From the man behind the football king to the football king

Chapter 92 The safest way to advance to the knockout rounds

On the first day of February, Udinese visited Bologna as a guest.

The former Serie A giants in red and blue jerseys have become increasingly declining in recent years. Currently, Bologna is only ranked 17th in the league, only 1 point higher than the relegation zone, and is in danger of falling into the relegation zone at any time.

Faced with such an opponent, Udinese will naturally not give up.

Although it has decided to focus on cup competitions, it does not mean that Udinese will give up all Serie A games.In this game, Guidolin only rotated some positions in a limited manner, but the team's two core players, forward captain Di Natale and midfield core Bruno, both started.

Due to goalkeeper Brkic being injured during the pre-match warm-up, 17-year-old goalkeeper Skuffet unexpectedly made his Serie A debut.

At the Dalara Stadium, Udinese took the lead in the 15th minute of the game.Pachienza committed a foul in the penalty area and knocked down Lazzari, who was about to stop the ball with his chest. Di Natale took the penalty kick and scored it in one go.

1: 0!

However, Udinese did not seal the victory until the game entered injury time.

Taking advantage of Bologna's desperate attack, Udinese intercepted the ball in front of the penalty area and quickly counterattacked. Bruno knocked across the wing and Nico Lopez scored the ball with his left foot in the middle of the penalty area.

This victory allowed Udinese to end the sluggish state of four league games without a win after the winter break, and made a good start for the Devils schedule in February that has already begun.

One day later, Napoli suffered a disastrous defeat at the feet of Atalanta on the road, which made Udinese's third place in the league more secure.

However, Juventus and Roma in front of them both won this round. Juventus defeated Inter Milan 3:1 and Roma defeated Parma 4:2, giving Udinese no chance to chase points.

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At 2:4 pm on February 45, there are only 15 minutes left before the first leg of the Coppa Italia semi-final between Udinese and Fiorentina begins.

In the home team's dressing room at the Friuli Stadium, Guidolin was giving final tactical instructions to the players.

Guidolin's goal for the team is to win the first round at home and defeat the opponent by as big a score as possible.

What's the safest way to advance to a two-leg knockout round?It's not about winning at home, nor about away goals, but about turning the two rounds into one game to determine the outcome!

"...I don't want to see anything like the last game, where we took the lead very early, only to end up being passive. This time we are playing at home, so don't give the opponent any chance to breathe! We must firmly control it. situation, no matter what the score is!”

When he said this, Guidolin glanced at Bruno.

Controlling the situation is actually for Bruno, because this is Bruno's responsibility.

In this game, Guidolin's formation is 4231. Cancelo, Erto, Danilo and Silva form the defense. Kante and Alan serve as midfielders, Bruno, Mahrez and Perre The three people lined up in front of them, Bruno was in the middle, and the other two people were separated on the left and right.

The person at the front is Di Natale.

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Captain Di Natale ended up picking the side and Udinese got the right to kick off.

Because there is only one starting forward, Bruno, as the attacking midfielder, also has to kick the ball in the center circle.He and Di Natale fought against each other, Di Natale's foot was on the ball.

Bruno did not look around for "scanning". The position at this time was meaningless and did not need to be scanned into his mind.

At this moment, the referee blew the whistle to start the game. Di Natale gently knocked the football into the Fiorentina half. Bruno took a step forward, turned the football and kicked it back.

Then, Di Natale rushed forward, while Bruno ran back.

After the football made a circle on the back line, the formations of both sides also stretched apart, and the football returned to Bruno's feet again.

After Bruno received the ball, he turned around and passed the football to Mahrez on the wing, and then he also ran forward.

Mahrez dribbled the ball forward, and when he encountered difficulties, he chose to pass the football back to Bruno, who then distributed the football to Pereira on the other side.

In the process of passing and running, Bruno's head began to turn again, taking in all the situations on the court.Pereira's development on the wing was also blocked by Fiorentina. He finally chose to force a pass. Di Natale failed to grab the point and the ball was pushed out by Fiorentina's center back Savage. Fortunately, it was blocked. The football that came out did not fall to the feet of the Fiorentina players, but was intercepted by Alan.

Bruno asked Alan for the ball, and he already knew how to organize the attack.

In this game, Udinese only had Di Natale as a forward and there were too few points in front of the goal. Crossing was actually not a good option.

However, crosses from the wing still play a very important role in Guidolin's tactics, so Florence will naturally focus on defending the wing. This is why both Mahrez and Pereira suffered from the wing after the game started. The reason for the other party’s obstruction.

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Mahrez was on the wing and the football did not reach his feet, but he was also observing the situation.

In this game, Florence deployed a 343 formation. Mahrez found that the three central defenders in Florence's defense were spread out, perhaps to take into account wing defense.

At this moment, Bruno passed the football.

After Mahrez received the ball, he initially wanted to open a breakthrough on the wing, but he found that the opponent's wing defense was very strong and it was not easy to break through, so he had no choice but to develop horizontally.

When he cut inside and dribbled horizontally, in order to avoid being intercepted by the opponent, he passed the football back to Bruno.

After the pass, he did not continue to go sideways to the middle to compete with Bruno for position. Instead, he cut inside and planned to run into the penalty area.

Fiorentina is aware of the power of Bruno's long shot, so when Mahrez passed the ball to Bruno, a Fiorentina midfielder immediately pressed up to prevent Bruno from easily taking the shot.

Bruno did not intend to shoot. He directly raised his right foot at the football passed by Mahrez, turned his ankle horizontally, kept it fixed, and then pushed the football forward like a golf putter. The football passed by Fiorentina central defender Savic!
Savage wanted to destroy Bruno's sudden pass, but due to lack of preparation, he acted too hastily. He did not touch the football and instead fell to the ground!
And what about Mahrez?After Savage fell, there was no defensive pressure on him.

………………

While passing through the Fiorentina back line, Mahrez received the football from Bruno and was not offside!

"This ball is passed beautifully!!" the commentator of the local TV station in Udine shouted.

At the same time, there was a huge cheer from the stands of the Friuli Stadium.

Amid their cheers, Mahrez stretched out his foot and pushed the football forward, entering the penalty area in one go.

He now only faces Fiorentina's goalkeeper!

For Mahrez, this is the perfect opportunity.Facing the Fiorentina goalkeeper, he swung his left foot, drew an arc, bypassed the goalkeeper's fingers, and then flew into the goal!

The ball is in!
"Riyad Mahrez!!!" the commentator of Udine's local TV station shouted, "the game only started 4 minutes and Udinese took the lead!"

"Good goal! Good goal!" the commentator of Italian Sky TV also shouted, "Good goal! What a good goal! Bruno's pass is so beautiful!"

A storm of sound erupted from the stands of the Stadio Friuli.

After Mahrez scored, he did not run straight to the corner flag area. Instead, he turned and ran towards Bruno, pointing at him to invite him to celebrate the goal.

"Why didn't you shoot this time?" he asked as he ran to Bruno.

"How can I bear to see you running away in vain?" Bruno smiled.

"Hey!" Although he rolled his eyes, Mahrez still hugged Bruno, "I still want to say thank you!"

Other teammates also rushed up and surrounded the two of them.

The local TV commentator in Udine saw the scene of Mahrez and Bruno hugging and said: "Mahrez should really thank Bruno, because at that time Bruno could have chosen to shoot by himself, but he was still very selfless. The ball went to Mahrez who was in a better position."

(End of this chapter)