Chapter 186 Offensive Battle, Inter Milan advances to the Champions League semi-finals! After Inter Milan increased its offensive power, it could no longer restrict Riquelme as before. Feeling the pressure lifted from him, Riquelme tried to become active again. In the 61st minute, Riquelme was pulled to the ground by Figo when he got the ball on the wing and tried to get rid of it, winning a free kick for Villarreal. Riquelme took the free kick himself, but because the position was too close to the sideline, he did not shoot directly, but instead lofted the free kick into the penalty area. Inter Milan's defense was left open, and Arrabarena, who was unguarded at the back post, made a forward run to 6 yards in front of the goal, jumped high, and headed the ball into the goal. The score became 2:0, and the total score became 3:3. But Inter Milan did not score any away goals. If the game ended with this score, it would be Inter Milan that would be eliminated! When Villarreal scored the second goal, the Estadio della Signoria went completely crazy. All the fans of the Yellow Submarine stood up and celebrated wildly.
Before the game, almost everyone agreed that Villarreal was at a huge disadvantage and had no hope of advancing. But the result? They created a miracle! Despite everyone being pessimistic, they reversed the situation and defeated the Serie A giants! How could this not be exciting? "What is Inter Milan doing? They are playing so badly, aren't they?" "Could it be that he learned bad things from AC and opened champagne at halftime thinking he was going to win?" "Do you think Inter Milan will be eliminated like this?" "Don't panic, brothers. There is still time. Believe in Inter Milan and believe in Lin Feng!" …… The sudden change in the second half surprised the fans. Some fans may have just gone to the toilet or got something, but when they came back, they saw that the score had changed from 0:0 to 2:0. Inter Milan, which had a very good chance of advancing, has now been pushed to the edge of the cliff, with one foot hanging in the air! Fortunately, it is only 60 minutes now and Inter still has time to attack. If this goal had come after 80 minutes, Inter Milan would have been in real trouble! "Inter Milan is in a very dangerous situation. The opponent scored two goals in just 10 minutes, completely reversing the situation!" "Inter Milan must attack now and score at least one goal to have a chance to advance!" The two commentators from CCTV were also surprised by the result and even couldn't help but worry about Inter Milan! "Damn it!" On the sidelines, when the opponent scored the second goal, Mancini pulled his hair hard and cursed under his breath. He discovered that the team's condition today was indeed not good. The free kick just now was not difficult to defend, but the players were not paying attention and missed a man, which gave the opponent a chance to score. Of course, if we really want to talk about it, he as the head coach is also responsible.
At least in terms of set-piece defense tactics, his arrangements still have flaws. But all this is not important anymore. What we need to consider now is not the issue of defense, but offense! No problem, change people! In the 63rd minute, Inter Milan made another substitution, replacing Stankovic with Veron. Although Veron is not good at defense, he is very good at offense. When the opponent focuses on Lin Feng, arranging him to play is equivalent to helping Inter Milan open up a new offensive channel. The opponent's previous targeted defensive tactics naturally became ineffective! Seeing Inter Milan’s desperate attitude, the home team’s fans couldn’t help but feel a little nervous. A man's reputation is like a tree's shadow. Although Inter Milan is the weakest of the three giants in Serie A, it is still one of the three giants in Serie A. Their hard power is definitely stronger than Villarreal! Once a team like this gets serious, the Yellow Submarine may not be able to stop them! After Veron came on the pitch, the situation on the field was exactly as Mancini predicted. The opponent continued to target Lin Feng out of inertia, but Inter Milan players had a new option and could pass the ball to Veron. Veron did not disappoint his teammates' expectations. His first pass after coming on the court was a very threatening through pass, which found the team's left winger Martins! As a substitute player, Martins' physical fitness is now excellent and he has no problem sprinting and accelerating. As soon as Veron passed the ball, he immediately started to accelerate and headed straight for the opponent's goal. Villarreal's full-backs and defensive midfielders were completely left behind and couldn't keep up with him at all. Seeing that Martins was about to break into the penalty area from the wing, Pena had to foul Martins in front of the penalty area and block him. The cost of this block was not small. Villarreal's No. 22 not only received a yellow card, but also gave Inter Milan a free kick in front of the penalty area. The position of this free kick was still very biased, but because it was relatively close to the goal, Lin Feng decided to shoot directly. He took a few steps back, spread his legs, and looked determined. Beep! The referee blew the whistle and Lin Feng started to run. With a loud bang, the ball flew high, passed the human wall and went straight to the upper right corner of the goal. From the perspective of the fans behind the goal, the ball seemed to have been hit too high. If it continues on its current trajectory, it will definitely go over the goal frame. Villarreal's goalkeeper thought so at first, but when the football accelerated down from the highest point, his eyes widened! The football was like riding on an elevator. Instead of moving along the original parabolic trajectory, it suddenly accelerated and fell into the net from the bottom edge of the goal frame at an extremely tricky angle. With such a tricky angle, let alone the goalkeeper making a wrong judgment, even if he made the right judgment, he would definitely not be able to save the ball! The score on the field became 2:1. Lin Feng scored with a stunning direct free kick, helping Inter Milan to recover a goal and change the total score to 3:4. Inter Milan took the lead again! The Love Song Stadium, which was extremely lively a few minutes ago, was now deathly silent. Villarreal fans widened their eyes and, like their players, stared at their own goal in disbelief, unable to believe that their goal was so easily breached by their opponents! "Okay, the misunderstanding is resolved!" "Your uncle is still your uncle. You still have to rely on Lin Feng at the critical moment!" "Hehe, where are the fans of the Yellow Submarine who were celebrating with champagne just now? Can you come out and take a walk?" "It should be stable now, right? We've got an away goal. If the opponent wants to win, they need to score at least two more goals!" "Haha, if Inter Milan scores one more goal, their away goals will surpass Villarreal, and the opponent will have to score 3 goals!" "This is the charm of away goals!"
Seeing Inter Milan regain the lead, the fans supporting Inter Milan in the forum became active again. Just now when Inter Milan was behind in the score, they saw those haters jumping around and belittling and mocking Inter Milan and Lin Feng. Although they were very angry, they did not have the confidence to refute them. In competitive sports, being bad is the original sin. The party that is behind in the score does not even have the right to speak. On the court, Lin Feng's teammates were more excited than he was. Seeing Lin Feng score a goal, even Cesar, who was far away at the other end of the field, rushed over and joined the team's celebration. As for the coaching bench, the moment Mancini saw Lin Feng score the goal, he seemed to be back in the days when he was playing football. He completely forgot his identity as a coach and slid on his knees on the sidelines in his suit. Tragically, the crotch of his trousers was quite tight. The moment he slid to his knees, he heard a "swish" sound and the crotch of his trousers opened. Mancini was embarrassed and quickly covered his crotch. He quickly went to the bench and found a piece of clothing to tie around his waist to cover it. This scene was captured completely by the camera near the coaching booth and projected onto the live TV screen. Mancini thought he reacted quickly and handled the situation properly, but he didn't expect that everything he did was seen clearly by fans all over the world. Public execution is a yes! …… The Villarreal players were a little confused. Weren’t they the ones who were so powerful just now? How come the situation turned around in the blink of an eye? It was thrilling that they scored two goals in seven minutes, but wasn’t it a bit too exaggerated that the opponent overtook the score within two minutes? The opponent's goal came too quickly, and Villarreal's players didn't have time to fully experience the feeling of being in the lead before it was gone. Now the roles of both sides have been reversed again, and it is their turn to attack desperately! No need to say, just do it! In the 65th minute, Riquelme passed the ball in the middle, and Diego Forlan forced a shot at the top of the penalty area, but his shot was confiscated by Cesar. In the 67th minute, Riquelme broke free and chose to break into the penalty area. Due to the interference of Materazzi, his shot went wide. In the 69th minute, Inter Milan launched a counterattack. Cambiasso made a straight pass in the middle, and Lin Feng made a wonderful heel pass into the penalty area. Martins suddenly rushed out from the side and his shot near the penalty spot hit the post and bounced out. This shot made the fans at the scene break out in cold sweats. At the moment Martins shot, many Villarreal fans even closed their eyes in despair. Unlike the first half, both sides played like crazy at this time. After Lin Feng scored, Inter Milan did not adopt a more conservative style of play as before. On the contrary, they, like their opponents, focused on offense. As a result, the game turned into a battle of offense and defense. It depends on who can seize the opportunity and score more goals, and who will have the last laugh. In the 72nd minute, Villarreal got another free kick. Riquelme passed the free kick into the penalty area. Materazzi and Sorin collided with their heads when competing for a header. Sorin's left eyebrow was broken and bleeding profusely. Materazzi was also injured and lay on the ground for a long time before he recovered.
During the time when the two players were injured and left the field, neither side gave up attacking, even though there were only 10 people on the field. In the 74th minute, Riquelme passed the ball, Jose Mari broke through the left and entered the penalty area to pass back, and Fran's shot from the edge of the penalty area was blocked by Cesar who fell to the ground and went out of the baseline. In the 77th minute, Riquelme made a low pass from the right corner, and Jose Mari's low shot from 15 yards missed the near corner. In the 78th minute, Sorin was replaced by Hosiko and the fans stood up and applauded. Materazzi also stood on the sidelines. After being carried out on a stretcher for treatment, he showed a slight improvement. At his insistence, Mancini did not replace him. In the 79th minute, Inter Milan launched a quick counterattack. Martins dribbled the ball to the bottom and passed it across the middle. The ball was moving too fast, and Cruz missed the front point in front of the goal. Figo received the ball at the back point but was blocked by the defender and had to pass it back to the front of the penalty area. Lin Feng followed up and volleyed the ball without stopping, but his shot was too straight and was easily caught by Vieira. As the game came to an end, the home team's players began to get anxious, but Riquelme remained calm and focused. In the 82nd minute, Riquelme made a beautiful straight pass, Fran received the ball on the right side of the penalty area, dribbled it, slightly opened the angle, and completed a low shot with his left foot. The ball was very tricky and Cesar had no time to save it. Fortunately, luck was on Inter Milan's side and the ball hit the near post and went wide. In the 85th minute, Riquelme tried to break through on the right, but he failed to get past the opponent. Instead, he took the ball all the way to the baseline, facing double-teaming from several Inter Milan defensive players. Without many good options for passing the ball, Riquelme forced a kick and his powerful shot from a small angle actually bypassed the defender and went straight to the goal. But Cesar was well prepared and easily confiscated the ball without giving the opponent any chance. There were only 5 minutes left until the end of the game. Even if injury time was included, there would probably only be about 10 minutes. For Villarreal players, the pressure on them is now increasing. The huge offensive pressure made them almost unable to care about defense. All the players pressed forward, and even the goalkeeper crossed the half court and participated in the attack. But if such a desperate attack were to yield a flaw and the opponent seized upon it, then they would be in an irretrievable situation! In the 86th minute, dribbling master Riquelme finally made a mistake. When he was dribbling at the top of the penalty area, he was double-teamed by several Inter Milan players. Lin Feng, who was returning to defense from the back, seized the opportunity, kicked the ball under his feet, and then half-turned to transfer the ball to the wing. Martins seemed to have turned on the nitrogen acceleration. He kicked the ball towards the court with a burst of speed, and then rushed towards the opponent's half at the speed of a 100-meter sprint. Tacchinatti tried to pull Martins' jersey, but he couldn't pull it at all! Martins rushed across half the field and before the opponent's goalkeeper could return to the penalty area, he lobbed the ball into the opponent's goal. The score became 2:2, and the total score was 3:5! Villarreal's hopes of advancement were completely shattered after this goal! With Inter Milan scoring two away goals, they need to score at least three goals to advance to the semi-finals. At this time, there were less than 4 minutes left until the end of the game. It was impossible for them to score three goals in such a short time! So, after Martins scored the goal, the home team players completely let out the anger they had been holding. A few minutes later, the referee blew the whistle to end the game. Inter Milan defeated Villarreal with a total score of 5:3 and reached the Champions League semi-finals again after three years!
(End of this chapter)