Although they only need to score one more goal, that's all.
But in terms of overall morale, they were at a disadvantage.
Morale is very important, although everyone always ignores it. Many people think about why and how to win a game, and they always think of many tactical things, such as the formations of both sides, the tactical requirements of both sides...
But in fact, in some cases, and very important times, morale plays a greater role.
Especially at critical moments.
Arsenal have now reached a critical moment.
They watched themselves being chased by Lazio for two goals, but there was nothing they could do.
This frustration will affect the players' performance.
Not every player has the same big heart as the protagonist.
They will have ups and downs due to changes in the score.
The advantage they had worked so hard to lead by one goal was gone. They had just lost the ball, and their mentality must be unstable.
Lazio did not give Arsenal a chance to adjust themselves. When the game restarted, they did not slow down and continued to bombard Arsenal.
Arsenal had no time to think about anything else and could only run around trying not to get hit in the face.
In this panic, Lazio scored another goal in the 77th minute, 3:0!
The total score is 3:1!
The suspense of the game was completely lost.
"Lazio! Leading Arsenal with a total score of 3:1! Now unless Arsenal score two goals in the remaining few minutes, they will be dead! But even if they score two goals in a row, it will be difficult...
Especially facing Lazio who are already playing crazy..."
※※※
Seeing this scene, Wenger opened his arms anxiously and shouted into the stadium.
He hopes to boost the morale and confidence of the players.
It's a pity that sometimes the head coach is very powerful, almost omnipotent, and has no tricks left. The entire stadium situation is under his control.
But sometimes, the head coach seems particularly incompetent. Apart from shouting on the sidelines and brushing up his presence, it does not help the game at all...
Wenger kept shouting the names of Arsenal players from the sidelines, hoping that they could cheer up and lead the team out of the predicament.
Unfortunately, it's useless.
Arsenal are in complete disarray.
They played against Lazio, and ended up dying more miserably and faster. This once again caused divisions within the Arsenal players.
Should we follow the coach's instructions and continue to attack, or should we shrink our defense to avoid conceding more goals?
If you continue to attack, you may concede more goals, and shrinking the defense will effectively reduce the number of goals, but it also means giving up winning the game.
There is no unity of thought within Arsenal, forming two forces. Some people believe that they should actively attack and take the initiative, even if they die, they must die vigorously!
Others believe that we should tighten our defense and not continue to advance rashly, lest we end up with a game like Atletico Madrid...
That would be really embarrassing.
Atletico Madrid still hasn't recovered from its turmoil. Wherever they go, they are laughed at. This is the team that Lazio scored nine times...
※※※
The two sides disagreed, and Wenger helped them make a choice.
He chose to shrink his defense.
He has to consider the team's morale.
If failure is inevitable, then at least choose a dignified failure.
Different from what the players think, Wenger does not think that a vigorous confrontation and then dying are heroic, honorable and decent.
On the contrary, this is the behavior of an idiot.
When the time comes, we will lose like Atletico Madrid. Is this an honor?
A winning team will not show mercy. In this game, they will score as many goals as they can.
To avoid such a situation, one must defend.
Anyway, Arsenal has no chance to turn defeat into victory...
※※※
Wenger's tactics worked. Arsenal recovered their defense. On the other hand, Lazio, who had established a two-goal lead, also relaxed. Their offense was not as sharp and fast as before.
In the end, Lazio did not score a goal. They defeated Arsenal 3:0 at home, eliminated their opponents, and advanced to the quarterfinals!
Arsenal avoided a disastrous away defeat.
※※※
The match between Lazio and Arsenal is one day later than the match between Inter Milan and Manchester United.
So before the match between Lazio and Arsenal started, Chang Sheng already knew the result of the other stadium.
Inter Milan lost to Manchester United with a score of 0:2 in the away game. The total score in the two rounds was 0:2 and they were eliminated.
This is very bad news for Chang Sheng.
Inter Milan was eliminated from the Champions League, which means that they must focus all their energy on the league.
As a result, the pressure on Lazio will be great.
Inter Milan, which is fully competing for the league championship, is very scary.
But his own team is fighting on two fronts at this time.
If both fronts have to be taken care of, it is very likely that neither front will be fought well.
Sure enough, when some media in Milan criticized Mourinho's team for not being better than Mancini's team, Mourinho retorted: "You will know when the season is over!"
He seemed confident.
Chang Sheng thought that he was so confident because he was fighting on a single line, while Lazio was fighting on two lines.
If Lazio can finally go further in the Champions League, Lazio fans may cheer for it, and Mourinho will definitely cheer for it.
That means that you will be distracted on two fronts.
Does Lazio currently have the strength to fight on two fronts and win the championship on both fronts?
Chang Sheng analyzed it rationally and thought it was impossible.
Lazio only had such strength last season, and that was only after the previous two seasons.
Now, Lazio has been rebuilt again. How can a newly formed team have such ability?
Therefore, a two-front battle may look good, but in fact it may be just a trap that looks good...
※※※
The 28th round of the league. Lazio faced Chievo at home.
Despite the rotation, Lazio still defeated the "Little Peppers" 2:1 at home.
Of course, Inter Milan did not fail, they defeated Fiorentina 2:0 at home.
After this league match, midweek is the first leg of the Italian Cup semi-finals.
Lazio will face Juventus at home.
In the league, judging from the current momentum, it is difficult for Juventus to threaten Lazio.
After twenty-eight rounds of the league, Juventus has 57 points, while Lazio has 68 points, a gap of 11 points.
And between Juventus and Lazio, there is Inter Milan.
Depending on the situation this season, Lazio and Inter Milan should compete for first place in the league in the end.
Juventus' goal is to ensure that they can qualify for the Champions League next season.
Although in the league, it is difficult for Juventus to threaten Lazio.
But in the cup, Juventus still has a chance to get revenge.
In the Italian Cup semi-finals, Juventus and Lazio met.
If Juventus can eliminate Lazio in the Italian Cup semi-finals, they can complete their revenge.
At the very least, it would save Lazio one championship. Although Lazio had not won the Coppa Italia before, who knows if they care about the Coppa Italia...
But if you can beat Lazio, it's always worth celebrating.
※※※
Juventus coach Ferrara regards these two games as the two most important games in the remaining games of the season.
In the Champions League, Juventus was eliminated by Chelsea in the quarter-finals with a total score of 3:2, trailing first-place Lazio by a full 11 points in the league.
Now the only stage where Juventus can win glory is the Italian Cup.
Although the Coppa Italia is useless, it is extremely precious to Juventus today.
If we can win a championship, this season will be somewhat easier to explain.
Because he valued it, he studied Lazio in depth.
He reviewed Lazio's results in the Italian Cup over the past three seasons.
I found that no matter how good Lazio's performance in the league was, their performance in the Italian Cup was very average.
In his first season coaching Lazio, which was the 2005-2006 season, Lazio stopped in the quarterfinals of the Italian Cup and was eliminated by Inter Milan 2:1.
In the second season, Lazio became the league champion, but was eliminated in the first round of the Italian Cup.
In the third season, Lazio won the league championship and the Champions League. Such a powerful team still stopped in the quarterfinals of the Italian Cup.
Why does this kind of fighting happen?
Because Lazio uses substitutes, reserve team players and youth team players in the Italian Cup.
How can these players, who cobbled together a temporary team from here and there, beat those teams with their main players?
In Italian football, there are not many teams that use the Italian Cup for training. It can even be said that there are none.
Winning is unique.
Other teams at most perform some rotations, not all rotations, but partial rotations.
What about Chang Sheng?
He directly and nakedly replaced the Lazio first team with this second-tier team. The purpose was obviously for training, or simply to give these players who usually don't have many playing opportunities a chance to play stably.
This shows that Chang Sheng does not pay attention to the Italian Cup at all.
In his eyes, the Coppa Italia is just like tasteless football.
Ferrara went through a lot of media reports about Chang Sheng’s views on the Italian Cup.
The conclusion is that Changsheng does not pay attention to the Italian Cup and will not invest too many troops in the Italian Cup.
This season, Inter Milan has been chasing Lazio so hard that it is impossible for them to win in the league, the Champions League and the Coppa Italia.
If we must give up one of these three competitions, it must be the Italian Cup.
After much deliberation, Ferrara felt that Chang Sheng should give up the Italian Cup and focus on the league and the Champions League.
In this way, the resistance Juventus encounters in the game will be reduced.
Juventus really has a chance to eliminate Lazio and advance to the final!
By the way, we took revenge for them stepping on our Juventus and winning the Serie A championship in advance!
