Chapter 1119: First Defeat of the Season

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After a 4-1 home win over Lazio, Fiorentina face the fifth round of the Champions League group stage against Deportivo La Coruna in the following week.

With Fiorentina already qualified two games ahead of schedule after beating Bayern Munich in the previous round, and Deportivo La Coruna, who are currently second in the group, already six points behind them, only one more point is needed to secure Fiorentina to progress to the round of 16 as group winners. Therefore, in this game, Heynckes took it for granted that he had the vast majority of his main players in the snow. Players such as Nesta and Vieri, who played the full 90 minutes against Lazio at the weekend, did not even make the 18-man squad, and sat in the stands of the Stade Frankie with the fans to cheer on their team-mates.

Although before that, Bayern President Rummenigge had specially traveled to Fiorentina to have an in-depth discussion with Zhuang Mingge on Bayern's future in the Champions Cup. In this meeting, Rummenigge hopes that Zhuang Mingge can see Beckenbauer's face and let Fiorentina go all out in the last two group games, killing both Deportivo La Coruna and Lens, so as to increase the chances of Bayern Munich qualifying for the last 16 of the Champions League.

Regarding Rummenigge's request, Zhuang Mingge regretfully said that he couldn't help: "President Rummenigge, you know, although I am the president of Fiorentina Club, I don't have any say in the internal affairs of a team like this. If Joseph (Heynckes) had not agreed, then there would have been no way for me to force him to obey such an unreasonable order. ”

The implication of Zhuang Mingge's words is obvious, that is, Heynckes will definitely not allow Fiorentina to waste their energy on the Champions Cup at this time. After all, the competition within Serie A is quite fierce now, and anyone who is not careful may overturn in the gutter, so taking advantage of the opportunity to qualify for the Champions Cup in advance, concentrating on the league battlefield is Heynckes' ideal choice, so that he will not waste his energy in unnecessary places for a Bayern that has nothing to do with himself.

Besides, this is your attitude towards Bayern? Zhuang Mingge expressed his disdain for Rummenigge's performance during this visit, after all, it can be regarded as Bayern begging Fiorentina to pull them up, but Rummenigge only asked for it but did not give any substantial benefits...... Fiorentina is not a Bayern-raised thug, so why should they be given a day job?

"Well, since that's the case, then I don't have anything more to say." Seeing that Zhuang Mingge rejected his request, Rummenigge, who had been mentally prepared for this, did not feel much frustrated. After all, Rummenigge's visit to Florence this time was only to do his best, and as for the outcome, he was not particularly concerned.

However, Rummenigge, who is really worthy of building Bayern into the Bundesliga hegemon with Hoeness, although he failed to achieve the primary goal of this trip to Italy, but before leaving Italy, he secretly visited Heynckes without the official permission of Fiorentina, made contact with the German coach, and disgusted Zhuang Mingge.

It should be added here that this private contact with Heynckes was just a pawn set up by Rummenigge to avoid accidents. After all, while Heathfield is currently firmly in the position at Bayern Munich, that doesn't mean the manager can stay in the Bayern head coach position forever. If Bayern Munich's results in Europe still do not improve next season, and they can't even save the league field, then Heathfield's layoff is only a matter of time. And in the eyes of Rummenigge, Heynckes, who has achieved great results in Florence, is clearly the best candidate to succeed Heathfield!

Therefore, it is very necessary to have a good relationship with Heynckes in advance, because in Rummenigge's opinion, because it may not be long before this random chess piece can come in handy.

Rummenigge's visit is here for now, but let's turn our attention back to Fiorentina's Champions League group stage against Deportivo La Coruna.

Unlike Fiorentina, who have already secured their qualification ahead of schedule, Deportivo La Coruna is under pressure right now, and a surprise defeat to Lens in the last round has made the La Liga giant's qualification situation less optimistic. Especially with only two points ahead of third-place Lens and Bayern Munich behind him, if Irueta is not careful, then the dominant Deportivo La Coruna may also be overturned by the opponent.

So, for Irueta and Deportivo La Coruna, if they are to secure qualification for the knockout stages of the Champions League, this match against Fiorentina cannot afford to lose!

So, on the afternoon of November 21, Deportivo La Coruna, who played the main team, and Fiorentina, who rotated most of the main lineup, played a difficult game at the Frankie Stadium. The Purple Lily, who had the home advantage, resisted the visitors' attack well under the cheers of tens of thousands of fans at the scene, and did not give the Laco players the opportunity to easily kick the goal.

The Deportivo players, eager to score a goal to take the lead, were a little anxious at first, but they quickly settled down under the great command and control of Belleron, and did not let the home side seize the opportunity to launch a quick counter-attack.

It has to be said that Beleron was definitely the best playmaker in Spain during this period, and the Canary Island-born star not only has amazing footwork and excellent passing awareness, but also his adaptability is outstanding. In the face of Gattuso's close-knit defense that followed him all over the field, Belleron was no longer as embarrassed as the last time he played the game, but repeatedly used his foot skills to play the midfielder, who was known as the "Himalayan Divine Dog", and constantly sent imaginative and threatening passes on the field, making the Fiorentina backline led by Lucio and Stam scramble every time.

Facing Belleron, who played 120% in this game, Fiorentina, who rotated most of the lineup, failed to resist Deportivo La Coruna's attack, and Buffon's goal was broken by Mackay and Tristan successively, so that the Purple Lily finally lost 1-2 and suffered its first defeat since the beginning of the season!