Chapter 233 That year I put my hands in my pockets, not knowing who my opponent was (Part 1)
【Boom boom boom! 】
[Exclusive mission: Win against the giants]
[Task Reward: Randomly obtain a legendary football star card of this wealthy club (five minutes)]
Chen Xiaoliang accepted the task, turned off the panel, and the game began.
Giroud took the ball from the center line and pushed it back to Krunic.
Before Krunic could hold the ball firmly, the two wingers on both wings and the two midfielders in the midfield rushed forward.
There are two full-backs following behind to provide support.
Mourinho stood on the sidelines with his hands in his pockets, not panicking.
These were things that were anticipated before the game.
The Rossoneri have no shortage of fast and physically fit players. If they can attack at the beginning and score, playing away games will become much easier and more confident.
To this end, Mourinho had instructed in advance that the team should retreat at the beginning, launch a few defensive counterattacks, and wait for 15-20 minutes until the opponent's offensive power weakened before tentatively entering the opponent's half.
Defense produces championships, this is an eternal truth in football.
Before Krunic could take a few steps, Zaniolo came forward to press. Krunic immediately passed the ball to the right, and Salemakos received the ball and moved forward.
Coming to the right side of the penalty area, the Belgian winger was surrounded by three people, with Cristante in front, Malaysia on the wing, and Chen Xiaoliang in the middle.
Seeing that there was no space for him to force a kick forward and his backward pass was blocked by Chen Xiaoliang, Salemacols simply stuck to Cristante and tried to force a breakthrough.
Facing the ball right in front of him, Cristante subconsciously stretched out his foot to intercept it.
Chen Xiaoliang, who witnessed the whole process, wanted to shout "Oh no" in his heart, but before he could finish his words, Salemacols was tripped by Cristante and fell to the ground.
“Beep!”
The referee Paolo Valeri decisively called a foul and awarded AC Milan a free kick on the right side of the penalty area.
Cristante complained to Paul Valery, but he knew in his heart that he had been tricked by the opponent, so he had to retreat and form a human wall.
Chen Xiaoliang also came over to form a human wall with him. While looking at the defensive positions of his teammates around him, he said to Cristante that for this kind of ball, he just needed to use his body. If he took two more steps forward, he would be in their defensive range, so there was no need to kick the ball.
AC Milan captain Calabria stepped forward to take the penalty.
Suddenly, not only was there a bustle in the penalty area, but the head coaches of the two teams were also shouting on the sidelines.
One loudly reminds players to pay attention to the defensive object, and the other loudly reminds players to pay attention to the offensive routine.
Except for Cesco, all the other players on the Roma side retreated back and blocked the penalty area.
"Beep!" The referee blew the whistle, indicating that a free throw could be taken!
Calabria took a run forward, and at the same time, the AC Milan players in the penalty area began to move towards the goal, and the Roma players who were defending them also retreated at the same time.
The ball came out, a half-high fly ball!
The main force had already gathered at the edge of the small penalty area, but the ball flew outside the penalty spot!
A figure rushed in from the penalty area in an instant! Weletu wanted to pull him but it was too late!
He Wei: “Special Olympics!”
"Shoot with your left foot!"
“It’s in!!!”
"Peach Blossom Shadow Falling Flying Divine Sword!!!"
"Just one minute into the game, AC Milan left-back Theo used his teammates' running cover in the penalty area to receive a free kick from captain Calabria, and volleyed with his left foot near the penalty spot. The ball bounced off the ground and flew into the Roma goal!"
"AC Milan leads by one goal! What a dream start!"
"Roma made a fatal mistake in defense! They focused all their attention on the players competing for the header in the penalty area, while Veretout, who was defending Theo, seemed to have not noticed the sudden start of the defensive target at the moment he was watching the ball!"
"It can be seen that Mourinho is very disappointed. He keeps muttering to himself and shaking !"
"The time on the scene is out! 53 seconds! The first goal was scored in 53 seconds!"
"In the stands we saw Totti, the Prince of Rome, sitting with Paolo Maldini, the current director of AC Milan. On the other side of Totti sat Norwegian Riise, who is also Chen Xiaoliang's current agent."
"The camera was pointed at the front row of these people. It seemed that this game was very eye-catching. Manchester United's meritorious coach Sir Alex Ferguson and his wife Cathy also came to the scene. Sitting in the row in front of them was Real Madrid coach Ancelotti! AC Milan won the Champions League twice under his coaching."
"Also nearby are Cafu, the captain of the Brazilian national team who played for both AC Milan and Roma, De Rossi, the former vice-captain of Roma, as well as several Milan legends such as Gattuso and Nesta."
"We also saw the Roma No. 10 before Totti, Giuseppe Giannini, who also had long flowing hair and a melancholy and handsome face. He was also a native of Rome and served as the team's captain for a long time!"
"I wonder what these Roma legends feel when they see their team lose the ball at the start of the game."
Chen Xiaoliang was also a little confused, but he still stepped forward to encourage Weilertu.
After all, the game has just started for 1 minute, and confidence and morale cannot be lowered in any case!
Although there were some defensive problems in this ball, who would have thought that Theo's volley could bounce off the ground and bypass the densely packed crowd in front of the small penalty area.
All I can say is that even luck was not on Roma's side in this goal.
Cesco didn't expect that one minute into the game, he would be the one kicking off from the center circle.
“Beep!”
Paul Valery blew the whistle again and the game continued!
Roma tentatively attacked on the right, but soon fell into the stranglehold of Milan's defense due to insufficient manpower and lost the ball.
After conceding the goal, Milan did not start to deliberately control the ball and slow down the tempo of the game as some commentators had predicted, but instead continued to launch wave after wave of fierce attacks.
It seemed that they had no goal and only set one goal in the rush to get the game started.
Mourinho cursed in his heart: Pioli, this guy is taking advantage of my illness to kill me, and wants to completely humiliate us in our home court.
In the 4th minute, Zaniolo received a long pass from Chen Xiaoliang and broke into the penalty area in a counterattack, but his dribbling of the ball was too long and was poked out of the baseline by Tomori.
Veretout took a corner kick from the right side, also pretending to attack in the penalty area, and the corner kick landed towards the penalty area line. Cristante stopped the ball on the penalty area line and made a long shot, but he obviously did not have the luck of Theo. The ball was blocked by Kessie in defense. Chen Xiaoliang got the ball at the back and passed it to the penalty area again from the left side. Cesco successfully headed the ball, but it was too straight and was easily confiscated by Maignan.
Roma's attack had just ended, and AC Milan did not give the home team any chance to breathe. Maignan threw the ball to the left, Theo received the ball and ran wildly. Celik who stayed behind tried his best to intercept, and Theo made a lob pass to Leo in front.
The Portuguese winger is not very enthusiastic in defense, but he is famous for his enthusiasm in offense.
Seeing Theo kick the ball, he instantly made an offside move and overtook Malaysia who stayed in the middle, and rushed towards the penalty area!
Patricio was hesitating whether to attack or not, when he saw Chen Xiaoliang retreating towards the penalty area like the wind, waving his hands to signal him to stay on the goal line and not go out to avoid being lobbed.
Leo opened his mouth slightly, revealing a row of big white teeth. As a national team teammate of Ronaldo, there was no Chen Xiaoliang in his mind.
Although Chen Xiaoliang had caused AC Milan a lot of trouble in previous matches, Leo didn't think it was a big deal.
The failure to defend is the defense's problem and has nothing to do with him as a winger.
Seeing that Chen Xiaoliang was able to catch up, Leo accelerated and rushed towards the baseline.
When he ran two meters into the penalty area on the left, Chen Xiaoliang came up!
Leo slowed down and pulled the ball back to create space with Chen Xiaoliang. He did a bicycle kick with his right foot and made a feint around the ball. Then he suddenly started again with his left foot and accelerated towards the baseline to prepare for a shot at a small angle!
Chen Xiaoliang placed his left hand on Leo's waist and gently pushed forward with his left foot. The moment Leo's left foot pushed the ball, it went out of the baseline!
After falling to the ground, Leo immediately jumped up and raised his hands to appeal to the referee!
Referee Paul Valeri did not see the foul, but he listened to the opinions of the video referee team on his way over.
Fortunately, the person on the other end of the headset agreed with me.
"Referee! He violated me!" Leo shouted.
His national team teammate Patricio came up and put his hand on the little brother's shoulder: "Come on, stop talking."
Paul Valery responded clearly that no foul had occurred.
Leo insisted: "He just put his hand here and I felt weak for a moment! If you don't believe me, try it!"
After saying that, he reached out his hand and poked Paul Valery's waist.
Paul Valery shuddered as if he had been electrocuted and couldn't help laughing.
The coaches and players on the benches of both teams were stunned.
Is Leo tickling the referee?
Seeing that the situation was not good, Giroud hurried over and pushed Leo away, which dispelled the referee's idea of giving a yellow card in return as encouragement.
After the little episode, AC Milan takes a corner kick!
Calabria kicked off and the ball went straight to the front point!
Tomori is here, and Mancini, who is defending him, is marking him while heading the ball!
He just felt a touch on his head but no force was exerted. Looking back, he saw Patricio holding the ball with both hands, with a feeling of surviving a disaster in his eyes.
He Wei: "Tomori headed the ball and it hit Mancini's head and changed direction. Fortunately, Patricio occupied the position near the goal post in advance and held the ball tightly, otherwise it would have been an own goal!"
After several passes back and forth in 5 minutes, AC Milan slowed down a little.
Mourinho also saw clearly at this time that his players were extremely nervous, and several of them were so nervous that their movements were deformed.
In this situation, the advantage of playing at the Olympic Stadium and the cheers of a large number of Roma fans in the stands became catalysts for tension. Their expectations for victory were like a heavy pressure, making the players timid and afraid of making mistakes.
As for AC Milan, their initial attack achieved their goal, but a one-goal lead was not enough. They were still looking for opportunities to strike a fatal blow, using through balls or lobs behind Roma's defense whenever there was an opening.
In the 12th minute, Tonali made an accurate long pass to the penalty area from the right side of the midfield. Giroud was a little slow, and with Ibanez pressing hard, he failed to stop the ball, and Patricio made a timely move to get the ball.
In the 15th minute, Kessié passed the ball to the right, and Salemacols' breakthrough was intercepted by Malaysia, but the ball was kicked out of the baseline by Malaysia during the scramble, and AC Milan won a corner kick.
Calabria took the penalty again. This time Roma strengthened the defense of the lone player, but Giroud, who suddenly changed position, hooked the ball towards the near post at the front point.
Fortunately, the post helped a lot. With a dull "bang", the ball bounced back. Tonali followed up and shot again, but it flew directly over the crossbar.
He Wei: "From the beginning, Roma played very passively. They didn't give the impression that they were playing at home and were in a more advantageous position. On the contrary, AC Milan's players were very excited and launched several fierce attacks on Roma's gate as if they were determined to win."
"Moreover, with the current situation, Milan can not only use speed to attack from behind in open play, but also strengthen the changes in set pieces. The coordination of several free kicks and corner kicks in the front court today was different, which made Roma always lose sight of one thing while defending."
In the 18th minute, Calabria made a run-in and received a pass from Salemacols, then made a cross into the penalty area at a 45-degree angle on the right. Giroud feinted at the front point, and Leao made a run-in at the back point, but he headed the ball off target.
In the 19th minute, Tonali made a long pass from the center circle, Giroud made an offside run, and Patricio decisively punched the ball out of the penalty area.
The one-sided situation in the first 20 minutes made Mourinho feel helpless.
He asked Pellegrini, Abraham and others to warm up in advance, ready to respond to changes in the situation on the field at any time.
Although Chen Xiaoliang was running actively and trying his best to cover the midfield, AC Milan's targeted kicking style today made him very powerless.
Attacking midfielder Krunic is more like a troublemaker. The purpose of his constant running seems to be to interfere with the defensive attention of Roma's defensive midfielder and share the defensive pressure for the players on the strong side who are preparing to break through.
The ones who actually organized the attack on the field were the two lagging midfielders Kessie and Tonali.
Each of these two players has a full-back with good organizational skills, plus a winger in front, so they seem to be at ease whether advancing on the wing or cooperating in the middle when facing Roma's solitary wing-back.
The two defensive midfielders were separated from each other, one on the left and one on the right, so even if Chen Xiaoliang could run as fast as he could, he couldn't put pressure on both of them at the same time.
Those who are involved are often confused, while those who are not involved can see clearly.
Nesta, who was still handsome in the stands, asked Gattuso, who had gained weight and had a thick beard, "What would you do if it were you?"
Gattuso crossed his hands over his chest, and suddenly he felt as if he had returned to the scene when he won the 2006 World Cup.
"If you can't defend the passer, then defend the receiver. If the ball has nowhere to go, it naturally can't get out."
In the 29th minute, Roma finally launched a quick counterattack and advanced to the frontcourt. Zaniolo wanted to use his speed to beat Theo, but the latter and Tomori made a close attack. The ball was blocked but passed through.
Kalulu easily controlled the ball and immediately passed it forward to launch an attack.
Salemakos and Tonali made a series of two-pass cooperation, the latter passed the ball diagonally into the penalty area, Giroud got the ball after offside and shot in the opposite direction to score the ball in the far corner!
Giroud was very excited and rushed to the corner flag with his arms open to celebrate!
But the linesman has already raised the flag in his hand to indicate offside!
Pioli was very dissatisfied and complained to the fourth official!
The Milan players on the field were divided into two groups, one group surrounded the linesman and the other group ran towards the referee Paolo Valeri.
However, the firm feedback from the video referee team and the fans watching the live broadcast clearly saw the moment of the pass on the screen, and the freeze-frame image that Giroud was indeed half a body length beyond the goal meant that the controversy was put to rest before it even occurred.
Mourinho wanted to warn the players loudly, but when he saw the defenders whose legs felt like they were filled with cement, he knew that scolding them would only make them more nervous and helpless.
In the 31st minute, Calabria's clearance near the baseline fell to the feet of Chen Xiaoliang in the middle. Chen Xiaoliang made a long shot with his right foot from 2 meters outside the top of the penalty area, but it was saved by Maignan and cleared by Kalulu out of the sideline.
In the 36th minute, Chen Xiaoliang made a long cross pass from the right to the left. Malaysia received the ball, broke through to the front court and then made a lob pass to the middle.
Cesco headed the ball in the middle to Zaniolo, who volleyed with his right foot from 17 meters away, but the ball hit the outside of his foot and went wide of the right post.
Just when two consecutive good attacks seemed to give the home fans hope, AC Milan proved to the whole audience why they are ranked first in the league.
In the 39th minute, Malaysia counterattacked and broke into the left side of the penalty area. When Kalulu blocked him, the two collided and Malaysia fell on his back. Zaniolo and Cesco immediately raised their hands to ask the referee Paolo Valeri for a penalty!
But Paul Valeri ignored the two and did not stop the game.
AC Milan quickly counterattacked. After continuous passes between Theo and Kessie, Theo continued to advance from the backcourt to the frontcourt. Facing the blockade of Celik and Cristante at the front of the penalty area, he raised his left foot and pretended to pass the ball, tricking Cristante into jumping up to block it. In the end, he passed a low ball directly to Leo who entered the penalty area.
Leo broke into the penalty area and shot, but the ball either hit the post or was passed intentionally.
Smalling slid to block the ball, but the ball slipped past his toes. Finally, Giroud at the far end easily pushed the ball with his right foot 3 meters in front of the goal, changing the score to 0-2!
This time, Giroud can finally slide freely on the ground and accept the worship of all Milan fans who come from afar!
However, for Roma, the disastrous first half was not over yet.
Although Chen Xiaoliang's consecutive tackles in the middle disrupted Tonali's two passes and slightly boosted the team's low morale, in the 44th minute, Veretout's pass in the counterattack was intercepted by Kessié, who pushed the ball to Theo who was inward in front of him. Facing Veretout's pressing, Theo used his left foot to pick the ball behind him when receiving it, then immediately turned around and accelerated, leaving his French compatriot behind!
He had only taken a few steps forward, and just when Chen Xiaoliang was about to intercept, Theo directly kicked a half-high ball behind him!
The ball flew 30 meters and landed accurately at the feet of Leo who was offside in front. The Portuguese winger carried Mancini into the penalty area and made a fake shot with his left foot. Mancini was fooled and fell to the ground to block the shot. Leo stepped on the ball with his left foot and adjusted it to his right foot!
Smalling rushed over to block it again!
Leo pushed to the middle!
Krunic followed up and shot into the bottom right corner of the goal from the penalty spot!
Patricio had no reaction, 0-3!!!
In the stands, Milan fans could no longer contain their excitement. Some took off their clothes, some set off fireworks, and some fought with the stadium security. In short, they wanted to tell the world that AC Milan is the best team!
And their legends also wanted to stand up collectively to celebrate in advance that the team is back on the right track to winning the championship.
You know, compared to Roma, AC Milan, which has not been the big brother in Italy for many years, is not much better in terms of championship drought.
The last Serie A was in 2011, the last Italian Cup was in 2003, and even the useless Italian Super Cup was last won in 2016.
They also want to win the Italian Cup to increase their confidence for the last two rounds of the league and ultimately achieve the domestic double crown of the season.
“Beep!”
The first half ended with the whistle of referee Paul Valeri.
Mourinho had disappeared from the sidelines long ago. Lapetti, Forti and others ran into the stadium, urging the distraught Roma players to jog back to the locker room.
But when they walked into the locker room, they found that Mourinho had thrown several chairs and tactical magnetic boards to the ground, and was looking angrily at every player who was frightened into silence after entering the room.
