Chapter 647: The Battle to Win the Championship

In the second Champions League semi-final, Manchester United also beat Lyon 4:0.

Since then, the situation of the Champions League final is very clear. Unless there is a huge upset, basically Inter Milan and Manchester United will appear at the Bernabeu.

After the game, bookmakers were no longer willing to open odds for Lyon and Barcelona to win, because in the history of the Champions League, no team has ever been able to reverse after falling behind by 4 goals.

Even so, Inter Milan still did not dare to be careless. In the 35th round of the league against the relegation team Atlanta at the weekend, even if there was hope of winning three rounds in advance, Mourinho, who focused on practicality, still let the main players rest and arranged a substitute. The main lineup.

Gao Xiaodong is the core figure on both ends of Inter Milan's offense and defense. Mourinho originally wanted Gao Xiaodong to give up this game, but Gao Xiaodong refused.

Mourinho must be very unhappy. He feels that Inter Milan is 7 points ahead and will win the championship sooner or later. It doesn't matter whether he wins the cup or not. In an insignificant game, there is no need for Gao Xiaodong to play, in case it affects the away game. In the Barcelona game, the gains outweigh the losses.

However, Gao Xiaodong had an agreement with Mourinho before he moved to Inter Milan. He wanted the entire season unless he gave up, and Mourinho agreed. So Mourinho could only feel unhappy, but he had no way to force it. Put Gao Xiaodong outside the big list.

Mourinho thought that Gao Xiaodong was too vain and wanted to compete with Milito and Di Natale for the top scorer, but Gao Xiaodong actually wanted to win the championship in advance and advance to the professional S-level.

In this round, second-placed Roma encountered a strong enemy and was challenged by fourth-placed Sampdoria. It is not easy for Roma to win against Sampdoria. As long as Roma cannot win and Inter Milan defeats Atalanta, Inter Milan can advance ahead of schedule. Three rounds to win.

Gao Xiaodong currently lacks a league championship. As long as he has the league championship, Gao Xiaodong can be promoted to the professional S-level, which is between ordinary players and stars. Once promoted to the professional S-level, Gao Xiaodong's strength will increase. With a greater improvement, he will be more confident against Barcelona, ​​so even if he consumes a little physical energy, it is definitely worth it for Gao Xiaodong.

Atalanta is currently ranked third from the bottom, only higher than Livorno and Siena, who are definitely relegated, and 5 points less than Bologna, fourth from the bottom. There is still a glimmer of hope for relegation.

Although Atlanta is a weak team and has changed three coaches in one season without changing its decline, but judging from its historical record, Atlanta, which has similar jerseys to Inter Milan, is really not afraid of Inter Milan. Last season, Inter Milan was 1:1 away from home. 3 lost to Atlanta, and narrowly won 4:3 at home. When they were dying, they might be able to take advantage of Inter Milan's distraction to score an upset.

A game like Atlanta,

Last season, not even half of the fans would be able to sit in the stands, but this season Inter Milan has a brilliant record, sweeping away decades of decline, and is on track to win the first Serie A treble, and this game Inter Milan may win the game three rounds in advance. In order to witness Inter Milan win the cup live, the stands of the Meazza Stadium were full, and officials from the Italian Football League also came to the scene with the trophy. Once Inter Milan wins the championship in advance, there will be no fans after the game. An award ceremony will take place.

Although Mourinho is unwilling to send out the main lineup, it is not that he does not want to win. Mourinho also hopes to eliminate all worries before the decisive battle with Barcelona, ​​but he does not want to spend too much effort in Atlanta.

Before the start of the game, Mourinho still made serious tactical arrangements, emphasizing not to give hope to the opponent and to defeat Atlanta's confidence from the beginning. For a weak team like this that has been weak for a season, as long as there is no confidence, basically Just let others slaughter you.

Nowadays, Mourinho has unprecedented prestige in the Inter Milan team. His words are like edicts in Inter Milan. Even if they are substitute players, Mourinho's tactical arrangements will be implemented to the letter. Their combat effectiveness is far from Atalanta. This kind of team is comparable.

After the opening, with the cheers of more than 60,000 fans in the audience, Inter Milan's substitutes, who had never been able to get a chance to play, under the leadership of Gao Xiaodong, suppressed Atalanta in the half-time and beat them wildly. The game basically became half-time. Attack and defense.

However, football is round, and this sentence is not true at all. Just when the fans of Inter Milan were standing up and eating melon seeds, waiting to watch Inter Milan kill Atalanta, Atalanta actually used a counterattack to break through the door of Inter Milan. .

In the tenth minute of the game, Atalanta shot for the first time. Manfredini made a long pass from the left. Tiribochi succeeded in countering offside. He dribbled the ball into the penalty area and calmly hit Cesar with his right foot 13 meters in front of the goal. The shot hit the net and made the score 1-0.

This goal silenced the San Siro for almost a second.

The on-site commentator Reca said in surprise: "Inter Milan has just bloodbathed Barcelona. They will not lose to the relegation team. If Roma loses over there and Inter Milan loses here, then Mourinho will lose." It’s a big deal. There are more than 80,000 fans waiting to see Inter Milan win the championship. If you win as a substitute, the fans won’t say anything. If you lose as a substitute, even if you are preparing to play Barcelona, ​​the fans will definitely Complain.”

Mourinho's expression remained unchanged on the sidelines, sitting steadily on the coaching bench.

Although Atlanta's goal was a bit surprising to Mourinho, he still believes in his players. Gao Xiaodong, Pandev, and Sneijder are all there. Stankovic and Muntari are also the midfielders of other Serie A teams. They are all the absolute main players. Mourinho does not believe that Atlanta can make a difference.

After experiencing several fierce battles with Chelsea and Barcelona in the Champions League, Inter Milan is no longer as nervous as before. Faced with the situation of being led by Atlanta, the players' mentality is as usual, still controlling the ball steadily, and launching a shot into Atlanta's penalty area. Wave after wave of impact.

In the 13th minute of the game, Bianco fouled Sneijder, and the referee Orsato showed the first yellow card.

Gao Xiaodong took the free kick. His beautiful kick went over the wall, but it hit the crossbar and bounced out.

There were sighs and sighs at the scene.

In the 20th minute, Bianco brought down Gao Xiaodong again, and Inter Milan got another free kick.

Gao Xiaodong passed the free kick into the penalty area 27 meters in front of the goal. Central defender Materazzi headed the ball seven meters in front of the goal, but the ball was miraculously saved by Atlanta substitute goalkeeper Coppola.

The ball on the field was filled with regret again. They felt that Inter Milan's luck was not very good today.

Inter Milan got the best chance in the 24th minute! Inter Milan's defense launched a quick counterattack. Sneijder hit the midfielder and Gao Xiaodong made a direct pass. Bianco, who had just received a yellow card, made a mistake in the clearance and passed his thigh to Pandev. After Milito waited for the ball to rebound, he hit it 23 meters in front of the goal. A volley shot with his right foot went over goalkeeper Coppola but hit the crossbar.

Now there was a commotion in the stands, and Inter Milan fans were a little uneasy. They felt that today's game was a bit strange. Facing a relegation team, they couldn't score a goal. Could it be that their 34-game unbeaten streak was going to be broken by a "copycat Inter Milan"? Isn’t it in Atlanta’s hands?