It's really big. It's bigger than Manchester United's Old Trafford Stadium. It has a capacity of more than 100,000 people and more than 80,000 seats. It is one of the five-star stadiums in Europe. But Su Yun is not at all envious.
Because Italy is different from England.
They do not allow private ownership of the stadium. Therefore, the Stadio Olimpico in Rome is the home stadium shared by Lazio and Roma.
In England, basically every football club has its own stadium.
And the stadium is the cultural heritage link of a club.
For example, when Ken Bates purchased Chelsea, the Stamford Bridge Stadium had already been pledged to the bank. Later, Ken Bates spent a lot of energy and money to recover the Stamford Bridge Stadium.
Even a lot of the money was borrowed by Ken Bates from the bank.
In fact, Chelsea had many options at the time.
But Stamford Bridge carries a century-old history of Chelsea, so Ken Bates is obsessed with taking back Stamford Bridge. When Ken Bates took back Stamford Bridge, Chelsea fans sang and danced.
Because Stanford Stadium is Chelsea.
These stadiums in Italy are all national.
The club can only be on loan.
But for such a big stadium, not many fans came today.
In Su Yun's opinion, for an important game like the Champions League, there should be a lot of fans. There should be not 100,000, 70,000, or 80,000. At Chelsea, tickets for such an important game are in very short supply. Many fans buy them. Not enough votes.
But today there are many empty seats in the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.
Piece by piece.
The number of fans who came today is not even 50,000.
It is estimated that there are at most 40,000 people. It is completely different from Su Yun's imagination.
Su Yun has played at Wembley Stadium, Old Trafford Stadium, and Camp Nou. The fans in these stadiums are very crazy.
The stadium is always full during the game.
Su Yun always thought that the Olympic Stadium in Rome would be like this.
Even before the game, Su Yun was worried about the momentum of Lazio fans. The 70,000 Manchester United fans at Old Trafford put a lot of pressure on the visiting team. Su Yun was very worried about this.
I didn’t expect that!
In such a big stadium, half the place is empty.
Empty!
The game was about to start. Su Yun came out of the locker room and was completely stunned when he saw the fans at the Olympic Stadium in Rome.
Is this Lazio's home ground?
This is the home stadium of Serie A known as the "Little World Cup"?
Su Yun is already in his seventh season in England, and he has never known that such a thing exists. In England, whether in the low-level league or the high-level league, there are no such empty games.
In Dagenham, it's the fifth tier of English football.
At that time, Dagenham was a team that was relegated in the English and African League, and even had the possibility of being relegated. If they were relegated, they would be in the sixth tier of England. But there were still more than 2,000 fans watching every game.
Afterwards, Dagenham went to the Victoria Stadium in the English League Three, which had a capacity of 6,000 people. Every venue was full. Although it was a small League Three, Dagenham fans were unable to buy tickets for some important matches.
Later Su Yun came to Sunderland.
Sunderland's Stadium of Light can accommodate 40,000 people. Sunderland is a small place with less than 200,000 people. But the stadium will be full every time there is a game. It is an ordinary League Cup game. It is very normal for the attendance rate to be 70-80%.
Although in terms of the number of fans at the scene, it is almost the same.
But where is Sunderland? Where is Rome?
Sunderland is considered by many people in London to be a native of the north. It is a rural place with a total population of only 200,000 people, old and young. And Rome is the political and cultural center of Italy, the capital of Italy.
How come there are so few fans at Lazio?
Didn't Lazio just win the Serie A title?
Su Yun couldn't figure it out no matter how hard he tried.
Look at the attendance figures of Premier League teams.
Su Yun was a little disappointed.
It is completely different from the Serie A I thought about. There are too few people.
Su Yun and Zaccheroni briefly shook hands and then returned to their respective benches.
But on the way back, Su Yun could clearly hear all kinds of curses.
A very harsh insult.
It is laced with racial slurs.
Su Yun just frowned.
When Su Yun first arrived in England, he also encountered a lot of racial discrimination. However, as Su Yun's status in English football has risen steadily, it has become difficult to hear racial discrimination against Su Yun on the field.
It's been a long time.
Su Yun heard the angry curse again.
Su Yun's impression of Lazio dropped to the extreme in an instant.
But Su Yun didn't say anything. He continued to walk forward and sat on the bench.
…………
"Hello everyone, this is the Stadio Olimpico in Rome. A Champions League match will be held here soon. What we are live broadcasting for you is the Group D match of the first round of the UEFA Champions League in the 2001-02 season. Chelsea and Serie A players from the Premier League
The match between Lazio and Lazio. Let me first introduce to you the lineups of both sides."
"Let's take a look at the home team's lineup first. The goalkeeper is Petrucci. The back line is Favalli, Stam, and Nesta. The midfielder is Simeone, Stankovic, Cesar, Mendieta, and Feo.
Ray, the strikers are Lopez and Crespo."
"Eriksson, who led Lazio to win the Serie A championship, became the head coach of the England national team, and he was replaced by Zoff. However, Zoff's results were average. This season, Lazio appointed Zaccheroni as Lazio's head coach.
"
"Zaccheroni is an offense-oriented coach. Look at Lazio's lineup, this is the formation Zaccheroni wants to play."
"Look at the visiting team Chelsea's lineup. The goalkeeper is Cudicini, the back line is Solin, Desailly, Terry, and Panucci. The midfielder is Kewell, Lampard, Williams, and Bobo.
Ski, the front line is Zola and Hasselbaink."
"Chelsea is in very good shape now. Not only has it won five crowns, but it is also ranked first in the Premier League. Their lineup has hardly changed as predicted by the media."
Looking at the players, the commentator has already started working.
Just compare them and you will know what the difference is.
In the current Chelsea team, the most famous ones are Desailly and Zola. They were both famous players in Serie A, but unfortunately they are too old. In the eyes of Serie A fans, they came to Chelsea to retire.
And of course Panucci.
But Panucci was also abandoned by Inter Milan.
Apart from the three of them, Williams is the most famous now.
But more people think that he was blown up by the British media.
Because Williams suddenly became violent.
Except for a few of them, the other players are not famous. Cudicini is not even ranked as a substitute among Italian goalkeepers. Some of the other players were famous for a period of time, but they have all disappeared from European football.
It's been a long time.
But Lazio's players are different.
All of them are famous generals.
Nesta is known as Italy's most talented defender and Stam is the main central defender of the Dutch national team. He once helped Manchester United win the Triple Crown. Simeone is the main defensive midfielder of the Argentine national team.
A goalkeeper like Petrucci. Was once the best goalkeeper in the world.
Except they talk about two other people.
Mendieta.
A talented midfielder and captain who has led Valencia to two Champions League finals. This summer, he just transferred to Lazio for 48 million euros.
Let’s talk about Crespo.
In order to introduce Crespo, Lazio spent 55 million euros. And Crespo did not live up to Lazio's money. In last season's Serie A and other cup competitions, including national team games, he scored a total of fifty goals
ball.
In addition to them, there is another person, Lopez. His transfer value has reached nearly 30 million euros. When Fiore came to Lazio, his value was about 28 million euros.
The transfer prices of the players in Lazio's current lineup are shockingly expensive.
Including Gianni Keda, who is on the bench, the transfer value is also 25 million euros.
This is Lazio now.
Just comparing the transfer value and reputation, Chelsea should have fallen flat when facing Lazio.
There were some changes in Lazio's style of play in this game.
A three-back style of play was used.
The most important thing for Su Yun in this game is Mendieta.
It's not because his transfer fee is high, but because he is really strong. Although Su Yun has never played against Valencia, Su Yun has watched Valencia's games carefully.
Mendieta is a genius.
An offensive genius.
If you let him attack and let him have space, then few people will be able to guard him.
So Su Yun's idea is very simple.
Mendieta must be guarded. Mendieta must not be given too much space to perform.
For this reason, Su Yun not only moved Lampard back to help Williams defend. Then he put Hasselbaink at the front and Zola at the back.
Su Yun is really low-key in the away game.
Whether it's before the game or during the formation, they are very low-key.
But Zaccheroni, a lunatic, plays with three defenders. In fact, there are not many strong teams playing three defenders in European football. If there were many strong teams that played three defenders in the past, then now, the strong teams that play three defenders are already
Very few anymore.
Because the back three has high demands on the two wings.
Just like Bayern's Lizarazu, Salihamidzic, and Sagnol. Without such good players, playing with a three-back would be a recipe for death.
Zaccheroni is really crazy.
In his eyes, Chelsea are just like cats and dogs, who can be manipulated at will. There is no powerful midfielder like Gianni Keda in the lineup. He underestimates Chelsea.
"Dududu——"
The referee's whistle sounded.
It was Chelsea who took the first kick.
"The game has begun. In Group D, people generally believe that Lazio and Chelsea are the two strongest teams. It is believed that these two teams should be able to appear in this group."
"Hopefully these two teams can bring a wonderful game."
