There was another reason why the police were on high alert. When Lazio's team arrived in Gihon, their head coach, Domenech Caso, did not hide their arrogant attitude towards the victory of this game. "The competition in Serie A is getting more and more intense, so we hope to be able to advance from the group as soon as possible and concentrate on the league …"
When a Spanish reporter asked Casso if his words meant that Lazio was determined to win this match, Casso said, "Yes.
"Yes, the team and I don't have to hide our confidence and desire for victory. This is normal. Who doesn't want to win?" Caso replied.
Then, there was more information from the Italian side. Lazio's 34-year-old goalkeeper, Peruzzi, was asked about his impression of Sporting de Gijón in an interview with Corriere dello Sport. The old goalkeeper said Albertini's name, and then he did not remember the names of any other Sporting de Gijón players.
Italian teams generally did not pay attention to the UEFA Europa League. In addition, maybe it was really as Lazio's head coach Caso said, that Lazio wanted to concentrate on the league. This was because in the current Serie A, Lazio had only achieved three wins, three draws, and three losses in nine rounds of the league. Therefore, there was a possibility that Lazio was more or less absent-minded about this game. Peruzzi's words might not have been a deliberate provocation. He might have only known that his old rival, Albertini, played for Sporting de Gijón.
However, in any case, the nonchalant attitude of Lazio's head coach and their players, and Caso's confidence in victory, gave people the impression that Lazio thought they would win the game relatively easily. This made Sporting de Gijón very angry.
The media in Gihon criticized Lazio for being arrogant. They used Sporting de Gijón's recent 4-0 away win over Real Madrid as an example to warn the Italians to be careful of losing.
"Teach the Italians a lesson!" That was the title of the Voice of Gihon, which was also the pre-battle declaration of the match.
The arrogant attitude of the Italians angered the Gijón fans. Therefore, even though the game was in the middle of the week, the El Molinon Stadium was almost full.
"Teach Lazio a lesson!" When Li Ang made the final battle mobilization in the locker room, he almost shouted, "Use your feet to tell the arrogant opponents that we have the ability to beat them until they cry!"
*****
The highlight match of Group C of the UEFA Europa League Group Stage had just begun, and Sporting de Gijón showed the momentum of a home team. They did not probe in the midfield, and Sporting de Gijón's first attack reached Lazio's goal.
For this match, Li Ang sent out eleven of his best and strongest players.
Goalkeeper Valencia, center backs Hierro and Pepe. The left and right backs were Fabio Grosso and Ivanovic respectively.
The four players in the midfield were the double defensive midfielders Juan Carlos and Albertini. The left midfielder was Franck Ribéry, and the right midfielder was Luca Modric.
The two forwards were Antonio Di Natale and Diego Milito.
Modric was in the starting lineup, replacing Mata, who was injured and absent. Ivanovic continued to win Li Ang's favor with his outstanding performance as a substitute in the match against Real Madrid, and snatched the starting position from Alegre.
Excluding the injured Mata and Dorado, it could be said that the eleven players on the field were Sporting de Gijón's best lineup at the moment. They had the vitality of the young players, and the calmness of the veterans. It could be considered a more reasonable combination.
On Lazio's side, the current Lazio was far from its peak, but after all, a starving camel was still bigger than a horse. Li Ang could still recognize all of their starting eleven players. They were basically the "old faces" of the Serie A.
Their goalkeeper was the 34-year-old veteran Peruzzi. The center backs were the 31-year-old Silvio and the 32-year-old Negro. The left back was the 26-year-old Zauri, and the right back was the 28-year-old Massimo Oddo.
The midfield combination was Giannicheda, Manfredini, Liverani, and the veteran Dino Baggio.
The front line was the veteran Di Canio and Inzaghi.
Lazio's Inzaghi, Simone Inzaghi, was the younger brother of Filippo Inzaghi, who played for AC Milan. People habitually called the former Inzaghi.
The Inzaghi brothers had similar technical characteristics, which was their excellent sense of positioning in front of the goal. It was just that the older brother, Pippo, was too excellent in this aspect, far surpassing his younger brother.
The older Inzaghi's characteristics were his keen judgment of the ball's path, his agile posture, his positional movement without the ball, and his last-minute kick in front of the goal. He was the most typical opportunist.
The younger brother, Inzaghi, could be said to have more comprehensive skills than his older brother because he had a strong body. He might be better than the older Inzaghi in dribbling, ball control, and physical ability.
However, if Li Ang were to compare the Inzaghi brothers, he would give the younger Inzaghi a very suitable evaluation: other than his ability to score goals, the younger Inzaghi was better than his older brother in everything else!
*****
When Li Ang received Lazio's starting lineup and saw the configuration of their defensive line, he had a plan in mind. Lazio's center back combination was on the older side. In addition, the most noteworthy thing was that their two full backs, Oddo and Zauri, were players who liked to assist …
Li Ang's favorite thing was that the opposing full backs were the type of players who were good at cutting in and assisting. This meant that as long as Sporting de Gijón's counterattack was sharp enough, it would be very difficult for the opponent.
"… Diego Milito! Beautiful shot! Peruzzi made a wonderful save. The former Italian national goalkeeper's performance just now was amazing. It was as if I saw a young Peruzzi. "
In addition, there was an extremely important point. Lazio's starting lineup, from the goalkeeper to the defenders, to the midfielders, and to the front line, the players were generally on the older side. This made Li Ang very happy. Against such a team, Sporting de Gijón's offensive storm of youth would definitely have a chance to show off its skills.
Less than five minutes into the game, Li Ang took advantage of a dead ball to specifically instruct Ribéry to tell the French youth that this game was a stage for him to show off his speed and skills!
Obviously, Lazio's players were not mentally prepared for the difficulty of this game and were caught off guard by Sporting de Gijón's offensive.
*****
Milito's powerful shot opened the prelude to Sporting de Gijón's offensive frenzy. Amidst the cheers of Sporting de Gijón's fans, wave after wave attacked Lazio's goal.
After Di Natale received Diego Milito's header in the front field, he stopped the ball with his chest and controlled the football under his feet. Then he turned in a circle on the spot, which made Gianni Kaida, who was defending him, a little dizzy. Suddenly, he diagonally passed to the front left.
Then people saw Ribéry use his speed to bypass Negro and suddenly cut inside. When he looked like he was going to do a long shot, he knocked his heel and Modric, who was following him, directly shot a long shot. The football was slightly above the crossbar!
"Sporting de Gijón's consecutive shots. Lazio seems to be clearly unprepared for this. He did not expect the opponent's offensive to be so fierce!"
"… Sporting de Gijón is playing very actively at their home ground. The speed at which they get into the game is amazing!"
This was of course. Li Ang's strategy before the game was to gain the initiative by striking first. He wanted to use offense to destroy the proud Lazio's players.
What better way to test Sporting de Gijón's offensive ability than a fallen Serie A powerhouse team?!
The answer was none!
Li Ang used Lazio as an experimental field to test Sporting de Gijón's offensive ability!
PS: Third update. Thank you to the child's father for the reward. It was past four in the morning. I was really sleepy. I still had to hurry during the day, so I went to bed first.
In less than 20 hours, 2016 would be over. Calling for monthly votes, calling for monthly votes, calling for monthly votes.
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