Chapter 470: After-Game Shock
The win made Torino the fifth Italian team to reach the top of the UEFA Cup in 1971-72. Juventus (1976-77, 1989-90, 1992-93), Napoli (1988-89), Inter Milan (1990-91, 1993-94, 1997-98) and Parma (1994-95, 1998-99) have helped the Apennines to many honours and dominated almost the entire nineties of the UEFA Cup.
Since the 1999-2000 season, the European Cup Winners' Cup, which is also one of the three major European cups, was merged into the League Cup, and the competition was changed to the current Europa League, this is the first Italian team to successfully win the championship, with a 19-year hiatus in between, and the decline of Serie A is fully revealed.
However, with the large-scale entry of foreign capital, Italian professional football has gradually shown signs of momentum in recent years, and the combination of gold yuan and professional management system is the necessary business law of modern football, as long as it does not change its course in the middle, it will be successful sooner or later. And Tianchao football is not short of money, but in terms of management, except for a "hehe", there is really nothing to say.
Without mentioning the atmosphere-busting events, let's turn our attention back to the events of Torino's championship.
In terms of statistics after the game, the two sides were tied in most aspects, and even if there was a difference in individual statistics, there was not much difference, only the foul showed a more obvious difference. Torino are 25-16 ahead and have a 6-on-4 number of yellow cards. The reason why Kujpels' performance today was unanimously recognized by everyone was mainly because he adopted the same penalty scale throughout the game, and was more strict about the foul actions on the court, which controlled the confrontation between the players on both sides and allowed the game to be completed smoothly.
The result of this, combined with the tactics chosen by both teams during the game, made the final far less effective than one might think, with only the regular game time (i.e. excluding extra-time and penalty shoot-outs), excluding injuries and down-to-earth injuries, fouls, referee cards, hand throws, corners, substitutions, goals, offsides and pick-ups, the ball travels on the pitch for just 45 minutes and 51 seconds, the lowest in 15 years. This data can also indirectly reflect that the excitement of the game is not high, which is in line with the regular rule that there is no good ball in the final.
In addition, Torino also became the second foreign team to break the monopoly of the continental championship by a Spanish team since 2014. In the summer of 2013, after Bayern Munich's victory over Chelsea in the UEFA Super Cup, among the next four Champions League, four Europa League, four UEFA Super Cups and four Club World Cups in a total of 16 continental titles, only last year's Europa League champion Manchester United was a non-La Liga team, which was definitely the most powerful period of single-country domination in football history.
Fortunately, now another non-Western team has stepped up, which has eased this extremely embarrassing situation a little. The Red Bulls also broke the 12-game winning streak against foreign opponents in all finals since Valencia's penalty loss to Bayern Munich in the 2000-01 Champions League final, which is also a remarkable achievement. And all this, under the premise that Torino coach Li Mudi's household registration book is printed with Spanish nationality, is even more legendary.
At the post-match press conference, Diego Simeone, who failed to equalle the record of his old coach Aragonés with a victory and became the manager with the most titles in Atletico Madrid's history, was suspended by UEFA, but he could not be absent on such an important occasion. When faced with reporters' questions, he answered in short words, and always maintained a flat expression of pampering and not being shocked.
As the loser of the day, the Argentine boss refuted the journalists' belief that his absence led to the loss of the title, believing that Atletico's performance was still consistently good, but the strength of the Torino team was underestimated before. Simeone admired the tactical execution of his opponents and praised Li Mudi, rating the Torino coach as one of the best coaches in European football today.
Since then, the topic has gradually drifted off, and the question of whether Torres will leave after the season, especially whether Griezmann will switch to Barcelona, has become a more concerned issue, and the more troublesome thing for the Atletico manager is obviously not in the football stadium.
And Li Mudi's life is much better, this victory is enough to make the media all over Europe and the world enthusiastic about the team and himself, and he just needs to maintain a humble posture in the face of the outside world. The Red Bulls will undoubtedly be the most visible spotlight in football ahead of the Champions League final in 10 days' time, and receiving all sorts of praise is one of the things they need to do.
Especially in Italy, all the media have unreservedly focused on and touted this title, knowing that it is the first continental trophy won by an Italian team since Inter Milan won the Champions League in 2010. And with the extra points of the championship, Serie A finally surpassed the Bundesliga in the European standings and officially returned to the position of the third league in Europe, which can be said to be a double happiness.
Shortly after the match, the Italian Olympic Committee, the Football Association and the Serie A sent messages congratulating Torino on their official social networks, followed by official tweets from almost all Italian professional teams at all levels, including rivals Juventus.
In addition to relatives and friends in the Celestial Empire, there are also many from Europe, such as Figo and other former Real Madrid celebrities, Cristiano Ronaldo and other current Real Madrid stars, Alvaro and other former Castilian disciples, Wenger and Gasperini and other coaches with good personal relationships, etc., a large number of almost burst the Torino coach's mobile phone text message box. What surprised him the most was that Lu Fan, the ambassador of the Celestial Empire to Spain, Song Xuefeng, the consul general in Milan, and other officials also sent congratulatory messages in their private capacities, which made Li Mudi feel very honored.
As for the congratulatory calls received, domestic buns, sugar brothers and others all made international calls, and Nadal also stayed up late to watch the game during the break between matches, and invited friends to go to the French Open to help after the season. And Raul and Guti and others all came to watch the game, needless to say, Zizou, who was busy preparing for the Champions League final, had no time to doppelganger and could only send his congratulations by phone after the game.
The call between the two men took place on the evening of the second day of the final, when the Torino team returned to the country on a special plane in the afternoon. When Cassie and Moretti held up the silver championship trophy at the door of the cabin, the thousands of fans who came to meet the plane were completely in a state of boiling, and if it were not for the airport's restrictions on the number of people entering the tarmac for safety reasons, it is estimated that the crazy Torino fans would have caused an even greater sensation.
In the afternoon, there was another big press conference at the Stadio Olimpico in Turin, followed by a victory parade that lasted until late into the night, when too many Red Bull supporters had no intention of sleeping.
After a long day of hard work, Li Mudi, who sent away his parents and his girlfriend who continued to return to Asia to work in the afternoon, and resumed his otaku status again, received a call from the Real Madrid coach before the break. After the usual congratulations, the two men discussed the previous day's game, summing up some of the areas where Torino needed to improve in the game, before turning to the Champions League final, which starts next Saturday.
Zizou didn't find a good strategy against Liverpool, who were in high morale and in unusually hot form in Europe, but what worried the Torino boss was that he felt a deep sense of exhaustion from the tone of the opponent's voice, which had never happened before. Li Mudi, who was checking the current situation of the two teams, hurriedly called up the information column of his friends, and saw the words "I feel confused about the development of the team and want to leave" in my personal emotions, which is really incredible.
Although Real Madrid's position is not as full of glory as the outside world sees, and the hardships are also the highest in the world, but with the full escort of Lafayette, Zidane can be said to be the most comfortable Real Madrid coach since the beginning of the Galaxy Battleship period.
And the team is also at its peak in the two and a half years since he took over, reaching the Champions League final three times in a row, which is unprecedented since the restructuring and it is difficult to come back again. Coupled with a league title, two Club World Cup championships and many other good results, even if the performance in La Liga in the early and middle of this season can be said to be a mess, Li Mudi never thought that Zizu would leave, how could he consider leaving himself before the moment to make history?
The Torino coach, who lost interest in the Champions League final in an instant, immediately probed the personal emotions of his good friend from the side, and finally got the truth from the other party's mouth, it turned out that he and Galeries Lafayette had a huge contradiction in the squad adjustment plan for next season, which seemed difficult to reconcile, resulting in an extremely bad mood now.
No one is not excited about advancing to the final of the world's largest club competition for three consecutive years and having the opportunity to complete a triple title, but Real Madrid's performance in this year's league and Copa del Rey is indeed unsatisfactory, and in the process of qualifying for the Champions League, the team's ability has also attracted a lot of criticism, and it has lost its dominance in the previous two years, and is considered by many to be able to meet Liverpool in the final with the help of the referee. All this made Lafayette feel that it was time for a big change of operations.
As a result, rumors have been circulating in the transfer market that Real Madrid will purge Bale and Benzema, and the news that world-class goalkeepers such as De Gea, Brazilian international Alison and Thibaut Courtois will land at the Bernabeu to replace Keylor Navas has also lingered in everyone's ears throughout the season. And in March, the news that Neymar will return to Spain from Paris Saint-Germain to join his former club's sworn rivals Galaxy suddenly dominates the headlines of major sports media overnight, and all this is behind the shadow of Lafayette's manipulation.
In all fairness, Li Mudi still agrees with the concept of the President of Real Madrid, and he believes that the ancient saying of the Celestial Empire "Flowing water does not rot, and the hub does not beetle" is still very reasonable. It's hard to have a long-term stability in this world, and when it comes to football, there are very few teams that have been at the top of their game for a long time, and after Real Madrid won two big ears in a row, the current players' desire for glory is obviously not as strong as before, which is the main reason why they have not performed well this season without a big decline in ability.
After Manchester United won the treble that year, the next performance deteriorated, and Lord Ferguson decisively sold his subordinates Cole and York, brought in Ruud van Nistelrooy, and then replaced him with Ronaldo and Rooney after falling out with Xiaobei, who was like his own son. The most impressive thing is that he was decisive in cleaning Dutch central defender Stamm, veteran captain Keane, and the king of the small penalty area, Ruud van Nistelrooy, which was too impressive.
And after each big change, the Red Devils have almost been able to re-emerge and move to the next peak, which is one of the decisive factors why Manchester United can still be the world's top giants and become No.1 in terms of influence despite their not very good competitive results.
Real Madrid, who defended their Champions League title, have reached a peak in terms of athletic honours and are visibly starting to decline, and if they can't adjust their squad in time and replace their accomplished veterans with new signings who can be hungry for every game, then the team's results are likely to fall off a cliff in the coming seasons.
Even if it is not completely reduced to too bad because the old foundation is still there, but with Barcelona and Atletico Madrid maintaining their current level and Valencia showing signs of rising, the league and Copa del Rey titles will be farther and farther away from Real Madrid. As for the Champions League, which the team does best, relying on luck to reach the final this year, can you count on Lady Luck to always stand behind you?
According to the Turin coach's thinking, as the president of the new core of the Galaxy Battleship since Raul, he can still stay. On the one hand, although his competitive form has declined, he still maintains a very good age and is still one of the top stars in the world, which can play a very important role in the team. On the other hand, it can be regarded as for the sake of cultural construction within the team, so that the human touch diluted by Jin Yuan can be retained at the Bernabeu.
The other two in the BBC, Bale, who has too many injuries, and Benzema, who has too many ups and downs, should make a move as soon as possible while they can still sell for a certain value. After that, it can either cause new stars to be replaced, or to correct young players such as Mbappe and Asensio, which can have the effect of enhancing the overall combat power.
It's just that Zizou is too nostalgic, which is the main reason why he was able to get along with these big-name stars in a short period of time and completely control the locker room, but it also brought a huge obstacle to his current coaching.
Through Zizu's words, Li Muddy can feel that Galeries Lafayette wants to complete a series of big moves in the next summer transfer period, which will cause a fierce collision between the two ideas, and it is definitely a big earthquake for Real Madrid that may shake the foundation. However, with the chairman in control of all the rights of the club, the head coach of the team is unlikely to be the winner of this conflict, so Zidane had the idea of leaving the team after the season, leaving Li Mudi in a situation where he was at a loss.