In this Lazio team, there are still some acquaintances of Pan Yi, such as Immobile and Parolo, two Italian internationals.

There are also some famous players, such as Luis Alberto from Spain in midfield, Milinkovic from Serbia, De Vrij from the Netherlands at back, and goalkeeper Strakosha.

Including their current head coach Inzaghi Jr., he is also very prominent among Serie A managers.

Overall, Lazio have been in good form this season and have been in contention for a top-four finish in Serie A with hopes of participating in next season's Champions League.

York City can't relax in the face of such an opponent, especially the first leg of the home game, which is likely to set the stage for both sides to reach the final.

Of course, the Europa League semi-finals didn't start so quickly.

There is a total of 2 weeks between the Europa League quarter-finals and the semi-finals, with the first leg of the semi-finals only starting on 27 April.

York City also have three more games to play over the course of the fortnight, two of which are league games and the more important one is the FA Cup semi-final against Southampton.

At this time, it reflects the advantage of York City winning the championship in advance, and Scaloni can adjust the playing time of the players and use the best players to meet the most important games!

In an interview with reporters, York City owner Pan Yi also humorously said that since he "failed to relegate" in the Championship this season and accidentally rushed into the Premier League and won the Championship championship, it is time to imagine the other two championships.

This is not surprising to the media, after all, Pan Yi has only shouted to win three championships this year, which seems to be very "modest" for him.

When talking about his team, Pan Yi also believes that it is precisely because the atmosphere within the team is very good, everyone is highly motivated, and they have reached the semi-finals of the Europa League and the FA Cup respectively, so he also believes that York City is fully capable of winning the championship in these two major competitions.

"You seem to have a lot of faith in your team forever!"

"Of course," Pan Yi replied without thinking, "Aren't you all evaluating us as Premier League-level teams?" So what's so strange about us going to win the FA Cup and the Europa League? I'm confident in my lads that they can win any game! ”

And soon, in the 42nd round of the Championship, York City immediately proved that Pan Yi's words were true.

In this round of the league, due to the FA Cup, York City's league game was brought forward by one day, and the away game against Sheffield United, a team from fellow Yorkshire.

Sheffield United have fallen a bit off in the recent Championship but remain ninth and still have hopes of qualifying for the Premier League through the play-offs;

Plus it's another Yorkshire derby, so of course it's going to be you.

As a result, even though Scaloni used most of his rotation to stay in order to play for the FA Cup semi-finals and also train for the Europa League, the result was a clean 3-0 win over Sheffield United.

In the game, Huang Zichang and Kvaratskhelia each scored a goal in the first 20 minutes, and Tomori headed in a corner in the second half.

After the game, Scaloni also stressed again that York City's target is no longer a team in Yorkshire, but the Premier League, but Europe!

——

Against Southampton, known as the "Saints", in the FA Cup semi-finals, York City played at home.

Southampton looked cautious in this game, after all, although they are a Premier League team, they are really not better than York City.

They have struggled in the Premier League this season, hovering around 16-18 – that is, near the relegation zone.

Isn't a Premier League relegation team theoretically on the same level as the Championship champions? Maybe worse.

Although relegation in the Premier League is the first place, as a small and medium-sized team, now that they have a chance to reach the semi-finals of the FA Cup, they always have to fight for this rare chance to win the title.

Compared to Southampton's lack of attacking ability, their defense is still relatively more solid.

The Japanese international Maya Yoshida and the Dutch defender Hutter have conceded fewer goals than most teams in the bottom half of the season in the back line.

With York City dominating midfield and playing away from home, it was only natural for them to play on the counter-attack.

For this game, Scaloni hid a number of main players in the previous league game against Sheffield United, and sent a full main squad in this game.

This line-up launched a fierce attack on Southampton from the first minute at the West Siberian Stadium, especially the control of three players in the midfield, plus the pressure of the front trident, which pressed Southampton to play.

And the two wing-backs stepped forward to assist, which also caused plenty of problems for Southampton.

In the 30th minute, Leao switched places with Kulusevski, who got to the left and forced his way through the opposing full-back to cross underneath.

And Baker was like a nail in the opponent's penalty area at this time, using his physical advantage to firmly occupy the position, and after grabbing the first point, the header was ferried to the back.

De Jong, who had been cruising outside the penalty area and was not much noticed by Southampton's defenders, suddenly stepped in the back row and grabbed the second landing point, and even kept the ball and volleyed directly.

Southampton goalkeeper McCarthy's vision was blocked by his teammates, and by the time he reacted, the ball had already drilled into the net, 1:0!

After the goal, York City's attack slowed down and the formation shrank slightly, apparently consciously wanting Southampton to attack and not form a bus-breaking trend.

The latter also has no way, this is a single round of elimination, after falling behind, they have only one choice to attack.

But by doing so, they leave York City plenty of room to counter-attack at the back.

In the 51st minute of the second half, the York City midfielder broke the ball, Leao used his speed to form a counterattack, and after a clever cooperation with Baker in the opponent's penalty area, he scored again, 2:0!

At this point, the game has completely lost its suspense, and in the end, York City also won 2-0.

In the other semi-final, the "King of the Thermos Cup" Arsenal also defeated the fierce rival Manchester City and reached the FA Cup final again.

This is the second year in a row that York City have met Arsenal in the FA Cup.

In the last cup competition, Arsenal met York City, which is still a League One team, and Wenger was a little careless and did not send the full main team, and the result was defeated.

This time they met in the final, and Wenger certainly won't take it lightly again.

In fact, Arsene Wenger is no longer qualified to do so.

York City's growing strength is on the one hand, and on the other hand, Wenger can't afford to lose, and his position is about to be lost!

In this season's Premier League, with four rounds to go, Arsenal are already 16 points behind the top four.

In other words, Arsenal has withdrawn from the competition for a Champions League place early and will miss the Champions League for two consecutive seasons!

This is also what has made countless Arsenal fans angry.

Had it not been for Arsenal's reach for the Europa League semi-finals and FA Cup final, Arsene Wenger might have been out early.

In other words, the Europa League and FA Cup are now the straw for Arsene Wenger, and if he can win at least one of them, there may be hope of staying.

It is precisely because of these causes and consequences that after the two semi-finals, major British media have also begun to play up the FA Cup final that will be played on May 20, believing that this is also another contest between Pan Yi and Wenger, and maybe it will be the last contest.

Of course, there is one more chance that the two teams will meet this season, and that is the Europa League final.

If they can get past Lazio and Atletico Madrid, they can really head to the final together at the Parc Olimpico in Lyon, France!

And Arsene Wenger will certainly take the Europa League trophy more seriously than the FA Cup.

This is not just a trophy, but more importantly, a ticket to the group stage of the Champions League!

There is no hope for the league and if they can qualify for the Champions League by winning the Europa League, then the fans will not say anything.

Therefore, entering the Europa League final, Wenger is also bound to win!

——

Of course, the same is true for York City, both for the players and the fans.

The Europa League semi-final at the West Siberian Stadium attracted 20,000 fans – limited by the size of the old stadium.

Of course, the construction of a new stadium is now in full swing, and soon they will have a stadium that matches York City's current performance!

That's the home of York City, that's where York City fans belong!

However, although the current West Siberia is old, it still has the name of the devil's home stadium in England and Europe.

On the one hand, York City almost never loses at home, and every opponent who comes here always takes pride in getting a point;

On the other hand, York City games are always very hot, and the fans are able to create a terrifying home atmosphere throughout the game.

"York City was still very enthusiastic about the ball today, but it was a bit of bad news before the game."

Sky Sports' Lineker appeared in the commentary booth as promised: "According to the information we received before the game, Rice has some minor injuries and may not be able to participate in this game. ”

It was in the FA Cup semi-final that Rice was kicked to the ankle in a scramble before being substituted by Barella.

Then he didn't play in the league against Bolton Wanderers, and he didn't even make the bench, which made York City fans a little worried.

"But judging from the starting list we have seen now, Scaloni still puts Rice in the position of the main midfielder, and still forms a three-midfield configuration with De Jong and Tonali, and it seems that his injury is not serious."

Alan Shearer also nodded: "Scaloni studied under Pan Yi, and he has always been reluctant to let players take risks on the field, and York City's bench is strong, so there is no need to take risks." If he can play, it means that there is not much of a problem. ”

Lineker said: "That's true, but Rice's role is still prominent in York City. ”

'He's a defender, he's tall and weighty, he's more defensive, and to be honest, it's not very reassuring to have Barella or Karlström in that position.

'In York City's tactical system, the midfield has always been a very important area to fight for, and we can see that they have to take control of the midfield every game.

"And with Rice in the back, whether it's Tonali or De Jong, they can also play better with their technical characteristics in addition to defense, and support the Trident's attack in the frontcourt."

Alan Shearer had to agree with Lineker: "That's just as well. It seems that today is because the game is very important, so Scaloni still hopes that the regular midfield combination of Rice + Tonali + De Jong can play steadily, and he doesn't want to cause any accidents......"

While the two commentators were discussing, in the dressing room of York City, Scaloni was also making the final pre-war deployment.

"In this game, the area we will focus on is still the midfield! They generally play as a single striker, because Mobile has a strong ability to grab points, but the ability to break through is average. ”

'Alberto, on the other hand, usually plays behind him with a second striker or a midfielder, who is very technical and very conscious, but if we can break the link between their midfield and the attack, then Immobile will not do anything up front.

'Our midfielders, especially Tonali and Frenkie de Jong, you have to drop back a lot, go back and forth, suppress their attacks on both flanks, and when you defend, you have to focus on Immobile and control the second spot. You have to build a wall in the midfield so that the opposition doesn't easily pass through your defensive zone. ”

The players nodded in agreement solemnly.

'Baker, this game is to pull De Vrij out of the box as much as possible, drop back as much as possible, and create space for us to cut inside on both wings. Then the inside of the wings should be ruthless, decisive, don't hesitate, trust your teammates, believe that even if you lose the ball, they can get it back for you! ”

"In addition, Alfonso, Militão, you have to be a little bit more forward, help the midfielder to suppress Lazio's wings, and at the same time increase our interceptions in the midfield, we have to control the midfield in this game!"

"Remember the tactical coordination we practiced earlier? We have to play succinctly, we have to be fast, we don't fight with the teams in Serie A, once we get their defence organised, it's hard for us to threaten their goal, we have to end the fight in the first half! ”

With that, Scaloni looked at Rice, who gave Scaloni a reassuring look.

Rice is indeed injured, and it can be said that there is no way to play the whole game, but it is still not a big problem to play half time.

Well, Scaloni's task for Rice is to play his energy in this half of the game, as the manager said, to end the battle at half-time! ——

The referee blew the whistle for the start of the game and the visitors Lazio kicked off first.

In the beginning, Lazio played clearly patiently, with three tight lines and a mentality that even if I didn't score, I couldn't make a mistake.

In their 3-5-1-1 formation, apart from Immobile and Alberto up front, the midfield five are actively scrambling, while Parolo and Milinkovic are also frequently looking for counter-attacking opportunities in the middle.

Of course, they will avoid York City's midfield press more often when they get the ball, allowing them to move wide, with the two wing-backs Basta and Lulic also stepping in at the right time to provide the assist.

However, York City's two wings are fiercely defended, including Tonali and De Jong, the two midfielders will often appear on the flanks to participate in the defense, coupled with the full-back position forward, making Lazio's wings unable to play for a long time.

Even if he occasionally passed a ball or two, but under the close watch of his Italian national team teammate Bastoni, Immobile could not take even the slightest advantage in the confrontation.

York City, on the other hand, started with a firm foothold, playing with the idea of controlling the midfield and letting the game enter its own rhythm.

So in the first 15 minutes, York City didn't show much of their fangs, but when Lazio's attack was suppressed, they immediately began to prepare for a counterattack.

On both flanks, Rafael Leao and Kulusevski often dropped back to defend at first, but when York City got on the ball and started attacking, they quickly rushed up and disrupted the opposition's defence.

It's a tactical combination that has long been well defined in York's defensive and offensive systems, and everyone knows exactly what to do and when.

Rice played more like a libero in the midfield in this game, although he did not have much direct confrontation with the opponent, but he relied more on his own consciousness to judge the opponent's passing route in advance and intercept it.

And Scaloni gave him a relatively free task today, which is to keep him ready to attack at any time while ensuring defense.

In this arrangement, Lazio played a little uncomfortable, and in order to better control the ball, they had to let their backline follow forward to meet the midfield, especially the two wing-backs.

When Scaloni saw the opposition left centre-back Radu on the sidelines, he couldn't help but smile on his face.

This is exactly what he wants!

In the 21st minute, Tonali broke the ball down the left side of midfield and passed it back to Alphonso Davies, who was not far behind him, who crossed to Bastoni, who took a few steps forward and handed it to Rice.

Rice had already noticed the vacancy ahead.

After he stopped the ball, he hit Lazio directly with a long ball with a big foot.

The ball was well cut through the gap between De Vrij and Radu, and Kulusevski got it out of the diagonal stab!

He used his speed to catch the ball before Radu, took a trip, pressed Radu with his body, cut into the penalty area, faced the attack of goalkeeper Strakosha, calmly picked the shot, and scored the goal, 1:0!

After the goal, Kulusevski excitedly hugged his teammates who had stepped forward to celebrate him.

The fans in the stands also burst into the warmest applause of the audience.

This applause is dedicated to Kulusevski, who scored the goal, and also to Rice, who assisted with a long pass!

And when Scaloni on the sidelines saw the team score, he knew that the game was already in his hands.

But he didn't dare to be careless, and kept reminding his players to be careful of Lazio's counterattack.

Especially in the minutes after taking the lead, the counterattack during this period is the most deadly!

Sure enough, Lazio immediately launched a fierce counterattack after falling behind, but York City's formation was flexible and orderly, relying on unremitting running and interception, repeatedly disrupting Lazio's attack, and quickly survived this time.

As the saying goes, one blow, then decline, three and exhaustion, and when Lazio's offensive slows down and the situation on the field gradually returns to stalemate, York City once again shows its bloody fangs!

This time it was Baker, who took advantage of De Vrij's lack of concentration in a counterattack, stopped the ball and made a one-two with Leao on the side, entered the opponent's penalty area, and scored a goal, 2:0!

It was almost a goal that condemned Lazio to defeat.

However, this is only the beginning of the disaster.

In the second half, although Scaloni quickly replaced the injured Rice with Barella, York City's attack became more and more intense.

In the 60th minute, it was Barella, who came on as a substitute, knocked on the door of Lazio again with a long-range shot, 3:0!

And in the 80th minute, Scamacca, who was also a substitute, beat De Vrij in the box and hit the goal with a header to end the slaughter.

4：0！

Dark horse York City slaughtered Lazio at home!

After the first leg of the Europa League semi-finals, the headlines on the front pages of all the media were basically like this.

No one expected that in what was supposed to be at least a close match, it turned out to be one-sided.

Throughout the game, Lazio's performance can only be described as tragedy, the players did not work the field, but they were never able to grasp the initiative of the game.

After the game, many commentators in Italy said that the biggest highlight of York City's game was that they controlled the midfield.

When Rice was there, his play-making at the back, as well as the lethal pass that tore through the Lazio defence, allowed York City to firmly control the situation on the field, and Rice contributed to the 2-0 half-time break.

In the second half, Barella, Tonali, and De Jong's three midfielders were also offensive and defensive, and they also beat Lazio out of breath.

Everyone thinks that this York City team really has the ability to win the championship, and the owner Pan Yi definitely does not exaggerate the facts!

Of course, the Italian media also pointed the finger at Lazio coach Inzaghi Jr.

They believe that Inzaghi Jr.'s lack of resilience after his team fell behind was also cited as a key factor in Lazio's heavy defeat.

If he had been more decisive in coming down 1-0, or had replaced the underperforming Immobile at half-time with a midfielder to strengthen his midfield's control, perhaps it would not have been a fiasco, and perhaps he could have pulled a goal back.

With Lazio's ability, if they don't lose much and return to their home stadium, there is also complete hope for a comeback against York City.

But it was Inzaghi's hesitation that led to a bloody massacre in the West Siberian Stadium, which almost destroyed all of Lazio's hopes of qualifying!

On the other hand, Scaloni, whether it was the opening or after taking the lead, every one of his substitutions was carried out in an orderly manner, and all the substitutions were very targeted.

Tactics decided the outcome of this game, and York City deserved a victory!

"By Pan Yi's side, both players and coaches will rise, and Scaloni's coaching level in the past two years has been very much Pan Yi's shadow!"

Even the most unconvinced Italian media had to admit it.

Of course, they will also rejoice that:

"Fortunately, Pan Yi is also the head coach of our Italian national team......"

(End of chapter)