Chapter 99: Top Battle, Inter Milan VS Juventus
Before the game started, Juventus attached great importance to it.
In the big win over Rapid Vienna, Capello started making substitutions early in the second half after the team scored the third goal to seal the victory, replacing the main players in preparation for the game.
In addition, Juventus had been conducting closed training two days before the game.
No one knows what secret weapon they have prepared for Inter Milan!
Juventus's move, coupled with the media hype before the game, made this game the focus of attention of the entire Italian and even European football world.
Countless people cast their eyes curiously, focusing on this decisive battle in Serie A.
Before the game, Lin Feng received many calls from friends, most of whom were cheering him on.
Juventus is in very good form this season and has an impressive record.
They have won seven consecutive games on all fronts and are the only team in the top five leagues to remain undefeated so far.
Facing such a strong enemy, it would be a lie to say that I wasn't nervous.
However, for Inter Milan's players, they still felt a little confident when they faced Juventus.
Last season, Inter Milan's record against Juventus was 1 win and 1 draw. They were tied at home but won away.
This season, Inter Milan defeated their opponents twice in the Tim Cup and the Italian Super Cup.
By this calculation, their record against Juventus in the past two years has reached 3 wins and 1 draw, remaining unbeaten.
Maybe in terms of hard power, Inter Milan's lineup is not as strong as Juventus's, but in terms of psychological factors, they have the upper hand.
It is precisely because of this that Juventus cares so much about the outcome of this game.
After all, as the overlord of Serie A, they were unable to beat Inter Milan, which had been without a championship for many years, and even suffered two consecutive defeats at home.
If they don’t win again, Inter Milan might become their obsession.
Although Capello repeatedly assured the club's top management that he would win the game, Juventus manager Moggi did not seem to believe his assurances.
……
October 10st, just one day before the competition started.
The Serie A Referees Association suddenly issued an announcement, changing the referee for this key battle from the original Paparesta to the famous Serie A referee De Santis.
The reason is that Paparesta has a conflict with Juventus, and Moggi is worried that he will make a decision that is unfavorable to Juventus due to personal subjective factors.
Last season, Paparesta made a decision that was unfavorable to Juventus in a game, and was strongly criticized and attacked by Juventus afterwards. The referee himself was even locked in the locker room by Moggi and could not leave.
This incident caused quite a stir last year and many people knew about it.
So from the outside world's perspective, Juventus' application is reasonable.
However, forcing the Referee Association to change the referee just because of Moggi's opposition has also caused concerns from the outside world:
Does Juventus, or Moggi himself, have too much influence in Serie A?
Inter Milan naturally strongly opposed the change of referee.
Although on the surface, De Santis, who has been selected for the 2006 World Cup referee team, is obviously more capable. After all, his law enforcement ability has been recognized by FIFA.
But no matter whether Paparesta will treat Juventus differently, at least he will not give Juventus preferential treatment.
For Inter Milan, who were playing away, the referee was not biased towards the home team, which was already the best result.
Now that the players have changed, the situation is completely different.
However, Inter's protests were simply ignored.
Although Moratti is willing to spend money, his connections in the football circle are obviously not as good as those of Juventus.
……
"CCTV, CCTV, dear audience friends, you are now watching the live broadcast of the focus match between Juventus and Inter Milan in the sixth round of Serie A in the 2005-2006 season..."
When this game started, the country was in the National Day holiday.
There were a lot of fans watching the live broadcast of this game at home.
This season, thanks to Lin Feng's joining and the Serie A's adjustment of the game times of many games to cater to the Chinese market.
This has caused the popularity of Serie A in China to surge significantly, with a large number of old fans returning and new fans being attracted.
As a result, domestic fans now discuss Serie A more often than their local league.
At five o'clock in the afternoon on October 10, with the referee's whistle, the much-anticipated Serie A top battle officially kicked off at the Alpi Stadium.
The two teams have faced each other many times both in the league and in the cup competitions, and they know each other well.
So at the beginning, neither side made any test, but directly took up their positions and launched an attack.
Juventus's forward line was very active today, and Trezeguet's condition has improved significantly compared to the Super Cup.
The big striker Ibrahimovic was as active as ever, and the Old Lady's two forwards caused a lot of trouble for the Nerazzurri in Inter Milan's penalty area.
But the key to this game is still in the midfield!
After the opening, both sides launched intensive fighting in the midfield.
Whoever controls the midfield controls the world, and the head coaches of both teams are obviously well aware of this.
In order to improve the team's midfield strength, Mancini even put Veron on the bench and replaced him with Pizarro, who has more outstanding defensive abilities.
But even so, Inter Milan's midfield still found it difficult to limit Juventus' attack.
In the second minute of the game, Nedved got rid of the defender and made a straight pass.
After receiving the ball, Ibrahimovic used his long legs to dribble past Inter Milan's full-back Cordoba.
This move was cheered and praised by countless Juventus fans in the stands, but it made Capello's face turn pale.
When Ibrahimovic got the ball, he could have passed it to Trezeguet, who had already run into an open space in the penalty area and could have shot directly after receiving the ball.
But this guy Ibrahimovic just likes to show off his damn footwork, causing the team to miss this good chance to score.
Ibrahimovic was very excited after successfully dribbling past the opponent, and he rushed into the penalty area with the ball.
But he overestimated his own speed and underestimated Cordoba's speed of chasing back.
When he was dribbling the ball towards the penalty area, he was knocked down by Cordoba who caught up with him from behind.
The referee awarded Juventus a free kick on the left side.
The ball was very close to the goal. After Ibrahimovic discussed with Nedved, the latter directly lifted the ball into the penalty area for his teammates to compete for the header.
After a melee, the ball was finally caught by Inter Milan goalkeeper Cesar.
The latter then threw the ball to Lin Feng in the midfield, trying to launch a quick counterattack.
However, Juventus was well prepared for this. Thuram rushed up fiercely and knocked Lin Feng down, preventing Inter Milan's counterattack.
This was a clear tactical foul and normally Thuram would have received a card.
However, the referee only gave the opponent a verbal warning and did not show a card, which made Inter Milan players somewhat dissatisfied.
"You don't give any cards for this? Did the referee take the money?"
"That's right, Thuram was obviously going for someone, it's totally unreasonable not to give him a card!" "This is Serie A, not the Chinese Super League, the referee shouldn't be paid to make a black whistle, right?"
"Haha, that's not necessarily true. All crows are black, and no one is cleaner than anyone else."
……
Lin Feng patted his butt and climbed up from the lawn.
As he stood up, he glanced at the referee and felt that the name DeSantis sounded familiar, but he didn't know where he had heard it.
The game continued and the fighting between the two sides remained fierce.
In the 13th minute, Adriano received a pass from Lin Feng in the right rib area and suddenly broke through Vieira and Emerson.
The two Juventus midfielders obviously did not expect the opponent to be so reckless. They were caught off guard and actually allowed Adriano to break through.
But Cannavaro and Zambrotta reacted very quickly, they immediately closed the door, the ball failed to pass, and blocked Adriano outside.
Under the double-team of Zambrotta and Cannavaro, Adriano fell in the penalty area. The referee signaled that the game should continue and had no intention of awarding a penalty.
But from the slow motion, Zambrotta did indeed step out to trip someone when he was closing the door.
The referee's decision is questionable.
Seeing that the opponent had deployed heavy troops in the middle, Inter Milan began to look for opportunities from the flanks.
In the 18th minute, Figo caused a foul by the opponent when he broke through on the left.
Lin Feng discussed it with Figo, and finally he was the one to take the free kick.
Lin Feng took a few steps back, recalling Mihajlovic's teachings in his head.
The leg swinging movement should be small, the force should be quick, and the power should be sufficient!
With a loud bang, the football flew over the human wall and towards the Juventus goal.
Although the angle was not big, Lin Feng still chose to shoot directly.
But Juventus goalkeeper Buffon was well prepared and chose his position very well. After Lin Feng shot, Buffon moved quickly and flew to grab the ball.
Buffon's excellent positioning and predictive abilities were fully demonstrated in this save.
It’s not so easy to break through the goal he is guarding!
In the first 20 minutes of the game, neither side had any particularly good opportunities.
Although Juventus is playing at home, judging from the current situation, they have not gained a very obvious advantage.
However, due to the fierce fighting between the two sides in the midfield, the number of set pieces in this game increased significantly.
In the 21st minute, Cambiasso knocked down Camoranesi from behind while defending.
The referee stopped the game and gave Cambiasso a yellow card.
The Argentine was very dissatisfied with this. When Vieira fouled him before, it was even more exaggerated than this. Why didn't the referee give the Frenchman a yellow card?
De Santis ignored Cambiasso's protests and awarded Juventus a free kick in the frontcourt in a very good position.
Nedved, Ibrahimovic and three other Juventus players stood in front of the ball, discussing how to take the penalty kick.
After some discussion, Nedved and Vieira both withdrew from the competition and gave the penalty kick to Ibrahimovic.
Ibrahimovic stood in front of the ball, took a look at the position of Inter Milan goalkeeper, and chose to shoot with a powerful right foot.
The ball was hit very low and almost went through the gap in Inter Milan's wall.
Cesar reacted very quickly and immediately fell to the left to block the ball.
But the crisis was not over. Another Juventus striker, Trezeguet, got ahead of Cordoba and used his body to block the ball into the goal 5 meters in front of the goal.
The deadlock on the field was finally broken, the score became 1:0, and Juventus temporarily took the lead.
Cesar pounded the grass in frustration. His record of five games and 493 minutes without conceding a goal, which he had worked so hard to create, was broken.
Cordoba, who missed Trezeguet, felt very guilty and took the responsibility for the goal.
"It's okay, there's still time, let them be proud for a while!"
Captain Zanetti first pulled Cesar up from the ground, then walked to Cordoba, ruffled his hair and comforted him.
Facing a strong opponent like Juventus, it is very difficult to keep a clean sheet.
Although Inter Milan had previously created a record of five games without conceding a goal, the strongest team among those teams was only Fiorentina.
Compared with Juventus, Fiorentina is almost a level lower and cannot be compared at all.
"Inter Milan shouldn't have lost this goal!"
"Cordoba failed to keep an eye on Trezeguet. It seems that Samuel's absence has had a significant impact on Inter Milan's defense!"
In the CCTV studio, the two commentators felt it was a bit of a pity when they were replaying Juventus' goal.
In this kind of strong dialogue with a small gap in strength, even losing a goal is likely to lead to the loss of the game.
What's more, Juventus' head coach is Capello, and Capello is best known for his 1:0 doctrine.
Although Capello coached some top clubs with a large number of big-name stars, he liked to play defensive counterattacks and often finished the game after scoring only one goal.
Opponents were often helpless against the strong defense built by Capello, resulting in many of the scores in his wins being 1:0. In the end, he was nicknamed the originator of 1:0-ism.
Now, Juventus has scored a goal, and with Capello's style, they will most likely retreat and play a defensive counterattack.
Juventus is known for its strong defense, and now they are actively retreating to play a defensive counterattack, making it much more difficult for Inter Milan to break their goal.
This made both commentators worried about Inter Milan. In the coming time, Inter Milan may have a headache about how to tear open the opponent's defense.
Their guess was actually correct. Although it was at his home ground, Capello obviously didn't care about it.
After seeing the team score a goal, he immediately walked to the sidelines, called over a player and gave him some instructions.
Then, Juventus began to change its tactics.
Their formation began to retreat, all retreating to their own half, taking a defensive counterattack posture.
"As expected of you, Coach Ka, you actually retreated and launched a defensive counterattack!"
"You're kidding. Do you think Capello is the originator of 1:0 for nothing?"
"Inter Milan is in trouble. Juventus' defense is solid, and they have a super goalkeeper who is ranked number one in football. I don't know how Inter Milan can break through their goal!"
"Alas, there was a mistake in the defense just now. We shouldn't have let Juventus score first!"
Inter Milan fans were wailing, and Mancini on the sidelines couldn't help but frown.
He couldn't help but turn his head to look at Juventus coach Capello next door, and sighed in his heart that the other party was really shameless and played so conservatively in his own home court.
Mancini suddenly felt that this scene was somewhat familiar, as if he had used such tactics before.
Inadvertently, he was hit by the boomerang he threw...
(End of this chapter)
