We agreed to play football together, and you will be the head coach?

Chapter 113 The Only Triple Crown Champion

In the seventh minute, Grosso went down the flank and received the pass from Ribery before making a cross.

Pellegrino heads the ball away.

This player is a fringe Argentine international and he was a main player when Valencia reached the Champions League final a few years ago.

But since the beginning of this season he has been relegated to the second line and became a substitute.

The reason why he started in this game was purely because he was 1.93 meters tall, while Ayala and another main central defender were less than 1.8 meters tall.

Considering the height of Palermo's players, Pellegrino had to play anyway.

Otherwise, Barcelona will become a lesson for Valencia.

In the 13th minute, Ribery cut inside and passed the ball.

Modric passed the ball against the wall.

Unfortunately, Ayala came out too determined and made a flying tackle to clear the ball.

Ribery turned around and gave Modric a thumbs up.

Even though Arteta spent more time on this side, there was no problem in the cooperation between Modric and Ribery.

Under the guidance of He Tianqi, Modric paid close attention to Arteta's playing style.

It can almost achieve a one-to-one replica.

In the 18th minute, Valencia finally launched a high-quality counterattack.

Vicente received the ball and rushed down the left side.

Yaya Toure restricted Vicente very well in the first few times, putting close pressure on him, which resulted in Vicente being unable to receive the ball.

But this time he was a little far away and couldn't interfere immediately.

As a result, Vicente took off.

However, Valencia's attack was finally ended when Zaccardo stole the ball from Vicente in a one-on-one duel.

On the sidelines, a few beads of sweat appeared on He Tianqi's forehead.

Perhaps in the eyes of others, this was not even a threatening attack, because the ball did not reach the top of the arc, and there was no through pass or shot.

But this was a very threatening attack.

Once Vicente got past Zacardo, it basically all depended on Handanovic's saving touch.

Vicente can create a huge threat whether he breaks into the penalty area to shoot or pass the ball.

This situation is just like the second leg of the Champions League semi-final between Real Madrid and Bayern that ended a few days ago.

Don’t think that Real Madrid has been the main attacker from beginning to end.

But in fact, the threat posed by Bayern's counterattack is no less than that of Real Madrid's offensive threat.

Their threat in the first half was almost 50-50.

However, many people believed that Real Madrid was suppressing Bayern in the first half and did not understand why Real Madrid suddenly fell behind in the second half.

……

In the 23rd minute, Vicente had figured out Yaya Toure's running style and successfully got the ball into the gap.

However, Toure's defense was very resolute and he knocked Vicente down directly.

But the referee whistled for a foul but did not give a yellow card because it was still far from the penalty area and it was not a counterattack.

It is conceivable that Palermo can launch such foul-style defense at least ten times, with each player taking turns and replacing them when they get a card.

But can Vincent's body withstand ten takedowns?

Can Valencia use ten counterattack opportunities to create an easy fighting environment for Vicente?
The balance of victory seems to be tilting.

In the 26th minute, Vicente received the ball on the wing and tried to overtake, but was hit from the side by Toure and was pushed out of the sideline.

In the 31st minute, Vincent made a feint, received the ball, turned around and passed Toure.

However, he had just kicked the ball out and had not yet remembered to speed up when Chiellini next to him cleared the ball away.

Vicente was knocked down as well.

Clean defense, Vicente didn't even get a foul.

At this moment, Vincent felt like he was alone.

Toure, Zaccardo and Chiellini, three people are guarding him!

It was as if he was taking on an entire team.

And this is the problem that counterattacking players will inevitably encounter.

Not to mention one against eleven, at least you have to be able to fight one against three or one against five, so that you can become the absolute core of the counterattack tactics and lead the team to go a long way.

Otherwise the team will be mid-table at best.

In the 36th minute, Grosso made a run-in and pulled away Torres.

Ribery cut inside, attracted Baraja and made a diagonal pass.

Modric came from the back and got the ball in front of the right rib, immediately becoming a huge threat.

He pointed his left hand forward, signaling Ribery on the left to move forward, and his head also looked to the left.

But he kicked the ball directly into the penalty area on his right side with the outside of his right foot.

The ball was moving very fast and was in a deep position, so Tony couldn't keep up.

Similarly, Canizares did not dare to attack rashly.

The football came to the back point.

Eduardo got the ball in the open space behind Pellegrino, stopped and shot.

Swish!
The football flew into the sky, went into the net, and lifted the top of the goal.

Rising shot!

Cañizares made a quick save and blocked all positions, but the ball hit the side area and he was really helpless with his 1.81-meter height.

"GOAL! One to zero!"

"Palermo changed the score first!"

"Croatia shines in the UEFA Cup! Does the Croatian national team really not consider taking them to the European Cup?"

"Eduardo is a very skilled and daring man. This shot was very aggressive. If it wasn't done right, the ball would have gone into the stands."

"Although Modric lacks control, his deadly passes are always very cool! He even made a pass without looking at the player just now, deceiving Valencia's defense."

"Although Pellegrino was able to limit Toni, a big center forward, he was too old and neglected the defense behind him, which was the main reason for the loss of the ball."

"After several waves of poaching, Valencia's squad is relatively thin and lacks the ability to cope with various tactical styles."

Valencia cannot have both Toni and Eduardo, so it can only freeze one of them.

The freezing priority of a big center is definitely higher, but the "Inzaghi-style forward" also has the ability to kill the game.

After this goal, He Tianqi gestured to let the team retreat appropriately.

It's a relatively conservative way of playing.

But at the same time, it was also luring Valencia to attack.

To see whether a team really wants to hide after taking the lead or is just tactically cheating, you just need to see whether they will replace the offensive core and speed players.

If you change it, you are really a coward. If you don’t change it, you are really a dog!
In the 42nd minute, Vincent retreated to ask for the ball. After receiving the ball, he turned around and passed the ball to the side to pass Toure.

Facing Zacardo, Vicente kept feinting and finally seized the opportunity to send a cross.

The Valencia fans in the stands gave a warm round of applause.

Vicente is not the kind of player who is only effective in counterattacks, he can also perform well in positional battles.

But the team gave him too little tactical weight and failed to arm him to the teeth with tactics.

If he comes to Palermo, he will definitely get Ribery-level treatment.

boom!
Vidic cleared the ball with a header.

The football flew towards the edge of the penalty area.

Albelda stopped the ball and tried to shoot again, but Eduardo jumped up and intercepted the ball.

When facing high-level opponents, the opportunity often only lasts for a few tenths of a second, and if you miss it, it’s gone.

boom!
Eduardo made a long pass to the left at Modric's reminder.

But the quality of the pass was not high.

When Ribery caught up with the ball, he had already been forced to the wing by Ayala.

In the end, Ribery tried to challenge Ayala, causing the latter to shovel the ball out of the baseline.

Corner kick.

Modric heads towards the corner.

He Tianqi was arranging the players' positions.

"Touré, go forward, go forward."

Toure came to the front point under He Tianqi's arrangement.

This created problems for Valencia's defense.

They don't have many tall players, so they must limit themselves to defending Toni and Vidic, who pose the greatest threat in the penalty area.

Toure moved forward and they simply couldn't find anyone who could match him.

As the corner kick was taken, Modric indeed looked for Toure.

boom!
Toure headed the ball backwards, and with the help of [Basic Header], the quality of the header was pretty good, and it drew an arc backwards.

Several players in the middle jumped up, but none of them could head the football.

The football flew all the way to the back point.

Barzagli, who was in the outer circle, made a header from the back row with great force and accurate angle.

Swish!
The football went straight into the net.

"GOAL! Two to zero!"

"Palermo's classic corner kick combination appears!"

"The front point, the back line, and the back row! They fully utilized the height of their players and played a wave of aerial relays!"

"This team is not only good at positional warfare, but also good at counterattacks."

"On the contrary, Valencia's use of Vicente is far less comprehensive than Palermo's use of Ribery."

"But Vicente's ability is obviously much better than Ribery's."

Fans at this stage have reached a conclusion that future fans will find difficult to agree with.

Because Vicente plays in La Liga and Ribery plays in Serie B.

The latter data is of little reference value.

Just like Jardel of Sporting Lisbon, he was crowned the European Golden Boot twice, the European Bronze Boot once, and scored more than 30 or 40 goals a season, which is simply a lot of goals.

But no one ever considered him a top striker.

Soon, the first half was over.

Both sides returned to the locker room for adjustments.

Benítez is also a head coach famous for his tactics. He found the problem of the team and knew that the opponent had mobilized a lot of manpower and resources to freeze Vicente.

If we continue to attack Vicente at this time, the team will be completely finished.

Therefore, Valencia focused on the right side in the second half, allowing Aimar to create threats.

Then Baraja waited for the midfielder to look for a long shot.

Break through Palermo's shell as soon as possible.

On the other side, in the Palermo locker room.

"Grosso, your defensive task is very heavy in the second half, so don't participate in the offense next time." He Tianqi began to deploy, "I don't need you to steal the ball from Aimar directly, just focus on interference, and the main thing is not to lose your position."

"Ribery, you also have to get involved in the defense."

"Chiellini, Vidic, Handanovic, you have to pay attention to the opponent's long shots, block them when necessary, and don't be stingy with your body to expand the defensive area."

"The trophy is right there. If shedding a little blood can win the championship, some people would rather bleed dry! Don't wait until you lose it and then lament that if you could do it again..."

Finally, He Tianqi encouraged the team: "In short, our defense should not be under pressure. Without Vicente, Valencia's offensive methods are extremely inefficient."

"We couldn't create a single threat in 10 attacks. We couldn't score a goal in five threats."

"So as long as everyone does the work I assign, victory will definitely belong to us!"

"come on, come on, come on!"

The whole team stretched out their hands and slapped He Tianqi's palm: "Come on, come on, come on!"

……

In the second half, Valencia's attack was indeed diverted.

Palermo, on the other hand, mainly adopted a defensive posture.

It seems that the advantage is in Valencia's favor.

They did launch frequent attacks.

But upon closer inspection, most of them are just lingering on the outside and cannot enter the core area at all.

In the 54th minute, Aimar passed Ribery with a fancy move.

But Ribery, who came back from the frontcourt, snatched the ball from behind and then passed it to Modric.

Modric passed the ball against the wall and cooperated with Ribery, who passed Aimar and advanced with the ball.

Albelda's lateral collision brought down Ribery, preventing Palermo's counterattack.

The referee showed Albelda a yellow card.

In the 61st minute, Mista retreated to cooperate with Aimar to launch an attack.

Aimar received the ball and rushed into the penalty area, trying to cheat a penalty, but Vidic refused to kick the ball and focused on blocking the shooting angle.

Eventually Aimar brought the ball close to the baseline and had to force a shot.

The football hit the side netting.

In the 73rd minute, Aimar cut in from the right, passed Grosso and made a cross pass.

Baraja made a long shot.

Vidic rushed out early and blocked the attack with his chest out, taking the heavy blow and then curled up on the ground for a long time.

During this period, Aimar was the best player of the game.

Just watching this part, you will feel that he is much better than Vicente and Ribery.

But the premise of this performance is that Palermo still used two people to freeze Vicente, and Ribery was arranged to defend.

Therefore, looking at the performance of stars without considering the context is the most common reason why fans misjudge players' abilities.

As He Tianqi said, Aimar played beautifully, but lacked a little lethality.

In the 76th minute, Aimar received the ball again and prepared to launch an attack.

As a result, Modric rushed forward and made a fake move, and actually completed a steal.

I often walk by the river, so how can I not wet my shoes?

Modric dribbled the ball and made a long pass to Toni.

Toni successfully stopped the ball, bumped into Pellegrino who was trying to steal the ball, and kept the ball.

After Modric came up, Toni passed the ball to Modric.

Modric passed the ball to the left without stopping, looking for Ribery, and continued to move forward.

After receiving the ball, Ribery cut inside, took a step forward and made a straight pass.

Modric stood out from the left rib position and ran directly to a single shot.

After doing all the dirty and tiring work throughout the game, he suddenly moved forward so firmly, using his body as a knife to break through Valencia's defense.

Just as Cañizares was about to attack, Modric suddenly looked at Eduardo on the right side of the penalty area.

This is to be transmitted...

boom!
Modric shot without even looking at the ball, and it was a near corner!
But Cañizares' center of gravity had been lost, and he watched the football roll past his right foot less than 20 centimeters away, but he was unable to do anything to stop it.

when!
The ball hit the inside of the left post and bounced into the net. "GOAL! Three to zero! Palermo has secured the victory!"

"Modric killed the game!"

"His performance in this game was not outstanding. As soon as he received the ball, Palermo's attacking rhythm slowed down."

“Most of his passes were return passes.”

"But this time, Modric took advantage of Valencia's inattention and launched a sneak attack. This is also the characteristic of this player. He is not good at doing serious work, but he is always good at speculation."

The commentator never mentioned Modric's dashing shot without even looking at the ball.

The reason is that Modric is not famous.

In order to increase Arteta's value, Barcelona fans have often slandered Modric.

Little do they know that the higher they raise Arteta, the higher the transfer fee they will have to pay later?

This goal completely broke Benítez.

Valencia abandoned all tactics and replaced right back Torres with forward Muñoz.

Then the young Sissoko replaced Albelda, who was unable to run and had received a yellow card.

But in terms of defense, selection and experience, Sissoko is definitely not as good as Albelda.

But his advantage lies in his youth. In addition to defense, he also has sufficient physical strength to advance and can take half-foot long shots.

These two substitutions will undoubtedly increase Valencia's offensive power.

In the 82nd minute, Mistral made a left side move and Aimar cut inside to the right side of the penalty area and made a cross pass.

Baraja took a long shot, but it was just a feint and the ball went past the defense.

Sissoko, who came from the back row, made a long shot that was earth-shattering.

The football went straight into the blind corner of the goal, creating a super world wave.

"GOAL! One to three! Valencia finally scored a goal!"

"Benitez's adjustment was effective. Sissoko, who just came on as a substitute, scored!"

"This is called a long shot of very high quality!"

"It's a pity that there is not much time left in the game. If Benítez could have made such adjustments earlier, perhaps Valencia could really have reversed Palermo!"

"And now, they have to race against time!"

"Moreover... He Tianqi is a head coach who knows how to take advantage of a lead."

really.

He Tianqi then made substitutions in the 85th, 86th and 88th minutes.

Replaced Luca Toni with Guardiola.

Valencia replaces Eduardo.

Pedro replaces Ribery.

Except for Pedro, the rest are midfielders and defenders.

A dog gets one.

This delaying behavior caused dissatisfaction among Valencia players.

On their bench, center back Marchena was furious.

In the past two seasons, he replaced Pellegrino as the team's starting central defender, and was selected for this year's Spain European Cup squad.

However, because the Palermo players were too tall, he had to give way to Pellegrino and was abandoned in the team's most crucial game.

I'm so angry that I want to vent it now.

Marchena pointed at He Tianqi and rushed over. He had a hot temper to begin with.

But the next moment, He Tianqi grabbed Marchena's arm and threw him over his shoulder.

Then he turned around and locked Marchena's arms, pressed his knees against Marchena's chest, and pressed down on him.

The Valencia bench, which was originally angry, swearing, and even wanting to fight, instantly became civilized.

The referee intervened quickly.

After learning the whole story, Marchena and He Tianqi were shown yellow cards respectively.

Marchena expressed disbelief that his arm was almost dislocated by He Tianqi.

He now felt as if all his internal organs had been displaced.

However, the referee believed that He Tianqi acted in self-defense first and did not continue to attack after that, so he had no malicious intent in nature.

The yellow card was given because the amplitude of the action was so large.

On the contrary, as the instigator of the conflict and the first to take action, Marchena was given a light yellow card.

Considering the game time, Valencia did not argue with the referee or He Tianqi.

Instead, Benítez blamed Marchena for helping Palermo waste some game time and was fed up with this irrational central defender.

Marchena has a hot temper. I stood up for the team and got beaten up. Instead of comforting you, you put the blame on me?
Considering that there is a high probability that Benítez will go to Liverpool, Marchena couldn't bear it anymore and directly sprayed back.

The general and the coach had a big quarrel, and many Valencia players came out to pull the two apart.

Such an action undoubtedly made the Valencia players on the field a little confused.

Everything seemed to tell them that Valencia was beyond redemption.

In the second minute of stoppage time, Valencia was still trying to attack.

Guardiola made the steal and passed the ball to Modric.

The latter completed a lob shot from the center circle without stopping the ball!
Canizares was positioned too far forward and could not be stopped.

crucial moment……

when!
The football hit the crossbar and bounced off.

Modric almost scored a magical goal.

But even so, the hit of the football on the crossbar completely crushed Valencia's fighting spirit and shattered their dream of winning the championship!
In the fourth minute of stoppage time, as young player Valencia kicked the ball towards the midfield, the referee blew the whistle to end the game.

Palermo players rushed onto the field frantically.

"competition is over!"

"Congratulations to Palermo! They created a miracle!"

"This is the first time in their history that they have won the UEFA Cup!"

"It's also the first time in their team history that they have won the Triple Crown!"

“A Serie B team not only won the Serie B championship undefeated, but also won the Italian Cup and the UEFA Cup!”

“At this early stage of the season, who could have thought?”

"As He Tianqi said, this team has many excellent players."

“I believe that countless people are looking forward to their performance next season!”

Reporters also poured into the stadium and began interviewing the players until the award ceremony began.

Vicente was named to the All-Tournament Team.

But as far as this game is concerned, people rated him as the worst player in the game.

Some media even said that Benítez was a tactical master who brought Vicente to a peak that did not belong to him and turned decay into magic.

He Tianqi is an even more powerful tactical master, as he puts Vincent back to his rightful place and turns magic into decay again!

Vicente's reputation was damaged!
Correspondingly, Aimar is the best player on Valencia's side.

The best player of the game was given to Palermo center back Vidic.

He dominated the tempo of the second half, had many heroic blocks and steals, and his defensive stats were off the charts.

This is because Zaccardo, Chiellini and Barzagli have to focus their defensive attention on Vicente, so other defensive tasks can only be shouldered by Vidic.

Eduardo won the UEFA Cup Golden Boot.

Arteta became the assist king of the tournament.

At the same time, Arteta also became the best player of the UEFA Cup thanks to his outstanding performance in European competitions this season.

Ribery, Eduardo, Vicente and Ronaldinho are his biggest rivals.

But Ribery was out for two months due to injury.

Apart from scoring penalty shots, Eduardo had no other special features and failed to win the hearts of the judges.

Vicente lost at least half of his points in this final.

Ronaldinho was defeated directly by Palermo.

So with the strong support of Barcelona public opinion, Arteta had the last laugh.

Led by Arteta, players such as Ribery, Ronaldinho, Vicente, Eduardo, Luca Toni, Vidic, Zacardo and others were selected into the best team of this season's UEFA Cup.

Palermo is having an epic season.

When giving his acceptance speech, He Tianqi directly faced Palermo's next most serious problem.

"Thank you, everyone. Thank you to every fan who supports Palermo." He Tianqi held the trophy. "Just now during the celebration, our boss Mr. Zamparini told me that the UEFA Cup prize money belongs to all the players, coaches and staff of Palermo!"

The players behind He Tianqi all had happy faces.

That's a lot of money.

It’s even enough to cover many players’ salary for a season!
Palermo's bonus this season is likely to be three to five times the salary of some of the team's players!
It’s scary high!

"But this is not enough." He Tianqi smiled, "This summer, I hope all the players in Palermo can have a perfect vacation."

"Because our tasks in the new season will be heavier, we will play in Serie A."

"We are going to play... the Champions League!"

"I know that many teams will find Palermo players and ask them to transfer during this period. But I want to tell everyone that our campaign is not over yet."

“The Palermo legend has not yet ended!”

"In the new season, everyone will get new and better contracts. It will definitely be at the level of Serie A, and not even at the level of a Serie A relegation team."

“So you don’t have to worry about the money.”

"In Palermo, salary increases always come before the players ask! Money is always chasing you."

"But at the same time, we have to chase the honor."

"We have championship genes, we have the pedigree to win titles, whether in Serie A or the Champions League, our goal is to go further, not just play around."

"so……"

"Stay here, everyone! Let the world of football see the limits of this Palermo team!"

"Attention, attention!"

“The Palermo Miracle is still setting sail!”

He Tianqi raised the championship trophy above his head.

The next moment, the Palermo players cheered with him:
"we are the champion!"

……

Turin Sports Daily: "Palermo won the UEFA Cup, Italian football is still the best in the world!"

Gazzetta dello Sport: "The Pink Eagles beat the Bats 3-1! He Tianqi wins the title of the tactical head coach!"

Corriere dello Sport: "From Serie C to Serie A, from no championship in the team's history to the UEFA Cup triple crown!"

Bild: "The young coach has made it to the top in one step! The miracle is not over yet! Congratulations to Palermo for becoming the only triple crown winner this season!"

Transfermarkt: "The value of Palermo players continues to rise, He Tianqi calls on the players to stay and the store refuses to open!"

Kicker: "Looking ahead to Serie A and the Champions League, He Tianqi's ambition is finally exposed!"

Manchester Evening News: "Palermo - the new force in Serie A, I am the triple crown winner!"

France Football: "It's time to reintroduce them to fans around the world - Pope He Tianqi and his triple crown team Palermo!"

As the second-tier European competition, the UEFA Cup is a huge honor.

But at the same time, not that huge.

When talking about the king of European clubs, people only think of the Champions League, not the UEFA Cup.

But this time, after Palermo won the UEFA Cup, its momentum directly caught up with the Champions League finals of previous years.

The number of online searches and major media reports far exceeded any previous UEFA Cup.

Because this session is too legendary.

The grassroots miracle came to the end, and this is the best story of becoming famous with one goal.

He Tianqi and his Palermo jumped to the pinnacle of public opinion.

In addition, there is another reason, that is, this year's Champions League is also a showdown between grassroots and underdogs.

This directly led to the lowest amount of discussion about this year's Champions League final in history.

Most of the scattered traffic was absorbed by Palermo.

So even though the Champions League is much more valuable than the UEFA Cup.

But if we only look at the public opinion level, Palermo is stronger than Porto and Monaco in the Champions League final.

This is a very interesting phenomenon.

People always shout that they want to see a dark horse miracle, but on the highest stage, when a dark horse miracle really happens, people don’t like to watch it anymore.

So most fans don’t know what they want.

UEFA's competition ideas also became clear after this season.

The giants have the most fans. If they are absent from important stages of a competition, the influence and commercial value of the event will be greatly reduced.

However, secondary competitions can become a breeding ground for dark horses, satisfying the illusions of grassroots fans while also allowing fans of wealthy clubs to change their tastes occasionally.

It will become increasingly difficult for dark horse teams to compete in major events in the future.

However, the corresponding result is that more grassroots teams have the opportunity to participate in major competitions.

The popularity of He Tianqi and Palermo lasted for a week.

It was not until May 26 that he was replaced by Mourinho and Porto.

Because Mourinho led Porto to defeat Monaco led by Deschamps and became the champion of this season's Champions League.

Completed a miraculous European war achievement.

Last year he won the UEFA Cup with Porto.

This year he won the Champions League with Porto.

This also makes people have fantasies about Palermo's European performance next season.

For a moment, many Palermo players who were originally undecided had the courage to calm down.

If Porto can do it, why not Palermo?
If Mourinho can do it, why can't He Tianqi?

The words "Champions League", which were once out of reach, now appear on paper.

The Sicilians are ready to go and want the next season to come earlier than any other team!

Against this backdrop, Palermo's remaining four Serie B games are meaningless.

He Tianqi even directly called out to the major national teams in the interview: "Although the league has not ended yet, I can make the decision."

"In the coming period, if any national team needs to prepare for a match and needs players from Palermo to play for the country, we will support them immensely."

This statement made countless clubs ashamed.

It also made the Palermo players cry again.

He Tianqi really tried his best to get everyone into the national team.

Even if the team does not need an unbeaten record in the league, everyone must be able to respond to the national team's call-up at any time.

Otherwise, some national teams will definitely consider that the game in Palermo has not yet ended and will not call up their players. Because the major national teams are now announcing the selected lists.

The called-up players will then participate in national team training.

This conflicted with Palermo's schedule.

However, when the French team's roster was announced, Ribery became the disappointed one.

He missed the last train from France to Portugal.

(End of this chapter)