Chapter 346: Us and Barcelona
“…… Barcelona are a very strong team with a lot of superstars. I know it's going to be tough, but we're going to give it our all. ”
Video from Sampdoria's post-match press conference against Livorno was shown on TV, before the footage cut back to the studio.
The host said with a playful smile: "I don't know why, I always feel that Di Francisco always said this with a look of death...... In fact, everyone knows what the result of this game is, although it is a home game, but no one expects Sampdoria to beat Barcelona at home...... So far, Barcelona are unbeaten with two consecutive wins. Getting out of the group is not something they should think about at all, they have to think about winning the championship......"
Although it was a program on Italian television, the host did not mean to speak for Sampdoria in the slightest, but told the truth.
It may sound sad for Sampdoria fans, but it's true.
Now in the entire Italian football world, the only one who can wrestle with Barcelona may be the top three in the north.
However, Milan did not participate in the Champions League at all, leaving only Juventus, who performed very poorly in the Champions League this season.
The current Italian football is really tearful and sad to see.
I think AC Milan could have beaten Cruyff's Barcelona Dream Team 4-0 in the Champions League final.
Inter Milan can also eliminate each other at Barcelona's home stadium and advance to the final, and finally achieve the great feat of "treble".
Now Italy can only send teams like Sampdoria to fight against Barcelona, and there is no doubt that they will be crushed to death, like ants.
If the Italians knew about the culture of the Three Kingdoms in China, perhaps they would very much agree to describe Sampdoria as "Liao Hua, a great general in Shuzhong".
In fact, even Sampdoria's opponents Barcelona may not have taken Sampdoria seriously, because they didn't arrive in Genoa until the day before the game - if the opponent was Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, etc., they would never arrive so late on the road, basically leaving for the away game after the weekend of league games, adapting to the away weather and venue, and at the same time allowing the players to get plenty of rest.
No one felt anything wrong with Barcelona arriving in Genoa the day before the game.
At the airport, Barcelona coach Martino spoke to reporters.
"No game is easy to play, and no opponent is easy to play against. We won't take it lightly. ”
“…… I don't know how Martino couldn't hold back his laughter when he said that...... "The Italian TV presenter doesn't know if he's laughing at himself or Sampdoria. "As long as Barcelona play normally, Sampdoria will have no chance. I believe that this is the same sentiment within the Sampdoria team, there is no point in fighting Barcelona, it is better to put energy into the game against Celtic and Ajax - if they really want to qualify from this group, their rivals are these two teams, definitely not Barcelona......"
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At the tactical meeting the day before the game, Di Francisco told his players: "Everyone has heard the voices from the outside world, there are many analysts who think that Barcelona is not our competitor to qualify or not, so we don't have to fight Barcelona to the death. Honestly, these analyses are quite correct, objective and neutral. If I weren't the manager of Sampdoria, I would have accepted it. But I'm not, I'm Sampdoria's manager, I can't accept that, and I don't want you to accept that. ”
With that, Di Francesco paused to observe each of the Sampdoria players and make eye contact with them.
In the midst of eye contact with him, someone looked away.
"Don't run." Di Francisco said. "Don't run. Look into my eyes, I need to look into your eyes, I want to know what is really going on in your hearts. ”
As soon as he said that, every Sampdoria player bravely looked at him.
After watching a lap, Di Francesco nodded with satisfaction: "Very good, I saw courage and unwillingness." It's our home stadium, so why should everyone think it's normal for us to lose at home to Barcelona? I think we are weak, but in the Champions League this season, we are the best Italian team, we are the face of Italian football! So why can't we compete with Barcelona in a grand way? ”
"Do you know why so many teams are trying so hard to get into the Champions League? Is it for the prize money for the Champions League? That's what the managers of the club think about, as players, as coaches, we think about the only way to meet the big teams from all over Europe, to play against the big clubs from other countries, to know where we are in the whole of Europe. If you take it for granted to lose to a strong team, why are we here? So contrary to the perception of the outside world, I think we should go all out when we encounter a strong team, because such opportunities are not very common. If you play casually with the idea that we won't win anyway, I'll just feel sorry for me, not for me, but for you." ”
"We have to give it our all in this game, even if we are far from Barcelona, but we have to play them with the idea of beating them at home. And we trained for more than a week, and when it came time to compete, we gave up on this idea, so what did we put into training? So tomorrow's game, I hope everyone doesn't have the slightest hesitation in their hearts, concentrates and plays with the goal of beating Barcelona. ”
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"Why would we be against Sampdoria and not AC Milan, I heard they could have finished third last season. In this case, at least we will be in Milan today, not in the boring Genoa, where the nightlife is simply colorful......"
"Daniel."
Daniel Alves hurriedly laughed when he heard this, turned to Leo Messi behind him and said: "Don't be nervous Leo, I'm just talking casually, I know we're here to play, not to pick up girls, haha!" ”
Messi sat down next to him, as if to look at him.
"Don't worry, I'm really not going out, I'm not going anywhere, it's in the hotel. Eh, Leao, what do you think of the Chinese that the coach said? Do you think he's really as good as Martino? ”
Messi shook his head: "I don't know, I haven't played with him, I haven't seen him play. ”
"I've heard that some people in Italy call him 'China's Ibra'. I heard that he is a very tall player with good skills at his feet, Martino asked us to pay extra attention to the Chinese when defending, I think he is a bit exaggerated. Guess what I think? Martino must have been worried that we would underestimate the enemy, so he 'made' us such a 'Chinese Ibra', hoping that we would all ......get nervous," Alves gushed. "What do you think, Leo?"
"I don't know, but we really shouldn't be underestimated, Daniel." Messi shook his head.
"I know that I will not take the enemy lightly. I just have a bit of an opinion about Martino's approach, and if he wants us to cheer up, he should just tell us instead of making up a fake enemy and scaring us. If we find out that the Chinese is simply vulnerable in the game, it will affect our trust in the authority of the manager. ”
"You really take the authority of the manager to heart?" Messi glanced at Alves.
"What do you say...... I've always had a lot of respect for our manager. ”
"I thought you only respected Pep Guardiola."
'Pep is different from other coaches, he's special. But that doesn't mean I don't respect other managers. Alves looked out the window at the dark night scene and couldn't help but yawn.
"Boredom nights are always so long, I wish it was tomorrow in the blink of an eye, and I could go home after the game."
Alves wiped away the tears that had been squeezed out of his yawn and muttered.
Next to him, Messi was chatting with his wife on his phone, and Messi asked: "Is Thiago well-behaved?" ”
Then his wife sent him a picture of Thiago.
"That's good." Messi sent a red-hearted emoji.