i want to be king

Chapter 969 We are the strongest!

In Europe, professional football is an industry that should not be underestimated.

This most advanced football industry chain in the world supports countless practitioners and related industries every year.

Many people only see players and coaches, and at most club management, but in fact, there are countless practitioners and related professionals behind this, such as media reporters, such as stadium managers.

How to manage a stadium is a very professional and increasingly professional knowledge.

The simplest question is how to take good care of the turf on which the players play, so that it can meet all the home games of the team in a season. Daily maintenance and maintenance are all very professional subjects, and even many universities specialize in this field.

The turf should not be too dry. Pay attention to watering to ensure that the turf is elastic and not too hard. This can effectively protect the players from injury, and the turf has enough water to make the football roll more smoothly and quickly.

Therefore, before the game, the turf is usually watered, which is conducive to improving the rhythm of the game and increasing the viewing experience.

However, the water should not be poured too much. Too much water will lead to more ball-handling errors by players, which will affect the normal game.

In other words, how much water to pour is also a science, and it varies from game to game, even every day.

With the continuous development of the professional football industry in recent years, more and more professionals have poured into this industry, which has driven the rapid development of the entire industry, from the daily training of players to eating habits, to the business promotion of clubs, and the daily operation and maintenance of the stadium.

For example, Real Madrid poached a ground administrator from Arsenal with a high salary in the past two years, who was responsible for the daily maintenance of the turf.

Some other wealthy teams have also gradually paid attention to various hardware and software facilities of the club, and have increased their investment in this area.

Italian football is very backward in this area.

A very important reason is that none of the stadiums in Italy belong to the club itself.

Just like the San Siro stadium in AC Milan, it is owned by the city government of Milan. The Milan duo just leased the right to use the stadium from the city government, and even some hardware facilities of the stadium cannot be changed, which makes many facilities of the stadium quite old.

A stadium should be used by two Serie A teams at the same time. Although the home courts of AC Milan and Inter Milan are always separated, it is conceivable how big the games this stadium can withstand, and in order to obtain more income, it will also undertake some commercial activities on weekdays.

Not to mention, let’s talk about the last ten days. In addition to hosting the two home games of the Milan duo, the San Siro Stadium also has AC Milan’s home game against Juventus at home in the Coppa Italia.

Playing four games in ten days, it is entirely conceivable how bad the conditions of the San Siro Stadium are.

When Manchester City was familiar with the field training the day before the game, they had already noticed the situation at the San Siro Stadium, and immediately responded to the club leader, and negotiated with AC Milan through the club.

The game is held at night. According to the usual practice, in the morning of the game, officials from both sides of the game, UEFA and the referee will be present at the same time to inspect the conditions of the stadium and negotiate various facilities, including the conditions of the venue.

The visiting team usually makes representations on various issues such as the locker room and the venue at this time.

Manchester City did the same, and it was reasonable and recognized by UEFA officials and referees.

AC Milan also explained on the spot that this is an objective problem.

Because they do not have the right to modify the San Siro Stadium, even if it is just a change of turf, it must be approved by the city government and Inter Milan, let alone repairs. Both parties clearly know that the venue is terrible, but no one can do anything about it.

Manchester City took the next best thing and asked AC Milan to water before the game to ensure that the field is moderately slippery during the game.

This request cannot be shirked, so AC Milan also agreed.

Unexpectedly, on the night of the game, when the Manchester City players walked into the San Siro Stadium again during the pre-match training, what they saw was still the potholed vegetable field.

……

"Damn it, they are really insidious. They promised well, but they didn't keep their promises." Pepe scolded angrily.

Su Dong turned his head and looked at Guardiola in front of the visiting coach's bench. He shook his head and looked at his teammates helplessly, "This is AC Milan's trick. Let's not get hopeful. Be careful during the game and pay attention to passing the ball."

The turf is too dry and slippery, which is not a good thing for a passing team like Manchester City.

In fact, AC Milan's venue is no longer in compliance with the regulations, but the game is already on the line, so can you still care about these things at this time?

"Okay, cheer up, everyone pay attention during the game." Su Dong encouraged the morale of the team.

That's part of what's known as home field advantage.

No matter what I promised you in the morning, I just won’t do it anyway, UEFA will punish you?
Yes, there was still some entanglement afterwards, and I will accept the penalty at worst, but the troubles of the game have already been caused.

Unless the game is really bad enough to be impossible, otherwise, in the face of this situation, you can only endure it.

Even, if he was affected by this and caused his poor performance in the game, then he fell into the opponent's trick.

The most famous one is that when Mourinho coached Chelsea, when facing Barcelona, ​​Mourinho directly asked people to pour sand in the stadium. He would rather toss the turf to prevent Barcelona from successfully winning the game at Stamford Bridge.

The same is true at San Siro tonight.

Some places are even obviously almost bald, some places are slippery, and some are too hard. This is very unfriendly to teams with a high ball possession rate, and AC Milan under the coach of Allegri does not need such things as ball possession rate at all.

So, their intentions are self-evident.

"They do so many things just to affect our emotions and affect our performance. As long as we are not affected by them, we can show our strength normally in the game and beat them away, then everything they do will be in vain. More importantly, we still have a home game."

Su Dong's words were recognized by Manchester City players.

The best way to get revenge on AC Milan is to beat them on the pitch.

And this requires Manchester City to be patient and stabilize their emotions.

Playing passes and controlling the ball, the most taboo thing is impetuousness.

This is not only Su Dong saying, after finishing the training and returning to the locker room, Guardiola has also repeatedly emphasized that players must maintain a peaceful mind and not be impatient when they encounter problems in the game.

AC Milan's starting lineup: the goalkeeper is Abbiati, the defense is Antonini, Nesta, Thiago Silva and Bonera, the midfielder is Nocerino, Ambrosini and Van Bommel.

It is not difficult to see from Allegri's formation that this will be a tough battle.

Italian teams have always paid attention to defense, and AC Milan's defense is very good. Nesta and Thiago Silva's partner should not be underestimated. Together with Antonini and Bonera, Allegri has made it clear that he will give up offense and defend with all his strength.

This is a recognition of Manchester City, but it is also a major obstacle.

"The most important thing is their midfield, which will cause us a lot of trouble, especially in the current field conditions."

Nocerino, Ambrosini and Van Bommel form a three-back midfielder. Kevin Boateng's intention to attack Busquets is to suppress Busquets.

"It's going to be a tough fight, guys!" Guardiola warned with certainty.

The intensity of the Champions League knockout rounds far exceeds that of the Premier League and Champions League group stages, which is not even at the same level.

Just like in the Premier League, which team can have the defensive level of AC Milan?
Liverpool and Chelsea, who have the best defenses, can't line up a defensive lineup like Allegri. This is simply a rhythm of not attacking and defending with all their strength.

For such a situation, Guardiola was also well prepared, and he even resorted to a three-four-three formation again.

The Italian teams are relatively weak in wing attack. Guardiola is determined to adopt three backs to ensure the midfielder's ability to pass and control the ball and create opportunities to the greatest extent, so as to deliver more shells to the trident in the frontcourt.

Goalkeeper Courtois, the defense is Pepe, Harvey Martinez and Kompany, the frontcourt is Busquets dragging behind, Marcelo and Toni Kroos are separated on the two wings, David Silva is ahead, Di Maria, Su Dong and Sanchez form a trident.

Guardiola also kept a hand. If AC Milan has a lot of offensive firepower on the side, Marcelo will retreat to the back line, Kompanil will pull the side, and Manchester City will return to the four-back style of play.

But judging from AC Milan's starting lineup, Allegri is afraid that he will play the iron barrel.

According to the usual practice, Su Dong, as the captain, would say something to the players to encourage them before playing.

Tonight was no exception.

"I can guess that we will encounter a lot of trouble tonight, but I want to say, don't worry everyone, we will definitely win! We have enough strength to beat this traditional giant in this stadium. They also know this, so they do everything possible to use various means to entrap us."

"But I believe that after the last two seasons, with so many tough games, we're ready and we can't wait, can't we?"

The players all nodded.

"No matter what we are fighting for, I just want to say that we all have a common goal, which is to defeat the opponent and take another step forward, because every step we take forward is creating history!"

"We are the strongest!" Su Dong clenched his fists, gritted his teeth, and shouted every word.

　Happy Mid-autumn Festival!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)