While Torino's coaching staff was debating how to deploy their tactical system in the hope of winning what was destined to be a tough game on home soil, Napoli arrived early on Thursday night by plane to Turin City, and it was self-evident how serious they were about this game.

Even in the fierce competition with the White Dolphins for the league crown, Juventus, who challenged Bologna away in this round, still agreed very, very generously to the former to use their own training ground for the final preparations before the game.

Napoli midfielder Jorginho said in an interview at midday on Saturday that this weekend's game against Torino is crucial and that the team must shake off the previous slump and rediscover the form of the winning streak.

"It's going to be difficult because the opponents are very strong and one of our main opponents on the road to the title," he said. They're in great form at the moment, the players are fit, so it's very difficult to deal with. But the most important thing for Napoli is to focus on themselves because we are winless in two games and we have to get the three points tonight. I'm sure Inter will make mistakes sooner or later, as we did in the last two weeks, so as long as the team can get back to the form they had at the start of the season, it's only a matter of course to get back to the top of the table. This is the third season of the team's championship and the best chance to do so, and we are all ready for anything. ”

It is unclear if the Brazilian-born Italy international has a talent for prophecy, but his accusations that Inter Milan would make mistakes were confirmed a few hours later. Spalletti's side suffered a 3-1 defeat at home to Udinese, and while handing new coach Otto three wins in a row, they also kept their points stuck at 40, which was also the Nerazzurri's first league defeat of the season, and the unbeaten record of 16 games in the opening game was declared old.

Considering Juve's opponents tomorrow are almost defenseless, even if second-placed Napoli are unable to take all three points on the road, there is a strong possibility that the top of the table will change hands. After entering mid-November, the Serie A championship situation has gradually shown a white-hot state, attracting more fans to pay attention, and the ratings have also increased slightly.

The second game on Saturday, the Red Bulls' home match against the White Dolphins, has also been selected as a key event for global broadcast, with viewers from more than 40 countries tuning in to the game via a variety of broadcast agencies. The pre-match broadcast footage also spotted a special guest from the stands of the stadium, and Kaka actually came to watch the game, much to the surprise of those who did not know the situation.

In fact, there is no complicated insider, today is the 118th anniversary of the founding of AC Milan club, as the team's top card of the year, Kaka, who has not decided the future direction since leaving the United States in November, took advantage of his free time to fly to Italy, hoping to meet with the Rossoneri's top management after seeing his good friends here. However, during lunch with the Torino boss at noon today, the former world football number one was not in high spirits, as his agent had just received news from Milan and AC Milan still did not express his position on his proposal to return to a management position at the club. In other words, at least for a short time, he can only set other plans for his future.

Due to the bad mood, Kaka did not go to Milan tonight as planned, but chose to stay in Turin for one night, and then had time to enter the Olympic Stadium through his friend Li Mudi to watch this matchup that is likely to affect the entire Serie A title situation.

The game kicked off on time at 18 o'clock local time, and it was already one o'clock in the morning on Sunday, which was very unfriendly to the audience of the Celestial Empire, but the previous decision of domestic CCTV to only broadcast the game of the Torino team has caused strong dissatisfaction among Milan fans. Since these two traditional giants are officially controlled by the merchants of the Celestial Empire this season, they naturally took the opportunity to enhance their influence in the Celestial Empire, although the increase is far greater than that brought by Li Mudi to the Turin team, but it is very good to not be able to stand up to the original mass base, and after such an operation, CCTV has to make the choice of the three teams to divide the live broadcast equally, so that the Red Bull's game is no longer limited to the prime time of the Celestial Empire.

Back in the evening, the duo announced their starting line-up for the game. On the one hand, the home team is still relatively conservative against strong opponents, and the 3-5-2 position does not have a midfielder, and Diarra, Vukocevic and Benassi all appear in the central midfield position, but the first two are closer to the defensive line. The centre-back three is the current best combination of Diego Llorente, Ranocchia and Caneman, with Silvestri and Flanagan starting on the wings respectively, and Bareka has recovered from injury but has only recently returned to training, and Li Mudi has not risked using him. The goalkeeper and the striker are naturally thunderous, Cassie and the Italian international combination.

However, Napoli's roster made everyone feel something different, with Maurizio Sarri putting his original main player Insigne on the bench and using Poland international Zielinski on the left wing. Defensively, the serious injury of Algerian left wing-back Gulam also made Portugal international Rui, who is on loan from Roma, take a starting position. The remaining nine starters of the visiting team are all regular lineups, and the strength is naturally not to be underestimated.

Li Muddy has also analyzed the reasons why the Torino team is always in a very passive situation against Napoli, and he believes that the main crux is that it is unable to prevent the opponent's three world-class strikers, Callejon, Mertens and Insigne are all players who combine skill and speed very well, and they are not fixed positions, and they can be changed at any time according to actual needs. With good midfield teammates such as Hamsik behind them, Napoli's front trident can always find opportunities for lethal strikes through erratic movements, especially in front of a team like Torino where the speed of the central defenders is tough, which is extremely lethal.

Therefore, he borrowed the tactics of Juventus' previous 1-0 win away to the White Dolphins in this game, while the three central defenders stuck to their respective areas, focusing on the two wing-backs and the timely siege of the midfielders, which obviously requires a lot of fitness and the ability to judge when to help teammates. Therefore, the Torino coach arranged the defensive weak Flanagan as the left wing-back, and at the same time put Diarra and Vukocevic, two good interceptors, on the field together, and the three substitutions in his hands will be left to these positions as much as possible, so that there is still enough energy in the second half to maintain the smooth implementation of this tactic. As for the attacking side, you have to count on the opponent to have a hole in the long-term attack, after all, Immobile and Belotti are not the type of Dybala who can create opportunities by playing alone, and without the support of his teammates, it is difficult to bring a threat to the opponent's goal without the support of his teammates.

While Insigne's lack of a start has somewhat disrupted some of Limmoudi's plans, Zielinski is also a technical player who is not very tall, and his passing and off-ball movement are a bit better, and he is good at linking the team in the central midfield position. However, he also has the advantage of being able to deliver precise through balls closer to the opposition goal,16 with the vision and imagination that allows the Poland international to form two threatening points with Hamsik and can effectively defuse the latter's tactics of freezing the latter.

After the opening, the visitors who had the first wave of possession did not rush to attack, but began to mobilize the defense of the Torino players by using the excellent passing ability of their own midfielders. However, Li Mudi had anticipated this situation before the game, and he asked the players to ignore the opponent's inverted feet behind the halfway line, save energy and press more when the ball enters their own half. Seeing that the tactics of luring the snake out of the hole did not work, Napoli quickly changed their routine, as if pressing the button of speed multiplied by two, and with the help of right wing-back Hisaj coming up to assist, after a quick pass, Callejon sent a cross from the bottom. It's a pity that Mertens, who is at the front, is only 1.69 meters, and facing Ranocchia, who is 26 centimeters taller than him, is like a child fighting with an adult, and there is no chance of winning.

However, the home team that got the ball, the first wave of attack in this game was not smooth, because Mobile and Belotti in the front of the two-one-one combination was seen through by the opponent, former Real Madrid central defender Albiol left the ball with a sliding tackle, and then Hamsik organized an offensive. The Slovakia captain made a big foot transfer to Zielinski on the left, who took advantage of his team-mate's running to find an opportunity to send a through ball, Mertens on the left side of the box forced a cross down the middle with the interference of Diego Llorente and was blocked.

Zielinski's quick-paced corner from the right was headed back by Brazilian centre-back Allan at the front post, which went just over the heads of two Torino players, and was guarded by Senegalese centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly, who was ambushed in the middle of the six-yard box. He used the card to block Ranocchia behind him, and then leaped high and struck a very easy header into the near corner, but Casillas was helpless in the face of a close-range but awkwardly angled shot, and the ball hit the inside of the side-netting and rolled into the home side. Just four minutes into the game, Napoli took the situation into their own hands with a lightning goal away from home.

The blow he encountered when he opened the door made the entire Torino team look a little overwhelmed, and even Li Mudi on the sidelines had a frowning expression, obviously not knowing how to adjust. This set of starters is obviously used to implement defensive counter-attacking tactics, and the attack is not too strong, but for the home team that fell behind in the opening five minutes, it is not meaningful to continue to defend, and in terms of the opponent's possession ability, if they do not put a lot of pressure on them, they will hardly make mistakes themselves to let the Red Bulls find a chance to equalize.

However, it was not enough to rush out, Flanagan had little to expect an assist, and Silvestri on the right had a decent cross, but it was easy to be targeted by the opponent without the echo of his teammates on the other side. The second is that without Basseri, there is only one organizational point in the midfield, Benassi, and it is also difficult to get rid of Napoli's targeting. If Lars Diarra is allowed to help, it will weaken the sweeping ability in front of his own penalty area, leaving the visitors' frontcourt players with a chance to counterattack, which is really very risky and makes the Torino boss scratch his head.

In this way, when Li Mudi hesitated whether to make a substitution at the point of about ten minutes into the game, Napoli once again played a wonderful combination, taking advantage of the home team's players to collectively press the gap left, and Alan intercepted Flanagant's pass in midfield and immediately sent a long-distance through ball. The ball crossed in front of three Torino players in a row, and was successfully picked up by Zielinsky, who successfully countered offside, forming a one-handed momentum.

The Torino goalkeeper, who had already made an early save, replicated his classic scene of blocking Robben in the 2010 World Cup final, touching the ball with the tip of his left foot, changing its trajectory and eventually grazing the post and bounce off the line. San Cassie saved the whole team with an unimaginable reaction, and the whole stadium began to chant his name after a neat sigh, as a way to thank the Spanish veteran for the divine save just now.

Seeing that the situation was not good, Li Mudi finally made a quick decision and moved Flanagan to the right-back position, and the team changed to a 4-4-2 formation, with Canneman at left wing-back and Silvestri as right midfielder. As for the left side of the midfield, there is no fixed wingback, Russ stands on this side to be responsible for defense, and when attacking, Benassi pulls as far as possible to the left side of the front, and together with Immobile who retreats a little and Vukocevic or Russ who take turns in the middle to pick up, the main attack is the away right-back Chisaj who is weak in defense through multi-person cooperation.

However, this set of improvised tactics has obviously not been rehearsed in advance, and the players are very jerky to complete, and they can't put too much pressure on Napoli's defense for the time being, but they can be regarded as evenly matched with the opponent. In the next ten minutes, the two teams fell into a stalemate balance, each of them put more energy into the defensive end, which made the pace of the game very slow, and the mistakes in the attack were frequent, although there were two or three shots on goal, but none of them posed a threat to the goalkeeper. Seeing the clock tick down to nearly 30 minutes, the Torino players began to get a little impatient, and the situation began to develop into a more dangerous situation.