Dino Manuzzi Stadium, a, Italy.

  When referee Bertini blew the final whistle, Juventus coach Didier Deschamps turned around in frustration, clearly unsatisfied with the match oute.

  Juventus narrowly defeated a 2-1 thanks to goals from Bojinov and Del Piero.

  Yes, it was a eback, and a fairly nerve-wrag o that, with both goals ing in the sed half.

  Del Piero, who repced Marne ih minute, scored the crucial goal just a mier, being the hero of the matd ensuring Juventus' adva.

  However, this still did not satisfy Deschamps.

  This wasn't the type of football he wanted.

  Or rather, Juventus couldn't py the type of football he wanted.

  "Our offense has serious issues, and our ability to create ces in the final third is too poor. At this rate, we will have a tough time in Serie B this season, especially against teams that are defensively solid, like Napoli," Deschamps said, shaking his head in disappoi.

  Napoli's coach, Gao Shen, has a reputation worldwide for his deferategies.

  He won the double at Real Madrid by relying on a solid defense.

  "a has never been known for its defensive abilities in Serie B. Their high ranking st season was due to their excellent offeheir defense was among the weakest in Serie B. You see it in this game; it's not very good," said assistant coach Pezzotti.

  Pezzotti, a close aide of Italian national team coach Lippi, came to Juventus after the World Cup to assist Deschamps, hoping to help the team return to Serie A.

  Ideally, they also wao wile and take down that "arrogant kid" in Naples.

  "Yes, but even against a defensively weak team like a, our attack looked far from ving. This 't tinue," Deschamps muttered, visibly annoyed, as this problem had been persistent.

  In fact, Juventus' attag woes have existed since Capello's tenure, especially a ck of creativity.

  Apart from Del Piero, the rest of the forwards ot create opportunities when closely marked.

  And without creating ces, how you expect to win games?

  Juventus' relegation to Serie B has put them in a position simir to a tiger desding from the mountains. They have a clear advantage, which means most teams will py defensively against them. At this point, the key to Juventus' victory bees their ability to attack.

  But that is precisely where Juventus is weakest.

  This was the case when Capello was in charge, and Deschamps raised the same upon taking over. However, it has yet to be resolved.

  They sold pyers for more than 80 million euros, yet they are relut to spend mothen the squad?

  "We need a quick forward and an attag midfielder. We absolutely have t in pyers for these two positions," Deschamps insisted.

  It's still not too te.

  Deschamps kly what he needed and had unicated it to the ma.

  Deschamps' tactic relies on solid defense paired with sharp terattacks, where speed is critical.

  But in the current Juventus squad, there isn't a pymaker to unch terattacks or a pacey forward to lead them. How is Deschamps supposed to execute his tactics?

  When he first took over Juventus, Deschamps specifically asked for two pyers: Savio, who was out of favor at Bara and had only one year left on his tract. Bara would likely sell him for a reasonable price. Deschamps had worked with the Argeriker at Monad knew how to utilize him effectively.

  The other was Hamburg's Dutch midfielder, Rafael van der Vaart.

  Van der Vaart, a talented product of Ajax, had been perf well at Hamburg. His addition could pensate for Juventus' weak midfield creativity, and his transfer fee wouldn't break the bank.

  Deschamps employed a 4-4-2 in the first round, and in this game, he went with a 4-2-3-1. No matter whiation he chose, a pyer like Van der Vaart at the No. 10 position would be essential.

  But what did Secc in instead? Zai and Marne.

  Just look at this game Mar off, Del Piero came on, and Juventus immediately scored.

  It may seem like a ce, but it's actually quite telling.

  "I o have aalk with Secco!" Deschamps said with a sigh.

  As a head coach, he also wants to achieve results.

  "He won't agree," Pezzotti said, shaking his head.

  Deschamps' expression froze. He let out a long sigh; he knew.

  If Secco was going to make those signings, he would have done so already. It's te August, and the transfer window is about to close.

  "I now uand why the Napoli's coach refused to take over Juventus," Deschamps said sarcastically.

  This remark caused Pintus, the fitness coaearby, to cough heavily, reminding Deschamps to be careful with his words, as there were people around.

  Deschamps g Pintus, who had a kind expression on his face, smiled bitterly, and said nothing more.

  Everyone knows that at Juventus, the name Gao Shen is a taboo.

  However, only Deschamps knows in his heart that he must defeat this name.

  This was Secco's requirement when he was hired to coach Juventus.

  Promotion aing Gao Shen these are Deschamps' two major objectives this season. Achieving them is key to his tract renewal.

  ...

  Napoli defeated Serie A team Ascoli 2-0.

  Juventus defeated Serie B team a 2-1 away.

  Both teams advao the third round of the Coppa Italia over the weekend.

  And this round ractically a bloodbath for Serie B teams.

  Pescara, led by Balrdini, who had impressed in the previous round, lost 0-3 at home to Serie A's Atanta in this round, pletely outpyed in every aspect.

  Another Serie B favorite for promotion, Piaza, faced Serie A's relegated team Messina away, and the result redictable: they lost 0-2 and were eliminated.

  Rimini, another promising side at home, faced Sampdoria and, despite drawing 1-1, ceded a te goal to lose 1-2 a the Coppa Italia.

  Verona's game against Cagliari followed a simir script to Rimini's: down by one goal, they equalized, only to cede another and lose.

  In the sed knockout round of the Coppa Italia, almost every Serie B team that faced a Serie A team was eliminated.

  The only exception was Napoli.

  Gao Shen's Southern team defeated Serie A's Ascoli 2-0 at home, making them the only victorious side in a full-blown Serie A vs. Serie B battle.

  While many Serie B teams made it to the Coppa Italia round of 16, most came from lower divisions. Only Napoli advanced by beating a Serie A team, which made their achievement all the more signifit.

  This was also the first truly ving performance of Gao Shen's Napoli.

  Especially in trast to the failures of other Serie B teams.

  In the round of 16, there were nine Serie B teams and seven Serie A teams. All the teams from the lower divisions were eliminated in the first two rounds.

  This made the draw for the third round all the more pelling.

  Anyone could see that this would be a csh full of suspense.

  Particurly strong teams like Lazio and Juventus no one wao face them.

  ...

  For the Coppa Italia draw, representatives of each club were present to withe process.

  Napoli sent general manager Marino to the Football Association headquarters in Rome to participate in the draw ceremony.

  However, si was only the third round of the cup, strong teams like A and Inter Min were not yet involved, so the event did not attract much attention and wasn't broadcast on TV.

  The real attention would e in the fourth round.

  That's wheop eight Serie A teams from st season would join the petition, making the matches truly intense.

  As usual, Gao Shen watched his team duct recovery training the m after the game.

  Bueura's training pns were w well, and the pyers were rec faster.

  Most of Napoli's pyers are young, so the effects aren't as noticeable yet. But when Gao Shen was at Real Madrid, where there were many older pyers, the recovery effects were evident, so he brought the same regimen to Napoli.

  After training, Gao Shen tinued his routine of speaking with some pyers.

  The club had tacted Sanchez's parents about work in Naples, and Gao Shen checked in on how that was going.

  Additionally, for the new season, Sanchez had to be registered with the sed team because, teically, he is only seventeen years old.

  But age isn't the issue; the problem lies with Italy's quota for fn pyers.

  Each team is allowed a maximum of three non-EU pyers, but Napoli currently has four: Sanchez, Vidal, Gervinho, and Vargas.

  Pyers like Biglia, Di Maria, David Luiz, and i all have dual nationalities.

  This is a oure of South Ameri fn pyers many have dual nationalities.

  As for how they mao get dual citizenship, that's beyond Gao Shen's scope.

  From the 1990s to the early 2000s, when Italy was still experieng its "small World Cup" era, fn pyers weren't strictly reguted, resulting in nearly half of Serie A being made up of fners, severely limiting opportunities for local Italian pyers.

  In respohe Italian Football Association began limiting the number of fn pyers at the start of the tury. But by then, most Italian teams had exceeded their fn aid limit, meaning they had to sell an iional pyer before bringing in another.

  This was a challenge he had to navigate carefully.

  The notorious fake passport sdal involving pyers like Verón still echoed throughout Italian football. It was a reminder of how many South Ameri pyers, like Verón, tried to cim Italian citizenship through distant aral ties to circumveris.

  However, Verón's case took a darker turn when his dual nationality was deemed illegal, leading to a two-year ban before he moved to Maer United.

  I years, South Ameri pyers had beore strategic, often applying for dual citizenship well before their European moves. The advantage was obvious, as it eased their transition into European leagues that had strict fn pyer limits.

  Gao Shen, however, found himself in a predit after bringing in Vidal on a whim, which pushed Napoli over the fn pyer quota. Fortunately, the Italian Football Association allowed one fn pyer on the youth team, so he was able to assign that spot to Alexis Sánchez, who was still under 21. Sánchez, uanding the situation, was grateful just to have a ce to py in Italy and t his family along.

  "Thank you, boss!" Sánchez said early.

  Gao Shen smiled, patted his shoulder, and enced him, "e on."

  As he walked away, his ph it was Marino calling.