Green Field Eunuch

Chapter 62 Facing Fulham

This season's Europa League is the first edition of the Europa League, which is actually a reorganized version of the UEFA Cup after its expansion.

Spalletti places considerable importance on the Europa League.

Since the 2006-07 season, Roma has reached the Champions League knockout stage for three consecutive seasons. In the first two seasons, they even reached the quarterfinals, but were eliminated by Manchester United both times, and even suffered a humiliating 7-1 away defeat.

Last season, Roma were unfortunately eliminated by Arsenal on penalties in the round of 16.

Spalletti believes that the team's best performance in the Champions League is only the quarterfinals, and it will be very difficult to go any further.

However, Roma stands out in the Europa League, and it would be wonderful if they could win the championship.

It's worth noting that Roma has never won a European-level title, except for the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, which is so insignificant it can hardly be called a championship...

Participating in the Europa League this season is a great opportunity for Roma, at least in Spalletti's view.

Although the Europa League is not highly regarded in Europe, it still has a certain level of prestige.

If he can lead the team to a Europa League title, he will be etched in the history of Roma, as this would be the club's first European trophy.

Spalletti will not take this away game against Fulham lightly. He has not only done extensive research, but also fielded his strongest lineup, striving to defeat his opponent away from home.

Fulham is not a traditional powerhouse in the Premier League, having struggled in the lower leagues most of the time, but Hodgson's team should not be underestimated.

At Craven Cottage, even before the match started, Roma were already feeling the intense atmosphere of the Premier League.

Although this stadium is much smaller than the Olympic Stadium, with a capacity of only over 20,000 people, it was already packed with Fulham fans, who were cheering wildly, completely different from the laid-back fans in Italy.

Hodgson also conducted extensive research on Roma and found that this season's Roma team was no different from last season, but they were able to suppress Inter Milan for a long time and rank first, simply because of one very important reason: the new striker Shan Yongzhuo who joined in the summer.

"By limiting this player, we've cut off most of their firepower."

Before the match, in the locker room, Hodgson said with great certainty, "He is Roma's ace, and he has accounted for the vast majority of Roma's goals."

"Mark him tightly and prevent him from scoring. That's what we need to do. This is Cottagers Stadium. Let's show those Italians and that Chinese guy what the English team is all about!"

On the other side, Spalletti was also making pre-match arrangements. He fielded a 4-4-2 formation for this game, and instead of letting Shan Yongzhuo go up against the opponent's tall defenders alone, he paired him with Totti to form the forward line.

In midfield, Taddei, Pizarro, De Rossi, and Vucinic lined up in a row. In defense, Spalletti also fielded his best lineup: Riise, Burdisso, Mexes, and Motta, four key players ready for action.

Then, the players from both teams began to take the field.

This was the first time the two sides had ever faced off, so there was naturally no experience to speak of.

However, Roma still has a slight advantage, as they have participated in many European competitions and have played against English teams quite a few times.

Fulham, on the other hand, is only competing in European competition for the second time in their history. The last time was in the Intertoto Cup in the 2001-2002 season.

They don't have much experience playing against Italian teams.

However, once the match began, Fulham, playing at home, launched a fierce attack on Roma, putting Roma in a difficult position. Hodgson's team played a traditional English 4-4-2 formation, and their two wingers, Dempsey and Davies, immediately displayed excellent form, constantly dribbling down the flanks and causing some problems for Roma's wing defense.

Fortunately, the central defensive pairing of Mexes and Burdisso was both tall and physically strong, and the two opposing forwards, Zamora and Kamara, did not have much of an advantage in duels and aerial duels, causing Fulham's waves of attacks to come to nothing.

However, Fulham still managed to score in the 25th minute. Dempsey broke through on the wing and then passed the ball to Kamara outside the penalty area. Mexes paid the price for his reckless tackle. Kamara deceived Mexes and then flicked the ball with his heel to Zamo L. Mora, who fired a barrel shot inside the penalty area, directly piercing the goal guarded by Doni.

"Bobby, our Bobby!"

"He scored Fulham's first goal, which was also the opening goal, making it 1-0."

"The game has reached the 25th minute, and Fulham has taken the lead. Of course, we can't forget Kamara's goal, a brilliant backheel pass!"

The game on the field made Spalletti a little impatient. His team was clearly not used to Fulham's aggressive pressing, and even their passing was a bit chaotic. He could only remind the players on the field to stay calm and play more steadily.

Dan Yongzhuo wasn't worried; he had already accumulated the necessary skills and was ready to fire at any time.

However, the team's midfield fell behind under the opponent's fierce pressing, and he did not get many good opportunities.

As Fulham celebrated their goal, he yelled at De Rossi and Pizarro: "Play well, don't mess around, if you have a chance, just kick the ball long to me!"

De Rossi and Pizarro nodded.

They both didn't perform very well, which was actually related to their continuous battles.

Pizarro is getting old, and although De Rossi is in his prime, the continuous packed schedule has affected his form.

With the team currently trailing, the two players can only rely on the team's star striker.

"Pass the ball to them if you have it, there should be a way."

De Rossi and Pizarro decided to do it this way, and even Taddei and Vucinic on the flanks thought so. The two of them have been having a hard time on the flanks so far, unable to get up and unable to defend.

After being reminded by the head coach and Shan Yongzhuo, the whole team realized that they should focus on defense first.

Fulham fans were still cheering, and the fans in the surrounding stands were very excited. The team had taken an early lead and dominated the game. In their eyes, victory was a sure thing.

"Rome is nothing special."

"Yes, they once lost to Manchester United by 7 goals, they are not a strong team at all."

"We can definitely defeat them."

Rome was utterly and utterly scorned.

There was nothing that could be done about it; Roma's record against Premier League teams was simply too poor, and after all the media hype in England, Fulham certainly didn't think much of Roma.

This goal gave them a lot of confidence. In their view, Roma was not very strong and was not in the same league as AC Milan and Inter Milan.

(End of this chapter)