Chapter 121 The Milanese pure bloodline is the foundation of Fino...

Pirlo passed the ball to Seedorf, and Milan began to penetrate Manchester United's half through short passes.

Milan's midfield and attacking players coordinated very well, with their off-the-ball movement creating at least two passing options around the ball carrier, allowing them to break through Anderson and Vidic's defenses and gradually approach Manchester United's penalty area.

When Kaká passed the ball across to Fino, Fino looked around at the positions of his teammates and opponents.

At this moment, O'Shea was blocking his left front, preventing him from breaking into the penalty area. Ambrosini had already come down the right flank and was directly in front of him, with Evra marking him.

Kaka was positioned to his left, and Fletcher had already cut between him and Kaka. Pirlo was positioned further back in the middle, and Vidic, who was marking him, had turned around to chase after him.

Fino could have easily passed the ball back to Pirlo, who could have taken a long-range shot.

But at that moment, Fino suddenly noticed that Manchester United goalkeeper Van der Sar had left the center of the goal and moved to the vicinity of the near post, probably to prevent Ambrosini from cutting inside and shooting after he passed the ball to him.

At this moment, only Ferdinand was in front of the goal.

Fino recalled Ancelotti's words of advice before the match: Ferdinand has excellent physical qualities and first-class defensive skills, but his weaknesses are also obvious: he lacks concentration and is prone to losing focus on the field.

Fino already had an idea.

He lowered his shoulder to the right, feinting a breakthrough from the right, which tricked O'Shea into moving a step to the left, clearing the way for the ball. Then he unleashed a powerful right-footed shot from outside the penalty area.

The ball flew into the penalty area from O'Shea's left, then passed Ferdinand and nestled into the far corner of the goal.

Van der Sar's save was a step too late, and Ferdinand had no chance to react at all.

The referee blew his whistle, the goal stood, and Milan equalized the score at 1-1 in the first half.

Amidst the boos from Old Trafford, Fino waved to a small group of Milan fans who had come with the team in the corner, and was then embraced by Kaká.

Through Kaka's shoulder, Fino saw Ferdinand's still bewildered expression. He found it a little funny; had he not yet realized what was happening? Had he wandered off to Antarctica in his daydreams?

On the sidelines, Ferguson covered his mouth and cursed, then turned to his assistant coach and said, "Remind me during halftime that I'm going to give Leo a good kick in the ass! Why can't he get rid of this lack of concentration?"

Fino tucked the sweat-dampened hair that clung to his temples behind his ears, and he and Kaká put their arms around each other's waists as they returned to the center circle to wait for Manchester United to kick off.

In the 43rd minute, Manchester United had a great attacking opportunity.

Carrick unleashed a long-range shot that sailed over Nesta and Gattuso and into the Milan penalty area.

Cristiano Ronaldo unleashed a low shot from a tight angle about 7 meters from the goal inside the penalty area, which Dida brilliantly saved. Ronaldo followed up with a shot, confident that this one would go in, as Dida was already too late to get up.

But a white figure appeared in the ball's path. Maldini, wearing a white away jersey, rushed forward and headed the ball away with his forehead. Nesta won the battle with Tevez for the ball and swept it to Gattuso.

Milan's counterattack began from there.

Through Gattuso and Pirlo, the ball reached Kaká's feet, who dribbled past his opponent, with Ambrosini and Seedorf positioned on either side of him to provide lateral support.

Because the three players were positioned relatively far apart, Manchester United inevitably reduced their defensive density in order to widen the defensive width.

When Evra and Fletcher came up to double-team Kaká, Kaká did not choose to break through, but instead made a backheel pass, passing the ball to Pirlo who was lurking behind him.

Pirlo's long diagonal pass successfully bypassed Manchester United's defensive gap and headed straight for Fino in the penalty area.

Fino, with his back to Ferdinand, received the ball and passed it back to Kaká, who was making a run into the box. Kaká unleashed a powerful shot from outside the penalty area, but Van der Sar made a firm save, denying Milan any chance to follow up.

Kaka sighed and wiped the sweat from his face with his jersey.

At this point, Van der Sar had already passed the ball to Evra, and Manchester United's attack started again from the backfield.

As Fino retreated, he passed by Kaka and ruffled his hair.

"Rich, get back on defense! If we miss this time, we'll try again next time!"

At the end of the first half, neither Milan nor Manchester United changed the score, and the two sides went into halftime with a score of 1-1.

During halftime, the Manchester United fans' chants echoed throughout Old Trafford, repeatedly singing "Glory to Manchester United," which could be clearly heard even by the Milan players in the away team's dressing room.

Ancelotti has finished outlining the key points for the second half, and the players are now taking breaks to hydrate and rest.

Maldini started a conversation: "Fini, this is your first time at Old Trafford, tell us what you think."

This was an attempt to further boost morale, and Fino instantly understood Maldini's meaning.

"Hmm, it feels no different from San Siro. The same long history, the same old equipment, even the home jerseys have a lot of red elements. If you ignore the piercing boos, I would think I'm playing at home! Oh, no, we often get booed at home too, so it really does feel exactly like playing at home."

This is a veiled reference to the extreme fan groups in the South Stand.

His teammates burst into laughter.

After the laughter subsided, Maldini clapped his hands and exclaimed, "That's right, it's no different from playing at home. Let's bring the same spirit we have at home, and in the second half, just as Carlo instructed, play a solid defense, strengthen our attack, and take this game in one fell swoop!"

The teammates shouted in unison, "Win the game!"

Ancelotti leaned against the wall near the tactics board with his arms crossed, silently watching Maldini boost morale.

He has been in charge of AC Milan's first team for eight seasons and is tired of Berlusconi's meddling in the lineup and tactics, tired of the club constantly buying players they don't need, and tired of the battle of wits between Galliani and the Knights Table. It's time for him to start a new challenge.

Regardless of Milan's performance this season, he will leave the team at the end of the season.

The team is currently in a crucial stage of competing for both the league and the Champions League titles, and the news of a change in manager cannot be leaked to shake morale. However, he has actually received an offer from Chelsea and has reached an understanding with the Milan club's management. Leonardo, who is in cahoots with Galliani, will replace him as Milan's new manager.

With Maldini's retirement and Leonardo taking over the team, Milan is about to embark on a new round of purges.

Putting aside their time as teammates, he had worked with Maldini as a coach and manager for eight years. He admired Maldini's integrity and character, seeing him as a pillar of strength, but unfortunately, he was destined to be abandoned by Milan in a dirty power struggle.

He really wanted to bring Maldini to Chelsea so he could continue to play a role in his coaching staff, but unfortunately Maldini didn't seem interested in coaching.

Ancelotti glanced at Fino again, lowered his eyes, and sighed inwardly.

He certainly understood Maldini's foresight, but from a coach's perspective, he could see more than Maldini did. Galliani would definitely seize the opportunity to completely dismantle the Knights Table; Fino had only two paths: compromise or be sold.

Heritage and the red-and-black gene weren't that important to the club's management. Fino's Milan bloodline was the foundation of his success, but it could also be his original sin.

The second half began with the teams switching sides.

Manchester United continued their aggressive attack, while Milan first solidified their defense to meet United's onslaught and then look for opportunities to counter-attack.

In the 56th minute, Ronaldo was shut down by Nesta and Gattuso, losing his chance to break through with the ball. He could only take a hasty, wasteful shot, which unsurprisingly went wide.

Immediately afterwards, Rooney and Ronaldo combined on the right flank to break through Jankulovski's blockade, but instead of confronting Maldini head-on, they passed the ball to Anderson, who was following up from the center.

Anderson was overjoyed. At that moment, Maldini and Jankulovski were defending Ronaldo and Rooney on the right side of the penalty area, while Nesta was facing Tevez on the left. Only Dida, his fellow Brazilian, was left between him and Milan's goal.

He was about to take a shot from 20 meters in front of the goal when a white figure flashed by, stretched out a leg and gently hooked the ball under his foot, and the ball immediately disappeared from his feet.

It was Fino who had retreated to Milan's backfield.

"Rooney passes the ball to Anderson, Anderson takes a shot... but no shot! Cabrini steals the ball! Beautiful! Cabrini's tackle is so skillful, it looks effortless, a gentle flick and the ball is glued to his foot." The commentator cheered loudly.

After scoring, Fino played a through ball to Kaká and then quickly sprinted towards Manchester United's half.

Milan's counterattack has officially begun.

At this moment, Manchester United's defense was pushed forward due to the attacking run, and they were unable to track back in time, allowing Kaká to break into Manchester United's backfield.

Ferdinand and Vidic immediately tensed up inside the penalty area.

Ferdinand blocked Zambrotta, who was lurking on the right side of the penalty area, and Vidic came forward to block Kaká.

Kaka fooled Vidic with a feint, entered the penalty area and found himself one-on-one with the goalkeeper. He then fired a low shot with his left foot from a tight angle, sending the ball straight into the bottom left corner of the goal.

However, the ball did not get over Van der Sar's hands. The ever-expert Van der Sar quickly got to the ground and pushed the ball out with both hands, which was then kicked out of bounds by Vidic who had turned around.

Milan and Manchester United entered a stalemate, with both sides exchanging attacks and playing a lively game, but neither managed to score another goal.

In the 72nd minute, Ferguson made the first tactical change, using two substitutions: Giggs for Anderson and Berbatov for Tevez. The formation changed from 4-3-3 to 4-2-3-1.

Ancelotti continued to use the Christmas tree formation, only replacing the increasingly fatigued Maldini with Kaladze.

Giggs' introduction further revitalized Milan's left wing, providing Berbatov and Ronaldo with numerous good opportunities.

But against Milan's impenetrable defense, the chances did not translate into goals.

In the 81st minute, Manchester United launched another attack. Fletcher delivered a low cross from the right wing, and Rooney, after receiving the ball, held off Kaladze and passed it to Berbatov. Double-teamed by Nesta and Gattuso, Berbatov not only couldn't find a shooting opportunity but was also in constant danger of losing possession, forcing him to pass back to Ronaldo behind him.

Cristiano Ronaldo received the ball and was about to shoot when he was tackled to the ground by Fino, who had retreated to the goal.

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