Chapter 181 RNM, refund the money! After entering March, the five major leagues have entered their final stages. The battle for the league championship is becoming increasingly fierce. After Inter Milan was tied by Roma in the last round, the gap between them and Juventus in the standings was widened to 6 points. With 10 rounds left in the league, it is obviously not easy to tie these six points. So after that game, the outside world felt that Juventus had a high probability of defending the title. The Serie A championship odds offered by some bookmakers also support this view. But this does not mean that Inter Milan has completely lost hope. Because in the remaining 10 league rounds, Juventus will face obstacles from AC Milan and Roma. AC Milan, needless to say, although their record in the league this season is not good, this is mainly because the Rossoneri has focused on the Champions League. With Fiorentina and Roma chasing them aggressively, AC Milan will certainly go all out in the remaining games in order to secure a place in the Champions League next season.
As for Roma, their performance in the first half of the season was indeed not very good, but their momentum in catching up in the second half was very fierce. The 11-game winning streak they had before is proof of this! Judging from the experience of Inter Milan’s match against Roma in the last game, they will be able to fight even if they meet Juventus, and may even have an upset. Therefore, as long as Juventus loses points in the games against these two teams, Inter Milan’s chance will come! The focus of the 29th round of the league is AC Milan's visit to the Alpi Stadium to challenge the defending champion Juventus. Unlike the previous round, Inter Milan's game in this round was arranged first. Their opponent is Sampdoria, ranked ninth in the league! Sampdoria currently has no worries about relegation, but no hope of winning the championship. It is the kind of team that has no desires or aspirations. Such teams may even play better than those relegation teams that are ranked lower in the second half of the league. Inter Milan did not disappoint the fans. Thanks to Figo's goal, Inter Milan beat Sampdoria 1:0 at home and firmly secured the three points. After the game, Inter Milan's attention was all focused on another game. Not only them, but all the fans in Italy were attracted by the game at the Alpi Stadium. Juventus coach Capello attached great importance to the outcome of this game. In the pre-match press conference, he vowed to win the game, complete revenge on AC Milan, and lay the foundation for winning the club's 29th Serie A championship trophy: "This is the match point in the Serie A title race and we won't allow anyone to stand in our way. Although our opponent AC Milan will definitely fight to the death, my team is in good shape and I am confident that we can beat them!" Capello's speech before the game seemed full of confidence, but in fact, Juventus was not in good shape at the time. In the Champions League match in the middle of the week, although Juventus tried their best to defeat Werder Bremen, they also paid a heavy price for it. Main defenders Zambrotta and Kovacic were both injured during the game and were unable to attend the match, which posed a hidden danger to the Old Lady's defense. However, the situation on AC Milan is not ideal either. Ukrainian nuclear warhead Shevchenko suffered a relapse of his old Achilles tendon injury before the game. In addition to Shevchenko, Maldini, Cafu, Rui Costa and Ambrosini were all injured and absent. AC Milan has been plagued by injuries in the league and Champions League so far.
If it weren't for the outbreak of Inzaghi, who scored 9 goals in the last 6 games, AC Milan's record during this period would have been even uglier. But even so, Ancelotti still did not give in to Capello's bold words: "Although AC Milan's squad is incomplete, the whole team will still fight desperately for honor with Juventus." The head coaches of both teams are not just talking nonsense, they are serious! After the game officially started, Juventus took the lead in launching an attack. In the first minute, Juventus' attack caused AC Milan's defensive foul. Mutu's free kick from the right side was sent into the penalty area but was cleared by the defender's header. In the 3rd minute, Ibrahimovic and Trezeguet made a one-two combination in the penalty area. After Ibrahimovic got rid of the defender, his shot was blocked by Dida. A minute later, AC Milan launched a quick counterattack. Stam made a cross from the right bottom line, and the Juventus defender blocked the ball before striker Inzaghi. In the 6th minute, Trezeguet's shot from outside the penalty area went wide. In the 10th minute, Mutu again took a free kick from the right side of the frontcourt. Vieira headed the ball in the crowd, but it was saved by Dida again. …… The offense and defense transition speeds of both teams were extremely fast, and every attack was aimed at the opponent's life. In order to stop the opponent's attack, the two teams' defense on the field was ruthless. In the 9th minute, Nedved was given a yellow card for tackling Kaka who was dribbling at high speed while defending. In the 12th minute, Stam also received a yellow card warning for his retaliatory tackle on Nedved. For a moment, people and horses were falling on the court and grass was flying everywhere. Since the player with the ball was the focus of the opponent, the advancement of both sides was greatly hindered and the offensive rhythm finally slowed down. The game entered a stalemate, the competition between the two sides became more and more intense, and the offense could only rely on the "simple and rough" long pass counterattack style to try their luck, which made many Premier League fans feel inexplicably familiar. It turns out that the world's top league, Serie A, is also played like this? In the 30th minute, Emerson successfully intercepted the ball in the midfield, and Ibrahimovic's long shot from 30 meters away went over the crossbar. The goal had not been threatened by the opponent for a long time and the weather was very cold. AC Milan goalkeeper Dida did warm-up exercises in front of the goal to maintain his condition and avoid injury. But this action was seen as a provocation and humiliation by the home fans, and there was a lot of booing for a while. But no matter how they booed, Juventus' offense did not improve during this period. On the contrary, AC Milan completed several very threatening shots. In the 32nd minute, Serginho broke through on the left and made a cross. Shevchenko received the ball and made a low shot. He was about to score, but his teammate Inzaghi accidentally blocked the ball. Shevchenko and Inzaghi stared at each other, while the fans of the home team were sweating coldly. It is worthy of being a nuclear warhead. Even if it is damaged, it still has such power. It is really scary! In the 34th minute, AC Milan made a tactical corner kick. Pirlo and Kaka's long shots outside the penalty area were blocked by the defender, while Inzaghi's offside breakthrough was resolved by the goalkeeper Buffon. In the 35th minute, Inzaghi received a free kick from his teammate and dived in front of the goal to head the ball, but it went wide. Two minutes later, AC Milan made a cross in the penalty area, and there was a serious coordination error between the Juventus goalkeeper and defender. Unfortunately, Inzaghi missed the ball again and missed a great chance to score.
In the 42nd minute, AC Milan took a corner kick and Pirlo got the ball outside the penalty area and shot high. After this shot, neither side had any decent scoring opportunities in the first half. A few minutes later, the first half ended and the score between the two teams was temporarily 0:0. Seeing this score and the team's performance on the road, the small number of Milan fans who came to watch the game felt relieved. Although they were more affected by injuries, judging from the performance in the second half of the first half, it was AC Milan that suppressed Juventus. If they continue playing like this, they have a high probability of winning the game. At the same time, Inter Milan fans were relieved to see AC Milan withstood the pressure and did not let down. Although they did not want to support their city rivals, for Inter Milan, the best result of this game was AC Milan defeating Juventus. In that case, the gap between them and Juventus can be narrowed to 3 points at once! There are still 9 rounds in the league, and the hope of catching up with 3 points is very great. As long as Juventus makes the slightest mistake, Inter Milan will have the hope of catching up or even surpassing them! "Come on AC Milan, you must hold on in the second half!" Some Inter Milan fans even cheered for AC Milan for the first time! …… At the start of the second half, Juventus took the lead in making personnel adjustments. Ibrahimovic, who performed poorly in the first half, was substituted and Zebra Prince Piero was appointed to take over. Capello tried to use the experience of veterans to drive the team's offense, and this adjustment achieved certain results. Just 56 seconds into the second half, Mutu created a gap by breaking through on the wing, but unfortunately the Romanian was a bit too independent. He ignored the better position in the middle and insisted on shooting from a small angle. In the end, the ball was hit too high, wasting such a good opportunity. Capello was so angry on the sidelines that he wanted to replace Mutu immediately. In the 53rd minute, Nedved used his personal strength, dribbled the ball and suddenly kicked the ball, completing a long shot from 23 meters outside the penalty area. The quality of the shot was very high, and AC Milan goalkeeper Dida tried his best to save the ball. In the 57th minute, Mutu made another breakthrough on the right and his shot went over the crossbar again. AC Milan had problems with its left side defense and the opponent found opportunities repeatedly. This made fans of AC Milan and Inter Milan nervous, fearing that their opponents would seize this weakness and break the deadlock on the field. Fortunately, Ancelotti made timely adjustments on the spot and quickly made substitutions to fill the gap on the left side. Mutu's continuous solo work caused dissatisfaction among his teammates. Piero even argued with Mutu directly on the court, asking the other side to play more as a team. Mutu has only joined Juventus for more than a year, and his qualifications are completely incomparable to Piero. Although he was not very convinced in his heart, he still did not dare to confront Piero openly. In the 59th minute, Nedved broke through and passed the ball, Chiellini made a cross from the side, and Piero, who was unguarded, headed the ball in the penalty area. Dida had given up treatment, but the Zebra Prince was unlucky and the football hit the crossbar and bounced out. There was a huge sigh at the Alpi Stadium, and Juventus fans were almost numb!
They are so anxious! There is not much time left, hurry up and score a goal, otherwise we won’t win the game! Not only were they anxious, but the players on the field were also anxious. However, the more anxious you are, the more likely you are to make mistakes. In the 62nd minute, AC Milan intercepted the ball in the middle and launched a counterattack. Kaka broke through the double-team of two opponents and made a wonderful pass into the penalty area. Inzaghi got the ball and had a one-on-one opportunity, but Buffon blocked his position in advance. Jiu Ye tried to dribble past the goalkeeper, but Buffon fell to the ground and saved the ball. AC Milan missed another opportunity! Inzaghi pounded the grass a few times in frustration. Buffon was such a difficult guy. If he had met an ordinary goalkeeper just now, he would have shot directly. But when he met Buffon, he didn't dare to do so. He hesitated for a moment and in the end he didn't even have the chance to shoot. Almost the same as the first half, after the second half entered the middle, AC Milan's offense gradually improved, while Juventus' defense was frequently in crisis. In the 65th minute, a very controversial scene occurred on the field - AC Milan center back Nesta's shot from a corner kick hit the arm of Emerson who was defending him, but the referee refused to award a penalty. Slow-motion replay showed that it was an undoubted handball in the penalty area and a penalty should have been awarded. But the referee did not make such a decision, either because he did not see it or for some other reason. There were sporadic boos at the scene, which were the AC Milan fans who had traveled with the team venting their dissatisfaction. Nesta was very dissatisfied with the penalty. He emotionally surrounded the referee and wanted to ask for an explanation, but was warned with a yellow card by the referee. Affected by this, AC Milan players' emotions were somewhat out of control. Gattuso deliberately fouled Nedved in the frontcourt and knocked him to the ground. The referee showed him the second yellow card without hesitation. Gattuso's two yellow cards turned into one red card and he was sent off. This penalty once again ignited the anger of AC Milan fans! Gattuso’s foul was indeed punishable, but why didn’t you call a handball in Juventus’ penalty area just now? "Black whistle!" "Match-fixing!" "rnm, refund the money!" Although there were not many AC Milan fans attending the away game, their angry insults could be heard throughout the stadium. At this moment, Milan fans finally understood what Inter fans felt at that time. black! It’s so fucking dark! Juventus is not even trying to act! Ancelotti did not criticize Gattuso for his lack of calmness, but made a substitution immediately. He replaced the injured Shevchenko and Inzaghi with two defensive players, leaving only Kaka as an offensive player in the frontcourt.
AC Milan, with one man less, has lost the strength to continue leading the attack, and they can only passively defend now. There is an old Chinese saying: The army that mourns will win! AC Milan suffered unfair treatment, and the whole team put in all their efforts to defend against the opponent's attack. The final stage of the game became dull, as Juventus' attack was completely frozen by AC Milan's tight defense. Nesta calmed down and completely froze Piero and Trezeguet with his excellent defense. At the end of the 90-minute game, the score remained at 0-0 without any change. AC Milan, who had one player sent off, withstood the pressure from their opponents and managed a draw away from home. Juventus missed the chance to win the game when their opponent was one man short. After being tied by AC Milan, their lead over Inter Milan was reduced to 4 points again. The suspense of Serie A is back! (End of this chapter)