Chapter 110 Villarreal

On February 25th, the first leg of the match between AC Milan and Villarreal kicked off at Villarreal's home stadium, El Madrigal.

This match was only two days after the previous league game against Cagliari. Coupled with the fatigue of traveling away from home and the fact that the opponent was not very strong, Ancelotti only fielded half of his first-team players.

Maldini, Pirlo, Ronaldinho, and others did not travel with the team to Spain, while Shevchenko, Senderos, Emerson, Antonini, and others were given starting opportunities.

Ancelotti's tactical arrangements were also conservative; a draw or a win, with the away goal being sufficient, would be enough, while the decisive match would be held at the San Siro's home ground.

After 90 minutes of intense play, Fino assisted Shevchenko to score the only goal of the match, giving AC Milan a narrow 1-0 victory over Villarreal.

After returning to Italy, Milan won one and lost one in the next two league matches. They lost 2-1 away to Sampdoria, with Pato scoring Milan's only goal, and won 3-0 at home against Atalanta, with 35-year-old Inzaghi scoring a hat-trick once again.

After competing on two fronts, Milan's injuries began to increase again. Before the second leg of the Champions League Round of 16, Milan's three attacking midfielders were all out of action: Kaká, Ronaldinho, and Seedorf all needed to rest and recover.

Fortunately, Pato and Fino can both play in the attacking midfield position, and when paired with Shevchenko and Inzaghi, the front line can still hold up.

Beckham's loan contract was originally set to expire in March, but Milan's dominance in both the league and the Champions League impressed Beckham, and Galliani successfully persuaded Beckham to extend his contract until the end of the season.

On March 10, the second leg of the Champions League Round of 16 took place as scheduled, with AC Milan hosting Villarreal.

Villarreal and Milan have no history of conflict or animosity, having never faced each other before this season.

While Villarreal's players were warming up, Milan's fans remained calm, simply singing their team anthem without targeting the Villarreal players or even giving them a second glance.

We're fans of a top team, we've seen it all, and not just any small fry is worthy of our attention!

This isn't Villarreal's first time at this stadium. In the 2005/06 season, during their only previous Champions League campaign, they drew Inter Milan in the quarterfinals and eliminated them on away goals to advance to the semifinals.

Returning to this legendary stadium, Villarreal's players still felt like they were on a pilgrimage. Especially when the Milan players came out to warm up, the sight of so many legendary stars and household names left the Villarreal players speechless.

In the first leg, Maldini and others did not travel with the team to Spain, and this was the first time they had seen Maldini and Pirlo in person...

The young players couldn't contain themselves and started bumping Giuseppe Rossi, the only Italian on the team, with their shoulders.

The purpose is obvious: quickly take us to get closer to the superstar!

Rossi missed the first leg due to injury, but now someone has finally helped them make the connection.

Rossi twitched his lips. Although he was Italian, he wasn't very familiar with Milan's superstars.

He came through Parma's youth academy, but was taken to England by Manchester United in 2004, making his debut in the Premier League. He only had a brief six-month loan spell back at his parent club Parma in 2007 before moving to Villarreal in La Liga.

He had virtually no chance to get to know the Milan players.

He was finally selected for the national team last October, at the same time as Fino. However, the treatment he received was completely different from that of Fino, a rising star in China, who was struggling abroad.

Not only were Pirlo, Gattuso, and Zambrotta, who came to report to the national team together, surrounding Fino, but Buffon and Gilardino also seemed to know Fino very well.

Unlike myself, who felt like I was always on the fringes during the ten-plus days I was in the national team.

But it's hard to say these things. His teammates all think he has a lot of connections in China, so how can he refute that? Doesn't he have any pride?

He steeled himself and led his teammates to the Milan warm-up area, intending to start with Fino, who was about the same age as him, since Fino had been very friendly and polite to him when they were on the national team.

He prayed silently that, although it had been almost five months since they last met, Fino wouldn't act like they weren't familiar with each other, as that would really make him feel awkward.

Fino was friendlier than he had imagined.

As soon as the Villarreal player approached, Fino greeted him.

"Long time no see, Giuseppe, welcome to San Siro."

Rossi breathed a sigh of relief.

What followed was quite natural: his teammates made appointments to exchange jerseys with their favorite Milan players after the match.

As for the embarrassing incident where teammates almost got into a fight over Maldini's jersey, well...

In short, everyone was happy in the end.

In this match, Milan used a 4-3-1-2 formation, with a relatively stable backline. The starting goalkeeper, Abbiati, was flanked by Zambrotta, Nesta, Maldini, and Jankulovski from right to left.

The familiar trio of Gattuso, Pirlo, and Ambrosini formed the midfield partnership, with Fino dropping back to the attacking midfield position, and Pato and Shevchenko playing as the two strikers.

Inzaghi, who scored a hat-trick in the league two days ago, sat on the bench waiting for his chance.

Back at their home ground, San Siro, Milan abandoned their conservative approach from the first leg and became very aggressive in attack. They had two shots on goal within the first five minutes. First, Pato's cross from Jankulovski was blocked by the opposing defender, and then Ambrosini's long-range shot was saved by goalkeeper Lopez.

Despite not having conceded a goal yet, Villarreal's coach Pellegrini broke out in a cold sweat looking at Milan's attacking prowess in midfield and forward line.

Is this the strength of a top-tier team?

He glanced at Ancelotti with envy, wondering when he could also fly a plane to a top team. With that kind of setup, he could probably win even if he had a dog on a leash as a coach.

Milan quickly had the opportunity to take the lead.

After Ibagaza's dribbling breakthrough was thwarted by Gattuso, possession immediately shifted to Milan.

Pirlo chipped the ball over midfield, and Fino broke through with the ball, while Ambrosini provided support on the left flank.

After easily getting past Cazorla and Eguren, Fino faced off against Villarreal's defensive midfielder, Senna.

Fino was very impressed with Senna.

During the Euro 2016 match between Spain and Italy last summer, Senna played exceptionally well. He was active, covered a wide area, and defended cleanly and efficiently, like a mobile, unbreakable wall. No wonder he was able to keep Alonso on the bench.

Facing such an outstanding defensive midfielder, Fino felt even more excited.

The instant the two faced off, Fino gently flicked the ball to the right with his left foot, making it appear as if he was preparing to break through on Senna's right side.

Sena, of course, wouldn't sit idly by. He immediately took a big step to the left, blocking Fino's path to break through. After his left foot landed, he stretched out his right foot to intercept the ball.

However, Fino gave Senna no chance to intercept the ball. His left foot never left the ball. The moment Senna lifted his foot, Fino pulled the ball back with his left foot, then kicked the ball away from Senna's left side. With a turn, he avoided Senna's foot and slipped behind Senna without any physical contact, continuing to dribble past him.

After getting past Senna, Villarreal's center-back Godin came up to intercept, but Fino didn't choose to continue dribbling past him. The penalty area was a bit crowded, and he didn't want to push his way in; besides, football is a team sport, and he had teammates to play with.

He passed the ball straight to Ambrosini, who was unmarked on the left wing. Capdevila immediately pressed forward to press him, but Ambrosini did not give him a one-on-one opportunity and quickly crossed the ball after receiving it.

Shevchenko held off the remaining two defenders in the penalty area, allowing Pato to calmly unleash a shot from inside the box, meeting Ambrosini's cross with a right-footed half-volley that found the back of the net.

In the 12th minute, Milan took a 1-0 lead at the San Siro. With the away goal from the first leg, Villarreal needed to score two more goals to advance.

Pellegrini was having a bit of a headache. Look at who's standing in Milan's defense: Maldini, Nesta, Zambrotta... Scoring two goals in a row is going to be a tough task.

After scoring, Pato made a heart gesture to his fiancée Stephanie in the stands, just like he did during his AC Milan debut.

When Fino first saw Pato make a heart shape with his hands to express his love to Stephanie, he thought they were very sweet. But after seeing Pato's gesture again, Fino no longer felt that way. He just thought Pato was very abstract.

He actually found the development of Pato and Stephanie's relationship quite abstract. The two met online, had a sweet relationship for a while, and then broke up. Later, Pato saw the photos Stephanie sent after getting breast augmentation, and the two rekindled their love. They even got engaged, and the wedding was scheduled for the summer break a few months later.

Throughout the course of this relationship, Pato has never stopped frequenting nightclubs; he used to be with Ronaldo, and now he's with Ronaldinho.

Fino couldn't understand why Pato could be professing his love for Stephanie while frequenting nightclubs. Was this the Brazilian view of love? But Kaká was different.

After Pato finished celebrating, Villarreal restarted the game from the center circle.

Trailing behind, Villarreal were clearly getting anxious and prepared to launch a quick counter-attack after the kickoff to pull one back as soon as possible.

After Ibagaza passed the ball to Örgren, not only did the midfielders and forwards move into Milan's half to coordinate an attack, but the two full-backs also moved up from both sides, leaving Villarreal's backline vulnerable and creating a do-or-die situation.

Ancelotti was watching the game from the sidelines with his arms crossed. When he saw this, he raised an eyebrow and looked at Pellegrini with "admiration".

So brave? Then you might as well wait to die!

But this wasn't Pellegrini's tactical plan. Pellegrini was equally anxious, yelling from the sidelines: "Don't all push forward, be careful of being attacked from behind. Pay attention to defense while attacking..."

However, before Pellegrini could relay his instructions, the tide of the game turned dramatically. Maldini and Nesta combined to dispossess Rossi, and Milan immediately launched a counter-attack.

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Author's note: Pellegrini will finally realize his dream of flying a plane at Real Madrid next season! [winking emoji]

Thank you everyone for your support! [Lop-eared rabbit head]