Chapter 345: Continue the rotation

With AEK facing the UEFA Europa League at home in midweek and the mighty Red Wolves in the league next weekend, Lee Moody still has to think about sustainability in the unavailable circumstances of number one centre-forward Belotti being unavailable, Las Diarra and Ranocchia, who suffered knee soreness in Thursday's training, to miss the next two games. So he rotated his starting line-up again on Sunday morning, hoping to use the strongest squad in his squad to play in the capital on the premise of securing these two wins.

In the 3-4-1-2 formation, the goalkeeper is still Casey, the three central defenders choose the combination of Diego Llorente, Moretti and Canneman, the wingbacks on either side are Silvestri and Bareka, the two central midfielders are Vukocevic and Baseli, and in front of Benassi are Falke, who is more active on the two wings, and Immobile is the main Indian center. In the face of calls from the outside world to let the youngster Pellegri start, the Torino coach still did not push too much, he still hopes to give the young man playing time in the most reasonable situation, so that he can grow without too much pressure.

Torino arrived in the southern Italian city of Crotone on Saturday evening at around 8:30 p.m., having staged a comeback last season to overtake Empoli in the final stages. However, they are still inactive in the transfer market this summer, and they are still considered to be a team in the relegation zone, and the team's performance is indeed basically on par with these predictions. If it weren't for the good results of one win and one draw in the last two rounds, they are even better than Benevento, who have not scored a point so far, and even their current form is not very good, and they are only three points ahead of the relegation team, and they could be in danger at any time.

Facing the powerful Red Bulls at home in this round, head coach Nicola also knows that his team has little chance, but their own urgent situation still requires them to fight every game as the last game, so it is natural to fight hard while the opponent has several core players who cannot play. Crotone still lined up his usual 4-4-2 formation, but there were really no well-known players in the starting line-up, except for Albanian centre-back Ajeti, who joined from Torino in the summer, and without the help of the FM system, Li Mudi probably wouldn't have been able to name a name. The core of the squad is 20-year-old midfielder Mandragora, who is on loan from Juventus, and the two strikers are Nigerian Simi and Sassuolo on loan Trota, but with their attacking ability to score only four goals in the first seven games, Torino is unlikely to concede too many goals.

However, as the saying goes, "if you stand a flag, you will be slapped in the face", and after fending off several waves of the visitors' attacks in the opening period, Crotone took the lead with his first shot of the game. In the 25th minute, the home side tried to top it out when Torino had adjusted a little after a burst of onslaught. Trotta moved the ball to the left side of the penalty area after encountering a defense on the right side, and after Swedish full-back Roden won the ball, he suddenly chose to cut inside in the face of Silvestri's one-man marker, and fired a low right-footed shot into the far corner of the goal from two steps inside the sideline of the penalty area. Casillas' reaction was somehow slow by half a beat, and the angle and speed of the shot were really good, and the save was unsuccessful, and the ball bounced off the inside of the post and into the Torino goal. 1-0, the home team took a surprise lead, and the whole Sida Stadium was boiling.

After losing points, the away team immediately began to fight back with all their might, but the more impatient they were, the worse the effect they received. At the end of the first half, they had a total of 12 chances to get their feet on goal, but only three shots were on target, and with a good play from home goalkeeper Cordas, the score of a goal down could not be changed.

Fortunately, after half-time adjustments, the Torino players stabilized their emotions after the rematch, and Farke and Immobile successfully scored in the 53rd and 59th minutes respectively to put the score in one fell swoop. First, Benasi's forced breakthrough in the middle was destroyed by the opposing defender, and the follow-up Falke met the ball three meters outside the arc and sent a straight shot with his left foot, the ball drew a wonderful arc into the bottom left corner of the goal, and the Crotone goalkeeper failed to react the whole time, just watched the goal behind him fail.

Six minutes after the two sides were back on the same page, there was finally a lapse in the home defence, with Basseri's long-range through ball forming a lethal assist, and after Mobile successfully countered offside, he faced Cordas one-on-one and calmly shook off an empty goal with a feint.

However, just when everyone thought that Crotone would lose the possibility of taking points, an accident happened, the veteran Moretti accidentally hit Simi on the head with a raised right elbow during a scramble for a header, and at the same time, the opponent had to go off the field due to injury, and was also sent off the field with two yellows and one red, which was the 62nd minute of the second half. Torino were immediately on the back burning, with fitness and away games forcing them to retreat, but the hosts soon took advantage of the God-given opportunity to score another goal to level the score for the second time.

In the 68th minute, Crotone played a tacit cooperation between the three on his own side, and after the left-back Martella got past the substitute Fambas, he knocked the ball across to the central midfielder Barberis, who passed to the substitute striker Nalini who was already standing on the line of the penalty area before the defenders rushed to surround him. The latter carried Diego Llorente with his back to goal for two seconds, and when Martella entered the box at high speed, he used the outside of his right foot to flick the ball into his team-mate's path. Martella took two steps to catch up, first outstretched his left foot to stop the ball, and then immediately stabbed the ball. Although the Torino goalkeeper reacted quickly to the ground and made a one-handed save, the distance was so close that his left hand could not fully hit the target, and the ball still hit the net after changing direction.

With stoppage time and around 25 minutes remaining, Crotone not only equalised but also had a huge advantage with a second win of the season.

Fortunately, after more than a season of training, the Torino team has greatly improved in terms of mental quality, and there is no sign of collapse in the face of such a difficult situation. After all the players worked together to withstand the opponent's frantic attack, Li Mudi played the last card in his hand in the 85th minute, he actually replaced Falke with striker Pellegri, not only did not intend to defend to the end, but let the two wing-backs start to cross frequently, using this new force to create chaos in front of the home team, and then take the opportunity to find the opportunity to score.

In the 91st minute, Barreca's 45-degree cross from the left allowed Pellegri to get a header on goal, although the ball failed to get out of the angle, but it was powerful, and the home goalkeeper Cordas did not dare to be careless, lifting the crossbar and giving a corner. Benassi drove the ball straight into the box and Silvestri grabbed the spot with four defenders around him and headed the ball into the far corner with a flick of his head. This scene stunned the fans and the home team, and even the commentators of the two countries of Providence were shouting incredible, and the fans in the Celestial Empire gave the Torino coach a good blow on the Internet, and almost named him the first coach today.

2 to 3, with this stunner before the end, Li Mudi led the team to a thrilling away victory under the unfavorable conditions of playing one less person, and gained this hard-won three points.

Fiorentina beat Udinese 2-1 at home, Bologna won the same score and Sampdoria won by one more goal as they continued their good momentum in the new season with a 3-1 home win over Atalanta. Genoa narrowly beat Cagliari 3-2 away to finally get their first win of the season, while Sassuolo were forced to 0-0 by Chievo, and the results of the Nerazzurri were hardly satisfactory to the fans.

On Sunday night, the final two kick-off games were played at the same time. In a direct meeting between the two promoted teams, Verona beat Benevento by a narrow goal at home, giving the latter a miserable start to eight consecutive defeats while claiming their first league win.

As for the rest of the game, it was naturally the much-anticipated Milan derby. Spalletti showed the world why he is considered a first-class manager, and with a disadvantage of only 40% possession, Inter played very sharply on the counter-attack, taking the lead twice. However, AC Milan also burst into a strong fight against their rivals, with Suso and Bonaventura (who created Handanovic's own goal) equalising for the team.

In the final moments, Si Shuai replaced midfielder Valero with Eder, and it was very similar to Li Muddy's previous desperate fight. It was the Italy international's 88th-minute effort that resulted in a crucial corner, and although Inter were unable to capitalise on the opportunity to score directly, D'Ambrosio was thrown to the ground by Swiss Ricardo Rodriguez in a scramble for the spot, and the referee awarded a decisive penalty. Icardi then took the penalty and deceived Donnarumma before slotting the ball into the bottom right-hand corner to seal the win for Inter with a hat-trick. It was also the second player in 57 years to score a hat-trick in the Serie A Milan derby since Diego Milito in 2012.

Although this result is a bit cruel for Rossoneri fans, judging by the form and results of both sides since the start of the new season, Inter Milan is undoubtedly the stronger team. Considering the investment gap between the two in the transfer market, Montella's life is indeed a little sad, and there is already gossip that "Brother Li" seems to have moved the idea of changing the coach, but in the eyes of most professionals, AC Milan's problem is still in terms of recruitment planning and running-in, and whoever is in charge may not necessarily have a big improvement.

After all the Serie A rounds were over, Napoli and Benevento were still holding on to their winning streaks and losing streaks at both ends of the standings, while Juventus were overtaken by Inter and Torino after losing and fell to fourth place. At the end of the list, as many as five teams with five points and two teams with six points together form a huge relegation circle army, it can be said that everyone is at risk, the result of a game may determine the fate of many clubs, at least three to four have shown signs of instability in the position of manager.

On Monday's morning off for the team, Li Mudi welcomed a rare guest, Nadal returned to Europe after a tournament in Asia, and he squeezed out two days to visit his friends and collect debts.

After winning 10 titles at the French Open, Rafa continued his footsteps to catch Federer's 18 Grand Slam titles, but he suffered a shock fourth-round defeat to Luxembourg's Muller at Wimbledon in early July. After missing the opportunity to return to the world No. 1, he also watched the Swiss king win his eighth Wimbledon title, widening the gap between the two again. Fortunately, Natto was able to bounce back at the US Open at the end of August, returning to the world No. 1 after 1,142 days, and then beating South Africa's Anderson in three sets in the final after avoiding many good players, and won in Flushing for the third time. And this year's four Grand Slams were divided by the two old kings of "Feiner", which also shows the lack of young generation of players.

However, when the US Open entered the semifinals and finals, Li Mudi could not find time to go to the scene to cheer for his friends because of the team's matches.

At the beginning of October, Nadal felt like a heavenly empire, first winning the Chinese Open for the first time in 12 years, and then losing to his old rival Federer in the final of the Magic City Tennis Masters. With these good results, Rafa and his girlfriend Sisca came to Turin City as a guest, which can be regarded as a relaxation of tension in the year-end finals later.

The presence of the world's most famous tennis player in the region naturally attracted the attention of the sporting community and the media in Turin and even the whole of Italy, but none of the journalists were given the opportunity to interview Nadal. The Turin coach and his friends only came out once during the day, and after less than an hour of browsing in the foothills of the Alps under the protection of numerous security personnel, they went to the city's most famous western restaurant for dinner. The next afternoon, Natto and his girlfriend took a flight back to Spain, and there was no possibility for the media to get close.

After seeing off his friends, the Torino boss turned his attention to midweek European fixtures, with a rotational strategy still being used in preparation for the upcoming league campaign, with a number of young players given a chance to perform.