Midfielder

Chapter 60 Mourinho's determination

After the draw for the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup, Porto's odds of winning the championship began to plummet for the first time, while Boavista's prospects of entering the final began to brighten.

Compared with Boavista, which faced the Scots, Porto may not be so favored by the Portuguese people now. Everyone knows which of the four teams is the most fierce. Lazio is definitely a hard bone that can break Porto's teeth.

This time, not only the media is not optimistic about Porto, but even their chairman Da Costa once quietly asked Mourinho after the draw, what are the chances of Porto's victory. It seems that even the Porto team is a little scared.

Porto's offense may have been fully exerted in the last two rounds of knockout matches. In the confrontation with the Turks and Greeks, they destroyed their opponents with fierce offense. All of this was seen by everyone and no one denied it.

But no one can guarantee whether their fierce offensive momentum will still work when they encounter the Italians' catenaccio defense. The concrete dam exclusive to Italy may still be too strong for Porto's offensive tide.

Although Mourinho said to reporters that he hoped to meet Lazio, those reporters would think that this was just his psychological warfare. Everyone knows how difficult the Italians are. Want to meet them? Damn, who would be willing to meet those guys.

Peruzzi, Mihajlovic, Stankovic, Simeone, Lopez, Chiesa, God, look at Lazio's weird lineup. Compared with the current Porto team, they seem so luxurious and terrible.

Now in Porto, I am afraid that only Baia and Deco can barely be regarded as stars. The rest are obviously less famous than their opponents.

Don't forget that this is still a Lazio that has fallen into a financial crisis. If this time is advanced a few years, the luxury of that lineup may be more shocking to the Portuguese. This is the deterrent power of the former Serie A champion.

Even though it has begun to decline and has lost its glory in the Champions League, Lazio is still too strong for Porto.

Whether in terms of fame or experience in European wars, this former Italian champion team will become the biggest obstacle for Porto to advance to the final. Many people have even put an end to Porto's UEFA Cup journey in advance.

This time, the Portuguese media have all reduced Porto's chances of entering the final to the lowest point. They pessimistically analyzed the strength of the Italians, as if Porto has no advantage in any angle, and the only fate waiting for them is elimination.

Peruzzi may be the most stable goalkeeper in the whole of Italy. Although Buffon's popularity has gradually made him away from the national team, you can't deny the stability of this old guy and his rich experience. I'm afraid that both Dallei and Kapshu are now having a headache in the corner.

Maybe it is very difficult to let the ball pass through Lazio's defense, then letting the ball pass through Peruzzi's gloves will be an even more difficult task. Maybe Porto's offensive frenzy will not be staged again in the Dragon Stadium.

If you want to play against Italians, you'd better not give them the chance to take a set-piece easily. They will seize every opportunity to kill you, especially Lazio, because there is a terrifying guy in their team, Mihajlovic, who is a master of free kicks.

Uh, now Baia may be holding the goalpost and complaining to God, why did he have to meet such a perverted beast in such a game, a free kick hat trick, damn, that shocking record seems to have not been a few years ago.

Now even the defenders of the Porto team may be under pressure, because when they want to commit a tactical foul, they have to consider whether the place they start is within the range of Mihajlovic's free kick.

But... It is said that the beast has a way to get the ball into the net within 40 meters, so... How can it be fouled? Do you have to knock down those threatening guys directly near the center circle?

The most fatal thing is not these. Maybe even Mourinho himself knows one thing, that the Argentine striker of the Lazio team is his nightmare.

Claudio Lopez, this damn name is what Mourinho hates the most. He can score every time he plays against a team with Mourinho.

This has happened 8 times when Mourinho was still an assistant coach in Barcelona, ​​especially the hat trick scored by Lopez in the Champions League semi-final when he was playing for Valencia at the time. Mourinho still remembers it vividly.

Now those boring media have already given Mourinho a vaccination in advance. Maybe this lucky novice will face the first strong challenge of his career. This time his opponent is also a novice, Mancini.

One is the Sampdoria king who was extremely brilliant in his playing days, and the other is a guy who couldn't even play as a starter in the Portuguese lower league, but the difference in honors in the playing days will not determine the outcome of the game.

And the common advantage of these two guys is that they are young and have enough courage. Maybe such a collision will be more suspenseful.

However, in the eyes of many media, such suspense may just be the wishful thinking of those Porto people. In their opinion, Porto is doomed this time, and those Lisbon people who are gloating are still waiting to see a good show of Porto being slaughtered.

Lisbon may be the only city that does not want Porto to win, especially the die-hard fans of Benfica. Compared with Lazio, they obviously want to see Porto hit a snag. They still remember who stole the league championship from Benfica.

Maybe the idiot fat man from Benfica has already bought champagne and is waiting to see Porto get into trouble. Maybe those Italians can help him avenge the loss of the league championship. This is the emotional entanglement between the three Portuguese powers, which is no different from a bloody romance drama.

But Mourinho has no time to talk to these people. He only has one week to prepare. Now he has too many things to do, watching the opponent's recent game videos, looking for the opponent's possible weaknesses, including specifying targeted tactics.

He has too many things to do, even Brito is busy now, and it is the first time for him as an assistant coach to be so busy.

If you lose your courage because the opponent is strong, then you might as well not play this game. At least Mourinho has no idea of ​​giving up first.

Having already reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup, Mourinho does not want to lose to any opponent easily at this time. Even if it is Lazio, he will find a way to kick the opponent to hell. There is no natural winner in the world of football.

If you surrender now, how can you play in the Champions League next season? Are you going to stage a one-round tour of the Champions League group stage? I am afraid that the Porto people will not accept such a thing, and Mourinho will not.

The most important task now is to use this week to adjust your state. The first round is Porto's home court. This first shot must be fired. He wants those who doubt him to watch the game with their eyes wide open.

Mourinho's severity is soon reflected in training. He wants his guys to cheer up as soon as possible. The opponent is very strong, but Mourinho still has to step over these guys to Sevilla. He wants to use the first game as a starting point.

Victory, this is the only requirement, and it must be a victory that makes the opponent lose confidence. Porto's offensive frenzy will directly destroy Lazio.

In the training of the past few days, Mourinho did not design too many tactics. He just asked the team to continue the fierce attack of the first two rounds, especially in the frontcourt. It is necessary to counter-grab on the spot after losing the ball. If someone can't do this, then he will immediately roll back to the bench.

To deal with such a team with extremely mature skills and tactics, only by disrupting their rhythm can you find opportunities. Mourinho will not let the opponent lead by the nose. As a novice, Mourinho wants to make himself more fierce than the king of Sampdoria.

Perhaps those old players who are familiar with the European war field have a very direct feeling about the difficulty of the Italians, but Lin Yi has never felt anything, because he has never been exposed to what is called concrete defense, so he still continues to practice after the daily routine training.

This kind of tense atmosphere of the game is not so serious for him, because he doesn't even know whether he will appear in such a game, so what is there to be afraid of? Maybe now Lin Yi is the only one in the entire Porto team who really has no tension.

For him, this may be the ignorance of fearlessness, "Lazio? Sorry, I'm really not familiar with it..." This is what Lin Yi said in an interview with reporters. It's not that he is arrogant, but he really doesn't know the situation of his opponents.

He is only 15 years old. Now Lin Yi even has a hard time recognizing these opponents in the Portuguese Super League, let alone a team he has never seen before. And looking at the expressions of those guys in Baia, he already knows that the next opponent must be very strong.

But what's the matter? You always have to meet someone stronger than you. Will you give up when you meet them? At least Lin Yi doesn't have this idea. In football games, there are always accidents. Who stipulates that those strong teams will definitely win?

Everyone in the Porto team is training hard for the game with Lazio. Just like Mourinho said, they don't want to lose.

Now the whole city of Porto is waiting for the arrival of that game. They are looking forward to another miracle. . .

But there is one person who is not focused on this game, that is Lin Yi's agent Mendes, who is sitting in the office with a frown looking at several faxes on the table.

Obviously, he is in trouble. . .

(One update today, I am very busy these days, I am really sorry, but I will resume two or three updates next week, at least more than 6,000 words a day, I promise, I am really not a professional writer, I can only maintain this speed, please understand... Thank you for your support, give a group kiss as a thank you... Mainly, I am very happy today, because Xie Longwang was arrested, I hope he will never come out in this life...)

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