Chapter 266 Red Bull (Part 2)

"If we win against Arezzo, and Torino are defeated by Empoli at home, then we'll be three points ahead of them..." Zhang Jun muttered, looking at the upcoming five rounds of matches. "We're at home, and Empoli is also at home. In terms of strength, Empoli is definitely above Torino, and they have the home advantage... It'll be hard for them to lose, right?"

Zhang Jun had been familiar with the name Torino since he was a fan and a student, not because Juventus was in this northern city, but because of another team in the city, a team named after the city itself. Before the air disaster, AC Torino was the symbol of the city. Even today, many die-hard Torino fans still believe so.

Zhang Jun started learning about this legendary team because of that air disaster.

As one of the earliest Italian teams, Torino was founded in 1890, formerly known as Torino International. In 1906, they almost won their first national championship after their founding, but they were held to a draw by Genoa in the final match, losing the championship to AC Milan by one point. It was not until the 1927/28 season that Torino won the first league trophy in the club's history.

The Italian football scene of the 1930s and 1940s belonged to one city: Torino.

In the first decade, Juventus, led by owner Edoardo Agnelli, won the only five consecutive Serie A titles in the league's history of over a hundred years. In the five years from the 1930/31 season to the 1934/35 season, they won 115 games, drew 30, and lost 21, scoring 384 goals and conceding 151 in 166 games.

The second decade belonged to AC Torino's "Red Bull Dynasty." Before World War II, they won the second league title in their team's history and successfully defended it in the second season. In 1943, the flames of World War II arrived, and Serie A was forced to suspend for two seasons. This interruption was providential, because the Red Bull lost their best chance to surpass their city rivals Juventus. They could no longer complete the feat of exceeding "five consecutive championships," even though they were very likely to do so.

That team produced many Italian football elites, including Grandi, Gamberto, and Ferrari... But the most famous and accomplished of them was Valentino Mazzola, a city hero cultivated by Torino themselves.

In the 1946/47 season, under the leadership of famous coach Ferreiro, Torino achieved an impressive record of 28 wins, 7 draws, and 3 losses in 38 league games, accumulating 63 points (before the three-point system was adopted).

Almost no one in the entire Apennines could resist the iron hooves of the "Red Bull." They scored a whopping 104 goals and conceded only 35, winning the championship with a ten-point lead over second-place Juventus. Apart from Juventus, who scored 83 goals, and AC Milan, who scored 75, no other Serie A team that season managed to score 60 goals, which shows how strong Torino was. Mazzola also became the true soul and leader of Torino, winning the league's top scorer award with 29 goals.

The following year, Torino went even further, achieving 29 wins, 7 draws, and 2 losses, scoring 125 goals, conceding 33, and accumulating 65 points to successfully defend their title, leaving second-place AC Milan far behind by sixteen points! Their 125 goals also became a myth, a monument, the largest and most dazzling pearl on a crown. They destroyed the goals of almost all their opponents. AC Milan, the second-highest scoring team, had only 76 goals, a full 49 goals less than Torino!

Even in that era, which emphasized offense, this achievement was very rare.

During Torino's most glorious period, except for the goalkeeper, the entire starting eleven of the Italian national team was composed of Torino players. Legend has it that in one friendly match, because almost all the starters were Torino players, the Italian coach simply had the Italian team wear the red Torino jerseys for the game, and Mazzola wore the captain's armband just like he did in Torino.

Then, perhaps even the heavens could not bear to see such achievements, or perhaps it was simply because "God is not a Torino fan." Torino, who had a panoramic view of Serie A, was wiped out in a sudden air disaster.

On May 4, 1949, after finishing the Latin Cup match with Benfica in Lisbon, Portugal, the Torino team was returning home when the plane crashed, hitting the Superga mountain near Torino. None of the people who went out to compete ever came back. When the bodies of the heroes were carried back to Torino, all Torino fans surrounded the streets, weeping uncontrollably. Even the fans of their city rivals Juventus came to mourn.

Italian football lost a group of elites, and Torino lost an entire team. That day, AC Torino's red team uniform became dazzling because of blood.

With several rounds left in the league, Torino didn't even have a first team left. Helplessly, they had to send their youth team to participate. At this time, the most touching scene occurred. All of their remaining opponents also sent their respective youth teams to compete with them. This allowed Torino to finally win the championship, completing their four consecutive championships, but they were no longer able to surpass Juventus' "five consecutive championships" record from the previous decade. In the following year's league, the seriously injured Torino team did not even enter the top three.

After that, Torino sank and floated for decades. In the 1975/76 season, Prisci's tireless and crazy goals led Torino to its peak. That year, they finally won the championship. This was the last time they won the Serie A championship trophy.

Later, in the 1980s, the Italian foreign player market, which had been closed for many years, reopened, and the Italian Serie A became studded with stars, gradually being called the "Little World Cup." However, due to the lack of strong financial support, Torino was unable to purchase big-name stars to strengthen themselves. Subsequently, they became a league elevator, constantly struggling between Serie A, Serie B, and Serie C.

By the 1992/93 season, when they defeated Roma to win the Italian Cup, the once glorious "Red Bull Dynasty" left the world with only a desolate back, leaving countless people sighing.

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Many football tragedies have occurred in history. The Heysel Stadium disaster has the highest visibility because of media promotion, and there are also the Munich air disaster of Manchester United, and the 1993 Zambian air disaster. These can all be said to be heavy losses, leaving countless pains. But Zhang Jun always believed that the most heartbreaking was the Superga air disaster of Torino. Because a once glorious dynasty suddenly disappeared at its most dazzling moment, and an invincible great team never stood up again after that.

Zhang Jun thought of the air disaster, and he paid attention to the time of the game with Torino: May 4th!

He shook his head with a wry smile. That day was the fifty-seventh anniversary of the Superga air disaster.

Perhaps the game would be more difficult than they initially thought.

Why did it have to be on this day? He sighed helplessly.

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As Zhang Jun had expected, Fiorentina won easily and without suspense in the home game against Arezzo. Zhang Jun scored another goal, helping the team to win all three points with an incredible scoring efficiency. On the other side, as Zhang Jun expected, Torino was defeated by Empoli 0:1 in the away game. Although the Torino people believed that the penalty awarded was non-existent, they were very angry, but the result of the game could not be changed. They had no conclusive evidence, and appeals were useless.

With four rounds left in the league, Fiorentina surpassed Torino to become second in the league. They led Torino by three points, and the situation was favorable to them.

But now is still not the time to celebrate. The next game is an away game against Treviso, who are ranked fourth. Torino is also away, and their opponent is Perugia, who are ranked seventh in the league, a team that has a very good chance of entering the top six and returning to Serie A through the playoffs.

Although Treviso is ranked fourth, in terms of strength and morale, they cannot be compared with the current Fiorentina.

For the Fiorentina people who have been away from Serie A for four years, their wait for promotion has become impatient. They can't wait to return to Serie A, and they don't even have the patience to wait for the playoffs. The best result is to be directly promoted.

The fans have such ideas, and the team naturally does too.

Most of the players in the team now have been with the team step by step from Serie C2. At the beginning, the team was even unable to pay them wages. Now, the dream of four years of hard work is in sight, who can not be excited?

These days, the team is always discussing what to do after being promoted to Serie A, and everyone has a happy smile on their faces.

Even club president Della Valle can't hide his yearning for returning to Serie A. He publicly told the media: "This will be a wonderful May. We have enough ability to be promoted to Serie A, and we will definitely succeed. Every Fiorentina fan will cheer and be proud of that day!"

In this case, it is very rare to be able to maintain a calm mind and not be overwhelmed by the situation. Head coach Mondonico is one of them.

He constantly poured cold water on the players in training to calm them down and not repeat the tragedy of the playoffs the year before. But the effect was minimal. People always forget the pain after the wound heals, and it is easy to be forgotten by the beauty in front of them, forgetting that they have capsized countless times in the same gutter.

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On May 1st, on this Labor Day, Fiorentina challenged the home team at Treviso's Stadio Omobono Tenni.

They must win this game to maintain their lead over Torino. But the game did not start as beautiful as the Fiorentina people imagined.

Twenty minutes passed, Fiorentina did not concede a goal, nor did they score a goal.

Thirty minutes passed, Fiorentina still did not concede a goal, nor did they score a goal.

Forty-five minutes passed, the first half ended, Fiorentina still did not score, the only thing to be thankful for is that they have not conceded a goal yet.

During the half-time break, Mondonico scolded the players on the field in the locker room: "Look at your performance in the first half! A mess! A mess! What are you thinking about? Promotion? That's still very far away! Now, I will tell you, put aside those boring thoughts, and first think about how to win this game! We didn't concede a goal in the first half because we were lucky. They lack an excellent striker. If we can't win in the second half, you and I will have to run back to Florence!"

Mondonico's scolding had an effect. Fiorentina's performance in the second half was like two different teams from the first half. They actively attacked away from home, reversed the roles of guest and host, and continued to put pressure on Treviso.

When the pressure reaches a critical point, that is when the opponent is crushed.

Mondonico was right. One of the important reasons why Treviso was surpassed by Fiorentina in the standings and widened the gap was that they lacked someone who could seal the throat with one sword and end the game.

In contrast to Treviso, Fiorentina happened to have such a person - their number 11, Zhang Jun.

The two sides were deadlocked until the seventy-ninth minute, when Zhang Jun broke the deadlock. He used his expertise in direct free kicks to give Fiorentina a 1-0 lead away from home.

More than a thousand Fiorentina fans who came with the team cheered and cheered for Zhang Jun. This was also Zhang Jun's nineteenth goal in Serie B, almost averaging one goal per game!

After taking the lead, Fiorentina, like the away game against Salernitana, resolutely implemented a defensive counterattack, with eight people defending and two people attacking. This style of play was once hated by Zhang Jun, but in the current situation, such a defensive counterattack is the best tactic. It does not completely attack, nor does it give up the attack. This is very smart.

The difference in striker level determined the outcome of this game. Fiorentina struggled to defeat Treviso away from home and won all three points. The latter almost surrounded Fiorentina and bombarded them in the last ten minutes, but they just couldn't score.

After the game, Treviso's head coach Giancarlo D'Astoli said sourly: "We only need one Zhang, and winning the championship this season is not a problem. This is the reason for our defeat in this game."

The good news came one after another.

When the Fiorentina players heard in the locker room that Torino had been tied by Perugia, the cheers could be heard clearly in the corridor.

"Torino is tied! Torino is tied!"

Mondonico waved his hand to silence everyone. He smiled and said to everyone: "Happy, right?"

"Yes!" A dozen people answered him loudly together.

"But if we hadn't been nervous in the second half, could we still be cheering so happily now?" Mondonico's rhetorical question made everyone unable to laugh. "What does this show? At critical moments, no matter whether our competitors win or lose, it is not important to us. The important thing is that we can't make mistakes ourselves. Our destiny is in our own hands. The next game is our final battle! Crush them at Torino's home, and we will be directly promoted! Let the opponents play in the playoffs!"

"Yes! Crush Torino! Promote in advance!" Someone shouted, and more people raised their arms and shouted with him.

Even Zhang Jun, such an "outsider", shouted: "Promote in advance!"

He was not out of a desire for Fiorentina's four-year dream to be realized in advance, but because if he was promoted in advance, he could rest for an extra week and a half. He now felt physically and mentally exhausted and urgently needed to rest.

Just like when he helped the team win the Dutch Cup in Volendam, if you were to ask him what he wanted to do most now, he would still answer: "Sleep."

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In the next two days, the entire Fiorentina team fell into a state of excited fanaticism, but unlike half a week ago, all they were thinking about was how to defeat Torino, not where to go on vacation after being promoted.

Zhang Jun went to the treatment room more often. Almost every time after training, he had to ask the massage therapist Danile Miseli to massage his left foot. Because he felt a dull pain there.

Zhang Jun believed that it was caused by the too-dense schedule. He originally had an injury there, and now there were so many games, his left foot did not get a good rest at all, which may lead to a recurrence of the old injury? But now he has no way to stop. Serie B has reached the final moment. In any case, he must grit his teeth and persevere, and then there is the World Cup, which cannot be given up. Since he can't get rest, he can only do more massage to relax. Now, except for the older captain Di Livio, he is the most frequent person in the team to come to the treatment room, and both masseuses are very familiar with him.

Seeing Zhang Jun coming in, Miseli got up to greet him and took off the sheet on the massage bed.

Zhang Jun returned the salute and found that Captain Di Livio was also receiving a massage.

"Here again, Zhang?" Di Livio took the initiative to say hello, without the airs of an old player. The longer you are in contact with this person, the more you will find his admirable points. He is easy-going and always takes the initiative to help those who need help. New players are very willing to talk to him, and whenever they have trouble, even if the captain can't solve it, he will be a good listener.

But Zhang Jun never confided anything to Di Livio. When he was first loaned here, he experienced so many changes and his emotions were not high, but he still buried a lot of things in his heart. He didn't confide in anyone and survived step by step.

Because of this, Di Livio has always been very interested in Zhang Jun. In his opinion, Zhang Jun is very cheerful, so he has good popularity, but behind the cheerfulness there are always some hesitations that will be expressed inadvertently.

Zhang Jun returned the salute very politely, and then sat on the edge of the bed, watching Miseli do the preparation work.

"I see that you have been coming to the treatment room all this time. Is your left ankle uncomfortable?" Di Livio knew that Zhang Jun's left ankle had suffered a serious injury that almost forced him to retire.

Zhang Jun shook his head: "No, it's just that there have been a lot of games recently, and I feel a little tired. I'm here for a massage to relax."

"Well, the game schedule has been too dense during this period. Now I can only play one game and rest one game. But grit your teeth, if we win tomorrow's game, we will be promoted in advance, and everyone can rest for the remaining two rounds. See, I'm also getting a massage now, I also want to play in the game."

"But you just played the full ninety minutes in the last game." Zhang Jun was a little surprised. Di Livio is old after all, and now he sits on the bench in many games. Even if he doesn't play, it is a kind of spiritual encouragement for the players on the field.

"Yes, I just played a full ninety minutes. But I must play in tomorrow's game, because we must win. We have all worked our way up from Serie C2, and we have reached this point, how can I retreat? It's you, you have to participate in the World Cup in June. It's been hard for you to be loaned here for half a season."

Zhang Jun quickly waved his hand: "Don't say that, since I'm here, I have to contribute. This is my duty, captain."

"Will you still have to go back to Milan after the loan period expires?"

Zhang Jun shook his head with a wry smile: "I haven't thought about it yet, captain." He really hasn't thought about it yet, or rather, his personality's deep-seated escapism made him automatically choose to avoid this choice.

Di Livio didn't know whether this "haven't thought about it" was really haven't thought about it, or an excuse. Now there are more and more speculations outside about whether he will leave or stay, and he has not come out to explain it.

"Then, let's go all out to play well in tomorrow's game." Di Livio sat up, he had already finished. "I'll go first, goodbye."

"Goodbye." Zhang Jun waved on the bed. Di Livio left, and the captain's words touched him again. He felt that he should consider this question. It's just right to have nothing to do during the massage, so let's think about it carefully.

It's been almost half a year since he came to this team. He really likes this team and this city. He has achieved initial success here, and he has a good relationship with his teammates, coaches, and fans. Everything is like a replica of him in Volendam.

This is certainly good, but if you want to achieve greater success, will staying in a team like Fiorentina be promising? Due to his great success in Serie B, not only AC Milan wants to call him back, but also Serie A powerhouses such as Inter Milan, Juventus, and Roma are beckoning to him.

What to do? To be honest, he is really hesitant. Going to a powerhouse team is in itself an act of proving his worth, and it is indeed easier to succeed, because he is standing on the shoulders of giants. And in Fiorentina? Maybe he will succeed, maybe he won't. After all, the current Fiorentina is too different from the one with Batistuta, Rui Costa, and Toldo. The future is always full of uncertainties, but in Fiorentina there are more variables than in a powerhouse. He is already twenty-four years old, and his youthful years are not many. Zhang Jun did not dare to bet his entire future on the possible newly promoted Fiorentina.

If he can help Fiorentina accomplish a great cause like promotion, just like Maradona in Napoli, that would naturally be the best. But now he is the offensive core, will he still be in the future? Now he feels good in this team, will he still feel good in the future? Fiorentina is ambitious, but compared with the "shoe king" Della Valle and the "oil king" Moratti family, the Fiat owner Agnelli family, and the Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi, his net worth is really nothing.

If the investment fails, and he invests heavily in Fiorentina but sees no results, will he still be interested and ambitious to continue to invest money in it? What does he use to compete with those big powerhouses?

There are too many variables, and these have affected Zhang Jun's judgment.

Emotionally, he is more inclined to Fiorentina, but reason tells him that if he wants to achieve greater achievements, maybe choosing Fiorentina will not have the results he wants.

This complex choice, coupled with the constant battles since entering, Zhang Jun actually fell asleep during the massage.

When he was awakened by Miseli, the massage was over. He smiled apologetically at Miseli, and then got up and left.

Go? Or stay?

It seems that he still hasn't come up with a conclusion, forget it, let's talk about it after playing the game with Torino.

※※※

"Red Bull" is the nickname of this team, because their team emblem has an angry bull on it, and because their team is red. Just like their nickname, they were once like angry bulls, making the entire Apennines tremble with fear.

They were once a dynasty, infinitely glorious. Now they only have a back view left, letting the legend slowly fade in people's memories, while they are struggling in Serie B.

They are Fiorentina's opponent in this round of Serie B - Torino.