At the end of a few days of vacation in Mallorca, Gao Zheng relaxed.

However, after returning to the team, he naturally faced the pressure of medical examination and coaching.

Gao Zheng is okay, relatively restrained, Alberto Massie's weight has changed a little, so he was cleaned up by Di Francesco and asked him to only play as a substitute before his weight reaches the standard.

You must know that Marcy has always been the main force of the defense line before, which can be said to be a big blow to him......

And such a main central defender, Di Francesco said that if he was put on the bench, he would be put on the bench, which also made other players dare not have any luck, and could only desperately recover their body and condition.

Marcy was very depressed, he, like Gao Zheng, had gained weight, but Gao Zheng was fine, he was cleaned up......

"The manager wants me to gain weight, we're different, Alberto. You lose weight honestly. Gao Zheng gloated and said to Marcy, who told him to play so crazy in Mallorca, the girl he had just met for a day got laid...... Should!

Despite Alberto Massi's efforts to lose weight, he was unable to make it in time for Sampdoria's away league game against Napoli on 6 January.

Fresh off the Christmas holidays, Sampdoria's team was not in great form, and they lost 2-0 away to Napoli.

But it's not just their team that's out of form:

Inter Milan, who finished fifth in the previous round of the league, also lost 0-1 away to Lazio in this round of the league, sliding to sixth in the standings and being overtaken by Verona.

Torino, who were one place behind Sampdoria in the previous round of the league, also lost this round as they lost 3-1 at Parma and stagnated in terms of points and standings.

So even if Sampdoria also loses in this round of the league, their league ranking has not changed, and they are still in seventh place.

Sampdoria next met in the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia, this time it was not a weak or similar opponent, this time Sampdoria met Roma.

If he had gone according to the idea at the start of the season, Di Francesco would have replaced all his substitutes and youth team players and lost cleanly on the road, and for the rest of the season, he would not have to think about the Coppa Italia at all.

But Di Francisco now had a different idea.

Eighteen rounds of league play are approaching the halfway point, and Sampdoria currently has 28 points and is in seventh place. Juventus are top of the table with 49 points, Roma are second with 41 points, and Napoli is close behind with 39 minutes.

This is the situation in the Champions League zone.

With Sampdoria's current points, they are still eleven points away from qualifying for the Champions League.

With Sampdoria's performance in the league this season, a realistic goal should be to maintain the current position, which can be considered a reasonable result, after all, there is the impact of the Champions League - the last time the team qualified for the Champions League, it was directly relegated.

If you have to say that Sampdoria was the third place last season, and it is a failure to win the third place this season, and this season should sit on the top two of the three, it is nonsense.

Sampdoria finished third last season and there was a lot of luck involved. In addition, the opponents did not know Sampdoria and Gao Zheng at that time, so this interview with Sampdoria took advantage of the loophole. And this season, even if Sampdoria does not have a Champions League game, it may be difficult to fight out of the crowd and win the third place again.

Sampdoria have a lofty goal this season and should qualify for next season's Europa League, which is relatively pragmatic.

In the league, both fourth and fifth place finishers qualify for the Europa League. This is not to say that Sampdoria, who are currently in seventh place, will not have a chance to finish fourth or fifth at the end of the league and qualify for the Europa League.

But wouldn't it be better if you could have an extra layer of insurance?

This extra layer of insurance is naturally the Coppa Italia.

As long as Sampdoria can win the Coppa Italia, they automatically qualify for the Europa League, regardless of their position in the league.

For example, last season's Coppa Italia went to Lazio, who beat arch-rivals Roma in the same city derby, so although they are one place behind Roma in the final league standings, they are in the knockout stages of this season's Europa League and are currently second in the group.

In Di Francesco's view, the Coppa Italia could have been abandoned, but with another role, he was reluctant to let the substitute squad and youth team players play.

He doesn't know how far the team can go in the Champions League, but the Coppa Italia and the Champions League don't really clash with each other.

Because the Coppa Italia is mainly played in January and February, it does not coincide with the knockout stages of the Champions League to a great extent - the first leg of Sampdoria's Champions League quarter-finals was on 19 February, seven days before the Coppa Italia semi-finals were all played.

There is only one final left.

If Sampdoria does not reach the final, it will naturally have no impact on the next Champions League knockout round.

And if Sampdoria reaches the final, even if there is an impact of the Champions League, they will not give up the Coppa Italia again in any case, and they will definitely go all out in the final to win the championship.

Even if they don't win the title, if they play against a top-five team in the league, Sampdoria will be able to qualify for next season's Europa League under postponed rules.

No matter how you think about it, you don't lose it.

There is another possibility - Sampdoria did not reach the Coppa Italia final, but finished sixth in the league, and if the winners and runners-up of the Coppa Italia are all teams in the top five, Sampdoria can also qualify for next season's Europa League because of the delay.

But it's not a double insurance.

So he already had an idea in mind for this game against Roma.

However, before that, he plans to ask the player's opinion again, after all, whether his plan can be realized or not cannot be achieved without the support of the team.

And there is only one person in this team who can give him the greatest support, and that is ...... Gao Zheng.

※※※

After Gao Zheng practiced the free kick as usual, he planned to leave the training ground, but was left behind by Di Francesco who rushed in.

"Coppa Italia?" After listening to the head coach's thoughts, Gao Zheng thought for a while and then nodded and said, "I'm fine." And to be honest, coach, I think the team really needs a clear goal. We all know it's impossible to win the Champions League, so there's no goal in the Champions League, it's the same in the league, and I think there's some voice in the dressing room that's happy with the current position in the league...... It's not good to go on like this. So it's good to have a clear goal to get people back on their feet. ”

Di Francisco was very happy that Gao Zheng could understand himself so much, he slapped his face and smiled: "Yes, yes, that's what I meant!" The team needs a clear goal so that motivation can be generated. But I have a concern – will it scare you if you want to aim for the Coppa Italia? ”

Gao Zheng was amused: "How come? The team is a bit confused right now, and having a clear goal will only cheer everyone up, and while the goal may seem a little scary, it will work better. And how many people would refuse to hit the championship? ”

Di Francisco nodded, "You're right, high. You gave me the confidence that I knew what to do. ”

He said goodbye to Gao Zheng with great satisfaction, Gao Zheng looked at the back of the head coach walking with the wind, and he could also feel the enthusiasm of the young marshal.

Think back to the plan he had just told himself.

Although it is mainly for the qualification of next season's Europa League, Gao Zheng is clearly more interested in the Italian Cup title mentioned by the coach.

That's a championship after all......

Who would say no to a champion?