Chapter 591: Decisive Battle in Milan 2
Messi is standing near the center line with his teammates at this moment, and the Champions League march is ringing in his ears. Last season, in Paris, Trapani lost the championship, which left an indelible mark in his heart.
After a year, Trapani appeared on the stage of the Champions League final again, "I can't let the championship slip through my fingers this time!" Messi swore silently in his heart.
He is also a person who pursues something. He longs for honors, whether it is the team or himself. He also knows the rumors from the outside world this season. People say that the Champions League final will be a heavyweight match to determine who will be the Footballer of the Year between him and Kaka, so this game gives him endless motivation.
"Come on! Leo!" Messi's father Jorge Messi shouted silently in the stands while watching his son on the court.
It is not easy for Messi's family to have such a life today, and it is even more difficult for Messi. Jorge has never thought about what his family would be like if Hugo was not in his life!
He has more expectations for Messi in his mind. He hopes that Messi can perform well and win this trophy to give to Hugo, because he is the great benefactor of their family.
After a while, the ceremony on the field was over. Messi and his teammates hugged and encouraged each other. Di Maria's legs trembled a little bit involuntarily. There was no way. He couldn't control himself when he heard the theme song of the Champions League final.
"Relax, relax!" Mascherano patted his cheek, "Play like you did in training. You can do it. Keep patience and courage. It will be fine in a while!"
Mascherano was not very good at speaking, but seeing his little brother like this, he had to encourage him.
Not only Di Maria was a little excited, but Victor was also very excited. In fact, he had never had the experience of playing in a final, or a major final. He was never a main player in the Italian national team, and his status was even worse than Barzagli. As for the Champions League final, sorry, it was the first time for a big girl to get married.
Victor took advantage of the captains of both sides guessing the sides and jumped a few times on the spot to relieve his nervousness.
It is impossible to say that you are not excited or nervous when you really play in the final. Just play for a few minutes and everyone's attention will naturally focus on the game, and everything will be fine.
The German referee blew the whistle of the game. The "home team" Trapani kicked off first. Because Trapani is the home team, Milan is the away team. They can wear the away team jersey. However, in the last final, Milan lost in that white away jersey, so this time they deliberately wore the home jersey.
After kicking off, Trapani did not rush to find Messi and other front-court players, but tossed back. Ranieri was not in a hurry to show Milan his power. It was best to deal with him. There were plenty of opportunities throughout the game.
Ancelotti's team has two characteristics. One is that in positional warfare, they make full use of the energy of the team's passers and give the opponent a fatal blow. They have a striker with super running position, Inzaghi.
Another characteristic is to seize the opponent's offensive and defensive conversion space, which is what they are particularly good at. Kaka's solo ride at Old Trafford in the semi-finals was very powerful.
This is Kaka's characteristic. His movements are not fancy but he dribbles the ball very fast. He and Messi are players with different characteristics.
Ranieri's current strategy is conservative, but he was criticized by many professionals before the game. Why criticize him? ! Because in the first half, Trapani defeated Milan not by defense but by strong offense. In the game against Manchester United, Manchester United's impact also embarrassed Milan. When setting up the bus, they have to weigh the pressure of their own defense line. Seedorf, Pirlo, Kaka and others have the ability to pass the fatal ball, which should not be underestimated.
Milan is not eager to press forward, but slowly press forward to force Trapani players to pass the ball.
When they pressed to a certain extent, Trapani was safe, Victor kicked the ball forward with a big foot. This is Ranieri's requirement. If the opponent is pressing hard, just kick forward with a big foot. In short, the place where the mistake is made must not be the backcourt.
The purpose of this is to try to control the ball and set up the bus, and then seize Milan's loopholes in the transition between offense and defense.
Victor's long pass was ineffective, Adriano was whistled offside, and Milan set a ball.
Trapani's intentional retreat gave Milan space to control, but they were only near the center circle. Once they reached Trapani's half, their passing would be restricted. Milan itself did not dare to raise its defense too high. Trapani's forwards were very fast and had strong individual combat capabilities. Caution was also a rule that Ancelotti had to follow.
"It seems that they are all a little restrained! Maybe as the game progresses, the players of both teams may let go a little!" Paolo Rossi, a guest commentator on national television, explained.
What he said made sense. In the final, the two teams that were not familiar with each other were more likely to want to play out their own characteristics, while the two familiar teams in the final were often accustomed to restricting the opponent's performance. As the game became more stalemate, there would always be loopholes. It was impossible to do everything right. Perhaps a sudden change would bring a turnaround to the game.
"You need to be patient when watching the match between Italian teams!" laughed Bergomi, another guest commentator.
The battle on the field looked fierce, but in fact everyone left three points of room, and everyone was waiting to make mistakes. Milan was slightly more proactive, trying to create killing opportunities through passing and cutting, while Trapani passively waited for counterattacks.
In the twelfth minute, Trapani finally waited for an opportunity. The first to shine was Di Maria. Milan attacked the front court in a positional battle. Seedorf passed the ball to Victor to clear the siege. Essien got the ball outside the penalty area and passed it directly to Di Maria who was waiting for the response. Di Maria did not stop the ball immediately, and directly made a two-pass cooperation with Mascherano to avoid Ambrosini's defense. Di Maria was very brave with the ball and went directly to the middle, while Adriano went to the side to make space for him.
Di Maria did not look nervous at all at this time. He was very confident in his dribbling. Facing Pirlo, Di Maria was very confident and used his change of direction to pass Pirlo. However, Di Maria had a problem with the last pass. His pass wanted to hit behind Kaladze.
Who knew that Gattuso would come out diagonally, slide down and tackle, and actually intercept Di Maria's pass halfway!
"Woo oh!" Milan fans applauded Gattuso's interception. This is what he, a butcher, should do, and he did it quite well. Karadze was not far from Messi at this time, but he was most likely unable to stop Messi's speed. Once Di Maria's pass penetrated his side, Messi could go straight into the penalty area.
Gattuso's interception was very critical, and Trapani's counterattack speed was also very fast, basically without too much circulation in the midfield. Although this opportunity did not even get a shot in the end, Ranieri was extremely satisfied. He stood on the sidelines and applauded his disciples!
"Just kick it like this! Just kick it like this!" Ranieri said while walking and gesturing.
Milan actually deployed three big players today. Gattuso, Ambrosini and Pirlo are all defensive midfielders. Pirlo is classified as a defensive player because of his position. He has always been in a relatively backward position. Gattuso and Ambrosini are his guardians.
From what we can see just now, Gattuso's protective role has really been played out.
Ancelotti chewed gum in his mouth with a blank expression. He had expected such a situation a long time ago, but Milan's advantage still lies in control. Being conservative is not only about parking the bus, but also using undoubted control of the ball. What he expects Milan to do is to control, slowly take opportunities, and not lose defense.
"Alas! What a pity! Pass it! Messi will definitely score!" Trapani fans talked about it.