Debuted from Serie C at the age of 18, won the Serie B title at the age of 20, scored 26 goals in a single season in Serie A at the age of 23, and once soared to 100 million euros. After bidding farewell to Torino, Belotti, nicknamed "The Big Rooster", moved to Jose Mourinho's Roma.
The 19 Serie A games this season have not been scored, but it has not affected the Portuguese madman's trust in him. The three goals in the Europa League gave the team the hope of winning the European title for the second year in a row.
01. Played in 3 levels of the Italian league: the grassroots god is worth 100 million euros at the peak
a. Debut in Serie C at the age of 18: 0.61 goals per game in Serie A for 7 years
At the age of 12, Andrea Bellotti joined the youth academy of Albino Lefi. Originally born after the merger of two teams in the Italian Serie D, the team entered the Italian Serie C in its first year of existence, and three years later defeated the mighty Pisa and rose to the second division.
Bellotti made his first-team debut at the age of 18, making his Serie B debut. However, the team was relegated that year, and he scored 12 goals in Serie C the following year, gradually gaining attention.
The 20-year-old moved to Palermo in Serie B on loan, scoring 10 goals and assisting four times in 24 games, becoming the hero of the team's victory in Serie B and getting the opportunity to play in Serie A.
After a year of Serie A experience, in August 2015, Bellotti moved from Palermo to Turin, starting a seven-year Bull career.
Over the next seven seasons, Bellotti, who focused on Torino, scored 100 goals in 210 Serie A games and provided 28 assists.
Bellotti, who likes to make rooster celebrations after scoring goals, has completed his Serie A 100-goal milestone in Turin in seven seasons, and the efficiency of 0.61 goals per Serie A game is equally convincing.
b. From Mr. Billion to free agent to Roma: Belotti owes nothing to Torino
He came to Turin in 2015 and spent the next seven years as the team's leading scorer and captain of the Bulls.
Especially in the 2016-17 season, scoring 26 goals and contributing 7 assists in 35 Serie A games, Bellotti was worth 100 million euros at the peak (Li Ge's season in charge of AC Milan was once sky-high).
Torino owner Roy is a crazy fan, he has turned down offers time and time again, and Bellotti has not been able to set foot in European competition at his best age.
In the summer of 2021, Bellotti became Italy's forward rotation on the way to winning the European Championship (1 start, 5 substitutes). The no longer young "big rooster" wanted the team to look at the multi-year love and let themselves move to Roma at a low price, and as a result, Roy put a price tag of 30 million euros on Bellotti on his final year of contract.
After lengthy negotiations, Belotti was ultimately unable to move to Roma last season, much to Mourinho's regret.
In his plan, Bellotti would have occupied a very important position. However, because of this, the arrival of Tammy Abraham brought a big surprise to the team and became the tactical core of Mourinho's leadership.
02. 0 goals in 19 Serie A: Jose Mourinho still respects Bellotti
a. 19 Serie A games were scoreless, and the boss gave Bellotti enough respect
A year late, but Belotti came to Rome. After being freed at the end of his contract, Bellotti is a lucrative in the transfer market, and he even has the confidence to claim an annual salary of 500 euros after tax.
Because he himself admired Mourinho very much, in the end, Bellotti took the initiative to lower the demand and accepted Roma's offer of 3.5 million annual salary after tax.
Because of Tammy Abraham's unshakable status, Bellotti was only Roma's forward rotation, playing a total of 428 minutes in 19 Serie A games with 3 starts and 16 substitutes, completing 10 shots and failing to score.
Fortunately, Mourinho still admired him, and even after the 2-1 victory over Helsinki in the Europa League in Rome, the Portuguese made a special gesture to Belotti: "I need to apologise to Bellotti because he warmed up on the sidelines for a long time, but I didn't let him play. ”
In the last Serie A 1-0 win over Verona, Mourinho praised Belotti after the game: "He was very good in this game, he deserved a goal, but the opposing goalkeeper Modibo is incredible, I am very grateful to my players for everything they have done. ”
b. 3 goals in 400 minutes of the Europa League: Helping Roma win the championship
Roma's squad is not very thick, and it has not been easy to play in Serie A and the Europa League this season. Despite the draw for the Coppa Italia, the upset was also due to the thin bench lineup.
In order to ensure the strength of the league fourth place, it is necessary to rotate the squad in the Europa League. So it was no accident that Belotti got the chance, and he also repaid Mourinho's trust with his excellent performance.
Dying for a confidant is the answer Bellotti gave to Mourinho. This time he actively retreated and rushed to the front line of the return to the Red Bull Salzburg ball carrier.
Because Roma's 3421 formation, Dybala's defense is not strong, Matic is old, and the active participation of the center in defense will help the whole a lot.
When winger Spinazzola held the ball to push the counter-attack, Belotti in the middle rushed back into the box and became the arrowhead of the team again.
It was with such hard work and continuous sprints that Bellotti became a key figure in helping Roma break the deadlock.
It is clear from the camera that Spinazzola's individual ability is superior, but the root of this goal comes from Bellotti's return defense and back-insert sprint back into the box.
He broke up the opponent's defense like a brute and finally slammed the ball into the bottom of the net in front of goal.
03. More than just goals! Bellotti can break out of deep space
a. Lots of confrontation and tandem: Bellotti drives the overall formation forward
As you can see from the statistics, in addition to scoring 1 goal, Bellotti tried 20 one-on-one confrontations (won 8), while contributing 3 successful tackles and 1 blocking shot on the defensive end.
Bellotti has a lot of back-to-back confrontation and ball handling, using him as a bridgehead and fulcrum to facilitate the follow-up of his back-line friends.
At the same time, Bellotti has a large range of activities and has the ability to pull edges at any time. This time he put the ball back on his back, and received the ball on the wing and sent a cross to hit the back point, but unfortunately his teammate made the ball into the box, Dybala was brought down, but the referee did not say.
Let's look at this wave of attack, Manic straight to Belotti in the box. Using him to get the ball, Roma's entire attacking formation is fully unfolded, forming a situation where multiple points follow into the box.
It is clear from the camera that although Belotti's return pass is not very accurate, he can top a space in the Red Bull Salzburg penalty area so that his teammates can follow.
Manic crossed in the middle, Pellegrini flicked, and the following Dybala had a good chance to shoot, but unfortunately it was deflected.
b. Bellotti's tactical value: jacking out of depth space
Mourinho was delighted with a 1-0 loss in the first leg and a 2-0 comeback in the second leg: "We beat a team from the Champions League, Belotti's goals are very precious, some strikers can be very useful even if they don't score on the pitch, and Belotti has done more. ”
In the next Europa League round of 16, Roma will face Real Sociedad, La Liga's dark horse this season and third in the league.
Why Mourinho likes Bellotti can also be understood from this shot. Many times Bellotti doesn't necessarily hold the ball, but his sprint runs and confrontations create more chaos.
After his teammate on the right wing scored the ball, Bellotti also sprinted all the way to the right winger position to receive it, giving the team more options.
Looking at the counterattack again, Belotti once again used her physique to lead the launch of the counterattack in the middle line.
After splitting the wide open teammate on the wing, he ran against the opposing defender into the box with a sprint to create space for Pellegrini who received the ribs, but unfortunately the last shot was not well played.
Conclusion:
For a team, in addition to the 11 starters, there are some key rotation players. From failing to come off the bench and receiving an apology from Jose Mourinho, to being entrusted with the task of scoring goals in the knockout stages of the Europa League, the 29-year-old has proven that he still has a fight.
Once Mr. Yuan, now suffering a goal drought in Serie A is only temporary. After all, he played only 400 minutes in 19 games and completed 10 shots on goal. Perhaps it is also because of him that Mourinho has the confidence to attack the goal of European title for the second consecutive season.