After going well in both cup competitions, York City did not fall behind in the Championship.

In a couple of league games from February to early March, all but one of them were held to a 1-1 draw away from home by Burton!

One of them was a 2-0 win over unlucky Hull City, while another one to watch was a 3-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday.

That said, they kept it all out against the team from Yorkshire!

And in the rankings, it is also a lot ahead.

Needless to say, York City are number one in the table, but Sheffield United, who are the top of the other Yorkshire teams, are only sixth and are still fighting for a place in the play-offs.

And Leeds United are in 11th place, where is the former Yorkshire boss?

Sheffield Wednesday are in 17th place and are even battling relegation.

Today's Yorkshire, whether it is east, west, north and south, fans like to go to York City's home stadium to watch the game.

Who doesn't love a home team winning? What's more, he still plays so beautifully, and there are so many stars who are starting to make a name for themselves, and you can also watch the FA Cup and Europa League!

It can be said that except for those die-hard fans, all the fans who are a little swaying are attracted by York City!

Because of this, when York City hosted Viktoria Plzen at home to the knockout round of 16 of the Europa League on March 9, the West Siberian Stadium was already packed.

The stadium, which can only accommodate 20,000 people, was sold out early, and tens of thousands of fans could only linger outside the stadium.

This also proves Pan Yi's foresight in laying out and building a new stadium in advance!

As a team that aims to be in the Premier League and in Europe, how can it not have a stadium of its own?

And Pan Yi soon announced that these fans who couldn't buy tickets would enter the new stadium and watch the game together through the big screen!

At this time, the new stadium has been paved, and although there is no turf and no seats, it is not a lot of fun for fans to stand in the middle of the new stadium and watch the game together.

Moreover, since the distance between the old and new stadiums is not far, the cheers of tens of thousands of fans here can also be transmitted to the old stadium, which is equivalent to really cheering for the team on the spot!

Therefore, the fans are also very grateful to Pan Yi for this policy, and they really have a feeling of being part of the team.

As far as this match is concerned, although many British media believe that Plzen Victory is a relatively weak team in the round of 16, the Czech media actually thinks so.

After all, York City is only a team from the second tier of England, which is not the same among the other 15 teams.

Therefore, the Czechs believe that York City is the weakest team in the round of 16, and also believes that Plzen Victory Prague has been drawn to the top draw, and believes that this team from the second division of England is certainly not as strong as Plzen Victory.

For this reason, Plzen is confident that he wants to win this match.

Even if it's an away game, they will be hoping to win a big win and knock out York City in one fell swoop!

So as soon as the game began, Plzen launched a fierce attack on York City.

On the contrary, York City, it seems that the opponent would be so rigid, and he was not mentally prepared for a while, and was pressed and beaten by the Plzen Victory team at the beginning, and in the 10th minute, because of a negligence in the backline, a goal was scored.

After the goal, the Plzen Victory team was more offensive, especially their head coach, who frequently signaled the team to press up and play, using the momentum of the first goal to completely suppress York City.

As everyone knows, one of the most talked about points of York City is that they play crazy downwind balls strongly, but at the same time they also have a strong ability to play against the trend.

Especially when the score is behind, it is easy to bring out their form.

At half-time, Scaloni scolded his players in the dressing room, believing that everyone had a mindset of underestimating the enemy.

If it can't be changed in time, then York City's Europa League road may end here, and the big bonus promised by Pan Yi's boss will also be in vain!

York City's players were brave enough to pick up in the second half and start to fight back.

However, Plzen Victory still thought that they could continue to suppress City through the tactics of the first half, so they were not too vigilant, but instead showed more gaps in the backline.

In the 56th minute, a Tonali through ball from the back found Leao in the attack, who helped the team equalize!

The goal completely detonated York City's home stadium, and the cheers of the fans that erupted in the two stadiums echoed over Yorkshire, and even felt louder than the sound of a 100,000-person stadium!

And this goal is also a reminder to Plzen that York City is not going to be knocked down casually!

After that, the two sides engaged in a fierce stalemate, with Plzen still investing a considerable number of troops in the attack, which made York City's backline a little tighter, but Leao and Kulusevski found a lot of space in front of them to counter-attack.

In the 79th minute, De Jong received a direct pass from De Ligt after breaking the ball, and the long pass with a big foot went to the front.

Baker stopped the ball with his chest, then deftly turned and plugged it straight into the right corner of the penalty area, Kulusevski slapped his horse and rushed to the near corner to make it 2:1!

After the reversal, Scaloni also made decisive substitutions, but instead of strengthening the defense, he sent new forces such as Lin Liangming, Armand, and Scamacca to the field to strengthen the attack!

Don't you want a victory for Plzen, and so do I, York City!

At this time, Plzen Victory was falling behind, so he was a little angry and continued to attack, which also gave York City's fast horses more opportunities.

In the 85th minute, Lin Liangming dribbled on the side and crossed the ball with a low flat ball, and Scamacca grabbed the point in front of it, 3:1!

In the 90th minute, Armand broke through and made a strong cross, and De Jong, who was inserted in the back, shot with one foot, and once again penetrated the goal of Plzen's victory, 4:1!

In just ten minutes, York City scored three goals in a row, and directly stunned Plzen's victory.

They finally understood that they could not afford to walk away with a victory in the West Siberian stadium.

Plzeň won, today can only be renamed Plzeň failed!

After the game, York City fans at both stadiums excitedly took to the streets to celebrate the victory, and the two forces came together to become an even greater force!

Today's stadium is like a festival!

And this victory also brightened York City's situation of reaching the quarterfinals of the Europa League, after all, they got a three-goal lead!

However, York City did not have much respite as they are set to face Brighton & Hove Albion in the sixth round of the FA Cup, the quarter-finals.

At this time, Brighton were not the dark horses that could beat the team and make it to Europe, they had just been promoted from the Championship to the Premier League last season and were still fighting to retain their place in the Premier League.

In other words, they are still a "dumpling" that everyone can eat in the minds of fans, rather than the intimidating Seagulls Army.

But that doesn't mean they'll give up on the FA Cup.

Due to the upsets in this season's FA Cup, many traditional powerhouses have been eliminated, such as Brighton, Southampton, Swansea, Wigan Athletic, Leicester City and of course, non-traditional powerhouses such as York City have reached the quarter-finals.

Such a situation also makes these small and medium-sized teams see the hope of winning the championship, and they are naturally unwilling to give up such an opportunity.

You know, winning a cup may not be a very special honor for big teams like Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United, and even the fans may not be happy for long;

But for small teams, they may not win one of these championships in their lifetime!

Once such an opportunity is presented in front of them, they will not give up easily.

And for Brighton, it seems difficult to face York City, which is in the limelight right now, but it's better than running into Chelsea or Manchester City, isn't it?

However, when the game began, the Seagulls found that it didn't seem to be the case.

Scaloni fielded all his main players at home to Brighton, and York City quickly overpowered Brighton on the pitch, leaving Brighton's Dutch goalkeeper Krul very busy throughout the game.

Throughout the match, York City managed 63% possession and 17 shots on goal with 10 of them on target.

Had it not been for Krull's extraordinary form, Brighton's goal would have been knocked open long ago.

In the 70th minute, York City took advantage of a free-kick and Tonali shot through the heart with his trademark leaf-falling ball to break through the door guarded by Krul!

It was also the only goal of the game.

After eliminating Brighton and reaching the semi-finals, York City's FA Cup semi-final opponents soon surfaced as another Premier League side, Saints Southampton.

When Pan Yi got the news, he had to be happy.

York City's signing has been good this year, at least much better than when he was at Chelsea......

However, as the so-called luck is conserved, when York City drew 1-1 with Plzen Victory in the second leg of the Europa League away game and entered the quarter-finals of the Europa League, they drew the Eredivisie overlord Ajax!

Of course, this is not to say that York City is unlucky.

After all, after reaching the quarterfinals, there are basically no weak teams among the remaining teams in the Europa League.

RB Leipzig, Marseille, Arsenal, Atletico Madrid, Lazio, Sporting de Portugal, plus York City and Ajax, to be honest, it is not easy to play against anyone.

It is worth noting that both England representatives in the Europa League have reached the quarter-finals.

In addition to York City, Arsenal knocked out Serie A giants AC Milan in the previous round and are currently favourites to win the Europa League.

In addition, Atletico Madrid and Ajax are more favored by the media to win the championship, both of which came to the Europa League after being eliminated from the Champions League.

Ajax, in particular, although they are still held down by their arch-rivals PSV Eindhoven in the Eredivisie this season, they have also added a lot of fresh blood after selling a few players to York City, and they are also proactive in the game, so they are also favored by the outside world.

And York City is playing against Ajax in this round, and De Ligt, De Jong, Onana, including Westerman, have to face their old club, which has also become a major attraction of this competition! ——

After beating Barnsley 2-0 away to continue leading the table by a huge 15 points, York City also ushered in the international break, which is a good time to rest.

At this time, there are no official matches during the international break, and everyone is looking for opponents to warm up, the purpose is to prepare for the World Cup in Russia to be held in the summer.

In the play-offs of the Asian qualifiers, South Korea, the third place in Group A, played two home and away matches against Australia, the third place in Group B, and Australia won 3-2 on aggregate.

They then won the intercontinental play-offs against Honduras again with an aggregate score of 3:1 and they also earned a ticket to the World Cup!

The last match was won by Peru, who beat Oceania's representative New Zealand 2-0 in the other intercontinental play-off.

Thus, all the top 32 places in the World Cup were born.

If you look at it from the perspective of Pan Yi's previous life, the main thing here is that there have been changes in the two teams.

One is the Dragons, who have taken the place of the South Korean team.

And the other is Italy, Pan Yi led them to defeat the Swedish team against the sky, so they also replaced the Swedish team!

Now that the development of the Dragon Country team, Pan Yi can't control it for the time being, and he can at most give Lippi some advice on employing people.

After all, he is now the head coach of the Italian national team, and he is very busy during the international break!

And in this competition cycle, the Italian team will have two warm-up matches.

One of them is Saudi Arabia, which is mainly the opponent throwing money to make an appointment, hoping to find a strong opponent before the World Cup.

In the other game, Italy originally wanted to play with Argentina, but in the end it was not possible, and finally changed to England, which is closer.

But this makes it even more gimmicky.

After all, Pan Yi's York City is in the English league, and there are also England internationals like Rice in the team.

In addition, England, a traditional strong team, is also the strongest opponent for Pan Yi to enter the Italian national team.

Didn't Pan Yi shout out early on that he wanted to compete for the championship in the World Cup?

Of course, beating Albania and Sweden can't be too much, you have to play two tricks against teams like France, Argentina, Germany, and England to prove it!

Therefore, all the Italian fans are also looking forward to it.

Including the list of the national team, everyone is also very concerned.

The World Cup is approaching, and the warm-up list at this time will largely determine the final World Cup participants!

Obviously, most of the list that Pan Yi took out this time was not unexpected, but some of the personnel still surprised many people.

It is normal for the goalkeeper to have three, and Buffon, Donnarumma and Perrin are currently in the best form in Italy.

At the back, the Juventus trio are still selected, with Bonucci, Chiellini, Barzagli, plus wing-backs Darmian, Candreva, Desiglio, Spinazzola, as well as Bastoni and Dimarco from York City.

In midfield, it is mainly players who can play as a midfielder, and the selection of Tonali and Barella is not unexpected, and then there are De Rossi, Verratti, Jorginho, Parolo.

The largest number of people are the forwards, Scamacca, Immobile, Bernardeschi, Insigne, Eder, Berotti, Gabbiabini, Shaarawy, Chiesa Jr., Raspadori and finally Balotelli!

In this 29-man squad, there are actually 11 forwards!

Pan Yi, what's going on? That's the number of players on the pitch for the whole team.

What does a team want so many forwards to do, it is impossible to start 11 people and play 11 forwards!

Balotelli, in particular, became famous at a young age, and after experiencing the giants of Inter, Manchester City, and Milan in the early part of his career, he felt that he was starting to decline, and now he has mixed with the Ligue 1 Nice team.

What's more, Balotelli is said to be "world-class below the head", meaning he is often short-circuited on and off the pitch.

With such a player, why did Pan Yi still think about recruiting him into the team?

What if Balotelli is funny in the dressing room? Wouldn't it ruin the good atmosphere in Italy right now?

Regarding the doubts from the outside world, Pan Yi did not reveal much.

He just stressed that the players he picked were the ones he judged to be in the best form during this time.

In his eyes, there is no one in the national team who cannot be missing, and he will only select those players who are in the best form.

Pan Yi also specifically emphasized that everyone's perception of Balotelli is incorrect.

Balotelli was still unconventional when he was in the national team, and his contribution to the national team will not be erased.

At Euro 2012, it was Balotelli who scored two goals against Germany to help Italy reach the final of the European Championship!

This season's Bashen is not in bad form, scoring 18 goals in 28 appearances in Ligue 1, and also scoring 6 goals in 6 appearances in the Europa League, which can be said to be the data of a top striker.

In fact, Pan Yi didn't say a word, that is, Bashen has played well in the past two seasons, but he has been excluded from the list of the Italian national team by Ventura, which is actually an important reason for the weakness of the Italian team.

At the critical moment, Ba Shen's nerve knife attribute can be used, and his strong body can also play a fulcrum role for the Italian team in the frontcourt.

And the reason why so many strikers are recruited is to conduct further investigation in the warm-up matches, and then slowly determine the list that can participate in the World Cup.

Amid the doubts of Italian fans and the media, the Italian national team welcomed the Saudi team at the Olympic Stadium in Rome.

Although the opponent was only an underdog like Saudi Arabia, and although the match was only a friendly match, the frenzied Italian fans still packed the 100,000-seat Stadio Olimpico on the day before the game, and there were few empty seats as far as the eye could see.

Obviously, the fact that Pan Yi led Italy to the World Cup, as well as the transformation of the Italian lineup and tactics, including the announcement of the squad this time, have made all Italians full of expectations and curiosity about this team!

"I have full confidence in Pan Yi, and I can say that if there is only one person in this world to be the head coach of our national team, then I will definitely choose him! Fortunately, God and his old man thought the same way, and actually sent Pan Yi to us! ”

When the media interviewed the fans at the scene, the words of the old Italian fan almost represented the hearts of all Italian fans.

And when Pan Yi walked out of the players' tunnel, the stadium immediately resounded with cheers like a landslide and tsunami.

In the football world, a coach who turned the tide in troubled times, a legendary coach who won almost all the championships, of course, will be supported by fans from the bottom of their hearts, and Pan Yi is obviously such a person!

Pan Yi beckoned to the stands, and then sat down in the coach's seat.

He didn't really take this game too seriously.

What he really values is the game five days later.

Although it was also a friendly match against England, although England is often nicknamed the "European Dragons" and "Three Meows Army", it is England after all, the birthplace of modern football, a former world champion, and the best league in the world today.

Beating a strong team can affect the morale and confidence of the players!

And in today's game, the lineup sent by Pan Yi looks more like an experimental lineup, or it is mainly based on investigation.

The goalkeeper is Perrin, the back four are Darmian, Barzagli, Chiellini and Candreva, Jorginho and Parolo play in the middle, Benardzki and Gabbiadini are flanked by Berotti and Eder in the front.

Despite this, Italy at home quickly kept Saudi Arabia at bay.

However, they didn't have much to do against the opposition who were shrinking defending, with Bernardeschi and Gabbiadini breaking through a lot but the quality of their crosses being mediocre, which made it difficult for Berotti and Eder in the middle to grab the first point.

In the end, in the first half, Italy relied on a penalty after El Shaarawy was pulled down in the box, and Jorginho scored a goal from a jumping penalty.

In the second half, Pan Yi waved his hand, and the field immediately changed its appearance.

There were no changes at the back, with Tonali and Verratti coming on in midfield, the forward trident changed to Balotelli + Chiesa Jr. + El Shaarawy, and the formation became 4-3-3.

In this formation, Italy's tactics are actually very simple, that is, after taking the ball in the midfield, they will make a long pass when they have the opportunity, either looking for Balotelli in the middle, or finding two wingers on both sides.

And Balotelli obviously remembered Pan Yi's understanding of him, or the "grace of knowing him", and he was particularly active on the field, scrambling, passing, shooting, everything!

The effect of Pan Yi's tactical change is also obvious, in the second half, Italy scored a goal each by Tonali, Junior Kiye, Shaarawy, and Balotelli, and finally swept the opponent 5-0!

After the game, almost everyone praised Pan Yi for his change of formation in the second half, and some people performed really well after Kwaba God returned to the national team, but some people said that the opponent was only the Saudi team after all.

So, more eyes are on the Italian-British clash that will take place at Wembley Stadium in five days' time!

They believe that this match is the real test for the Italian national team!