Who made him play as a winger/attacking midfielder?

Chapter 119 Champions League Match Against Barcelona: Chang Huan vs. Messi - A Statistical Showdown! A Transoceanic Phone Call from Lippi!

[Sky Sports: Chang Huan, who doesn't want to be China's Messi, vs. Lionel Messi!]

[Tuttosport: Serie A vs. La Liga! Juventus vs. Real Madrid, Roma vs. Barcelona!]

[Gazzetta dello Sport: 17-8 year old Chang Huan challenges Lionel Messi!]

[La Gazzetta dello Sport: Champions League quarterfinals after a decade! The Giallorossi's revenge story!]

[Mundo Deportivo: Roma, the opponent we want! (*^^*)]

[Daily Sports: A dessert brings good fortune to Barcelona! It also lets a Chinese lad see what a GOAT is up close!]

2017—2018赛季欧冠1/4决赛抽籤结束，欧洲主流足球媒体焦点都放在半个月之后拉开序幕的欧冠1/4决赛！

With the tournament reaching the quarterfinals, there are no weak teams left.

Every clash is a battle between two strong teams.

The Juventus vs. Real Madrid match is full of history, with the two teams facing each other three times in the Champions League over the past three seasons.

2014—2015赛季欧冠半决赛首回合主场2：1击败皇马，次回合做客伯纳乌1：1战平。

They lost 1-4 in last season's Champions League final at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

"Sevilla and Bayern Munich are facing off against each other. The two teams have never officially met in the Champions League. Considering the strength of the "King of the South" Bayern Munich, Sevilla, who upset Manchester United, is considered Bayern's direct ticket to the semi-finals."

Liverpool vs. Manchester City is a top-tier domestic match in the Premier League.

Although Manchester City has been leading the Premier League this season with overwhelming momentum, their first defeat of the season was against Liverpool.

Since Guardiola became Manchester City manager, he has faced Klopp's Liverpool four times.

Liverpool have the upper hand with 2 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss.

The two faced each other eight times in the Bundesliga.

Klopp still holds the advantage with 4 wins, 1 draw, and 3 losses.

The two have faced each other 12 times, with Klopp winning 6, drawing 2, and losing 4, making him one of the few coaches in football history to have a better head-to-head record than Guardiola.

Therefore, many Liverpool fans are quite optimistic that Liverpool will eliminate league leaders Manchester City and advance to the Champions League semi-finals this season!

Manchester City fans certainly don't share the same view as Liverpool fans, and the two sides have engaged in fierce competition both online and offline.

There is a clear gap in strength between Roma and Barcelona on paper, including player value and league influence.

This explains why many football media outlets are not optimistic about Roma, even though they are currently leading the Serie A standings by six points.

The two teams have met four times in the Champions League, and Roma and Barcelona are evenly matched in terms of record.

不过罗马的主要战绩优势来自2001—2002赛季的欧冠第二阶段小组赛，做客1：1战平巴塞隆纳，主场3：0赢球。

Due to its age, it is no longer of any reference value.

After all, Serie A was very competitive back then, and Roma was strong.

Barcelona was in a relatively slump at that time.

The two teams faced off in the Champions League group stage during the 2015-2016 season.

Roma held Barcelona, ​​led by MSN, to a 1-1 draw at home.

However, their second away game was disastrous.

They were beaten 1 to 6.

The local media and fans in Rome were reluctant to discuss this match.

Local media and fans in Barcelona are focusing on this match, claiming that there is a clear gap in strength between the two teams and that Barcelona will inevitably eliminate Roma to advance to the semi-finals.

Two weeks ago, an interview with Roma coach Di Francesco sparked controversy.

However, the impact was downplayed due to Astori's unexpected death, but now that the two teams are facing off in the Champions League, the media has brought up the old story again.

Catalan media outlets Mundo Deportivo and Sport have launched a major attack on Roma coach Di Francesco, while deliberately downplaying the prestige of Serie A in order to portray the 17- or 8-year-old Messi as superior to his peer Chang Huan.

Rome's local media outlet, *La Gazzetta dello Sport*, and *Il Romano*, the world's only daily newspaper dedicated to a single football club.

Newspapers like Il Messaggero and ANSA naturally sided with Rome, and conveniently provided data to compare Messi with other players of the same age.

也就是梅西在2004—2005赛季到2005—2006赛季，总共代表巴塞隆纳出战34场，总共才9球3助攻。

跟常欢截止到欧冠1/8决赛次回合，光是意甲联赛就贡献12球17助，欧冠赛场4球7

He has 1 goal and 5 assists in the Italian Cup, and 1 assist as a substitute for Liverpool in the final match of last season's Premier League.

A total of 17 goals and 30 assists!

《罗马人报》头版：什幺叫碾压？各项赛事40场17球30助&34场9球3助！

Several local media outlets in Rome shared the story on verified social media platforms such as Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

Many Roma fans were shocked when they saw it.

They thought Chang Huan was indeed outstanding, but they never expected him to be this strong!

Faced with such data, the local media and fans in Barcelona were speechless.

However, people have different ways of thinking, and if someone wants to find an excuse, they can always find one.

Diario Sport was the first to refute this on social media: If Chang Huan were in a different position at the same age, he would definitely not get a chance to play at Barcelona! On the contrary—Leonard Messi would put up better stats!

Mundo Deportivo followed up on social media with the following: Lionel – Messi's competitors are established players like Ludovic, Giuly, Saviola, and Larsson! A season where he became a regular starter is a height that the Chinese cannot reach!

《罗马体育报》骑脸输出，@世界体育报：2006—2007赛季吗？19岁的梅西36场17球3

Assists? Or 16 goals and 13 assists in 40 games at the age of 20? That's quite an achievement, I must say, I'm referring to his age.

With two weeks to go before the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final between Barcelona and Roma, media outlets from both countries have already launched a war of words on mobile internet.

Messi, who returned to the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper to prepare for the weekend's league match, noticed the core topic of focus.

When he saw Chang Huan's achievements at the age of 17 or 8, he couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, "Really? That's amazing?"

Suarez leaned over to Messi to peek at the screen and waved his hand, saying, "Nonsense, with your talent and ability, you would definitely have higher stats at Roma at this age. You know, Roma was padding his stats."

"But he's only 18, such a wonderful age!"

Messi recalled how his older brothers Ronaldinho, Eto'o, Iniesta, and Xavi had all taken good care of him, much like the treatment Chang Huan had received.

He questioned whether his personal abilities had reached the level where he could "cooperate with teammates to boost stats".

"The world of football has never lacked talent, but to grow to your level is absolutely unique."

Suarez acted as a caring older brother, comforting Messi, whom he believed was stuck in a misconception.

"Louis, you're overthinking it. It's not that I think I'm inferior to him, but rather—I just have a lot of feelings about it."

Messi smiled his signature gentle smile: "Whether his 18-year-old self was stronger than mine at 18 or not, those things happened in different time periods, so there's no way to compare them. Every era has its own characteristics. The key is that we're now in the same time frame, in the Champions League quarter-finals. Let's beat him together! Let's go for the Champions League title!"

"Aiming for the Champions League title!"

Suarez grasped Messi's outstretched right hand.

Trigolia Training Base.

"Everyone's saying you were better than Messi at the same age when you were eighteen. How does that feel?"

Paulo Stoppa, a reporter covering the team for La Gazzetta dello Sport, interviewed Chang Huan during a break from training, intending to use the interview for future social media promotion.

In the mobile internet era, official accounts always need to make good use of trending topics to attract new fans.

Chang Huan's renewed focus on Messi in the sports section of social media platforms is a perfect opportunity to capitalize on his popularity.

Chang Huan put his hands on his hips and shrugged, saying, "You know, this isn't easy. Commentators always scrutinize things with a magnifying glass, like whether this touch was reasonable or that run was flawed. I should be more low-key in interviews, so I hope to silence the controversy with an excellent performance on the field. Let history judge who was stronger in the past; now—whoever performs better is the key."

Paul Stoppa stared at Chang Huan's retreating figure for a long time before he came to his senses.

He finally understood why Chang Huan could produce such unparalleled statistics at this age.

A strong mind!

While some criticize Roma for inflating his stats, they selectively ignore a crucial point.

Does this player have enough ability to handle the situation?

In other words, mediocre people don't have the ability to become the core of a team.

Roma's tactics in the second half of the season did indeed intentionally lean towards Chang Huan, but not in the first half.

However, they put up numbers that were no less impressive than those in the second half of the season.

In other words, the allocation of resources is just icing on the cake.

Paul Stoppa came up with a very fitting title: The past is left to history, the present is his (Chang Huan's) domain!

The day before Rome's away game against Crotone.

Chang Huan traveled with the team to Crotone, a city in southern Italy. Just as they arrived at their hotel, before they even checked in, her phone rang.

He looked at the number without a note but decided not to answer.

For some reason, Captain De Rossi came over, saw the phone number displayed on the screen, and patted Chang Huan on the shoulder: "Answer it, this number is for you."

How did you know?

Chang Huan looked at De Rossi with suspicion, then suddenly realized, "Could it be that you, Captain, leaked it?"

"Hey----"

De Rossi laughed and said, "Very clever."

Hello, Chang.

The call was just connected on the microphone screen, and the phone was placed to my left ear when a deep, gentle voice came through the receiver: "This is Marcello Lippi."

???

He asked instinctively, "Which Lippi?"

Which Italian coach, Lippi, could get his personal cell phone number from De Rossi?

Of course, it's Marcello Lippi, the former Italian national team coach and current Chinese men's national football team coach!

No sooner had he finished speaking than he slapped his forehead with his right hand and changed the subject: "Hello, Grandpa Lippi."

"Oh? Haha—I am indeed old enough to be your grandfather."

The voice on the phone sounded a little surprised, but quickly returned to normal and got straight to the point: "The international match days in March are approaching, and I'm calling to invite you to join the squad for the China Cup match in Nanning later this month."

"But—my suspension with the Football Association hasn't ended yet."

"It's no longer available."

Lippi said with a smile.

"oh----"

Chang Huan was not surprised by this result.

He had previously followed the rumors on Dongqiudi that the vice president who orchestrated his suspension was suspected of being taken away, but nothing came of it and it seems he has now been transferred to a low-level government office to retire.

He's doing exceptionally well in Rome, so it would be unreasonable not to call him up.

"I have spoken with Roma, and they will use you cautiously during the international break to ensure it doesn't affect the matches after the international break ends."

When Lippi saw that Chang Huan did not respond to the call-up to the roster, he assumed that Chang Huan had some concerns and frowned as he explained.

"I just haven't fully processed what you just said, that's all."

Chang Huan quickly replied, "I have an unshirkable duty to be called up by the national team!"

(P.S.: You will be notified when there are chapters featuring the Chinese national football team. If you don't want to read them, you can skip them without affecting your reading experience. Please see the author's note for details.)

Ahead of the start of the 28th round of the 2017-2018 Italian Serie A season, the Chinese Football Association's official website and verified social media accounts simultaneously released the roster for the 2018 China Cup.

At first, Chinese media and fans did not notice any difference.

In short, my first reaction was to criticize the Football Association.

Why isn't Chang Huan called up for international competition days?

[Aaaaaaah! Chang Huan has made the match roster! I'm talking about the 28-man roster for the China Cup!]

It wasn't until a thoughtful fan's comment in the comments section caught everyone's attention.

Before long, Weibo, Dongqiudi, and Live9 sparked heated discussions.

Some fans are skeptical, as they remember that Chang Huan was banned from playing for all levels of the national team by the Chinese Football Association for two years.

It's been less than a year, hasn't it?

The ban has been lifted?

So they started going to the Football Association's official website and social media accounts.

turn out----

there is none left!

However, the internet has a long memory, and many fans still saved screenshots of the Football Association's ban on Chang Huan.

However, the fact that Chang Huan has now been included in the national team roster for his first time under Lippi's coaching has fulfilled the wishes of many fans.

Finally, we can see Chang Huan wearing a different kind of red thermal shirt on the court!

The kind with a national flag on the chest.

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