Chapter 38 Hooking Hand

On February 13, Milan faced Livorno in a rescheduled match from the 16th round of Serie A, which had been postponed due to Milan's Club World Cup commitments.

Livorno's strength this season is not very strong. In the past 21 rounds of the league, Livorno has 5 wins and 7 draws, accumulating 22 points and hovering in the relegation zone.

However, Livorno is a bit unpredictable. They are particularly energetic when playing against top teams. This season, they have drawn with Inter Milan and Roma. They are the kind of team that doesn't look difficult to play against, but it is easy for them to be upset due to carelessness.

After much deliberation, Ancelotti included Fino in the starting lineup for the striker position. Partnering Fino in the two strikers was Alberto Paloschi, a young player Ancelotti brought back from the youth team.

Fino has played too many games recently, and Ancelotti would definitely rotate him if given the choice. However, Inzaghi, who just recovered from injury, played a full 90 minutes three days ago, and Ronaldo is not in good form, so neither of them is suitable to play a full game again.

He couldn't play Paloschi as a lone striker either, as that would be too much pressure for a young player who had just arrived in Serie A. Ancelotti was also worried about that, so he still had to let Fino play to mentor Paloschi.

However, Ancelotti had made arrangements in advance: Fino and Paloschi would only play for 45 minutes each. In the second half, he would bring on Inzaghi and Ronaldo to let the veterans take charge.

Paloschi just turned 18 in January, younger than Pato and about the same age as Fino when he joined the first team.

Fino felt it was strange; he was only a little over 19 years old, yet he was already taking care of children like his seniors.

Before the players entered the field, the director directed the cameras to scan the stands, hoping to spot any celebrities to boost ratings. However, it wasn't a high-profile match, and the director himself didn't have high hopes.

But when a tall man in a coat and scarf flashed across the screen, the director felt that the man looked familiar. After stroking his chin and thinking for a few seconds, he suddenly realized what was going on and immediately directed the camera to zoom out.

It's Arsène Wenger, the manager of Arsenal!

Arsenal is Milan's opponent in the Champions League round of 16 this season, and Wenger is definitely here to scout their opponents for the Champions League match a week later.

Upon discovering that he was on the big screen, Wenger was very courteous. He pulled down his scarf to reveal the lower half of his face and waved to the camera in a friendly manner.

There was no animosity between Milan and Arsenal, and the fans warmly welcomed Wenger with applause.

After Wenger was spotted on camera, staff immediately notified Ancelotti.

Ancelotti merely raised an eyebrow, not seeming particularly concerned. Milan wasn't at full strength today; Maldini, Nesta, Kaká, Seedorf, Pato, and others were all absent, making Wenger's trip essentially pointless.

While queuing to enter, Paloschi was in front of Fino, and he frequently stood on his tiptoes with his hands on his hips, letting out long exhales.

Fino immediately understood that the child was nervous, which reminded him of himself back then. So, imitating Kaka, he patted Paloschi on the shoulder, signaling Paloschi to turn around.

When Paloschi turned around, Fino hugged him and smiled encouragingly: "Boy, don't be nervous, I'm here with you. Just enjoy your first Serie A match."

These were Kaká's words of encouragement to Fino, which Fino then used to encourage Paloschi. He didn't know if he was as easily trusted as Kaká, but he would be as true to his word as Kaká.

After the kickoff, Livorno fully displayed their Robin Hood-like spirit, launching a powerful attack on Milan's half, leaving the fans in the stadium in disbelief. So brave! Who is the relegation team after all?

Livorno's two forwards, Tavano and Tristan, both made runs into Milan's backfield. Milan's defense immediately coordinated to defend. After receiving a pass from midfield, Tavano made a feint and shot, trying to deceive Favalli, who was pressing forward.

But Favalli was still the same old Favalli. He didn't fall for it at all, intercepted the ball, and kicked it to Kaladze a few meters away.

The ball was passed through Kaladze, Pirlo, and Gourcuff before reaching Livorno's attacking third.

After receiving the ball, Fino broke into the penalty area while directing Paloschi's runs. Under Fino's guidance, Paloschi performed admirably, whether stretching the defense or acting as a target man, displaying great intelligence.

After the two players combined to enter the penalty area, Fino, with his back against Livorno defender Knezevic's challenge, passed the ball to Paloschi. Paloschi raised his foot to shoot, but unfortunately the angle was too straight and it was directly caught by Livorno's goalkeeper Amelia.

Paloschi was somewhat frustrated, having missed his first Serie A goal, but he still went over to Fino to thank him for the assist.

Fino patted him on the head like a senior would, encouraging him to keep up the good work next time.

In the 32nd minute, Milan had another good scoring opportunity in the attacking third.

Gattuso intercepted Vidigar's ball in the midfield and passed it directly to Oddo, who was coming over to help. Oddo avoided Vidigar's counter-pressing and passed the ball to Pirlo to organize the attack.

Pirlo delivered another beautiful long pass over the top. As Pirlo took the shot, Fino was still battling with Galant for the ball's landing point. By the time the ball traced an arc and began to fall, Fino had already won the contest, and the ball landed precisely in front of him.

Fino shielded the ball with his back to Galant, then gently flicked it to the left with his right foot. Galant, who was keeping a close eye on the ball, immediately took a large step to the left to prevent Fino from breaking through from the left.

Fino immediately pulled the ball back with his toe after the touch, then flicked it towards the gap between Galant's legs. At the moment the ball went through Galant's legs, he turned and dribbled past Galant on his right to receive the ball, continuing to dribble forward and leaving Galant behind.

The moment he broke into the penalty area, Grandoni and Knezevic both rushed forward to press him. While protecting the ball and entangled with the two, Fino secretly gave Paloschi a hand signal.

The quick-thinking Paloschi immediately ran to a position parallel to Fino to ensure he was not offside. At this moment, Livorno's goalkeeper, Amelia, was focused on Fino and prepared to make a save, waiting for the outcome of the scramble between Fino and the two defenders.

Fino held off Grandoni and passed the ball between Knezevic's legs, another nutmeg!

Without hesitation, Paloschi received the ball and immediately shot, the ball rolling along the grass into the bottom left corner of the goal.

Milan lead 1-0.

Paloschi was ecstatic after scoring. He stretched out his hands and glided towards the stands like an airplane, running for dozens of meters amidst applause and cheers. Only after the referee signaled that the celebration had gone too long and the ball should be restarted did he reluctantly run back.

Then, with his face flushed red with excitement, he thanked Fino.

Fino thought the child, though tall and big, was quite cute.

Wenger, watching from the stands, looked at Fino with envy, believing that 80% of the credit for the goal belonged to Fino. Such a good young player; how wonderful it would be to have him under his wing! He was an expert at developing young talents.

After the first half ended, Paloschi put his arm around Fino's shoulder, praising Fino's dribbling and assist as they walked towards the locker room. Their mission for the match was over, and Inzaghi and Ronaldo had already begun warming up.

As he passed by Inzaghi, Inzaghi reached out and hooked Fino's palm, gave him a meaningful look, and then ran off to warm up.

Fino looked back and only saw Inzaghi's back.

The two did not exchange a single word, but Fino roughly understood what Inzaghi meant. Inzaghi was probably reminding him that they were still on an agreement, and the constraints were two-way.

Fino was speechless. He was just interacting normally with his teammates, while Inzaghi was attracting attention from other women. Could these two be subject to the same restrictions?

But he still inadvertently broke free of Paloschi's arm, patted Paloschi on the back, and signaled Paloschi to hurry back to the locker room.

At the start of the second half, Ancelotti made two substitutions in quick succession, bringing on Inzaghi and Ronaldo.

Livorno got off to a strong start. Filippini lofted the ball into the Milan penalty area from midfield, Kaladze headed it away from Tristan, and Bonera lost possession. Pulzetti received the ball on the right flank and unleashed a powerful shot that nestled into the top left corner of the goal.

Just two minutes into the second half, Livorno equalized 1-1, bringing the two sides back to level terms.

Immediately afterwards, during a Milan attack, Ronaldo and Livorno defender Galante jumped together to contest a header. After colliding, both lost their balance and fell to the ground.

The ball hit Vidigar's hand, the referee awarded a penalty and showed Vidigar a yellow card.

Galante quickly got up after falling, while Ronaldo on the other side was unable to get up for a long time.

There was no intense physical contact during the header contest, but Ronaldo clutched his left knee, rolled on the ground in agony, and roared loudly, tears streaming from his eyes.

The players realized that Ronaldo may have twisted his knee the moment he landed.

Ambrosini and Gattuso immediately waved for the team doctor to come onto the field, and the doctor carried Ronaldo off the field on a stretcher.

Ancelotti used his last substitution, bringing on Serginho, who hadn't even had time to warm up.

The stadium was eerily quiet; Ronaldo's pained expression made all the players on both sides turn pale.

But the competition must continue.

The penalty was taken by Pirlo. Pirlo's face was ashen; even though he was shocked and saddened by Ronaldo's injury, his footwork remained perfectly steady as he calmly pushed the ball into the left side of the goal.

Milan lead 2-1.

The score remained 2-1 until the final whistle, and Milan secured another victory at home.

At that moment, neither the players nor the fans cheered for the victory; everyone was worried about Ronaldo.

After a dual diagnosis by a Milan laboratory and hospital, Ronaldo was diagnosed with a torn ligament in his left knee, which will keep him out of action for at least nine months.

The knees, like Ronaldo's Achilles' heel, hindered the aliens' return to space.

Since his first serious knee injury at PSV Eindhoven, Ronaldo's knees have been repeatedly plagued by injuries. Especially during his time at Inter Milan, his right knee suffered several major injuries, even sidelining him for 20 months at one point. After returning to Milan, misfortune struck his left knee…

Ronaldo's contract with AC Milan expires this summer, which means that Ronaldo's Milan career, or rather his European career, has come to a complete end with this match.