Chapter 141: Preparing for War
3:1!
Fiorentina got their wish at home and Arsenal had an away goal, but the situation is actually very difficult for them to emerge.
Even if in the next leg, Arsenal is at home, they need to score at least two goals to get the ticket to Moscow, but to score, Arsenal must invest more troops in the attack, which will inevitably cause the rear to be empty, Fiorentina is not a vegetarian, their attacking ability is also very strong, as long as Fiorentina scores a goal, Arsenal will basically be out of play.
Arsene Wenger was a little disappointed with the result, but in his post-match press conference, he was still confident: "It's not the end of the year for us, we got an away goal, and when we come back at home, we only need to score two goals and the winner is us!" I'm confident in my players, they're the best and we'll see when we get back to the Emirates Stadium. ”
Wenger also praised the team's new captain Cesc Fabregas: "He is a genius, there is no doubt about it, in the game Zuihou moment, he had the opportunity to score a goal, but unfortunately the luck was a little bit worse, it is not his responsibility, I don't want to complain, but the conditions of the field today are really bad!" ”
Unlike Arsene Wenger's determination and complaints, Prandley was a little cautious: "In this game, my players were all very good, they did everything they could, Rod was unbeatable today, he proved with two goals and an assist that he is the best player on this shijie, yes!" One of the best, not one! As for the next race, our goal is always clear, we will do our best to win any game, and that goal will never change! ”
Got the initiative to advance, and then returned to the league, Fiorentina, which had won the championship in advance, still performed very eye-catching, and in the 34th round of the league, Fiorentina faced Palermo at home.
In the first leg of the season, Palermo won at home to Fiorentina and ended Fiorentina's 18-game winning streak.
Now the two teams met again at the Fraki Stadium, and despite the recent battle with Arsenal, Prandelli still fielded all the main players in this game.
Fiorentina took the lead in the 10th minute of the first half, when Digan burst into the box and crossed, which Pazzini followed up with a shot from the middle to slot.
Just three minutes later, Fiorentina extended their lead when Kompany received a free-kick from Digan and headed home to make it 2-0!
At the start of the second half, Palermo scored a goal through Micoli, but then Digan scored twice to seal the result of the game at 4-1 and Fiorentina managed to get revenge.
In addition, Juventus beat Atalanta 2-0 and AC Milan beat Reggina at San Siro with a brace from Inzaghi, and the battle for a Champions League place between the two teams is still not over.
After a week's break, the 35th round of the league continued, and Fiorentina continued to host Sampdoria, this game Prandelli sent a rotating line-up, only to be scored twice by Sampdoria in the first half, and Cassano, who joined Sampdoria in the winter, made a pass and a shot.
Seeing that the team was about to lose, someone finally stepped up in the second half, this time it was Montolivo who returned from injury, and after coming on as a substitute, it took only seven minutes for him to set up goals for Ledesma and Pazzini to equalise the scores.
At the moment of the game, Fiorentina had another chance to turn defeat into victory, but it was a pity that when substitute Mutu faced the goalkeeper directly, he kicked the ball on the goalkeeper and missed the opportunity to overtake.
In the end, the game ended in a draw, and although it did not extend the victory, the result of the game was not so important for Fiorentina, who had already won the title early.
In the other two key games, AC Milan were held to a 1-1 draw away by Livorno, while Juventus beat Lazio 3-0 at home, and the gap between the two sides was widened to seven points, and Milan's hopes of qualifying for next season's Champions League are now only in theory.
In the 36th round of the league, Fiorentina faced Cagliari away, and in this game Prandelli continued to use the rotation lineup, and finally thanks to a brace from Cavinaghi and the icing on the cake from Pazzini in the game, Fiorentina won 3-0 away.
At the same time, in the Milan derby that scored at the San Siro Stadium, AC Milan was ashamed and bravely defeated Inter Milan 2:1, and in a game the next day, Juventus led most of the half, and was reversed by Siena 3:2, and the gap with AC Milan was narrowed to four points again, and the AC Milan coach ignited the flame of hope again, there are two rounds left in the league, maybe they really have a chance to redeem themselves.
Speaking after the game, Carlo Ancelotti also said that the battle is not over: "We still have a chance, our goal now is to reach next season's Champions League!" ”
Listen, how ambitious, the reporter was moved to pout again and again.
It seems that this fat man, at the beginning of the season, swore that AC Milan's goal this season was to fight for all the titles, but after nearly a year, his attitude immediately changed, from the championship to a Champions League place.
But is this spot so easy to get?
It is Juventus that is pressing on their heads, and Juventus, who are back in Serie A, will definitely not give up this opportunity, they also want to rise again, and they are more urgent than AC Milan.
"The four-point gap is not an insurmountable gap, we are confident that we will achieve our goal, and everyone can wait and see!"
All right!
Let this fat boy continue to fantasize, probably his confidence comes from Pato's comeback, but don't forget that Kaka, the core of the team, is still lying in a hospital bed.
AC Milan and Juventus eat dogs and dogs, it's their business, and Fiorentina will have to prepare for the second leg of the Champions League semi-final against Arsenal.
After the match against Cagliari, Prandelli did not announce the order to rest, but let the team participate in the training camp, and the players did not complain about this, although everyone was tired after the game, but to win the game, they had to do more to be more prepared.
In the first leg of the battle between the two teams, Fiorentina won and scored three goals against Arsenal, but it also exposed some problems, and when facing Arsenal's expansive attack, Fiorentina responded with a somewhat chaotic formation.
Especially when Arsenal's central midfielders frequently attack the wings and play behind the full-backs, the midfielders obviously do not protect the full-backs enough.
Before the end of that game, the opportunity created by Fabregas was not that Hleb suddenly pulled to the left wing, Rosicky passed the ball and hit directly behind Maggio, at that time, Hleb did not have a Fiorentina defender on his side, and the result made him calmly cut in, and when the Fiorentina defender pounced, there was a large gap around him, and Hleb picked up the pass, tore open the hole, and almost lost the goal.
In the second leg of the battle between the two teams, Arsenal, who have been forced to the edge of the cliff, will definitely fight back desperately, and when the time comes, if a similar problem arises again, it will be fatal.
From the beginning of the training camp, Prandelli focused on the team's defense, and for this reason, he also pulled the youth team over, imitating Arsenal's style of play, to train the team's defense, of course, the strength of the Fiorentina youth team naturally cannot be compared with Arsenal, but there is still some value in operating this kind of targeted training.
After two days of intensive training, the Fiorentina team left for London a day early, of course, Arsenal will definitely not receive them, but there are people in London who welcome their arrival.
That was Arsenal's sworn rivals Tottenham Hotspur, and at White Hart Lane, Deegan also met young Gareth. Bale, out of gratitude to Tottenham Hotspur, Degan also coached Bale's free-kick outside of training.
Tottenham Hotspur's hospitality made the whole Fiorentina team feel at home, and the only thing that was unbearable was the humid weather in London.
"Rod! All I want now is to get the damn game over as soon as possible and get back to Florence, the hellish place I don't want to spend a day long! "Paccini's complaints are almost always on the verge of becoming a sign in Florence.
"Did you hear that? Arsenal seem to have turned down our request to warm up at the Emirates Stadium before the game, hell! These damn Brits! ”
Degan, of course, knew as captain that although Arsenal's refusal was somewhat unreasonable, the reasons given were very strong, to maintain the turf and avoid something like the Flagi Stadium at the Emirates Stadium.
And Arsenal also helped Fiorentina practice at a university, and they could go there to train, so although the Fiorentina club staff was dissatisfied, they were helpless.
Of course, any maintenance of the venue and the like are all tricks devised by Wenger, which are nothing more than to interfere with Fiorentina's preparations.
"Janpaolo! I don't think it's strange at all, and I think something like this will happen again, and you'll know when the time comes! ”
"For example?" Pacini asked.
Deegan smiled and said, "Let's say they planted a bomb in the locker room!" ”
When Pacini heard this, his face suddenly turned pale: "This shouldn't be!" ”
"We'll see!"