Chapter 136: Inter Milan wins five games in a row, Milan derby is about to start
The Spanish national derby is a very famous derby in Europe, so this game has attracted considerable attention throughout European football.
Immediately after the game, the group of Chinese national youth players studying abroad became lively.
Chen Tao: "Xiao Feng is really good. He actually played in such an important match like the Spanish National Derby!"
Cui Peng: "Brother Feng is awesome. He can even defend against aliens. This is really awesome!"
Zhao Xuri: "I hope I can be as strong as Brother Feng someday. They all say that I look a lot like you, Brother Feng. I hope I can have some of Brother Feng's luck!"
Zhou Haibin: "Rijkaard is willing to give you a chance even in such an important occasion. I think your playing time will continue to increase in the next games. Maybe you will be a starter next season!"
Gao Lin: "Tsk tsk, Barcelona's starting lineup! If this works, Feng will be awesome!"
Seeing that Feng Xiaoting has made a name for himself in Barcelona, everyone is happy for him.
Nearly half a season has passed since everyone started their overseas career, although everyone’s situation is different.
However, there are still only a few players who can gain a foothold in their teams and get stable playing time.
Most people need to work hard to get some playing time. Players like Zhou Haibin and Hao Junmin, who have absolutely no chance in their teams, are even considering whether to find an opportunity to be loaned out during the winter break.
Looking at the situation of Zhao Xuri and Dong Fangzhuo, it seems that there is nothing wrong with being loaned to a lower-level league to play football.
At least the competition within the team is less and it is easier to get a chance to play.
The players of the 85 generation are generally around 20 years old, which is an age when their skills are improving rapidly.
If they are always wasted on the bench, it would be a huge waste of their talent and best years.
Even sitting on the bench for too long may wear out the players' spirit.
Feng Xiaoting: "Everyone, please stop praising me. I feel embarrassed by all the praise!"
Feng Xiaoting felt a little embarrassed by the praise from everyone: "I am still far behind Brother Lin and Brother Chen!"
Gao Lin agreed with Feng Xiaoting's words: "Those two guys are too perverted. Brother Chen is okay, but Brother Lin is simply a monster!"
Zhao Xuri: "We can't learn it. We can't follow the path of these two guys. We should learn more from you, Brother Feng, and try to gain a foothold in the team first, and start from the bench to compete for the team's main players little by little!"
Zhu Ting: "You are the starter in Inter Milan, he is the substitute in Barcelona, and I am watching the water dispenser in Hamburg. We all have a bright future!"
Lin Feng, who had been peeking at the screen, couldn't help laughing when he saw Zhu Ting's words. He silently typed two words and sent them out:
"come on!"
……
The team won and Mancini temporarily kept his job.
But for Inter Milan, there are still some hidden worries.
Following the continued poor form of main striker Adriano, super substitute Cruz, who had been performing well before, also failed to perform in the last two games.
If we say that in the previous match against Lazio, his condition declined due to the absence of Lin Feng, an important midfield core.
In yesterday's match against Parma, Lin Feng was on the court and made several wonderful passes to Cruz, but the latter failed to seize these opportunities.
This is in stark contrast to his previous fiery state.
After the game, Italian media broke the news that "Kroos will transfer to Roma at the end of the season", which attracted widespread attention from Inter Milan fans.
According to the contract signed between Kroos and Inter Milan, Kroos' contract will expire next summer.
But until now, there has been no negotiations between the club and the player on contract renewal.
This made the outside world and the players feel that Inter Milan did not seem to intend to renew his contract.
The reason why Cruz has performed so well since the start of this season is because he knows that this is his contract year and he needs to perform better to earn a better contract for himself.
For this reason, he even kissed the team logo on the field many times to show his loyalty to the team.
But his eyes seemed to be thrown to a blind man. Inter Milan’s top management turned a blind eye to his goodwill and has not contacted his agent until now.
This hit Cruise hard and his mood hit rock bottom.
Inter Milan doesn't "care" about Cruz, but Roma does!
After the disastrous home defeat to Juventus, Roma's top management realized that the strikerless formation is still not very reliable for the time being.
The team still needs a strong striker to help Totti share some of the pressure!
Roma, having seen Cruz's strength, favors the striker on Inter Milan's bench.
It just so happens that Roma's current striker Cassano is in conflict with the team over contract renewal and is clamoring to leave Roma and join Real Madrid.
In this case, it would be better to just sell Cassano, the traitor, and buy Cruz, who is more powerful and more loyal.
Compared to Cassano's high salary, Cruz's salary is much lower.
If this deal can be done, Roma can not only earn a transfer fee from Cassano, but also save a lot of salary space from Cruz, which can be said to kill two birds with one stone.
So, the manager of Roma began to contact Cruz's agent and invited him to join Roma during this winter break or after his contract expires next summer.
The Romans had a good plan. They contacted Cruz at this time and were the first to extend an olive branch to him.
When Cruz's contract expires next year, Roma will invite him to join, and the player will most likely give priority to Roma.
In this way, Roma can get a powerful striker for free without spending a penny.
Even if Kroos transfers over during the winter break, Inter Milan will not be able to sell him for a high price as there is only half a year left on his contract. A few million euros will probably be enough.
Compared with Cruz's strength, this transfer fee is no different from getting it for free.
The Romans' calculations were so loud that Inter Milan fans could hear them thousands of kilometers away.
But the top executives of Inter Milan Club seemed to have collectively died, and no one stood up to express their opinion.
This made Cruz very sad, and he even said goodbye to his teammates in advance during the team training match:
"Guys, I've had so much fun playing with you over the past few years and I'm so sorry I can't continue to play with you."
Zanetti patted his shoulder and comforted him:
"Hey, man, don't be so pessimistic. The winter break hasn't even started yet. Don't jump to conclusions!"
"Yes, the club's top management may have already prepared a big contract for you that will support you in your old age. Just wait patiently!"
Cruz smiled bitterly and shook his head. It was obvious that his teammates' words did not dispel his concerns.
If Inter Milan really intends to renew the contract, how could it have dragged on for so long without any movement?
Seeing that the other party was still in a low mood, Lin Feng said:
"If you ask me, no matter what the final result is, what you have to do now is to maintain your good form and score as many goals as possible. In this way, you can prove your own value to the club and get more favorable conditions when negotiating with other teams!"
The reason why other people's comfort was ineffective was that their words were not very nutritious and could not help Cruise solve practical difficulties.
We are all adults, can the problem be solved with just a few words of comfort?
Don't be naive!
On the contrary, Lin Feng's words touched Cruise's heart, because this was entirely from Cruise's perspective.
Regardless of whether he stays in the team in the end, this stage is his last chance to demonstrate his strength and work hard to improve his own value.
Therefore, he should not only not give up on himself, but should show even better condition and performance than before.
A certain Manchester United player did this very well in later generations. His performance in his contract year was explosive, making you feel that he was value for money and you wanted to give him a raise to keep him.
But once his contract was renewed, he started to clock in for work, highlighting his laziness and laziness.
"Lin, thank you, I know what to do!" Lin Feng's words convinced Cruise and let him know what to do next.
Cruz's changes are directly reflected in the team's internal training.
Seeing Cruise change his previous decadence and frustration, he rekindled his fighting spirit.
Mancini, who was having a headache over how to enlighten Cruise, was very curious:
I haven't figured out how to give him chicken soup yet, but he got better on his own?
"What's going on with Cruz? Did the club renew his contract?"
Mancini couldn't help but ask several assistant coaches out of curiosity.
"Contract renewal? That's not happening, right?"
"Then what is he?"
"It was Lin who enlightened him!"
An assistant coach spoke up and repeated what Lin Feng had said to Cruz.
After listening to this, Mancini looked at Lin Feng in surprise. He didn't expect that the problem that he and so many veteran players couldn't solve could be solved by a young boy who was not even eighteen years old.
……
Cruz, who adjusted his mentality, showed his strength to the outside world by scoring twice in the Champions League group match at the weekend.
Thanks to Cruz's outburst, Inter Milan defeated Artemedia 4:0 at home. In addition to Cruz's two goals, Lin Feng scored a goal and an assist, and Figo also scored a goal.
The firepower of Inter Milan's front trident remains fierce.
Because in another match, Porto was tied 1:1 at home by Glasgow Rangers, Inter Milan advanced to the group stage one round in advance and secured first place in the group.
This news made Inter Milan fans breathe a sigh of relief.
Finally, we don’t have to worry about Inter Milan losing the first place in the group and facing strong opponents in the knockout stage.
The situation in Group H is still chaotic. Except for Inter Milan's early advancement, the remaining three teams all have hopes of advancing.
Among them, Glasgow Rangers and Artmedia both have 6 points and have the greatest hope of advancing.
Porto, the champion of the previous Champions League, currently has only 4 points and is in the most dangerous situation to qualify.
In the next game they not only have to defeat their opponents and get three points, but also have to pray that Inter Milan does not let them win.
If Inter Milan lets down their guard and loses to or is tied by Glasgow Rangers, Porto's hopes of qualifying will be shattered.
The team's early advancement, coupled with two consecutive victories on all fronts, has made Mancini's situation slightly better.
Inter Milan fans have also regained a lot of confidence in the team.
In the 13th round of Serie A, Inter Milan, whose players had just finished playing in the Champions League and whose form had not yet fully recovered, encountered a tenacious resistance from Messina in the away game.
The opponent scored first in the first half, but Inter Milan then scored two goals in a row and reversed the score to defeat Messina 2:1, achieving two consecutive league victories and three consecutive victories on all fronts.
This victory helped Inter Milan further consolidate its position in the standings and widen the gap with fifth place.
But Juventus and AC Milan, ranked in the top two, also won, and the gap between the three teams was not narrowed.
On the contrary, Fiorentina encountered sniping from Roma on the road and was tied by ten-man Roma, allowing Inter Milan to narrow the gap between the two teams by 2 points.
此时，尤文图斯以13战12胜1负积36分的战绩高居榜首，AC米兰以10胜1平2负积31分的战绩排名第二。
佛罗伦萨9胜2平2负积29分排名第三，国米8胜3平2负积27排名第四。
These four teams form the championship group of Serie A this season. Behind Inter Milan is Livorno, which has 22 points. The gap between them and the championship group is quite large, so it is difficult for them to pose a threat to the top four.
In fact, if you calculate carefully, AC Milan is also 5 points behind Juventus and it is difficult to pose a threat to Juventus's defense.
There are still 6 games left in the first half of the league. Whether the remaining three teams aiming to win the championship can narrow the gap with the top team in these last 6 games is crucial.
"Don't even think about winning the championship. It's too far away from us!"
Mancini did not choose to encourage the players. Instead, he gave up the Serie A championship this season early and set his sights on defending the Italian Cup.
Although the league record of the team he coached was not very good and he never won a championship.
But Mancini still has a lot of experience in leading the team in cup games:
"Juventus and AC Milan both have to take care of the league and the Champions League, and they both want to win the league.
AC Milan also wants to win the Champions League this season to wash away the shame of Istanbul last season, so they will not put too much energy into the Italian Cup. "
“For us, this is an opportunity!”
Although the cup championship is not as valuable as the league championship, it is still the second most valuable competition in Italy.
If Inter Milan cannot win the league title, winning the Italian Cup will not only prevent their opponents from winning the double, but also help them to restore some of their reputation.
For Mancini, if he can successfully defend the Italian Cup, he can also give an explanation to boss Moratti.
In the end, if the other party insisted on firing him, he would still leave with honor and not be too embarrassed.
With this idea in mind, Inter Milan sent out all their main players and gave it their all in the Italian Cup quarter-final held on December 12.
Their opponent is Parma, who they had just played against in the league not long ago.
After losing to Inter Milan in the previous round of the league, Parma lost to Udinese at home in this round.
After two consecutive defeats, Parma's situation took a sharp turn for the worse and it is only one step away from the relegation zone.
For a team seeking relegation, staying alive is the top priority and all cup competitions can be abandoned.
No relegation team would send out all its main players just to fight for an illusory cup championship.
So this game is not difficult at all for Inter Milan.
Before the first half was over, the score had already become 4:0.
Lin Feng was replaced by Mancini after only playing half the game. The team had such a big lead, there was no need to let the main players continue to waste their energy on the field.
He even regretted sending so many main players to play in this game!
If he had known that the opponent would have an all-substitute lineup, he would definitely have arranged for many substitutes to play.
However, getting this big victory is also a good thing for Inter Milan.
At least there is no need to worry too much about the next round of the game. With such a huge lead and playing at home, it will be difficult for Parma to turn the tables.
Inter Milan's advancement to the quarterfinals of the Italian Cup is already a sure thing.
Fighting on three fronts, Inter Milan's schedule is very tight.
After the game with Parma, the 14th round of Serie A came.
In this round, Inter Milan played at home and won a narrow 1:0 victory over Ascoli, achieving five consecutive victories on all fronts.
Due to AC Milan's unexpected failure, they lost 1:2 to Chievo away from home, and Fiorentina lost to Juventus at home.
Inter Milan moved up to third place in the standings, 3 point behind AC Milan.
The next round will be the focus of Serie A, the Milan derby, second only to the national derby!
Inter Milan, with five consecutive wins, will face the challenge of AC Milan at home!
If Inter Milan can win this game, they will move up one place in the standings and return to second place in the league.
(End of this chapter)
