Chapter 114: Two Gates Against Two Gates
On April 7th, the battle between AC Milan and Arsenal officially kicked off, with the first leg taking place at Arsenal's home ground.
Milan has been preparing for this match for a long time. In the league match against Lecce a few days ago, Ancelotti even fielded a completely reserve lineup, just to ensure that the key players were in top form for this game.
Even so, Milan was not at full strength in this match.
In the 28th round of the league match against Siena, first-choice goalkeeper Abbiati collided with teammate Favalli and was stretchered off the field.
After examination by the team doctor, it was confirmed that Abbiati had torn his right anterior cruciate ligament and needed surgery. He will need to rest for at least six months after the surgery, which will not only end his season completely, but will also affect the first half of the next season.
36-year-old veteran Dida was called upon to take over the starting position in a time of crisis. However, Dida's form has declined significantly, and his performance in the last two league matches has been far from reassuring.
The third goalkeeper is 37-year-old Karachi, whose form is not as good as Dida's.
Faced with an extreme choice between two options, Ancelotti was forced to rely heavily on Dida.
This season, Milan has been alternating between the 4-3-2-1 and 4-3-1-2 formations. In this match, Ancelotti opted for the 4-3-2-1 Christmas tree formation.
Apart from Dida replacing Dida in the starting goalkeeper position, the defense was relatively stable, with Zambrotta, Nesta, Maldini, and Jankulovski forming the front line.
Gattuso, Pirlo, and Ambrosini partnered in midfield, with Kaká and Seedorf as the two attacking midfielders, and Fino leading the attack as the lone striker.
The match was intense from the very beginning.
With Dida clearly unreliable, Ancelotti hopes to put constant pressure on Arsenal through attacks in order to relieve Milan's defensive burden.
Just 40 seconds into the game, Fino had a shot on goal, but it was saved by Arsenal goalkeeper Almunia.
A few minutes later, Milan launched another attack. Kaká dribbled into Arsenal's backfield and fired a low shot with his right foot from 20 meters out, which was saved by Almunia.
The save came at a high price; Almunia collided with the right goalpost, injuring his shoulder, and had to go to the sidelines for treatment.
Milan then attempted a few more shots, but Arsenal's defense, under Almunia's command, coordinated fairly well and managed to thwart Milan's attempts one by one.
In the 9th minute, Ambrosini controlled the ball in midfield and passed it to Kaká, who then joined Seedorf in a breakthrough into Arsenal's half.
Through frequent short passes, Kaka and his two teammates successfully broke through Arsenal's two defensive lines and pressed towards Arsenal's backfield.
Arsenal's two center-backs rushed up from inside the penalty area, joining their retreating teammates to double-team Milan, attempting to outnumber them and stifle their attack.
Fino noticed the dangerous situation of Kaka and his two teammates and immediately retreated from the penalty area to provide support, creating another forward support point for his teammates.
Faced with an increasingly tight encirclement, Kaká made a decisive move and passed the ball to Fino, who had retreated.
Arsenal's two center-backs, Gallas and Toure, immediately abandoned Kaká and rushed towards Fino.
At this point, Fino was about 26 meters away from the goal, and there were also goalkeeper Almunia and a defender guarding the goal inside the penalty area.
Without hesitation, Fino received the ball and immediately unleashed a long-range shot. The ball passed by defender Clichy and nestled into the top corner of the goal.
Clichy's attempted block failed, and Almunia was equally unable to make the save, giving Milan a 1-0 lead away from home.
"Gooooal! Just 10 minutes into the game, AC Milan has secured a valuable away goal, scored by their top scorer this season, Fino Cabrini! In last season's Round of 16, it was Cabrini who, despite being injured, equalized at Milan's home ground, salvaging a sliver of dignity for the defending champions. This season, Cabrini's goal-scoring efficiency is terrifying; his growth has exceeded everyone's expectations. It's foreseeable that Milan is about to give birth to another superstar!"
After Milan scored, the pressure shifted to Arsenal.
Arsenal certainly wouldn't allow themselves to be dominated by Milan. After all, this was a home game, and while the Gunners fans were relatively quiet, it didn't mean they would tolerate Milan behaving arrogantly and domineeringly towards their home team.
Wenger immediately instructed Arsenal to intensify their attack.
Denilson passed the ball to Fabregas, who dribbled forward a few meters through the middle before passing it diagonally to Walcott on the right wing as Gattuso came to block him.
Walcott continued dribbling down the right flank, and after getting past Jankulovski, he delivered a low cross to Adebayor, who had already entered the Milan penalty area.
Milan's goal immediately went into a state of emergency, with Maldini controlling the ball before Adebayor could receive it, and preparing to launch a counter-attack.
At that moment, a red figure darted over, lunging for the ball at Maldini's feet. It was Alexander Song, who had come from midfield.
The tackle wasn't handled cleanly; Maldini tripped and fell to the ground while trying to dodge, and his ankle was scratched by Song's studs.
The referee immediately blew his whistle.
Fino sprinted from midfield and knelt down to check Maldini's injury. He silently prayed, "Please don't let him get hurt! Please don't let him get hurt! Please don't let him get hurt!"
Maldini's professional career has only 54 days left. Finodo hopes he can stay healthy until the end of the season, lift the championship trophy again, and bring his professional career to a perfect close!
"Captain, how are you feeling?" Fino asked anxiously.
"He seems to be injured, but it doesn't seem too serious." Maldini frowned.
Throughout his more than 20-year professional career, Maldini has experienced countless injuries, and such minor injuries are commonplace for him; he takes them in stride.
But the children are worried about him.
So he patted Fino's arm reassuringly.
Fino immediately called the team doctor onto the field.
Ancelotti, with a serious expression, instructed Kaladze to warm up.
After examination, the team doctor determined that Maldini could not continue the game. Fortunately, the injury was not serious and he only needed to rest for a week.
Fino was relieved.
Ancelotti breathed a sigh of relief and immediately substituted Maldini with Kaladze.
Alexander Song received a yellow card for this.
The match had just resumed when Arsenal encountered another problem. Almunia's shoulder injury was more serious than expected, affecting his saves and rendering him unable to continue the game.
Wenger had no choice but to replace him with Fabianski.
Before the first half was even halfway through, both sides had lost one player due to non-tactical reasons.
Fabianski, who just turned 24, is a goalkeeper that Wenger discovered in Poland. This season, he barely managed to take the second-choice goalkeeper position due to the departure of veteran Lehmann. He lacks match experience and his save ability is significantly different from Almunia's.
With two goalkeepers facing off, Milan and Arsenal immediately achieved a balance in the goalkeeper position.
After Vieira and Gilberto Silva left, Arsenal's defensive strength was greatly reduced, and they were no match for AC Milan's defense. Moreover, Dida was once Milan's first-choice goalkeeper in their Champions League victory; his form may have declined, but his experience remains.
Everyone understands the principle of taking advantage of someone's illness to kill them.
Ancelotti immediately gestured to Ambrosini, who was wearing the captain's armband. With Almunia off the field, Milan needed to intensify their attack and score more away goals to build an advantage in the first leg and be more comfortable in the second leg.
In the 28th minute, Fabianski accidentally dropped the ball while trying to save Kaká's powerful long-range shot. Seedorf won the challenge with Toure and took a follow-up shot from a tight angle on the left, but it was blocked by Gallas' body.
In the 36th minute, Kaka broke through the middle with the ball and, while facing off against Song, passed the ball to Fino, who was lurking on the right flank, allowing Fino to continue his breakthrough into the Arsenal penalty area.
Arsenal's left-back Clichy rushed out of the penalty area to intercept, and center-back Gallas followed him out of the penalty area, seemingly preparing to double-team Fino.
As Fino dribbled the ball, he quickly scanned his teammates' positions. Ambrosini was following him not far behind. Kaka and Seedorf were in the middle, one forward and one back, respectively marked by Song and Denilson. Jankulovski had already cut down the left flank and was moving into the penalty area.
The ideal passing route at this moment would be to pass the ball to Jankulovski, but Jankulovski is being pressed offside by Sagna.
Fino didn't hesitate and prepared to first get past Clichy head-on, and then decide how to play next based on his teammates' positioning.
He lowered his right shoulder, extended his right foot to flick the ball, and made a move to break through from the right, which tricked Clichy into shifting his weight to the left.
However, Fino did not flick the ball with his right foot. Instead, he circled the ball and then put it down. He then quickly pushed the ball forward and to the left with his left foot, followed by his body, and easily passed Clichy on the left.
Gala, who was following behind Klichi, immediately blocked Fino's path, waiting for Klichi to turn around so that they could sandwich Fino from both sides.
The instant Fino broke through his defense, Clichy's hand moved faster than his brain, instinctively grabbing Fino's jersey. Before Fino had fully turned around, Clichy yanked him hard, causing Fino to lose his balance.
Upon seeing this, Gallas immediately slid in, preparing to cooperate with Clichy to tackle the ball away from Fino's feet.
Fino stumbled as he was pulled, colliding with Gala's sliding leg and losing his balance completely. In a flash, Fino fell to the ground, pulling Gala down with him, his studs striking Gala's knee.
Gala screamed and clutched his knees in pain.
"Beep—" The referee's whistle blew, immediately stopping the game.
At this point, Fino was already in a state of "half-undressed," looking somewhat comical. His lower back was in contact with the ground, but his torso was being held up by Clichy's jersey, with the hem of the jersey pulled up above his head, directly covering Fino's head, shoulders, and arms, blocking his view.
Only then did Clichy release Fino's jersey, allowing the part of Fino's torso above the jersey to finally fall to the ground.
Fino struggled for a while before finally managing to free himself from his jersey.
The referee showed Clichy a yellow card and awarded Milan a direct free kick. He clearly saw that the incident was a chain reaction caused by Clichy pulling Fino's jersey; Fino lost his balance and unintentionally injured Gallas. The culprit was still Clichy.
At this point, Clichy couldn't bother to defend himself anymore. He first squatted down to check on Gallas's condition and signaled for Arsenal's team doctor to come onto the field immediately.
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Author's Note: Thank you everyone for your support! [droopy-eared rabbit head]
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