Chapter 432 160 Bloodbath of Wanderers
Many Trapani players only respect Rangers in words, but they still look down on Rangers in their hearts. After all, Trapani is a team that has played against Juventus, Barcelona, Milan and other good players.
Reality has taught them a lesson. There is no opponent in the Champions League that they should ignore. The English style of play of Glasgow Rangers has taught them a profound lesson. Trapani has only had friendly matches with Manchester United before, and has no history of fighting with British teams. They are not familiar with British football!
Deschamps said at the pre-match press conference this morning that Trapani is absolutely confident to eliminate Rangers. This is not his usual attitude. Generally speaking, this gentleman is still relatively humble, but this time he was obviously behind but was unusually high-profile, declaring that Trapani must be promoted!
The commander of an army is the soul of an army. Deschamps's firm and high-profile attitude undoubtedly gave everyone strong confidence.
Maybe he has been instilling optimism and confidence in everyone these days, so Hugo did not feel everyone's nervousness at the training ground. Hugo was very satisfied with this. He told everyone that they had advanced and he held a celebration banquet!
He was not free tonight because the senior executives of Glasgow Rangers had come to Palermo with the team. The last time he went to Glasgow, Murray invited Hugo, Morek and others to dinner. This time, Hugo must also invite them.
Glasgow Rangers borrowed Palermo's training base for training. They also attached great importance to this battle. No Scottish team has been able to enter the Champions League quarterfinals for N years, and this time Glasgow Rangers has such an opportunity.
Entering the quarterfinals is not just as simple as a breakthrough in N years. More importantly, it can bring Glasgow Rangers a lot of income. Glasgow Rangers is now in financial difficulties and has serious debt problems. Being able to go further in the Champions League can get more money, which can slightly fill the debt.
Morek, the chairman of Trapani, who sent the invitation, Murray felt that maybe he was sending a signal of goodwill. A few days ago, he was forced to apologize to some feminists, saying that his remarks after the game were inappropriate, all thanks to Trapani.
Murray said that some people in Trapani (including Hugo) like women who like to complain and chatter, but tonight he is full of expectations like a woman, hoping that Trapani will give him an apology. If there is no apology, at least they should say that those are misunderstandings!
But no!
The senior executives of Trapani talked about the weather and the charming island of Sicily, but they didn't mention the game at all, and didn't say a word about the controversy after the last game.
The dinner was boring for Murray, and he had a deep understanding of Italians. They are good at talking nonsense and are not gentlemanly at all!
He really doesn't know these Italian mouth cannons. The so-called gentlemanly demeanor is relative. In Italian football, you can often see the president and the boss go into battle shirtless, and there are too many quarrels, but these people turn their faces and quickly sit together to eat and talk business!
Didn't Zamparini and Hugo, who used to quarrel so fiercely, sit together and fight in the same trench? Now they often scold each other. Hugo often mocks Zamparini's Palermo, which is finished!
Who made Palermo's league performance not so good this season due to the drag of the European war!
In this context, Zamparini can only swallow his anger and occasionally mock Hugo's ridiculous behavior!
The next day, on the evening of March 7, the second round of the 2005-2006 UEFA Champions League quarter-finals kicked off at the Barbera Stadium, with Trapani playing at home against Glasgow Rangers.
The TV station under Feningwest has the live broadcast rights of the Champions League. The TV station under its banner broadcast this game. They invited Lombardo as the guest broadcaster, and the anchor was the well-known Italian football commentator Massimo Mauro.
Massimo Mauro used to be a Naples player, and after retiring, he worked as a football commentator.
Although he is a famous player of Naples, he now stands on the side of Trapani. To be honest, he is a little worried about Trapani.
"I was deeply impressed by Glasgow Rangers in the last round! Their tactical style is simple and effective. Trapani players got into too many disputes, which is really not a good habit!"
"Disputes can easily cause the referee to be disgusted!" Lombardo also said that they are all experienced people. Some referees on the court are weak, while others are very tough!
Most referees are not only fair representatives on the court, but also tough representatives. Once the penalty is made, many referees are not used to the players' disputes and pressure. If they are often pressured, some referees may even be biased. In the last round at the home of Glasgow Rangers, it is possible that Borat has already developed aversion to Trapani players, and thus is somewhat biased towards the home team!
"Massimo, what do you think Rangers will look like at the Barbera Stadium today?!" Lombardo and Mauro predicted the tactics of this game.
"Needless to say, they should defend! They have already won a game. For Glasgow Rangers, the best result in the second round is to advance without losing points!" Mauro predicted, and he was not shooting without a purpose.
Glasgow Rangers may have defeated Trapani, a team stronger than them, at home in the last round, but their situation in the league is very bad. Celtic has left them far behind. Head coach McLeish is under great pressure. If he cannot successfully advance to the Champions League, he may not continue to stay in the position of head coach next season. Murray is very likely to cut him.
The overall strength is not as good as others. It is an away game. He is still one goal ahead. If McLeish does not choose to defend, will he choose to attack? !
In addition, Glasgow Rangers relied on defense to win a victory in the last round. Mauro believes that they are very likely to use the same tactics as in the first round, toughness and defense.
If Trapani does not learn from the lessons of the last round, maybe they will still be humiliated by Glasgow Rangers at home!
"So what about Trapani?!" Lombardo continued to ask.
"I think they might adopt a 433 position! But it's hard to say. Deschamps is a very good coach, but Trapani is now short of too many people, and it's difficult for Deschamps to arrange the troops!" This is also one of Mauro's concerns.
Miku, Pizarro, Toni, and Ribery are all injured. The only comforting thing is that Barzali can play the game, and Trapani can send out Samuel and Barzali, the golden combination.
The defense line is relatively complete, but Pizarro and Miku are missing in the midfield and frontcourt, and there is not even a proper organizer, which is extremely unfavorable for Trapani to control the situation on the court, and there is a lack of wingers.
Deschamps' variant 424 can't be played. The last round is a lesson. Cesar failed to do his job as a winger and did not put enough pressure on the opponent, causing Messi on the other side to be under great pressure and not perform well.
433 lacks a front midfielder!
Who will replace Miku? !
But this 433 was the formation Deschamps used in the last match against Treviso. Evra was pushed to the winger position by Deschamps, and Klose was the single striker in front, so Mauro guessed that Deschamps would continue to use this formation in this game, with three defensive midfielders in the midfield.
Mauro's guess was correct, and Deschamps really used the 433 formation in this game.
Goalkeeper: Kameni
Defender: Maicon Samuel Barzali Jankulovski
Midfielder: Li Tie Mascherano Essien
Forward: Evra Klose Messi
Against Treviso, Essien and Mascherano both got a chance to rest, and Cesar, Li Tie and Padoin played. In this game, Deschamps certainly wanted to send the two most tenacious and tested generals to the field.
Weak confrontation is a lesson for Deschamps. Anyway, there is no way to send a technical midfielder, so he might as well fight against Glasgow Rangers in this game. The midfield position is the key link.
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