Who made him play as a winger/attacking midfielder?

Chapter 114 The Past and Present of the Sun Derby: A Blitzkrieg of Ultimate Offense and Defense

Sunday afternoon.

The Roma coaching staff, team doctor, and players traveled by bus from their hotel to the San Paolo Stadium.

"Waaaaah"

Large numbers of Napoli fans on both sides of the road booed loudly.

The closer you get to the São Paulo stadium, the more intense the hysterical boos become.

Many Napoli fans also prepared numerous humiliating banners and signs, shouting insults at the Roma players inside the team bus.

Their way of welcoming Rome wasn't entirely related to the league competition this season.

Rather, the two teams have a long history together.

After World War II, Serie A was dominated by northern teams for a long period of time.

Rome and Naples were economically backward and had long suffered from regional prejudice against the north.

The huge economic disparities have resulted in a situation where the north is stronger than the south in football.

This has led to a long-term bias in media and refereeing standards towards the North.

The capital city of Rome is located in central Italy, and is disliked by the north, which classifies it as part of the south.

Napoli is the most successful football club in the south, but like Roma, it has long been overshadowed by the three giants in the north.

As a result, the two teams from the Mediterranean Sunshine region formed a partnership.

In 1972, die-hard fans of both sides, CurvaSud and CurvaB, signed a fan-friendly alliance.

They established a common stance of uniting the central and southern regions to counter the dominance of northern teams.

The relationship between the two sets of fans was excellent during that period.

How good is it?

Fans of both teams can interact extensively in the stands during the match.

Pre-match accommodation arrangements are a common practice.

When playing against a northern team, players will cheer for each other.

The matchups between the two teams are also known as the Suns Derby.

It means "an alliance of two teams representing the Mediterranean sunshine region" to compete against the three giants of Norinco.

The friendly honeymoon between the two sides began to crack in the mid-1980s.

Maradona's performance soared after joining Napoli, and the team even challenged for the league title.

Breaking the long-standing pattern of only Roma representing the central and southern regions in challenging the north has given Roma fans a strong sense of crisis.

Some fans in the capital city began to mock regional racist slogans about Naples' security, poverty, and the Mafia.

Napoli fans, not to be outdone, mocked the capital's fans for their arrogance and hypocrisy, accusing them of abusing their privileges as citizens of the capital.

But this was just a minor squabble between the two sets of fans; the real rift came from Bruno, the legendary striker of Roma's arch-rivals Lazio.

Zoldano joins Napoli.

1986-1987 season.

In a crucial moment of the Serie A clash between the two teams, Zoldano assisted Maradona to score the winning goal.

Roma fans hurled insults at Zoldano throughout the match, leading to the first large-scale verbal clash between the two sets of fans at the stadium.

The friendly atmosphere has broken down.

In the 7th round of the 1987-1988 season, one season later, Napoli visited Roma.

The away team representatives walked to the south stand to exchange flags, continuing the friendly alliance that has lasted for fifteen years.

However, he was met with a barrage of insults from Roma fans, as well as a barrage of plastic bottles and coins thrown at him.

The antagonistic sentiment was immediately amplified.

Roma led in the first half, but Napoli managed to equalize in the second half despite having two players sent off.

The goal scorer, Torre-Bagni, made the most insulting umbrella gesture in Italy towards the south stand of Rome.

As a result, the Rome stands immediately went out of control.

Drink bottles, chairs, coins, keychains, and other throwable items were all thrown towards the away team's fan section.

Multiple brawls broke out around the stadium and at highway service areas.

Subsequently, the die-hard fan groups of both teams announced the permanent termination of their 15-year-old fan friendship agreement.

In the 2000-2001 season, Roma only needed to win at the San Paolo Stadium to secure the championship, but the two teams ultimately drew 2-2.

A massive brawl broke out between thousands of fans from both sides in the Naples area on the A1 highway.

The fans, having lost their minds, attacked the opposing team with iron bars, stones, Molotov cocktails, and other tools.

The incident resulted in 62 fans being seriously injured and hospitalized, 120 people sustaining minor injuries, and 37 people being arrested by the police.

From then on, away fans in the derby must be escorted by police throughout the match, and the home and away fans in the stands will be physically separated.

Until December 2014.

The hatred between the two teams has completely turned into a blood feud!

Before the Italian Cup final between Napoli and Florence, a clash between Roma and Napoli extremists resulted in the use of handguns, leading to the death of a Napoli fan after several days of unsuccessful medical treatment, and two others being seriously injured by gunshot wounds.

Chang Huan, sitting inside the bus, remained oblivious to the overwhelming atmosphere of fervor.

He learned the details from Lorenzo Pellegrini, a local from Rome, before the match, so he understood the Napoli fans' actions.

I put my expensive headphones back on, physically blocking out the boos and insults.

As players like Chang Huan, Lorenzo Pellegrini, and Stephan El Shaarawy walked onto the pitch to warm up, the prepared Napoli fans unleashed a chorus of boos at the Roma players arriving at the San Paolo Stadium.

A deluge of boos, curses, and insults followed.

The Roma fans were not intimidated by the large and powerful Napoli fans in the away section, exchanging trash talk across the security stands and with the guards.

The announcer reads out the player rosters for both teams.

Every time a visiting player's name was announced, the home fans would erupt in hysterical boos.

Dzeko, De Rossi, and Chang Huan received the loudest boos.

Chang Huan, widely regarded as Roma's best-performing and most consistent player this season, has received special attention from Napoli fans.

Obscene banners, slogans, and graffiti were displayed in prominent areas of the São Paulo stadium.

The sounds of foul language and insults were incessant.

With more than an hour to go before the match, the starting lineups submitted by both teams to the Italian Serie A league were revealed.

The home team deployed a 4-3-3 formation.

Goalkeeper: Reina; Defenders: Mario Rui, Koulibaly, Albiol, Hysaj; Midfielders: Zielinski, Jorginho, Allan; Forwards: Insigne, Mertens, Callejon. The away team, Roma, also fielded the same 4-3-3 formation.

Goalkeeper: Alisson

Defenders: Kolarov, Fazio, Manolas, Florenzi; Midfielders: Stoloman, De Rossi, Nainggolan; Forwards: Perotti, Dzeko, Chang Huan. Sarri, after receiving the away team's starting lineup, pouted: "Who would believe you're playing 4-3-3?"

Roma did indeed field a 4-3-3 formation in their last two matches, but Chang Huan didn't stay on the right wing; instead, he roamed between the central midfield and the forward position, looking for opportunities.

In addition to Dzeko's fixed position, Perotti's position is also very active.

However, he has already decided to dominate the game at home with an extremely high frequency of offense, so he doesn't need to worry about defense.

Scoring one more goal than the opponent results in victory!

Four o'clock in the afternoon.

"Beep~"

Referee Massa blew his whistle, and the home fans in the stands erupted in hysterical cheers, shouting encouragement for their players who were about to kick off.

Napoli players executed the tactics set by head coach Sarri before the match perfectly.

They quickly advanced the battle to Rome's 30-meter defense zone.

Jorginho is responsible for orchestrating the play in front of the two center-backs, distributing the ball around their defense.

Alan is the dedicated protector.

Zielinski connected both ends of the attack and defense, and the two full-backs made a lot of forward runs, at one point forming a six-man attacking group with the three forwards.

Given that center Mertens is not tall enough, the attack mainly relies on ground passing.

In the early stages, Roma opted for a low defensive line, using a dense defensive formation to ensure the safety of the center and flanks.

Napoli's high-frequency ball control compressed Roma's defensive space.

Insigne and Callejon's inside runs drew Roma's defense away.

Two minutes into the match.

Insigne cut inside from the left and passed the ball to the center, where Zielinski easily bypassed De Rossi.

He unleashed a high-quality long-range shot from just outside the penalty area!

With focused attention, Alisson lunged to his right and blocked the ball out of the net.

"Oh oh oh"

The home fans in the stands let out a disappointed gasp.

Applause followed immediately, cheering on the player who created a good shooting opportunity at the start of the game.

Napoli took a short corner.

The players kept passing the ball laterally back and forth on the perimeter.

Pull apart Rome's defenses and look for exploitable weaknesses.

The home team fans in the stands were ecstatic, continuously releasing their passion and creating a fervent atmosphere.

Roma continued to play a passive defensive role.

Di Francisco couldn't stay on the bench any longer and went to the technical area to direct the play.

Florenzi was overtaken by Insigne on the outside and cut into the penalty area. Florenzi made a decisive sliding tackle from behind to kick the ball out of bounds.

Insigne took a corner kick from the left, and Albiol jumped ahead of Fazio and headed the ball towards the goal.

Unfortunately, the accuracy was a bit off, and the ball went wide of the goalpost.

Roma intended to launch an attack from their own half, but Insigne, Mertens, and Callejon showed no intention of retreating.

Zielinski, along with full-backs Mario Rui and Hysaj, pushed forward to block Roma's potential receiving opportunities.

Alisson was forced to launch a long ball forward to find the tall striker Dzeko.

Koulibaly battled Dzeko as he did in the first leg, which prevented the latter from getting accurate headers.

Control of football has changed hands.

Before Roma could even launch a high press, Napoli had already quickly passed the ball upfield.

"Roma is a bit passive. If they can't get the ball and organize attacks, it's only a matter of time before they concede a goal."

"Italian Sky Sports commentator Fabio Carreza frowned."

Less than two minutes later.

His words proved prophetic.

Napoli's quick cross-field pass effectively stretched the defensive line.

Left-back Mario Rui used his speed to force his way past Florenzi and swept the through ball from Jorginho directly to the edge of the six-yard box.

Insigne took a first-time shot with his left foot into the far corner.

Manolas fell to the ground, unable to block the attack in time.

Goalkeeper Alisson was a fraction too slow to make the save and could only watch helplessly as the ball flew into the far bottom corner.

The home fans at the San Paolo Stadium roared their hearts out, unleashing their passion to take the lead and igniting a frenzied atmosphere.

Insigne celebrated his goal with a knee slide, followed excitedly by the other Napoli players.

They were all overjoyed.

Even the veins on his neck were clearly visible.

A frenzied atmosphere swept through the entire venue.

The Roma players, who were trailing, showed little emotional fluctuation. They advanced their formation and waited for the home team players to take their positions and restart the game.

Facing intense pressure in the first few minutes of the game, it was inevitable to feel a bit nervous.

Once the goal was conceded, all the pressure disappeared.

"Beep~"

The game has restarted.

"Waaaaah"

Dzeko passed the ball to Chang Huan, and a deafening chorus of boos erupted from the stands.

Chang Huan was not affected at all; he passed the ball to Nainggolan at his own pace.

The formation naturally spread out as the players ran, and the 4-3-1-2 formation positions were clearly visible.

Napoli launched a high press, attempting to score two quick goals.

Roma's midfielders and defenders, such as Strootman, De Rossi, and Kolarov, are all players with big hearts and can make very accurate passes under pressure.

Bypassing Napoli's encirclement, the ball was passed down the left flank to Nainggolan, who was positioned in midfield.

He looked up and saw Chang Huan run into an open space to receive the ball, so he passed the ball directly to him.

With his back to the attacking team, Chang Huan lowered his left shoulder and used his right foot to gently flick the ball that had rolled to his feet to the left.

Alan stretched out his left leg to intercept, ready to switch from defense to attack!

Their faces beamed with the light of victory.

I promised you'd get zero stats before the game, so I have to keep my word!

But—that is, Chang Huan must turn to the left in the correct direction.

It's too late to say.

Chang Huan used the inside of his left foot to flash and flick the ball back to his right side.

In other words, Alan's attempt to stop them was in vain!

And Chang Huan, who had "premeditatedly planned" this, took the opportunity to turn around and get rid of him.

Jorginho, who was in the middle, sensed something was wrong and pushed forward.

With excellent vision, Chang Huan spotted his teammate's excellent positioning and delivered a penetrating diagonal pass with his left foot.

The ball flew quickly between right center-back Albiol and right-back Hysaj, rolling toward the vacuum behind them.

"Alexander Kolarov!"

Italian Sky Sports commentator Fabio Carreza raised his voice eight octaves as he saw Roma's left-back overtake him on the outside.

Hissaj couldn't return to his position in time, and Albiol instinctively pulled him out to restrict him.

Kolarov, sprinting at high speed, delivered a low cross without stopping the ball.

Dzeko has a keen sense of positioning in the penalty area, first blocking the position on the left edge of the six-yard box.

With Koulibaly blocked behind him, he could only watch as Roma's number nine completed his left-footed shot.

Reina, standing near the goalpost, felt a chill in his groin; his legs instinctively closed too slowly, allowing the low ball to pass him first.

A fraction of a second later.

The football rolled across the goal line and into the embrace of the snow-white net.

Less than a minute after conceding the goal.

Roma equalized in a flash!