Red Rebels

During the intermission, Mourinho obviously made detailed arrangements and arrangements for the team's defensive tasks.

AC Milan's offense is very sharp, with Pirlo in the backcourt, Rui Costa and Seedorf in the frontcourt. Several players are in very good form this season. Mourinho's three midfielders just don't want to leave too much space for Rui Costa and Seedorf.

Mourinho's attitude is very clear, defend and counterattack, first control all the space, do not give AC Milan too many opportunities, Kaka entangles Pirlo, Drogba targets Nesta and Maldini, Palacio It is close to the opponent's line of defense.

In the middle and backcourt, the three lines should be pulled tighter, so as not to give AC Milan any room to attack.

AC Milan's right side, Cafu's assist ability is very strong, so Mourinho asked De Rossi to consciously protect this side, while Essien and Beckham restricted Rui Costa in the middle.

The way to complete the occupation of space relies on running without the ball, especially when the midfield players are becoming more and more proficient in cooperating, the defensive strength of the team has also improved by leaps and bounds.

When facing many teams with strong offensive power, the biggest experience is that they have no way to start!

This is also the experience of AC Milan after the second half of this game.

Rui Costa and Seedorf, who were being looked after, could hardly provide decent support to the striker. Pirlo in the backcourt was forced to use mid-range and long-range passes to launch attacks frequently, but this kind of pass was in the tight defense. Under the circumstances, there must be more turnovers than short-distance passes, which further exacerbates the low offensive efficiency of AC Milan.

On the other hand, Kaka frequently harassed Pirlo, and one of them had a chance to steal the ball successfully and passed it to Palacio, but was called offside by the referee. Otherwise, Palacio would probably score a goal by going straight.

Ancelotti paced back and forth on the sidelines. He was prepared for the difficulties the team encountered on the court, but he still did not expect that after more than half a season of running-in, the team's strength has improved so much many.

Regardless of the cooperation of the three players in the frontcourt, the defense in the midfield is at least a lot better than his defensive ability in the European Super Cup at the beginning of the season, especially in terms of space occupation. Impeccably done.

But Ancelotti is not without a solution.

Defense is to occupy and kill space, and offense is to exploit and open up space.

The current midfield occupies too much space. AC Milan needs a player who can create space. It happens that this player is sitting on the bench, and that is Rivaldo with outstanding personal ability.

But if Rivaldo is to play, he will have to replace an attacking player. Inzaghi is undoubtedly the striker who is best at using tight spaces to score goals under high pressure. Shevchenko did not play too much in this game. Many performances, but Sheva's recent state is too good to be true, he is almost becoming a monster, can he be replaced?

……………… Mourinho is also thinking about it. He knows very well that Ancelotti will definitely adjust the status quo. It has been 15 minutes in the second half. AC Milan’s offensive seems to be surging. Relying on a few sharp counterattacks to create threats, but everyone can see that AC Milan is lacking in scoring.

In the 63rd minute, Ancelotti finally made an adjustment. He let Rivaldo play and replaced Rui Costa, who had performed poorly in this game. The latter was obviously depressed when he left the field. Ancelotti Dee stepped forward to reassure him.

Rivaldo's playing immediately changed AC Milan's offense, and Ancelotti let the players put the ball to Rivaldo's feet more.

He doesn't reuse Rivaldo much this season, because this player is very used to working alone, but now AC Milan needs him to work alone, using his super personal skills to open up space for AC Milan's offense.

Sure enough, after Rivaldo came on the field, he frequently created threats in the frontcourt. Mourinho also responded immediately. He planned to replace Kaka.

Put Yaya Toure on, so he put Yaya Toure to warm up.

But who knows, Yaya Toure has not yet played, but AC Milan scored first!

In the 68th minute, after taking the ball from the right, Rivaldo got rid of De Rossi, advanced to the front of the penalty area, and suddenly raised his foot to hit the goal. The ball hit the goal like a cannonball.

Cech has always maintained a high degree of concentration, but this long-range shot came so suddenly that after he reacted, he could only leap over, but failed to grasp the ball firmly.

When Petr Cech hit the ground and then wanted to rush over to catch the ball, he realized that a figure flashed in front of him, and the ball had already flown into the net from in front of him.

It's Inzaghi!

He appeared like a ghost in the position where Cech let go, and then hit the ball into the empty goal, 1:0!

The entire San Siro stadium was completely boiling, and all the fans were shouting Super Filippo's voice in unison. Inzaghi has saved AC Milan at critical moments many times this season, and now he has scored for AC Milan. Important shot.

……………… Seeing Inzaghi’s goal, Mourinho shook his hand angrily and kicked his foot out, but he didn’t kick anything, but his anger can be imagined.

He is not angry with his players. In fact, it is hard to say who made the mistake. Even Petr Cech can only say that he has a little responsibility. After all, Rivaldo's shot came too suddenly. The speed is so fast, it is already very good for Cech to react.

Of course, Curtis also has certain responsibilities. He didn't follow Inzaghi, but who would have thought that he would start to run to wait for Cech to let go the moment Rivaldo hit the goal?

"This bastard is a fox in the penalty area!" Mourinho cursed at Cassel who came over.

The latter also had a wry smile on his face. Losing the ball in such a situation can be said to be unexpected, but it is not unacceptable.

Before the game, Mourinho had privately studied the worst-case scenario with the coaching staff, that is, how would the team avoid conceding more goals if the big crash at the beginning of the season was repeated.

Now only conceded 1 goal, the situation is already very good!

Of course, no one would say these words, because now, victory is the eternal pursuit, no matter under any circumstances!

Yaya Toure was finished, but knew that the team had lost the ball. He came over tremblingly, "Sir, are you still playing?"

Mourinho nodded, "Of course, after you play, pay more attention to that Brazilian, don't make him too proud!"

Yaya Toure nodded in agreement.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… Quit the flags and drums.

When containing the attack of AC Milan, the counterattack was very concise. After Kaka was off the field, it was more relying on Drogba in front to grab the first point and create opportunities for Palacio in the back. This also gave AC Milan created some small troubles, but overall, AC Milan's defense is still very good.

However, Ancelotti is obviously not satisfied with winning 1:0 at home. He is more eager to win by a big score, which will allow him to hold more chips to go to the away game, so he replaced Pirlo with Danish striker Thomason. .

Known as the midfielder with the best footwork and passing in Italy, Pirlo's performance in this game can only be described as average. Defensive tactics are limited.

The purpose of Ancelotti replacing Thomason is very clear, and that is to score goals!

AC Milan launched wave after wave of attacks towards the defense line. Shevchenko, Inzaghi, Rivaldo, and Thomason attacked the defense line in turn, but Mourinho's team was clenched. Grinding his teeth, he defended until the last minute of the game, repeatedly defusing AC Milan's offense, and kept the score of 1:0 until the end.

…………………… After the game, at the press conference, when Mourinho was interviewed by the Italian media, he sneered and listed the overwhelming statistics of the first half hour. Of course, he He also acknowledged the strength of AC Milan, but he didn't think his team would be eliminated.

"1:0 is the most unsafe score in the world, AC Milan undoubtedly wants to score more goals at home, but my players performed well and prevented AC Milan from scoring goals, we got a surprise Among the results, I am very satisfied with the performance of the players. After returning to Manchester, we will repay AC Milan with an even better game!"

"Whether it's in the opening or the second half, our tactics have restrained AC Milan very well, but they have a group of outstanding stars, Rivaldo shot from a long distance, Inzaghi made a supplementary shot, the goal is as simple as that, we didn't Even one player is responsible for the conceded goal, because they have performed well enough!"

At the press conference, Mourinho looked very gentlemanly, neither the bombardment nor any resentment after losing in the past, as if the loss of this game had already been in his calculations.

As an insider, Xiao Yu is also aware of this point.

When formulating strategies before the game, Mourinho was already not optimistic about the trip to the San Siro Stadium, because it is almost very difficult to beat AC Milan at home, especially in the two-round knockout round, so Mourinho Rinho's best prediction is a draw, if not, then concede as few goals as possible.

He originally thought that he might lose 2, because AC Milan's offensive power is really strong, and it is one of the strongest offensive teams in Europe. At the same time, there is a defense led by Nesta. If Mourinho hopes to defeat his opponent in San Siro, it is undoubtedly unrealistic.

It is precisely because Xiao Yu knows that 1:0 is considered a good score, so even if the team loses, he still maintains a good mood. After watching the game with Berlusconi, he was invited to When we arrived in Milan, we went to have dinner together.

During this meeting, Xiao Yu invited Berlusconi to Manchester to watch the second round of the match. He expressed his confidence in the team and the team would be able to reverse at home, and Berlusconi also agreed to Xiao Yu's invitation. Quickly update this book on Baidu search {half}[^floating^}{^sheng]

Then the two sides negotiated some cooperation between the two clubs, including the filming of "Become Famous", a series of charity activities that the two clubs cooperated with before, and some more long-term plans, Xiao Yu followed Berlusconi reached a tacit understanding of cooperation.

To say that in European football today, Xiao Yu is undoubtedly the best club chairman. He has a good reputation and network. Although he is a newly promoted Premier League this season, his relationship with AC Milan and Real Madrid Yes, I have even closer contacts with Benfica, Genk, and Ajax.

As the grades are getting better and better, the recognition is getting more and more.

In Xiao Yu's eyes, if one wants to become a wealthy family, it is inevitable to be recognized by peers. Chelsea will undoubtedly not be able to do this, as will Manchester City, but they can, because Xiao Yu has noticed this from a long time ago !

Of course, if you want to win the approval of others, strength is also very important.

For the second round match against AC Milan, everyone paid close attention to it, but the dense schedule made Mourinho have to make a choice. In the end, Mourinho chose the UEFA Cup, which led to the momentum in the league. stymied.

Fortunately, Mourinho's team showed a very good state from the very beginning in the game against AC Milan at home!