Chapter 188 Getting closer and closer to the championship!
"nervous?"
After the game started, Lin Feng asked Zhang Linpeng who was sitting next to him.
Zhang Linpeng shook his head: "I can't play again, why should I be nervous?"
Lin Feng nodded slightly when he heard that, and after observing carefully, he saw that the other party did not look like he was lying.
Zanetti on the side said with a smile: "Young man, if the team wins the league this season, you will also be a member of the championship team!"
Zanetti didn't know Zhang Linpeng. The reason why he showed a close attitude towards Zhang Linpeng was entirely for Lin Feng's sake.
"Tsk, this championship has nothing to do with me, I didn't even play for a minute. This championship that I didn't fight for myself is too hot to hold, so I'd rather not have it!"
Zhang Linpeng is still very ambitious. He actually looks down on the championship trophy that comes free of charge. He would rather rely on his own strength to win a championship game by game!
"If you have ambition, then you have to work harder. The competition in our team is very fierce. Playing well in the youth team does not mean that you will definitely be able to join the first team!"
It's not just Inter Milan that is like this. In fact, it is difficult for youth players from all major clubs to join their first teams.
The top clubs are under great pressure to achieve good results, and there is not much time and space for youth players to level up.
What they need are famous stars who have strong immediate combat effectiveness, can play as soon as they join the team, and help the team improve its combat effectiveness.
But for most youth players, they cannot reach this level.
Therefore, most youth training players are either loaned out or sold. After they have trained outside, their parent team may activate the repurchase clause and buy them back to play for the team again.
As a few people were chatting, the score on the field had changed.
In the 19th minute of the first half, Ascoli striker Ferrante fell in Inter Milan's penalty area, and the referee Farina, who was officiating the game, decisively awarded a penalty.
Slow-motion replay showed that Ferrante was pulled down by Inter defender Materazzi.
There is nothing wrong with the referee's decision.
It is worth mentioning that Ferrante once played for Inter Milan for a short time and was a teammate of Materazzi who had just joined the team at that time.
But facing his old club, Ferrante was not polite. He took the penalty kick himself and steadily scored, helping Ascoli take the lead 1:0!
The opponent's first goal made Inter Milan's bench much quieter. The players were no longer in the mood to chat and each of them stared at the field intently.
Ascoli is currently ranked fourth from the bottom in the league and is in great danger of relegation.
Therefore, they were eager to win this game, and they had no fear even though they knew their opponents were the favorites to win the championship.
But their strength is relatively weak after all, and the previous attack did not achieve good results, but Inter Milan made mistakes and gave the opponent opportunities.
"After losing this ball, the opponent will definitely retreat and park the bus. I'm afraid the next game will be difficult!"
Mihajlovic shook his head, feeling helpless about Materazzi's clumsy and foul-prone style of play.
The foul just now was actually unnecessary. There would be no problem if the opponent was allowed to pass because Cesar had blocked the opponent's shooting angle.
"It doesn't matter. There's still a lot of time left in the game. I believe they can definitely equalize the score!"
Lin Feng's words made the players on the bench feel inexplicably reassured, as if his words had some kind of magical power to soothe people's hearts.
After all, as the team's pillar, since he said so, then everything must be fine. If there is really a problem, he will definitely take action!
Mancini just frowned when the team lost the ball, didn't say anything, and didn't show any intention of looking at the bench.
Obviously, he didn't want to make a substitution so early.
But the opponent's defensive intensity was beyond his expectations, and Inter Milan still failed to equalize the score until the end of the first half.
Mancini was tempted to replace Lin Feng several times, but he finally held back.
During the half-time break, Mancini turned on the hair dryer in the locker room and criticized Ade and Martins for wasting several opportunities.
Martins lowered his head and endured it silently, but Ade was very unconvinced and wanted to argue with the head coach.
"That's enough. Since you can't execute the tactics according to my requirements, you should come down and rest in the second half!"
When Adriano heard what Mancini said, he slammed the door and left angrily, leaving everyone in the locker room looking at each other in bewilderment.
Mancini was stunned for a moment. He didn't expect Adriano to be so reckless.
A surge of anger suddenly rose in his heart. He had tolerated this guy for a long time.
He knew that Ade's personality had changed drastically due to his father's death, so he had been tolerating his bad habits.
But this time he really couldn't tolerate it, because the opponent had challenged his authority as the head coach.
If he allows the other side to continue like this, how can he coach the team?
"Forget about him, let's move on!"
Mancini slammed the door of the dressing room, and with it his trust in Adriano.
The halftime break ended quickly and Inter Milan took the lead in making personnel adjustments.
The main striker Ade was replaced, but not by a substitute striker, but by a defender - Mihajlovic.
This substitution caused confusion among the outside world. They couldn't understand what Mancini was doing?
Inter Milan was clearly behind, but why did they want to weaken themselves by replacing a defender with a forward?
However, what is even more surprising is that after making such substitutions, Inter Milan's offensive strength has not only not weakened, but has been strengthened.
Just 3 minutes into the second half, Inter Milan equalized the score!
The goal for Inter Milan was scored by their left winger Martins. After being scolded by Mancini in the locker room, the kid seemed to have come to his senses and played more smartly.
Inter Milan's equalizing goal made the home team's fans extremely upset. The score was originally three points, but after losing this goal, it became one point.
But there is someone who is in a worse situation than them, and that is Juventus, who is competing with Inter Milan for the championship.
Juventus' game is scheduled for tomorrow, so at this time almost all Juventus fans are paying attention to the result of this game.
When Ascoli scored a goal in the first half, Juventus fans were more excited than the home team fans.
Ascoli fans only saw the possibility of getting safely ashore after getting three points, while Juventus saw the hope of winning the championship!
As a result, as soon as the second half started, all hope was gone!
"One point is fine, it's good to get points from Inter Milan!"
The fans of the home team quickly adjusted their mentality and comforted themselves in this way.
It is too difficult to defeat Inter Milan with their strength. They were prepared to lose before the game. Now if they can get one point, it will be considered a gain.
"Ascoli must hold on, they can't let Inter Milan score any more goals!"
But Juventus fans were still nervous because they saw the man warming up on the sidelines and seemed to be preparing to play!
"Lin Feng is warming up on the sidelines. It looks like Mancini is going to make substitutions to strengthen the attack!" In the CCTV studio, the commentator felt refreshed when he saw Lin Feng coming out to warm up.
Without Lin Feng's game, it felt like something was missing and it was not very enjoyable to watch!
"Look, Zhang Linpeng is also warming up. Is he going to play as well?"
"That shouldn't be the case, right? Inter Milan doesn't have an advantage on the field yet, Mancini shouldn't be so arrogant!"
"I think this kid probably feels it's too cold on the bench, so he wants to move around and keep his body temperature up?"
Zhang Linpeng also warmed up with Lin Feng, but the fans' attitude was completely different when they saw Zhang Linpeng warming up. No one thought that he would be substituted.
Sure enough, a few minutes later, Lin Feng was substituted for veteran Figo.
After warming up on the sidelines for a while, Zhang Linpeng put on his coat and returned to the bench.
"Hey, I was so happy for nothing. I thought this guy was going to go on stage!"
"Haha, don't worry, this kid is quite capable and will definitely join Inter Milan's first team in the future!"
After Lin Feng came on the court, he naturally took control of the ball.
But he did not rush to attack. Instead, he tested the opponent's defensive focus through several deployments and pulls.
Sure enough, it was just as he had imagined. Since Inter Milan had mostly launched attacks from the flanks before, the opponent's defensive focus was also on the flanks on both sides.
In this case, we can do something about the middle lane.
In the 54th minute, after receiving the ball, Lin Feng again tried to pass the ball to the wing.
Since he had been playing like this in the previous few minutes, the players defending him subconsciously slowed down and prepared to assist in defending in other directions.
But this time, Lin Feng did not pass the ball. Instead, he took advantage of the opponent's distraction, suddenly accelerated, and rushed towards the penalty area.
The Ascoli player who was defending him was shocked. Seeing that Lin Feng was about to pass by him, he rushed forward and pulled Lin Feng down.
Beep!
The referee's whistle sounded immediately, awarding Inter Milan a free kick in the frontcourt.
The position of this free kick is very good and it can go directly to the goal.
But this time Lin Feng did not take the free kick himself, but gave this precious opportunity to Mihajlovic who rarely appeared on the field.
Miha, who has already scheduled to retire at the end of this season, has made only a few appearances for Inter Milan this season.
If he is not allowed to demonstrate his free kick skills, it will be difficult to see him taking Mi-style free kicks on the court in the future.
Faced with Lin Feng's kindness, Mihajlovic did not refuse.
After he carefully placed the ball, he took a few steps back with a look of nostalgia and reminiscence in his eyes.
He has no idea how many free kicks like this he has taken on the field.
Unfortunately, there may not be many opportunities to shoot free throws like this in the future.
After taking a glance at the wall and the goalkeeper's position, Mihajlovic started his run-up.
A man's reputation is like a tree's shadow. Facing such a legendary free kick master, Ascoli's goalkeeper felt like he was facing a formidable enemy and seemed extremely nervous.
But even though the goalkeeper's eyes were fixed on the opponent's every move, he still couldn't see clearly how the opponent exerted his strength, nor could he predict the direction of the opponent's shot!
Without any fancy moves or showmanship, Mihajlovic used his signature free kick with his left foot to kick a charming arc. The ball bypassed the wall of people and suddenly fell above the goal. In the desperate eyes of Ascoli goalkeeper Coppola, it fell into the upper right corner of the goal.
This way of scoring a goal made the goalkeeper feel extremely desperate.
Even if he judged the direction correctly at the first time, he could do nothing about the ball.
Lin Feng was also fascinated watching from the side. Mihajlovic's free kick was really like a guided bomb, hitting wherever it was pointed.
To achieve this, you need to have meticulous control over the timing and intensity of your force.
Only by controlling the arc and angle of the ball's flight can you make it suddenly fall in the upper corner of the goal. Any goalkeeper will be helpless with this kind of shooting aimed at the blind spot.
……
After scoring the goal, Mihajlovic kissed his left hand, raised his right hand and thanked the fans in the away team's stands.
The Inter Milan fans who came to the away game stood up and applauded, giving him a warm round of applause.
All his teammates ran over, hugged and high-fived him to express their congratulations.
After doing all this, Mihajlovic ran to the sidelines to shake hands with Mancini.
Mancini, who had been gloomy before, finally smiled and forgot the troubles in the locker room just now.
The two had been teammates at Sampdoria and Lazio when they were players and played together for several years. This experience allowed them to establish a deep understanding and friendship with each other.
After Mancini retired and took up coaching, he unexpectedly met his old teammates at Inter Milan again, and the bond between the two deepened further.
Therefore, after learning that Mihajlovic had made the decision to retire, Mancini immediately invited him to join his coaching team and continue to work together.
In response to his old friend's invitation, Mihajlovic readily agreed.
Seeing his old friend score a free kick in such a beautiful way, Mancini was happy for him from the bottom of his heart.
Of course, I was also happy for the team because this goal helped Inter Milan to overtake.
Mihajlovic's goal dealt a heavy blow to the home team's morale. In addition, after Lin Feng came on the field, Inter Milan's control in the midfield was greatly strengthened.
In the second half, the home team tried to launch a counterattack, but Inter Milan seized the opportunity and scored another goal, completely ending their hopes.
In the end, Inter Milan reversed the game 3:1 and won away from home, continuing to consolidate their lead!
The pressure instantly came to Juventus, and Juventus did not disappoint.
In the final match of this round of Serie A, facing the challenge of Fiorentina, which is ranked fourth in the league, Juventus, who played at home, fought with their opponents for 90 minutes and the two sides ended in a 1:1 draw.
Juventus suffered three consecutive draws in the league, resulting in them being left 2 points behind Inter Milan in the standings for the first time!
There are only five rounds left in the league, and the gap of 5 points is not big, so Juventus still has hope of catching up.
Especially since Inter Milan will face resistance from AC Milan in the next game. If Inter Milan loses the next game and Juventus wins, there is still hope of overtaking in the standings.
But what makes the outside world doubt is, can Juventus, which is now facing internal and external troubles, really seize the opportunity?
The Serie A championship trophy seems to be getting closer and closer to Inter Milan!
(End of this chapter)
