After the few days of vacation in Mallorca, Gao Zheng relaxed for a while.

However, after returning to the team, he naturally faced pressure from physical examinations and coaches.

Gao Zheng is pretty good and relatively restrained. Albertomasi's weight has changed a lot, so he was dealt with by Di Francesco and asked him to be only a substitute before he meets the weight.

You should know that Masi has always been the main force of the defense line before, and this can be said to be a big blow to him...

As for such a main central defender, Di Francisco said that it would be placed on the bench and that other players would not dare to have any luck and could only try their best to recover and recover from their health and condition.

Maxi was very depressed. He, like Gao Zheng, had gained weight. As a result, Gao Zheng was fine and he was cleaned up...

"The head coach wants me to gain weight. We are different, Alberto. You should lose weight honestly." Gao Zheng said to Masi gloatingly, "Who told him to play so crazy in Mallorca, the girls he had just met for a day have gotten into bed... It's time!

Although Albertomasi worked very hard to lose weight, he still failed to catch up with the league in Sampdoria's away game against Napoli on January 6.

The Christmas holiday just ended, and Sampdoria's team was not in good shape. In the end, they lost to Napoli 0:2 away.

But it's not just their team that is in poor form:

Inter Milan, ranked fifth in the last round of the league, also lost 0-1 away to Lazio in this round of the league, ranking sixth and was overtaken by Verona.

In the last round of the league, Torino, one of the ones behind Sampdoria, also lost in this round. They lost to Parma 1:3 away, and their points and rankings were stagnant.

So even if Sampdoria lost the game in this round of the league, their league rankings remained unchanged and they were still ranked seventh.

Next, Sampdoria welcomed the opponent in the Italian Cup quarterfinals. This time, it was not a weak or almost apart. This time, Sampdoria met Rome.

If Di Francisco had to follow the idea at the beginning of the season, he would definitely replace all the substitutes and youth team players and lose the game cleanly away. He would not have to consider the Italian Cup for the rest of the season.

But Di Francesco now has a different idea.

The league has played 18 rounds and is close to half. Sampdoria currently has 28 points and ranks seventh. Juventus ranked first with 49 points, Roma ranked second with 41 points, and Napoli followed closely behind with 39 minutes.

This is the case in the Champions League.

With Sampdoria's current points, they are still 11 points away from the UEFA Champions League qualifiers.

With Sampdoria's performance in the league this season, the realistic goal should be to maintain its current position, which is a reasonable result. After all, with the impact of the Champions League battle, the team was qualified for the Champions League last season, but it was directly relegated.

If you have to say that Sampdoria was the third place last season, if you can't win the third place this season, you will fail. You should be in the third place this season, that's nonsense.

Last season, Sampdoria was able to finish third place last season, which was a lot of luck. In addition, the opponents didn’t know Sampdoria and Gao Zheng at that time, so this interview Sampdoria took advantage of the loopholes. This season, even if Sampdoria did not have a Champions League match, it would be difficult for it to break through the siege from the hands of a group of strong men and win the third place again.

Sampdoria has lofty ideals this season. The goal should be to qualify for the Europa League next season, which is relatively pragmatic.

In the league, both fourth and fifth places can qualify for the UEFA Cup. It is not that Sampdoria, who is currently ranked seventh, will definitely not have the chance to qualify for the UEFA Cup at the end of the league.

But wouldn’t it be better if there was one more insurance?

This extra insurance is naturally the Italian Cup.

As long as Sampdoria can win the Italian Cup, it will automatically qualify for the UEFA Cup, regardless of which one they rank in the league.

For example, last season's Italian Cup champion belonged to Lazio. They defeated their arch rivals Roma in the same city derby, so although they were one behind Roma in the final ranking of the league and ranked seventh, they were eligible to participate in this season's Europa League and are currently entering the Europa League knockout stage as the second in the group.

In Di Francesco's view, the Italian Cup, which could have been given up, had another effect, so he was reluctant to let the substitute and youth team players play.

He doesn't know how far the team can go in the Champions League, but the Italian Cup and the Champions League do not actually conflict.

Because the Italian Cup is mainly played in January and February, the degree of overlap with the Champions League knockout stage is not very high. Sampdoria's first round of the Champions League quarterfinals was on February 19th. Seven days ago, all the Italian Cup semi-finals were finished.

Only one final is left.

If Sampdoria does not reach the final, it will naturally not have any impact on the subsequent Champions League knockout round.

If Sampdoria reaches the final, even if it is affected by the Champions League, she will not give up the Italian Cup anyway. She will definitely do her best in the last final to win the championship.

Even if he can't win the championship, if his opponent is the top five teams in the league, Sampdoria can still qualify for the Europa League next season according to the rules of postponement.

No matter how you think about it, it will be a loss.

There is another possibility that Sampdoria did not reach the Italian Cup final, but was ranked sixth in the league. If the Italian Cup champion and runner-up are the top five teams, Sampdoria can also be qualified for the Europa League next season because of the delay.

But this is not considered double insurance.

So he already had an idea about this game against Rome.

However, before this, he planned to ask the players about their opinions. After all, whether his plan can be realized is inseparable from the team's support.

And there is only one person who can give him the greatest support in this team, that is... Gao Zheng.

After Gao Zheng practiced a free kick as usual, he planned to leave the training ground, but was kept by Di Francesco who rushed over.

"Coupe of Italy?" After listening to the head coach's thoughts, Gao Zheng thought for a moment and nodded and said, "I'm fine. And to be honest, coach, I think the team really needs a clear goal. We all know that it is impossible to win the Champions League, so there is no goal in the Champions League, and the league is the same. I think some voices in the locker room are satisfied with the current ranking in the league... It's not good to continue like this. So there is a clear goal that can cheer everyone up again, which is good."

Di Francesco was very happy that Gao Zheng could understand himself so much. He slapped and said with a smile: "Yes, yes, that's what I mean! The team needs a clear goal to generate motivation. But I have a concern that it will scare you if it is a goal to win the Italian Cup?"

Gao Zheng was amused: "How could it be? The team is a little confused now. Having a clear goal will only cheer everyone up. Although the goal looks a bit scary, it will be more effective. And how many people will refuse to fight for the championship?"

Di Francesco nodded and said, "You are right, Gao. You gave me confidence and I know what to do."

He said goodbye to Gao Zheng with satisfaction. Gao Zheng could also feel the motivation of the young coach as he watched the head coach walk with the wind.

Recalling the plan he just told him about.

Although it is mainly for the qualifying for the Europa League next season, Gao Zheng is obviously more interested in the Italian Cup champion mentioned by the coach.

That's a champion after all...

Who would reject the championship?
Chapter completed!