Chapter 245: Overlord rotation, Serie A changes
After the Super Cup, the Inter Milan team did not stay overseas for too long, but quickly left China and returned to Italy.
The annual TIM Cup is about to begin.
Unlike previous years, this year's Thiem Cup is somewhat unusual because it is the first time that a team from the Italian League B has participated in the Thiem Cup.
That’s right, the name of this team is Juventus.
It is really sad to say that Juventus, the top team dominating Serie A at this time last year, has now fallen to the point of being scattered like monkeys when the tree falls.
This summer, Juventus was severely damaged. Not only was the team relegated and deprived of the championships of previous seasons, a large number of stars chose to transfer away, and the club also lost a large number of sponsorship contracts. Many sponsors even proposed to terminate the contract or even demanded compensation.
Among them, Juventus' jersey sponsor, the Middle Eastern oil giant Tamoil, has the most resolute attitude.
They originally planned to renew their contract with Juventus until 2010. If this agreement could be signed, it would bring Juventus at least 9000 million or even more than million euros in revenue.
The concerns of the Middle Eastern people are not unnecessary. Due to the impact of the phone-gate incident, Juventus' reputation has deteriorated, and the exposure and influence of the Serie B league are too low. If they continue to sponsor Juventus at the original price, they would be fools.
Although Middle Eastern people are rich, that doesn't mean they are stupid. On the contrary, they are very smart.
So, after abandoning Juventus, they immediately set their sights on Inter Milan and wanted to cooperate with them.
However, Inter Milan's jersey sponsor Pirelli has just opened a subsidiary in China and is preparing to use Inter Milan's influence to expand its market presence in China.
After seeing the huge influence of the Italian Super Cup in China, Pirelli even plans to directly convert the advertisements on Inter Milan's jersey chest wall from English to Chinese, focusing on the Chinese market.
In this situation, it would not be easy for Middle Easterners to grab business.
A series of blows have made Juventus look extremely miserable this summer.
When they faced Inter Milan last year, they still had the look of a defending champion facing their challenger, but this year, the positions of both sides were swapped.
Inter Milan has become the defender!
As for AC Milan, their city rivals, it may be because they were the only ones penalized while Inter Milan was not affected; or it may be because they both suffered losses in the city derby last season.
This has led to them being full of hostility towards Inter Milan. The two teams have never gotten along well with each other, but the hostility between them is not as deep as that between Inter Milan and Juventus. But now, the situation seems to be different.
These two teams from the same city have truly become mortal enemies!
The Tim Cup is similar in nature to the Bundesliga's Telecom Cup. It provides a pre-season warm-up venue for top teams, so generally speaking, the major teams do not attach much importance to the outcome of such games.
But this year is obviously not an ordinary situation. Perhaps Inter Milan, who has just finished the game overseas, does not care much about the Tim Cup, but looking at the attitudes of Juventus and AC Milan, they seem to care very much.
AC Milan may just want revenge, but Juventus really wants the championship.
After all, after being relegated to Serie B, they will have no chance to play against the top teams in Serie A in the new season.
By then, apart from Juventus' die-hard fans, I'm afraid not many people will continue to pay attention to them, especially those who have been pessimistic about them since the outbreak of the phone-gate incident.
So Juventus obviously wants to take this opportunity to prove to the outside world that even if they are relegated, Juventus is still the same Juventus!
……
Slightly different from the Bundesliga's Telecom Cup, Serie A's Tim Cup schedule is very tight, and all of this year's matches will be held in one stadium.
The three games took a total of 3 hours, with each game lasting only 45 minutes, and a -minute break after each game before continuing the game.
So for each team, the intensity is basically no different from playing a normal game.
However, such a schedule is very unfavorable for the team that starts the game first, such as Inter Milan this year.
Their opening match was against AC Milan, and after a fifteen-minute break they would face Juventus again.
At this time, Juventus was in full condition, while Inter Milan had been consumed by AC Milan for 45 minutes and was almost in low health.
But Juventus is not much better. After playing with Inter Milan, they will immediately face AC Milan. AC Milan has rested for more than an hour after the game with Inter Milan, and their condition is definitely better than Juventus.
So judging from this year's competition arrangement, AC Milan has the highest probability of winning the championship, while Inter Milan has the lowest.
This season's Serie A started very late, so even the Thiem Cup, which was a warm-up match, attracted many fans to watch the game in various ways.
The first match was a city derby between the two Milan giants. Ancelotti sent many main players to play in this match. Milan captain Maldini, who was injured at the end of last season and rested for more than four months, also returned from injury in this game.
In addition to Maldini, other main players like Kaka and Seedorf also played.
Compared with AC Milan, Inter Milan obviously did not take this kind of game seriously.
Mancini arranged a lot of substitutes for this game. Except for goalkeeper Cesar and striker Crespo, there was no other main player on the field.
Since it is a warm-up match, it is natural to give the substitute players a chance to perform well.
You know what, Inter Milan's substitutes are in pretty good shape.
Inter Milan quickly took control of the situation after the opening. The 'Chinese boy' Recoba was extremely active on the field and made several good shots after the opening.
In the 19th minute, Recoba made a long diagonal pass from the left, Inter Milan's super substitute Cruz stopped the ball with his chest and leaned on Maldini, then turned around 11 meters away from the goal on the right side of the penalty area and shot a low right foot shot into the far corner.
1-0, Inter Milan took the lead.
Although the arrival of Crespo and Torres made him lose the opportunity to be a main player, Cruz was not discouraged and did not have any resentment. He still worked diligently as a substitute, and as long as he was given the opportunity, he would give you surprises.
With him sitting on the bench, Inter fans felt very relieved:
Even if the two main forwards have problems with their form, they don’t have to worry about the striker line because they can always trust Cruz!
Cruz's goal made AC Milan fans feel very embarrassed. The opponent had few main players on the field. Lin Feng, Zanetti, Vieira and other stars were all sitting on the bench!
On their side, Kaka, Seedorf, Maldini, Gattuso and others were all present.
If we really lose to the opponent's substitute lineup, we might as well buy a piece of tofu and kill ourselves!
Shortly after Inter Milan scored, AC Milan launched a massive counterattack.
Without Pirlo on the field, Seedorf took over the midfield command. He twisted his fat big butt and controlled the pace of the game.
Despite the opponent's fierce competition, he was still able to handle the game with ease. Although he seemed not to be fighting or competing, he was actually in full control of the rhythm of the game.
In the 32nd minute, Seedorf made a straight pass from the front of the penalty area, Favalli successfully made an offside on the left side, and shot from a small angle 6 meters in front of the goal, passing through the crotch of goalkeeper Cesar and into the net.
AC Milan equalized the score.
In the 35th minute, Seedorf passed the ball directly into the penalty area. Borello turned and shot with his left foot 8 meters in front of the goal. The ball hit the right post and bounced into the net. Milan overtook 2-1.
This game was completely a performance stage for Seedorf. He proved with his actual actions why he could stay in AC Milan for less than ten years. The star players changed one after another, but he, the second-in-command, never changed!
Inter Milan then tried to launch a counterattack, but Cruz and Crespo missed the chance to equalize.
In the end, after 2 minutes of battle, AC Milan reversed and defeated Inter Milan 1: and got off to a good start.
Although they won the game, Milan's star player Kaka was not very happy.
He was in poor condition in this game and we hardly saw any outstanding shots from him.
And since Lin Feng was not present, he lost the opportunity to defeat Lin Feng in a head-on confrontation.
For Kaka, beating a group of substitutes was nothing to be happy about. But what made Kaka even angrier was that when he was leaving the court, he saw Lin Feng taking off his coat and starting to warm up before the game!
Kaka's eyes suddenly became resentful, as if he was blaming Lin Feng for not appearing in the first game?
In this regard, Lin Feng could only say that this was the coach's arrangement. Although it was used to warm up the substitutes, the main players also needed to come out and stretch their muscles.
Moreover, it would be somewhat inappropriate to let substitutes play in both games.
After all, Juventus did not let up, and they will field all their main players in the next game.
Although Juventus lost a lot of stars this summer, the remaining lineup should not be underestimated.
With the normal strength of both sides, Inter Milan's substitutes could not be a match for Juventus, let alone the substitutes who were in a low health state.
Inter Milan can accept losing to AC Milan, but cannot accept losing to Juventus because they are their biggest rivals.
……
After a fifteen-minute break, Inter Milan faced Juventus in their second game at the same venue.
In this game, main players such as Lin Feng, Torres, Vieira, and Zanetti all played.
Juventus also gave their all, with Buffon, Nedved, Trezeguet, Piero, Lamoranesi and former Inter Milan player Zanetti, who just joined the team, all appearing on the field.
The two sides played very fiercely and goals were scored one after another.
In the 5th minute, Materazzi hooked down Piero while defending closely, and the Zebra Prince took the shot himself, with a right-footed free kick from 25 meters in front of the goal, which went over the wall and into the upper right corner of the goal.
1 is better than 0!
Juventus scored first!
After that, Inter Milan stepped up their attack. First, Figo's low right-foot shot from 25 meters in front of the goal was saved by Buffon, and then Lin Feng's free kick was also saved by Buffon.
The consecutive successful saves turned Buffon into a mountain blocking Inter Milan's way. If they couldn't overcome him, it would be difficult for Inter Milan to threaten Juventus' goal.
Faced with this situation, most teams might feel impatient.
But Inter Milan, who had just experienced a stunning reversal in the Super Cup, seemed extremely calm.
It's just one goal behind. They have been behind by three goals before. What's there to be afraid of?
With Vieira and Cambiasso in the backcourt, Lin Feng can attack freely without any worries.
Left, right, penetration through the middle, ground pass, high ball attack...
Under Lin Feng's leadership, Inter Milan began to try various means in turn to besiege Juventus' goal.
Although Juventus is determined to reverse the downward trend, it has lost too much blood after all, and its lineup is indeed not as strong as Inter Milan.
Under Inter Milan's siege, the situation in front of Juventus gradually became tense.
In the 26th minute, Vieira made a long pass from the middle to find the striker. Torres stopped the ball with his chest and turned his back, then made a diagonal pass with his left foot at the front of the penalty area.
Lin Feng suddenly rushed out like a sharp arrow, and after receiving the ball, he quickly adjusted to the left, avoided the opponent's defender and goalkeeper, and calmly shot the ball into the far corner with his right foot from 7 meters away from the goal on the left side of the penalty area, successfully equalizing the score.
After scoring this goal, Inter Milan's morale was boosted. Two minutes later, Inter Milan played an exquisite passing and cutting combination.
Vieira took the ball in the middle and when he saw the opportunity on Figo's side, he passed the ball diagonally to Figo.
Figo passed the ball to Lin Feng again, Lin Feng stayed where he was and passed the ball back to Figo, and the two completed their first two-on-one cooperation.
After receiving the ball, Figo continued to move forward, while Lin Feng followed the opponent's advance route to the middle. After Figo came to the front of the penalty area, he passed the ball to Lin Feng again, and Lin Feng passed the ball diagonally to the empty space in the penalty area.
The two completed the second two-pass combination!
Figo continued to walk into the penalty area. After receiving the pass from Lin Feng, he did not rush to shoot. After seeing Buffon choose to attack, he took advantage of the opponent's central defender not being able to get into position and knocked the ball across to the middle of the penalty area.
Torres appeared here and pushed the ball to make the score 2:1.
Inter Milan's continuous passing and cutting made Juventus lose their temper.
Not to mention his teammates who were running after the ball in a daze, even Buffon could only shake his head and sigh.
There was really no way around it. The opponent passed the ball much faster than people ran. If he hadn't attacked just now, Figo would have shot it himself, but as soon as he attacked, the opponent passed the ball.
Although I know what the other party is going to do, there is nothing I can do.
This feeling of powerlessness frustrated Buffon.
Once upon a time, they had such an advantage when facing Inter Milan.
But now, the roles and status of both sides have quietly changed, and the current Serie A overlord is no longer them, but Inter Milan.
It will obviously take Juventus players a long time to adapt to and accept this reality.
After completing the reversal, Inter Milan played a little lax.
But relying on the continuous supply of ammunition from the midfield, they still posed a considerable threat to Juventus' goal.
In the 33rd minute, Recoba's left foot shot from 32 meters in front of the goal was saved by Buffon with one hand over the crossbar.
In the 36th minute, Lin Feng's free kick once again tested the goal guarded by Buffon.
Seeing that time was running out, Juventus players began to get anxious.
Defender Janikeda was even sent off for deliberate handball and received two yellow cards.
After that, both sides attacked and defended, but neither scored a goal.
In the end, Inter Milan defeated Juventus with a score of 2:1. The plot was similar to their previous defeat to AC Milan.
Juventus lost both players and the game. Although they put all their main players into the game, they still failed to achieve their pre-match goals.
In the last game, AC Milan, who was well-rested, showed no mercy to Juventus, their fellow sufferer in the phone-gate incident.
With goals from Seedorf and Kaka, AC Milan defeated Juventus 3:1, winning both games and winning the 6th Tim Cup.
Inter Milan finished second with one win and one loss, while Juventus finished last with two losses.
Although the gold content of the Thiem Cup is not high, this result still reflects something.
Especially for Juventus, it seems that the Calciopoli incident has dealt them a heavy blow. Now they may no longer be classified in the same league as AC Milan and Inter Milan.
(End of this chapter)
