Chapter 284 Lin Feng returns to face Bayern
In the entire league, the team that is most reluctant to see Inter Milan win is probably Roma.
Compared with the new depth of Inter Milan's bench, Roma is clearly at a disadvantage in terms of talent reserves.
On the one hand, they have to try their best in the Champions League and strive to qualify for the group stage, and on the other hand, they have to grit their teeth in the league and keep up with Inter Milan.
It was obviously extremely difficult for Rome to do both of these things at the same time.
Judging from the current situation of the group that Roma is in, they can qualify as long as they beat Valencia, who have already secured first place in the group, at home in the last round.
If they can successfully advance, then before the Champions League knockout round starts in February next year, their limited energy will no longer be distracted by the Champions League.
But the Champions League has not ended yet and the Italian Cup has begun again.
Having lost the championship for two consecutive seasons, Roma is determined to avenge their previous defeat this season and take back what rightfully belongs to them.
However, Inter Milan does not take the Coppa Italia game seriously, which means that Inter Milan, with a deeper lineup, is under less pressure than Roma in fighting on multiple fronts.
For Rome, the thought of it is despairing!
……
After resting for more than two weeks, Lin Feng was finally able to perform.
But Mancini is more conservative and worried that rashly sending Lin Feng into the field would cause his old injury to relapse.
So in the 14th round of the league against Jobenha, Mancini did not put Lin Feng in the starting lineup, but chose to let him play as a substitute.
He planned to let Lin Feng find his feeling in the second half and observe Lin Feng's condition at the same time.
If Lin Feng is in good shape, we can consider giving him more playing time in the next game.
Sitting on the bench with Lin Feng was Torres.
Cruz has performed very well in recent games, and Crespo also needs to play more games to find his form after returning from injury.
It just so happened that Torres had played a lot of games before, so Mancini took him off and gave him a rest.
As the opponent was not strong, Inter attacked very actively after the start of the game. Vieira assisted Cruz to score early in the first half.
In the second half, Recoba used a free kick to help the team score another goal, and Inter Milan secured the victory 2:0.
Seeing that the outcome of the game was already decided, Mancini began to make substitutions.
In the 68th minute, Lin Feng stood on the sidelines, replacing veteran Figo.
Figo has played as an attacking midfielder in recent games, so this is a positional substitution.
When the Inter Milan fans who came to the Meazza saw Lin Feng standing on the sidelines and about to play, they all began to look forward to it.
When the fourth official raised the substitution card, confirming Lin Feng's entry into the game, there was warm applause from the audience.
The applause was given to the veteran Figo who made great contributions to the team, and also to welcome the return of the team's new king Lin Feng.
"Lin Feng is finally on the field. I couldn't enjoy watching Inter Milan's games without him in the past few weeks!"
"Yeah, when I can't see that familiar figure on the court, it feels like something is missing!"
"Next time, you should be careful not to get injured. Whether it is a national team game or a club game, you should try your best to protect yourself!"
This is the first time that Lin Feng has been absent for such a long time due to injury, so many domestic fans who are used to watching his games are a little uncomfortable with it.
Now seeing that familiar figure returning to the arena, everyone finally regained the long-lost feeling.
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Lin Feng, who had just come on the court, almost created a scoring opportunity in the frontcourt with his personal ability.
Unfortunately, when he was dribbling towards the penalty area, the ball was blocked by the opponent's defender and could not pass through, otherwise he could have shot.
Although this attack did not result in a shot, Inter Milan fans breathed a sigh of relief when they saw Lin Feng being so active right after coming on the court.
Because Lin Feng is too young, many of them are worried that Lin Feng will suffer a decline in condition due to an injury.
Many players who were considered geniuses when they were young suffered an unexpected injury which caused their form to plummet and eventually became obscured by the public.
For young players, injuries are their biggest enemy.
……
The visiting team’s strength was indeed average, and they conceded two goals early on, making a comeback hopeless.
At this point they no longer had any fighting spirit and just hoped the game would end soon.
Under such circumstances, Inter Milan's attack became more and more bold, and more and more offensive forces were deployed in the frontcourt.
Lin Feng also began to change his playing style, from relying on his personal abilities to resolve battles when he first came on the field, to becoming a commander in the midfield, taking over the command of the team, and becoming a ruthless passing machine, delivering wonderful passes to his teammates time and time again.
Cruz and Crespo, who were at the front, were in tears: We're back, we're all back, this is the feeling of having someone chase us and feed us a cake!
Two weeks! Do you know how we spent these two weeks?
Without teammates chasing after them and feeding them the ball, the forwards have to find ways to cooperate with their teammates and try their best to find a good opportunity to score.
When Lin Feng was on the court, they didn't have to work so hard. They just had to wait for the ball in the penalty area!
Even though Crespo's relationship with Lin Feng was average, he had to admit that the cake fed by this guy did taste more delicious.
In the 78th minute of the second half, Lin Feng broke into the penalty area from the right, faked a shot and then made a straight pass, assisting Cruz in front of the goal to shoot into the empty goal.
It was easy for Cruz to score this goal. Before Lin Feng passed the ball, he even moved the opponent's goalkeeper away.
After scoring the goal, Cruz ran to Lin Feng, knelt on one knee, put Lin Feng's right foot on his knee, and pretended to wipe his shoes.
With such awesome teammates behind them, as forwards, what more could they ask for!
Seeing Crespo looking at him eagerly, Lin Feng did not favor one over the other. At the end of the game, he also gave him an assist, helping the opponent score a goal.
In the end, Inter Milan defeated their opponents 4-0 at home and won their seventh consecutive league victory.
Lin Feng, who returned from injury, played for 25 minutes and provided two assists. His efficiency was simply terrifying!
"Two assists in 25 minutes, Inter Milan's core king returns!"
"The Prince of Inter Milan is back, the terrifying Nerazzurri is back!"
"Double happiness, Inter Milan's midfield core returns from injury and wins seven consecutive league games!"
……
After the game, the front page headlines of major Italian sports newspapers were almost all about Lin Feng and Inter Milan's seven consecutive victories. Originally, after Lin Feng was accidentally injured in the national team game, the outside world generally believed that this was a great opportunity for Roma and other teams to catch up.
But unfortunately, Inter Milan's competitors did not seize this excellent opportunity, but instead allowed Inter Milan to advance by leaps and bounds.
Inter Milan is so strong even without its core player, let alone Inter Milan after Lin Feng's return.
There are only five games left in the first half of Serie A, and among Inter Milan's remaining five games, except for the 17th round away game against Lazio which may be a bit difficult, the opponents in other games are very weak, and it can almost be assumed that they will get three points.
In this case, it would be difficult for the pursuers behind Inter Milan to catch up with him!
Although the reporters did not write down the names of the pursuers by name, everyone knew which team they were talking about.
A few hours after Inter Milan's big win at home, the game in Roma also ended.
Thanks to Adriano's winning goal in injury time, Roma defeated Atalanta 2:1 at home.
Atalanta is not a strong team. Their league ranking is similar to that of Inter Milan's opponent in this round, Jovanovic. One is eighth in the league and the other is ninth.
But the process and final results of these two games were completely different. Inter Milan won so easily, and the opponents seemed to have lost the ability to fight back.
Not only did Atalanta dare to fight back, they almost beat the old man to death with random punches and dragged Roma into the gutter.
Although after the end of this round, Roma's ranking rose by one place, successfully squeezing out Palermo, which was tied by Parma, and came to the second place in the league.
But the gap between them and Inter Milan has not narrowed, but has tended to continue to widen.
What's worse is that Roma will soon face a life-and-death battle to qualify for the Champions League, followed closely by the Rome derby with Lazio.
Although Lazio's performance this season is not good, it only ranks seventh in the league.
But this kind of derby in the same city is often extremely popular. The economic conditions in the southern community where Roma fans live are relatively poor, and it is where ordinary people and even poor people gather.
The northern communities where Lazio's audience is located are more like areas where rich people gather because of their better economic conditions.
The difference in the audience groups makes the match between the two teams more mixed. Add to that the eighty-year-long feud between the two teams, and the Rome derby is extremely popular every year.
In this kind of derby, we cannot only look at the paper strength of the two teams, but also their on-the-spot performance.
Therefore, even if Roma is stronger on paper, they may not be able to beat Lazio. In fact, because they have to fight on multiple fronts, they may be physically exhausted and suffer injuries, so they may lose in the away game.
This makes Spalletti worried. Although they are only 4 points behind Inter Milan, these points seem like an insurmountable chasm, making him feel desperate.
……
While Spalletti was still worrying about the team's qualification for the Champions League group stage, Inter Milan coach Mancini was worrying about another thing:
Should we send the main players to challenge Bayern Munich away?
Inter Milan had already qualified and even secured first place in the group.
In this case, it seems unnecessary to send the main players to travel a long way just to play an insignificant game.
But considering that the opponent is the powerful Bayern Munich, and there will be no Champions League games for two months after the group stage, there is no trouble of fighting on multiple fronts.
In addition, Inter Milan has accumulated nine consecutive wins in all aspects, and the players' morale is very high. If they give up this game, it may dampen the team's morale.
So after much consideration, Mancini decided to take some of the main players with him, and Lin Feng, who had just returned from injury, was also on the roster.
……
Bayern's head coach Magath is also struggling. Although they were tied by their opponents in the last game, Inter Milan's victory still helped them qualify early. However, due to the large gap in points between them and Inter Milan, they have no hope of competing for the top spot in the group.
For a top club like Bayern, the club's top management is very dissatisfied with him after the group stage performance.
There are rumors that Bayern's top management has begun looking for a new head coach and has even contacted the other party privately.
The coach who is rumored to have had contact with Bayern is none other than Bayern's former meritorious coach Hitzfeld.
Although the club did not officially confirm these rumors, Magath still felt the pressure.
At this time, any loss in a game could lead to his early dismissal.
What’s more, it’s a game at home, Bayern can’t afford to lose!
Therefore, Magath also gritted his teeth and sent out a full lineup of main players, ready to give Inter Milan a head-on blow at home and maintain the face of the Bundesliga overlord.
"What is Bayern trying to do? Sending so many key players into the field, regardless of the league and cup matches?"
Mancini felt very puzzled when he received the starting lineup announced by the opponent two hours before the game.
Even as radical as he is, he only fielded most of the main lineup in this game, with substitutes used in several positions.
Players like Kroos on the front line and Barzagli on the back line are not in Inter Milan's starting lineup in the Champions League.
Magath played with his strongest lineup. Isn't this bullying?
"The plan has changed. We have to be more cautious in this game. We should not get beaten by the opponent in their home court. That would be embarrassing!"
The Bundesliga teams value offense, and Bayern is a well-known tragedy maker in the five major leagues.
I don’t know if Germans are just too stubborn and have no idea of worldly ways.
When the winner is already decided, other teams will usually hold back and give the losing team some face.
But Bayern refused to do that, as if scoring one goal less would mean their death. They would often continue to attack frantically after taking a big lead, and finally turn the score into a very exaggerated number.
Bayern beat the team from the eighth-level league 27:0, turning the friendly match into a friendly final.
As for the universe Barcelona, a 2:8 defeat directly shattered Barcelona's crown as the universe's strongest team and completely brought Barcelona down to earth.
I don't know how many tragedies this team has suffered.
Bayern Munich's name has been written into the history of many teams, and the Allianz Arena has become a devilish home ground that many teams are afraid of!
And today, it's Inter Milan's turn.
This was a very tough test for Inter Milan, especially when the team was not playing with all its main players, they fell into a disadvantage from the beginning.
Inter Milan did not wear the blue and black jerseys for home games today, but instead wore white jerseys.
Moreover, the style of their jerseys is very similar to that of Real Madrid. If it weren’t for the different advertisements on the chests, if you suddenly turned on the TV and saw Figo in a white jersey, you would think it was Real Madrid playing against Bayern!
As if to avenge the loss in the previous game, Bayern attacked very fiercely today.
Bayern's first shot after the opening came from their central defender Lucio, which is a bit outrageous!
(End of this chapter)
