Chapter 206: Proving Themselves

Chapter 206: Proving Themselves

On the afternoon of March 15th, in the 27th round of Serie A, Udinese played away at the Stadio Atleti Azzurri d'Italia against Atalanta.

Atalanta was currently ranked 17th, just one step away from the relegation zone. At the beginning of the month, they had sacked their former coach Stefano Colantuono, and brought in Edy Reja, who had previously managed Napoli and Lazio. However, this coaching change didn't bring the desired effect. In Reja's first match in charge, they drew 0-0 against bottom-placed Parma in a relegation battle.

Now, Reja faced Udinese in his second match. Facing the fierce Udinese, Reja's Atalanta could only resort to a tight defensive formation.

Breaking through a packed defense is a global challenge, and Udinese had no good solutions against Atalanta's tight formation at home. By the 80th minute, the score was still 0-0.

Most of Udinese's players were tired, having played in the Champions League knockout match on Tuesday night. Just as Udinese fans in front of their TVs were preparing for the team's third draw of the season, two core players stepped up once again.

In the 86th minute, Udinese executed a brilliant combination play in the attacking third, ending with Bruno delivering an exquisite long pass over the top. Di Natale was alert to the opportunity, appearing at the perfect spot to slot the ball into the empty net.

1-0, Udinese snatched a last-minute victory over Atalanta!

This was Di Natale's 17th Serie A goal of the season and the 222nd of his career in Serie A. Bruno's assist was his 15th of the season in Serie A, keeping him well ahead on the assists leaderboard.

At noon on March 20th, Central European Time, the draw for the 2014-2015 UEFA Champions League quarterfinals took place at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.

Two days earlier, all Round of 16 matches had concluded, with La Liga emerging as the biggest winner: all three of its teams—Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Atletico Madrid—advanced to the quarterfinals. Serie A also performed well, with both Udinese and Juventus progressing. The other three teams were Bayern Munich from the Bundesliga and Paris Saint-Germain and Monaco from Ligue 1.

The English Premier League had a tough time. Manchester City were beaten by Barcelona, Chelsea were eliminated by PSG on penalties after two 1-1 draws, and Arsenal, despite a valiant effort in the return leg, were knocked out by Monaco due to the away goals rule after losing 1-3 at home in the first leg.

This left the Premier League with no representatives in the quarterfinals, and with Everton's exit in the Europa League Round of 16, English teams had zero presence in the final eight of European competitions this year.

Meanwhile, Serie A showed signs of resurgence. Alongside Udinese and Juventus in the Champions League quarterfinals, Napoli and Fiorentina both advanced to the Europa League quarterfinals.

According to the Champions League draw rules, the quarterfinal draw had no restrictions; teams from the same league and teams that had faced each other in the group stage could be drawn against each other, adding to the excitement.

The most anticipated aspect of the quarterfinals was the potential clash of giants. Fans were eager to see if the three strongest teams in Europe—Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Bayern Munich—would face each other. Additionally, teams like Paris Saint-Germain led by Ibrahimovic, Udinese driven by the old-and-young duo of Bruno and Di Natale, and Juventus with stars like Tevez, Pogba, and Vidal, could play the role of spoilers. Monaco, on the other hand, was seen as the preferred draw for any team.

The possibility of an all-Spanish quarterfinal also drew attention, with the potential for a derby between Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Atletico Madrid.

Unfortunately, with all English teams eliminated, there would be no English derby in this season's quarterfinals.

The draw, conducted by UEFA General Secretary Gianni Infantino with the help of former German international Karl-Heinz Riedle, began promptly.

Paris Saint-Germain were drawn first and paired with Barcelona; then Atletico Madrid were drawn against Real Madrid; Udinese were drawn against Bayern Munich; and finally, Juventus were drawn against Monaco.

The first-drawn teams would host the first leg. The two-legged quarterfinals were scheduled for April 14-15 and April 21-22, with the semifinal draw set for April 24 in Nyon.

Facing Bayern Munich was undoubtedly bad news for Udinese. As one of the top three clubs in the world, Pep Guardiola's Bayern Munich dominated the Bundesliga and performed exceptionally well in Europe. Last season, Bayern eliminated Arsenal and Manchester City in the knockout stages before being defeated by Real Madrid in the semifinals. This season, Bayern continued their excellent form, topping their group with 5 wins and 1 loss, and then demolishing Shakhtar Donetsk 7-0 on aggregate in the Round of 16.

Bayern Munich had been ruthless this season, including a 7-1 thrashing of Roma in the group stage and a 7-0 aggregate win over Shakhtar in the Round of 16. Facing such a team was daunting.

But Bayern Munich would also find Udinese a tough opponent.

At the start of the season, Udinese were considered underdogs in the Champions League. However, after topping their group ahead of Real Madrid and eliminating Schalke 04 in the Round of 16, while leading Serie A by 10 points, no one underestimated Udinese anymore.

Udinese had proven to be one of the best-performing teams in Europe this season, on par with top clubs like Bayern Munich, Barcelona, and Real Madrid. In Serie A, Udinese had 23 wins, 2 draws, and 2 losses, amassing 71 points and averaging 2.63 points per game, the highest in Europe's top five leagues.

In the Premier League, leaders Chelsea had 19 wins, 7 draws, and 2 losses in 28 matches, totaling 64 points and averaging 2.29 points per game. In La Liga, Barcelona overtook Real Madrid with 21 wins, 2 draws, and 4 losses in 27 matches, accumulating 65 points and averaging 2.41 points per game. In the Bundesliga, Bayern Munich had a commanding lead with 20 wins, 4 draws, and 1 loss in 25 matches, earning 64 points and averaging 2.56 points per game. In Ligue 1, leaders Lyon had 17 wins, 7 draws, and 5 losses in 29 matches, totaling 58 points and averaging exactly 2 points per game.

Udinese's impressive form was not limited to Serie A; they also excelled in the Champions League. In the six group matches and two knockout matches so far, Udinese had 5 wins, 2 draws, and 1 loss, scoring 22 goals and conceding 11.

Among the 16 teams that reached the knockout stage, only Barcelona with 7 wins and 1 loss, and Bayern Munich with 6 wins, 1 draw, and 1 loss, had better records.

In the current UEFA club rankings, Udinese were second, only behind Barcelona, and even ahead of Bayern Munich. This was partly because Udinese played two playoff matches to qualify for the group stage and were last season's Europa League champions, further proving their strength in Europe.

Any team that underestimated Udinese now would be making a grave mistake. Udinese's strong performances over the past two seasons, along with other Italian teams in European competitions, had boosted Italy's UEFA coefficient, potentially reclaiming third place from Germany at the end of the season.

Two days later, in the 28th round of Serie A, Udinese hosted Fiorentina.

With a brace from Di Natale and a goal from Bruno, Udinese secured a 3-2 victory over Fiorentina, maintaining their 10-point lead at the top of the Serie A table.

Di Natale's Serie A goal tally reached 224, just one goal shy of Gunnar Nordahl, who is third on the all-time top scorers list.