Chapter 128 Taking the Lead

Kaká managed to control the ball with difficulty under the pressure of Busquets and Puyol, and then passed it to Fino on the side, who dribbled past them.

At this moment, in addition to goalkeeper Valdes, Barcelona had three defenders in front of the goal: Toure, Pique, and Sylvinho. Puyol was entangled with Kaká not far away, while Busquets turned to press Fino.

His teammates hadn't caught up yet, but Toure was already there and would soon be sandwiched between Busquets and his teammates. Fino couldn't just stand there and wait for his teammates; that would mean sitting and waiting for his doom. Fino couldn't waste Milan's rare attacking opportunity, so he chose to break through alone.

When he and Toure met face to face, Toure closed in, keeping a close eye on the ball at Fino's feet, looking for an opportunity to tackle.

However, the ball seemed to be glued to Fino's feet, and he couldn't find any opportunity to kick it.

The referee was standing nearby. Toure reached out his hand, but ultimately put it down and didn't pull Fino's jersey.

The referee for the Champions League final, Busacca, is from Switzerland and appears to be upright and impartial, showing no bias towards either side. Toure dared not easily make a move under the referee's nose.

His defensive objective shifted from intercepting the ball to slowing down Fino, waiting for Busquets to catch up.

Fino didn't give Toure and Busquets a chance to double-team him. He quickly and skillfully dribbled past Toure with a single touch and continued running towards the Barcelona penalty area.

Before Pique and Sylvinho could catch up, Fino glanced around as he dribbled the ball. His teammates hadn't caught up yet, and the closest teammate to him was still Kaká, who was entangled with Puyol.

The distance between Toure and Busquets was even closer than that between Kaka and Fino. He could only grit his teeth and continue his solo journey as he was about to be surrounded by the four of them: Toure, Busquets, Piqué, and Sylvinho. He had no way to stop and wait for his teammates.

When he sprinted to the edge of Barcelona's penalty area, Pique and Sylvinho were already in position, waiting for him.

Pique and Sylvinho are 13 years apart in age. One just returned to Barcelona this season and is ready to make a name for himself, while the other is already in the twilight of his career and is about to retire.

Between the young and the old, Fino chose Pique as his breakthrough point. Pique is more than 20 centimeters taller than Sylvinho. He looks tall, strong, and young, but he is not only less agile than Sylvinho, but his defensive skills are also not as experienced.

Seeing Fino dribbling towards him, Pique rubbed his hands together, ready to show off his skills.

Before the match, when Guardiola was giving his final reminders and instructions, he specifically told Barcelona's defense to keep a close eye on Fino, as he was a formidable opponent.

Although Pique nodded earnestly on the surface, he was inwardly unconvinced. A kid born in '88, a year and a half younger than himself, how good could he be? He had been teammates with Ronaldo and Messi and had witnessed what geniuses were like. Who did Fino think he was?

He even secretly hoped to face off against Fino and teach her a lesson.

Now his chance has come.

However, the plot did not develop in the direction he had imagined. Fino took advantage of his slow lateral movement and passed him with a simple change of direction and acceleration, cleanly and neatly, without even giving him a chance to close the gap.

Pique's expression changed drastically, and he hurriedly turned around, but his slow turning speed was exposed again. He couldn't keep up with Fino's pace at all and could only reach out to pull Fino's jersey—but he couldn't reach it.

Sylvinho's tackle came immediately, and Fino used his left foot to lift the ball to Sylvinho's left. He then used a series of footwork movements to avoid Sylvinho's foot and leaned Sylvinho behind him. When the ball fell to the right position, he volleyed it into the goal.

Valdes's view was momentarily blocked by Sylvinho and Fino, and his save was a step too slow; the ball flew right into the bottom left corner of the goal right before his eyes.

1-0, Milan opened the scoring.

This goal ignited the passion of the Milan fans in the stadium, and Berlusconi, Galliani, and team legends in the VIP box all smiled and applauded.

"Goooal! In the 19th minute of the first half, Cabrini made a long run, beating three players to give Milan the lead. At the start of the game, Barcelona had an astonishing possession rate of over 75%, but failed to convert it into a goal. On the contrary, Milan, who were on the defensive and had difficulty gaining possession, seized an opportunity and launched a quick counter-attack, scoring a goal!" the commentator shouted.

Amidst the cheers, Ancelotti smiled and hugged his assistant coaches on the sidelines before calming down and not celebrating much.

On the other side, Guardiola looked serious and unconsciously bit his thumb.

"It seems Ancelotti has done very thorough research on Barcelona, ​​and everything looks like he has it all under control," the commentator remarked. "This season is Guardiola's debut season as head coach of the first team. In domestic competitions, he led the team to a double in the league and the Copa del Rey, and in the Champions League, he led them to the final. This is truly a remarkable achievement. But compared to the shrewd and experienced Ancelotti, Guardiola still needs to continue to mature and refine his skills."

Mourinho and Mendes were sitting together. After seeing Fino's performance, Mourinho immediately covered his mouth and said to Mendes, "The season is about to end. Let me remind you again, I want Cabrini. This summer, you must bring him to Inter Milan!"

Adriano has been in a slump and terminated his contract with the club in April. Veterans Crespo and Cruz's contracts have expired and they will find new clubs in the summer transfer window. Ibrahimovic has already hinted at leaving because of Inter's failure in European competitions this season. Next season, Inter's front line will inevitably undergo a major overhaul.

Mourinho really wants Fino; he's obedient, useful, and has a clean private life. After coaching the bad boys at Chelsea and Inter Milan, he desperately needs a player like Fino to heal his tormented soul.

More importantly, Fino has brains! Brains! Brains! Mourinho has had enough of idiots!

Mendes began to regret sitting with Mourinho. He could have sat in the Milan family section—Fino had family tickets—but to be with Mourinho, he had to reluctantly give up the opportunity to get close to the Milan stars' families and sit with Mourinho in the neutral fan area.

Incidentally, after Alonso and Mendes both refused Fino's family tickets, Fino had no friends left to give tickets to. He gave one of his family tickets to his assistant Julia, and the rest to the children in Milan's youth academy.

Not hearing a response from Mendes, Mourinho became somewhat displeased and nudged Mendes with his elbow: "I'm talking to you!"

Mendes was somewhat exasperated; Mourinho's ideas were truly out of the ordinary.

Mendes didn't think Fino would leave Milan during the summer break. That phone call was probably just Galliani's routine warning. Every important player in every team inevitably receives warnings and attempts to win them over from the club's management, especially in clubs where power is not centralized. The club's management needs to let the players know who can decide their future. Even if they don't want to take sides, they must learn to remain silent and never stand on the opposite side.

Fino has always had high emotional intelligence, and Milan is currently in good form. He has no reason to go against Galliani, so why would Milan sell him now?

Even if Fino does leave Milan this season, Mendes doesn't believe he'll transfer to Inter. Given Fino's ability, he can practically choose any team he wants; why would he possibly switch to a derby rival?

"Give up, José, Fino will definitely not go to Inter," Mendes replied, covering his mouth.

Mourinho scoffed. "That's not necessarily true. He'll definitely meet with Fino after the season ends."

Let's get back to the game.

After the Milan players finished celebrating, the game restarted.

Milan's performance was no different from the start of the game. They allowed Barcelona to freely pass the ball around in their own half to increase their possession, but they also firmly cut off Barcelona's path to pass the ball forward.

Having already scored, Milan became even more relaxed. They could control the ball as they pleased; possession that couldn't be converted into goals was useless. If they controlled the ball until the end of the game, Milan would still win.

The score remained unchanged until the end of the first half, with Milan returning to the locker room with a one-goal lead.

"We did very well in the first half. With everyone's excellent teamwork, Barcelona had no chance to score. Our tactics perfectly countered Barcelona's unstoppable passing and possession style. I'm proud of you!" Ancelotti praised.

The players all smiled; they deserved the praise.

But no one cheered or joked. In the Champions League final, with the team leading at halftime, some unpleasant memories lingered in everyone's minds, reminding them not to be too happy too soon.

Ancelotti continued, "In the second half, we need to maintain a solid defense. Let Barcelona control the ball; we won't fight them for possession."

“Thanks to Fino’s goal in the first half—well, Fino, I haven’t praised you yet, have I? That goal was absolutely beautiful. Your performance is as outstanding as ever. With you on the field, I never have to worry about scoring goals.” Ancelotti praised Fino.

Fino accepted Ancelotti's praise with a smile. Nesta, sitting next to him, put his arm around his shoulder and took his hand with his other hand, his eyes also filled with pride and praise.

Fino grasped Nesta's hand in return, interlocking their fingers, and continued to listen to Ancelotti's instructions for the second half.

"Thanks to Fini's goal in the first half, Barcelona will definitely change their approach in the second half. They're the ones who'll be anxious. We can simply remain unchanged and adapt to whatever comes our way. When their attack becomes more impatient, that will be our chance to extend our lead..."

After making arrangements for the second half, Ancelotti handed the playing time to Maldini.

"Brothers, when I chose to extend my contract for another year last summer, I didn't dream of standing on the Champions League final stage again. At that time, I told myself, let's fight for Milan again and snatch the league title from Inter Milan. To be honest, Inter Milan's three consecutive league titles were really frustrating."

Maldini looked around at each of his teammates and continued, "When Ricci, Sandro, Kaha, Andrea... got injured one after another, and when Christian was ruled out for the season, I had a bad feeling that perhaps my wish to win another league title for Milan before I retired would not be fulfilled. But soon, everyone's performance restored my confidence. Even with a lot of injuries, we continued to advance triumphantly, and in the blink of an eye, the glory of the double is already beckoning us. There are still half a Champions League final and two league games left until the end of the season. Winning these games and ending this season on a perfect note with the glory of the double, are you all confident?"

Applause erupted. Under Maldini's encouragement, the players became even more excited and energetic, as if they were full of power and eager to fight in the second half.

Fino silently said to himself: Paul, only the glory of a double championship can barely be worthy of the end of your career. Whether it is today's game or the remaining two rounds of the league, I will do my best to help the team win. No one can ruin this glory that belongs to you.

I won't allow it.

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Author's note: Sylvinho, I didn't use the Chinese transliteration for the sake of avoiding arrogance, for the same reason as Real Madrid's Little Bear Hughes.

Thank you everyone for your support! [kissing emoji]