The Era of Emerald

() September [-]th, Glasgow's Ibrox Stadium.

The Ibrox Stadium, home of Glasgow Rangers, is one of the oldest and largest football stadiums in the UK.The stadium is also a UEFA five-star stadium. The highest attendance record is 118567. It was set in the game between Rangers and Celtic in January 1939. This is also the league record for the most attendance in the UK.After some modernization, the 1-capacity Ibrox Stadium has become the second-largest stadium in Scotland, after Edinburgh's Molefi Stadium.

Now, Fiorentina will usher in their first European Champions Cup game in 25 years here.

Compared with Florence, who has no experience in the Champions League, the Rangers team, one of the overlords of the Scottish Super League, can be said to be quite experienced. Although they have not achieved very good results in the Champions Cup over the years, they are rich Big game experience can make up for this to a large extent.

At the same time, as the largest city in Scotland, Glasgow naturally has a large number of fans here. The cheering sound of more than 5 Scottish fans in the stadium can better stimulate the state of the home team players; He is a well-known British steel tycoon, and he is willing to spend money to invest in the team. Therefore, the Rangers, who are not short of money, have strengthened to a certain extent this season. Gascoigne transferred from Lazio. Brian Laudrup, who has been unable to play in AC Milan, has both played in Serie A for many years and is quite familiar with Fiorentina's team personnel and tactics. These are quite unfavorable factors for Fiorentina.

Out of caution, Ranieri honestly used all the good cards in his hands in this game.

The goalkeeper is still Toldo, and Ferrara and Filicano are partnered as central defenders. Their rich game experience and height can deal with the opponent's old center McCoyst. The two wings are Lanner and Bill Lindley.

In the forward line, considering the opponent's superiority in scrambling for the ball and physical fitness, Ranieri finally sent a combination of Ronaldo and Roberto Baggio, whose skills, speed and dexterity are old and slow turning The Rangers defense is most feared.

Since the striker combination is Ronaldo and Baggio, Ranieri also made some changes to the midfield four this time. Rui Costa replaced Djorkaeff as the starting midfielder. Fiorentina needs the Portuguese for a while. The bloody pass tore through the opponent's defense, not the Frenchman's breakthrough. After all, Ronaldo and Baggio are also good at breakthroughs.

In addition to Costa, the other three in the midfield are Effenberg, Kripa and Di Biagio. Ranieri considered for a long time before choosing between Kripa and Davis. I made a choice. After all, in the case of similar defensive abilities, Kripa has an advantage in height, and he has an advantage in defending high-altitude balls...

After the start of the game, amidst the cheers of more than 5 Rangers fans, the home team, wearing blue uniforms, stood in the midfield under the command of Gascoigne, constantly making breakthroughs from the two wings of the stadium, trying to Tear Fiorentina's defense from the wing and hand it over to the old captain McCoyst in the center to solve the battle.

Laudrup Jr. is indeed a top winger when he is not troubled by injuries. His superb dribbling and breakthrough skills on the right have mesmerized Rangers fans.

But Lanner, who is responsible for defending him, is not an idler. He played against Laudrup Jr. when he was still playing for Sampdoria, and he is very familiar with his technical style, so although he is slightly lacking in ability Not caught, but it is not a problem to prevent the Rangers' right offensive.

As for Mikhailchenko on the left, the older Ukrainian has long lost his former style. He may still be able to find a place in the rough Soviet Super League by virtue of his technical advantages, but facing the young Billindley , the Ukrainian midfielder was completely blocked...

After withstood the Rangers' attack since the opening, Fiorentina's counterattack also slowly came out.

Ronaldo's outstanding man-ball combination ability and explosive power made the notorious Basile Boli (in the 93 European Champions Cup final, this person directly shoveled Van Basten with a malicious foul, and made the ballet prince at the age of 28. At the pinnacle of his career, he left the football field with regret) Helpless, now it is not two years ago, he could kick Basten's ankle in the past without any punishment, if he does now, he will be punished To UEFA's long ban...

And Rui Costa is behind the Brazilian, delivering shells for him continuously, Effenberg is responsible for sorting out the midfield, and Kripa is always ready to intercept the opponent's counterattack and buy the necessary time for his teammates to return to defense .

In the No.201 minute of the first half, after entangled with Rangers players for a long time, Fiorentina finally scored the first goal in the Champions League this season. After Feinberg's point, he cleverly dunked the opponent's midfielder Ian Ferguson's defense, and sent a stick to the ground. The ball directly penetrated the Rangers' defense!

Ronaldo easily accelerated away from Boli who was marking him. After receiving the pass, he used a pendulum-like dribble to make the opponent's goalkeeper lose his center of gravity, and then easily opened the door for Fiorentina with a push in front of the goal. !

Fiorentina took the lead in the first round of the group stage!

After the stalemate on the field was broken, the Rangers players became a little impatient. Although they can at least get No.3 in this group with their strength, everyone knows the difference between continuing to participate in the Champions League and only participating in the UEFA Cup , the former means higher income and more exposure, while the latter is a lot worse-for Rangers who dominate the Scottish league, it is not very interesting to go to the UEFA Cup. What I care more about is how far I can go in the Champions League.

Therefore, Rangers must not be eliminated in the group stage!

After the re-kick-off, Facing the attack of the Rangers, Fiorentina launched a press with the opponent in the midfield without fear. Kripa tightly entangled Gascoigne, the opponent's playmaker, and Rui Costa also responded. Withdrawing help, the England midfielder's organization in the middle was repeatedly frustrated, while their captain and number one striker McCoyster's state in this game seemed quite average. There are not many opportunities under it.

Fiorentina are making steady progress towards their first Champions League victory!