From the man behind the football king to the football king.

Chapter 203
2月15日，2014-2015赛季意甲联赛第23轮，乌迪内斯在主场迎来了圭多林口中的意甲争冠热门球队拉齐奥。

Since Udinese will travel to Germany next week for the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals, Guidolin has made certain rotations in Udinese's lineup.

However, Bruno, who missed a game due to injury for the first time in his career, and team captain Di Natale, who was suspended due to accumulation of yellow cards, still started the game.

Udinese, who played with a semi-main lineup, did have a very difficult game against Lazio at home.

In the 21st minute, Candreva made a pass from the right, Udinese defender Wague pushed Klose from behind, and Candreva took a "spoon" penalty kick to score the goal of his old club.

It was the only goal of the first half.

After the start of the second half, Udinese stepped up their offensive. Bruno's goal in the 68th minute not only ended his goal drought for nearly a month, but also helped Udinese equalize the score.

In stoppage time, Bruno sent a precise through ball, and Salah succeeded in countering offside, helping Udinese lead the score 2:1.

In the end, Udinese defeated Lazio 2:1 at home and achieved the team's 19th victory of the season.

When the referee blew the whistle for the end of the game, the entire Udinese Athletic Stadium was like an active volcano erupting.

………………

At the post-match press conference, a reporter from "Gazzetta dello Sport" asked Guidolin: "Udinese has achieved its 19th victory of the season, and you still insist that your team's goal is to compete for a Champions League spot. ?”

"Of course! We now have 59 points, 17 points short of the goal. I don't know when we will be able to complete this arduous task!" Guidolin said.

"But you just defeated Lazio, the favorite you mentioned before!" another reporter asked.

Guidolin said with a sincere face: "Lazio is just one of the many favorites to compete for the championship, and they are ranked low. Although beating them surprises me, for Udinese, our goal remains the same!"

"But now that we have won this game, we are already 8 points ahead of Juventus!" Another reporter said loudly.

Yes, after this round of the league, Udinese has 59 points, while Juventus was upset and tied by Cesena, the second-last player in the standings, and Roma was also tied by Parma, the last-last player in the standings. Naples even lost to Palermo 1:3 in an away game. Udinese's advantage over Juventus in the standings was expanded to 8 points, and its advantages over Roma and Naples were expanded to 15 points and 17 points.

Guidolin shook his head and said: "No, no, no... Our goal this season is just to qualify for the Champions League, nothing more."

A reporter became anxious and said: "You are the best team in Europe this season! Moreover, many of my colleagues have begun to be optimistic about Udinese's challenge for the Serie A championship this year, but you yourself have no opinion." Think about it, let’s confirm here, do you really think that Udinese’s goal this year is not to win the championship, but to compete for a Champions League spot?”

Guidolin nodded: "Yes."

………………

In mid-week, Udinese travels north to Germany to challenge Shakhtar Schalke 04 at the Veltins Stadium.

The current Schalke 04 is not the miners who will be reduced to a few years later.They are a powerhouse in the Bundesliga, ranking among the top four in the Bundesliga for many years in a row.

In the Champions League, the Miners also performed well. This is the third consecutive year that they have advanced to the Champions League knockout rounds.

In terms of experience in the Champions League knockout rounds, they crushed Udinese, who advanced to the Champions League knockout rounds for the first time in history.

Therefore, at the Veltins Stadium, although Guidolin fielded the strongest lineup, Udinese appeared to be very cautious.Facing the best performing team in Europe this season, Schalke 04 also did not dare to neglect at all.

So, when the game started, the audience found that both teams seemed very conservative and the scene was very dull.

Udinese's first shot came in the 18th minute of the game, but Salah's long shot missed the goal.

Huntelaar then broke through to the edge of the penalty area and shot hard, but Kanizis saved it.

After the first two and 10 minutes of testing, Udinese gradually adapted to the rhythm of the Champions League knockout rounds and gradually took control of the game.

Their first goal came as Udinese controlled the tempo of the game.

In the 26th minute, Udinese played exquisite cooperation in the frontcourt. Finally, Cancelo, who came in from behind, made a pass from the right. Bruno, who was unguarded, scored with a header 8 yards from the goal.

This is Bruno's first goal in the knockout stages of the Champions League, his 13th goal in the Champions League this season, and his 10th goal in the main stage of the Champions League.

………………

Schalke 04, who was lagging behind, also began to strengthen their offense, but until the end of the first half, they were unable to break through Udinese's goal.

Udinese entered the halftime break with a 1:0 advantage in the away game.

A stalemate began to form in the second half. Udinese, who was leading, focused more on defense, while Schalke 04, which was lagging behind at home, had to choose to take the initiative to attack.However, facing the solid defense of Udinese, they were unable to do anything, even if their head coach continued to mobilize his troops.

As the game time went by, Schalke 04 players became more and more impatient.The cheering of [-] home fans became a heavy pressure on their hearts.

When the game approached 10 minutes, Schalke 04, who still could not equalize the score, began to press forward and decided to fight to the death.However, this did not bring a goal for Schalke 04. Instead, it was a quick counterattack by Udinese.

Real Madrid expanded the score in the 79th minute. Bruno quickly counterattacked and passed the ball inside. Guillerme volleyed his right foot from the edge of the left penalty area into the upper right corner.

2:0, Udinese basically secured an away victory!
Subsequently, Guidolin sent Badu and Bubonijic in succession to strengthen the defense.

In the end, when the referee blew the whistle for the end of the game, Udinese still maintained a 2:0 score.

The away win was a 2:0 victory, which basically put Udinese half-foot into the Champions League quarterfinals.

………………

Returning to Serie A, Udinese ushered in its 24th consecutive victory and challenged Parma away from home.

In the eyes of the media, there was no suspense in this conversation between the Serie A captain and deputy squad leader. However, just 10 minutes into the game, Udinese's defense made a fatal mistake. Varela scored from a long distance and beat Udinese. Ness was pushed to the edge.

After conceding a goal first, Udinese was a little irritable for a while, but soon, players such as Bruno and Kante helped Udinese stabilize their position and regain control of the advantage on the field.

In the 306th minute, Bruno and Salah cooperated in a one-two, and Salah assisted Di Natale to score and equalize the score.

Seven minutes later, Bruno forced a breakthrough from the right and assisted Salah to score a header from close range to take the lead.

After a change of sides in the second half, Salah reciprocated with a header and gave Bruno a wonderful assist. Bruno crossed into the penalty area and directly volleyed home, sealing the victory for Udinese.

In the end, Udinese reversed Parma 3:1 away from home.

Since Juventus also defeated Atalanta in this round, Udinese still only leads Juventus by 8 points.

On March 3, in the 1th round of Serie A, Udinese continued their away trip to challenge Cesena, which was second to last in the standings.

In this game, Udinese players were generally in poor condition. Cesena, who was deep in the relegation zone, adopted a defensive posture during the game. This made Udinese unable to find effective offensive methods. Bruno He is often left alone in the frontcourt.

Cesena gradually regained its form and scored a goal shortly after the start of the second half. Udinese once again fell into a difficult situation.

In two consecutive games against the weak team, they both struggled very much, which verified Guidolin's previous remarks to a certain extent.

It wasn't until the 81st minute of the game that Udinese scored a goal from right back Cancelo to equalize the score.

By the end of the game, Bruno was already very tired from playing, but he still gritted his teeth.

After the fourth official on the sidelines called for 3 minutes of stoppage time, everyone in the audience, including all the viewers in front of the TV, and even the game commentator basically believed that Udinese would be tied with Cesena.

But at the critical moment, Bruno received a pass from Cancelo on the right and knocked back to Salah.

The Egyptian winger passed the ball diagonally into the penalty area and found Taylor accurately.

The French center blocked Cesena's centre-back with his body and nudged Salah's pass back.

Bruno, who was still on the outside of the penalty area, suddenly crossed into the penalty area from the right rib. After receiving Taylor's pass, he suddenly accelerated and crossed the ball. He got rid of Cesena's defensive midfielder and another pendulum passed near the penalty spot. He passed Cesena's leading central defender and fired with his left foot.

"Bruno passed two opposing players...and hit the goal directly!"

"The ball went in!!!"

“GOOOOOOOOOOL!!!!!”

"Bruno! Crucial moment! Bruno stepped forward again and saved Udinese!"

"2:1!"

After Bruno scored, he rushed out of the stadium with excitement.

The three thousand Udinese fans who came to the away game rushed out of their seats and shouted his name.

"Bruno! Bruno!! Bruno!!!"

Udinese players also rushed to the sidelines crazily and hugged Bruno.

This sudden goal represents a precious three points and also represents Udinese's winning streak over the past period of time.

In the close-up of the live TV broadcast, Bruno laughed loudly and accepted the congratulations of the fans and teammates in the stands.

(End of this chapter)