Chapter 49 Great Victory

After Fino came on, he jogged all the way to Reggina's attacking third.

When passing by teammates such as Pirlo, Brocchi, Kaká, and Seedorf, he was greeted with friendly pats and encouragement.

After the game restarted, the midfielders and forwards kept feeding Fino the ball, hoping he could score a goal, regain his pre-injury form, and reassure the fans.

In the 52nd minute, Seedorf crossed from the right wing, and Fino took a first-time shot from 9 meters out, which was saved by Campaniolo.

In the 54th minute, Kaká made a run down the middle and passed the ball to Fino in the penalty area. Fino withstood the pressure from Chirillo, shielded the ball, turned, and unleashed a curling shot with his left foot, but unfortunately it went wide of the post.

In the 59th minute, Pirlo took a corner kick from the right. Nesta headed the ball across to Fino at the near post, but Fino's diving header was cleared by Aronica.

After three shots, Reggina's defense against Fino intensified significantly. Fino gestured to everyone to stop focusing on setting him up and just let things happen naturally.

With Milan tightly marked, there's no need to waste their attacking opportunities.

He felt he was in good form, hadn't lost his familiarity with his position, and had good chemistry with his teammates in receiving and passing the ball. Not scoring was just a matter of luck, and he didn't need to rely on goals to boost his confidence.

In the 65th minute, Milan extended their lead again.

Gattuso intercepted Tognozi's ball in midfield and passed it to Pirlo to orchestrate the attack. Pirlo then delivered a long diagonal pass to Brocchi, who had made a run into the Reggina penalty area on the right. Brocchi crossed from the right, and Valdes failed to control the ball while attempting to clear it. Kaká controlled the ball with his leg and then shot it into the far corner of the goal with his right foot.

Milan lead 4-1, with Kaká completing a hat-trick.

"Gattuso, Pirlo, and Brocchi, the Milan midfield trio cooperated seamlessly, completing the transition between attack and defense in a very short time and passing the ball into the Reggina penalty area. After Brocchi's cross, Valdes failed to clear the ball, and Kaká pushed it into the net, completing his hat-trick. Two days later was Kaká's 26th birthday, and he gave himself the most unforgettable birthday gift."

Taking advantage of Kaka's wild celebration with both fingers pointing to the sky, Ancelotti used his remaining two substitutions, replacing the nearly exhausted Cafu with Simic, and then replacing Seedorf with Pato, allowing Pato to come on and find his form.

Meanwhile, Ancelotti gave instructions to Gattuso, who was wearing the captain's armband. Gattuso directed everyone to tighten their defense. A score of 4-1 was already a great victory, and the focus should be on conserving energy for the rest of the time.

There are four rounds left in the league, and we must fight hard in every game to secure a spot in the Champions League qualifiers.

With Milan's defense tightening and shifting from offense to defense, Reggina, whose defensive pressure was greatly reduced, became more active on the offensive end.

In the 71st minute, Kaladze nearly kicked the ball to Amoruso's feet while blocking Koza's shot, but he reacted quickly and cleared the ball out of bounds before Amoruso could reach it.

Kaladze wiped the sweat from his forehead, almost getting booed again.

In the 75th minute, Vijani crossed from the right wing, and Amoruso's header went wide of the post.

In the 82nd minute, after Nesta thwarted Reggina's attacking opportunity, Milan launched their final counter-attack of the match.

Simic controlled the ball headed out by Nesta and passed it straight to Pirlo in midfield. At this time, Reggina's defense in the half was very dense, so Pirlo did not kick the ball long, but instead passed it to the retreating Kaká.

Kaka dribbled the ball at high speed towards the frontcourt.

Even though they were down by 3 goals, Reggina's players did not give up and continued to defend.

4-1 was a crushing defeat, 5-1 was a complete disaster.

Vijani and substitute Costa immediately double-teamed Kaká. One of them closely marked Kaká, preventing him from having a one-on-one opportunity, while the other waited for a chance to intercept the ball. The two had different roles, cooperated very well, and their movements were very clean.

Kaka's attempts to change direction were thwarted by two players, and after struggling to advance a few meters, Kaka still couldn't find an opportunity to break through.

Seeing Kaká's breakthrough thwarted, Fino gestured to Pato to stay in the penalty area while he dropped back to receive the pass.

Alvarez, who replaced Valdes, immediately followed Fino out of the penalty area, leaving Chirillo and Aronica to continue guarding the goal.

Seeing Fino retreat, Kaká made another change of direction to break through. Costa stepped to the side to block Kaká's path forward, while Vijani stretched out his foot to deflect the ball that Kaká had pushed out.

However, Kaká's change of direction was a feint; he only pushed the ball two feet away before immediately pulling it back, the ball never leaving his foot. Costa's sidestep gave him space to pass, and he gently pushed the ball between Costa's legs, the ball rolling straight down the ground towards Fino.

After receiving the ball, Fino shielded it and turned, giving Alvarez no chance to intercept. He sprinted for more than ten meters and then passed the ball diagonally to Pato on the left side of the penalty area.

Chirillo and Aronica immediately went to block Pato, but Pato remained calm and passed the ball back to Fino, who was running to the edge of the penalty area. Fino met the ball with his right foot and unleashed a powerful shot that went straight into the bottom right corner of the goal.

Campaniolo quickly got to the ground and fell to his left.

His timing in landing was perfect; his left-hand fingers had already touched the ball. However, he underestimated the power of Fino's shot, and the ball defied the outward thrust of his fingertips and slid into the net.

5-1, Fino scores another goal for Milan.

Fino and Pato gave each other a brief hug before retreating to await the start of the game.

After that goal, neither Milan nor Reggina had the will to continue fighting, and they simply passed the ball around until the remaining time was up.

The score remained 5-1 until the end, and Milan secured a resounding victory at home.

"With Cabrini and Pato returning from injury, Milan's attacking firepower has increased significantly. Milan played very aggressively in this match, and it has been a long time since Milan has achieved such a big victory."

After the 34th round of the league, the rankings of the top six teams in Serie A remained unchanged.

Inter Milan remains at the top of the table with 76 points, while Roma, after a draw, is second with 70 points. Juventus, in third place, has 67 points, narrowing the gap with Roma to 3 points. AC Milan, Fiorentina, and Sampdoria all won their matches, bringing their total to 60, 59, and 57 points respectively, with the point differences between the three teams remaining unchanged. Udinese's loss dropped them from the top, widening the gap with Sampdoria to 6 points.

With the season nearing its end and no Champions League or Italian Cup commitments, Milan has returned to a weekly schedule of one game, and Ancelotti has given the players two days off.

On the first night of the holiday, the club threw an internal birthday party for Kaká's 26th birthday.

Since their elimination from the Champions League, the players have been under immense pressure and their mental state has been extremely tense. After finally securing a resounding victory, it's time to relieve the pressure on the players so they can play with ease in the next four league matches.

The party was held at a restaurant owned by Berlusconi. The restaurant was cleared out that evening, and no guests were invited. Only Milan players, staff, and some players' families attended.

Caroline did not attend Kaká's birthday party; her due date is in June, and she has already flown back to Brazil. In about 50 days, she and Kaká's first child will be born.

Fino prepared a pair of platinum cufflinks set with sapphires as a birthday gift for Kaká, which was about the same value as the birthday gift Kaká gave him last year.

For players, gifts exchanged within the team, such as birthday and Christmas presents, are generally worth between several hundred and several thousand euros. Within this range, birthday gifts are relatively more expensive, while Christmas gifts are relatively less expensive.

As long as it's acceptable on the surface and doesn't offend anyone, that's fine.

Players can afford more expensive gifts, but they also need to consider the relationship between them. If the gifts significantly exceed the normal level of teammate relationships, it can create a psychological burden.

Gifts in this price range are a drop in the ocean compared to the players' current salaries; no one will worry about the gains or losses, and they won't put any psychological burden on anyone—it's just right.

Fino came to this conclusion a few months ago when she was preparing a birthday gift for Gattuso and casually checked the prices of the birthday and Christmas gifts she had received online.

The gifts his teammates gave him were mostly in this price range, except for the birthday gift from Pirlo.

On Fino's birthday, Pirlo gave him a watch. At the time, Pirlo only said, "Take it and wear it for fun." Fino accepted it without thinking much of it.

When Fino checked the price, he discovered that the watch cost nearly 80,000 euros, equivalent to more than half a month's salary after his contract was renewed, and slightly higher than Pirlo's weekly wage.

Given how Fino defines his relationship with Pirlo, the value of this gift far exceeds what is expected.

He has never felt a strong sense of worthiness; he feels more at ease giving more than receiving more.

But the gift was already received, so it can't be returned. I can only reciprocate with a gift of similar value when Pirlo celebrates his birthday in the summer.

He sighed inwardly, realizing how expensive these social obligations were. Although players earned a lot, they also spent a lot, and he knew he would have to find an agent after the season ended.

Just like at the Christmas dinner, Fino sat between Pirlo and Nesta.

Because the next day was still a day off, the birthday party involved alcohol. Pirlo offered Fino a glass of champagne, but Fino refused.

"Andrea, you know my alcohol tolerance."

“Just a tiny bit,” Pirlo insisted.

Fino shook her head: "Not even a little bit."

He absolutely must not make a fool of himself.

Seeing Pirlo's regretful expression, Fino had a sudden thought: Could Pirlo be thinking of some prank again?

"You don't want to see me make a fool of myself, do you?" Fino asked suspiciously.

I just wanted you to have a chance to release your emotions, you poor thing, even if it was just to cry for a while while you were drunk, instead of being all obedient like this, as if nothing happened. Pirlo thought to himself.

But he simply echoed, "Yes, you found out."

"You're so mean, Andrea!" Fino pinched Pirlo's thigh, and Pirlo took the opportunity to playfully fight with him, hoping to make him smile more.

In the process of dodging, Fino met Inzaghi's gaze from across the table. The other man's eyes were filled with sadness and guilt, and Fino immediately lost his mood for playful banter.

Fino lowered his head and remained silent for a while, then looked up at Inzaghi.

After making eye contact with Inzaghi again, he raised his water glass to Inzaghi with a relieved smile on his face.

He didn't want Inzaghi to feel guilty. Now that it was over, he wanted Inzaghi to return to his free and unrestrained state. He still preferred the spirited and charismatic Inzaghi.

After a few seconds of pause, Inzaghi also smiled and raised his water glass.