LRAB Chapter 144 Blue Eagle VS Green Lion
Chapter 144 Blue Eagle VS Green Lion
Chapter 144 Blue Eagle VS Green Lion
The difficult away victory over Besiktas made the whole Lisbon excited.
But after returning to Portugal, Sporting Lisbon went to the away game to challenge Morelence non-stop.
This newly promoted team has performed very well this season, and relegation is not a problem.
Boloni rotated the team's lineup. In the opening 1 minutes, Sporting Lisbon scored the first goal, and Rui Bento opened the scoring for Sporting Lisbon.
But at No. 30 minutes, Tonito was sent off with a direct red card because of his anger and malicious foul.
Sporting Lisbon, who was fighting with one less player, was in a difficult situation on the scene, while Morelence launched an attack after the start of the second half and equalized the score in 1 minute.
No.605 minutes, Boloni finally made a substitution, replacing Nikule, who was mediocre in the audience, with Su Dong.
No one remembers, this is already the first few similar substitutions.
After coming off the bench, Su Dong was very active, and in the No.703 minute, after receiving a pass from Joao Pinto, he broke through Morelence's goal and once again surpassed the score for Sporting Lisbon.
Subsequently, this score was also maintained until the end of the game.
Two to one, Sporting Lisbon narrowly beat Morelense away.
……
In the same round, Porto beat Beiramar [-]-[-] at home and continued to maintain a four-point lead.
Everyone is also clearly aware that it is really difficult for Sporting Lisbon with a thin lineup to maintain a two-line battle, especially when there is a Portuguese Cup next.
Sure enough, in the quarter-finals of the Portuguese Cup in midweek, Sporting Lisbon challenged Navar away.
Boloni played with a half-main and half-substitute lineup, but he hid Su Dong, who had been fighting continuously, and continued to trust Nikule.
As a result, in the away game, Sporting Lisbon was unable to attack for a long time, but was scored by the opponent in the No.805 minute.
In the end, they lost [-]-[-] away and were unfortunately eliminated from the Portuguese Cup.
After the game, the media was not surprised that Sporting Lisbon was eliminated from the Portuguese Cup by a low-level league team.
Morning Post believes that with the lineup configuration of Sporting Lisbon and insisting on three fronts, the final result may be that the three fronts may be difficult to support. Even in the Portuguese Super League, Porto's performance can be described as quite stable.
"Mourinho's team is terribly stable, they seem to never make mistakes!"
The Morning Post stated that Sporting Lisbon should make a choice on the main battlefield, such as focusing on the UEFA Cup.
But sometimes, things are so wonderful.
When more and more people suggested that Sporting Lisbon should consider focusing on the UEFA Cup, in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup, the Green Lions actually drew the strongest of the eight teams, Lazio from Serie A.
This immediately made the whole of Portugal feel sad.
News Daily even stated that Sporting Lisbon is the worst luck among the three teams in the Portuguese Super League.
In the knockout rounds, they encountered teams from Greece and Turkey consecutively. Every away game was a back and forth journey, not to mention thousands of kilometers. After entering the quarter-finals, they actually drew the strongest Lazio.
This luck is really no one else!
On the other hand, Boavista has drawn Malaga in La Liga. This team currently ranks No. 14 in the La Liga standings.
Porto's luck is as good as ever. Although Panathinaikos from Greece was drawn, the first round is home.
As we all know, the best schedule for the knockout rounds is away from home, but this is relative.
For a powerful team like Porto that wants to fight on multiple fronts, the best result is to win the opponent directly in the first round, so that the second round loses suspense.
What's interesting is that, except for the second round of knockout matches in Porto this season, all games in the UEFA Cup are first home and then away.
More importantly, the opponents are not strong.
For them who are fighting on two fronts, the schedule is really favorable.
After grabbing enough scoring advantages in the first round, the second round directly guarded against death.
Of course, Porto's strategy is based on the overall strength of the team.
In addition, Mourinho's team did not encounter a strong team along the way.
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In the fifth round of No.20 of the Portuguese Super League, Sporting Lisbon sits at home and faces Boavista.
This team, which competed with Sporting Lisbon for the league title last season and had a great time, has completely collapsed this season.
After selling a number of star players, Boavista is currently ranked only in the middle, and its strength has also declined a lot compared to last season.
Su Dong opened the scoring for Sporting Lisbon in just 5 minutes.
No. In the 20th minute, when central defender Tulla was defending Ronnie, he fouled in the penalty area and was sentenced to death by the referee.
Albertini personally took the penalty and hit the penalty kick to expand the score for Sporting Lisbon.
Subsequently, Sporting Lisbon deliberately slowed down the pace.
Especially in the No. 305 minute, Tula fouled again, got another yellow card, and was sent off with a red card.
Since then, Boavista has completely guarded against death, and Sporting Lisbon has not increased its offense.
Sudong played six 10 minutes and was replaced by Nikule early.
He needs to save his strength to play in the UEFA Cup in the middle of the week.
But it seems that no one is optimistic about Sporting Lisbon's first leg away trip.
So far, Sporting Lisbon's European away games have been unsatisfactory. Now that they meet the powerful Lazio, the prospects are even more unoptimistic.
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Is Serie A strong?
Strong, and strong beyond borders.
The nickname of the Little World Cup proves that Serie A is universally recognized as the world's number one league.
The most powerful superstars in the world are gathered here, and the competition is also the fiercest in the world.
In Serie A, is Lazio strong?
This is beyond doubt.
From the end of the 90s to the turn of the century, after a round of crazy capital investment, Lazio's overall strength has been astonishingly improved, creating a very powerful lineup.
Recently, Lazio's finances are not well-off, but the team is still full of stars.
Former Italian legendary goalkeeper Peruzzi, Jaap Stam, known as the world's top central defender, veteran central defender Mihajnovic, Italian international left back Favalli, Italian international right back Pancaro.
In such a defensive line, Argentine international Sorin and Italian right-back Odo can only take the role of substitute and rotation.
The midfielder is convenient, Dino Baggio, Diego Simeone, Ghazi, Stankovic, Fiore...all of them are well-known players in Europe and even in the world football.
Not to mention the striker, Argentine star Lopez, Italian striker Corradi and Simone Inzaghi, Serie A ace scorer Chiesa, these all make Lazio's striker star-studded.
And you know, this is the lineup after Lazio sold the captain central defender Nesta, Argentine center Crespo and Spanish midfielders Mendieta and De La Pena.
The head coach of this team is also very famous, Robert Mancini.
Lazio experienced turmoil last season, and Zoff and Zaccheroni failed to bring stability to the team. Under Mancini's coaching this season, Lazio is firmly in the top four of Serie A and can basically guarantee qualification for the Champions League.
With the pressure of the league not too great and the team has reached the quarter-finals, Lazio may not have no idea of competing for this honor.
All of these put Sporting Lisbon under great pressure from the very beginning of the draw.
The outside media are also not optimistic about the Green Lions, thinking that this team from the Portuguese Super League is not worth mentioning in front of the powerful Lazio.
The Italian newspaper La Repubblica even made harsh words before the game, predicting that Lazio will completely end the battle in the first round.
"Mancini will not want the team to drag the suspense into the second round!"
In fact, Sporting Lisbon is also not optimistic.
……
The team arrived in Rome, Italy one day earlier and checked into a hotel booked in advance.
But on the eve of the game, Su Dong, Ronnie, Quaresma, Albertini and others gathered in the room, or collapsed on the bed, or leaned on the sofa, and Pepe even sat directly on the carpet.
There are two emotions written on everyone's face, anxiety and worry.
"Unlike all the teams we have encountered before, Lazio is really strong, and it is the kind of real strong. There are strong players on the three lines, and there will be no fancy."
Albertini was born in Serie A and almost joined Lazio before, so he is very familiar with this team.
"I don't believe there is really no chance." Su Dong said.
"There is definitely an opportunity." Albertini nodded, "But to be honest, if you have an opportunity, you have to grasp it."
After a pause, the former Milan vice-captain analyzed: "For example, Jaap Stam, 30 years old, 1.9 meters tall, this Dutch central defender is perfect. He needs height, skill, skill, speed, speed, and physical fitness. He is never afraid of anyone, including Vieri, and he defends frontally. In my impression, very few people can break through him."
"His only flaw should be the reason why Ferguson gave up on him. He turned slowly, and after experiencing a serious injury at Manchester United, his strength and state did decline a lot, but even so, he is still one of the strongest central defenders in the world."
"Then try to hit the back more..."
Before Su Dong finished speaking, Albertini shook his head and vetoed it.
"You are wrong. Lazio is the team with the most draws in Serie A so far this season. As you can imagine, their draws are even more than those in the middle and lower reaches of the team, so they have the least number of losses in Serie A. The defense is also the best, second only to Juventus and AC Milan."
When Albertini said this, he breathed out softly, "You know, compared with the rich and powerful Juventus, AC Milan and Inter Milan, Lazio this season can be said to be in a deep financial quagmire. The team can't even pay their salaries, but such a team can still be brought to the fourth place in the league. Facing the top three teams in the league, he scored one win and five draws in six games, and the winning one was at Juventus' Alpi Stadium."
"Facing such an opponent, with our strength, I can't think of any other way but to fight to the death."
In other words, Albertini believes that Sporting Lisbon's advantages against all teams before are all gone when they face Lazio.
Even the veteran Albertini and Andre Cruz feel pessimistic, one can imagine how bad the morale of the team is.
Is this really the case?
Su Dong didn't believe it.
(End of this chapter)