Chapter 269 The decisive battle begins now!
"The referee's decision-making in this match seems to be a bit problematic, and fans of both teams don't seem very satisfied!"
"Yes, in this crucial derby match, with many people paying attention, the referee should not stand out and steal the show."
In recent years, FIFA has been trying to increase the effective duration of matches and reduce dead ball time to make matches smoother and more entertaining.
To achieve this, referees need to improve their professional abilities, make accurate judgments and control the tempo of the game. They also need to reduce the number and duration of their exposure to the camera to avoid stealing the limelight from the stars on the field.
Obviously, Farina, the referee of this game, did not do this.
After Seedorf narrowly escaped the danger, he did not change his bad habits. Just two minutes later, he fouled Materazzi again and knocked him down from behind.
Now Farina had no way to cover up for him and could only take out the yellow card to warn him.
Although the card was given, Inter Milan fans did not buy it and the booing at the scene was still loud.
The fans of the home team were also not grateful. When they saw the referee showing a card to their players, they didn't care about anything and just booed the referee.
Farina suddenly turned into a clown and ended up in a situation where he was not popular with anyone!
Mancini was very dissatisfied with the referee's penalty. He ran to the sidelines and complained loudly to the fourth official:
"Why didn't you give a red card for the foul just now? You are just condoning the criminal!"
Ancelotti next door was unhappy when he heard Mancini calling his apprentice a criminal:
"Hey Roberto, that was just a normal foul. The referee has already given the appropriate punishment. Don't make a fuss. If fouling is a crime, then some of your players would have been sentenced to death long ago!"
What Ancelotti meant was that Inter Milan was not clean either, especially with the notorious Materazzi and Vieira who received a card in almost every game. In terms of fouls, they committed no fewer fouls than Milan, and they had no right to blame AC Milan at all.
Ancelotti doesn't usually get into arguments with people, but this was the Milan derby, and not only were the players from both sides fighting on the field, but the fans and coaches outside the field were also fighting.
When Mancini saw Ancelotti stand up, he immediately let the fourth official go and aimed his attack at Ancelotti.
"Of course my players also commit fouls, but they will be punished accordingly, unlike you who committed two serious fouls that could have been shown a red card but only received a yellow card. I advise you not to take some crooked paths. Isn't Juventus' lesson profound enough?"
These words are really hurtful, as if accusing AC Milan of not changing their bad habits and still using their connections in the refereeing world to manipulate the game after the Calciopoli scandal broke out.
The Calciopoli scandal has only been over for a short time, but its impact has spread to the entire Italian football world. The impact is so profound that it has made the Italian football world turn pale at the mention of it.
So when faced with Mancini's accusation, Ancelotti immediately denied it three times:
I'm not, I didn't, don't talk nonsense!
The impact of the Calciopoli scandal is too bad. As the party implicated, AC Milan has paid a heavy price. They were deducted 30 points last season and almost failed to participate in the Champions League. They were also fined 8 points this season and directly lost the hope of competing for the championship.
If the outside world really links AC Milan with the new phone-gate scandal again, Milan's image will probably be completely ruined.
Seeing Ancelotti was defeated by his scolding, Mancini felt refreshed. It turned out that winning an argument felt so good, it was no less than winning a game!
……
On the court, the fight between the two sides continued.
Both sides were very aggressive in the midfield today. Lin Feng and Kaka were both targeted. From time to time, they could be seen being knocked to the ground by the opposing players, and similar scenes appeared no less than several times.
The game had only been going on for more than thirty minutes, but Lin Feng and Kaka's jerseys were already covered in mud, and their bodies were covered in bruises, and they were both grimacing in pain.
In the 35th minute, Lin Feng was knocked down again and was completely speechless.
Is this normal football?
It feels like playing Shaolin Soccer!
Kaka next door fell just as many times as him. The two looked at each other in embarrassment, both of them wanted to cry but had no tears. It was too cruel, these guys were a bunch of beasts!
Although they were targeted, the two still performed well.
Seeing that his team's attack was failing, Ancelotti began to deploy his troops and let the 36-year-old veteran Cafu participate in the attack.
In the 38th minute, Kaka made a straight pass from the right rib, Cafu suddenly started, dribbled the ball into the penalty area, trying to break through Materazzi's defense.
But the latter seized the opportunity to destroy the ball. Then, Seedorf made a long diagonal pass from the left, and Cafu made a powerful cross in front of the goal from the right, but it was blocked by Materazzi in front of the goal.
Cafu's bold move to the front court did have a certain effect.
Although they still failed to score a goal, they had already put a lot of pressure on the opponent's defense, and even suppressed Inter Milan so much that they could not launch an effective counterattack during this period.
Ancelotti was filled with emotion as he watched Cafu actively seek cooperation with his teammates on the court and send many crosses from the flanks and ribs.
What a great full-back! It would be even better if he was ten years younger!
At the age of 36, Cafu's skills have not declined and his experience is even richer. He seems to be getting better with age, but his physical fitness and physical condition are no longer as good as before.
If the game continues at this intensity, Cafu may not be able to hold on in the second half and a substitution will have to be made.
The same problem also exists with the older captain Maldini, who was once the mainstay of AC Milan's defense.
But as he got older, Maldini's condition began to decline, the number of mistakes began to increase gradually, and he was not as stable as in his peak period.
What's more troublesome is that his injuries began to increase, and because of his age, his recovery ability is not as good as that of young players. Every time he was injured, he needed a long time to recover.
What the outside world says is right, this Milan is just an old car. Although it looks very majestic, it cannot withstand any damage.
Once the team encounters multiple fronts and the hassle of traveling back and forth between home and away games, the team's condition will be affected.
And the further you go, the more serious this problem will become.
This made Ancelotti think, as his contract with AC Milan expires in May next year.
The five seasons he coached Milan left him with very fond memories.
Although the boss Berlusconi is a bit strong and often interferes in the team's affairs, overall, the cooperation between the two sides is very pleasant.
If the team's lineup is strong enough and the future is promising, he is willing to stay and continue coaching Milan.
After all, there would be a lot of uncertainty in changing the environment and venturing out, plus he had never left Italian football and had no experience in other leagues.
However, the future of Milan's lineup is really hard to be optimistic about.
Unless the big boss is willing to spend money, like Moratti, investing hundreds of millions of euros in the transfer market to make big signings and comprehensively strengthen the team's existing lineup, otherwise, when these veterans begin to retire one after another and there are no good enough young players to replace them, AC Milan's results may hit rock bottom.
However, due to the impact of the phone-gate scandal, Berlusconi's deputy Galliani was sanctioned and was unable to engage in football-related activities for a year. Berlusconi was re-elected as Prime Minister of Italy. During his tenure as Prime Minister, he had no way to interfere in the affairs of AC Milan.
Under such circumstances, it was simply unrealistic for Ancelotti to spend a large amount of money to recruit players. While Ancelotti was distracted, something unexpected happened on the court.
In the 43rd minute, Materazzi was carried off on a stretcher after suffering a head injury during a scramble.
Milan took advantage of the opponent's short number of players, and Jankulovski quickly served the ball on the left, launching a fast break against Inter Milan.
After unloading the ball with his back in front of the penalty area, Seedorf passed it to Kaka, who volleyed with his right foot from 20 meters in front of the goal, but Toldo narrowly saved the shot.
Milan's sneak attack made Inter players very angry. It would have been fine if they had more people than others, but they actually launched a sneak attack.
After treatment, Materazzi returned to the field with an injury. Inter Milan's morale was boosted and they launched a full-scale counterattack against Milan in the final stage of the first half.
In the injury time of the first half, Grosso was tripped on the left wing, winning Inter a free kick 25 meters away from the goal on the left side.
The position of the ball was not very good. Lin Feng did not choose to shoot directly, but instead passed the ball sideways, allowing Stankovic in the middle of the penalty area to complete a powerful shot.
Stankovic's shot luckily avoided the dense crowd in the penalty area, but was bravely blocked by Milan goalkeeper Dida outside the goal line.
The first half ended with Inter Milan temporarily leading 2:0.
After the halftime break, the second half begins.
AC Milan's head coach Ancelotti tried his best and replaced three players at the same time.
If we don’t succeed, we’ll die!
However, his gamble did not seem to work!
Just one minute into the second half, Gattuso's cross from the right was blocked by Materazzi and Inter Milan launched a quick counterattack. Lin Feng and Vieira cooperated with each other through the wall and dribbled the ball quickly through the midfield, broke into the top of the penalty area and passed it to Torres who was waiting on the right.
Nesta hurriedly made a tackle but failed to destroy the ball. The ball bounced into the air after being blocked by him. Torres didn't wait for the ball to land and volleyed it with his right foot from 13 meters away from the goal.
Dida's reaction speed was already very fast. Facing such a close and fast shot, he was able to catch the ball.
But unfortunately the ball failed to be saved and was instead blocked by Dida and deflected into the lower right corner.
The score became 3 to 0!!
Torres' goal almost killed the game!
AC Milan is in a huge disadvantage at its home ground!
The Milan fans in the stands of San Siro Stadium were all at a loss and found the score unbelievable.
In the past few years, when Milan was strong, the Milan derby was completely dominated by them, and it was difficult for Inter Milan to win at that time.
But since the night in Istanbul, Milan's good luck seems to have run out all of a sudden.
Not only did they lose their dominance in the Champions League, but they also had bad luck in the league.
In the two Milan derby matches last season, AC Milan not only lost its former dominance, but was even defeated twice by Inter Milan.
And this season, their bad luck seems to be continuing, and they even fell behind by three goals in their own home stadium!
The second half has only started for one minute. If Inter Milan continues to score at this rate, this game will end in disaster!
This makes AC Milan fans can't help but ask: What happened to our team?
In this state, how can we seek revenge in the Champions League?
Inter Milan fans felt so relieved when seeing the distraught looks on the opposing players and fans.
Milan has been strong for many years and has been bullying them over the past few years.
Now that they have finally waited for the opportunity for Milan to decline and Inter to rise, they will naturally seize the chance and make up for all the bullying they suffered in the past.
The scene was struck by lightning at the beginning, making the already serious situation even more difficult.
But Ancelotti was not panicked at this time, but became more calm.
If you have many debts, you won’t have to worry about them; if you have too many lice, you won’t be itchy.
We are already three goals behind, so what is there to be afraid of? Just attack!
During the half-time break, his adjustments to the team mainly focused on offensive tactics.
The reason why three players were replaced at the beginning of the second half was to take advantage of the physical advantages of these three players and quickly change the situation after they came on the court.
Although there was a small change, the impact was not significant, it was just a matter of scoring one more goal.
When Inter Milan finished celebrating their goal and the game resumed, AC Milan's counterattack also began.
In the 50th minute, Seedorf cut in from the left and seemed to see that his teammates who were covering the goal were in a bad position. Seedorf hesitated when passing the ball and made a pass that looked like a pass and a shot, but was blocked by Vieira and went out of the baseline.
Ancelotti's face looked a little ugly. He stood up and shouted to the players on the field, asking them to play more resolutely. He was obviously dissatisfied with Seedorf's performance just now.
After being called out, Seedorf became much more decisive.
Two minutes later, Seedorf launched another attack from the left. Oliveira leaned on the defender on the left side of the penalty area and knocked the ball back. Kaka then passed the ball back to the front of the penalty area.
Seedorf received the ball 19 meters in front of the goal. He could pass or shoot, but Seedorf did not make the same mistake as before. He took a decisive and powerful shot. The ball hit Cordoba's leg and bounced into the upper left corner.
The score became 3 to 1!
Toldo looked at his teammates helplessly. Goalkeepers are most afraid of this kind of shot that changes direction midway, because it is completely unpredictable where it will fly, let alone save it.
But the defender cannot be blamed for this kind of ball. When Cordoba saw the opponent was about to shoot, he naturally stepped forward to block it. He just didn't expect that his good intentions would lead to worse consequences, and his help turned into trouble.
After scoring a goal, the Milan players were extremely excited and the atmosphere in the stands of San Siro Stadium was also ignited.
"reverse!"
"reverse!"
"reverse!"
Tens of thousands of Milan fans shouted slogans for reversal, continuing to make terrifying noises. The fans' shouts were like war drums, beating on the hearts of every player on the field!
Inter Milan's players felt a little uncomfortable, while the opponent's players were visibly going berserk!
The real decisive battle begins now!
(End of this chapter)
