Serie A, Round 37.

  Napoli, having secured the Serie A title two rounds in advance, once again fielded an all-rotated lineup and drew 2-2 away to ia. Gao Shen only sent on three regur starters in the sed half to maintain their match fitness.

  Everyone khat Napoli had no real i in this game.

  Gao Shen and his team had only one foow, the Champions League final.

  Meanwhile, Inter Min, having lost their grip ole, showed their insistency again. Pying away against Cagliari, Ibrahimovi? gave Ihe lead in the eighth minute, but Cagliari responded with two goals to turn the game around.

  In the end, Inter Min suffered a 1-2 defeat.

  Gao She somewhat wronged.

  He had already stopped peting, yet his lead iable kept growing.

  Bme me?

  …

  Serie A, Round 38.

  Tonight was also Napoli's championship award ceremony.

  Gao Shen tinued with an all-rotated squad, even giving the veteran captain Montervino a start. Young pyers like Insigne ati were also named iarting eleven.

  Perhaps inspired by the prospect of stepping onto the stage to receive the trophy, Montervino delivered a surprisingly strong performance.

  It was ued. The old captain hadn't pyed a petitive mat three years.

  Everyone khat Gao Shen included him purely to give him an opportunity to enjoy the occasion.

  But no one could have predicted that just four minutes into the game, Montervino would unleash a le strike and scainst Verona.

  Gao Shen, Zidane, Carlo, Lucas…

  Every coa Napoli's bench was left speechless.

  At that moment, Gao She a twinge of guilt.

  Had he unknowingly sidelined a world-css midfielder for years?

  Was this his mistake?

  Then, just three mier, Montervino pyed a perfectly timed through ball, allowing Insigo break free a up Mertens for Napoli's sed goal.

  2-0!

  This time, Gao Shen was truly stunned.

  "Why does it feel like our old captain is so good?" Gao Shen muttered with a bitter smile.

  Carlo, standing beside him, coughed and reminded him, "Montervino is only 31 years old."

  "Huh?" Gao Shen didn't react immediately.

  In his mind, Montervino had always seemed like a veteran on the verge of retirement, more of a locker room leader and logistics captain than an active pyer.

  But he was only thirty-one?

  Alright, I was wrong!

  Gao Shen awkwardly waved his hands, realizing he had pletely misjudged the situation.

  Stereotypes be dangerous!

  Ih minute, Dossena delivered an assist, and Insigne found the , extending Napoli's lead to 3-0.

  After that, Verona switched to full defensive mode, and Napoli eased off as well.

  The matded in a 3-0 victory for Napoli, with Montervino named Man of the Match.

  The San Paolo Stadium erupted.

  No one had ever seen this side of their veteran captain before.

  Montervino had always been more of a symbolic figure, a pyer who lifted trophies on behalf of the team and served as a spiritual leader. Yet today, in his first start in years, he had directly tributed to two goals. It was almost unbelievable!

  However, as the match progressed, his limitations became apparent.

  Verratti, despite his talent, was still young. His passing and teique were solid, but he cked maturity.

  Napoli's 3-0 viade the subsequent award ceremony even more electrifying.

  With the Champions League final just four days away, Napoli had opted not to hold a parade at Gao Shen's request. Instead, after receiving their medals and lifting the Serie A trophy, Montervihe team on a celebratory p around the stadium, holding both championship trophies.

  …

  After the celebrations at the San Paolo Stadium, the team returo Castel Volturno.

  The pyers were dismissed for the night, but the coag staff stayed behind to work overtime.

  In the office, Gao Shen and his team reviewed the Copa del Rey final between Bara and Athletic Bilbao.

  Lucas had personally traveled to the Mestal Stadium with Sarri and the scoutio watch the match live, takiiculous notes. Using their observations, they analyzed Bara's tactid began formuting a strategy.

  Athletic Bilbao's approach could be seen as both a success and a failure.

  It was successful because their tactics were sound.

  They had effectively tained Bara's py and put Messi under pressure.

  However, it was also a failure because Bilbao's squad cked the strength and endurao maintain their game pn. Their relentless pressing draiheir energy too quickly, leaving them exposed early in the sed half. As a result, Messi broke free, and Bilbao had no effective termeasure.

  Failing to adjust their tacti time, they ceded multiple goals in succession aually lost 1-4.

  From Messi's first goal to his third, barely ten minutes had passed.

  This highlighted the importance of in-game ma.

  Hesitation—even for a few minutes—could lead to irreversible sequences.

  Gao Shen first listeo everyone's opinions. Most of the discussion focused on how to limit Messi and disrupt Bara's passing and trol.

  Bueura pointed out that Athletic Bilbao had uionally provided Napoli with a valuable lesson on what not to do. Given Napoli's superior fitness and tactical disciplihey could execute a high-pressing game more effectively.

  "I talked this over with Antonio," Bueura said. "We both agree that if we implement this strategy, we sustain high pressing for around 65 to 70 minutes."

  That estimate was based on a worst-case sario where Napoli was under stant pressure. Iy, with their skill level, Napoli wouldn't be as passive as Bilbao had been.

  Overall, physical endurance wouldn't be an issue for Napoli. That was their advantage.

  The real challenge was Messi.

  Ia's dribbling and Xavi's passing could be tained with the right approach, but Messi was the real problem. He was the most dangerous and uable pyer in this Bara lineup.

  Especially now that Guardio had moved him trally.

  To make matters worse, Henry ao'o were positioned on the wings.

  Messi often dropped deep, allowing the wio push forward, Bara's signature attag move.

  At times, they even pyed a 4-4-2 diamond, with Messi in the No. 10 role behind Henry ao'o. However, the two forwards operated more like wide forwards, frequently drifting to the fnks.

  How to stop it?

  That was the big question.

  "Caparrós used a double-pivot midfield," Lucas analyzed. "Javi Martínez and Orbaiz protected the area in front of the penalty box. Whenever Messi dropped deep, one of them would follow to limit his space."

  Napoli's usual system was a 4-3-3 with Thiago Motta as the lone defensive midfielder. If Messi dropped deep, Thiago Motta would struggle to handle him one-on-one.

  However, if he coordinated with David Luiz and Bonuc the bae, they might have a ce.

  But in this case, the defensive ce of Henry ao'o on the wings also o be sidered.

  Both pyers possessed exceptional individual ability.

  Henry's pace was not what it once was, but his movements on the left side and in the left half-space remained highly threatening.

  Everyone shared their thoughts, analyzing and discussing different ideas. Even Sarri, who was not part of the regur coag staff, had gained valuable insights from the Copa del Rey final and learned a lot from the experience.

  "There's one more pyer we o focus on," Gao Shen said after his assistants had voiced their opinions.

  "Yaya Touré," Zidane answered immediately.

  Gao Shen g the Fren, smiled, and nodded approvingly.

  Zidane uood him well and had a sharp tactical sense, even during his pying days at Real Madrid.

  "Bara's first goal came from Yaya Touré, who dribbled past three pyers before sg. His sense of timing was impeccable, and he picked the perfeent to make his ruher he didn't make a move, or when he did, it was a direct threat," Zidane analyzed.

  Dribbling past three pyers in succession, and from such a deep position, this was no small feat.

  Yaya Touré's performa Bara had been outstanding.

  In Gao Shen's previous life, many had cimed that he left for Maer City because he ushed out by Busquets.

  That was only part of the story.

  Yaya Touré had always been a standout at Bara, both in that timeline and in this one.

  Even under Guardio, he received signifit pying time. This season, he had pyed more mihan Busquets, yet Guardio still refrained from using him in his best role as a defensive midfielder.

  So why did he leave for Maer City?

  The truth was simple, he wasn't happy at Bara, and Maer City offered him a lucrative tract.

  But that raised another question: why was he unhappy? Why did Guardio prefer Busquets as the holding midfielder over him?

  The answer was clear, Yaya Touré was not a natural No. 4.

  Take the goal Zidane had just analyzed as an example.

  From a spectator's perspective, everyone marveled at the brilliance of Yaya Touré's solo run and finish. It ectacur goal.

  But from a head coach's standpoint, this posed a signifit problem.

  A ter-back pushing forward uably, charging into attack when he saening, what happeo the defensive line in his absence?

  It was that Bara's biggest weakness was their defense.

  They had no issues in attack or ball circution, but their deferucture was fragile.

  As Gao Shen had pointed out before, Bara's No. 4 role was essentially an auxiliary ter-back. His job was to shield the defense and maintain ball distribution. Tactical awareness and vision were not the priority, defeability was.

  As a defensive midfielder, Yaya Touré erfectly suited for Maer City. With someone like Fernandinho alongside him, he had the freedom to attack without defensive s.

  But the problem was, what Bara cked wasn't another Yaya Touré, they needed a Fernandinho-type pyer instead.

  And that was why Yaya Touré would be Napoli's key weako exploit in the Champions League final, Gao Shen cluded with fidence.

  ***

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