Chapter 1 The Lyon Away Game

Napoli sent out its strongest lineup against Lyon, with Mazzarri not daring to be careless. Chen Hero also needed more goals.

Therefore, Napoli persisted with their attacking tactics even in the away game. They knew, of course, that Lyon would also attack—they had no other choice if they wanted to turn the tables…

A head-to-head attack would inevitably create many exploitable loopholes. Lyon could score, and so could Napoli.

It just depended on who scored more.

But Napoli still had a four-goal lead, so they weren't afraid of Lyon in a direct confrontation—provided there were no non-football factors influencing the game.

At the same time, more openings meant easier goals. This was a good thing for Chen Hero, who wanted to continue racking up goals.

The media were also paying close attention to this match, not because there was any suspense about the outcome. Even the most optimistic Lyon fans believed they were doomed, let alone the fickle media.

The media were focused on this game for one reason only—Chen Hero.

Everyone wanted to see if Chen Hero could continue to score.

Because just before this game, Messi, who had been quiet in the first leg, suddenly exploded. He scored twice in the second leg against Arsenal, including a penalty. Messi wasn't exactly the team's number one penalty taker, so giving him this penalty was a clear sign that Barcelona wanted to ensure Messi won the top scorer award.

In Napoli, Chen Hero hardly ever got to take penalties…

A reporter asked Chen Hero what he thought about Messi's two goals.

Chen Hero's answer infuriated Barcelona and Messi fans.

"He scored a penalty? That's great, it proves they're afraid of me and have to resort to penalties to make up the numbers. Please tell Messi and Barcelona to rest assured, I won't be taking any penalties."

Those who disliked Chen Hero called this attitude "arrogant and conceited," while those who liked him thought it showed his "overbearing dominance."

As for the controversial sending off of Van Persie, which led to a fundamental turning point in the game, Chen Hero shrugged: "I'm not surprised at all. Something controversial always happens in games against Barcelona. I won't comment on Van Persie's red card because I didn't watch the game. I just feel sorry for the Gunners; they are an excellent team."

When talking about the second leg against Lyon, he said: "Of course we will do our best. We won't give up just because we have a four-goal lead from the first leg. As for the reason we won't give up, you all know…"

The reporters interviewing him laughed.

That was the truth. Within the team, everyone had agreed that even with a four-goal lead, Napoli would do their best in the second leg because they had another goal—to help Chen Hero score more goals.

The 4-0 victory against Lyon in the first leg allowed the team to relax and focus on this goal without having to worry too much about the team's overall performance.

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Pierre seemed to know that his team had no chance of qualifying, but there was still one thing he could do, and that was… to prevent Chen Hero from using Lyon as a target for scoring goals.

So, to everyone's surprise, Lyon did not raise the flag of attack at home, making a last-ditch effort to advance to the quarterfinals.

From the first minute of the game, they retreated to their own half and set up a defensive wall.

This surprised many commentators, reporters, and viewers.

Of course, the most surprised was Mazzarri.

He didn't expect Lyon to give up hope of reaching the quarterfinals and focus entirely on defense. Mazzarri knew why they were defending with all their might: they didn't want Lyon to become a stepping stone for Chen Hero to defend his top scorer title…

Damn it… he couldn't help but curse in his heart.

He had thought that Lyon would definitely press forward in this game, which would create a lot of openings in their defense. This was a rare opportunity for Chen Hero to score a lot of goals. The further they went in the competition, the harder the games would become, and it wouldn't be easy to score so many goals again.

He wanted Chen Hero to score as many goals as possible in this game, so that he would only be two or three goals behind the leader, making it easier to catch up later.

But who would have thought that Lyon would give up hope of advancing and focus entirely on stopping Chen Hero…

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On the field, Hamsik tried a direct pass, but he couldn't kick the ball because there were so many people in front of him. There were no gaps to exploit.

Lyon retreated with all their players, completely abandoning the attack, as if to say, "We've already been eliminated, so we absolutely can't let you use us to score goals."

Chen Hero was in the penalty area, surrounded by people. He was completely submerged…

If they insisted on a direct pass, it would definitely be intercepted. Even if they managed to receive the ball, they wouldn't be able to shoot and score.

Helplessly, Hamsik turned around and passed the ball back to the central defender, Ranocchia.

This pass back was a microcosm of Napoli's situation. Faced with Lyon's tight defense, they were at a loss, not knowing what to do.

The score remained 0-0 until the end of the first half.

Chen Hero didn't score.

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"See, I told you he couldn't maintain such a crazy form. Scoring a hat trick in one game is already amazing. Did he really think he could score a hat trick in every game?"

During halftime, various TV stations were analyzing the first half, and Chen Hero's performance was naturally the focus of everyone's discussion.

Chen Hero didn't score in the first forty-five minutes. In fact, he didn't even have a threatening shot, which gave those annoying critics something to talk about.

"This first half is actually the real, believable one. This Chen Hero is the normal one."

"Hero's crazy performance in the first leg was largely because Napoli were playing at home, and he had missed six group stage games. That hat trick released all his passion and form…"

Of course, some people were also sarcastic about Lyon: "If Messi is eventually elected as the top scorer, the person he should thank the most is not his teammates, but Lyon's players and Lyon's coach, Pierre."

Chinese TV stations were also worried about Chen Hero: "I think Napoli must make adjustments in the second half. If they can't break Lyon's dense defense, then Chen Hero will not be able to score…"

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Meanwhile, in Napoli's locker room, everyone was complaining that Lyon's tight defense was making it difficult for them to score.

At this moment, coach Mazzarri walked in.

"Alright, guys. Stop complaining. We didn't expect Lyon to be so timid at home!" Mazzarri used mockery of Lyon to arouse the players' fighting spirit and confidence. When encountering trouble and difficulties away from home, the most important thing was to prevent the team from losing heart. As long as they didn't lose heart, everything would be fine.

Sure enough, the players laughed.

"Let's change our style of play in the second half. Is it difficult to break a dense defense? Perhaps it is for other teams, but we have the ability!"

This wasn't just empty rhetoric to boost morale.

Napoli really had the ability to break a dense defense because they possessed… a very, very strong center forward, and such a center forward was the key to breaking a dense defense.

The key to a dense defense lies in the word "dense." It involves hoarding troops near the penalty area, forming a numerical advantage in a local area, and reducing space to prevent opponents from having gaps to pass and run.

So, how do you break a dense defense?

A strong center forward must first of all be physically strong, so that he can withstand the impact and interference from those strong central defenders in the crowded penalty area and control the ball in such circumstances. As long as he can control the ball, the opponent's defense will become cautious, which may create a chance to kill, and also disrupt the opponent's defense.

In addition to having a strong enough body, he must also have some foot skills, otherwise it is useless to not be able to hold the ball.

Next, he should ideally have good scoring ability—as a center forward, you can't always rely on attracting all the opponent's defensive attention and then passing the ball to your teammates to score, right? If he can withstand the pressure of the defense, control the ball, and score goals, then what's the use of the opponent hoarding so many troops in the penalty area?

In fact, crosses from the flanks are one of the best ways to break a dense defense, provided that your team has a center forward who is very good at heading the ball, otherwise it will only allow the opponent's central defenders to rack up heading clearance data.

Coincidentally, Napoli had a center forward who was the best at heading the ball in football today…

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After the second half of the game began, while the commentators and pundits were still arguing whether Chen Hero's performance in this game was normal or abnormal, and whether he could achieve anything in the forty-five minutes of the second half, some changes had already taken place in the game.

"Napoli has strengthened their offensive on the flanks…" the Sky Sports commentator was the first to see it.

"They're going to…" the ESPN commentator also noticed this point.

"Hero—header!!" In the shouts of the Italian commentator, Chen Hero jumped high and won the header despite being marked by a defender.

Unfortunately, being marked by a defender affected the quality of the header, not to mention that someone was interfering with him from behind.

The ball was eventually headed wide by Chen Hero and did not threaten Lloris's goal.

However, after seeing Chen Hero's header, Napoli's players felt confident—the coach was right during halftime, if we play like this, we will definitely win!

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ps, Lyon is not willing to be a stepping stone, and we don't want to be a stepping stone for too many people on the monthly ticket list, so please vote for us!