The hype of the match in the British and Italian media is, "Before the knockout round, the Premier League and Serie A collide in advance!" ”

This is not an exaggeration.

In this season's Champions League round of 32, there are four English teams, three Italian teams, and seven teams occupy six groups, and only Group D has two national teams at the same time, and the clash between Millwall and Roma is also the only chance for English and Italian teams to meet in the group stage.

The media in both countries paid close attention to the game, but in reality, both teams were cautious and low-key about the game.

For Millwall, Roma are an unfamiliar team, even if they have played a warm-up match against Udinese, their knowledge of Italian football is limited, Roma are more than a step better than Udinese, and they must be more cautious against Roma.

The same is true on the Roman side.

After entering the 21st century, Roma did not have much experience in the Champions League, and this season was able to participate in the Champions League, thanks to the 'phonegate' incident, Roma Club was also involved, but Juventus was forced to be relegated, and after the cancellation of the participation quota, Roma instead qualified for the Champions League, and at the same time, Pizarro was also poached from Juventus.

Rome was lucky in this regard.

But Roma has little experience in the Champions League, and there are no flashy records in history, Millwall is a new team, in the first two rounds, Millwall defeated Valencia and Shakhtar Donetsk in a row, and they were all big wins, which is enough to make them vigilant.

Speaking ahead of the game, head coach Luciano Spalletti said: "Millwall are strong, they were Premier League champions last season and are top of the Premier League so far this season. In the first two rounds (Champions League), they won by big scores, especially away to Valencia, which proved that they will be very strong opponents. ”

'We are playing away from home and we have to give 100 per cent to have any hope of getting the three points.

'Playing against Millwall was a test for the whole team and we need a win that will make our qualification situation better. The whole team is ready and will work hard. ”

As the game approached, Zhang Yang also talked about Roma, "Roma is a strong team, we have to be cautious enough!" The team lacks European experience and it was the first time they had played an official match against an Italian team, but I think Gianluca's experience will help us, as he played for Juventus and knows Roma well. ”

'It's not started yet, there's no point in talking about winning or losing, I'll just say we'll do our best.'

The low profile of the two head coaches made the media of both countries regret, and they tried hard to hype the game and give the game 'special significance', but the two head coaches 'pulled back', and what they could report was very unattractive.

On November 19, the match at Neil Stadium officially began.

No matter how low-key the two managers were, the game attracted a lot of attention, and even the media from other countries took note of the game, with at least one team in Millwall and Roma going to qualify, and they wanted to see how their opponents played in advance.

The game has a big impact on the group situation.

If Roma can beat Millwall, the competition in Group D will become very fierce, and Roma, Valencia and Millwall will form a triumvirate situation, otherwise Millwall will be alone with nine points, far ahead of other rivals, and Roma's qualification situation will become very bad.

Before the start of the game, Zhang Yang said to all the players in the dressing room, "We won two games in a row in the group stage, it looks good, but other teams also have chances, if we lose the game, Roma will catch up, Valencia will also catch up, the first two wins advantage, all of a sudden, all of a sudden." ”

"So what to do, do you understand? Keep a good mentality, play according to the tactics, and try not to give the opponent a chance. ”

"If we can get three points, we will almost qualify early!"

Millwall's group situation is very good, two games to accumulate six points, and one more win can accumulate nine points, while Roma lost one, and Millwall opened a six-point gap, and the remaining three games are almost impossible to catch up, so win this one, Millwall will basically complete the qualification, and there will be no pressure in the next game.

But it's not easy to win.

Roma lost at home to Valencia and Millwall beat Valencia away, and given the win-loss relationship, it doesn't seem difficult for Millwall to beat Roma.

But that's not how football is played.

One game is not the same, if Valencia play Roma again, they may not be able to win, and even if Valencia can easily beat Roma and Millwall can easily beat Valencia, it does not mean that Millwall can easily beat Roma.

Millwall knew that when the game started.

Rome is not easy to deal with.

Roma are a midfield-focused team, and last season, Roma had reached a point where they had no strikers available, but the league has won consecutive games, relying on the intensity of the midfield.

Totti is Roma's central midfielder.

When it comes to Roma, we have to talk about the 'Prince of Rome' Totti, in the minds of many fans, Totti can represent Roma, his individual ability is quite strong, he has a good vision on the field, excellent passing, excellent shooting, strong body, and free kicks are his unique skills.

In the past World Cup, Totti, as the core of the Italian team's midfield, led the national team to win the World Cup.

In the star-studded Italian team, Totti can be a central midfielder, which can be seen how outstanding the ability is, and the manager Spalletti has a lot of experience in using Totti, he has created a style of play that allows Totti to burst forward alone, and when Roma do not have a striker, the attacking efficiency is almost unaffected.

At present, Roma is still focused on the midfield.

Roma's starting lineup is a 4231 formation, Totti plays as a central midfielder, a single core, and among the two midfielders, De Rossi is the offensive and defensive hub, Pizarro has just joined the team to assist De Rossi in defense, and at the same time, he can also give a lot of support to his teammates in front.

The trio of three in the midfield is enough to put huge pressure on the opponent.

Ten minutes into the game, Millwall realized that the 'dual-core' tactic had lost its effect for the first time, and in the midfield battle with Roma, Millwall could not even play a little advantage, whether it was Morris, Braniff or Livermore, technically could not be compared with De Rossi and Pizarro, let alone the headache Totti.

Roma had an overwhelming advantage in terms of the technical aspects of the midfield.

However, Roma's advantage is not all-encompassing, their problem is defence, Millwall's attack is hindered, and it is not easy for Roma to play an advantage in attack.

Livermore was a big problem, his constant running formed a defensive line at the edge of the box for Millwall, and it was also a headache for the Roma players, who found the tall man too strong and constantly running as if he didn't know how to get tired.

They thought of Gattuso of AC Milan.

Gattuso is like this, running around unreasonably and relying on abundant physical energy, he can create huge pressure on his teammates.

Roma did not expect to come to London and meet such an opponent.

From the overall point of view of the game, Roma still have an advantage, mainly because their players are more skilled, especially Totti, who has caused a lot of trouble for the Millwall backline, and when Totti gets the ball, no one knows if they will choose to break through.

Livermore's one-on-one defensive ability is good, and when he meets Totti, his technical ability and Totti are not in the same heavyweight class, and it is impossible to make up for it by relying on his body alone.

Zambrotta is a frequent defender, but the attacking side is always advantageous, Totti can choose to dribble the ball himself, or choose to pass the ball to his teammates, Roma's continuous attacks, bringing a huge threat to the Millwall defence.

If it's just a defensive crisis, it's not too much of a problem, but Millwall's offense is also hampered.

Roma's defence is very solid.

Roma's steady back four, coupled with De Rossi and Pizarro's two backs, makes the backfield airtight, and it is too difficult to rely on passing to break through the defense.

Looking at the game in front of him, Zhang Yang also knew what Millwall was missing.

"Less Totty!"

If Millwall also had an all-round Totti, it would be easy to play Roma.

Of course, not only Totti, but also other people, such as Ronaldinho, the future Messi, C-Ronaldo, Kaka, etc., in short, Mill Volvo is less than Roma, a real all-round core.

If there is a core of excellent skills, based on the team's skillful cooperation, and can break through with the ball on the individual, Roma's defence will not look so solid.

This is the conclusion that Zhang Yang has come to after careful observation for a long time.

Roma's defence is quite Italian, with each player in a zone position, they are firmly in control of their position, and the formation is never chaotic, in other words, it is difficult for the opposition to find holes.

To put it simply, for example, Darren Bent has to face one or two defenders when he gets the ball, Branifer has to face one or two defenders when he gets the ball, and Pire and Simpson on the wings are the same, they have to face the Roma defense when they take the ball forward.

When there is defense in every position, it is not easy to rely on cooperation to penetrate the defense.

If the team has an all-round player who can pass quickly, and can find an opportunity to accomplish something after passing people, facing a defender's defense, he will directly break through with the ball, and Roma's defense will naturally be breached.

Zhang Yang found that there was nothing good to do about the team, because they didn't have that kind of player.

In the front court of Milwall King, Darren Bent, Simpson and Pire occasionally break through, but their skills are still not up to standard, passing is not what they are best at, and if they can't pass the opposing player in a short time, they will face the bag of two defenders, and conceding the ball is almost inevitable.

That's the problem.

Looking at the game in front of him, Zhang Yang carefully thought about countermeasures.

The game on the pitch is no longer something that can be solved by 'supernatural abilities', and if the team is unable to break down the Roma defence, the game situation may become more and more passive......

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