By the 83rd minute of the matapoli had once again successfully won the ball bad unched a rapid terattack.

  At this point, Juventus was exhausted, but their defense remained well-anized as they quickly shifted into defensive mode.

  On the left fnk, Vargas and Di María couldn't break through Juventus' defense, so they passed the ball back to Pellè, who had dropped deeper.

  With his back to the goal, Pellè was tightly marked by Chiellini, uo turn. He was forced to pass the ball back to Rakitic, allowing Napoli to reset and reanize.

  Acc to the high-level tactical system Gao Shen had implemented, when Pellè dropped back, either the wingers or the attag midfielder o push forward to occupy the space ahead.

  As Di María and Gervinho hadn't moved up quickly enough, Hamsik advanced into the attag third when Pellè dropped back. As soon as he saw Rakitic with the ball and looking for options, Hamsik withdrew into the open space between the Juventus defenders.

  Rakitic, after taking a few steps forward, quickly passed the ball to Hamsik, who had moved into the gap between the lines.

  As Pellè drifted past Hamsik, the Italian forward noticed that no Juventus defender was nearby. Rakitic also sigo Hamsik, alerting him that he had time to turn. Meanwhile, Juventus' deep-lying midfielder Zai was focused on marking Rakitic, leaving Paro to track back from a more advanced position to cover Hamsik.

  This created a golden opportunity: if Hamsik could turn quickly, he would be in a prime position to shoot.

  Realizing this, Juventus ter-back Legrottaglie rushed forward to challenge Hamsik, who reparing to turn with the ball.

  Simultaneously, Pellè reized the opening and suddenly accelerated, breaking free from Chiellini and making a run towards the left side of the penalty box, calling out, "Here! Pass it here!"

  Hamsik reacted quickly. As he turned, he saw Pellè's movement ataglie charging towards him. He immediately threaded a pass through the defeo Pellè.

  Juventus' defensive line was still pact. Right-back Birindelli had started to shift over to crottaglie's position. Seeing Hamsik's pass, Birindelli slid in to intercept it but only mao deflect the ball slightly. It still ended up at Pellè's feet on the left side of the penalty box.

  Pellè, who had sprinted into the box, trolled the ball with his left foot. Seeing Buffon rushing out to close him down, Pellè didn't hesitate. He immediately struck the ball with his left foot.

  The sequence from Pellè and Hamsik's movements to the eventual shot happened in the blink of an eye. Juventus' defense barely had time to react.

  As the ball headed toal, Buffon dropped to block it, but Pellè's shot was too quid precise. It ricocheted off Buffon's left calf, defleg slightly but still finding its way into the back of the .

  Buffon was helpless to stop it.

  "GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!"

  "Pellè! Napoli has turhe game around against Juventus!"

  "Napoli takes the lead, 2-1!"

  "Pellè, the Italian striker, has just scored the go-ahead goal for Napoli!"

  "The 55,000 fans at the Stadio San Paoloing wild, ting Pellè's name!"

  "One assist and one goal for Pellè tonight. He's been phenomenal."

  "This young striker, who previously struggled to make an impact at Lecce, is thriving at Napoli. Under Gao Shen's guidance, he's improving with every game, especially tonight."

  "Napoli may have struggled in the first half, rgely due to Juventus' aggressive tactics. Deschamps took a gamble with a 4-3-3 formation, pressing high and pying proactively. But we have to admit, while Juventus started strong, their attag threat was limited, especially on the fnks."

  "In the sed half, Napoli came alive, relentlessly pushing Juventus bad f them into a defensive posture. The result? Two quick goals that sealed Juventus' fate."

  "Juventus may have been strong in Serie B so far, but against this high-iy Napoli side, they just couldn't cope. Despite their experiend pedigree, Juventus seemed outcssed by Napoli's youthful energy and well-drilled tactics."

  "It's a testament to how pivotal a coach be in shaping a team's performance. Under Gao Shen, Napoli has bee a formidable force."

  ...

  ...

  "Your sed-half adjustments were spot on."

  After the game, Deschamps sighed i as he sat in a private room at the Stadio San Paolo, sipping a gss of wihat Gao Shen had provided as a peace .

  Juventus had tried to shore up their defense in the sed half, but they couldn't withstand the onsught from Napoli.

  Both coaches khe truth of the game. In the first half, Gao Shen's misjudgment of Juventus' tactics had throoli off bahey never found their rhythm and struggled to impose their usual attag style.

  But in the sed half, it was a different story. Once Gao Sheified Juventus' weaknesses, Napoli attacked relentlessly, exploiting every gap in the defense. Juventus, despite their best efforts, couldn't hold on.

  Had it not been for Buffon's heroics, Juventus might have ceded anoal.

  Gao Shen raised his gss of water, opting not to drink alcohol, and toasted Deschamps. "I misread the situation in the first half. I didn't expect you to go all-out. I thought you'd prioritize defense."

  Deschamps chuckled wryly. "So did I."

  Gao Shen raised an eyebrow, fused by Deschamps' response.

  The Fren gave a knowing smile but didn't eborate, instead raising his gss and motioning fao Shen to finish his drink as well.

  Gao Shen couldn't help but feel a bit embarrassed. You don't even drink that much, and here I am drinking water. Yet you're still one-upping me?

  heless, he downed his drink in one go.

  From Deschamps' cryptic words, Gao Shen sehe Fren was under signifit pressure perhaps from within the Juventus anization itself.

  "Holy, I 't bme you," Gao Shen offered. "Juventus has struggled offensively since Capello's time. With the current squad, Juventus handle most teams in Serie B, but against stronger oppos, they've got problems."

  Deschamps nodded, aowledging the truth of Gao Shen's words. "It's true. But this season is different with you guys in Serie B."

  Many people didn't quite uand Juventus' situatioe their relegation to Serie B (after being stripped of their Serie A title), Juventus still had a formidable squad, one more luxurious than many teams in Serie A.

  With a lihis strong, people expected Juventus to dominate Serie B easily.

  And for the most part, they had. Juventus had outcssed most of their Serie B oppos, even with their nine-poiion.

  But no one had anticipated the rise of Napoli in the south.

  "To be ho, I'm curious," Deschamps said, leaning forward. "How did you build this Napoli team so quickly? Take Pellè, for example. When did you decide he was the right fit for your system? I mean, it just doesn't make sense."

  Deschamps was asking the same question tless others had asked before.

  Gao Shen had faced these inquiries ever since his time at Real Madrid, and now he had a well-practiced response ready.

  Smiling, he hesitated for a moment before replying, "That's a secret."

  Deschamps sighed and waved his hand, as if to say, fine, keep your secrets. But it was clear he was still curious.

  Gao Shen smiled, feeling a bit guilty. After all, how could he expin that his success was due to being a time-traveler with access to a "Tactical Library"?

  If he told anyone, who would believe him?

  And even if someone did believe him, wouldn't they just take him away for "research"? In fact his golden finger was a form of researbsp;

  No, it was better to keep the truth to himself.

  "I've tried to figure out how to ter your tactics," Deschamps said, his tone one of frustration. "Last time, I focused on defense, and we lost 5-0. Tonight, I tried pressing high, and we did better, but it still wasn't enough. Your team's passing and ball trol only improve from here."

  Gao Shen smiled but said nothing, letting Deschamps speak.

  The truth was, Naples' current squad was still developing. While their teical skills and uanding of the tactical system were solid, there was room for improvement. Over time, as the pyers grew more aced to the system, they would bee even more dominant.

  It was the beauty of a "dimensional redu" strategy. No matter what the oppo did whether they chose to sit back or press forward it was the wrong choice.

  Napoli's system was desigo force oppos into making mistakes, no matter their approach.

  However, that didn't mean Napoli was invincible. They were still vulnerable, especially if they made mistakes themselves. Just like tonight, when they nearly threw the game away in the first half.

  Ultimately, Napoli's biggest challenge wasn't their oppos it was themselves.

  Deschamps, now a few drinks in, began talking more freely, sharing his thoughts on various tactical challenges. But it was clear he was trying to pry into Gao Shen's secrets, hoping to uand how he had ma together such a strong group of pyers.

  But Gao Shen remaiight-lipped as always.

  In the end, the Fren left in a hurry.

  Before leaving, he even took half of the wihey'd been drinking with him.

  "Remember, the Coppa Italia is what really matters," he said as he walked out.