Ground football: Ronaldo thought I was going to assist him

How could he possibly have the nerve to never pass me a threatening ball?

The conflict on the field in Viana thus unknowingly shifted from Duncan to Ronaldo.

Other players also made their mark in these three matches, with Matthäus contributing a goal and an assist, and Pinto and Fonte each getting an assist.

Sporting Lisbon's record of one loss and one draw in the ninth and tenth rounds allowed Porto to catch up in points.

Sporting Lisbon tops the table on goal difference, but the two teams are actually quite evenly matched.

With Jardel and Deco working together, Porto is currently unstoppable!

November 19th, Europa League group stage third round.

That is, the first leg of the match between Sporting Lisbon and Rosenborg has begun.

In the first two rounds, Rosenberg lost to Anderlecht.

But anyone who watched the game knows that they didn't lose by much; they still have the ability.

This is significantly stronger than the generally accepted Gaziantep Sports team.

Therefore, it won't be easy for Sporting Lisbon to defeat them.

Especially since they have just experienced ups and downs in the league.

Rosenberg took them all in one fell swoop!

If they can defeat Sporting Lisbon, they will still have a chance to advance from the group stage.

However, this match revealed something unusual from the very beginning.

In the seventh minute, Quaresma was brought down while dribbling past a defender on the wing, but the referee did not blow the whistle.

Rosenberg launched a dangerous attack, but his final shot was brilliantly saved by Schmeichel.

In the 13th minute, Yin Bu received the ball on the edge of the penalty area and was brought down by a center-back who came from behind. The entire Sporting Lisbon team complained, but the referee ignored them.

"Fuck! If he doesn't need his eyes, he can donate them!" Maxa cursed angrily from the sidelines.

The fourth referee glanced at Maxa, who immediately shrank back to the coaching and substitutes' bench, asking Triguera, "Was this a fixed match? Was it a biased refereeing decision?"

Trigra shook his head: "It's not certain yet."

Maxa: "The signs of manipulation are so obvious, and you still can't be sure?"

Trigla said, "Indeed, it looks very manipulated at the moment, but all the matches are rigged. The director is always on the field, but the ordinary fans never see the manipulator."

Maxa: "You mean, the head coach? Then what is this if not a biased refereeing decision?"

Trigla said, "That depends on the other side's intentions. Absolute fairness doesn't exist. Besides making easy money, UEFA's goal is to ensure the excitement of the matches and to make each year's script full of tension."

"Rosenberg has already lost two rounds, while we have won two. If we win this round and they lose again, then the situation will become clearer a little sooner."

"If Anderlecht next door only needs a draw, then the qualification spots will be decided directly in the next round. The last two rounds will become meaningless. Most fans won't pay for such meaningless matches."

"UEFA needs to ensure the matches are exciting. If possible, they would prefer all matches to be decided in the final round. This would significantly increase both revenue and the impact of the matches."

"So far, the referee has been very lenient with fouls, which is advantageous to Rosenberg, who is primarily on defense. But if Rosenberg takes the lead, his fouling will become much stricter, and the whistle will be blown almost every time he falls to the ground."

"If you say he's a biased referee, his standards have always been consistent for both sides. If you say he's not biased, knowledgeable fans can't possibly ignore such obvious misconduct."

Maxa gritted his teeth: "They're too arrogant!"

Trigra, on the contrary, was quite optimistic: "More or less, but it's not entirely a bad thing. Underdogs need a nurturing environment, dark horses need to be cultivated, and miracles are born under certain conditions."

"If you consider the major leagues, the UEFA Cup, the Champions League, the European Championship, and the World Cup as absolutely fair, sacred, inviolable, and blasphemous wars, then this attempt to manipulate matches to make them more exciting is simply unforgivable."

"But if you treat this as a carefully planned, scripted variety show or movie/TV series that also gives the actors some freedom to improvise, you might have a better experience."

"Many people claim to be the first type, but their wallets and their focus on the game honestly reflect that they actually prefer the second type."

"With our current strength and Deng Kai's insight and adjustment abilities on the court, as long as the referees can maintain consistency in their officiating standards for both sides, our probability of advancing from this group is almost 100%. The only difference is whether it's one round earlier or later."

"But once we get to the knockout stage, we'll be facing mostly strong teams from the top five leagues, teams ranked fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh in the top competitions, and teams of Champions League caliber."

"Back then, we were the Rosenberg we are today."

Maxa's expression brightened, and he exclaimed in surprise, completely lacking any semblance of composure, "You mean, UEFA will help us win the game?"

Trigra rubbed his forehead.

That's it?

Is Portugal's head coaching industry a future Kluyev plus Ferguson?

Is this all the petty magnanimity you have?

Are you waiting for the referee to help you win?

Trigla shook his head: "They will limit the strong teams' offense in the early stages, but regardless of whether we can seize this opportunity, they will loosen their grip on the strong teams in the last twenty minutes."

"Even when strong teams win, it's often a close call. We may have lost, but we're still proud."

"If the strong teams fail to capitalize on their opportunities, then we've pulled off a major upset; the lions are too slow to wake up."

"During this period, they can also try to equalize the score through penalties or give the other team hope, etc."

"The difference between a renowned referee and an ordinary referee is that the latter simply blows the calls, while the former directs a thrilling match that cannot be skipped."

"Any renowned referee is worthy of an Oscar nomination for Best Director. Those who get retakes are considered biased referees, equivalent to directors in the film industry who are famous but have made a lot of bad movies."

"But no matter which one it is, people will come to you and ask you to direct. Because even if you're a bad director, at least you know what your real task is. Capital will be more effective in this regard than in those idealistic new directors."

Since the fourth referee had already noticed this, Triguera used "director" to refer to the main referee more often, which did not affect the meaning of the sentence.

But it's clear that Maxa doesn't quite understand.

He's just a janitor; he's already exhausted from all the chores, how could he possibly have time to watch a movie?

Even if you were to watch it, the film director would most likely just yell, "That's the pose... Hold it... Yes, don't move... Expression, make the expression more provocative..."

I like playing football on the ground: Ronaldo thought I was going to assist him.