The Young Lion

Turin, Stadio Alpi

This stadium is obviously different from the stadium in England, because in addition to the regular football field, there is also a track and field track, which makes the distance between the spectator stands and the stadium farther, which is convenient for management, but it cannot create a grandstand like the England stadium. Crazy fans cheering momentum.

The much-anticipated second round of the quarter-finals of the European Champions Cup is about to start. Players from both sides are already waiting to play in the tunnel. Aldridge is standing on the sidelines. He has communicated with Lippi before. Both said: No matter who can Advance to the top 4, I hope the opponent can win the final championship!

This is of course a polite remark, but in fact, the thoughts in the hearts of the two are exactly the same: you fall, I will fight for the championship!

This stadium, which can accommodate 40,000 people, seems to have a high attendance rate today, almost full, but there are still empty seats in some places.

Originally, Turin's urban population was not large, and even for a giant like Juventus, the attendance rate still couldn't reach a popular ratio. However, today is the European Champions Cup match, so there is no reason why there are vacant seats.

Aldridge looked around the stadium with his head up. Italian fans were as enthusiastic about football as fans in any other country in the world. They waved flags for the team and put up huge banners to deter opponents. Loud slogans and loud songs were all expressive. With the love of the team and the oppression of the opponent.

Aldrich looked around and finally frowned.

Where are the away fans?

What about Millwall fans?

Cheering away with the team on an expedition is a measure of a fan's loyalty, at least in England. If you don't go to an away game with the team. Then he bragged about his loyalty to the team. This will be ridiculed and ridiculed among the fan community.

Others don’t know that before Aldridge led the team to Turin, at least three of Millwall’s largest fan organizations sent cheering letters to the club, which vowed to support Millwall at the Alpi Stadium. Wall cheered and made the players more effective in the away game.

But now at the Alpi Stadium, Aldridge can hardly see a large slogan or banner related to Millwall. Only a few flags have the Wild Lions logo on them, so that people know that it is Millwall from a distance. Seoul fans.

Those fans have no reason to lie to themselves. This is no child's play. In terms of loyalty to the club, many fans regard it as a dignity.

In the end what happened?

Where did the missing Millwall fans go?

As players from both sides lined up to enter the field,

The Champions League theme song also echoed in the Alpi Stadium.

The second leg of the UEFA Champions League quarter-final between Juventus and Millwall is about to begin. Both teams are in good form in the league. The score of the last match was 2:1. The conceded goal gave them only one goal advantage and allowed Juventus to score an away goal. For this game, Juventus must score. Millwall may fall into a passive position. The home court. Millwall's control over the game will be greatly reduced. The second match between Lippi and Hall will test the on-the-spot ability of the two coaches. When the game starts, the situation is different every minute.

The starting list of the two teams is the same as the previous game. Millwall's formation changed from 433 to 4231 in the previous game, while Juventus continued to use the 4312 in the previous game. The two teams are ready to kick off after shaking hands. gone.

When the referee blew his whistle, the game officially started. Millwall shrank his defense as soon as he came up.

The state of Juventus after the opening game today is completely different from the previous game. In the last game, they worked hard, the right time, the right place, and the right people and everything. Today is the opposite. They are waiting for work and going all out for this game. On the court, it is natural to enter the state faster.

Davis, Deschamps, and Conte, these three midfielders with both offensive and defensive capabilities provide fire support behind Zidane, helping Zidane share the pressure encountered in organizing the offense, and at the same time, they also use it immediately when defending. Actively scrambling to contain Millwall's counterattack, Inzaghi and Piero also showed a very good competitive state today. At the beginning of the game, Zidane passed the header in front of Pirlo, and Piero ran diagonally He stopped the ball with his chest and volleyed without waiting for Elguera to block it. The ball flew to the lower right corner of Millwall's goal with a strong arc of rotation. Fortunately, Bout was well prepared and bravely saved the ball to the bottom line.

Juventus took a corner kick and the ball was cleared in the penalty area. Deschamps followed up and passed the ball straight into the penalty area. Inzaghi volleyed the ball directly, but it was too high.

As soon as the game started, Juventus put tremendous pressure on Millwall.

Players also know what to do when this happens.

They will stabilize first, slow down the opponent's rhythm, and kill the opponent's excitement, but this method is a bit immature for Juventus, who can fight and grab.

Del Piero and Inzaghi were consciously stuck between the defender and the full-back, and Zidane was also between Pirlo and Makelele, which created a pressure that forced Millwall to dare not play frequently in the backcourt. Stand backwards to stabilize, must attack forward!

Lippi has obviously carefully studied Millwall's style of play, playing 4231 away, the two wings are the focus, and Larson and Shevchenko made a big fuss on the wings during the counterattack.

Both of these two have extraordinary abilities, but they are definitely not at the level of ability to break through Juventus' defense. In the Serie A field where masters gather, Juventus's defense is the most stable. Forged after thousands of tempers, no one can play wild in front of them.

But Larson and Shevchenko are not the kind of wingers who hold the ball and kill you. In the fast forward, the winger is a supporting role in series, achieving the combination of the side and the center, using the pass The purpose of cutting and running to tear apart the opponent's defense.

Because of this, when Nedved was double-teamed by at least two of the opponent's three midfielders in the counterattack, neither Larsson nor Shevchenko could connect with the center, and Pirlo was also consciously blocked by Zidane After receiving the route, Larsson and Shevchenko fell into a one-on-one confrontation with the opponent's extremely capable full-back. The offense struggled.

Millwall's full-backs sat firmly at the back. They lead overall. Even if it is a counterattack, the overall formation is still based on a solid defense in the offense, so as to avoid giving the opponent room for a counterattack.

Juventus's advantage is very obvious, the offense is playing well, and it is only close to the goal.

The confidence advantage established by Millwall in the first round against Juventus is fading little by little, and the soldiers of the Wild Lions have really begun to realize the horror of this Serie A champion.

In addition to the twin stars on the front line, the configuration of the three midfielders behind Zidanega gives them a huge advantage in the midfield, and the passing and receiving cooperation is very smooth. It can be retracted freely in both offense and defense.

Aldridge constantly reminded the players to pay attention to the defensive formation on the sidelines to avoid being penetrated by the opponent in the middle.

He still chose Pirlo to start today's away game instead of Ballack. The defensive hardness has naturally declined, but he needs Pirlo's organization and scheduling when switching from defense to offense.

Playing against a team at the level of Juventus, even if the opponent has a flaw, it is only a fleeting moment. Whether you can seize this moment will test the ability of the team commander. At this point. There is no doubt that Aldridge believes in Pirlo more. That kind of scalpel-like pass, the most reasonable threat pass, Pirlo is stronger than Ballack.

Silver Fox Lippi looked chic and handsome in a suit and leather shoes today. He was sitting on the coach's bench just like in the first round, and he was still smoking a cigar, like a spectator enjoying the game leisurely.

Compared with Aldridge, who stands on the sidelines and uses body language to direct the team from time to time, there is a great visual contrast between the two, with every movement and stillness.

Aldridge looked like a rookie who was frightened, and Lippi was even more scheming and sure of winning.

Excluding the factor of the command style of the two, if Aldrich was given to Juventus, he probably would not supervise the battle from the sidelines, but would sit comfortably.

This group of people is too experienced, and the team has already matured. There is no need for the coach to remind or make any changes on the sidelines. If the Millwall players continue to play for the Wild Lions, Aldridge can reach a level within three years. The realm of doing nothing is because the players have experienced all kinds of situations, mentality, skills and tactics, on-court adaptation, self-adjustment and other abilities will reach their peak, and the work of the head coach will also change accordingly , It is to maintain the peak state of the team, rather than expecting them to have greater improvement and progress. Basically, after the player is 23 years old, the increase in the ball depends on experience, and the experience is rich, that is to maintain and adjust the physical and competitive state.

Millwall couldn't control the rhythm of the game today. They wanted to slow down and play, but Juventus didn't give them such a chance. The Millwall frontcourt attack group who dared to press aggressively was cut to pieces by the opponent's experience. Juventus successfully defended and will quickly launch a new wave of offense to maintain the rhythm of the game at a relatively fast rate. superior.

The Wild Lion's offense was not ideal, but the defense worked hard. After gradually adapting to the rhythm, Juventus's stormy offense also began to reduce its power.

As long as the ball is not conceded, Aldridge sees no need to change anything.

Millwall's offense is not ideal, mainly because the number of offensive players is too small, and only four players actually reach the frontcourt. Under the premise that Juventus players are in better condition, four players must defeat the opponent's chain of at least seven players. Defensive line, then you need shocking personal performance!

Stabilize first, stabilize the defense, wait slowly, don't worry, time is passing by, and the situation is getting more and more unfavorable for Juventus.

Aldridge does not believe that Juventus can sit still forever. Their offensive force is about six or seven people, and the four defenders have not moved. Tooth couldn't shake Millwall's defense at all.

When the game played for half an hour, Aldridge also became calm, watching the game trend with his hands in his pockets on the sidelines.

The two teams have entered into a delicate balance, and Juventus' advantage is also being narrowed by Millwall bit by bit. If more troops are not invested in the offense, Millwall, who is more and more experienced in defense For me, even if it takes 90 minutes, it's okay.

The cheers at the Alpi Stadium were overwhelming, fans set off fireworks in the stands, and smoke billowed from a certain stand, but none of this could attract the attention of the players of the two teams.

This strong dialogue is still more than intense, but not exciting enough, because neither side will give the other a good chance, and some players want to solve the battle by single-handed combat. Piero and Larson have both tried, but in the end The result is that the opponent defuses the attack very embarrassingly, but it gives the opponent stronger confidence.

In the first half, the two sides shook hands and made peace, and entered the locker room after a goalless draw. (to be continued..) ()