Chapter 179 Lin Feng’s incredible assist, is this an idea that a carbon-based creature could come up with? Inter Milan was able to escape unscathed from the away game entirely thanks to luck. So after scoring the goal, Materazzi excitedly ran up to hug Recoba and thanked him for his fatal assist. In injury time, Tommasi, who came on as a substitute for Roma, volleyed with his left foot from 27 meters in front of the goal, but the shot went over the crossbar. This was Roma's last shot. In the end, Roma had to accept a 1-1 result, which also meant that their 11-game winning streak was ended. This makes the Romans hate Inter Milan! In the two encounters this year, Roma took the lead first but were eventually tied. Why are Inter Milan so tenacious? Like an indestructible cockroach! Many Romans have a feeling that this Inter Milan may become their nemesis in the future! …… After the game, the Inter Milan team did not stay in Rome for too long, but returned to Milan overnight to prepare for the Champions League knockout match two days later. Mancini was worried that the players who participated in the game today were not in good physical condition, so he gave them half a day off so that they could sleep more. As for other players who did not play, they trained as usual.
Ajax attached great importance to this game and arrived in Milan three days in advance, borrowing AC Milan's training base to prepare for this game that would determine their life and death! A city like Milan, with two clubs in the same city, is very friendly to teams coming to challenge. Because these teams in the same city are usually sworn enemies, they can easily borrow the training base of their rivals and even get the full support of the other side. Just like this time, AC Milan welcomed Ajax's visit very much, provided them with the most thoughtful service, met all their needs, and only hoped that they could defeat Inter Milan on the field. Conversely, if AC Milan’s opponents come to Milan in the future, Inter Milan will also give them all possible help! …… Two days passed in a flash, and soon it was the day of the competition. Although Mancini has tried every possible way to help the players recover, the actual results are not ideal. On the other hand, after Ajax had recuperated, each player looked vigorous and powerful, with their ill intentions written all over their faces! After the game started, the situation on the field also reflected the status of both sides. Ajax, playing away from home, quickly took the initiative on the field after the start of the game and frequently posed threats to Inter Milan's goal. Inter Milan also consciously gave up the air ball, shrank its formation, and used tight defense to limit the opponent's attack and not give the opponent any chance to take advantage. Ajax was behind in the score and they had to score two goals to win the game, so Ajax's attack was very fierce after the opening. The Dutch's all-out attack and defense was still very threatening. Meazza looked at the Inter fans in the stands, who were frightened by the momentum of Ajax's massive attack. They couldn't help but break into a cold sweat for Inter. Although Inter Milan is leading in the total score, the lead is not big. If the opponent can score two goals in a row and prevent Inter Milan from scoring, they will advance. With the offensive power shown by Ajax, it does not seem that difficult to score two goals, because they have already done it in the previous game. But it is a bit difficult to keep Inter Milan scoreless and prevent them from scoring any goals. Therefore, Ajax learned from previous lessons and did not neglect defense while attacking, trying not to give Inter Milan any chance to launch a sneak attack. But they seemed to have underestimated Inter Milan's defensive ability. In the face of Serie A's chain defense, although Ajax's attack was amazing, it did not pose a fatal threat to Inter Milan's goal.
In the first thirty minutes, Ajax had the advantage in ball possession and number of shots. However, the number of dangerous attacks by both sides was almost the same, and Inter Milan even had one more shot on target. This shows how much Inter Milan's defense restricts Ajax! The head coach of Ajax walked back and forth anxiously on the sidelines. He expected Inter Milan to play conservatively today. But I didn’t expect that Inter Milan would be so difficult to deal with when they became conservative! Is this the defensive ability of an Serie A team? This reinforced concrete defense line is really despairing! In fact, Inter Milan is not the strongest defensive team in Serie A. But with the strength of Inter Milan's lineup, playing in such a defensive league, their defense has also made great progress under the influence of their surroundings. Compared to the beginning of the season when the defense often had problems, Inter Milan's defense is now much more stable. Moreover, Inter Milan is not just defending blindly. They obviously know that passive defense is a dead end and offense is the best defense. So while doing a good job of defense, we also didn't forget to put pressure on the opponent. Both wingers of Inter Milan played very well today. Figo and Martins did not appear in the last game, but their physical fitness was maintained very well. Therefore, when Mancini formulated tactics before the game, he focused on developing offensive tactics around the flanks. The specific method is to use Lin Feng's broad vision and excellent passing ability, let him act as the dealer, and choose the most reasonable side to launch an attack based on the positions of teammates and defensive players on the field. Lin Feng's performance did not disappoint Mancini. While doing a good job on defense, he also played a key role in the team's transition from defense to offense. Inter Milan’s several threatening attacks in the first half were almost all instigated by Lin Feng. In the 38th minute of the first half, Lin Feng completed a wonderful cooperation with Figo on the wing. The latter dribbled the ball inside and chose to shoot directly, forcing the Ajax goalkeeper to complete a difficult save. As the World Cup is getting closer, the Portuguese are like an awakened lion, performing better and better after the New Year. In the last minute of the first half, it was Lin Feng again who took advantage of the opponent's decreased attention and lax defense, and suddenly made a long pass to find Martins on the other side. Martins used his super fast speed to break through the wing and sent a very threatening cross, but unfortunately Cruz's header was saved by the Ajax goalkeeper, otherwise Inter Milan would have killed the suspense of the game in the first half. In the end, the two teams tied 0:0 in the first half, which was completely acceptable for Inter Milan. But for Ajax, they couldn't accept it. During the half-time break, Ajax couldn't wait to make a substitution, replacing a defensive player with an offensive player. This is the rhythm of continuing to increase the intensity of the attack! But this seemed to have the opposite effect, as Inter were suppressed in the midfield for half the game, and there were signs of them becoming more active. Mancini keenly captured the opportunity and made a decisive substitution. He replaced Stankovic with Veron to strengthen the attack! After Veron came on the field, Inter Milan's midfield suddenly had two good passers, and Ajax's midfielder could no longer limit their performance! In the 49th minute, Lin Feng sent a lob pass with his left foot in the right rib area, Cruz chested the ball and passed it to Veron, who pretended to shoot at the edge of the penalty area, dribbled past the defender and passed it to the left. Cambiasso took the ball and attracted the defense before knocking it back. Lin Feng, who came in from behind, shot with his right foot from 13 meters in front of the goal, and the ball hit the defender and deflected into the near corner! The score became 1:0! Inter Milan scored the first goal, changing the total score to 4:2! This goal completely killed the game. Ajax, who were two goals behind in the total score, had to score three goals in the remaining 40 minutes if they wanted to advance to the quarterfinals! Judging from the defensive strength of Inter Milan in the first half, this was almost an impossible task. So after Lin Feng scored, Ajax's morale dropped sharply, and the players were like eggplants hit by frost, unable to cheer up.
Their morale plummeted, while Inter Milan's morale soared. After all, this game was played at Inter Milan's home ground. Inter Milan, a top Serie A club, was suppressed by a second-rate Eredivisie team for half the game. Is this reasonable? So outrageous! Therefore, Inter Milan, with the seal lifted, sounded the clarion call for a full-scale counterattack. In the 57th minute, it was Figo again. He shot a curved ball with his right foot from 20 meters away from the goal on the left side, but Stekelenburg flew to block it. Two minutes later, Inter Milan got a free kick in the frontcourt. Lin Feng shot directly at the goal with his left foot from 30 meters in front of the goal, but unfortunately it was slightly higher than Henry. In the 65th minute, Inter Milan launched a quick counterattack after intercepting the ball in the midfield. Lin Feng made a diagonal pass to the left, Martins stopped the ball with his chest, and his turn and shot from 14 meters in front of the goal was again saved by Stekelenburg. In the 71st minute, Inter Milan launched a small offensive climax. Several consecutive shots caused chaos in the Ajax penalty area. After the ball was cleared by the opponent's defender, it fell at Zanetti's feet. Zanetti was about to dribble the ball into the penalty area, but was tackled by Rosenborg on the penalty area line. The location of the foul was very ambiguous. Zanetti fell in the penalty area, but it was difficult to judge whether the foul was outside or inside the penalty area. In this era, there is no VAR allowing referees to go to the sidelines to watch video replays, they can only rely on their own eyes. The referee hesitated for a moment, and when he was about to point his finger at the penalty spot, Zanetti, who was fouled, took the initiative to speak: "It wasn't a penalty, I was outside the box when he fouled me!" The referee was stunned for a moment. He had seen many players asking for penalties in various dishonorable ways, but he had never seen a player push a penalty away. This made him remember the player Zanetti immediately! After being reminded by Zanetti, the referee finally chose to give Rosenborg a yellow card and gave Inter Milan a free kick, but did not award a penalty. There was applause from Inter Milan fans in the stands of the Meazza, and the applause was obviously for their captain. Although many fans felt that if Zanetti hadn't spoken, he could have won a penalty for the team. But the fans still admire the captain's noble character for taking the initiative to stand up and help his opponent clarify the situation. "Captain, how about you take the penalty?" Out of admiration and respect for Zanetti, Lin Feng took the initiative to give the ball to Zanetti. Zanetti shook his head: "No need, I know the level of my free kicks very well. If you let me take it, it would be a waste of opportunity!" He felt that he was just doing what he was supposed to do and didn't deserve any special treatment. "Okay, let's play a team game. You stand on the left side of the human wall, and remember to turn around quickly later!" Seeing that the other party declined, Lin Feng did not insist, but whispered something to Zanetti. Zanetti was confused and wondered what new idea Lin Feng had come up with. But the fact that Lin Feng is a master of set pieces has long been no secret within Inter Milan. It was thanks to Lin Feng's set-piece tactics that Inter Milan defeated Juventus. Thinking of this, Zanetti nodded: "Okay, I'll listen to you!" Since he has a new idea, I just have to obey him unconditionally!
Seeing that Lin Feng was going to take the free kick, Inter Milan fans at the Meazza Stadium were all looking forward to it. After the number of appearances of free kick master Mihajlovic dropped sharply this year, Inter Milan fans were worried that no one would be able to take on the responsibility of free kicks for their team. But after more than half of the season, they no longer have such worries. Because Lin Feng has perfectly filled the vacancy left by Mihajlovic. Although he is young, his free kick skills have reached the level of perfection. Even Lin Feng's free kick techniques are more diverse, and he can use various free kick techniques at will, making it difficult to defend against. Inter Milan fans were all looking forward to Lin Feng's another free kick into the blind corner, but Lin Feng did not attack the goal directly, but kicked a ground ball. Moreover, the ground ball hit the opponent's human wall! "Did you make a mistake?" Many Inter Milan fans subconsciously thought that Lin Feng made a mistake, otherwise this situation would not have occurred. But the next second, their mouths opened wide, and they all stared at Ajax's penalty area in amazement! Zanetti kept Lin Feng's instructions in mind and was always ready to turn around and sprint. After Lin Feng's ball was hit, his first thought was the same as the fans', that Lin Feng had made a mistake. But when he saw the ball hit the human wall, bounce to the left and roll towards him, Zanetti was shocked! Could it be that this was also within his calculations? Zanetti did not dare to be distracted. He quickly turned around and accelerated, got the ball before the opponent's defender, and shot the ball towards the goal before the goalkeeper blocked it. The Ajax goalkeeper stretched out his hand desperately trying to block it, but it was too late. The ball rolled into the goal! The goal scorer is the captain of the Nerazzurri - Zanetti! The moment Zanetti scored the goal, the Meazza Stadium was in an uproar. As a defender, Zanetti doesn't score many goals. In the previous two seasons, he even scored zero goals in Serie A, not to mention the Champions League! So it was great to see the captain score such an incredible goal at home in the Champions League knockout round. Inter Milan fans were shocked and extremely happy. If we only talk about Zanetti's shooting, it's actually just average and there's nothing much to talk about. But the way Lin Feng assisted him was really unbelievable. Is this an idea that carbon-based organisms could come up with? They would rather believe that Lin Feng made a mistake than believe that this was a routine designed by Lin Feng in advance. But the fact is, after Zanetti scored the goal, he did not celebrate by himself immediately, but rushed towards Lin Feng and gave him a big hug. This proved that all their guesses were wrong. This goal was not accidental or unexpected. It was a tactic designed by that kid Lin Feng! "I really want to pry open this kid's head and see what's going on with his brain. How can he always come up with such weird ideas?" (End of this chapter)