Chapter 149: The First Launch

Despite his hard work in training, Sampdoria did not make the squad for Sampdoria's trip to Modena in the 38th round of the league.

Sampdoria beat Modena 2-0 away in this game to remain fifth in the table. With sixth-placed Padua losing and seventh-placed Varese winning, the standings of the two teams behind Sampdoria changed.

Padua finished seventh out of 60, six points behind Sampdoria in fifth.

This is good news for Sampdoria.

In the 39th round of the league, Sampdoria hosted Reggina and Icardi still did not enter the squad.

Sampdoria beat Reggina 3-1 at home, while Padua lost 3-1 away to top-of-the-table Torino.

The gap between them and Sampdoria has been further widened by nine points.

This is exciting news.

This means that Sampdoria will qualify for the promotion play-offs if they can win one of the next three regular season rounds.

And this key point is in the next round of the league, Sampdoria will face Juvistabia away.

This should be the best opponent they can face in the remaining three league games.

After all, ninth-placed Juvistabia is now on 54 points, out of reach of the top six, and has no relegation worries at all. In the second division, they belong to the representatives of the desireless.

On the contrary, the opponents in the last two league games will be much tougher to play against - Sampdoria will face second-placed Pescara in the penultimate round. However, Pescara are only one point ahead of third-placed Sassuolo and they will certainly give it their all. Even at home, it will not be easy for Sampdoria to beat the more dominant Pescara.

In the final round of the league, Sampdoria challenged Varese away and are currently in sixth place, and will also try to secure their qualification for the promotion play-offs with a victory.

Rather than going toe-to-toe with these two opponents, why not lock in a promotion spot in the first game against Juvistabia?

Perhaps because of this consideration, when Yacini announced the starting list for Yuvistabia a day in advance, Gao Zheng's name actually appeared in it.

"Gao, you're starting this game." After reading Gao Zheng's name, Yacini also added a special sentence. "You're fine, I think you're ready to start, right?"

"Uh, of course." Gao Zheng was a little surprised, but he did not refuse the head coach's arrangement.

Gao Zheng and Pelle will start together, while Icardi has been named in the first-team squad for the first time this season.

In the position of substitute striker, Yacini chose him and Bertani.

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Although Yacini always announces his starting line-up a day in advance, that is on the inside. Externally, he is no different from other coaches.

It wasn't until two hours before the game that everyone knew about the starting lineup.

"Gao Zheng is the first start!" When Lu Bing received the news, he was still a little surprised.

They have always been accustomed to Gao Zheng always coming off the bench, and they are also used to the nickname of "super substitute" given to Gao Zheng by Genoea fans, so when they saw Gao Zheng appear in the squad, they knew that he would definitely come off the bench.

But today Yacini gave them a surprise, Gao Zheng actually started the game!

"It's long overdue to start!" Wang Yixing was quite dissatisfied with head coach Yacini, "I always say that Gao is not ready for physical fitness, and it is all an excuse." It's just to use this to solve the problem that the team has too many forwards and can't rotate...... If Bozzi hadn't been injured, Gao Zheng might not have been able to start! ”

Lu Bing smiled.

Lao Wang is not worried about Gao Zheng now, but his conspiracy theories have not changed at all......

In fact, as for why Gao Zheng always plays on the bench, Gao Zheng himself and Yacini have talked about it.

Due to the discord with Atezori, Gao Zheng's pre-season training camp has been greatly affected, resulting in his physical accumulation not being good enough. The pre-season training camp before the start of each season is the most critical stage for players, and they must accumulate enough physical fitness during the training camp to cope with the following season.

But Gao Zheng missed this golden period, which led to his physical recovery not very well. In addition, during the reign of Atezori, Gao Zheng did not even play a game, which affected his physical reserves.

Therefore, after Yacini took office, he always let Gao Zheng play as a substitute, on the one hand, to let him adapt to the game, and on the other hand, to use this time to re-enhance his physical fitness.

It's just that the effect of physical reserve in the middle of the season is definitely not as good as at the beginning of the season, so Gao Zheng's physical fitness is improving very slowly.

This explanation was approved by Gao Zheng, and there are no conspiracy theories in it. And Sampdoria can now use the strikers in the first team are Gao Zheng, Pozi, Pelle and Bertani, of which Pozzi and Bertani have also been injured, and most of the time they don't have to have a headache how to rotate.

However, considering that Lao Wang was an investigative reporter specializing in exposing the shady scenes of Chinese football, it is normal to have such professional habits......

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"Gao Zheng is the first start!" Clarian Moretti heard his companions excitedly spreading the news.

But he felt a pity: "It turned out to be the starter in this game...... If it's a home game, the most deafening cheers can be heard when the starting line-up is announced......"

"Maybe Yacini thinks this game is more important. After all, as long as we win this game, we can prepare for the promotion play-offs with peace of mind. The partners speculated.

"I didn't expect that in the first half of the season we played like shit and ended up in the promotion play-offs...... I thought we were done this season again! ”

"Thank you so much!"

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"We just got the starting line-up for both sides of this game, Sampdoria, who had been a substitute all the time, started this game! It seems that the fitness problems that have been bothering him have been solved...... Of course, it is also possible that Yacini chose to take the risk in this crucial game in order to be able to ensure that the team wins this game...... Regardless, it was his first start in a professional game and a moment to remember. What surprises can he bring to them with his first start? ”

Sirio gushed about the anecdote of Gao Zheng's debut for the audience in front of the TV.

'He also had a record start when he was in Sampdoria's reserve team, and that was in the reserve final against a strong Roma reserve team. As a result, Sampdoria reserves ended the suspense in the first half, leading Roma reserves by four goals, and Gao completed two goals and one assist in the first half. A hat-trick was scored just after the start of the second half. In the end, Sampdoria reserves surprisingly beat Roma reserves to win the national championship of the reserves that season......"

I don't know if Yacini went to watch the footage of that game before making the decision to start Gao...... Ha! ”