Chapter 237: Is the old king restored, or is the new king ascended to the throne? !
In the 66th minute, Florenzi made a cross from the left, but the ball was not high enough and was blocked by Matic in the middle, but the ball was not headed far away.
Mkhitaryan had just taken control of the ball when Kessie made a tackle and he stretched his legs to pass the ball to Krunic who had retreated to a nearby location to receive the ball.
Seeing that Ibrahimovic was in an offside position in the penalty area, Krunic simply took a long shot from 23 meters away, but the ball went wide of the left post.
Just one minute later, Roma counterattacked. Pellegrini passed the ball to the middle from the left. Mkhitaryan, who had just come on the pitch, tried his foot and head. It was also a long shot from outside the penalty area, but Maignan fell to the ground and hugged it.
After the substitutions, the speed of attack and defense transitions of both sides slowed down at the same time. They played more cautiously in offense and returned to defense immediately if they failed to attack. As the time was about to reach 70 minutes, in this cup final where the outcome was decided by one battle, whoever scored the next goal would most likely take away the final trophy.
In terms of midfield control at this time, Roma has already taken the lead, but Milan still has the upper hand in offense and defense on both flanks, especially on the left side of Milan. It's not that the newly-come Florenzi is much stronger than Leo, but Leo became more and more lazy in defense as he became more anxious to score goals in the second half. After the conscientious Florenzi came on the court, he pushed Theo to the position of left winger, which immediately restored vitality to the slack left side in offense and defense.
Even He Wei said that if Leao participated in the Qatar World Cup with such a level of commitment, Portugal's defense on the left side would definitely be the focus of opponents.
In the stands, after those veterans gradually came out of the excitement of the shocking equalizer, they began to show great interest in Chen Xiaoliang's playing style on the field.
Giannini, the former No. 10 captain of Roma, said to De Rossi: "When you play in midfield, do you go to the wing so often?"
De Rossi shook his head and said that except when he played as a parallel midfielder for the Italian team and would focus on a certain wing to a certain extent according to tactical requirements, he seldom went to the wing when he played as a central midfielder or defensive midfielder.
But De Rossi, who had just left the Italian coaching team after failing to be selected for the World Cup and was attending UEFA's coaching training courses to prepare for his club coaching career, analyzed to Giannini that when he was taking classes at UEFA, a considerable part of the courses were analyzing the tactical arrangements of some well-known middle-aged head coaches in today's football world, among which Guardiola, who is currently coaching Manchester City, and Klopp, who is currently coaching Liverpool, cannot be ignored.
In the football tactics of these two people, it is common for the midfielder to overlap the wing in offense and for the midfielder to assist in defense on the wing.
Taking the two main midfielders of the two teams, Henderson and De Bruyne, as examples, Henderson, who plays as a central midfielder, will actively move to the side in the attack 8-12 times per game on average, appearing between right back Arnold and right winger Salah as a passing hub.
The purpose of doing so is not only to increase the offensive manpower on the wing to form an offensive triangle of full-back-central midfielder-winger, but also to force the opponent's central midfielder or defensive midfielder who is defending him to constantly make a choice: follow? Or not?
Just like the game on the field right now, once Chen Xiaoliang goes to the side during the attack, Kessie or Tonali will consider whether to follow him.
If you follow him, the middle will be vacant. Roma's last two goals in this game were both scored by using wing attacks to attract the opponent's midfielder and then transfer to the middle.
Of course, Leo’s eye defense contributed greatly to this.
But if you don't follow, the opponent will outnumber the opponent on the wing. When the opponent has a tall and powerful center forward and your center back does not have an absolute air advantage, it is not a safe choice to stick to the center and frequently let the team go to the wing.
In this regard, Guardiola's use of De Bruyne, who also plays as a central midfielder, is almost identical to Klopp's.
Giannini nodded repeatedly after hearing this.
Although he was a very good player during his playing career, and played all seven games as a main player in the 1990 World Cup in Italy, and finally helped the team win the third place in that tournament, his coaching experience after retirement can only be described as terrible.
He asked De Rossi a question. Although the two head coaches used the central midfielder in the same way, the results seemed to be very different. Not to mention the personnel mix in other positions of the team, just talking about the midfield, De Bruyne's ball movement was obviously better than Henderson. Are there any other tactical differences here besides the central midfielder's overlapping movements?
This question hit the mark of De Rossi, as he thought to himself that he had seen Chen Xiaoliang practice extra training with his own eyes.
He told Giannini that as a former midfielder, he had thought about this question for a long time, but later he got the answer from Chen Xiaoliang.
The answer lies in the way the attack is launched.
In Liverpool's offensive system, the midfield plays a supporting role. Take the wing attack as an example. When Henderson goes to the wing, he creates more opportunities for the full-back Arnold to make a run, or for Salah who is in front to receive the ball and break through.
The task of launching an attack lies more on the two wingers.
In Manchester City's offensive system, once De Bruyne goes to the wing, the full-back's insertion and the wingers' support are more to free up De Bruyne, giving him space to get closer to the offensive third zone to pass the ball to his teammates.
There is also a huge difference in personal ability between the two, which is an ability that most midfielders who are not from the wing do not have, and that is crossing.
Compared to traditional midfielders like Pirlo who like to pass the ball from long distances, or wingers like Beckham who like to pass the ball accurately from the wing, De Bruyne's crosses are almost regardless of the occasion and state. He can pass in positional warfare, in counterattacks, in the offensive third zone, and at a 45-degree angle behind the center just after the center line.
And according to the characteristics of Manchester City's central attackers, he prefers to pass the ball from a long distance.
This is why Manchester City officially announced the signing of Dortmund striker Haaland today, May 11, 2022, before the end of this season.
De Rossi believes that next season, the scene in Manchester City's offensive system where De Bruyne initiates crosses from the wing and Haaland uses his own impact to score in the penalty area will definitely appear repeatedly in the Premier League.
The 58-year-old Giannini shook his head in admiration, lamenting that in the 20 years since his retirement, the rhythm and routines of football games have indeed undergone earth-shaking changes. It's a pity that there were no courses such as UEFA elite coach training courses at that time.
On the court, time passes by, but the game continues.
In the 70th minute, Florenzi made a straight pass from the left, Theo received the ball at the front point and made a low pass in front of the goal. Ibrahimovic was a step slow and was blocked by Patricio. Krunic made a volley with his left foot from 10 meters in front of the goal, but Malaysia, who was guarding the left post, blocked the ball out of the bottom line.
AC Milan wins a corner kick on the right side.
Calabria took a corner kick and the ball went directly to Ibrahimovic.
Chen Xiaoliang was waiting for this moment. He rushed towards Ibrahimovic and jumped high, with a slight downward movement with his hands to prevent Ibrahimovic from jumping completely.
Ibrahimovic also felt it the moment he jumped, but how could he, who called himself God, suffer such a loss? He pretended that he knew nothing, continued to jump, and bumped into Chen Xiaoliang's chest.
As a result, Chen Xiaoliang headed the ball out and Ibrahimovic knocked Chen Xiaoliang over.
Chen Xiaoliang felt a tightness in his chest, and after landing, he lost his balance and fell to the ground.
Paul Valeri was afraid of a conflict and immediately blew the whistle to stop the game.
Ibrahimovic lowered his head to see which ignorant bastard dared to bully him, but he didn't expect it to be Chen Xiaoliang.
As one of the few players who was recognized by himself, Ibrahimovic smiled, did not make any further attack, and walked away with a look of victory on his face.
[Superstar Mission: Win 5 aerial duels with Zlatan Ibrahimovic]
[Task progress: 4/5]
Stamina recovery card 6→5
Looking at the task progress notification, Chen Xiaoliang, who was lying on the ground, simply used the physical recovery card.
Patricio kicks off from the penalty area and the game continues!
In the 71st minute, Matic faked a shot outside the penalty area and passed the ball into the penalty area. Kalulu headed the ball away, Mkhitaryan grabbed the ball and knocked it back. Matic shot with his left foot from 29 meters in front of the goal, but the ball went over the bar.
In the 74th minute, Chen Xiaoliang's long-range right-foot shot from 30 meters in front of the goal was blocked by Maignan and went out of the baseline.
As the game time was getting less and less and Roma's attacks were getting more and more frequent, Milan continued to play patiently as if nothing had happened, as if they were a different team from before the game was equalized.
This is not unrelated to Pioli's command on the sidelines.
Today is May 11th. Roma's last league away game was against Fiorentina on the evening of the 9th, while AC Milan had an extra day of rest as they played away against Verona on the evening of the 8th.
After the final, Roma will face Venice at home on the evening of the 14th, while AC Milan will return to Milan to face Atalanta on the evening of the 15th.
In the last round of the league, Roma will be the first to kick off, challenging Torino away on the evening of May 20th, while Milan's last league game will be on the evening of the 22nd.
The disadvantage of the schedule, coupled with the involvement of the Europa League final, means that if Roma drags on in this game, their battle line will only become longer and longer, and they will not have enough time to recover.
This stupid schedule has long been criticized by the Corriere dello Sport, but the Serie A League also has its reasons. The schedule was announced before the season. Who knew that the competition for the league would be so intense that even the league champions and runners-up would become the champions and runners-up of the Italian Cup at the same time.
Both sides know the pros and cons. After all, compared to the cup competition, the league is more important.
Pioli kept slowing the team down, on the one hand to cater to Ibrahimovic's playing style on the court, and on the other hand to wait for Roma to create loopholes in an increasingly urgent situation.
Just one such opportunity would have allowed us to win the game, even if we had to go into overtime.
In the 76th minute, Pioli made another substitution, Bakayoko replaced Kessie, and Bennacer replaced Tonali who already had a yellow card.
On the Roma side, Mourinho also replaced Celik with Binya, using his physical advantage to deal with Theo's impact on the wing.
In the 78th minute, Ibanez raised his leg too high when competing with Bennacer outside the penalty area, and the referee Paul Valeri showed him a yellow card.
Ibrahimovic's low free kick was blocked by the wall, and the subsequent shot was blocked by the reckless Cristante's leg.
In the 80th minute, Chen Xiaoliang moved to the left and after receiving the ball, he made a 60-meter long pass into the penalty area.
With Cesco's containment in the middle , Mkhitaryan successfully made an offside move, but he chested the ball too far and was caught by Maignan, missing a good chance to score.
AC Milan then got a chance to surpass the opponent. Krunic also took advantage of Ibrahimovic's distraction and broke through the double team of Matic and Cristante in the middle. He passed the ball to the left side of the penalty area. Theo knocked the ball back from the bottom line. Ibrahimovic received a reverse triangle shot 7 meters in front of the goal. Patricio was powerless, but Mancini chased back to the goal line and tried his best to block the ball with the inside of his left thigh! Patricio then threw the ball to the ground!
Even Ibrahimovic, who scored more than 500 goals and won 32 championships in his career, stood in front of the goal for a moment.
Several teammates around him ran over and yelled at Mancini, and Mancini himself also clenched his fists and yelled several times.
In the 88th minute, Bennacer started from the middle and forced his way past Cristante, but just as he was about to kick the ball in front of the penalty area, Chen Xiaoliang, who was chasing back, once again performed a flying tackle, sliding on the ground at high speed and poking the ball out of the sideline with his right foot.
Calabria threw a sideline ball from the right side, Salemacols made a direct cross, and Ibrahimovic headed the ball on the small penalty area line in front of the goal, but the ball was not straight, hit Theo's scalp and went wide of the far post.
Two consecutive shots that were close to the goal fell just short of scoring, making the coach and players on the Milan bench want to kneel down.
On the Roman side, although the average temperature in Rome in May was 23 degrees during the day and only around 10 degrees at night, the back of Mourinho's underwear was already soaked with cold sweat.
For the head coach who was watching on the sidelines, these two goals were like walking back to the gates of hell twice!
The 90 minutes were soon up and the fourth official raised a sign on the sidelines indicating 4 minutes of extra time.
The two head coaches seemed to be still waiting. They still had some substitution quotas that they had not used up, but the probability of either scoring a buzzer beater or being defeated by a buzzer beater still existed.
In the end, there was no explosive scene with ups and downs before the ending, and the game officially entered overtime.
On the Milan side, Pioli made another substitution, replacing Salemakos who was obviously unable to run with Croatian striker Rebic.
Mourinho replaced Pellegrini with Abraham and played with two strikers.
The game entered overtime, and Rebic and Abraham, who were full of energy, immediately became the main attacking points for both sides.
Chen Xiaoliang's large-scale sweep in the midfield, which was completely inconsistent with the game time and physical exertion, once again became the most important guarantee for Roma to contain the opponent's direct organization of the attack in the middle.
In the 93rd minute, Rebic's long-range shot with his right foot was saved by Patricio.
In the 95th minute, Cristante committed a foul and Ibrahimovic's right-foot free kick from 32 meters in front of the goal was slightly higher than the crossbar.
In the 101st minute, Theo made a cross from the left, and Matic, who was drawing inward, slightly touched the ball with his head when he jumped to compete for the header, causing the ball to change direction slightly. Although Rebic, who was trying to get to the back post, was in position, the ball flew over his feet.
In the 105th minute, Malaysia, who had been running for the full 105 minutes, suffered a cramp in his right leg and went off the field for emergency treatment. Roma temporarily played with 10 players.
In the last attack of the first half of extra time, Calabria made a long diagonal pass from the right side of AC Milan, and Ibrahimovic's side shot from a small angle on the right side was caught by Patricio.
After this goal, referee Paul Valeri blew the whistle to end the overtime. Cesco also had cramps, and the team doctor rushed in to stretch and massage him.
Mourinho also used his last substitution to replace Malacia with Spinazzola.
Compared with AC Milan players, the Roma players who rushed back from Florence and had one day less rest time were obviously more tired, but they still persisted.
Chen Xiaoliang also truly felt the negative effects of physical fatigue.
Although his current physical strength is almost overwhelming except for those players who have just come on the court, the accumulated physical fatigue after a whole season has made it difficult for him to have the excitement on the court like in the first half of the season.
However, professional players compete not only on team tactics and personal abilities, but also in this kind of game where everyone is equally matched, in this kind of duel between life and death where whoever retreats will go home, willpower becomes the decisive factor that overrides the physical level.
There is no statutory rest time between the first and second halves of overtime. Usually the referee will only give 2-3 minutes for the players to adjust properly and replenish water.
Mourinho gathered the players together and asked them to put their arms around each other's shoulders.
He decided to give this group of guys a mental boost at this time and give them the best possible push.
"We have fought till 105 minutes, just like in the league, we fought till the last two rounds with them."
"We played very well in the second half today and were able to catch up with the No. 1 team in the league by three goals. No matter what the outcome is today, we have achieved a performance that no one expected."
"But I want to tell you that God is on our side today, otherwise he wouldn't have let us get to where we are today, let alone let us achieve a 3-goal comeback in 7 minutes."
"Now, all you have to do is score another goal. That is Milan's nightmare. They don't dare to take penalties against us. You all know the story between them and Liverpool. They are also afraid of becoming a new joke."
"In the last 15 minutes, they will definitely attack, and all we have to do is defend!"
"Go ahead, boys! Go play what you do best, football!"
"If you win, it's yours! If you lose, all the responsibility is mine!"
