"Hey, did you hear? DONG is transferring!"
In the stands of White Hart Lane, two Bai Baihe fans were gossiping together before the game started.
"Of course I heard about it! That's DONG! The most powerful star in Europe, bar none!" Amway fans proudly showed off the beret with the word "Winter" written on the top of his head.
"Where do you think DONG will transfer to?"
"Real Madrid, maybe, or Manchester United!" Beret fans speculated, "Who doesn't know? Ferguson simply regards DONG as his long-lost illegitimate son!"
"Gan! He already has an illegitimate child? Why does he still have such a big appetite?"
"This is Manchester United, this is a wealthy club! They want to take the best football in the world!"
"Alas! Do you think it's possible for DONG to stay?"
"Stay? I also hope he stays, but is it possible? You don't know how stingy the owner of our club is. There has never been a player who has taken Tottenham as his ultimate career goal!"
"You think so!"
"By the way, have you heard that Rome also intends to introduce DONG!"
"Haha, Roma? It really dares to think! Don't worry, DONG won't go to Roma anywhere. This is just a trick played by the Roma media before the game. No one will fall for it!"
As these two fans discussed, even if the Italian media releases more rumors about Wang Xiaodong's transfer to Roma during this period, it will sound like nothing more than a joke to the fans.
Tottenham is a small temple and it is true that they cannot keep Wang Xiaodong, but even if he leaves, he will not go to Rome!
...
Stepping into White Hart Lane, the first thing the Roma players heard was the huge boos from the fans.
Just like Tottenham faced at the Olympic Stadium.
There is no plastic track at White Hart Lane, so the atmosphere is more enthusiastic and the players can easily feel the mood of the fans.
The faces of the Roma players were a bit ugly. They were not players who had never experienced major competitions, so they were mentally prepared for the encounter in the away game.
But the problem is that Totti still did not start this time.
A pack of wolves without a leader will naturally cause panic.
If you haven't beaten your opponent at home, can you still win on the road?
Judging from the atmosphere at the scene, Tottenham had no reason to "sympathize with the weak."
...
The starting lineup of 442 is Tottenham's standard configuration.
As long as Wang Xiaodong serves as the midfielder, fans actually don't care much about the players in other positions.
Seeing Wang Xiaodong gearing up in the crowd, the Roma players looked miserable.
They had experienced previous competitions, and the pain caused by Wang Xiaodong's collision was still fresh in their memories. Many team members' shoulders were even bruised and swollen.
Even so, they must raise their heads and bite the bullet to achieve a "jedi counterattack."
So after the opening, the Roma players launched a charge into Tottenham's half with the intention of "fighting their last stand".
Tottenham are not being hypocritical at all. They defend when they say they want to defend, but they will never let you pass easily in the midfield. They attack when they say they want to attack, and every time they end up with a shot.
Even Bale and Lennon have been wandering near the midline, harassing opponent players and ready to counterattack at any time.
In fact, the game was one-sided from the start.
Tottenham's counterattack can reach the Roma goal and even result in a shot; Roma's offense often stops abruptly in the midfield.
When Wang Xiaodong easily knocked down De Rossi in another scramble, but the referee had no reaction, Huang Jianxiang's voice rang out on the screen.
"Wang Xiaodong froze Roma's midfield by himself!"
"After returning to the home court, Wang Xiaodong performed even more bravely!"
"Every time the Roma team attacked Wang Xiaodong's defense zone, it ended without success."
"How to break through Wang Xiaodong's defense is a huge problem for Roma."
"We have to admit that Wang Xiaodong has indeed grown into a world-class midfielder." Zhan Jun also sincerely praised, "Seeing his dazzling performance, I am even more looking forward to this year's Olympics."
"Yes, this season is about to end, and Tottenham are getting closer and closer to the championship. A Premier League or Champions League champion will lead the national football team to compete in the Olympics. This is something I never dared to think about before."
"However, this situation is about to come true, isn't it?" Zhan Jun asked.
"That's right, that's right! Hahahaha~~~"
It’s no wonder that James and Huang started discussing things that had nothing to do with the game. The game lasted more than 30 minutes and took a look at the scoreboard.
2 to 0!
Lennon and Berbatov scored one goal each.
With such a score, in the eyes of the fans, the Roma team did not seem to be playing with a "counterattack" mentality. Instead, it seemed that they had "accepted their fate."
Think about it, if you lose at home, why don’t you come back with a good performance in the away game and wait to go home for the New Year?
But that's exactly what happened.
At White Hart Lane, Roma not only failed to score the first goal, but Tottenham broke into the net one after another.
Seeing this situation, many fans who came to London from Rome stood up and cursed.
But what's the use of scolding?
Can it help Roma break down Tottenham's defense?
Seeing De Rossi, Pizarro, Mancini and Taddei being knocked down one by one by Wang Xiaodong, even the most extreme Roma fans did not dare to say a word.
It's simply too cruel!
So bloody!
So inhumane!
How can football be played like this?
Do you play football?
Still playing free fighting?
But this is at White Hart Lane, Tottenham's home ground.
Such a collision will not attract the referee's attention at all. If you want to blame it, it's just that your players don't have such a "habit".
After the football reform, there are fewer and fewer scenes in Serie A like Maldini and Cannavaro tackling Ronaldo together.
In this way, the Roma team played in a muddle for 45 minutes, being pressed to the ground and rubbed by Tottenham like a sandbag.
...
"Director Huang, I wonder if you feel this way. Wang Xiaodong may not be very excited today."
At the end of the first half, the score on the field was fixed at 3-0.
None of these three goals was scored by Wang Xiaodong, and there was not even an assist.
But when Zhan Jun's question was raised, he immediately refuted it.
"However, in the first half, Wang Xiaodong focused on midfield defense, and the offense was completed by his teammates in the midfield and frontcourt."
"And Wang Xiaodong's performance is also crucial. No Roma midfielder can dribble the ball past him."
"In the eyes of the Roma players, Wang Xiaodong is like a big mountain."
"Yes, but Wang Xiaodong's contribution goes beyond defense." Huang Jianxiang also nodded and continued.
"Wang Xiaodong's passing is still very accurate."
"Especially the volley from the backcourt in the 34th minute of the first half. The ball flew like a maglev train to the feet of Bell in the frontcourt, and then Bell passed it across to the unguarded train on the other side. Nong, assist your teammate to score."
"Not to mention anything else, just this low-altitude long pass over 60 meters, ordinary players can't pass it!"
"But passes from this distance are commonplace for Wang Xiaodong."
...
At halftime, the Tottenham dressing room was filled with laughter.
Promotion is in sight and everyone has smiles on their faces.
This Tottenham team has been in shape for two seasons. Everyone has a tacit understanding and can jointly withstand no matter how much pressure they face, and a little bit of joy will spread to the entire team.
Now leading by a big score, the players naturally relaxed their mentality.
The total score has reached 5-1, and the Roma team has almost lost hope of a comeback.
The question now is how Tottenham will play in the second half.
Should we stop here, continue our onslaught, or start wrangling.
Martin Joel came to Wang Xiaodong and asked happily: "DONG, do you want to take a rest in the second half of the game?"
Martin Joel's intention is to protect Wang Xiaodong and play well in the remaining games of this season. After all, he still has to compete with Manchester United for the championship in the league.
But Wang Xiaodong still has personal honors and records to pursue in the Champions League, and Martin Joel also has this question.
"Uh... let me play for a while longer."
Wang Xiaodong scratched his head. He always felt that Totti had not yet played, and the game should have a turn for the better.
Just like the last round, Roma with Totti and Roma without Totti are completely different.
Moreover, Totti's personal ability is also very outstanding, and he might be able to lead the team to a comeback.
"If there is still a penalty kick, I can still take it." Wang Xiaodong joked.
In fact, in the opposite Roma dressing room, Spalletti had no intention of letting Totti play.
According to his previous thoughts, if the score was 1-0 or even 0-0 in the first half, he would send Totti to play in the second half to try for it; but now he is behind 0-3, so why not play?
Do you really regard Totti as your savior?
That's a gap of 4 goals!
How to chase?
Replacing Totti at this time will only increase the pressure on the Wolves and lead to a hopeless game.
Even if the fans see that Totti has not performed miracles, it will damage his captain's prestige.
The most important thing is that Spalletti is more afraid of Totti getting injured again.
The season is about to end, and Spalletti still needs to rely on Totti to fight for a place in the Champions League next season. Naturally, he will not let the Wolf King take risks at this time.
Totti seemed to feel this too, sitting silently in the locker room without saying a word.
The entire Roma locker room was silent, everyone was looking forward to the game ending as soon as possible.
Seeing that Wang Xiaodong still wanted to play for a while, Martin Joel nodded and said nothing more.
He was not afraid of Wang Xiaodong getting hurt at all.
In White Hart Lane, Wang Xiaodong's opponents should be the ones who are afraid of getting hurt.
...
15 minutes passed quickly and the two sides returned to the court.
Perhaps it was the misunderstanding of the Roma players. When the second half began, their pressure increased instead of decreasing.
Eh?
What's going on with Tottenham?
They are already leading by a huge margin, why are they still attacking so hard?
Wang Xiaodong, who had been lagging behind in the first half, was like an unsheathed sword at the beginning of the second half, constantly stabbing into the Roma penalty area.
Together with the two wingers, the Roma team was overwhelmed with constant attacks.
In the 51st minute, Wang Xiaodong used an unreasonable and savage collision to break out of Roma's double block, and then took a kick and smashed open the door guarded by Doni.
Even if Dhoni met the ball with both hands, he could not prevent the ball from entering the net.
4 to 0.
Starting from Wang Xiaodong's first goal in the second half, this Champions League quarter-final has completely come to garbage time.
Roma's midfield and frontcourt were completely separated, and there were few opportunities to counterattack. In desperation, even Vucinic retreated to his own penalty area to participate in defense.
When the Tottenham players even implemented a high press and on-the-spot counterattack in the frontcourt, the Roma team could hardly breathe.
Looking at Roma being beaten in the stadium and unable to fight back, it was hard for the fans to imagine that this was the unyielding red wolf.
After Wang Xiaodong scored, the camera was broadcast to Totti on the sidelines.
In the center of the screen, the Wolf King pursed his lips, looked gloomy, and looked at the stadium with dull eyes.
After watching for a while, he seemed to remember something. He looked up at the timer again, then shook his head and continued to restore his previous appearance.
For the Wolf King, time may pass too slowly.
At this moment Tottenham got a corner kick, and while the players were running towards the corner kick, the screen broadcast everything and switched to a camera lens behind the goal in the backcourt.
In the shot, Robinson is standing at the top of the penalty area, holding his waist and looking ahead.
Behind him, in the penalty area slightly to the right, a few sparrows flew down and played on the grass.
"Director Huang, how long has it been since we saw Robinson appear on camera?"
"Uh... From about the 20th minute of the first half, I rarely see shots of the Tottenham goalkeeper." Huang Jianxiang recalled with his head tilted.
"During this period, Tottenham have been suppressing Roma. Director Huang, do you think it is possible for Tottenham to repeat the scene of Manchester United's bloodbath against Roma in the Champions League last season?"
"Well... I can't tell."
Huang Jianxiang's seriousness and pause represent his attitude.
In the quarter-finals of last season's Champions League, Manchester United and Roma met.
In the first leg, Manchester United visited Olympique and lost 1-2 to Roma.
Returning to Old Trafford in the second round, Manchester United defeated Roma 7-1 and achieved a comeback.
In that game, Ronaldo scored his first and second goals in the Champions League. From then on, Ronaldinho completely opened his Champions League goal account.
But so far, Ronaldo's total number of goals in the Champions League has not reached 10.
Now, Wang Xiaodong's number of Champions League goals has reached 13.
Just as Zhan and Huang were discussing, cheers came from the court again.
Everyone followed the sound and the ball appeared in the Roma net again.
It was also a long-range shot from outside the penalty area by Wang Xiaodong, but Dhoni didn't even touch the hair of the ball this time.
5-0, Tottenham seems to be really going to repeat the tragedy at White Hart Lane.
There were shouts in the stands, and the fans were clamoring for Wang Xiaodong to score another one. While completing the hat trick, he would also break the single-UEFA Champions League scoring record set by José Altafini in the 1962-63 season.
Now Wang Xiaodong and José Altafini have both scored 14 goals in a single Champions League. As long as they score one more goal, Wang Xiaodong will only enjoy this honor.
Judging from the situation on the court, it is easy for Wang Xiaodong to do this.
However, Martin Joel seemed to have received some news and hurriedly replaced Wang Xiaodong with Huddlestone.
To use his answer in the post-match interview, it was to avoid "international disputes."
Tottenham and Roma have almost never played against each other in history. The two teams have no grudges and there is no need to fight to the death.
As the saying goes, keep a thin line in life so that we can meet each other easily in the future.
After promotion, Tottenham still have at least two games to play. With Tottenham's tactics and Wang Xiaodong's personal level, scoring another goal will not be a problem.
Therefore, Martin Joel, despite the resentment of the fans, artificially delayed Wang Xiaodong's "record-breaking" time.
For this reason, many fans complained about Martin Joel after the game, thinking that he was a head coach who "doesn't care about cleanliness".
In fact, Martin Joel himself knew that when Wang Xiaodong scored twice, he saw the red eyes of the Roma players.
They might not be able to defeat Wang Xiaodong in a head-on confrontation, but if they were to kick him in the face, the consequences would be unimaginable.
After Wang Xiaodong was replaced, it meant that Tottenham no longer deliberately pursued goals.
When the Roma players on the field saw this, their burdens finally became lighter, and their tense nerves relaxed.
The 5-0 score lasted until the last second. When the referee blew the whistle for the end of the game, the Roma team did not complete a shot within the goal frame.
On the other hand, their opponent Tottenham had 26 shots and 19 shots on target.
If Wang Xiaodong started to exert his strength in the first half, or if he was not replaced in the second half, Tottenham could only score more goals.
In other words, although Tottenham played 5-0.
But in fact, it’s still a waste of time!
