Chapter 1 Annoucement

Zhang Jun stopped the soccer ball, then backed up to prepare his run-up. All eyes were focused on him at this moment.

Čech knew how accurate Zhang Jun's free kicks were, and he didn't dare to neglect it. His teammates obviously knew it too, so for a free kick twenty-seven meters in front of the penalty area, Chelsea formed a seven-man wall.

Čech kept yelling from behind, "Left! A little more to the left! Completely block the angle!"

Zhang Jun wasn't in a hurry. He stood in front of the ball, quietly watching the wall move according to the goalkeeper's instructions. There were no other teammates around him. Everyone knew that he was taking the kick, and the opponent was defending against his free kick.

After the wall was formed, they dawdled and refused to retreat. The referee stood 9.15 meters away from the ball and blew his whistle, signaling everyone to retreat.

After three whistles, almost reaching for his card, Chelsea's players reluctantly retreated, still protesting to the referee.

As soon as the referee left, they quietly moved forward half a step, turning 9.15 meters into 8.75 meters.

D'Agliano, who had been standing on the sidelines, anxiously watching the situation, couldn't care less whether the referee could hear him. He waved his hand and shouted loudly, "Make them go back! That's too despicable!"

Zhang Jun didn't care. He looked at the referee, who lowered his arm, signaling that he could kick the ball.

He started his run-up, one step, two steps, three steps!

Shot!

The wall jumped up, trying to block Zhang Jun's shot.

But the soccer ball soared over their heads, flying towards the near corner of the goal.

When Čech saw the soccer ball emerge from behind the wall, he immediately dove towards the near corner. At one meter ninety-seven, he was confident that he could block the shot.

The soccer ball passed over the wall at a high altitude. If it continued to fly like this, it would go straight out of bounds.

But who was Zhang Jun? How could he allow such a thing to happen?

The soccer ball suddenly dropped, a perfect falling leaf ball.

Čech's hands were long, but they were still a little short of touching the ball. Besides, Zhang Jun's falling leaf ball was already difficult to defend. The soccer ball dropped behind his hand, then grazed the crossbar… and flew into the goal!

"Aha! Goal! Goal! A beautiful direct free kick! Zhang Jun has tied the score for Fiorentina! He is now the top scorer in the Champions League this season, having scored eleven goals so far! An incredible achievement!"

The entire Stadio Artemio Franchi erupted. Zhang Jun raised his hands, waiting with a smile for his teammates to come up and celebrate the goal with him.

"Oh! Zhang Jun's smile! We haven't seen it on the field for some time, and it's great to see it again today..."

Mourinho, for the second time in the match, jumped up from his seat in dismay, then waved his arms and cursed fiercely, "*!"

Almost at the same moment that Zhang Jun's soccer ball passed Čech's hand, Sabato rushed out and hugged D'Agliano, who was standing on the sidelines with his arms raised. How could he not be excited? After waiting for most of the game, he had finally reached the moment to tie the score. The situation was immediately different, and Fiorentina would take the initiative at home!

Deafening cheers rang out again in the Stadio Artemio Franchi: "Long live Zhang Jun! Long live Fiorentina!"

Looking at the celebrating Fiorentina players, the person who probably regretted it the most now was Essien.

He never expected that his momentary impulse would not only prevent him from participating in the next round of the match, but also cause his team to tie the score. He had thought that the distance from the goal was far, and this free kick wouldn't be much of a threat. He didn't expect that Zhang Jun's range would allow him to be comfortable at this distance.

He only remembered now the words that Mourinho had said two days before the match: "Kru is a very talented player, but I think his biggest threat is not his technique, but the face of contempt for everything under the fancy technique. This is a big stimulus for his opponents. Look at Fiorentina's past matches, many opponents were angered by Kru's indifferent attitude and gorgeous technique, and lost their composure, which ultimately led to losing the match."

He had always felt that Mourinho was exaggerating. How could a professional player be so easily angered? He also hadn't played with Kru, and hadn't seen the brawl he triggered by angering Vieira the first time he played. Otherwise, he wouldn't have thought so.

Now it was too late to regret.

Chelsea was tied by Fiorentina. Although the score was tied, Fiorentina was obviously gaining the upper hand in terms of morale. "Morale" is a very important thing on the soccer field. Sometimes, it even determines the outcome of a match.

Sure enough, Fiorentina, after restarting the match, seemed to be in high spirits, frequently launching attacks on Chelsea's hinterland.

Sabato was even more determined to stick to his style of play after tying the score. On the surface, this seemed quite beneficial to Chelsea, because Chelsea originally had the mentality of considering a tie as a win, especially since they had an away goal.

However, Sabato wasn't counting on this. He predicted that as the match progressed, as he deliberately "conserved" his tactics, Chelsea would definitely relax. Especially after seeing Lawrence's performance, he was even more convinced.

That eighteen-year-old kid was obviously too smooth sailing, and hadn't seen any big storms. So today, he would let him see how dark the professional soccer world was, and how shameless Sabato was.

As long as Lawrence didn't leave the field for a moment, then he would have a chance. Chelsea's tactics would definitely be ruined by that young and frivolous idiot.

At that time, Mourinho, you just cry!

Lawrence was indeed very depressed now. In the first half, he and the team were playing well, and they scored early. For him personally, it was really a wonderful night.

What about now? At the beginning of the second half, they were besieged by the opponent, counterattacks couldn't be launched, and he himself was being completely suppressed on the wing by that unknown Jensen. Then the team was tied, and he had to frequently retreat to the vicinity of the penalty area to participate in the defense. Many times, he even needed to return to the goal line to make a header clearance like a center-back.

He had been dominating the soccer world in England, and was a striker on the same level as Rooney and Owen, but now he was being suppressed in Florence. He felt very unhappy.

Lawrence was very angry, and the consequences were very serious.

Chelsea finally had a chance to launch a counterattack. After two passes, the ball reached Lawrence's feet. He didn't pass it to Drogba, who was raising his hand in front, but instead lowered his head and planned to force his way past Jensen.

The consequences were obvious. Jensen wasn't tall, but he wasn't slow, and his lower body was very stable. Lawrence planned to rely on his body and speed to break through forcefully, but instead, he was blocked by Jensen, and squeezed out of bounds.

Sabato smiled sinisterly on the sidelines. Don't think that Jensen doesn't get many opportunities to play, so you can think that he is a soft persimmon that can be easily squeezed. The reason why he was valued and brought from the Eredivisie to Serie A was because this young man's positioning skills were very good. It could be said that if you only compare positioning, Xiang Tao was definitely not his opponent.

When facing a defender who knows how to position, no matter how fast or strong you are as a striker, you will only have one feeling when you run into him: it's a wall!

Lawrence ran into a wall at Jensen's place, but he couldn't retreat. Who told him to be fast and need to constantly pull to the wing? The left wing was Robben's territory, and he couldn't compete with Robben for space. He could only focus on Jensen's side.

Dribble! Dribble again! Flick, flick again! Turn around!

The screams in the Stadio Artemio Franchi grew louder and louder. Essien also felt that he had really lost face. He had actually been tricked into losing his balance by Kru with such simple movements.

At the beginning of the match, he was able to gain the upper hand in the duel with this number 10, but now, as the match progressed, he was almost being toyed with. When had Essien ever suffered such humiliation in the Premier League? But what made him feel even more humiliated was not simply being toyed with, but because he could only watch himself being toyed with, and couldn't do anything out of line to retaliate, because he was now carrying a yellow card, and the next round was already suspended. If he was sent off with a red card, then it wouldn't just be a one-match suspension.

Kru passed the soccer ball out, then ran to the next position.

He didn't care at all about how the person spinning around him felt at this time. If his previous performances had more or less had the mentality of toying with opponents and watching them make fools of themselves, then now he was completely focused on the soccer itself. He just wanted to play the ball well. As for Essien's feelings, that was a byproduct of this idea. It was Essien's bad luck, and had nothing to do with Kru.

In the 69th minute of the match, Chelsea launched a counterattack. What made this counterattack different from their previous ones was that they didn't rely on the cooperation and speed of two or three people to reach the front, but instead almost went all out, threatening Fiorentina's goal with a gradually advancing momentum.

This was a counterattack that Fiorentina's defenders hadn't expected.

Essien was responsible for midfield coordination and attack organization. He passed the ball to Lampard. Lampard took advantage of the fact that Mascherano, who was defending him, hadn't arrived yet, and forced his way through, completely disrupting Fiorentina's defense.

Then he didn't shoot directly, but instead passed the ball to Robben on the wing.

Robben relied on speed and technique to break through Lam, then crossed in time. Drogba, who was following up in the center, jumped up high and made a powerful header!

"Here it comes..." Frey planned to jump up and save the ball, but he didn't expect to use too much force, and his foot slipped. He didn't jump up at all, and he desperately watched the soccer ball fly into the goal!

"Too damn it!" Sabato jumped up from his seat and roared.

"Great!" Mourinho jumped up from his seat for the third time in dismay. He raised his arms and cheered, cheering for his men. The Chelsea fans who were present also jumped up and cheered like Mourinho.

Just as the Chelsea players were celebrating wildly, Fiorentina's full-back Jensen was raising his arms and waving them non-stop. What was he signaling? He was signaling to the referee that this ball was offside.

Sure enough, the linesman had been holding up his flag. The referee also blew his whistle, signaling that the goal was invalid. Fiorentina would take a free kick from their own half!

This penalty immediately drew boos and curses from Chelsea fans at the scene, and the Chelsea players who had just been celebrating the goal were stunned. They didn't think that Drogba was offside, this was a misjudgment!

Chelsea, who had their goal disallowed, naturally had to argue with the referee.

Mourinho, who was on the sidelines, was even more emotionally agitated and grabbed the fourth official, complaining to him about the referee of this match.

"Damn it! How can this ball be offside?! Take a close look at the replay!"

The fourth official shrugged: "Sorry, sir. According to FIFA's refereeing regulations, referees cannot use game footage and big screen broadcasts as the basis for penalties."

"Screw the regulations! That can't be used as an excuse to cover up your mistakes!"

"Mr. Mourinho, I would like to remind you to respect the referee. If you continue to speak rudely, I reserve the right to appeal to the higher authorities."

Mourinho also knew that if he was appealed, he would probably have to sit in the stands and use his phone to command the next round of the match. After losing Essien, this was definitely not what he wanted to see. Therefore, no matter how bad he felt now, he could only choose to swallow his anger.

Shrugging helplessly, spreading his hands, then clapping them hard, he turned and left.

The situation on the field had undergone amazing changes in just one minute, catching many people off guard. But Sabato was smiling happily below: "Haha! Offside! Great! I'll let you celebrate! I'll let you be happy!"

Just as the argument over this penalty was raging on the field, the TV station also sent out the replay of the moment just now in a timely manner.

But that piece of footage was replayed four times, but it left the commentators and guest commentators speechless. Because at the moment when Robben passed the ball, it was really too difficult to judge whether Drogba was offside or not. It was reasonable to say that he was offside, and it wasn't wrong to say that he wasn't offside.

But the linesman insisted that it was offside. This time, Chelsea had really suffered a dumb loss.

In the end, the commentator said a classic line that was often mentioned by many people later: "Maybe... the linesman thought that this ball was offside because Drogba's nose was a little bit further out than Kel's nose... a nose's length, haha!"

Although the goal just now wasn't counted, Sabato also knew in his heart that even if the referee thought it was valid, he wouldn't have any way. Because it was really too ambiguous, it was just that they were a little lucky.

Through this false alarm, he saw the problems on the defense line - when the opponent switched from defense to attack, the concentration was still not enough.

"Did you forget what I said during the half-time break? Cheer me up! Don't give them such a chance again! Damn it!"

The Fiorentina players naturally wouldn't be willing to be lectured by this head coach who hadn't prepared anything before the match, so they had to teach back - putting pressure on Chelsea.

Essien, carrying a yellow card, behaved timidly, which made Mourinho very dissatisfied. In the end, with fifteen minutes left in the match, he replaced him. Replacing him was the twenty-five-year-old French defensive midfielder Lassana Diarra.

When Chelsea was about to make a substitution, Sabato was a little nervous, but when he saw who was being replaced, he was relieved - Lawrence was still on the field, so he had a chance.

Diarra had an advantage over Essien in that he was physically fit and dared to make moves, entangling Kru. In addition, because of Kru's outstanding performance, Chelsea had placed all of their defensive focus in the center, which also brought considerable difficulties for Kru to control the match.

Sabato waved his hand on the sidelines, Fiorentina switched to playing on the wings, Kru only acted as a distraction in the middle, and didn't really participate in organizing the attack. All of the organizing work was completed by Mascherano.

In response to Fiorentina's arrangements, Mourinho also made adjustments immediately. As the match progressed and the situation on the field changed, Mourinho was no longer able to sit coolly on the coach's bench.

The full-backs and wingers joined forces to contain Fiorentina's wing attacks. Although this would sacrifice their own attack, an away goal and the possibility of maintaining a tie was already a very good result. The key now was to prevent the team from conceding another goal, not to think about scoring a few more goals.

Fiorentina's wing attacks were carried out in a colorful manner, attracting all of Chelsea's defensive attention. Joaquin and Gasparoni's breakthroughs, one on the right and one on the left, were creating opportunities while containing the opponent's attack.

Of course, the so-called opportunity here wasn't an opportunity to directly pass the soccer ball in front of the goal and let Zhang Jun and Morientes compete for the header. But for another purpose.

Sabato knew that wing attacks couldn't pose a real threat to Chelsea, so the reason why he emphasized wing attacks wasn't to score goals through wing crosses, but to shift Chelsea's defensive attention from the center to the wings. He believed in Kru, even if the opponent was strong, Kru would have a way to break through in a one-on-one situation.

Mascherano had passed the soccer ball to the wings several times before. This time, the opponents still thought he would do the same. But would it be Joaquin, or Gasparoni?

Even Diarra, who was originally responsible for marking Kru, was a little absent-minded. He was obviously very dissatisfied with the fact that the head coach had let him play but only to accompany someone with almost no stamina for a walk. He was eager to compete in the most intense place.

Mascherano feinted a shot in the center, but in the end didn't pass to anyone. He broke through with the ball himself!

Diarra's heart was filled with joy, because the direction the opponent was dribbling was exactly where he was. It was his turn to make an appearance this time! Diarra calmed his inner excitement, and without thinking, rushed up. Now there was only one midfielder in the center, if he didn't stop him, Mascherano would directly face their defense line.

Mascherano saw Diarra abandon Kru and pounce on him, and without hesitation, he poked the ball out with one foot, the target was Kru, who had been walking all the time.

"That idiot!" Mourinho sat on the seat and cursed in a low voice.

Receiving the soccer ball, turning around, and then flicking the soccer ball to the outside, the movements were done in one go, and once again won a full house of applause.

Diarra, relying on his excellent physical qualities, managed to chase back and hoped to block Kru outside the penalty area. But how could Kru, who was protecting the soccer ball, let the opponent easily snatch the soccer ball away?

Essien couldn't do anything to Kru, could he, a substitute, do it?

Kru ignored Diarra's entanglement behind him, and continued to dribble into the penalty area. Terry abandoned Zhang Jun, at this time he couldn't care less about who was the bigger threat.

Kru feinted with the upper half of his body, making Terry think that he was going to break through from the right, and hurriedly shifted his center of gravity to the right, but Kru flicked the soccer ball to the left, and then planned to break through from here.

At this moment, Diarra stretched out his foot from behind to tackle - this move was quite reckless, and could cause a major disaster in his own penalty area at any time. However, the young and energetic Diarra didn't think so much, he just wanted to stop Kru.

Just as the soccer ball was flicked away, Kru's heel was tripped by Diarra, he suddenly lost his balance, staggered, and then fell into the penalty area!

Sabato raised his hands and stood up. Penalty! This was an undeniable penalty!

A huge cheer erupted from the Stadio Artemio Franchi! They saw the dawn of victory at home.

But what was the referee doing waving his hand?

He was telling Kru to stand up!?

"Damn it! He actually thinks Kru faked a fall! Shameless! That son of a bitch referee!" Sabato's excitement just now instantly turned into anger. He kept cursing the short-sighted referee on the sidelines. Until the fourth official came up to intervene.

"Sir, if you don't restrain yourself, I would like to ask you to go to the stands." The meaning was to send him off with a red card.

Sabato calculated in his mind, although he had vented his anger for a moment, if he was finally sent off with a red card, then the price would be too high. Forget it, anyway, he had already cursed, and he hadn't lost anything.

But there still had to be complaints. Sabato immediately lowered his posture and said to the fourth official in a pitiful tone, "Look at the situation just now, wasn't that a foul? Shouldn't a penalty be awarded?"

"Sorry, I didn't see it clearly."

"He was... he was looking for balance!" Sabato really wanted to curse the fourth official as well, but in the end he held back. He didn't want to watch the next round of the match in the stands.

On the field, the soccer ball was at Terry's feet. Kru was a little confused about the referee waving him to get up. He hadn't faked a fall - although he would occasionally fake a fall, this time he was definitely innocent. The opponent had indeed tripped him from behind, why didn't he blow a penalty?

On the other side, Gasparoni was raising his hands and rushing towards the referee, signaling that this penalty was very unreasonable.

At the same time, Terry passed the soccer ball to Lampard. Chelsea took advantage of the opportunity that Fiorentina was planning to appeal to the referee to launch a quick counterattack.

Sabato was still arguing with the fourth official, while D'Agliano rushed to the sidelines, and rarely shouted loudly: "Damn it! Retreat! Retreat! The soccer ball hasn't gone out of bounds, they're attacking! What the hell are you doing?!"

Lampard quickly passed the soccer ball to Lawrence.

At this time, there were only four defenders and a goalkeeper in Fiorentina's half, while Chelsea had two forwards, two wingers, and a Lampard.

Originally, if Lawrence passed the soccer ball out again, and he ran into position himself, Chelsea's counterattack would directly threaten Fiorentina's goal, but now Lawrence's mind was full of thoughts about defeating Jensen, this unremarkable, unknown little guy, he felt angry just looking at him. He vowed to defeat him and wash away the shame of the past few tens of minutes!

Change direction, feint.

Jensen followed the change of direction, not falling for his feint.

Sudden stop, seemed like he wanted to turn around.

Jensen also stopped suddenly, but didn't rush to grab the soccer ball, just gently pushing him with his hand, either he passed the soccer ball out, or he could try to force his way through.

Turning around failed, Lawrence flicked the soccer ball horizontally, planning to go around the angle and then turn around. But Jensen stuck to him, blocking the position, he couldn't run away, and he couldn't turn around.

Jensen had him completely under control.

The impatient Lawrence decided to break through forcefully. He didn't care how good Jensen's positioning was behind him. He leaned his body back violently, hoping to push the opponent away. But it didn't go as he wished. Jensen was stable and didn't budge an inch.

Forget it!

Flicking the soccer ball to the outside, then suddenly turning around, increasing his speed, planning to surpass this defender in an instant.

Jensen didn't even think about racing with him. At the same time that Lawrence flicked the soccer ball away from his body, Jensen took a step to the outside, and then made a beautiful and standard tackle, just right tackling the soccer ball down. Lawrence kicked his foot on the soccer ball, but didn't move the soccer ball, and instead flew out due to inertia.

Jensen, who had intercepted the soccer ball, passed the soccer ball to his teammate, and completed another defensive task.

"What are you doing?! Why didn't you pass the soccer ball?!" Lampard angrily roared at Lawrence. The poor young man lowered his head and didn't dare to say anything.

The Fiorentina forwards who had intercepted the soccer ball hadn't returned yet. They took advantage of this opportunity to launch a counterattack. Mascherano passed the soccer ball to Gasparoni.

Gasparoni didn't dribble with the soccer ball, but instead made a long pass, crossing the entire field, passing the soccer ball directly to Joaquin's feet.

Joaquin stopped the soccer ball and didn't covet dribbling with it, but instead passed the soccer ball to Kru, who was following up in the center.

Diarra tensed up again.

This time Kru didn't break through from the center, he pulled the soccer ball back, and then made a sudden through ball.

Morientes ran out diagonally from the crowd, and then swung his foot to shoot. This time Čech firmly grabbed the soccer ball.

Although it didn't result in a goal, Fiorentina's whirlwind-like attacks in these two rounds made Mourinho feel the pressure, the pressure of losing the soccer ball.

In this situation, he had to replace Lawrence, whose performance didn't satisfy him, and add a midfielder.

There was still some dissatisfaction on Lawrence's face when he was substituted, but Mourinho ignored him. He was also dissatisfied with this forward in his heart. If it wasn't for his several solo plays, Chelsea would have been leading now, why would they be forced to this point by Fiorentina?

Lawrence's substitution made Sabato feel a little regretful, but now that the overall situation had been decided, he didn't expect Lawrence to help him much.

In the last five minutes of the match, Fiorentina had the upper hand. Chelsea didn't even have the ability to launch a counterattack. They could only retreat across the board, hoping to defend until the end of the match.

Sabato was standing on the sidelines, constantly waving his hand to let the players press up, press up, and press up again. The defenders who weren't allowed to assist in the attack at the beginning were all pressing to the vicinity of the midfield line. They had the momentum to swallow the entire Chelsea.

Mascherano long shot!

Čech tried hard to punch the soccer ball out. As long as the soccer ball didn't go out of bounds, Chelsea's crisis wouldn't be lifted.

Sure enough, Gasparoni stopped the soccer ball near the sideline, and then passed it into the penalty area again. This time Terry intercepted the soccer ball and headed it out in front of Zhang Jun.

Then it was Joaquin's long shot.

The soccer ball had always been roaming in Chelsea's half. Even if Čech got the soccer ball, he couldn't get the soccer ball through the midfield. Whether it was a long kick or a throw, it would be intercepted in the midfield.

Fiorentina was not willing to draw with their opponent at home. I believe their supporters would not agree either. So the last moment was Fiorentina's crazy time.

And Chelsea put on a posture of an iron barrel formation, all the players, including the forwards, were shrinking in their own thirty-meter area.

The two sides confronted each other, with the momentum of the Three Kingdoms scolding each other in battle.

Fiorentina: If you have the ability, come out! Don't hide inside like a turtle! Like a sissy, shameless!

Chelsea: You tell me to come out, and I'll come out? Wouldn't I lose face? I won't come out, I just won't come out! If you have the ability, then come in!

Fiorentina: Damn! Don't think that hiding in the shell is safe! Long shot!

So the heavy artillery fired. Mascherano, Joaquin, Gasparoni, Zhang Jun, and even Ujfalusi rushed to the front of the penalty area to try out their shooting skills.

Zhang Jun's shot hit Terry's leg and there was a change of direction, flying towards the direction that Čech could never save. At this time, the referee had already put the whistle in his mouth, either to blow the goal whistle or the final whistle.

The Fiorentina people stood up, ready to cheer.

Čech desperately watched the soccer ball roll towards the goal, although the speed was not fast, no one had the ability to stop its movement...

If this ball goes in, Chelsea's home game will be very difficult.

All Chelsea fans, those at the scene, those in front of the TV, and those listening to the radio, could only make one sound at this time: "no——!"

God took a nap, and the soccer ball hit the goalpost, and then was kicked out by Hono, who had just rushed back, with all his strength. The soccer ball flew high into the left stand.

The referee stretched out his arms and blew the final whistle three times.

"Ah! Damn it! We actually drew!" Sabato cursed.

"But I can't see the slightest dissatisfaction on your face." D'Agliano said expressionlessly. He was really very dissatisfied with this result.

"You have to know, Angelo. If their Essien hadn't received a yellow card, if they didn't have that idiot Lawrence, then this draw would be our failure. But because of the above two things, so our draw is not a failure. We have hope to win the score back in the away game."

"I don't believe your words anymore."

Sabato shrugged, ignored his assistant, and walked into the locker room.

Zhang Jun also felt upset about the draw, and almost the entire Fiorentina team had the same idea as him. Everyone was complaining loudly in the locker room about the bad luck in the end.

Until Sabato smiled and pushed open the door of the locker room.

"You must think this is a complete failure, right?"

"Isn't it?" Someone asked back.

"Of course not, how is it possible?" Then Sabato repeated what he had just said to D'Agliano. Of course, the players' reactions were the same as D'Agliano's: disbelief!

Sabato didn't bother to care whether his men believed his words, he was eager to attend the press conference. At the press conference, facing the reporters, he repeated what he had said to D'Agliano for the third time.

What was the result?

The next day's newspapers all commented like this: "Mourinho said he took a point and an away goal in the away game, and was very satisfied. We believe he was telling the truth. Sabato said he gained the confidence to defeat Chelsea in the away game, and we generally expressed doubts about this."

This was the result of the first round between the two sides.

On April 9th, in the 33rd round of Serie A, Fiorentina challenged Sampdoria away.

Zhang Jun didn't play in this match, he didn't even enter the roster. Those who didn't enter the roster with him also included Kru and Mascherano, Joaquin, and Gasparoni. Those who replaced them were Pazzini, Montolivo, Donadel, Da Darnao, and Duff.

Sabato used a rotation system, because four days later, Fiorentina had a tough battle to fight. They had to go to London to challenge Chelsea in the away game.

Therefore, although Sampdoria's strength was in the middle and upper reaches of Serie A, Sabato had to let most of the main players rest.

Before the match, his arrangement made many people have no confidence in Fiorentina at all, but Fiorentina's substitute players gave everyone a surprise.

They were in good condition and had good stamina, and easily defeated Sampdoria 3:1 away.

Throughout the match, Sabato seemed very relaxed. He didn't get up frequently to roar on the sidelines, but just let the players execute according to the tactics that were arranged at the beginning. The effect was very good.

Thanks to the substitute players, Zhang Jun and the others got a precious day of rest. Although, just after returning to Florence from Sampdoria, the team had to assemble, and then go to London in advance to train and adapt to the venue and weather.

The legs of professional players can't stop.

When the plane landed at Heathrow Airport in London, Kru's heart trembled along with the fuselage. Since leaving here in the summer of 2007, he hadn't been back for three years (the warm-up match with Chelsea at the beginning of the season was played in a third place).

Heathrow Airport was still so busy, people were taking off and landing here.

But this time he landed here wasn't like three years ago, just returning from an away game, on the contrary, this time he was here to play an away game.

Zhang Jun glanced out the porthole past Kru, and then said with some emotion: "It's still the same, it hasn't changed much over the years." That year, he and Yang Pan agreed to come to London for Christmas, and as a result, they met their current teammate, Kru Li.

He used to compete with Kru on the streets, but now he returned here as teammates.

Kru hummed, and then put away his seat belt: "Help me ask the boss for half a day off, I won't train tomorrow morning."

Zhang Jun shook his head: "No need to ask, there is no training arranged for tomorrow morning, we have half a day of free time. Do you want me to accompany you?"

Kru originally planned to refuse, but the words changed to: "Okay."

Before being able to see the Fiorentina players for the time being, Boss Ren's private plane became the topic of discussion for many British media gathered at the airport to pick up the plane.

Some reporters even started a boring poll of "Who is richer, Ren Yu Di or Abramovich?" This move was welcomed by most reporters, and some people said seriously that they would use this poll as a special project for the next issue of their magazine.

Fortunately, the Fiorentina players appeared in front of the reporters in a timely manner, otherwise the British media, known for their gossip, might really do such a special project.

When D'Agliano, who was leading the way, appeared in the reporters' vision wearing a purple suit, the flash began to light up frequently.

Then came Sabato. He didn't encounter any entanglement, and easily walked past the reporters - this made Sabato very surprised in his heart. He originally thought that he would encounter the same situation as at the Barcelona airport, and had prepared a lot of words to deal with those British media who were said to be very, very gossipy. He didn't expect that no one would pay attention to him at all!

Then came Zhang Jun, the captain of Fiorentina.

Three people passed by, but no British media reached out their microphones to them.

Then were the other Fiorentina players. Their treatment was the same as the first three.

The British media were silent but expectant.

Until Kru was the last one to walk out of the arrival gate.

The flashes could no longer be described as "frequent", it should be said that they hadn't gone out after they lit up. The crowd was crowding, approaching Kru. The security guards at the airport had just felt too relaxed and bored, and wanted to yawn, but now they were immediately facing a formidable enemy. They all joined hands to form a human wall to block the crazy reporters outside.

"Kru, you're back to Stamford Bridge after three years. What are your feelings?"

"Hey, Kru. Are there still things in London that you miss?"

"It is said that Chelsea's fan organization claims that they will never forgive your two betrayals (one betrayal of the England national team, and one betrayal of Chelsea). They will use all means to interfere with you in the match. What do you have to deal with?"

"The score was 1:1 in the home game. Can you talk about your views on this match? Who do you think has a better chance of advancing? Will you score a goal in this match?"

"Mourinho praised you yesterday as the most talented and imaginative midfielder he has ever seen. What do you think about this? Does this mean that there is still a chance for you and Chelsea to reconcile?"

...

Unlike Sabato, who wanted the media to interview him but no one paid attention to him, Kru, facing countless microphones and countless questions, walked past the reporters with a blank expression, ignoring anyone.

Seeing the entire Fiorentina team get on the hotel bus, and then gradually disappear from their sight. Those reporters didn't seem too frustrated and angry. They still had some special feelings for the world soccer star who walked out of England.

"After going to Italy, he's colder than before. When he was in London, he was colder than the London winter, but now... he's almost catching up with Antarctica." A reporter who had interviewed him before shook his head and sighed.

Kru was still silent on the bus, although his teammates had already suppressed the surprise in their hearts, and were discussing it.

"Wow! This is the first time I've seen Kru have such great charm. So many reporters guarded for half a day, just to interview him. It's unbelievable!"

"Well, the boss must be very unhappy in his heart now