Bullying! This is pure bullying!

  Standing in front of the visiting team's bench, Pioli was almost driven to tears by Napoli's opening goal.

  When he arrived at Sao Paulo Stadium, he had imagined many possibilities. He had even envisiohat his team might cede early. But he never anticipated that they would cede a goal in the very first mihat was just eous!

  Looking over at Gao Shen, the home team's coach, Pioli couldn't help but feel a surge of anger. He desperately wao march over and give him a piece of his mind.

  Couldn't you tell that my opening move was just to throw you off bance? Didn't you realize I was just trying to fake you out ahings out on the road?"

  "I gave you such a clear hint before the game how could you not see it? How you be so heartless?"

  "Have you thought about how I feel?"

  "I'm a dignified Serie A coach. I've led my team to three secutive UEFA Cup victories. I'm a top 100 coa UEFA rankings… Alright, maybe top 200. But still, you 't just humiliate me like this!"

  "To be beaten like this in front of your home crowd… Where's your sense of decy?"

  Pioli silently vented his frustrations ament in his heart, but it didn't ge his predit.

  When the game restarted, Napoli tinued with the same tactics high pressing aless attacks. Oher hand, the Parma pyers were beginning to look hesitant.

  Acc to the pre-match strategy, they were supposed to push for an early goal. But Napoli had e out swinging and scored immediately. Now, the Parma pyers were bewildered.

  "How are we supposed to py like this?"

  The team began to fall out of synd many pyers goward the sidelines, waiting for Pioli's guidance.

  But Pioli himself was at a loss.

  As a Serie A team visiting a Serie B club, g so early was humiliating. What should he do now?

  Should he have them retreat? That would be even more embarrassing!

  Especially after hearing Gao Shen's pre-match remarks, that Parma restigious team that should py with pride and decy. At the very least, shouldn't they put on a respectable performao prepare for the home leg of the sed round?

  Pioli wasn't ready to give up just yet.

  His game pn was to secure a draw and then finish things off iur home. But with an early deficit, he was far from satisfied.

  However, tinuing on like this seemed risky.

  The Napoli team and that audacious young coach were ruthless and didn't seem to follow the unwritten rules of the game.

  How long could Parma hold out if they didn't fall back?

  Pioli was unsure.

  And when a coach hesitates, the pyers lose crity and dire. The disect between offense and defense soon became obvious och.

  A pass during a quick terattack went astray.

  After Biglia intercepted the ball, he quickly passed to Hamsik to unch a terattack.

  Hamsik stopped the ball, turned, a it forward.

  i received it, skillfully dribbling past defenders Cotto and Rossi, charging towards the penalty area. As the defense closed in, he sent a precise pass back behind him.

  Gervinho, anticipating the move, dashed behind Cotto, got ahead of the goalkeeper, aly tapped the ball into Parma's .

  Napoli scored again within just five minutes!

  2-0!!!!!

  The eadium fell into stunned silence.

  Iands, the fans were so overjoyed that they momentarily fot to cheer. It wasn't until Gervinho ran off the pit celebration that the crowd erupted into thunderous appuse, ting his name in unison.

  Pioli, oher hand, was left utterly bewildered.

  With a resentful gaze, he looked towards the home team's bench, where Gao Shen was embrag his assistants. Pioli nearly wept in frustration.

  "This is too much to bear…"

  ...

  Gao Shen was ecstatic!

  Initially, he thought it would be a win just to score one goal early on. But Parma, in their eagerness, practically handed Napoli anoal on a silver ptter.

  What could be better than this?

  Less than six minutes in, and Napoli were already two goals ahead. What more could he ask for?

  Looking at his coag staff, Carlo, Lucas, and Guardio were equally stunned. No one had expected the game to go this smoothly. It was pletely ued.

  Gao Shen then gnced over at the visiting team's bench. Pioli was gesturing at his pyers, signaling for them to fall bad defend.

  There's a saying: "When a schor rebels, he never succeeds for three years."

  If Pioli had made tactical adjustments earlier, they might not have ceded the sed goal so quickly. But he hesitated.

  That's the problem with ho people—they think too much, and they hesitate.

  In the workpce, it's the same: why do ho people ofteaken advantage of? Because they care too much about others' feelings. They don't know how to refuse or make decisive choices. They try to aodate everyone, but in the end, they end up being the ones who suffer.

  And when they suffer, the people who take advantage of them often don't even appreciate it. They think it's only natural and tio "bully" them.

  Pioli's experieonight erfect example of how ho people get treated on the football field.

  Are we being too cruel?

  Gao Shen briefly pohis. His clusion? It's always better to be ruthless with the opposition.

  After all, you decided to be an ho man what I do?

  I'm doing this for your own good, Mr. Pioli.

  ...

  Once Parma retreated into a defensive formation, it became difficult for them to break Napoli's line.

  This is a typical characteristic of Italian teams they excel at defense.

  Parma's defense in Serie A has been ckluster, but the media and fans have long criticized them for their defensive capabilities. heless, ohey itted to a full retreat, Napoli found it difficult to break through.

  When an Italian team goes into a defensive "iron wall" mode, every oppo knows it's a nightmare.

  Napoli pyed patiently, knowing that they held the advantage. With a two-goal lead, Gao Shen saw o rush.

  Though there was still a sed leg to py, Gao She fident with two goals in the bag. What was there to fear?

  At halftime, Gao Shen didn't push the pyers to increase their offense further.

  Parma still had some fight left in them. After all, they were a Serie A team. Gao Shen urged caution and told his pyers to maintain their posure and avoid taking unnecessary risks.

  ...

  In the sed half, Pioli pyed it safe, refraining from pressing forward too aggressively. He patiently waited for opportuo terattack.

  Napoli tinued probing, trying to create ces, but without success.

  Around the 60th minute, Pioli made his move, substituting midfielder Bono for striker Detic, switg to a 4-4-2 formation to bolster the team's attag power.

  Three mier, Pioli made another bold move, repg Savi with Pisanu tthen their right fnk attack.

  Sensing Parma's iions, Gao Shen immediately signaled his pyers to ramp up the tempo, ung a series of rapid attacks that put Parma under intense pressure.

  Both i and Hamsik had excellent ces to score, but their shots narrowly missed the target, to the great disappoi of the Napoli fans.

  Had those two goals gone in, the tie would have been sealed.

  After enduring Napoli's onsught, Parma once again withdrew into a defeance.

  The game returo a stalemate.

  It wasn't until the 80th mihat Parma mounted another terattack, only to be pinned back by Napoli's pressing.

  The remainder of the game saw fierce but fruitless exges betweewo teams.

  In the end, Napoli emerged victorious with a 2-0 win over Parma at Sao Paulo Stadium.

  ...

  As the final whistle blew, Gao Shen ched his fists in celebration.

  A 2-0 lead was more than enough.

  He leased with how the game unfolded. Napoli's pyers had expended a lot of energy, but the result was well worth it.

  Most importantly, with this victao She even more fident heading into the sed leg.

  Parma's strength was unimpressive, barely better than Ascoli's.

  No wohese two teams were sitting at 19th and 18th pce, respectively, in the Serie A standings.

  As for Parma's UEFA Cup performances… well, that could just be a refle of the petition's dee.

  After shaking hands with his assistants, Gao Shen made his way over to the visiting team's bench.

  Pioli's expression was one of pure disappoi.

  But as soon as he saw Gao Shen approag, he forced a polite smile aended his hand.

  A good man!

  Even after losing, he still mao maintain his posure and show respect for his oppo's feelings. He was a truly... great man.

  So great, in fact, that Gao Shen almost felt like beating him again!

  Pioli wasn't happy with the game. He felt that his team had been thrown off bance by those twoals.

  "If we had another ce, we wouldn't cede so easily," Pioli said.

  Gao Shen nodded with a smile after all, a win was a win. Whatever made Pioli feel better.

  "If you were Lippi, or Capello, with a squad full of superstars, sure.

  "Although we are two goals behind, the real final will be at our home ground, and we will definitely be able to make a eback," Pioli said with a serious expression.

  It was clear that he was determio reverse the situation and advance.

  In fact, he might have already prepared for an away defeat, banking on a eback at home.

  Gao Shen inally wao respect Pioli's optimism and not ruin his mood, but seeing how fident he was, Gao Shen couldn't help but feel the urge to shatter his unrealistic expectations.

  "I think you may have fotten, Mr. Pioli, back when I was at Real Madrid, I was known for my defense. In a situation like this, I could defend for 180 minutes," Gao Shen said, still maintaining a serious expression as he nodded, as if to emphasize: I'm dead serious.

  Pioli was left stunned once again.