Chapter 589 Devil's Schedule
There are still more than 20 days before the start of the Champions League group stage, but the Coppa Italia will soon kick off. Now all the energy of Inter Milan is in the league. They urgently need to take advantage of their good condition to consolidate their current point advantage, so that they can have more intense and cruel three-line battles, otherwise in After the World Cup qualifiers, affected by the FIFA virus, we don't know what the team will be like.
The strength of the opponents of the 10th round of Serie A is very average. Inter Milan's opponent is Lecce, who ranked third from the bottom, Chevo's opponent is Venice, AC Milan's opponent is Turin, Lazio's opponent is Brescia, Juventus' opponent is Verona, except for Rome's opponent Atlanta, which is slightly stronger. It is almost the top five teams against the bottom five teams. It is a high probability that all of them will win. Inter Milan does not pray to expand their lead in this round, as long as they are not tied by their opponents.
However, the more this kind of strong and weak the game is, the more unexpected surprises will be. First, Chievo was unexpectedly tied by Venice 1:1, and then Roma was also tied by the Atlantars on the road. The match between Juventus and Inter Milan was played at the same time, while the match between AC Milan and Turin was played the next day.
Inter Milan did not give Lecce any illusions at home. In the last round, Recoba, who performed well, defeated Lecce twice, while Juventus was in a sluggish state after the defeat in the last round of national derby and was tied by Verona on the road. In the next day's game, AC Milan was also defeated by Turin. The top of the table and In the latter, only Lazio and Inter Milan won in the final.
Lazio is very far from the top of the list, and it is Inter Milan that has gained a lot in this round. With this victory against the weak team Lecce, they widened the gap between them and Chievo to 4 points, consolidating the top position, and the gap with their main competitor Juventus to 12 points, and the gap with AC Milan reached 14 points. Rome, the nearest giant from Inter Milan, is far away from the country. Inter Milan also has a gap of three games, and now the players of Inter Milan can finally rest assured to fight for the World Cup finals.
Now more than half of the top 32 teams in the World Cup have qualified, and Brazil is in the South American division. The current points situation in South America is very clear: Brazil, Uruguay and Colombia have 27, 26 and 24 points. As long as Brazil beats Venezuela at home, it can get the last direct qualifying place.
Uruguay against Argentina, which has no intention of fighting and may release water, as long as it wins, Uruguay can at least overwhelm Colombia and Oceania regional champion Australia in two rounds of play-offs, deciding who will be the last World Cup ticket.
The fifth Iran in the Asian top ten will compete with Ireland in Europe for a place, but it is very difficult for Iran to repeat the elimination of Australia in the qualifying round-offs four years ago. Ireland is far stronger than Australia.
The four play-offs in Europe are Germany vs. Ukraine, Romania vs. Slovenia, Turkey vs. Austria, and the Czech Republic vs. Belgium.
In the Central and North America division, Honduras will compete with Mexico in the last round of the qualifiers at Aztec Stadium in Mexico on November 11. Honduras must win the game to successfully enter the World Cup finals, while Mexico can get the last ticket in the division as long as it draws.
It's about the final World Cup qualifying quota. Fans all over the world focus on the national team from the club. In addition to the players and club coaches who don't have a game, they also come to the scene to watch the game of their favorite team.
The German team in the European division was tied by Ukraine 1:1 in the first round, and defeated Ukraine 4:1 in the second round to advance to the World Cup finals.
Slovenia defeated Romania 2-1 at home and drew 1-1 with Romania, thus knocking out Romania, one of the quarter-finals of the 1994 World Cup, with a total score of 3-2 in two rounds, and qualified for the World Cup finals for the first time in history. Romania will also miss the World Cup final for the first time since 1986.
Turkey eliminated Austria 6-0 in two rounds. Since 1954, Turkey has reached the World Cup finals for the first time.
Belgium defeated the Eastern European giant Czech Republic with two 1-0 in two rounds and appeared on the stage of the World Cup finals for the sixth time in a row.
In the Central and North America division, Mexico, which can easily qualify for a draw, easily beat Honduras 3-0 at home. After Mexico enters the World Cup finals, Mexican TV's advertising revenue during the World Cup will increase by $80 million.
Brazil defeated Venezuela 3-0 under the leadership of Rivaldo, Ronaldo and Ronaldinho, and qualified directly from the South American division.
The fifth Uruguay team in the South American division eliminated Australia with a total score of 3-1 in two rounds in the play-offs with Oceania champion Australia, and won the last place to advance to the finals of next year's World Cup.
The two-week round of ups and downs were exciting. Finally, the World Cup qualifiers, which lasted for one year and eight months, were all over, and all 32 teams participating in the final stage next year were produced:
North and Central America: Costa Rica, the United States, Mexico
South America: Ecuador, Paraguay, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil
Asia: China, Saudi Arabia, Japan, South Korea
European region: France, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Russia, Portugal, Denmark, Croatia, Italy, England, Slovenia, Turkey, Germany, Ireland, Belgium
Africa: Cameroon, South Africa, Tunisia, Senegal, Nigeria
When the World Cup qualifiers were in full swing, Italian football was not idle. In the gap between the two World Cup qualifiers, the top 16 knockout matches of the Italian Cup also kicked off.
Coppa Italia is an elimination football match hosted by the Italian Football Federation. This competition is the highest level of the football cup in Italy. It has a wide range of participating teams, including Serie A, Serie B and Serie C. It is the fame and fortune field of small clubs and a hotbed.
Due to the weak team in the early stage of the Coppa Italia, in order to let the strong teams focus on the Champions League and the league, the top eight teams do not participate in the first round and the peripheral group stage. They start from the knockout matches of the top 16.
Inter Milan's opponent in the top 16 knockout match is Udinese, the mid-end team of Serie A. Because many main players in the team have returned to the national team, it is even difficult for Inter Milan to assemble the lineup. In the end, Inter Milan, which is extremely unorganized, was defeated by Udinese 2-1 on the road, and the situation of advancing to the top eight is grim. Jiang Mu's team has been going well since the game, but now, their triple crown goal has encountered the first difficulty.
In fact, Inter Milan is not ashamed to lose to Udinese in such a situation. They also have a chance to win back at home. Their difficulty lies in the schedule.
The players have just finished the World Cup qualifiers and are physically and mentally exhausted. Ronaldinho is also slightly injured, but after coming back, they will immediately prepare for the away game and Roma's Serie A. In the middle of the week, they will also have to meet the first round of the group match with the Bundesliga team Leverkusen's UEFA Champions League group stage, playing Fiorentina on the weekend. Immediately after the knockout match of the Coppa Italia against Udinese in the middle of the week.
The league is fine. Even if they lose, other teams can't catch up with Inter Milan, but the UEFA Champions League and the Coppa Italia must not lose. The three opponents in the Champions League are very strong. If they lose a game, they will fall into an extremely passive situation, and the Coppa Italia must win. And the dilemma of winning is a great test for both Inter Milan and Jiang Mu at this judicament.
At this moment, many people are beginning to be grateful for how wise Jiang Mu was to take the pre-emptive in the league and the Champions League. If the league does not leave the opponent aside now, this schedule will be more devilish for Inter Milan, and now, they can at least afford to lose in the league.
Obviously, Roma is not as good as Inter Milan. Their situation is similar to that of Inter Milan. In the top 16 knockout of the Coppa Italia, they were defeated by the weak team Piacenza 2:1. After the World Cup qualifiers, they will play Inter Milan on the weekend, go to Portugal to play Porto in the middle of the week, and come back. It was another match against Bologna, followed by the Coppa Italia and Piacenza.
Although the schedule is as intensive as Inter Milan, Rome is more difficult than Inter Milan, because they can't lose any of them.
If you lose the league with Inter Milan, the league championship will be basically lost. If you lose the Champions League with Porto, the last two opponents are Manchester United and Bayern. They are not sure of winning. The Champions League will also be finished. The match with Piacenza must also be won. If they don't win, they will be eliminated.
This makes Rome, who has just improved, in a difficult situation again. If they can get through this devil's schedule, the rest of the day will be much better. If they can't get through, it is likely to be a four-in-one season. For gold medal coach Capello, he is facing more difficult than Jiang Mu. Dealing with the dilemma.
Compared with Roma and Inter Milan, Juventus' life is better. They beat Sampdoria 2-1 away in the first leg of the knockout match of the Coppa Italia. They can advance if they return home without losing 0:2 or more. In the league, although their two opponents are Parma and Lazio, Juventus Tus basically has no hope of winning the championship, and the draw is acceptable. In the Champions League, they play the weak Alkmaar away from home, and they have great hope to win. It can be said that Juventus can now wait for Inter Milan to make mistakes with a relaxed attitude.