On December 8th, the eighteenth round of the Italian Third Division began.
San Remo faced off against Cesena away from home.
Having just played the third round of the Italian Cup three days ago, San Remo encountered a huge challenge in this match.
Their players were extremely fatigued.
Except for a certain Lu, who astonishingly had the energy to attend an event two days ago, the rest of the players felt as if their bodies were completely drained.
Today, the media already reported the news of Lu Yang attending Sofia’s movie premiere.
Different from the entertainment media’s perspective.
Most of these sports media criticized Lu Yang from the standpoint of professional ethics.
Taking time out in an already tight schedule to support his girlfriend’s event, even Izalelt wasn’t as brazen as Lu Yang.
But what these media didn’t know was that Lu Yang had informed the team about this event and obtained unanimous consent from the team before proceeding.
Whether it was Sotu or Russell, they both understood that San Remo needed public attention.
This was one of the keys to whether they could go all the way as a dark horse.
For players in lower-tier leagues, broad attention means they can push themselves for victory.
Otherwise, they’re already lower-tier players, why make things difficult for themselves, wouldn’t it be easier to just go through the motions?
Similarly, Martivini also strongly requested Lu Yang to participate in this event.
He needed this outside attention even more than San Remo.
Therefore, the sports media’s criticism was a mere drop in the ocean for Lu Yang.
A mature public figure should learn to listen to the opinions of those around them, rather than all the opinions online.
Because even RMB cannot make everyone like it.
Whistle!
With the sound of a whistle, the match officially began.
The after-effects of the cup match for San Remo vividly manifested in this game.
In the first half, they hardly made any achievements on the offensive end.
Although Lu Yang’s running remained unchanged, the movements of the three forwards at the front clearly changed.
Their distance of retreat became shorter.
The speed of their off-ball runs slowed down.
There were fewer covering crossover runs.
Although when they had the ball, perhaps their state hadn’t changed much, the changes in these off-ball details were reflected in the game.
This is what a lot of fans don’t quite understand, why a team’s style of play and players haven’t changed, but sometimes the match they play isn’t as appealing and seems a bit weak.
There must be some subtle problem with the team that affects the bigger picture.
Football, from the moment the match starts, inherently deviates from the coach’s game plan.
These details undoubtedly accelerated San Remo’s deviation.
In the fortieth minute of the first half, Fernandez’s slower movement resulted in Lu Yang’s straight pass being intercepted by the opponent’s left-back.
The opponent immediately launched a counterattack.
One-nil!
Cesena seized the opportunity and caught San Remo off guard.
This was perhaps a lucky goal, as Naji’s foot inadvertently altered the path of the ball while trying to block the opponent’s shot.
The ball changed direction!
Goalkeeper Jalard had judged the first impact direction of the ball correctly, but couldn’t stop this "second shot" from his teammate.
Naji lowered his head, extremely regretful.
All along, he hadn’t been considered a poor center-back.
In fact, under Palacios’ guidance, his defense became increasingly intimidating.
He became the center-back who solved more problems for the team, having somewhat of a "football destructor" attribute.
But similarly, he had a big problem.
And that is... own goals!
Just like De Ligt when he first arrived at Juventus, Naji always brought inexplicable errors to the team.
De Ligt was a volleyball enthusiast in football, frequently committing handball fouls.
Naji, on the other hand, was an Italian Divine Striker on the defensive line, crazily scoring against his own goal.
During halftime, Sotu didn’t put too much pressure on his players.
He subbed off Fernandez at halftime, bringing on the backup right winger, and comforted Fernandez, telling him that it wasn’t his problem, but a measure to protect him.
At this age, Fernandez wasn’t quite able to understand this yet, but in front of Sotu, no player dared to have an attitude, so he nodded to indicate he was okay.
Similarly, central forward Sogel was also subbed off by the team.
Being from a big team, Sogel understood Sotu’s intentions well.
"In that high-intensity cup match, you clashed with the opponent’s defensive line, which took a big toll on you," Sotu said to Sogel, "But if you want to wear Milan’s number nine shirt, then you must work harder on stamina and physical confrontations."
"I advise you not to slack off on extra training, even during holidays."
Sogel nodded, feeling a little excited.
This implied that as long as Sotu took over Milan, and as long as he met Sotu’s requirements, he would almost certainly become the core of Milan’s front line.
That was Milan!
Serie A’s super powerhouse!
Besides, he was from Milan’s youth training, with an unending desire for Milan’s first team.
He recovered a little from this.
As the second half began, San Remo’s adjustments left many confused.
The commentator said, "San Remo currently comfortably sits second in the league, with nearly a ten-point gap ahead of the third. Theoretically, unless there are surprises in the second half of the season, their chances of being promoted to Serie B are very high."