The Napoli fans at the San Paolo Stadium were far from weling to Hiddink, but the Dut did not retreat to his bench.

  The first half ended with a score of 3-1 in favor of Napoli.

  Napoli pyed a brilliant first half, almost pletely suppressing Chelsea. Just before the break, Rakitic even came close to adding anoal with a le strike that rattled the crossbar.

  After halftime, Napoli tio deny Chelsea any room to breathe. From the first minute of the sed half, they pressed forward aedly threatehe visitoal, ing close to sg again on multiple occasions.

  Hiddink stood helpless as Napoli created ce after ce, leaving him increasingly uain.

  By ventional wisdom, Chelsea should have made immediate substitutions to stabilize their defense. But the problem was the scoreline: 3-1 on the night, 5-2 on aggregate. If Chelsea still hoped to advahey had no choice but to go all out oack.

  Pyers like Malouda and Kalou o e on to intensify the offense.

  But Hiddiated.

  If they did it fully to the attack, they risked being punished further by Napoli. Another humiliating loss would not oheir Champions League hopes but also have a sting impa their league and domestic cup campaigns.

  Yet simply accepti was not in his nature.

  Hiddink found himself grappling with an unfamiliar feeling: shame.

  To be forced into such a position by a 28-year-old coach, and a ese o that, it was a bitter pill to swallow.

  Years ago, when he led South Korea against a, the psychological edge always beloo him.

  Now, it was unthinkable that this same young ese coach could push him into such a dilemma, leaving him at a loss for answers.

  Even though Hiddink was old enough not to care about his reputation, the situation still stung.

  "Where did this guy even e from?" Hiddink muttered to himself with a wry smile as he walked back to his bench.

  His assistant, Ray Wilkins, shook his head and sighed. "Who knows? He burst onto the se at Real Madrid, known for pying defensive terattacks. Then he came to Napoli and suddenly started pying offensive football. Now he's leading tactical trends in European football."

  Hiddink exhaled deeply. "From a tactical standpoint, his ideas are so advanced. For now, I don't see how to ter him. Nothing seems to work, whatever I try feels doomed to fail."

  Wilkins nodded in agreement. It wasn't just Hiddink. Many coaches across Europe had faced the same struggle.

  Teams that were more teically skilled couldn't matapoli's speed. Teams that matched their speed cked tactical disciplieams with strong tactics cked the teical fio cope.

  In short, Napoli had bee a nightmare matchup for almost everyone.

  "This kid has a remarkable tactical intuition," Hiddink said, managing a faint smile despite his frustration.

  The ges in football rules, such as the new offside rule had created more spa the field, fav teically gifted pyers like Biglia and Rakitic. With less physical ta midfield, Napoli's style of py thrived.

  Before these rule ges, midfield dominance relied on pyers like Essien, Lampard, and Balck—powerful, dynamic midfielders capable of exerting high-iy pressure. Chelsea had built their success around this style of py.

  But such pyers had a natural weakness: their teical skills were not as refined.

  Every ge in football rules brings about actical trends.

  This game roof of that.

  Chelsea represehe old guard, while Napoli symbolized the new era.

  Hiddink couldn't help but marvel. Maeran coaches struggled to adapt quickly to such ges, yet Gao Shen seemed to have embraced the rends effortlessly.

  Was this young coach truly a genius?

  "That third goal really crushed us," Wilkins said, casting a sympathetice at the visibly demoralized Chelsea pyers och.

  Hiddink sighed again. He couldn't disagree.

  For the third goal, Chelsea hadn't touched the ball for nearly two minutes after losing possession.

  Two minutes withaining possession. Eleven pyers on the field, yet they could only chase shadows as Napoli moved the ball with ease, eventually culminating in a goal.

  It sychological blow of the highest order.

  For Hiddink, this was an agonizing experience. As a coach, he was used to making bold, decisive choices to influehe oute of matches.

  But tonight, he felt powerless. His decisions now only determined how his team would lose—and by how much.

  It was a deeply uling realization.

  …

  Ih minute, Chelsea unched an attack.

  Ashley Cole joihe attack from the left fnk, attempting to reach the byline. However, Lichtsteiimed his challenge perfectly, tag the ball and sending Cole to the ground. Before the ball could roll out of py, Lichtsteiner got ba his feet a a quick pass to i, who had tracked back to help.

  i trolled the ball, spun around, and surged forward, crossing the halfway li full speed.

  Di Maria instinctively drifted to the right, dragging defenders away and creating space for i.

  As i ehe penalty area, he id the ball off to the right for Di Maria.

  Ashley Cole was still out of position, leaving Di Maria one-oh Alex. The Argentine winger sent a low cross to the front of the six-yard box.

  Sanchez charged into the ter but collided with Mikel as both failed to ect with the ball, which rolled past the goal.

  Biglia was the quickest to react, rushing to the loose ball on the left side of the box. He trolled it ly, looked up, and spotted Vargas arriving in support. Biglia guided the ball toward the Peruvian full-back, setting him up perfectly outside the penalty area.

  Vargas took a touch, adjusted his footing, and curled a left-footed cross toward the far post before Lampard could close him down.

  i and Terry both leapt for the ball, but Terry mao head it clear under pressure.

  However, his clearance cked distand fell he edge of the box.

  Just as Chelsea's pyers began to breathe a sigh of relief, a sky-blue jersey stormed forward.

  It was Rakitic.

  Without hesitation, the Croatian midfielder struck the ball on the half-volley as it bounced up.

  The shot flew like a missile, smashing into the left side of the before Cech could react.

  "GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!"

  "Rakitic!"

  "Ivan Rakitic scores again!"

  "That's his sed goal in two secutive Champions League games!"

  "Napoli leads 4-1 on the night and 6-2 on aggregate!"

  "After such a promising start, Chelsea has pletely fallen apart. Napoli's teical and tactical superiority has been overwhelming at the San Paolo tonight."

  "This goal has surely ended Chelsea's hopes. They now need four moals to turn this around. But let's be ho, how likely is that?"

  On the sidelines, Gao She up in celebration, pung the air in delight.

  Rakitic, overe with emotion, sprioward the home bend embraced Gao Shen tightly. Napoli's pyers swarmed around them, with even the substitutes rushing over to celebrate.

  Everyone uood what this goal meant: the game was effectively over.

  With more than half an hour still to py, the result was beyond doubt.

  Chelsea's pyers, visibly defted, wandered around the pitch, their energy and spirit drained.

  Hiddink's gamble in the first leg had paid off, but tonight, his decision to start Essien backfired. The Ghanaian midfielder, returning from a long injury yoff, failed to match his former iy and dynamism.

  This wasn't surprising, after such a long abse would have been unrealistic to expect peak performance immediately.

  It was a refle of Hiddink's predit. He had er options.

  …

  After Rakitic's goal, the suspense was gone.

  In the final half-hour, the match lost its edge.

  Napoli, tent with their 4-1 lead, saw o push for moals. With a 6-2 aggregate score, they had already secured an emphatic victory.

  Chasing additional goals risked unnecessary physical strain or worse, provoking Chelsea into reckless challenges. Napoli still had a long season ahead, and Gao Shen was determio keep his pyers fresh.

  He made several substitutions to rest key pyers.

  Chelsea, too, made ges, but even Drogba's st big ce, a powerful header was denied by Handanovic's brilliant save.

  The final moments were uful.

  Napoli had thhly domihe first hour, but the st thirty minutes passed quietly.

  When the referee blew the final whistle, the scoreboard read 4-1.

  Napoli had pleted another eback victory.

  …

  "gratutions to Napoli! And gratutions to Gao Shen!"

  "This is Napoli's first Champions League campaign sihe tour's reform, and they've already exceeded all expectations."

  "ing out of the group of death, beating Real Madrid, Bayern, a, and now eliminating Chelsea with a 6-2 aggregate score in the round of 16—this team is truly remarkable."

  "Both legs were thrilling, showg Napoli's petitiveness and quality."

  "This season, Napoli is the ultimate dark horse. they keep defying the odds?"

  "As they advao the quarterfinals, Napoli will undoubtedly face even tougher oppos than Chelsea. We wish Gao Shen and his team the best of luck!"

  The broadcast ended with a final shot of Gao Shen walking over to the visiting team's coag area.

  He extended his hand to Hiddink, and the two exged a polite handshake before sharing a brief hug and a few words.