Chapter 363: On the List
Barcelona, who had a one-goal lead, continued to work hard and extended their lead in the 40th minute.
Xavi whipped in a free-kick and Sergio Busquets headed in front of goal to send the ball into the Sampdoria goal for the second time.
In the second half, the two sides changed sides again, and not long after the start, Messi received an assist from Cesc Fabregas and fired a powerful left-footed shot into the Sampdoria goal for the third time.
Sampdoria, who were three goals behind, had no strength to recover from this game and lost it.
Careza also did not criticize the team's performance.
Because that's to be expected.
If Sampdoria can beat Barcelona on the road, something must be wrong in the world.
With Sampdoria's strength, if you want to beat Barcelona, you really need to meet many conditions at the same time.
Previously, they were able to draw at home to Barcelona, which satisfied a very important factor - Barcelona underdog.
But it is absolutely impossible for Barcelona to be taken lightly when they return to their home stadium, and they will only go all out when they are angry.
In the face of such Barcelona, Sampdoria simply has no ability to resist.
However, Sampdoria, who had been pressed to the ground by Barcelona and beaten violently, still gave Barcelona a punch - in the 83rd minute, Barcelona, who had already led by three goals, seemed to be angry enough, and the attack was no longer as fierce as in the first half.
As a result, Gao Zheng stopped the ball on his chest and then volleyed sideways during an attack by Sampdoria, cramping the football with Barcelona's goal!
At 1:3, he pulled a goal back for Sampdoria and made Barcelona's victory less perfect.
After the goal, Gao Zheng and his teammates celebrated the goal at the Camp Nou as if it were their equaliser.
Barcelona fans can also despise the Sampdoria players with disdain, and even if they celebrate, they still lose.
But they are unhappy about this in their hearts - they can win completely, but now they let the other side poke a hole in their own defense.
There is no suspense in beating Sampdoria at home, and of course they can't just be aiming for it. What they want is to win beautifully, to have a hearty victory.
Originally, 3:0 was also acceptable, after all, it was a "complete victory". As a result, Gao Zheng's ball made their good wishes come to naught.
Caresa was delighted, and for him, Gao Zheng's goal was a complete surprise.
"The high goal disturbed Barcelona's victory celebration and added to their hearts when Barcelona was at their happiest!"
※※※
After conceding this goal, Barcelona seemed to be enraged, and relaunched a fierce attack on Sampdoria's goal, wanting to return it a hundred times.
But Gao Zheng's goal inspired the Sampdoria players, who set up the bus again in front of the goal and held it until the end, without conceding another goal.
In the end, the score of this game was 3:1, and Barcelona defeated Sampdoria at home, which was regarded as revenge for being forced to draw by Barcelona in the last game.
However, this may be a "failure" for Barcelona - after all, with their level, when do they need to deal with a team of Sampdoria's level? Even if they want to take revenge, the object of revenge should be European giants of the level of Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.
Whether the noble Barcelona wanted it or not, they were indeed dragged into the mud by the filthy sailors and fought, and even if the sailors were defeated in the end, the brocade and satin and glittering ornaments of the nobles were all covered with mud, and a set of gorgeous clothes was completely ruined.
For Sampdoria, despite the defeat away to Barcelona, they also had good news - Ajax beat Celtic 1-0 at home in the other game of the group at the same time!
If Celtic had beaten Ajax away, they would have overtaken Sampdoria to finish second in the group with six points.
But now, Jax has done Sampdoria a hand, beating the Celtics in turn.
Now the situation in the group has become like this: Barcelona are very high at the top of the table and have already qualified. Sampdoria have one win, two draws and one loss, accumulating five points and continuing to rank second. Third place went to Ajax, with one win, one draw and two defeats, and they have four points. The Celtics, who have won just one game and got three points, are fourth.
Barcelona have already qualified early, with one spot remaining among the three teams, and all three teams are hopeful to be the only ones to be the lucky ones.
In Sampdoria's favor, with the remaining two group games, they don't have to touch Barcelona again, and there will be no "must-lose" result.
Celtic and Ajax still have to meet Barcelona, of which Celtic are still playing away, and with Barcelona's temper, they are unlikely to lose to these two teams.
As a result, Sampdoria's two main rivals have already booked a defeat each, and Sampdoria will be in a much better position to qualify as long as they don't lose points against them.
In addition, on the Champions League scorer list, Gao Zheng is also on the list.
He became Sampdoria's top scorer in the Champions League with four goals and is also tied with Manchester City Spanish striker Negredo for fifth in the Champions League.
Ahead of them are Sergio Aguero with five goals, Lionel Messi with six, Ibrahimovic with seven goals and Cristiano Ronaldo with eight.
Although the first place Cristiano Ronaldo threw Gao Zheng twice the number of goals, but the Chinese fans are already very happy, after all, this tournament has been established for 58 years, and it is the first time that the name of a Chinese player has appeared in such a high position, and the fifth place, even if it is tied, is a great achievement.
And the game is still ongoing, Gao Zheng can continue to score, and no one can say what position he can stand in the end.
※※※
After a Champions League fixture, Sampdoria returned to Genoa with a league game ahead of them – away to Fiorentina.
After this league game, the league will be suspended for the national team competition.
At that time, Gao Zheng will also return to China to participate in the Asian Cup qualifiers and help the Chinese team qualify for the Asian Cup.
After two Asian Cup qualifiers, Gao Zheng returned to the club, and after a league game, there is a Champions League group stage, and Sampdoria will go to challenge Celtic away.
The race is very intensive, and there are tens of thousands of kilometers to travel back and forth.
With this in mind, Di Francesco did not put Gao Zheng in the squad for the away challenge against Florenrosa at all.
When the team went to play Fiorentina away, Gao Zheng stepped on the flight back home in advance.