Although Napoli bought some players this summer to strengthen the bench, they still weren't luxurious enough to have a squad like the real giants: one lineup for the league, another for the cup, with the starting lineup barely repeating for half a season…

Mazzarri's Napoli still implemented a limited rotation. That is to say, not everyone would be rotated, and some positions wouldn't be rotated.

However, in one position, Napoli implemented a very luxurious rotation.

That was the center forward.

In the domestic league, Chen Hero was the starting center forward and the absolute core of the tactics. But in the Champions League, everyone had to adjust and re-adapt to the tactics with Raúl as the attacking core.

So it's no wonder Napoli's performance in the Champions League was so different from last season. It was really going to take the whole team time to adapt to this kind of conversion.

For Napoli, and for Chen Hero, this was a completely new experience.

Napoli's two consecutive draws in the Champions League naturally made Napoli fans worry about the team's future, but there were also some happy people. It would be even better if Napoli couldn't qualify from the group stage.

But after all, such schadenfreude people were in the minority.

Even Barcelona actually hoped that Napoli could qualify from the group stage and then meet each other.

Because last season, although Barcelona eliminated Napoli, many media said after the game that Barcelona's victory was not honorable. The reason they were able to eliminate Napoli was entirely because UEFA helped them behind the scenes.

These conspiracy theories had no strong evidence, except for that controversial penalty. But they had a good market, everyone is always dark in their hearts, everyone has a devil in their hearts. And conspiracy theories are a good way to release the devil in everyone's heart in a way that everyone thinks is reasonable.

Barcelona also received a lot of scolding after that game. Some people said they were bullying others, and some people said they were all a bunch of performing artists… Later, Busquets' classic performance of covering his face and peeking made the entire Barcelona team confirm this reputation, and even the world-renowned Barcelona youth training base, La Masia, became the "La Masia Film Academy"…

So the whole of Barcelona was actually holding back a lot of anger in their hearts. They thought, if it weren't for you Napoli, would we have to bear so much infamy? Would our reputation be so bad?

So don't look at Napoli clamoring to seek revenge on Barcelona. In fact, Barcelona also wanted revenge in their hearts.

They really wanted to meet Napoli again, whether in the round of 16 or in the final, as long as they met. This time they wanted to defeat Napoli fair and square, wipe out all the infamy they had previously borne, and let the world see that Barcelona's victory depended on skill and strength, not acting skills and so-called sugar daddies!

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Although the center forward position could be rotated at will, other positions couldn't be so excessive. So Napoli always had to conserve their strength in the league for the Champions League. This was especially obvious in the first and last league games of the Champions League group stage.

In the seventh round of the league, Napoli's five-game winning streak was ended. Because in the middle of the week they were going to Old Trafford to challenge Manchester United, which was not an easy game.

In order to prepare for this game, Mazzarri sent out a second-line lineup composed of many substitute players in the league. Except for goalkeeper De Sanctis and center forward Chen Hero, all the starting lineups were changed.

In the end, Napoli drew 1:1 with Catania away from home, and Chen Hero, lacking support, did not score.

Although they didn't win, seventeen points still put Napoli at the top of the league, only one point ahead of Lazio behind them.

After playing this game, Napoli went to Manchester United.

Before the game, almost no one was optimistic about Napoli.

In fact, judging from the first half of the game alone, it was indeed the case.

Napoli conceded three goals to Manchester United in the first half. The defense line composed of Paolo Cannavaro, Ranocchia, Maggio, and Criscito was completely shattered by Manchester United's powerful attack…

Nani scored twice in six minutes, helping the team secure the victory in the thirteenth minute.

In the forty-second minute, Park Ji-sung added another goal.

The Italian commentators lamented: "Napoli without Hero is like a tiger whose claws have been pulled out…"

Just when everyone was feeling sorry for Napoli's defeat, at the very beginning of the second half, Napoli gave everyone a head-on blow.

They pulled back a goal!

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"Forty-fifth minute! Napoli's Arshavin goes on a solo run! Beautiful goal!!"

The commentator's excited roar came from the TV, and Chen Hero jumped up from the sofa and shouted, "Shava forever!"

Cabrera next to him couldn't help but smile when he saw Chen Hero so excited.

This person's performance was completely unlike that of a big star, more like an ordinary fan.

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However, Arshavin's goal only made Chen Hero and other Napoli fans happy for a while. Next, although Napoli's offensive was fierce, they failed to score.

Manchester United played a very experienced control game, handling it with ease.

It wasn't until the seventy-ninth minute that Criscito scored Napoli's second goal. But the team was still one goal behind Manchester United.

In the remaining time, Napoli went all out to attack, completely adopting a desperate style of play that didn't care about defense. Ferguson then contracted the defense, trying to hold on to this one-goal lead.

The game was so intense that each side received a red card in the last ten minutes. Criscito, who scored a goal, was sent off for receiving his second yellow card of the game due to excessive action when competing with his opponent. Two minutes later, Manchester United's Anderson also received a red card for a dangerous flying tackle.

But no matter how fiercely the players on both sides fought, Napoli was unable to tie the score, and Manchester United finally held on to their victory.

2:3, Napoli suffered their first Champions League defeat of the new season at Old Trafford.

On the other side, Glasgow Rangers scored one goal each at home against Valencia, drawing 1:1.

In this way, Manchester United won two and drew one, ranking first in the group with seven points. And Napoli fell from second place in the group. Second place in the group became Glasgow Rangers, who had three draws and three points. Napoli temporarily ranked third with the advantage of more goals scored, and Valencia continued to rank fourth, but they already had the same points as Napoli.

After three rounds, the group stage was halfway through. Analysts believe that it can basically be said that Manchester United has no major problems in qualifying from this group as the top seed.

And the scores of the remaining three teams are still very close, and the situation is unclear.

However, Mazzarri did not appear too frustrated when he attended the press conference after the game. He said he was proud and proud of the players' performance in the second half. He also said that as long as Napoli can show such momentum in the second half in the next three group games, it is not difficult to qualify from the group.

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Back in the domestic league, Napoli returned from losing to Old Trafford, but Chen Hero felt the spirit from his teammates—the players were not too frustrated, they were full of fighting spirit and optimism. Just as Mazzarri said, this spirit is Napoli's most valuable asset and most powerful weapon. As long as they maintain this state of mind, it is really not impossible for Napoli to qualify from the group… Last season, it may not be said that Napoli was so strong, but what made them different from other teams was precisely that fearless spirit?

What Chen Hero had to do was play well in the league and reduce the burden on his teammates.

Coincidentally, in the eighth round of the league, Napoli will welcome AC Milan at home.

It's not surprising that Napoli is playing AC Milan, and it's not surprising that Chen Hero is playing AC Milan.

But Chen Hero has the opportunity to face Ibrahimović again, whom he doesn't like. This is the first time the two have faced each other since they developed a sense of antagonism.

This season, when the summer transfer window was about to close, on August 28, AC Milan announced the loan of Swedish center Zlatan Ibrahimović from Barcelona.

And AC Milan also has the priority to buy out Ibrahimović for 24 million euros after the loan period expires.

Ibrahimović was very happy to be able to join AC Milan. He said that he had joined one of the greatest clubs in the world, even better than Barcelona.

As a result, many Barcelona fans were very dissatisfied with the Swede's remarks. Ibrahimović's approach of praising his new club and belittling his old club as soon as he joined a team was really unpleasant.

Also dissatisfied were the fans of Inter Milan. As AC Milan's city rivals, they couldn't accept that the superstar of the Meazza had now become a member of AC Milan and was praising AC Milan to the sky.

It is said that some Chinese Inter Milan fans also gave Ibrahimović a nickname. Because Ibrahimović's abbreviation in Chinese is "伊布 (Yī bù)", they called Ibrahimović "吕布 (Lǚ Bù)"… The meaning behind it is self-evident, and every Chinese person knows it. (Lü Bu is a famous character in Chinese history, known for betraying his superiors).

Ibrahimović kissing the Barcelona team emblem when he joined Barcelona made Inter Milan fans feel sick. Now that he has joined AC Milan, Inter Milan fans will not give him a good look.

In fact, Ibrahimović had no place in Barcelona long ago. With the arrival of Villa this season, he has completely become a beggar. There is a very important reason for Ibrahimović to choose to return to Serie A.

That is, Serie A has Chen Hero.

A season ago, he transferred away, and some media thought it was to escape Chen Hero, which made him very unhappy.

So now when he decided to leave Barcelona, he chose Serie A without hesitation. He wanted to prove with practical actions that he was not afraid of Chen Hero at all. Those rumors about himself running to La Liga because he was afraid of competing with Chen Hero were all rumors!

At the same time, he also wanted to have a direct competition with Chen Hero to prove that he was not as weak as Chen Hero.

However, after seven rounds of the league, Chen Hero of Napoli scored seven goals, while Ibrahimović only scored one goal. From this point of view, he is still not as good as Chen Hero…