This is the third time that Roma has reached the quarterfinals of the Champions League. Roma has been unbeaten in six consecutive games in the Champions League and nine consecutive games at home.
But Totti's absence cast a shadow over the entire city of Rome.
Just like White Hart Lane without Wang Xiaodong, although the fans are still shouting, they are always worried about something.
Totti sat on the bench with a deep expression on his face.
He has had a thigh strain for some time, but has not yet recovered to the stage where he can return to the court smoothly.
Facing Tottenham, the biggest dark horse in this European Cup, Spalletti did not dare not bring their captain with him.
Just like Martin Joel the other day.
A core player with spiritual pillar attributes can be effective even if he is sitting on the sidelines.
...
After the game started, Roma took advantage of their home court and played their best offense vigorously.
In the sixth minute, Roma got a great opportunity.
Vucinic's breakthrough was brought down by Wang Xiaodong. Players from both sides argued for a long time. In the end, Wang Xiaodong escaped the yellow card penalty and the home team received a free kick in the frontcourt.
Wang Xiaodong stood in the middle of the wall of people, his face a little unhappy.
In the defense just now, he neither pulled nor tackled, he just side-bumped the opponent with his body and pushed the opponent slightly with his arm.
This kind of defensive intensity would not even be looked at by Premier League referees, but in the Olympics, it almost became a card-worthy move.
De Rossi's free kick slid past the goal and a sigh of regret echoed at the Olympic Stadium.
Spalletti stood on the sidelines. Although he was extremely regretful, he kept pumping his hands and conveyed his encouragement and appreciation to the players.
Judging from the opening minutes, Tottenham seemed to have not adapted to everything in Rome.
Whether it was the venue, the atmosphere, the climate, the home team's tactics or the intensity of the referee's penalties, Tottenham retreated across the board and tried their best to adapt to the rhythm of the game.
This reassured Spalletti a lot.
Playing at home still has many advantages.
As long as you can stick to your own style and bring your opponents into your own rhythm.
Even without Totti, defeating this dark horse in the Premier League should not be a problem.
The elimination of the Milan duo kept him in a state of high tension before the game. He has been standing on the sidelines since the start of the game, observing the subtle game situations.
Now he feels like he can finally sit back on the bench, take a sip of water and rest.
Although De Rossi did not score a goal, he gave the Roma fans in the stands great confidence.
What the hell is Tottenham?
Is it Manchester United?
Or Arsenal?
Or Chelsea and Liverpool?
It's just an ordinary team that only entered the Champions League this year. How could it be so evil according to outside rumors?
Even if our prince doesn't play, so what?
Anyway, the final victory must belong to us!
But as the game progressed, the home team fans' thoughts began to change a little bit.
First of all, after Tottenham adapted to the home team's offensive rhythm, they began to defend against leaks.
Roma, with a single arrow, rarely had the chance to hit the ball within the goal frame in front of Tottenham.
Secondly, when Tottenham counterattacked, it was very threatening every time.
Compared with the visiting team, the besieging Roma looked very impressive, but in front of Tottenham's two wings flying together, the actual threat was much smaller!
The game lasted for more than 20 minutes, and the most threatening shot turned out to be Pizarro's long shot from outside the penalty area!
On the Tottenham side, Wang Xiaodong's shots from outside the penalty area alone have reached 3 times.
If not for the concentration of the Roma defender and goalkeeper, all three goals might have been in the net.
The gradually widening gap in the number of shots made the faces of the home team fans gradually dim.
Although the ball is still under the control of the Roma players, no one knows when it will be intercepted by the opponent and then quickly hit to the edge of their own penalty area.
It is no secret that the visiting team Tottenham uses Wang Xiaodong as the core of their offense.
The problem is that looking at today's football, which team uses the midfielder as the main attacker?
That's outrageous!
But Tottenham did it.
And it's done well.
No team will focus on a midfielder who often wanders outside the penalty area when defending. It will only allow the opponent's forwards to seize the gaps.
Wang Xiaodong is like an ultra-long-distance fort, even one that can launch intercontinental missiles.
Although his shortcomings are obvious, once they are used, they are irreplaceable.
The most important thing is that this turret is more active than anyone else in defense and has greater mobility than any other team member.
When Wang Xiaodong began to gradually grasp the referee's penalty scale, disaster struck for the Roma offensive players.
The home team's two recent consecutive attacks ended up at Wang Xiaodong's feet.
The failure of these two attacks was exactly the same. Under Wang Xiaodong's close pressing, the player who did not pass the ball in advance lost his center of gravity and fell to the ground, thus losing the ball.
This kind of steal that cannot cause any hindrance to the defender is a nightmare for the offensive team.
Because teammates are still preparing for the attack one second, and they have to turn around and defend the next second.
Many people have not yet reacted and thus lost the opportunity.
If the offensive player who is intercepted at this time does not counterattack immediately, or completely loses the ability to counterattack, it is very likely that the opponent will launch a quick counterattack.
This is what the Roma team is experiencing!
If it weren't for Mexes and Panucci's alternating tackles, Tottenham might have taken the lead right now!
"Great pass from Luca!"
"Ribaba received the ball in the penalty area... swept to the goal..."
"Keane!!!"
"Just a little bit... Keane's tackle hit goalkeeper Dhoni."
There was a burst of exclamation from the home team's stands. Although there was no goal, it still scared these Roma fans.
This is not the first time!
Tottenham's offensive threat does not only come from Wang Xiaodong.
The smiles of the home team fans were gradually fading, and Spalletti also stood up from his seat and returned to the sidelines to pace around.
There are no underdogs in the Champions League.
If they can reach the quarterfinals, how can Tottenham be so easy to compete with?
...
The first half ended quickly, with the two teams tied at 0-0.
When the referee blew the whistle to end the first half, many fans of the home team wiped the sweat from their foreheads.
If they had been told before the game that this was the score at halftime, they might not have been able to accept it, but now, they are just grateful that Tottenham did not score an away goal.
Within a few minutes of the second half, Spalletti took the lead in making substitutions.
He replaced the right midfielder Tadei with Ludovic Giuly. This fast right back just transferred from Barcelona this season.
If it weren't for the rise of Messi, Giuly might still be the main player in Barcelona.
Giuly, who is only 1.64 meters tall, is famous for his speed. Not only that, he is also good at passing, controlling and shooting.
His nickname is also interesting. Because of his excellent digging ability, he is called "Electric Mouse" by fans.
In the eyes of fans, "Electric Mouse Lennon" is just a replica of "Electric Mouse Giuli".
It is not difficult to see that Spalletti hopes to enhance the team's offensive quality by replacing Giuly. With Giuly's elusive running ability, he can quickly find Tottenham's defensive gaps and give his opponents a fatal blow.
Seeing Giuly on the stage, the home team fans gave him warm applause.
They put all their hopes of breaking the deadlock on this little quickie.
However, what the fans of the home team did not expect was that the "disaster" happened just one second after hope.
Not long after Giuly came on the field, Tottenham used a counterattack to kick the ball into the frontcourt.
Modric pulled wide and when De Rossi closed in behind him, the Croatian didn't move forward.
He paused with his body, leaning on his opponent with his back while knocking the ball across the middle.
This well-timed pass passed right between Pizarro's legs. The ball was not fast and looked non-threatening.
But at this moment, Wang Xiaodong, who was in front of the top of the arc, kicked up on the spot without any warning, and used the instep of his right foot to hit the ball hard.
It's too far from the goal!
So far away that no one expected him to suddenly take off!
After goalkeeper Dhoni judged that it was a shot, he quickly moved to the left and fought hard to save it.
Wang Xiaodong's long-range shot fell rapidly, landed on the line of the small penalty area and bounced up again.
Doni tried his best and finally blocked the ball with his fists in front of the goal line.
The sudden shot prevented all the defenders from reacting. When the ball was blocked by Doni with his life, the first one to run to the ball was still Bulgaria forward Berbatov.
His sense of smell in front of the door is too sensitive.
Facing the opponent's goalkeeper's rebound ball, he easily pushed the ball into the net.
“GOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL!!!”
The visiting team's commentator immediately shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Dimita Berbatov!"
"1-0, we took the lead!"
The Olympic Stadium fell into a brief silence when Berba scored.
They thought they were used to Wang Xiaodong's long-range shots and found a way to fight against them. But they never expected that their opponents would score the first goal in this way.
...
"Wang Xiaodong's long-range shot threat is really great, and its effect is not only for scoring goals!" Zhan Jun praised.
"Looking at it now, Wang Xiaodong's long-range shot can play a role in blocking the opponent's goalkeeper."
"As long as there is a point-grabbing forward standing in the penalty area, the goal is almost certain to be scored."
"Rather than saying this was an oversight by Roma's defense, it is better to say it was the cooperative connection between Wang Xiaodong and Berbatov."
In front of the visiting team's bench, Martin Joel kept waving one arm.
What could be happier than scoring an away goal and taking the lead?
Looking on the other side, Spalletti looked gloomy.
When there was a deadlock on the court, he hoped to replace Giuly to break the deadlock.
But who would have thought that the balance would be broken first by the opponent, but the crisis came to one's own side.
As the head coach of Roma, the only Serie A team left in the quarterfinals, Spalletti subconsciously turned his head and looked at the bench.
There, he saw a determined face.
Even before that, the owner of this face had missed five games due to injury and had not fully recovered from the injury.
But at this time, perhaps only he can inject new strength into the team.
He is the Wolf King, the symbol of this team and this city!
"Francisco, you..."
Before Spalletti could finish speaking, Totti took off his jacket, put on his training vest and began to warm up on the sidelines.
