"…Heroes: records are made to be broken!"

José Mourinho put down the newspaper, his face displaying that peculiar, inscrutable smile of his. When he smirked, you couldn't tell if he was happy, sarcastic, or contemptuous.

He got up and walked towards the office door, a new day of training awaiting him.

He was immediately surrounded by the media at the edge of the training field. These reporters were free to interview him during the fifteen minutes of open training.

"José, what do you think of Chen Hero's words?"

"Are you confident in defending your unbeaten record at home?"

The reporters raised their microphones and thrust them at him, shouting at the same time.

Mourinho stood in front of the reporters.

"He's right. The only purpose of any record is to be broken." The Portuguese's opening remark almost made some reporters' jaws drop. "But he's not the one who will break it."

The second sentence relieved many reporters—this was the José Mourinho they knew!

Having been in Italy for a year, everyone had gradually grown accustomed to Mourinho's style, though it still irritated many, especially the coaches in the circle, but the reporters loved it. With someone like him around, they were never short of news to hype.

Chen Hero's arrival gave them the same feeling—on his first day, he attracted the attention of the entire Italy and caused a riot in the city of Naples. No other player's arrival had ever caused such a stir. When Maradona first arrived in Naples, the Stadio San Paolo was packed with 80,000 fans, and these 80,000-plus people had paid for tickets to get in—the tickets sold by the Naples club to welcome Maradona, at three thousand lira each, had long been sold out. Many people bought tickets from scalpers at ten times the price just to catch a glimpse of the legendary Maradona.

Maradona's way of arriving at the stadium by helicopter was also unique and unmatched.

But Maradona hadn't caused a riot in the entire Naples, inciting fans and police to attack each other, overturning police cars, and throwing rocks, had he?

So this player, who had caused even more commotion than Maradona upon arrival, was naturally very popular with the media.

The last time these two personalities collided, it had reporters in a frenzy.

This time, they didn't disappoint the reporters who were waiting to see a good show.

Back and forth, tit for tat, neither would give in, as if it were a matter of life and death.

But readers loved to read such stories.

"I don't think Napoli can be compared to Inter Milan… I'm not saying this to deliberately provoke them, I'm telling the truth." The Inter Milan coach spread his hands and shrugged. "In terms of strength, they are not on the same level as us at all. This is our home, and we fear no one and no team here."

Mourinho's attitude was very tough, and he had no intention of backing down.

※※※

"Mourinho was tough in his interview, he seems absolutely unwilling to let his unbeaten home record be broken by Chen Hero… In other words, Inter Milan will send out its strongest lineup for this game…"

"…In terms of strength, Inter Milan is of course a level above Napoli. In terms of the current form of both sides, Napoli does not have an advantage either. Inter Milan has won five consecutive league games, and the most noteworthy thing is that they defeated AC Milan 4:0 away in the Milan derby in the second round of the league! With the momentum of this victory, Inter Milan jumped to the top of the domestic league. This time, at their home, Inter Milan against Napoli, I don't think Napoli has the upper hand…"

"Last season, Napoli defeated Inter Milan at their home, creating a small problem for Mourinho's team before they could ascend to the throne early. Although it did not ultimately prevent Inter Milan from winning the title early, it did leave a stone in Mourinho's heart, and I believe he must be very unhappy…"

"We must review the situation of the second leg between the two teams last season… The scene where Chen Hero rushed to Mourinho and lifted his jersey to celebrate after scoring a goal can be called one of the classic scenes of the league last season. It's this scene…" The TV screen showed Chen Hero's celebration after scoring a goal. In the chaotic scene, only he and Mourinho maintained their original postures, silently demonstrating to each other.

This scene was indeed quite classic and had been repeatedly played on many Italian TV stations.

"…We don't need to say more about the feud between these two teams. Everyone has seen the war of words between the two teams last season… Just the grievances between Mourinho and Chen Hero are enough for us to write a whole page, so this game is very important for both of them…"

"In short, this will be the focus of this round of the league!"

Before the game even started, the Italian media had jointly hyped up the game.

※※※

Chen Hero did not continue to respond to Mourinho's tough attitude. His own attitude was also very firm. But this kind of thing is very weak when said in words, it must be proved with iron-like facts!

So he held his energy until the game, to learn a thing or two from Mourinho.

This time he didn't prepare any t-shirts full of words. He no longer needed to prove who he was to Mourinho. Mourinho was also very smart this time and didn't say any stupid things like "Who is Chen Hero" anymore.

Both sides had long since registered their names, and the ones being killed under the knife were no longer unknown ghosts.

Like the last time the two sides played against each other, Chen Hero scored a goal and ran to Mourinho to demonstrate and provoke, showing off who he was. It is estimated that this kind of thing will not happen again in this game.

※※※

After some struggle, Mazzarri finally decided to send out the strongest lineup against Inter Milan. On the one hand, there were still six days before the Champions League group stage, so it would be unreasonable to rotate players at this time. On the other hand, the game had been hyped up by the media, and the whole of Italy was discussing the clash between the two teams. Even if their strength was not as good as the opponent's, they could not admit defeat in advance. Otherwise, how could he, as the coach, maintain his prestige in front of the players?

You know, he had personally said to his players in the locker room at Anfield: "We must revive the name of Napoli and tell them that we are not afraid of anyone!"

If he were to show weakness before the battle against Inter Milan and replace them with a bunch of substitutes, wouldn't that be a slap in his own face?

If he did that, how would he be able to motivate the players in the future?

The players of Napoli are all a bit wild. This group of players is easy to manage and also difficult to manage. Easy to manage means that as long as they recognize you, they will listen to you. Difficult to manage means that if you make them dissatisfied, this group of troublemakers will not know what tricks they will come up with…

As long as you understand their temper, you can lead this team to a strong enough fighting force.

Their temper is like the city of Naples and the people in this city—never bow to power and fight against the wealthy capitalists of the north to the end. The stronger the opponent, the more motivated they are. On the contrary, if the opponent is too weak, they will lose interest…

This is also one of the reasons why the team's performance fluctuates.

Therefore, Mazzarri was worried that if he took the initiative to show weakness at the San Siro, it would not only affect the team's performance in the league, but also affect the morale of the team, leading to a collapse in the Champions League. He did not dare to take this risk, which was a greater loss than the loss of player injuries—if a player is injured, there are substitutes, and tactics can be adjusted to compensate, but if the team's morale and fighting spirit are gone, it will really be a mess…

Such situations are too common in football.

For example, Udinese is not weak in strength, and the team is well-managed, but why is the performance always a bit short, and no one thinks that they are the kind of team that has the ability to threaten the giants?

Because this team is too "utilitarian" and "short-sighted". Buying young players at low prices and selling them at high prices is their characteristic, and everyone knows it. As long as the team improves and enters the European competition, what the team thinks about is definitely not buying strong players and having a glorious trip in the European competition, but… taking advantage of the fact that those players can still be sold at a good price, selling all the heroes of the team that can advance to the European competition to make money! Then go around searching for those young players with potential but not famous, dig them up at low prices and cultivate them for a few years, and when there is another opportunity to go to the European competition, continue to sell…

It is no wonder that such a team is always destined to be a mid-range team. They obviously have the conditions, but they can't get up.

Mazzarri did not want Napoli to become such a team.

His boss, Aurelio De Laurentiis, has ambition, and so does he. He hopes to let Napoli reshape its glory and hopes to become the person who will be remembered in history.

Therefore, it is very important to re-consolidate the spiritual temperament of Naples.

The fighting spirit of an army is tempered in blood and fire through hard battles. The same is true for teams. If a team can only bully teams that are weaker than itself or have similar strength, but actively surrenders and is vulnerable to strong teams, without any fighting spirit, then there is no future at all.

Mazzarri doesn't know how the team's final results will be this season, but it is indeed a very important season. Because this is his first full season leading Napoli, he wants to instill his philosophy into this team.

Daring to fight hard against strong teams is one of the necessary qualities.

To this end, Mazzarri gritted his teeth and sent out the strongest lineup to fight Inter Milan to the death at the San Siro!