Green Field Eunuch

Chapter 40 Genoa

On August 24, Roma finally ushered in the opening match of the new Serie A season.

Various media outlets have also stepped up to analyze each match and each team.

Roma is a team that receives a lot of attention, but they didn't make many moves during the summer transfer window. The only two major moves were selling Aquilani for 2000 million euros and bringing in Shan Yongzhuo for 1300 million euros.

Many media outlets commented that "Roma's performance in the new season should not change much, remaining stable at around 5th place. If they perform well, they may be able to challenge for the top four."

"Spalletti's coaching ability is still commendable, but Totti is a year older, and Vucinic and De Rossi need to take on more attacking responsibility."

"The performance of Shan Yongzhuo, last season's Austrian Bundesliga top scorer, is a question mark. Whether he can integrate into the team and adapt to the pace of Serie A will be a big problem."

Roma's opponent is Genoa.

Genoa finished fifth in the league last season, ahead of Roma.

Under their legendary coach Gasperini, Genoa achieved the remarkable feat of rising from Serie C to fifth place in Serie A in just two years. Moreover, they played beautiful, attacking football, maintaining their offensive momentum even after taking the lead.

Gasperini served as both head coach and team manager at Genoa, overseeing everything from the youth teams to the top division, making him an outstanding coach.

However, this season, they lost key midfielder Motta and star striker Diego Milito, which greatly affected the team's strength.

However, Spalletti doesn't see it that way. In his view, Gasperini is very good at discovering young talents, and Genoa must be given sufficient attention.

On the plane to Genoa, Spalletti repeatedly emphasized the importance of the first match. In his view, this opponent was a must-win, not only to secure a winning start to the league season, but also because Genoa was one of Roma's main rivals in the league standings, and defeating them was crucial.

As the players entered the field to warm up, the fans had already begun to enter, and the surrounding stands gradually became lively, with the atmosphere of the game becoming increasingly intense.

However, affected by the economic crisis, Italy's economy is in a slump, which has also affected the fans' enthusiasm for watching the games.

Genoa's home stadium, Ferraris Stadium, can hold more than 36,000 people, but the number of fans present was estimated to be less than 20,000, with many seats in the stands empty.

However, the fans who came to the scene cheered enthusiastically. In the first game of the new season, the fans hoped to see the team show a good competitive state and achieve a winning start to the league.

Soon, the game began.

Genoa kicked off first, with Palacio passing the ball to Crespo, who then kicked it back into the half, and Genoa launched their first attack.

Dan Yongzhuo slowly ran towards the front. Roma's formation was Spalletti's proud 4-2-3-1, with Dan Yongzhuo as the lone striker at the front, followed by Vucinic on the left, Totti in the middle, and Taddei on the right.

However, Roma's start was clearly not as good as Genoa's. They were under pressure from the beginning, and there were some problems with the connection between the defensive midfielder and the two center-backs, resulting in constant danger in front of the goal.

Genoa played attacking football like a tidal wave, one wave after another.

Their new signing, Argentine striker Palacio, has shown excellent form.

Palacio isn't tall, but he's a very agile and technically complete striker who often drops back outside the penalty area to assist his teammates. Mexes' defensive skills are decent, but he lacks footwork and clearly can't keep up with Palacio's unpredictable runs.

In the 18th minute, Palacio dropped back to receive the ball, feinted past Mexes, and passed the ball to Crespo in the penalty area. Crespo took a shot that went straight through Sergio's goal.

Genoa took a 1-0 lead.

The commentator on Italian national sports channel said: "Genoa's new signing Palacio provided an assist, and Crespo scored a goal. We can see that this Argentine striker, who was brought in from Boca Juniors, is very skillful. Mexes can't keep up with his pace at all..." "As for Roma's new signing, Chinese striker Shan Yongzhuo, we can see that since the opening ceremony with his eyes closed, he hasn't had a single touch on the ball. Under Moretti's defense, he seems to be non-existent."

"Roma faced a 10-on-11 situation without receiving a red card."

Shan Yongzhuo wasn't in a hurry. The team's problem lay in the midfield. David Pizarro, the team's midfield metronome, wasn't in good form, and the team's attack seemed disorganized, making it difficult to get the ball forward.

Vucinic's performance on the wing was somewhat selfish, and he didn't pose much of a threat.

Moreover, Moretti is really not easy to deal with...

Moretti, 28, started his professional career in Serie C, then played for several teams, including five years in La Liga. He just returned to Serie A from Valencia this summer and is a very experienced and formidable player.

In Genoa's three-defender system, Gasperini boldly moved Moretti away from his familiar left-back position and into the center-back position, making him the absolute defensive core.

Moretti's performance did not disappoint Gasperini.

Moretti, though tall, is not particularly outstanding in physical confrontation. However, he has strong anticipation and positioning abilities in defense, which is why Gasperini made him the starting center-back.

He had studied the players and found that Shan Yongzhuo, the forward for Roma, was not a player with strong physical strength. His advantage lay in his excellent footwork, especially his high accuracy in mid-range shots.

Moretti can use his extensive experience and excellent anticipation and positioning to block passing lanes.

At least for now, he seems to be doing a good job.

However, just five minutes after Genoa scored, Roma intercepted the ball in their own half. De Rossi stole the ball from Mesto and, before the opponent could win it back, launched a long ball into the attacking third.

Totti received the ball, spotted Shan Yongzhuo's position, and immediately passed it to him.

Dan Yongzhuo rushed towards the ball, with Moretti closely following beside him. On the other side, Genoa veteran Biava also rushed over, trying to sandwich Dan Yongzhuo between them and intercept the ball.

Shan Yongzhuo isn't very fast, but Moretti and Biava aren't very fast players either. It wasn't easy for Shan Yongzhuo, but he still managed to get the ball.

The next moment, Moretti and Biava arrived one after the other, and they would attack Shan Yongzhuo from both sides.

After observing for a while, Shan Yongzhuo realized that even with the Mighty Vajra Leg technique, there were no good shooting lines left.

On a sudden inspiration, Shan Yongzhuo immediately activated the Whirlwind Ground Kick.

Before the two men could get close, he ignored the ball at his feet and ran straight through the gap between them.

As for how the ball comes over, that's up to skill.

Moretti and Biava were completely unprepared for Shan Yongzhuo's move. They immediately went to tackle the ball, but the next moment, they found that the ball had disappeared.

When they finally realized what had happened, the football had somehow curved through Moretti's legs and returned to Shan Yongzhuo's feet.

Meanwhile, Shan Yongzhuo had already dribbled the ball into the penalty area and was facing goalkeeper Amelia directly when he unleashed a powerful shot.

Amelia had no chance as the ball flew into Genoa's goal.

(End of this chapter)