Chapter 192 The tragic Milan derby, both Milan giants suffered heavy losses! Mancini curled his lips. As early as the 02-03 season, Ancelotti had moved Pirlo from the attacking midfielder position to the defensive midfielder position, and changed him to an organizing defensive midfielder. It’s not the first day that everyone knows that Pirlo is the midfield commander of AC Milan. Although I still don't understand the full picture of your offensive tactics, it is definitely right to limit Pirlo. In fact, what both head coaches did not expect was that Mancini's response was so effective because he chose the right person. As a reborn person, Lin Feng knew very well the key points of the rib attack tactics. There are many ways to attack the flanks, some from the midfield and some from the front. AC Milan obviously used an organizing midfielder to launch the attack from the midfield and backcourt. The reason for choosing this position to launch the attack is that they do not need to face the difficult defensive midfielder, but only need to deal with forwards with weak defensive capabilities. Moreover, there is only defensive pressure in the front, so there is no need to worry about threats from other directions. If it really doesn't work, you can pass the ball back to your own central defender, which greatly reduces the risk of losing the ball. In this situation, the tactical role of the organizing midfielder, especially players like Pirlo, is greatly highlighted.
His broad vision and accurate long passes are powerful tools to help the team open up the situation. On the field, the flank area has the widest field of vision. If Pirlo is allowed to take the ball, observe and pass the ball calmly in this position, Inter Milan will not be able to stop the opponent's attack at all. The way to deal with this tactic is very simple, that is to press closely, force Pirlo to leave this best position, block his vision, and at the same time deprive him of the opportunity to pass the ball without pressure. Of course, this defensive strategy is not a panacea. AC Milan has more than one midfield engine. Seeing that Pirlo was targeted by the opponent, Ancelotti quickly adjusted his tactics, letting Gattuso cover him and arranging Rui Costa to take on part of the organizational work. Master Lu is in a deeper position and has more defensive players around him, so he is under much more pressure when holding the ball than Pirlo. But Master Lu played very smartly. He would retreat from the frontcourt to receive the ball, which would not only pull out the players defending him but also further break up the opponent's formation. He can also cooperate with his teammates who pass the ball. Although he cannot see the situation behind him when he receives the ball with his back to the basket, his teammates facing the direction of attack can see it and give him prompts. Therefore, Master Lu will only take the ball, turn around and organize an attack when there is a safe space behind him and there are no defensive players around. If there is someone behind him, he will not take the ball, but kick it back to the teammate who passed the ball. This kind of pass seems meaningless, but in fact, because of the defensive player's steal, a large space will appear behind him. When Rui Costa retreats, AC Milan players in the frontcourt will use this space and run towards the empty space behind him. On the court, the positions of the players on both sides change dynamically. When the offensive players move, the defensive players tend to move with them. Once the defenders lose coordination and have inconsistent thinking during movement, resulting in loopholes in the overall defense line, the attackers' chance comes. AC Milan played very patiently. They were not in a hurry to pass the ball forward, but kept testing and pulling, mobilizing Inter Milan's defense little by little. They launched attacks from the flanks, and the players' crazy off-ball running on the field forced Inter Milan's defense to make adjustments. In order to deal with the opponent’s attacking threat, Inter were forced to abandon the compactness of their formation and adopt a looser formation to cover a wider area of space. The advantage of doing this is that there will not be large defensive gaps, but the disadvantage is that the space between players becomes larger, giving the opponent a chance to penetrate with short passes. From the 60th minute, AC Milan's offensive threat increased significantly.
Shots from Kaladze, Cafu and Shevchenko threatened Inter Milan's goal one after another, causing panic in front of Inter Milan's goal and making Inter Milan fans in the north stand terrified. During this period, Inter Milan played very passively and was almost suppressed by the opponent and had no power to fight back. In order to deal with AC Milan's attack, Inter Milan players had to use foul tactics to limit the opponent's attack points. Within just five minutes, Stankovic and Cordoba received yellow cards respectively, and Zanetti was injured in the fight and was carried away. The passive situation, coupled with new injuries in the team, made the outside world extremely pessimistic about Inter Milan. "It looks like Inter Milan is going to lose the Milan derby!" This is the voice of countless people at this moment! In the stands, Berlusconi had long lost the nervousness he had in the first half and began chatting and laughing with the people around him, looking confident of victory. In the 70th minute, Inter Milan tried to launch a counterattack after intercepting the ball in the backcourt, but was intercepted by Gattuso when advancing to the middle. After Gattuso intercepted the ball, he immediately passed it to Kaka beside him. Kaka started sprinting the moment he got the ball. He first dodged Stankovic's pressure, then dodged Favali's interception, and finally when facing Cordoba, he cleverly dribbled and flicked the ball, created space and then shot. The Inter Milan fans in the stands had subconsciously closed their eyes, not daring to look at the result of the shot. AC Milan fans opened their eyes wide, afraid to miss the wonderful moment when Milan Prince scored a goal. Kaka's shot was at a very tricky angle, but Cesar stepped forward at the critical moment and made an extreme side dive, barely blocking the ball from going out of the baseline and helping the team escape! "Oh! What a pity, Kaka's shot didn't go in, AC Milan missed a good chance to take the lead!" Seeing Kaka's shot was blocked, the AC Milan coach and substitutes, who had stood up to celebrate, all sighed. But everyone in the Inter Milan coaching booth next door breathed a sigh of relief! Kaka's speed is really too fast. Inter Milan was clearly preparing for a counterattack, but unexpectedly they were counterattacked by the opponent. This instant reversal left Inter Milan players no time to prepare. Many players were still rushing forward, and Kaka rushed up with the ball in full force. In this situation, it is understandable that the players failed to stop the opponent because they had lost their complete defense line. If it weren't for Cesar's last-minute move that changed Inter Milan's fate, they would probably be doomed. A good goalkeeper is really worth half a team! But Inter Milan cannot be happy too soon because AC Milan's attack is not over yet. AC Milan takes a corner kick and Pirlo stands in the corner area. He kicked the ball back, Nesta got the ball and headed it towards the goal with all his might. With a bang, the ball hit the post and bounced back into the penalty area. Favalli tried to clear the ball but kicked it into a teammate's body and the ball bounced towards the goal. Cesar was startled and quickly kicked the ball away. There was chaos in the penalty area. Shevchenko rushed out from the side and shot the ball towards the goal again. Inter Milan fans seemed to have forgotten to breathe. At the moment Shevchenko shot the ball, they were all stunned like wooden sculptures.
"Oops, Shevchenko's shot was too high!" It was Nuclear Warhead himself who made a mistake at the critical moment. In order to avoid the fallen goalkeeper, his shot sought an angle, but he failed to control it and hit the ball high. "It's harder to miss the shot than to score it. How come it went too high?" "Yeah, it looks like Shevchenko is also very upset!" Inside Inter Milan's penalty area, the Ukrainian was holding his head and kneeling on the grass. Obviously, he himself could not accept the blow of missing such a good opportunity. During this round of attack, the mood of the fans of both sides was like riding a roller coaster, ups and downs, and back and forth. "What a pity! If this ball had gone in, the game would have been won!" In the commentary booth, the Italian commentators couldn't help but feel sorry for AC Milan. They sent out such a full main lineup, obviously aiming for victory. But now the game has been over for 70 minutes and AC Milan has not won it yet. This means that if they want to win, they have to continue to expend energy and attack fiercely. If the ball just now had gone in, they wouldn't have to expend so much energy and could play more conservatively next time. What a pity, I gave you the opportunity but you didn’t make use of it! On the sidelines, Ancelotti has started looking at his watch frequently. Although there were still more than twenty minutes left until the end of the game, AC Milan really didn't have much time left. It is impossible for him to really let these main players on the field play the whole game! He has to make substitutions at the latest after 75 minutes, otherwise veterans like Rui Costa, Cafu and Maldini may not be able to hold on physically. But the team is not leading now. If he makes substitutions like this, how will he explain to the boss? Ugh! Ancelotti sighed, what is going on? Do we have a chance to win the league? Is it worth it to fight Inter Milan to the death? If the team fails to win this game and exhausts their physical strength, affecting the next Champions League game, then it would be a complete loss of both the wife and the army. Ancelotti was in agony, and Mancini next door was also having a hard time. Faster, faster! He now wishes that time would pass faster, and it would be best if he didn't have to play in the last 20 minutes. Inter Milan can completely accept the score of 1:1. They didn't have much chance of winning this game, so getting one point is completely acceptable. Even if Juventus won the game later and caught up with them in points, Inter Milan still enjoyed the advantage of goal difference and remained at the top of the list. But the problem now is that Inter Milan’s defense is shaky and has almost been broken through by the opponent. What's worse is that high-intensity games consume more physical energy of the players. In addition, Inter Milan has encountered many fierce battles in a row, and the players' physical strength has reached its limit. Some of them can't run anymore. At Ancelotti's request, AC Milan launched the most fierce attack on Inter Milan after 70 minutes. In the 72nd minute, Figo fell to the ground due to injury during a fight, and Inter Milan was forced to make another passive substitution. At this time, Inter Milan only had one substitution slot left. Almost all the players on the field were exhausted, and there was not enough space for this one person. In the 73rd minute, Kaka's long shot was blocked by Cesar again, and AC Milan won another corner kick opportunity. After the corner kick, Maldini, who was only meters tall, overpowered Materazzi, who was meters tall, grabbed the first point and completed a header. Materazzi's physical strength could no longer hold out, otherwise he would not have been defeated by the opponent.
But his physical confrontation was still effective. Under his interference, Maldini's force direction deviated and the ball was headed off target. The moment the ball went out of bounds, Materazzi fell in the penalty area, hugging his legs in pain. On the sidelines, Mancini's heart suddenly tightened. No way? Even the main central defender is injured? If Materazzi gets injured again, Inter Milan will lose three generals in this game! Fortunately, Materazzi only had cramps and was not injured, so everyone in Inter Milan was alarmed for nothing. Captain Zanetti and goalkeeper Cesar hurried over to help Materazzi stretch his legs. After finally finishing off Materazzi's side, I turned around and saw Cordoba also starting smoking. Lin Feng and Zanetti ran over to stretch his legs again. There was a lot of booing at the scene. AC Milan fans thought that the other side was deliberately delaying time and booed them loudly. "Too despicable, actually using the grass lying tactic, where is your face, Inter Milan?" "Tsk, you don't allow others to stretch their legs when they have cramps? Then in the future, if your AC Milan players have cramps, just shoot them directly instead of stretching them!" Fans of both sides held different opinions and started to criticize each other. The referee looked at the time and signaled to the AC Milan players who were protesting around him that he had suspended the game and that the wasted time would be added to the injury time. At the same time, he came over and urged the Inter players who were suffering from cramps to leave the field and go to the sidelines for treatment. After helping his teammates stretch their legs, Lin Feng couldn't help but put his hands on his hips and breathe heavily. The team's defensive pressure was too great, and he had to retreat frequently to participate in the defense. When the team steals the ball and launches a counterattack, he has to take the ball to organize the attack and even sprint with the ball. After all this going on, even if he had the physical strength of Iron Man Nedved, he couldn't hold on any longer. At this moment, he felt his lungs were burning and every breath was extremely uncomfortable. His whole body was already wet with sweat, and the sweat kept flowing along his eyebrows and temples into his eyes, making his eyes very uncomfortable. As for the sweat-absorbent and breathable jersey, it had already stuck to his body and merged into his body, making it difficult for him to even swing his arms. I looked up at the time and saw that only 76 minutes had passed in the game. If injury time was included, there were still about 20 minutes left before the end of the game. I glanced at my teammates and found that their conditions were even worse than mine. Inter Milan has reached its limit, and this taut string is at risk of breaking at any time. Thinking of this, Lin Feng couldn't help but sigh. He was most likely going to lose the game. But just when he thought the team was going to lose, the game took an unexpected turn. In the 78th minute, AC Milan made personnel adjustments: Cafu, Pirlo and Shevchenko were replaced one after another. When AC Milan had all the advantages and victory was within reach, they chose to call it a day! This sudden change shocked everyone, and also made Berlusconi in the stands look livid: How dare Ancelotti do this?
The Chinese national football team played really well today. I am personally quite satisfied with the score of 1:3, especially the goal in open play, which was the first open play goal conceded by the Japanese team so far. Compared with the previous game, the players of the Chinese national team were obviously more confident this time. They dared to fight and grab, dared to take action, and attacked in an orderly manner. They also created several threats. It was not like last time when the ball burned their feet and it was difficult to shoot. Although I still can’t hold it well due to technical reasons, the progress is obvious. Of course, there is still something to criticize in this game, and that is the set pieces. It is true that the Japanese team executed their set-piece tactics well, but it is also true that the Chinese national team’s set-piece defense was poor. Ivan’s ground defense is good, but he really needs to work harder on set-piece defense. He should quickly hire a professional set-piece coach, otherwise it will be too difficult! (End of this chapter)