Chapter 612: Old Enemies and Feuds

Chelsea were eliminated in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, erasing the 45-year embarrassment of not defeating a Premier League team in the knockout rounds. CSKA Moscow was drawn in the quarter-finals. Inter Milan's morale was extremely high. They played against Palermo in an away game at the weekend. During the game, Mourinho lined up a semi-main lineup, and still won easily 3:1.

However, the spirit is not omnipotent. After playing Palermo, Inter Milan immediately welcomed Livorno at home in midweek. Due to the fierce battle against Roma on the weekend, Inter Milan was a little distracted against Livorno and was eventually defeated by Livorno. Wono tied 1:1.

As Roma defeated Bologna in this round, the point difference between Inter Milan and second-place Roma has been reduced to 4 points.

This is very detrimental to Inter Milan, because Inter Milan is fighting on the third line, especially in the Champions League, which takes a lot of energy from Inter Milan.

Roma only competes in the league and the Coppa Italia, and they defeated Udinese 2:0 in the first leg of the Coppa Italia semi-finals, which had almost no impact on their league campaign.

Prior to this, Inter Milan had won 4 Serie A championships, and Mourinho also won one. But no one wants to lose the league championship. Especially this season, Inter Milan is in such good condition and is very hopeful to win the first place in Serie A history. A triple crown winner, Mourinho certainly does not want to give up this good opportunity to create history.

Although it is a devilish schedule now, with double matches in a row, Roma is played on the weekend, and CSKA Moscow is about to face the challenge in the middle of the week, CSKA Moscow is still slightly inferior after all. Mourinho is determined to seriously prepare for the battle with Roma. In the competition, we must first consolidate the advantages of the league.

Roma is a bit different this season.

Before the start of the season, Roma did nothing in the transfer market. No one thought they had a chance to compete for the league championship. Everyone believed that the league championship this season would be decided among the three northern players: Inter Milan, AC Milan and Juventus.

After the start of the league, Roma's performance was indeed very sluggish. They lost to Genoa and Juventus in the first two rounds of the league. The meritorious coach Spalletti resigned on his own initiative, and Ranieri, a tinker from Roma's youth training, became the firefighting coach.

At this moment, no one is optimistic about Roma. However, without any signings, Ranie used Spalletti's original team to achieve a 20-game unbeaten record, leaving behind AC Milan and Juventus and winning against Internazionale. Milan's points gap is only 4 points, leaving the league championship in suspense again. This is simply a miracle.

Mourinho and Ranieri have a deep connection. In early 1999, when Mourinho was still Van Gaal's translator and assistant, their Barcelona faced Valencia led by Ranieri three times in half a month. Ranieri won every game, with two scores of 4:2 and one of 3:2.

Five years later, in 2004, Ranieri was now the head coach of Chelsea, Mourinho became the head coach of the Champions League champion Porto, and the Russian tycoon Abramovich who bought Chelsea fired the tinker Ranieri and appointed Mourinho. As the head coach of Chelsea, the madman led Chelsea to two consecutive Premier League championships, and has since established his status as a world-famous coach.

In the 2008 Emirates Cup, Juventus led by Ranieri lost 0-3 to Hamburg. He told reporters after the game: "Unlike Mourinho, I don't need to prove myself through results."

Of course Mourinho couldn't bear it. He retorted: "I think he is right. I always have requirements for myself. I need championships to confirm something. This is why I can win so much in my coaching career." Multiple championships. Ranieri is a man of strong will, he doesn’t need championships.”

"He's almost 70. He's won a Super Bowl and a few minor accolades, so it's hard to change his mind because he's a little older. Yes, he's a little older, but he hasn't won anything yet. I spent several years For several months, he learned Italian for five hours a day to ensure that he could communicate normally with players, media and fans. Ranieri stayed in England for five years.

But it was very difficult for him to even say 'good morning' and 'good afternoon'. "

Then came the 12th round of the league, when Inter Milan faced Roma. At that time, Inter Milan was struggling in the Champions League. Mourinho was not in the mood to have a war of words with Ranieri, and the two sides also tied 1:1 in the league.

Now, Roma has chased the point difference to 4 points, becoming Inter Milan's number one enemy to win the league. In the Italian Cup, Inter Milan and Roma are also very likely to meet in the final. The severe situation has put Mourinho and Ranieri Two famous coaches who had a deep feud were brought to the forefront.

Combativity is Mourinho's signature trait. When they were in the Premier League, Ferguson and Wenger had personal experience with this. Now they met their old rivals again. It happened that the opponents in the Champions League were not that strong. Mourinho finally challenged Ranieri.

"I came to Chelsea in 2004 to take Ranieri's place, which was obviously not my fault. It was just that the team told me they wanted to win and Ranieri couldn't let that happen. If people think he is a loser at Chelsea , then you really can’t blame me. Ranieri has been working hard to prove himself this season, and he has done a good job. The 20-game unbeaten record is only 10 games less than us, but I believe that Roma’s unbeaten streak should end here. Well, Ranieri doesn’t like championships, but I am just a person who likes the beauty of adulthood.”

The 59-year-old Ranieri is mature and understands that Mourinho is irritating him and making him lose his cool. However, Ranieri is not angry. He retorts: "If you deliberately create a fighting atmosphere, this is indeed the case." A simple way to motivate the team. But sports are an important part of Italian society, and Mourinho's approach is like planting a time bomb. I am a sports person and I love football. But I I don’t like Mourinho’s kind of football. I am different from him. I like to respect others and I am willing to respect others, but Mourinho is not. Is Mourinho a phenomenon? This is just what the media exaggerates. To me, he's just a good coach and I won't add any other adjective."

Mourinho then retorted: "If we talk about simply motivating the team, is there anything simpler than Agnelli? He actually let the players watch the movie "Gladiator" before important games. The players are all adults. No, not children. If I asked my team to watch "Gladiator" together before the game, they would definitely laugh or find a doctor for me to see if I am sick. And I have to watch it before an important game. The opponent had played at least ten recent games, hoping to discover their weaknesses. I spent more than ten hours on the computer running some programs to help me with my work, which is much more complicated than watching a movie."

Ranieri said that football is not a simple game. It requires not only materials and tactics, but also spirit. Mourinho's team is like robots. They only understand fighting but not art.

The two famous coaches are engaged in a war of words, and the media will certainly not be idle. In Italy, a place where everyone talks about tactics, Mourinho, a foreign coach, is destined to be an outsider. He gets no support here, and almost no media They all support Ranieri and think Mourinho is arrogant and mean. They hope that Ranieri's team can teach the madman a lesson and let him come back to earth from heaven.

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