When referee Gervasoni blew the final whistle, the scoreboard at the Friuli Stadium dispyed the crushi: 5-0.

  As per tradition, the home team is listed first, followed by the visiting team.

  Napoli, the visiting team, led 3-0 at halftime. Despite Udinese coach Pasquale Marino making adjustments during the break tthen his midfield defe wasn't enough to turn the game around.

  Early in the sed half, i tched onto a brilliant assist from Di Maria and scored again to extend Napoli's lead.

  Then, in the 61st minute, David Luiz sealed the victory with a powerful header from a er kick.

  Afterward, Udinese had no choice but to retreat and focus solely on defense.

  Marino, fearing an even bigger humiliation, pulled his team back further. He was ed that pressing too far forward might open them up to an even more embarrassing scoreline.

  Napoli, pying away from home, was more than tent with their lead. Seeing Marino's defereat, Gao Shen made quick adjustments of his own, fog on giving younger pyers mame time. He used this opportunity to make frequent substitutions and tactical tweaks.

  I half-hour, her team mao find the back of the again.

  In the end, Napoli demolished Udinese 5-0 with goals from i, Hamsik, Sanchez, and David Luiz.

  As the final whistle echoed through the stadium, there was a brief moment of silence before the entire Friuli Stadium erupted in loud, thunderous boos.

  Though the stadium was less than half-full, with only about 10,000 fans present, the collective outburst was enough to fill every er of the vehe Udinese supporters, uo accept such a humiliati, were venting their anger and frustration in the only way they could.

  A 5-0 loss was something they simply couldn't tolerate.

  Pasquale Marino was visibly upset for the ey of the sed half. His face grew darker with each passing minute as the reality of the situatioled in.

  He had never expected to suffer such a humiliati at home.

  After drawing with Inter Min in the first round, Marino had e into this match brimming with ambition, hoping to secure a victory over Napoli at home.

  But now, he had been reduced to a ughingstock.

  Five goals. Five crushing blows, like five sps in the face, brutally reminding him that his previous successes had goo his head. He had started to believe his own hype, thinking he was some sort of genius.

  But today, in front of Gao Shen, his supposed genius had pletely unraveled.

  In terms of age, Gao Shen was youhan him, not even 27 years old. In terms of achievements, Gao Shen had already won a La Liga and Champions League double, not to mention guiding Napoli to the Serie B title st season after beating Juventus. In terms of performanapoli now seemed like the team to beat in Italy, whily further highlighted their success.

  And what did Marino have to show for himself?

  Today, he was nothing more than a stepping stone fao Shen's rise to the top.

  Worse, he had served himself up willingly.

  ...

  "gratutions, Mr. Gao, you've bee the new leader of Serie A!"

  Though Marino's heart was bleeding and he had cursed Gao Shen tless times in his mind, he still mao force a smile and offer a handshake. As the head coach of the home team, this was the least he could do.

  Gao Shen was taken aback for a moment. "The new leader?"

  But then he quickly uood and smiled, shaking Marino's hand. "Thank you!"

  "Today's game taught us a hard lesson. We'll o digest it thhly," Marino said with a bitter smile.

  Gao Shen could only smile iurn. He wasn't sure what else to say.

  Could he really say, "You lost because you were tant to py me straight?"

  As much as it was true, that wouldn't have been the right thing to say.

  The real reason for Udinese's defeat was, without a doubt, Marino himself.

  The midfield setup Marino had chosen was pletely dismantled by Napoli. Aside from Inler, who performed somewhat detly, the rest of Udinese's midfield ractically invisible.

  And all of it stemmed from Marino's tactical misjudgment.

  Good results in preseason friendlies, a draw with Inter in the first round, and a win in the Coppa Italia had all given Marino a false sense of his team's true strength.

  Gao Shehat feeling all too well. Whether it was in his previous career before time-traveling or now as a coach, he had experie himself and even suffered for it.

  The praise, the admiration, it could be intoxig, making it all too easy to lose sight of reality.

  All Gao Shen could do noish Marino the best, hoping he could learn from this experiend use it to grow as a coach.

  ...

  As soon as Mari, Lucas couldn't tain his excitement a out a cheer.

  The atmosphere around the Napoli bend among the pyers on the field became electric as they began to dand celebrate.

  Napoli had reached the top!

  Gao Shen had not expected this at all. It was a plete surprise, but a pleasant one heless.

  He could hardly believe it.

  "Are we really at the top?" Gao Shen asked Lucas again, seeking firmation.

  Lucas didn't o say anything. He simply pced his ptop in front of Gao Shen and poio the live standings. Sure enough, Napoli was sitting at the top!

  ches from the sed round of Serie A had already been pyed, with A's game against Fiorentina scheduled for ter in the evening.

  Of the nine games pyed, only three teams had won their first two matches: Juventus, Roma, and Napoli.

  Juventus had scored eight goals in two matches the highest tally in Serie A so far, but had ceded three, giving them a goal difference of five.

  Roma had scored five goals and ceded none.

  Napoli, oher hand, had scored seven goals awo sheets.

  In other words, Napoli had cimed the top spot in Serie A, leading Juventus and Roma by virtue of their superioal difference.

  Of course, this lead was only temporary, and it could very well be lost by the end of the night.

  If A were to beat Fiorentina by foals or more, they would leapfrog Napoli into first pce due to their superior alphabetical ranking.

  But regardless of what happened, Napoli was officially at the top of the table for now even if only for a few hours, and that was something to celebrate.

  There was also another reason to celebrate: Napoli's top scorer, Edinson i, was now sed in the Serie A sg charts with three goals, just behind Juventus' David Trezeguet.

  Trezeguet, who had scored a hat-tri the first round, added anoal in the sed round to lead the sg charts with foals.

  i, with three goals, was in sed pce, while Hamsik had two, tying him with the likes of Ibrahimovi?, Miccoli, and Foggia.

  These statistics were clear proof of Napoli's offerength.

  However, it was still early days, with only two rounds pyed. Napoli hadn't fully adjusted to the pad rhythm of Serie A yet, so it was too soon to get carried away.

  Especially with two weeks of iional fixtures ing up, and then a tough schedule right after that. Napoli had several pyers called up for national duty, and after the break, they would be fag her than Inter Min away, a match that would be a serious test of their mettle.

  Gao Shen still vividly remembered their 0-3 loss to Inter in the Coppa Italia semifinals st season, a match that had left a deep scar.

  He had been waiting for the ce to repay Inter in kind, preferably at the San Siro.

  But to do that, he o keep pushing his team to perform better aer.

  ...

  At the Friuli Stadium, Napoli kept a low profile in front of the public, but ohey returo the locker room, Gao Shen didn't hold back with his praise.

  pliments flowed freely from his mouth, and every pyer in the room was beaming with pride.

  With a 5-0 thrashing of Udinese and a 2-0 win liari in the first round, Napoli had climbed to the top of Serie A, something no one had anticipated.

  Gao Sheedly emphasized that the team's victory was thanks to the pyers' excellent performances, but he also remihem not to get too fortable. The current standings were only temporary.

  "Sure, being in first pce right now feels great," Gao Shen said. "But don't be satisfied with this. oal isn't just to sit at the top for one round, maybe not even for just a few hours. We want to stay at the top for a long time."

  "Remember, we are a team aiming for the Serie A title!" he stressed once more.

  The pyers, filled with newfound fidenodded in agreement.

  Before this, they might not have fully believed it, but now they were brimming with belief.

  Gao Shen g Carlo, his assistant, and they exged a knowing look.

  If it weren't for the uping iional break, they would have had the momentum to keep rolling through Serie A and challeer Min with their spirits high. Their ces would have been much better.

  But the two-week break for iional duty pletely disrupted Napoli's rhythm.

  There was no telling what shape the team would be ihe pyers returned from their national teams.

  Some pyers wouldn't eveurning to Naples right away. Those with iional duties were set to travel directly from Udio Min before flying home.

  For example, some of the South Ameri iionals, like those frentina, and even Australia, had friendlies scheduled, making their travel schedules even mrueling.

  Gao Shen was deeply ed about how the pyers would cope with the demands of iional duty. He repeatedly remihem to take care of themselves and to tact the club immediately if they felt any disfort.

  "I, Lorenzo, and the team doctor will be avaible 24/7," Gao Shen said with a serious expression.

  The team had just e off a week of two tough matches. Despite some squad rotation, the pyers were still physically exhausted. Now, they faced long flights and the strain of pying for their national teams, whicreased the risk of injury.

  For those familiar with European football, it was on knowledge that pyers ofteurned from iional duty carrying injuries, something that was a stant headache for clubs.

  But there was little that could be done about it. Representing their try was an honor for every pyer, and none of them would refuse the ce to py for their national team.

  All Gao Shen could do was tinue reminding his pyers to be cautious and ehe coag staff was on standby to offer any assistance uidahey might need.

  The coag team would also be in close tact with the national team coaches, rep any pre-existing injuries or s about certain pyers. Open unicatioween the club and national teams would be key to minimizing risks.

  This would be the coag staff's primary focus over the wo weeks.

  As fao Shen, he had already decided to skip the uping Professional Coach Summit.

  Reag the top of Serie A would only make him more of a target.

  ---