Chapter 704: Chapter 703: Out goes Ade, in comes Ronaldo
"They still have a whopping four and a half year contract with Ade!"
All words and expressions amount to one... valuable!
...
The nineteenth minute.
The game stirred once more.
Ashley Young, who started today, dribbled down the left and was completely shut down by Zanetti, who bumped him off the ball and completed the steal.
Don’t be fooled by Zanetti’s stature; his core strength was considerable, and his ability was remarkably well-rounded.
Ashley Young, with his one-trick pony style, was completely outclassed by Zanetti.
Zanetti, after the steal, immediately passed the ball to Viana.
Viana held the ball and adjusted continuously.
"Pass the ball! Why hasn’t he passed yet?"
Many thought Viana’s adjustments were excessive.
He seemed to be hogging the ball.
Bang!
After drawing in Essien and Tu Lei, Viana suddenly sent a through-pass.
The target of his pass had already run into the best position.
And he had the ability to make the pass under the siege of Manchester City’s iron midfield.
"Vieri receives the ball!"
"Chiellini keeps backing off, waiting for Thiago Silva to come over for the double team!"
Bang!
Vieri didn’t give the Manchester City center backs a chance to join forces.
He fired a shot before Thiago Silva could arrive.
The ball almost grazed the underside of the crossbar as it drilled into the top left corner.
It was an area that was virtually impossible to save.
Čech couldn’t reach it no matter what.
"GOAL! The king is still the king!"
"Our Vieri, as long as he’s healthy, is still the team’s greatest reliance!"
"Inter Milan ties the aggregate score once again! Three to three!"
"However, Manchester City has scored two away goals, so they are still leading by a half-goal advantage!"
"But Inter Milan is in great form and could turn the tables at any time!"
"Especially on Manchester City’s left side, Ashley Young is having a big problem today. Both lost balls were related to his mistakes!"
Ashley Young seemed very dejected.
Young players tend to lose their mental edge too easily.
He still lacks resilience.
Without turning on the "Elite Mode," he’s unlikely to achieve greatness.
The thirty-third minute.
Maicon and Ribery overlapped on the right.
Zanetti’s side might have been locked down, but Ribery was unstoppable on his side.
At the very least, Kily was pinned back in the defender position and simply couldn’t get back to midfield.
And still, he was being made to struggle by Ribery and Maicon.
Especially when Cannavaro went to double-team Adriano.
Bang!
Maicon received Ribery’s pass and delivered the cross.
In the box, Cannavaro and Cordoba teamed up again to sandwich Adriano!
And yet, Adriano, even surrounded like that, used his backside to nudge Cordoba away and rose above Cannavaro, who jumped too late, to head the ball into the goal before anyone else.
After the three landed,
only Adriano remained firmly on his feet.
Cordoba and Cannavaro both fell to the side.
Cordoba desperately signaled to the main referee, indicating that Adriano’s offense was a foul, he had bumped into him.
However, the main referee shook his head.
If there was a foul to call, it would have to be against the defenders.
"My goodness!"
"Adriano was touched by divine favor today; it was as if a deity descended onto the field!"
"International Milan’s defense line was utterly powerless against him!"
"He scored another goal through a double-team barrier!"
"Is there anyone in the world capable of stopping him anymore?"
"No wonder he has scored so many goals this season!"
"I remember, a few years ago, being dazzled when I saw Ronaldo on this field. Now, time seems to have come full circle, as that scene unfolds once again."
"Adriano and Ronaldo’s images superimpose upon each other infinitely!"
"I am certain, this is the new king that International Milan has been waiting for!"
"Going out was a young Adriano! Returning is a Ronaldo who reigns over Milan!"
"GOAL! Four to three!"
"Adriano scores a brace, helping the team extend their lead!"
"If International Milan wants to break into the final of the UEFA Cup, they must score two more goals!"
This time, because some believed Adriano committed a foul in the attack, or perhaps because the score gap had widened,
the fans at Meazza Stadium finally booed Adriano.
Adriano didn’t seem to mind.
His teammates came over and gave him a discreet high-five, still without excessive celebration.
The mindset of a winner is always very strong.
Whereas the mindset of a loser is at its most fragile.
In 2023, Real Madrid’s striker Vinicius was brought to tears on the field due to racial discrimination, certainly due to a history of unfair treatment.
But it was also not unrelated to Real Madrid being knocked out consecutively from the Champions League and the national championship around that time.
If he had won everything, he probably wouldn’t have minded.
...
After this goal, International Milan was indeed desperate.
Viana intended to speed up the game, trying to create more threats.
In the 38th minute, Viana dribbled past Tu Lei, forcing Tu Lei to pull him down to the ground.
Tu Lei received a yellow card.
This posed some problems for Manchester City’s defense.
Tu Lei was a versatile midfielder, but the more important the match, the heavier the defensive burden he bore.
With Essien out of action, Mascherano had been performing well, but one reason for the team’s relatively stable defense was Tu Lei’s support at the back.
This was also one of the reasons for Manchester City’s lackluster offense during that period.
A team is like a finely-tuned machine, where sometimes even a small change can affect the big picture.
42nd minute.
Maicon combined with Ribery on the flank once again.
Then he delivered a cross.
But this time, Cannavaro and Cordoba, having pulled out all the stops, finally managed to contain Adriano!
Their tangle prevented Adriano from jumping up, causing him to miss a great opportunity.
Matrazzi then headed the football clear from the far post.
Stankovic received the ball and promptly connected with the oncoming Viana.
Viana charged with the ball down the center.
But just as he got up, he was tripped up by a sliding tackle from Deng Kai.
The football was perfectly intercepted by Deng Kai.
One word, masterful!
The "four great attacking midfield geniuses" summarized by European media are actually not without reason.
Their abilities can stand alone without the label "genius."
It’s not that they lack genius, but rather they have transformed their talent into combat power!
After all, both Rui Costa and Rivaldo have been benched this season by Kaka.
Ronaldinho has become the cornerstone of the midfield for both the national team and his club.
Deco, just the day before, teamed up with Drogba under Mourinho’s leadership to unexpectedly defeat La Coruña, the third-placed team in La Liga, reaching the Champions League final!
They had also defeated the Ligue 1 champions Lyon earlier in the season!
Brazilian media also criticized the national team selection committee as a result.
A midfielder as outstanding as Deco failed to receive any opportunity to play for Brazil, leading him to join the Portuguese national team instead.
They criticized it as an unnecessary complication set up against themselves for the defense of the World Cup title two years later!
