Mourinho put his hands in his trouser pockets, frowned, and watched the game in the stadium coldly.
The game is about to end.
The scoreboard at the Dragon Stadium shows the current score of the two teams, zero to zero.
No one was able to score the other's goal.
Porto arranged a four-four-two forward formation and took the initiative to attack the opponent from the beginning. However, Sporting Lisbon was also prepared. The three midfielders played a slightly conservative style, but held the defense very firmly, allowing Porto's offense to
It's hard to make a difference.
The game was very intense and the referee gave out six yellow cards in the first half.
This included two yellow cards for Rui Jorge and Postiga.
Since Porto adopted a double forward of Postiga and Delle, Postiga was more active on the right wing, facing Sporting Lisbon's left back Rui Jorge.
As a result, the two players had a conflict in the 23rd minute, and each received a yellow card. After the first half, there was another physical conflict at the tunnel, and the referee gave each a yellow card.
This is good, both teams were sent off one person.
So, the second half became ten against ten.
The benefits were obvious as both sides restrained themselves and no more yellow cards were received in the second half.
It is difficult for Mourinho to be satisfied with the result of the game because this is Porto's home court.
Zero to zero, it’s not good, but it’s not bad either. At least it didn’t allow the opponent to score an away goal. This will give Porto more options in the next second round, after all, they have an advantage in terms of overall strength.
However, it is still regrettable that we failed to defeat our opponent at home.
"Bologni is too conservative!"
Mourinho walked back, shook his head and sighed.
It's not that he looks down on Boloni, but that the Romanian head coach is really conservative.
Facing Lazio with three midfielders, facing Porto with three midfielders, can't we have some backbone?
The match between the Portuguese Super League teams is, of course, about playing against each other...
Boas and Faria looked at each other and smiled.
The confrontation was exciting for a while, but he was slaughtered and sent to the crematorium!
"Bologni is still very capable in coaching defense." Brito, who was born as a central defender, really agrees with Boloni's defensive coaching ability. At least the results achieved by Sporting Lisbon in two seasons were largely attributed to defense.
To be able to persist until now this season, competing in the Portuguese Super League and the UEFA Cup, in addition to the sudden emergence of young players such as Su Dong, Ronny and Quaresma, which has greatly increased the team's strength, defensive stability is also a very important link.
"Our defense was also good in this game." Villas-Boas also smiled slightly, "At least we didn't give the top scorer the slightest chance and completely blocked him."
The king of shooters Boas refers to is Su Dong.
In this season's Portuguese Super League, Su Dong scored 18 league goals, ranking first among the scorers.
Ranked second is Simao who plays for Benfica. He has scored 17 goals, but what is interesting is that Simao’s goals include nine penalty kicks. Benfica is also the top team in the Portuguese Super League this season.
The team with the most penalties.
So much so that some people joked that Benfica's offense was to let Simao dribble the ball, then fall down in the penalty area and take a penalty kick.
Ranking third on the scorer list is Beiramar forward Fari Faye. Like Sudong, he has never taken a penalty kick. He has scored fifteen Portuguese Super League goals so far, and his performance is also remarkable.
Since the second half, Su Dong's performance has been very brave, especially in the UEFA Cup knockout rounds, Su Dong has frequently turned the tide, so many media have said before the game that freezing Su Dong will be Porto's game.
The biggest test.
Mourinho also agreed with this point of view, so he practiced defensive tactics for a week specifically to block Sudong.
During the game, he even did not hesitate to let three players, Jorge Costa, Carvalho and Costinha, join forces to attack.
In fact, it's simple, just focus on blocking Su Dong's header and right foot.
Although Su Dong has scored a lot of goals this season, in fact, none of them were scored with his left foot.
Therefore, in defense in this game, Porto let Su Dong's left foot go.
Sure enough, Sudong was completely blocked.
"This kid is really good. It took so many of us and so much effort to finally suppress him!" Mourinho was satisfied with the result.
Facts have proved that his targeted defense is effective.
If it works in the first round, it will work in the second round too.
However, this also brought about a hidden danger, that is, the focus was on blocking Su Dong and investing three players, which affected the frontcourt offense and led to the embarrassing situation of zero to zero.
Next, Mourinho needs to consolidate his defense and further adjust his frontcourt offense to defeat the enemy away from home!
…………
…………
The referee blew the whistle to end the game.
Su Dong let out a heavy breath and stood there panting, with two words written all over his face.
depressed!
He was restricted by Porto's players throughout the game. No matter where he went, someone would pester him and target his right foot. This made him very depressed and made it difficult for him to make a difference.
In this game, he only had two shots, neither of which were on target.
This is definitely one of his worst games this season.
Su Dong breathed out heavily and vented his depression.
Of course, the surrounding Porto players were not much better, zero to zero, and they did not take any advantage.
And it's still on his home court.
"It's okay, Su. It's normal to perform poorly sometimes. Who can guarantee that you will always perform at a high level?"
Ronnie came over to persuade him. He knew that Su Dong must be in a very depressed mood.
Just last night, Su Dong was still ambitious to score a goal at home in Porto, but he didn't expect...
"I know, I'm fine." Su Dong patted Ronnie on the shoulder and forced a smile.
In fact, how could he laugh?
…
"In tonight's game, except for a few players, everyone performed well."
In the locker room after the game, head coach Boloni said meaningfully.
After hearing this, many people unanimously turned their attention to Su Dong.
Tonight, both the midfield and the backcourt performed well, and the frontcourt and wings were also okay, except for Su Dong, whose performance was relatively sluggish.
Su Dong also heard it, but he couldn't refute it.
He can't always say that his condition is fine, but the opponent's defensive players are too difficult to deal with and suppress him. Can he say this? Doesn't the center have to be suppressed all the time?
"The team's offense, especially the lack of support in the middle, is very worrying. If we still play like this in the second round, I dare say we won't get the right to advance."
Boloni was not satisfied with Su Dong and had been enduring it. Now he finally got the opportunity. Naturally, he still hopes to suppress this young player who has dominated the limelight this season and even himself, the head coach, is not taken seriously.
.
If you don't suppress it, if it continues like this, how will you control it in the future?
"Coach." Ronnie stood up excitedly, "I think what you said is a bit biased. The other two central defenders, Jorge Costa and Carvalho, followed Sudong closely, plus Costinha.
, I don’t think Su Dong performed poorly, or, do you think, who in our team can do better than Su Dong?”
After Ronnie finished speaking, he sat down again, not forgetting to glance at Su Dong secretly, as if to say: Brother, I know you are boring, leave this kind of confrontation to me!
"I didn't mean to accuse Su Dong." Boloni was speechless and could only defend himself.
Although everyone knew that he was criticizing Su Dong both inside and outside his words, but if he refused to admit it, no one could do anything about him.
But Ronnie was right. Apart from Su Dong, who else could do better than him?
Nikolai?
How many goals has this kid scored all season?
Su Dong smiled at Ronnie and Pepe, stood up, and looked directly at Boloni.
"Don't worry, coach, since winning and scoring goals are rewarded, losing and not scoring should be criticized and blamed. So, whether you are talking about me or not, it doesn't matter. I accept all criticism."
Everyone in the locker room nodded, these words were grand.
A man can bend and stretch, he can stay rational amidst praise when he is in good times, and he can persevere amidst doubts and criticisms when he is at low point. This is the quality that a professional player should have.
"But don't worry, the same trick worked for me tonight, but it won't work for me in the future. I won't step into the same pit twice!"
"Finally, thank you for your encouragement!"
After saying that, Su Dong turned around and took away his luggage bag. He didn't even take a shower, just put on his coat and left.
Boloni looked at Su Dong's leaving figure, feeling very angry in his heart.
He hadn't had good communication with Su Dong for a long time. The two of them just explained some things in a routine manner and had no personal relationship at all. Su Dong never expressed his gratitude to Boloni in interviews.
Everyone knows that the two have conflicts, which started in the first half.
But now, Su Dong's departure has completely exposed the contradiction.
Even though he was angry, Boloni was still somewhat afraid.
If nothing else, as the team's top scorer and only 18 years old, Su Dong is highly valued by the management. He also has a very good relationship with the players in the locker room and has many hardcore players, such as Ronnie and Tonito.
Pepe and Quaresma both have a close relationship with him, Albertini and Andre Cruz have a close relationship with him, and even captain Barbosa trusts him very much.
In this case, Boloni had to consider the impact of falling out with Su Dong.
Therefore, the Romanian head coach simply pretended not to see Su Dong leave early, said a few nice words to other players, encouraged them, and hoped that everyone could keep up their efforts and strive to play in the second round of the home game next week.
Here, kill Porto.
But after the disbandment was announced, Boloni quietly called Niculai to the door of the locker room.
"Su Dong's condition has declined. You have to prepare well, cheer up, play well in the weekend league, and perform well. I will make arrangements based on the situation. Do you understand?"
Nikolai nodded heavily.
This season, he has completely lost to Su Dong in the main position, but if he breaks out in the weekend league, coupled with Su Dong's downturn, then he has every reason to fight, and even counterattack all the way in the last few rounds.
Just like Su Dong did last season.
It's just that both Boloni and Nicolai forgot one thing.
