Chapter 61 Restoring Milan’s Glory Is Our Duty

AC Milan, without the burden of the Champions League, returned to the Serie A with a complete and healthy lineup.

In the 29th round of the Serie A, Inter Milan beat Brescia 1-0, and Milan also beat Bari 2-1. The points gap between the two teams remained unchanged.

But in the 30th round of the Serie A, when Milan finished the game ahead of schedule and defeated Palermo 3-0.

Inter Milan next door panicked.

Because they had just won the quarter-finals with Bayern four days ago.

This round of knockouts was too exhausting for Inter Milan.

Many veterans fought to exhaustion, and midfielder Stankovic was injured on the spot. Inter Milan can only use rotation in this round of the league.

Milan put too much pressure on Inter Milan. If they can't beat their opponents in this round, the championship spirit of Inter Milan will also be lost.

Speaking of which, Inter Milan entered the next round of knockouts in the Champions League, which is not necessarily a good thing for them.

Not only was their energy dispersed, but they also had no advantage in any of the three lines until the end of the season.

Compared to AC Milan next door, which is likely to win the league title this season, Inter Milan has no chance of winning a championship.

But in the eyes of the outside world, Inter Milan is still very bright this season.

Although the league is unstable, there is a great possibility that they will lose the championship to their city rivals.

But they made it to the final four of the Italian Cup and the final eight of the Champions League, and eliminated Bayern Munich, who was in great form.

It can be said that Inter Milan is still regarded by the media as a powerful and prosperous giant on the European continent with this battle.

However, only the family knows their own business.

It was only after Leonardo took over Inter Milan that he realized that the iron-blooded team led by Mourinho had reached the end of its strength.

It can be said that last year's triple crown achievement forced the strongest state of Inter Milan's veterans, but also drained Inter Milan's last drop of blood.

What Inter Milan needs to complete now is the reconstruction work, rather than continue to rely on these veterans to fight on all fronts.

However, public opinion does not allow it, Inter Milan fans do not allow it, and Inter Milan's owner Moratti has no strong financial support for reconstruction.

Leonardo has no choice but to continue to lead Inter Milan on three fronts.

This is actually no different from walking on a tightrope.

One step wrong, and the whole game is lost.

For example, on the afternoon of March 20, in the 30th round of Serie A between Inter Milan and Lecce.

When Inter Milan scored the first goal of the game in the 76th minute, but in the 87th minute, Lecce was given a penalty kick to equalize because of a handball in the penalty area.

Not to mention Leonardo, the more than 70,000 Inter Milan fans at home are already desperate.

If Lecce draws another game, Milan's lead over them will reach 15 points, a full five wins!

At this point, it really doesn't make much sense for Inter Milan to continue fighting, and they can be prepared to surrender in the league in advance.

Fortunately, in this darkest moment, when many players in Inter Milan had given up, Cesar rejected Lecce's penalty with a great save!

In an instant, he returned to the ground from hell, and many excited Inter Milan fans even cried!

"Saint Cesar!!!"

Countless Inter Milan fans shouted slogans passionately, and Inter Milan, which had regained its momentum, also withstood the counterattack of Lecce at the last moment.

A difficult 1-0.

Inter Milan is still alive!

On the premise that the gap with Milan has not been further widened, they finally stood in front of Milan again!

The two teams from Milan will compete in the next round of Serie A.

The Inter Milan players who escaped the disaster praised God and expressed their determination to win the Milan derby to the camera.

On the AC Milan side, everything seemed too "quiet".

No AC Milan player or coach talked about his thoughts on the Milan derby in front of reporters.

AC Milan, which won Palermo a day ago, has entered holiday mode at this time.

There are no international matches and no Italian Cup. After this round of the league, Serie A will have a "rest period" of two weeks.

So the players of Milan have "returned to their own homes" and lived a temporary warm family life.

Li Ang also temporarily got rid of the monotonous hard training, because Ibrahimovic forced him to go to Northern Europe.

When the entire Italian media thought that AC Milan players were also nervous about the next focus battle like Inter Milan players and were ready for hard training.

Li Ang and Ibrahimovic were leisurely strolling in the old town of Stockholm, the capital of Sweden.

For three consecutive days, Li Ang visited the Zoo Island and Ship Island in Stockholm.

Finally, with the reminder of Uncle囧's phone call, Li Ang and Ibrahimovic packed their luggage and slowly rushed back to Milan.

Mental relaxation and physical relaxation were carried out at the same time. When meeting with teammates in Milan again, Li Ang found that everyone's spirit seemed to be better than before.

Well. Except for Robinho, whose dark circles on his face were a little heavier.

The holiday arrangement made by the uncle has achieved very good results.

In the following recovery training, the Milan players also completed it smoothly in a relaxed atmosphere with laughter and chat.

During this period, they faced interview requests from external media reporters.

Milan still adopted the attitude of "no rejection, no response, and no attention".

Uncle囧 is clearly trying to relieve the players' mental burden first, and the top management of Milan Club naturally has to keep up with the pace.

As they are about to prepare for the big battle with Inter Milan, how can they let the outside public opinion interfere with their own players first?

So inside an invisible "wall", Milan began their targeted tactical drills in an orderly manner.

For five consecutive days, the Italian reporters squatting outside Milanello did not produce any valuable news information.

On March 31, the reporters who finally caught the opportunity blocked Li Ang, who had just finished extra training and was the last to drive away, at the gate of Milanello.

Unexpectedly, this time, Li Ang cooperated very well and directly accepted their interview request, which made all the reporters overjoyed.

"Have you been training hard recently? Have you prepared some 'special' tactical plans for Inter Milan?"

"Hard. It's about the same as before. Anyway, the training is just like that. Besides, you all know what our coach likes to train. I don't need to say more, right?"

"I heard that Robinho's condition is not very good recently. Will you put him on the bench in the Milan derby two days later?"

"You have to ask the coach about this. I don't know."

"Leon, what do you think of being named the most popular player among Milan fans in the first quarter of this year by Gazzetta dello Sport?"

"My honor, if what you said is true, but I think Zlatan and Pato should be more popular with the Rossoneri~"

"Before the big battle, do you have anything to say to Milan fans?"

Leon, who answered the previous questions quickly and fluently, paused on this question.

The reporter of Gazzetta dello Sport also looked at Leon with curiosity, wondering what he would say in the end.

"Hey, it's our duty to restore the glory of Milan! Please make way, I want to go home."

After leaving a slogan that made the reporters on the scene look at each other in bewilderment, Li Ang drove away smoothly.

Of course, his words were known to fans all over Italy early the next morning.

Milan fans like Li Ang's slogan very much.

How appropriate!

Six years after Milan lost the league championship, there is no slogan more suitable than Li Ang's to regain the Serie A championship trophy.

And the fans of other Serie A teams thought about it after seeing this sentence in the newspaper, and made a slight modification. Hey, isn't it appropriate to use it for their own team!

For a time, Li Ang became popular again in the Italian football world because of this slogan.

And Milan fans also made a large number of signs, using Li Ang's slogan as a slogan, and began to "face-to-face output" to Inter Milan fans in Milan with high morale.

Allegri was also happy. He didn't expect that Li Ang could come up with such a slogan to inspire Milan fans.

He himself liked this sentence very much, but Li Ang was a little confused.

"I just said it casually. There are no more slogans. If I had known that it would cause such a big commotion, I might as well just say Forza Milan."

After the training session that day, facing the "request" from Boateng and Pato for a new slogan, Li Ang simply raised his hand to indicate that he really had no more ideas in his mind.

After finally coaxing the two people who were skeptical away, Li Ang also hurriedly packed up. He didn't practice extra today and directly mixed in with the large group of teammates and left Milanello early.

Otherwise, he was afraid that those reporters would come up again, and then there would be more public opinion storms, and he would really have a headache.

Fortunately, the preparations have been successfully completed, and the game with Inter Milan will be decided on the field tomorrow. Li Ang was also relieved.

After crossing Inter Milan, Milan's schedule behind is a smooth road.

Calculating the best result, if Milan successfully beat Inter Milan again, then if they win two more league games, Milan can win the Serie A championship this season five rounds in advance!

A Serie A championship is worth 500 points!

In addition, Li Ang has already accumulated more than 500 points, so he can directly draw a "diamond-level" talent fragment card before the off-season!

Li Ang asked the system before, and the single talent value drawn from the "diamond-level" talent fragment card is more than 95.

Li Ang has been coveting this for several months.

Of course, there are also many good things in the "diamond-level" prop pool. Li Ang is still undecided whether to draw talent fragment cards further or gamble on prop cards.

However, there is still plenty of time before the off-season, and he can consider it slowly.

But he doesn't want to wait too long for this Serie A championship.

He and Allegri have the same idea for the battle with Inter Milan.

No procrastination, no avoidance, face the challenge, and decide the outcome in one battle!

Milan is determined to win this battle!

※※※

On the evening of April 2, in another period without other Serie A games, the competition between the two traditional giants in Milan attracted the attention of a large number of fans around the world.

In this era when the two Milan giants have not completely degenerated into the two Milan bears.

Every derby between the Nerazzurri and the Rossoneri is a rare visual feast for Serie A fans.

And the Serie A commentators of various countries have also done their homework early.

Five minutes before the game officially started that night, he appeared in front of the TV on time and began to introduce the recent performance of the two giants to the fans of his country.

Liu Jianhong also greeted the Chinese fans on time with Xu Yang at 02:40 in the morning of China time.

In the boring monologue of the two, the appearance of the Milan and Inter Milan players quickly woke up the sleepy Chinese fans.

And with Xu Yang's quick introduction, many brothers who did not read the forum or forum information before the game still clearly understood the starting lineups of both sides today.

"Milan did not change their starting lineup much today, still with a 4-4-2 diamond formation in the midfield.

Abbiati continued to start as the goalkeeper.

Zambrotta replaced Antonini as the left back in the defense line today, Thiago Silva and Nesta partnered as double central defenders, and Abate started as the right back.

In the midfield, Pirlo fell back, Leon and Van Bommel were on both sides of the midfield, and Seedorf replaced Boateng as the starting attacking midfielder.

Ibrahimovic still occupied a starting position without any dispute in the forward line, and today he partnered with Cassano."

" Inter Milan still used their best 4-2-3-1 starting formation today.

Goalkeeper Cesar.

Zanetti, Chivu, Ranocchia and Maicon lined up on the back line.

Motta and Cambiasso formed a double defensive midfielder.

Sneijder played as a central midfielder, with Eto'o and Pandev on both sides.

Pazzini continued to be the starting center forward. Milito only recently returned from injury. To be on the safe side, Leonardo did not immediately use the Argentine center forward. "

When Xu Yang introduced the starting lineups and players of both sides, the game also entered the countdown before the official start.

At 20:45 local time in Italy, with the whistle of the referee on duty, the battle officially began!

Milan, who took the lead, attacked from right to left. Pirlo received Cassano's return pass and directly sent forward the first long pass attempt of the game.

Ibrahimovic leaned on Cambiasso in the Inter Milan half and passed the ball back to Seedorf who followed up in the middle of the midfield.

The players on both sides were quick to get involved in the game, so when Seedorf got the ball, before he could move forward, he was faced with double-teaming from Sneijder and Pandev who rushed over from the flank.

Seeing this, Seedorf directly knocked the ball horizontally, and Li Ang, who got the ball, also decisively started to insert along the sideline!

Milan's very active offensive momentum at the beginning made Leonardo dare not take it lightly.

And Li Ang had previously proved his ability to pass threatening balls against Naples.

No matter whether it would work or not, Leonardo really didn't dare to give Li Ang this opportunity to try.

Yelling at Maicon to press forward directly to block Li Ang's route to move forward, Leonardo was a little relieved.

And seeing that Maicon was already pressing towards him with a fierce look, Li Ang didn't hesitate much, and after protecting the ball, he chose to pass back quickly.

Although Maicon was beaten by Bale in the Champions League group stage this season, against him, Leon, Maicon's single defense ability is more than enough.

Self-aware Leon left this "eye-catching opportunity" of singles to his teammates.

At this stage, there is no such ability, so you have to follow your heart, it's not shameful.

After several offensive and defensive tests with Milan, Inter Milan's defensive players also began to press more aggressively.

Facing Ibrahimovic, his former teammate, Cambiasso showed no mercy.

Together with Motta, they effectively restricted Ibrahimovic's activity space in Inter Milan's half.

Anyway, it is impossible to easily get the ball and organize an attack. Leonardo and Cambiasso, who know Ibrahimovic's ability well, directly killed Milan's open offensive formation.

But at this time, Cassano became active.

Allegri watched the evolution of the game situation in line with his expectations, and he continued to sit in the coaching seat steadily.

When the bad boy Cassano's brain is not working well, he may be a bomb for any team.

But when his brain works well, he is the top "Nine and a half" in the current Serie A.

Dribbling, breaking through, organizing the attack, passing, and working alone.

These are things that Cassano is very good at when his brain is normal.

At this moment, Cassano is obviously clear-headed.

He took over the organizational responsibility from Ibrahimovic's shoulders, and quickly sorted out Milan's frontcourt offense without any sense of awkwardness.

Leonardo obviously didn't expect that Allegri would dare to let Ibrahimovic be a tool man again, and at the same time dare to trust Cassano, who had just fallen out with Sampdoria not long ago.

The bad boy used his talent to activate Milan's offensive, and repeatedly broke through on the right, forcing Inter Milan to invest more defensive energy in him.

Ibrahimovic naturally played more comfortably at this time than before.

He approached the left area, and under the full defensive protection of Li Ang, he began to take over the ball and attack Inter Milan's defense with confidence.

Milan, which played the dual-core effect of the frontcourt offense, can be said to be blooming in many places.

With Seedorf, who can shoot and pass, and almost perfectly coordinates the two offensive cores, Inter Milan's midfield and backcourt defense is under great pressure.

Without having to devote all his energy to the defensive end, Li Ang was comfortable in the forward position today.

With Ibrahimovic's comfortable pass and Seedorf's support, Li Ang also experienced the feeling of Boateng's fun in the frontcourt and participating in the attack.

Of course, he doesn't have any long-range shooting ability now, and it's not realistic for him to take a shot like Boateng when he gets the chance.

But he also has his own way to help the team.

In addition to the header, his wider vision and better short pass skills than Boateng played an unexpected offensive role at this moment.

Ibrahimovic and Cassano's left and right positions greatly dispersed the energy of Inter Milan's defensive players.

But correspondingly, it is not easy for Milan's two offensive cores to get a stable connection.

There is a "connection point" missing between them after all.

Seedorf is now limited by his physical strength, and it is difficult for him to actively return to defense after he goes in.

So he can only use the pass to assist, but can't directly go up to act as the connection point between the two.

But Li Ang has no concerns about physical strength and returning to defense, so when he goes in, Seedorf pulls the side to fill in for him, and the connection point between Ibrahimovic and Cassano is there.

At first glance, Li Ang seems to have switched positions with Seedorf, and he went to play the front midfielder position.

An "alternative attacking midfielder" with excellent physical fitness, not much independent offensive ability, but relatively good short pass and heading ability.

Relying on abundant physical fitness and stable short passes to link Ibrahimovic and Cassano, and relying on headers to complete occasional threatening attacks.

Li Ang did not take the ball, and played the role of a tool man to the extreme. He himself did not have many shots, but Ibrahimovic and Cassano were completely comfortable.

Allegri was amazed on the sidelines.

This was not the offensive tactic he had arranged before the game.

But at this moment, Li Ang's positive performance greatly increased AC Milan's offensive threat.

He felt more and more that there was still a lot of potential in Li Ang that could be slowly explored.

And he himself was like a treasure hunter, facing a treasure mountain of unknown depth.

Every time he dug out some unknown treasures, he would feel a surprise.

"Maybe, I can give Li Ang more tactical freedom?"

Allegri suddenly had such an idea in his mind.

But then, he laughed and threw the idea out of his mind.

It may be possible in the future, but for now, forget it.

It is enough to have Ibrahimovic, who has a lot of tactical freedom in the team. Compared with surprises, he prefers the victory that is firmly in his hands.

While thinking, a burst of cheers suddenly broke out at the scene, interrupting Allegri's fantasy.

But when he looked up at the field, all he could see was Li Ang's figure holding the ball and rushing towards Inter Milan's penalty area!

"What happened?"

Allegri asked subconsciously.

At this moment, the Italian Sky Sports commentator has begun to speed up his speech passionately.

"Pandev's pass to Cambiasso was intercepted by Li Ang!!! He didn't notice Li Ang's figure rushing out from his side! Li Ang waded past Motta, and he was going to face Chivu directly!"

Before the commentator finished speaking, Li Ang had successfully killed in front of Inter Milan's defense line with the opportunity he had snatched.

But at this moment, he was as clear-headed as when he faced Maicon ten minutes ago.

Against Chivu, does he have a chance to continue to break through?

Yes, but it is so small that it can be almost ignored.

So, in the next second, Li Ang made a move that made all the fans feel incredible.

When he was almost facing Chivu, he took the initiative to turn his back, bent down and slightly opened his arms, and protected the ball under himself!

Chivu was also stunned. He had seen all kinds of opponents in Serie A, but he had never met one who suddenly changed his back halfway through the frontal attack.

Li Ang didn't care about the exclamations and surprised eyes of the fans at this moment.

After he held Chivu with an unusually awkward back-to-back posture, he suddenly passed the ball to the side when Cassano completed the overtaking of Zanetti!

All the defensive players of Inter Milan really understood what Li Ang wanted to do at this time.

He used himself as the axis and sacrificed the speed of Milan's counterattack, but let Cassano get a comfortable chance to get the ball to the bottom!

After the bad boy completely got rid of the old Zanetti, he only looked up and observed for a short second. He made his own pass choice directly.

Instead of passing the ball to Ibrahimovic who was rushing forward, he passed a low inverted triangle, aiming at Seedorf who had just quietly inserted into the top of the Inter Milan penalty area!

Li Ang completed everything he could do on the offensive end. Now, looking at Seedorf who adjusted his shooting position perfectly after unloading the ball, he breathed a sigh of relief in his heart.

Milan's No. 10 Seedorf stretched out his body, swung his legs slightly and directly shot a fast and tricky shot!

It was as if a beautiful rainbow was drawn over the Inter Milan penalty area. After the short and amazing arc disappeared, the football almost just passed Cesar's fingertips and went into the net in the upper right corner of the goal!

Leonardo seemed to be frozen at this moment. After standing on the sidelines for a moment, he waved his hand in annoyance and signaled the assistant coach to quickly bring the tactical board over!

Cesar was furious. After turning over from the ground, he directly sprayed the several defensive players in front of him!

It was an unforgivable mistake to let Seedorf get a chance to shoot in such a dangerous position!

And this mistake may completely drive Inter Milan into the abyss!

You know, it was only the 18th minute of the first half, this time point was too early, too early.

Losing the ball at this time is a huge blow to Inter Milan, but it is a significant boost to AC Milan's morale!

At this moment, the live camera first gave the goal scorer Seedorf and Cassano who assisted him.

But it suddenly turned around and faced Li Ang, who had previously completed the frontcourt steal and finally helped Cassano to successfully go to the bottom!

Li Ang was laughing and playing a sliding kneeling celebration with Seedorf and Cassano near the corner flag area.

Compared with Seedorf and Cassano, Li Ang's sliding kneeling posture still lacked a bit of smoothness and seemed a bit stiff.

And he also deliberately gave up the position of sliding kneeling in the middle, and it was obvious that he didn't want to be the focus of reporters' shooting.

But at this moment, Inter Milan fans glared at him fiercely!

After all, without Li Ang's frontcourt steal and the ball protection and distribution in front of the penalty area, AC Milan could not play this attack at all.

Inter Milan fans are still very clear about who is the "culprit" that caused Inter Milan to lose the ball in the end!

Unfortunately, today is AC Milan's home stadium, so the boos from the less than 10,000 Inter Milan fans were quickly drowned out by the cheers of Milan fans.

Allegri once again passionately celebrated by "bursting clothes", and his ferocious expression was simply unbearable to look at.

But it really boosted the morale of Milan fans!

One sign after another was held high by the excited Milan fans.

After seeing this scene, Li Ang, who had finished celebrating, smiled and patted his chest while giving a thumbs up to the south stand.

On those signs, the slogan he had shouted to reporters before was written:

"Rebuilding the glory of Milan is our obligation!"

If there is no update at 12 o'clock at noon, it should be at 2 o'clock in the afternoon. There will be at least 10,000 words of updates today, so don't worry, big guys.

The Europa League final is over, and I feel a little complicated.

There is no coward in front of the 12 yards. The Roma players have tried their best. I hope this group of players can have a better result next year. ,

Mourinho is the same.

good luck.