Chapter 96 The League Stalls (Remarks on Release)

Chapter 96 The League Stalls (Remarks on Release)

In mid-week, the European war resumed and ushered in the knockout stage.

Udinese welcomed their Europa League top 32 opponent, Eredivisie powerhouse AZ Alkmaar, at the Stadio Friuli on Thursday night.

Alkmaar is a very young team, only established in 1967. But this team has grown rapidly, and in the first decade of the 21st century it has grown into the fourth giant of the Eredivisie, second only to Ajax, PSV and Feyenoord.

In the Europa League quarter-finals two years ago, Udinese met Alkmaar. As a result, Udinese lost 0:2 away from home. After one game back, they were still eliminated with a total score of 2:1, stopping in the Europa League top 2.

Now that the two teams meet again, Udinese certainly does not want to repeat the mistakes of two years ago.

Because of the relatively unfavorable schedule of playing home first and then away, Udinese lacked the home advantage in the second round, so they must gain as much advantage as possible at home in the first round.

Just like the match between the Italian Cup semi-finals and Fiorentina, Udinese defeated its opponent at home in the first round. Although Udinese went to the away game in the second round and lost with a score of 0:2, they were still able to win in the two rounds. The opponents were eliminated in the game, and the team even got the opportunity to rest the main players.

Therefore, in this game, Guidolin hopes that the team can repeat the scene in the first leg of the Italian Cup semi-finals.

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However, once the game started, the two sides fell into a stalemate. It wasn't until the 27th minute that Udinese broke the deadlock. Bruno provided an assist and Di Natale took the lead for the team.

This goal ignited the passion of the Friuli Stadium.

But just when everyone thought Udinese had finally opened the door to victory, three minutes later, in the 30th minute, Alkmaar equalized the score immediately, and it was a set kick!

At that time, Alkmaar got a good free kick opportunity in the frontcourt. Gudei shot the free kick directly, causing the Udinese goalkeeper to save the ball. Alkmaar captain Wilgovi succeeded in making a supplementary shot in front of the goal to score the score. Rewritten to 1:1.

Then no one scored in the first half. Even at home, with the roar of the Friuli Stadium, Udinese couldn't suppress the visiting team AZ.

After Bruno assisted Di Natale to score, Alkmaar strengthened his defense and implemented a double-team tactic against him.

With Bruno trapped in the opponent's siege, Udinese lacks another reliable offensive starting point. This is a very serious problem faced by Udinese this season.

At halftime, in order to strengthen the attack, Guidolin replaced Kante with Mahrez.

In the eyes of many, this was a risky and foolish substitution. Because Kanter is a defensive midfielder who is in relatively good condition, but now he has been replaced, leaving Alan who is in poor condition. Now Udinese's midfield can be said to have no barrier.

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However, Mahrez was also very active after he came on the field. He ran tirelessly in the midfield and participated in the team's offense and defense.

And the most important thing is that after Mahrez came on, he cooperated better with Bruno.

However, in the eyes of many people, Mahrez should replace Alan instead of Kante.

Mahrez has a strong ability to break through with the ball. After his appearance, he attracted a lot of defensive attention to Bruno. This also allowed Bruno to gradually regain his vitality on the court, so Udinese's performance began to gradually improve.

Bruno's passing dispatch, coupled with Mahrez's breakthrough, Udinese's midfielder regained control of the situation and made the offense flourish.

Finally, in the 84th minute, Bruno passed the ball to Mahrez. After Mahrez replaced an Alkmaar player, he sent the football into the penalty area. Di Natale successfully countered offside and shot after receiving the ball. , the football flew into Alkmaar’s goal for the second time!

"Antonio Di Natale! Scored twice! He scored twice! What an amazing performance! He turned the tide for Udinese!" the commentator of Udine's local TV station shouted excitedly.

Di Natale, who scored the goal, was also very excited. He ran towards Mahrez, hugged him, and waved to Bruno, beckoning him to come and celebrate with him.

Almost all the Udinese players on the pitch rushed towards Di Natale and surrounded him.

The cheers from the stands of the Stadio Friuli were deafening and echoed through the sky.

Guidolin was also very excited off the court. He waved his arms vigorously and roared with gnashing teeth.

The heart that he had been talking about before could finally fall back...

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<divclass="contentadv">On the afternoon of February 2, Udinese continued to face Atalanta at the Friuli Stadium.

This is the 25th round of Serie A. This game also made Guidolin the head coach with the most coaching games in the history of Udinese.

Atlanta's performance is average this season, but they often perform unexpectedly.For example, in the 22nd round of the league, they defeated Naples 3-0 at home. They had also drawn with Roma and Inter Milan before.

In the first round of the clash between the two sides, Udinese also lost 0:2 away from home. It was one of the games with the largest net goal loss for Udinese this season, second only to the 0:3 defeat at the feet of Inter Milan. .

Because he will go to the Netherlands in the middle of next week for a key match to qualify for the Europa League, Guidolin made adjustments to the starting lineup for this game. In addition to Bruno continuing to start, many players including captain Di Natale The players have all taken a break.

Facing Atlanta, Udinese always seems to lack methods. They had the ball control advantage in the air, but were unable to score.

Udinese has no truly reliable scorer on the front line except Di Natale. Muriel and Lopez seemed a bit crazy. Facing the scoring opportunities created by Bruno, they passed each other time and time again.

Atlanta seized the only chance they had. In the 24th minute, Raimonti passed the ball over the top and Brivio scored with a lob from the back post.

The Udinese goalkeeper once again performed poorly in defense.

This is already the 34th goal Udinese has conceded in Serie A. Among the 20 Serie A teams, it ranks 10th, which is extremely inconsistent with their status as third in the standings.

It can be said that the goalkeeper position is Udinese's weakest link.Whether it's Brkic, Klava, Skuffet or Kanizis, Udinese's goalkeepers are more unreliable than the last.

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Guidolin, who did not want to end up losing in the game in which he coached the most games at Udinese, made personnel adjustments in the 66th minute of the second half, and Di Natale came on.

After Di Natale came on the scene, Udinese's threat to Atlanta's goal increased significantly, and they equalized the score in the 71st minute.

At that time, Bruno dropped the ball into the penalty area. Nico Lopez's shot was saved by Consili. Di Natale's supplementary shot was brought down by Stendaldo. He personally took the penalty kick to equalize.

After equalizing the score, Udinese stepped up their attack, but missed the chance to score the second goal of the game. On the contrary, Atlanta substitute Chigarini almost scored a winner, but his half-volley shot hit the crossbar.

Udinese, who escaped the disaster, had no choice but to accept another draw.

After 25 league rounds, Udinese's points have only risen to 53 points. Although they have maintained their third place in the league, the gap with the teams in front of them has become wider and wider.

Juventus has 21 wins, 2 draws and 2 losses, and 65 points has become a dominant force.

紧随其后的是罗马，红狼目前18胜5平2负拿到59个积分，领先乌迪内斯也达到6分。

By this time, anyone with a discerning eye could see that Udinese's follow-up was weak.

Juventus, with a solid lineup, not only defeated their opponents 2:0 in the Europa League in midweek, but also defeated Turin 1:0 in the Turin derby in the Serie A match on the weekend.

After Roma was eliminated by Napoli in the Coppa Italia semi-finals, they can focus on the Serie A. They are fighting on a single line, and it will be very difficult for Udinese to catch up.

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This will be the last of the free chapters, and the book will be on shelves tomorrow. After a month and a half, although the results of this book are not satisfactory, it can be regarded as a certain accumulation. I hope that it will have a not too bad result when it is put on the shelves tomorrow.

I also ask all book friends who support this book to continue to support the author after it is released. Your subscription is my biggest motivation to move forward.

Finally, I would also like to thank the editor Huya Beauty for her continued care, which has ensured that this book has almost never been recommended in the new book period. It's just that the effect is a bit unsatisfactory, I'm sorry.

After it is put on the shelves, the author's blog will be updated as much as possible.But the author cannot guarantee how much it can be updated every day. After all, as an office worker, sometimes I really can’t help myself.

But no matter what, I hope I can guarantee a minimum of two chapters and 6,000 words.

mutual encouragement!