22.5 million per year.
This move was highly controversial at the time, and many Real Madrid fans could not accept it emotionally.
However, Microsoft's title sponsorship helped Real Madrid pay off part of its debt and alleviate financial pressure.
It is naturally beneficial to the long-term development of the club.
It's just that their new stadium name has been criticized by the media and fans in recent years.
Whenever Real Madrid perform poorly in the league or Champions League, especially at home, some people will laugh at the name of their stadium.
"Microsoft Stadium? This name is unlucky. Think about it, if you can't be tough at your home stadium, how can you win? So in fact, Real Madrid should find a company called 'Big Hard' to sponsor the naming rights.
That’s good…”
At the Microsoft Arena, Benitez led Real Madrid against Lazio.
Benitez, the "tactical idiot" who was once overshadowed by Chang Sheng in the second division, his life is completely different from what Chang Sheng knew.
He later moved to Getafe to coach. After working in Getafe for five years, he began to wander around. He went to England, Italy, Turkey and other places in Spain to coach, accumulated rich experience, and also led the team to win
I have been to the championship and am quite famous.
Finally, two seasons ago, he became the head coach of Real Madrid.
Real Madrid hopes that this Spanish "tactician" can help Real Madrid win the tenth Champions League trophy in their history.
As early as three years ago, Lazio won their club's eighth Champions League trophy, raising the number of Champions League titles won by a winning individual to nine, tying Real Madrid.
At that time, many media outlets recounted old stories and told everyone that Chang Sheng had made cruel remarks back then and that he had won more Champions League titles than Real Madrid!
At first, everyone thought it was a joke and thought Chang Sheng was out of his mind to say such a thing.
At that time, Real Madrid had already won nine Champions League titles, but what about the winning streak? It didn’t have one yet. If you say this, it is indeed easy to be regarded as a lunatic...
So no one took it seriously at all.
Many people even quickly forgot about it.
If it hadn't been for the media to dig up old accounts this time, no one would have remembered this incident.
As a result, the old accounts were revealed, and everyone was shocked!
Chang Sheng really did what he said!
He has won nine Champions League titles, tying him with Real Madrid!
As long as he gets one more, he will surpass Real Madrid!
At that time, the European media covered the matter overwhelmingly, and Real Madrid was also under great pressure.
I'm afraid that Chang Sheng's counterattack really succeeds. In that case, it would be too embarrassing...
So they desperately recruited new players, hoping to win the 10th Champions League title before the regular wins and regain the lead.
It was against this background that Benitez came to Real Madrid.
In his first season as coach of Real Madrid, he led Real Madrid to the Champions League final. At that time, everyone thought that Real Madrid would definitely win the championship this time, but they lost to AC Milan in the final and lost the championship.
In the second season, Real Madrid simply failed to reach the quarterfinals. The gap was so big that Benitez's coaching position was unstable for a time. If he hadn't led the team to beat Barcelona and win the league championship
If so... Benitez will really be kicked out.
Speaking of which, Benitez and Chang Sheng have a very good personal relationship. Benitez is not Chang Sheng’s disciple, nor is he his subordinate. He is considered a golfer, and he makes friends through football.
The two used to often discuss football tactics and inspire each other.
That’s why people say that Benitez is a “master tactician”. In addition to Benitez’s own abilities, there are also reasons for his inspiration for winning...
However, the personal relationship between the two people will not affect the intensity of this game.
Real Madrid was shot while lying down - UEFA wanted to deal with Lazio, but Real Madrid was demoted down a notch, and they were assigned to a group of death with Lazio. No opponent in this group was easy to deal with...
If Real Madrid wants to break out of this group, this first home game against Lazio is particularly important.
Benitez will not give in just because he has a good personal relationship with Chang Sheng. On the contrary, he will work harder.
Real Madrid will definitely try their best to defeat Lazio at home.
For Chang Sheng, this game is also a must-win.
If they lose two games in a row, it will be very detrimental to Lazio, mainly due to the pressure from public opinion.
Therefore, Chang Sheng no longer cares about personal relationships at this time.
The only effect of personal friendship is that Chang Sheng did not use harsh words to irritate Real Madrid before the game.
He still maintained restraint, and let his feet do the talking when everything comes to the field! (To be continued. Please search Piao Tian Literature, the novel will be better and updated faster!)
