Green Field Eunuch

Chapter 76 Parma

A week later, the league resumed.

The entire Roma team traveled to Genoa to challenge Sampdoria.

Sampdoria were once at the top of the table this season, but they have gradually fallen behind. However, they played very well in this match, scoring a goal in a quick attack right from the start.

Although Shan Yongzhuo scored a goal with his Mighty Vajra Leg, he spent the rest of the time trapped in Sampdoria's defensive quagmire. His Whirlwind Ground Leg was broken by the opponent, and his Ghost Shadow Grappling Hand shot was brilliantly saved by the opposing goalkeeper.

However, in the 89th minute, Vucinic unleashed his full potential, making a series of breakthroughs on the wing before cutting inside and shooting to finally breach Sampdoria's goal.

Roma secured a hard-fought three points away from home.

What pleased Spalletti even more was that Inter Milan drew with Atalanta away from home, which allowed Roma to pull ahead of Inter Milan by 3 points.

Spalletti was all smiles. Afterwards, the whole team traveled to Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, for their final Europa League group stage match, an away game against CSKA Sofia.

Shan Yongzhuo was not included in the roster for this match and did not travel with the team. However, the team still won away from home, successfully securing first place in the group.

Totti scored the winning goal, netting a brace away from home, and Pizarro added another, giving the team a resounding 3-0 victory.

Upon his return, Totti was very pleased with himself and kept telling Mexes about the great progress he had made in his qigong practice. This made Mexes very nervous, and he decided to work even harder.

Shan Yongzhuo didn't seem to feel anything; he'd recently become obsessed with Twitter.

On the one hand, Kroos said he was too low-key and should learn to use Twitter to have more influence; on the other hand, he was influenced by Elena.

Dan Yongzhuo didn't care. He registered a Twitter account, posted one message, and then ignored it.

However, he soon discovered that someone had noticed him and was leaving him messages.

One is Fabio Cannavaro of Juventus.

Okay, this guy is about to retire, and then soon he'll be going to Guangzhou Evergrande?
Shan Yongzhuo doesn't remember exactly when Cannavaro acquired Guangzhou Evergrande, but he estimates that if history doesn't change, he will probably still go.

Another one is Lichtsteiner of Lazio.

This guy left a comment on his own Twitter account, telling Shan Yongzhuo that next time he faces Lazio, he won't be able to score a single goal.

Dan Yongzhuo was speechless; he hadn't expected this guy to hold a grudge like that.

The last one is Pato from AC Milan.

This guy was very enthusiastic, but the way he was enthusiastic made Shan Yongzhu feel that something was wrong.

Pato sent a private message to Shan Yongzhuo, telling him that he had started studying Chinese Qigong and had installed plum blossom stakes at home. He wanted to know if this training method was effective.

"..."

Well, this is yet another teenager who has gone astray.

Dan Yongzhuo kindly recommended to him the Nine-Turn Golden Body Technique of his club friends Totti and Mexes.

The following day, after training, the Roma players stayed at the club to watch the Europa League knockout stage draw together.

Who will we draw?

"What does it matter? No one is our match."

"That's not necessarily true. The third-placed teams in the Champions League group have also been relegated, so we might face them."

"Juventus would be best, let us send them home." "Are you an idiot? We won't run into Juventus!"

"..."

The teammates were making a ruckus, but Shan Yongzhuo didn't think much of it.

Looking at the potential opponents, Shan Yongzhuo had only heard of three teams: Liverpool, Atletico Madrid, and Valencia.

In Shan Yongzhuo's view, the other teams are all worthless.

Ultimately, Roma were drawn against the Greek team Papastathopoulos.

"What kind of team is this..." Shan Yongzhuo complained.

De Rossi patiently explained, "This is a strong team in the Greek Super League, and they are quite strong, but we are basically guaranteed to enter the round of 16."

"That's right, this team is no match for us."

"The Juventus guys are having some bad luck; they've run into Ajax."

"Come on, Ajax! Beat Juventus!"

"..."

Shan Yongzhuo said weakly, "This is the Europa League. Juventus is a sister team in Serie A. Is it really okay for you to curse them like this?"

"To hell with your brother team, single," Totti said viciously. "Those thieves aren't our brothers. Ideally, we'd be the only team in the Europa League, and then we'd win it. That would be perfect."

"All right……"

Shan Yongzhuo couldn't quite understand Totti's dislike for Juventus, but he didn't have any particular fondness for Juventus either, and whether or not they were eliminated was none of his business.

……

In the next round of the league, the seventeenth match, Roma will host Parma at home.

Parma was once a very prestigious team. In an era when Serie A was known as the "Little World Cup," they were one of the famous "Seven Sisters."

Moreover, although Parma has never won the league title, their European competition history is much better than Roma's. They have won two UEFA Cup titles, as well as the UEFA Super Cup and the Cup Winners' Cup.

However, after the team owner was imprisoned in 2003, they fell into a financial crisis and never recovered, eventually being relegated to the second division for the first time in 2008.

Last season, Parma made a comeback, and their performance this season has also been quite good. In the first sixteen rounds, Parma achieved a record of eight wins, four draws, and four losses, surpassing Juventus to rank fourth in the league, which is a remarkable achievement.

Parma's manager is Francisco Guidolin, who led Parma to promotion to Serie A and scored a hat-trick in the process.

The Italian veteran led Piacenza, who had spent 16 years in Serie B, to Serie A in 1995, and then in 2004, he led Palermo to Serie A.

This versatile, unassuming coach once boasted: "Give me a Palermo team that's just a little bit stronger, and I can easily beat Inter Milan."

Furthermore, Parma attracted considerable attention during the summer transfer market due to the ambitious chairman Girardi. The signings of a number of strong players, including Torino center-back De la Fiore, Siena midfielders Galloppa and Coppola, and Sampdoria goalkeeper Mirante, made Parma a force to be reckoned with.

Spalletti naturally dared not underestimate Guidolin's team. In addition, this was the last game before the winter break, so he made a lot of preparations for the game and once again used his trump card 4-2-3-1 formation, fielding the team's strongest lineup.

Shan Yongzhuo was also included in the starting lineup, once again serving as the team's lone striker.

(End of this chapter)