Chapter 274: Substitutions work wonders

In addition to Zampa Costa and Ranocchia in the backline, the veteran Moretti was able to beat Rosetti to win the main place with this period of hard training. In addition, the choice of left-back also surprised the outside world, with youngster Barreca, who had been firmly in his position, on the bench and the already marginalised Brazilian Avilar appearing on the pitch.

The midfield setup was exactly the same as the line-up practiced in the previous days of the week, with Baseli and Benassi in central midfield, Boyer appearing on the left winger for the first time, Rajadzic up front, Farke on the right, and Belotti up front, with Torino once again offering a 4-2-3-1 technical flow tactic.

After kick-off, the home side quickly took the initiative, using a triangular combination of midfielders and two central midfielders to keep the ball firmly at their feet. Boyer, on the other hand, showed an astonishing running ability, he could not only push up to the front line to help Red Babe relieve the defensive pressure, but also be able to control the ball on the side and wait for his teammates to run and form a combination, and when defending, he could also make a temporary cameo in the central midfield to participate in the pressing, which is really a three-man job. Thanks to his efforts, Torino had more than 80% of the possession time in the opening 10 minutes, and even completed four shots on goal, suppressing the opponent in the half.

In the fourth minute, Farke received a pass from Barcelona and used a realistic feint to shake off Linetti, who had come up to defend him, and then completed a wall collision with Rajjdzic to link up with the visiting left-back Regini before cutting inside into the box. He kicked the ball with his left foot into the far corner of the goal before the opposing Argentine centre-back Silvestre rushed to block it, and the veteran goalkeeper Pugioni kept his attention very focused, reacted quickly and flew sideways, poked the ball out of the bottom line with his fingertips, and tried to keep the goal safe.

This wonderful performance of attack and defense also won the applause of the fans at the scene, and the broadcast commentators and guests of Italy and Tianjin also praised the performance of the two players. However, after this missed shot, the home team's crosshairs completely lost their target, whether it was Belotti's header, Rajadzic's direct free-kick, or Barceli's long-range shot, all of which were well off the woodwork, so that Sampdoria's defenders did not come under the same pressure as the stats suggested.

Just when the Red Bulls were unable to attack for a long time and tried to change the tempo, the visitors unleashed a classic quick counterattack that nearly caused the home team's supporters to suffer a cardiac arrest.

In the twelfth minute, Rajadzic crossed to the left side, and the Slovak international Skriniar was stuck in the box to push out of the penalty area, and in the fight for the second place, Uruguayan midfielder Torreira defeated Baseli, and then sent the ball to the front with a long ball of a half-high ball.

Schick took advantage of Quagliarella's run to rush forward, attracting the attention of the home team's two centre-backs and pushing the ball to his left, where Linetti, who was inserted at high speed, led the ball into the box, where he tried to wipe the ball sideways from a step inside the penalty line, but was disrupted by Zampacosta's first kick and the ball with the ball. Just as he sat on the ground and shouted that it was a penalty, Schick, who followed him to the top of the arc, arrived just in time for the ball to land and volleyed the ball into the top right corner of the goal.

The Czech striker has been in astonishing form since taking over from Muriel as a starter on 3 April, scoring three goals and providing an assist in his last four games, and while the team's record is somewhat poor, it can't hide the superhuman talent of the 21-year-old. According to FM, Roma have taken a keen interest in him and hope to bring him to the squad this summer. According to the assessment of "Transfer Market", Schick was worth only 500,000 when he landed in Serie A from Sparta Prague in mid-July last year, but less than ten months later, it rose to 15 million, which is definitely among the top five of the year.

But just as the young centre-forward was about to complete an excellent performance of scoring in three consecutive league games, Ranocchia, who had always had high hopes for Li Mudi, stepped up, and he ran from the far end with his desperate play, stretching out his long right leg to try to block the powerful goal. Although it was not successful because it was too far away, the toe of the shoe still rubbed against the ball slightly, causing a slight change in the flight trajectory. In the end, it was past the palm of the England goalkeeper who was flying to save, but it hit the crossbar hard and bounced back into the home team's penalty area.

It was like the players of the two teams who had been pointed out and just watched whether the goal scored or not, and then they reacted and rushed to the landing point. In the end, it was the more flexible Quagliarella who was the first to touch the ball, and his unconventional stab shot sent the ball into the empty net without a goalkeeper. But before the Sampdoria players could start celebrating, the referee's whistle sounded, and he signaled that the visiting striker had tugged on Avilar's shirt and unbalanced the latter's body when he was scrambling for the second spot, and the goal was disallowed.

In just 20 seconds, the players of the two teams and the spectators outside the stadium experienced a rollercoaster mental shock, and the emotional changes were so drastic that it is difficult to experience in ordinary times. Fortunately, the happy side is the Red Bulls, and the players of the visiting team can only bear this fact except for a few complaints to the referee.

The home team's players, who were close to being attacked by the opposition, were no longer careless, becoming more cautious in possession and organising the attack, preventing mistakes but also losing the sharp passes that hit the opposition backline, so that they could not really threaten the goal guarded by Pugioni. After conceding the ball, the more ferocious counter-attack in the midfield also led to a gradual increase in the number of fouls, and Avilar also received a yellow card for a tactical foul in the 36th minute.

When the whistle blew at half-time, Torino had 62 per cent possession and were in a 10-on-3 lead in shots on goal, but few hit the target, with both teams twice. The main reason for the inefficiency is that they are too careful in attack, with very few through balls and individual dribble strikes, and more often choose wide crosses and long-range shots. Samp did an excellent job defensively and didn't give the home side any decent chances, and if it wasn't for their bad luck, maybe they were already leading on the road.

The news from the other venue is a bit of a surprise, with Juventus losing all 13 Serie A meetings, conceding at least two goals in 11 of them, and the last time they beat Old Lady was back in February 2001, and Atalanta, who have only scored two points from 24 meetings between the two sides, have shown a different momentum today. With a win over Bologna in the previous round and a record Serie A win in a single season (19 games), Poseidon was not at much of a disadvantage in the first half of the race, and although they were indeed unable to compete with Juventus in terms of possession, they showed equal strength in both offensive and defensive ends.

In the 30th minute, Antonio Conte broke the ball and sent in a through ball, and Swiss international Freuler took advantage of the gap left by Chiellini's injury and went to the ground, but the final shot was blocked by the in-form Gianluigi Buffon, and the home side missed a good chance to take the lead.

However, when the game entered the stoppage time of the first half, Atalanta still achieved a goal, Alejandro Gomez went straight into the box on the left, Kurtic shook off Bonucci but was tackled by Chiellini, but the ball happened to return to the feet of Gomez, the Argentine directly picked up the back point on the left side of the penalty area, and the outflanked Conte volleyed at the right post, Buffon couldn't make a save, and the score was rewritten to 1-0.

According to statistics, Atalanta have won all 11 of the first goals in Serie A this season, while Juventus have not tasted victory in the first half of the previous nine Serie A games (3 draws, 6 losses), which also gives Roma and Napoli behind the latter a glimmer of hope for the title.

However, the old woman's old spice is difficult for other teams to achieve, and just five minutes into the second half, they easily erased the deficit with a free kick that forced Atalanta midfielder Spinazzola to head an own goal.

At the same time, the coaches of both sides in the Turin Olympic Stadium are looking like they are looking bitter, as if they are comparing who is more sad.

Just two minutes into the second half, Czech striker Schick, who was in good form and had almost helped the team take the lead, fell to the ground in a seemingly unheated scramble, and was diagnosed by the team doctor as unable to hold on any longer, and was replaced by Croatian striker Budimir. Seeing the team's most threatening attack point go down, Jamboro's mood was naturally as bad as eating a fly.

Limdoudi's face was frosty because of the hosts' still poor shooting performance, and within six minutes of the change of ground (with five minutes left after Schick's injury), the Torino players tried four more attempts on goal, but still none of them hit the target. How can this be broken when the last kick that has been performing well in training a few days ago has been a big failure in today's official game? The Torino boss shook his head helplessly as he turned his gaze to the bench, perhaps to see which player would have his own shooting aura, and could come out to save the shot on target that was about to fall to freezing.

However, it was the visiting coach who took the initiative to make the change, and Gianpaolo, dissatisfied with his own players' performance in possession in central midfield, replaced the Portuguese midfielder Bruno Fernandes with a left-footed left-footed player from Inter Milan in the 61st minute. The former's appearance did achieve an immediate effect, his small skills and excellent crossing ability made Zampa Costa dare not press too high as before, indirectly reducing the pressure of the home team by a notch, making Samp's passing ball more efficient.

In the next ten minutes, the two sides showed an evenly matched situation, with two or three attempts at goal that did not pose a big threat, and the scene became very stalemate for a while.

Seeing that his attacking line could not find his form for a long time, Li Mudi finally couldn't bear it any longer, and in the 75th minute, he replaced Boyer, who had already run 11.1 kilometers, with his midfielder Akwa. But that wasn't meant to be a defensive reinforcement, as the Ghanaian came on and stepped behind the halfway line alone, with the positions of Baseli and Benassi being largely reinforced, and Rajadzic moving to the left to fill the void left by Boyer's departure.

The home team changed the formation to 4-3-3, but the midfield three players were in an inverted triangle position, and the attacking ability was still very strong. And the effect after the substitution is also good, the ball control ability on the Torino side immediately rose to a level, because the opponent's original starters are mostly at a not very good level in terms of physical fitness, so Akwa with the two central defenders to defend is not under much pressure, which also liberates Avilar on the left side, he can choose more forward.

However, the Brazilian, who is not very good in physical fitness and offensive ability, has difficulty completing this task, Li Mudi immediately replaced Barreca, the young man has been on the bench for nearly 80 minutes, it is a good time to break out on the field.

After that, the game was a siege situation, with the home team players taking over most of the possession on the field, and the left, center and right sides began to attack frequently, and Sampdoria's defense suddenly felt a little stretched. At this time, Giamboul completely gave up the intention of winning away, replacing Quagliarella with Serbian midfielder Jurisic, and only retaining two counter-attack points in the front, Budimir and Alvarez, and the rest of the players all retreated to the backfield and stuck to the draw.

By the time the clock came to the 85th minute, the home team's shooting statistics had reached a crazy 4-of-20, although they could not get the chance to score under the pressure of the opponent, but the efficiency was too ugly. Rajadzic was 0-of-7 and Belotti was 2-of-8, and the two men were responsible for most of the team's final shots, but they kept letting the caddie behind the away goal pick up the ball, and after seeing the Serb kick a well-placed set-piece out of the anti-aircraft gun, Li Mudi replaced him with Cherci.

At this time, no one could have imagined that the former figure of the Turin Olympic Stadium would open the door to victory for the home team after 86 minutes of hard pursuit on the first touch of the ball.

Benassi received a throw-in from Bareka on the left and dribbled horizontally from five metres outside the penalty area, only to suddenly send a spotless cross to the penalty spot. Left-back Regini, who was originally in a good position, made a mistake in stopping the ball, and Cerci behind him seized the opportunity to break the ball, and then kicked a volley with his left foot. Due to the suddenness of the incident, the visiting goalkeeper Pugioni did not react in the slightest and the ball flew into the bottom right corner with the ball sticking to the bottom surface.

1-0, the Torino team finally took the lead, and the whole stadium was boiling in an instant!