Chapter 302: Chapter 301: Li Xiaojun Wants to Cross the Blue-Black Mountains
Added to the imbalance of other young players’ mentalities and their premature association with Inter Milan, Sporting Lisbon actually faced the rare occurrence of three consecutive winless matches!
This included two losses.
At one point, their position as leaders in the Primeira Liga was even overtaken by Porto.
After the winter break, it seemed like everything had changed.
Sporting Lisbon, once hopeful for the Primeira Liga crown, now seemed to have fallen off a cliff.
Let’s not even mention the championship.
If they fell out of the top four, the fans wouldn’t be surprised.
For a time, the media also started causing trouble, not giving Sporting Lisbon a moment to breathe.
"Quaresma Spends the Night with a Model, the Portuguese’s Mind Clearly Not on the Game!"
"Viana’s Persistent Minor Injuries, Players’ Mindset No Longer Composed, On-Field Performance Declines!"
"Drogba’s Scoring Efficiency Remains Low, Jokingly Referred to by Italian Fans as the Reverse Vieri!"
"Sporting Lisbon Fans Insult Players After Loss, Ibrahimovic Argues with Them, Almost Comes to Blows!"
"Pepe’s Illogical Revenge Stupid in the Extreme, Receives Another Red Card, Adding Insult to Injury for the Team."
"Chelsea Confirms They Will Recall Terry Next Season, Do Foreigners Play without Commitment?"
"Italy’s Reject Barzagli Finds Renewal in Portugal? Inter Fans: Not Even as Good as Our Youth Team’s Substitute!"
"Ronaldo Still Fails to Deliver an Assist, Is He Really the Team’s Top Scorer or Just a Lone Wolf Who Never Passes?"
"Reason for Deng Kai’s Form Slump Found, Turns Out He Moved in With Hathaway Early! Did the Two Secretly Sample the Forbidden Fruit?"
Whether Inter Milan or Bayern, they used to be called the Hollywood of soccer stars.
Meaning too many big-name players, too much gossip, players unable to focus on football.
But now, this atmosphere has been brought to Sporting Lisbon by Matthaus.
Matthaus: Could it be because of Deng Kai? Was it him who insisted on going to the Golden Ball award ceremony to make his presence felt? Now he’s got a problem, right?
As the team was on the brink of collapse,
Trigella, as if nothing was wrong, started the analysis and explanation of Inter Milan at Sporting Lisbon’s internal meeting.
In Deng Kai’s words: "Why are young players called young? Isn’t it because their form is unstable? You tell any young player that their next opponent is Inter Milan, Vieri, and they’re bound to be shaken."
"It’s impossible to control. Instead of trying to control emotions, it’s better to look forward to this day arriving sooner."
"Once this mountain is crossed, the view might no longer be just a few passing clouds."
Trigella went by the book: "This Inter Milan is strong in the front line, and to make this attack flourish, they have stacked a lot of players in the midfield hoping to create a midfield advantage and convert ball possession into attacking opportunities."
"For this reason, their new coach, upon taking over, changed the original four-back system into a three-center-back system. Moreover, unlike a normal three-center-back system, two of the center-backs are converted full-backs with very strong attacking attributes."
Trigella flipped out photos of Ivan Cordoba and Javier Zanetti.
One left and one right, both full-backs, now playing at center-back.
One could get an idea of the height of Inter Milan’s defensive line from this.
To put it exaggeratedly, apart from Laurent Blanc who made it into last year’s European Championship dream team, this Inter Milan had no defenders.
All midfielders.
It would really be a strange thing if such a team won a match.
As long as the opponents dared to attack, this defense was sure to leak.
It wouldn’t matter who came along.
...
February 16, Estádio Alvalade.
Sporting Lisbon’s home ground welcomed the challenge of Inter Milan.
For a time, the football atmosphere in the whole of Lisbon was stirred up by this match.
Inter Milan’s starting lineup was truly star-studded.
Vieri and Recoba, the two strikers.
Francisco Farinos, Cristian Brocchi, Luigi Di Biagio
Clarence Seedorf, Andrea Pirlo – five major midfielders occupied the center of the field.
Cordoba, Laurent Blanc, Zanetti – three central defenders.
The goalkeeper was Sebastian Frey.
On the Sporting Lisbon side, they still put out their usual lineup.
Ronaldo, Drogba, Quaresma
Viana, Deng Kai
Matthaus, Deschamps
Terry, Feng Te, Barzagli
Schmeichel.
Among them, Viana had just recovered from an injury.
Quaresma’s form had been poor lately.
"Oh! Looks like Sporting Lisbon is planning to compete with Inter Milan for the midfield chokehold,"
"They haven’t made any special arrangements in their defense, which is pretty bold, considering they’re facing one of the best front lines in the world!"
The match began with Sporting Lisbon displaying a daring and combative spirit, going toe-to-toe with Inter Milan in a bayonet fight.
When you don’t compete, you don’t know – one bout was enough to give them a fright.
The players of Sporting Lisbon were surprised to find... that they could overpower them?
Unscientific!
This is Inter Milan we’re talking about!
In the seventh minute, Deng Kai completed a frontcourt interception, and his opponent was none other than Pirlo, whom he had specifically mentioned before the match.
Inter Milan had too many midfielders, and Pirlo’s strength in long pass transitions was outstanding, but it was entirely unnecessary in such a game.
Moreover, Inter Milan’s attack was too dependent on Vieri; every player wanted to pass the ball to Vieri whenever they aimed to threaten, which was too simplistic a tactic against smart opponents.
In the twelfth minute, Seedorf’s dribbling caused Viana to foul him.
But his position was too far back; the foul was inconsequential but disrupted his impressive performance.
If Seedorf had been positioned further forward, then the threat he posed would have been significant.
It’s that same problem again – too many midfielders, and the truly talented ones can’t spread their wings.
Many players watching the game were also catching on to what was happening.
Far away in Spain, Guardiola kept shaking his head: "Inter Milan is really wasting money; they’re using a bunch of the world’s top players to play second-rate tactics, led by a third-rate head coach and coaching staff..."
"Even if they let me be the coach of Inter Milan, beating Sporting Lisbon would be a piece of cake, wouldn’t it?"
"Look at what the Sporting Lisbon players are doing. They’re taking up the big circle – they’re occupying the big circle!"
"The big circle is space. They’re using the same central-focused tactics, and their midfield is also bloated. Sporting Lisbon uses the width of the pitch to spread their players as much as possible so that they can be accommodated without causing any adverse effects."
"Inter Milan isn’t contesting the big circle; instead, within the small circle in the midfield, they seem numerous, but in reality, all their passing options are being surrounded by the opposition."
"Inter’s coach must not have played Go before! If they keep playing like this, Sporting Lisbon isn’t pulling an upset – they’re supposed to win this match!"
In the fifteenth minute, the first goal of the match appeared.
Deng Kai sent a lofted pass through a crowded midfield.
Drogba made a run that beat the offside trap, easily creating a chance.
He and Blanc had a fierce physical clash, but he didn’t fall; instead, amid the intense confrontation, he managed to unleash a shot.
This kick was earth-shattering.
Inter’s goalkeeper Frey felt as if he was seeing Batistuta of Fiorentina.
"GOAL! Incredible! Sporting Lisbon is the first to score!"
"Did these young players from Sporting actually do it?"
"Inter Milan’s stars seem to be off their game. Did they not get enough rest last night?"
