At the moment when the final whistle blew, Diego Bortolucci's heart sank.

  He had never imagihat his ambitious new season would begin with a humiliating 0-5 defeat.

  What hurt even more wasn't just the blow to his team but the shattering of his own fidence.

  Before the match, he had looked down on Gao Shen and his style of football. But it recisely Gao Shen and his tactical approach that had pletely dismareviso.

  Juventus had lost 0-5, but everyone saw that as an anomaly.

  That was a single knockout game in the Coppa Italia, with Napoli pying their third mat a week, putting in a herculean effort.

  But today?

  Napoli seemed to coast through the game, effortlessly crushing Treviso.

  Defeated!

  Utterly destroyed!

  Bortolucd his football philosophy had been trampled under Gao Shen's tactics!

  As Gao Shen walked toward the away team's dugout, Bortolucci came over, shook his hand with a forced smile, gratuted him on the win, and then hurried into the tunnel.

  He couldn't stand the humiliation any longer.

  ...

  Gao Shen watched Bortolucci walk away, a broad smile spread across his face.

  Long before the match, Gao Shen had sized up the arrogant Italian coach. Bortolucci wore his dissatisfa and disdain pinly on his face, especially after Sacchi's speech at the coach summit in Rome. It was obvious Bortolucci deeply resented Gao Shen.

  Italian coaches, after all, are known for their pride in football tactics.

  But Naples had won!

  When your oppo despises you, yet you defeat them so thhly, the satisfa is immense. Fao Shen, it was deeply gratifying.

  He even started to look forward to their meeting.

  ...

  ...

  Napoli's 5-0 thrashing of Juventus in the Coppa Italia had already raised eyebrows.

  And now, in the first round of Serie B, they crushed Treviso 5-0 again.

  Two secutive 5-0 victories against teams relegated from Serie A sent shockwaves through Italian football.

  Were Gao Shen and his Napoli really that strong?

  While Napoli was on the rise, Juventus tile.

  In their Serie B opener, Juventus traveled to Rimini and could only manage a 1-1 draw.

  What frustrated Juventus fans even more was that their team had domihe match, yet didn't score until the 60th minute when Paro found the .

  Nine mier, Rimini's Cristiano received his sed yellow card and was sent off.

  Despite the numerical advantage, Juventus couldend their lead and ceded an equalizer ih mihe matded 1-1.

  After this disappointi, Deschamps once again found himself under heavy criticism.

  ...

  ...

  A week ter, in the sed round of Serie B, Napoli traveled to Piaza.

  Piaza, aware of Napoli's attag prowess, focused on a deferategy to try and nullify their offense.

  But Napoli had too many attag options.

  Although Piaza mao hold off Napoli's strikers, ih minute, Rakitileashed a le shot that pierced Piaza's defense, giving Napoli a 1-0 lead.

  Ih minute, Hamsik added anoal, seg a 2-0 victory for Napoli.

  Juventus, meanwhile, scraped by with a 2-1 home win against Viza, thanks to sed-half goals fruet and Del Piero.

  The narrow victory bought Deschamps some breathing room.

  ...

  ...

  Three days ter, ihird round of Serie B, Napoli faced Arezzo away.

  Although Napoli's squad was filled with young pyers full of energy, Gao Shen rotated his lineup. With both Coppa Italia and Serie B matches to tend with, he didn't want to overuse his main pyers and risk injury.

  In the end, Napoli won 1-0, with Bonucci heading in the game's only goal.

  Juventus, oher hand, defeated Crotone 3-0 away, with Bojinov sg twice.

  ...

  ...

  In the fourth round of Serie B, Juventus finally showed their strength with a 4-0 win at home against Modena, thanks to a brace fruet and goals from Del Piero and Nedved.

  It was their first ving victory of the season, reasserting Juventus' status as a footballing powerhouse.

  Napoli, however, also remaieady, although their performance dipped slightly.

  At home against Ternana, i and Gervinho scored two first-half goals to give Napoli trol of the match. But in the sed half, Napoli's defense faltered, allowing their oppos to score ih mihe first goal Napoli had ceded all season.

  Gao Shen was somewhat disappointed with the defensive pse but chose to ence the pyers rather than criticize them.

  After all, young pyers thrive on positive reinfort. Sometimes, all they need is a little praise, and they'll bounce back stronger.

  After four rounds, Napoli stood as the only team with four straight wins, topping the Serie B table.

  Juventus, on the back of a three-game winning streak, sat sed with 10 points. Brescia, also on 10 points, rahird.

  This aligned with pre-seasoions, which suggested that Serie B would be a fierce battle between Napoli and Juventus.

  Both clubs had their eyes not just on promotion, but on the Serie B title itself.

  ...

  ...

  In the fifth round of Serie B, Napoli once again delivered a dominant performance, beating Spezia 4-0 away.

  Juventus, for their part, defeated Piaza 2-0 away.

  Both teams kept up their winning streaks.

  ...

  In the sixth round of Serie B, Napoli triumphed 2-0 at home against Rimini, seg six straight wins.

  Juventus also tiheir winning ways with a 2-0 victory at home against third-pce Brescia, remaining uen after six matches.

  ...

  In the seventh round, Juventus beat Treviso 1-0 away.

  Napoli, however, faced a tougher challenge against Viza. In the first 10 minutes, both sides scored a goal, with Napoli's g ing from an own goal by David Luiz.

  For the hour, Napoli dominated but failed to find the breakthrough.

  Finally, in the dying moments of the match, Gervinho made a mazy run down the left, delivering a perfect cross to i, who slotted home the winner.

  Napoli won 2-1.

  ...

  In the eighth round, Gao Shen decided to drop David Luiz from the squad after his mistake in the previous game.

  Napoli responded with a resounding 3-0 home win over Crotoending their winning streak to eight games.

  Juventus, meanwhile, edged Ternana 1-0 away, with Trezeguet sg the only goal.

  ...

  In the ninth round, Napoli found themselves trailing in an away match but staged a 3-1 eback win against Albinoleffe.

  Juventus kept pace with a 1-0 home win against Frosinone.

  ...

  After nine rounds, Napoli remained uen with nine secutive victories.

  Juventus, aside from their opening draw, had wo straight games and were sed iable (ign their nine-poiy).

  The closest team to these two juggernauts was Genoa, sitting third with 19 points six points behind Juventus a behind Napoli.

  And the season was only nine rounds in.

  After a dominant start to both the league and Coppa Italia, Napoli's rise had gone from shog to impressive, and now, gradually, they were being accepted as a for Italian football.

  Of course, the young Napoli squad still had its fws primarily insistend ck of experience.

  But even with these weaknesses, Napoli had shown that their "floor" was remarkably high. Their low points were still better than most teams' best performances.

  As Italian football grew used to Napoli's rise, expectations also increased. Problems that were once overlooked were now under scrutiny.

  For example, David Luiz had started growing his hair out but his form hadn't improved with it.

  Still, fans were satisfied with Napoli's ability to hold off Juventus and stay atop the Serie B standings.

  With other teams like Treviso faltering, Napoli had bee the standout team of Serie B.

  ...

  The day after the ninth round, during a coag staff meeting and in his address to the pyers, Gao Shen demaotal focus as they prepared for their big challenge.

  Ienth round, Napoli would host Juventus at home.

  Three days after that, they would face Parma in the Coppa Italia Round of 16, first leg, also at home.

  The sed leg wouldn't be until December, so they could focus on the immediate task at hand.

  But the wo games would be a massive test for Napoli.

  Juventus, Napoli's fiercest rival this season, had already sent a warning through the media, vowing to aveheir 0-5 defeat in the Coppa Italia.

  And Parma wouldn't be an easy oppo either.

  In two-legged knockout ties, there's more at stake. It's not just 90 minutes of football it's 180. This requires eveer team depth and tactical discipline.

  Napoli had been dominant in Serie B, but they had yet to face a top Serie A team.

  Gao Shen was eager to see if his Napoli could measure up against Italy's best.

  He hese games to find out.