Chapter 37 "Thank you, baby."...
After a short break, Milan's grueling schedule continues.
Milan have a total of nine matches to play in the next month, including seven league games and two Champions League knockout matches against Arsenal.
Ancelotti received both good and bad news from the team doctor.
Good news! Ronaldo and Inzaghi have finally recovered from their injuries and are ready for the next match.
The bad news is that Pato's injury is more serious than expected and he will be sidelined for at least 20 days.
On February 10th, in the 22nd round of Serie A, AC Milan hosted Siena.
Due to Kaká's injury, Ancelotti fielded a 4-4-2 formation.
Ronaldo and Inzaghi formed the attacking line, Brocchi, Ambrosini, Pirlo, and Serginho controlled the midfield, Maldini played as a center-back, and Cafu, Nesta, and Jankulovski formed the defensive line in front of the goal.
Regarding the goalkeeper selection, although Dida has recovered from his injury, Kalac earned himself a starting position thanks to his outstanding performance during Dida's absence, pushing Dida to the bench.
When the roster was announced, AC Milan fans around the world held their breath. The youngest player in the starting lineup was Pirlo, who was about to turn 29, while the other 10 were all over 30.
Goalkeeper Kalac is 35 years old, which is still considered reassuring considering the special nature of goalkeepers. However, there are also Serginho at 36, Cafu at 37, and Maldini at 39, each one older than the last.
[Isn't our starting lineup a bit too mature? Of course, I'm just asking casually, nothing more. Maldini is always brilliant.]
[You can just say the average age is high, that's fine. It's been like this for the past few years, aren't you used to it?]
Previously, our key midfielders were only around 27 or 28 years old, still relatively young, so the age difference wasn't as noticeable. This season, we also had several young players like Kaká, Cabrini, and Pato. But now, with Kaká and Pato sidelined due to injury, our average age has been exposed. It's sad!
Why not field Cabrini? Both strikers are 31 and 34 years old, and both are prone to injury, especially Ronaldo, who's been constantly injured and has only played four or five times this season. It's worrying to watch them.
[You have to rotate players. You can't just overuse young kids because they're young, right? Kaka's injury this time seems to be related to his excessive playing time; he was too fatigued.]
...
Despite the fans' concerns, AC Milan's performance was not bad.
Although these starting players are relatively old, most of them have been playing together for many years and have won numerous championships, so their teamwork is excellent. Moreover, with their playing time decreasing sharply at the end of their careers, they spare no effort and fight very hard in the limited opportunities they have to play.
Inzaghi, who hadn't played for a long time, was like a beast released from its cage, showing great excitement from the very beginning of the match and creating scoring opportunities one after another.
Without Kaká's connecting play, Inzaghi moved slightly back, getting closer to the midfield.
In the 6th minute, Pirlo delivered a long pass from the center, the ball crossing midfield and landing in an unmarked area. Just when the fans thought Pirlo's pass had gone wrong, a red and black figure appeared like a ghost, controlling the ball with his chest before dribbling into the penalty area one-on-one.
"Pirlo's long pass went off course, Milan's attack... Inzaghi, Inzaghi suddenly appeared and received Pirlo's pass. Pirlo's long pass was on target, he had reserved space for Inzaghi in advance, as expected of Pirlo! This is the tacit understanding between Milan's veterans!" The commentator exclaimed repeatedly, even he had not immediately judged Pirlo's passing intention.
Inzaghi was a very unconventional striker. He didn't have outstanding dribbling skills or physical attributes. He couldn't make long runs like Kaká, nor could he hold the ball firmly under the defenders. His way of scoring goals was incredibly simple: either a one-on-one chance or a one-on-one chance after beating the offside trap. In the end, it was always a one-on-one contest with the goalkeeper.
His goals were also incredibly efficient.
Manninger, who has played in Serie A for many years, has witnessed firsthand how formidable Inzaghi is. The moment Inzaghi receives the ball, Manninger is already prepared to face a one-on-one opportunity.
Manninger kept a close eye on Inzaghi's feet, watching him dribble forward, one step, two steps—Inzaghi's shots were almost all completed within three touches. Sure enough, Inzaghi's third touch was a shot on goal.
Here it comes! Inzaghi's left-footed shot hit the bottom left side of the goal. Manninger guessed the right direction and dived to the lower left, pushing the ball off the post with both hands.
After making the save, Manninger lay on the ground and made a fist-pumping gesture, which drew boos from the Milan fans.
Inzaghi wasn't too upset. Throughout his long career, he had scored many goals and conceded many. The game had only just begun, and he had plenty of time to slowly test Manninger.
Five minutes later, Inzaghi came back again.
Cafu made a run from the backfield, received a pass from Ambrosini, and immediately passed it to the center. Inzaghi broke the offside trap and was once again one-on-one with Manninger, but unfortunately his header lacked power and was easily saved by Manninger.
In the remainder of the first half, Milan had six or seven more shots, both of which were saved by Manninger. As the clean sheet period progressed, Manninger became increasingly confident.
Even with Manninger's stellar performance, Fino wasn't too worried. In Serie A, defense is a systemic matter, and Siena's defense was like a sieve; no matter how strong Manninger was, it was only a matter of time before Milan breached their goal.
Fino was worried about Ronaldo.
Ronaldo didn't look to be in good form. He only had one shot in the entire first half, which deflected off a Siena defender and out of the penalty area. He wasn't as aggressive in attack as Ambrosini and Serginho.
Repeated injuries have had a huge impact on Ronaldo.
During halftime, Ancelotti called on Bonera and Fino to warm up.
Siena's attack wasn't particularly sharp today, and Milan has a high probability of winning the game. He wants to give Nesta, who rarely rotates, a rest. Ronaldo's performance, however, is a concern. His poor form is one thing, but more importantly, Ronaldo can't afford another injury.
At the start of the second half, Ancelotti substituted Ronaldo and Nesta with Fino and Bonera respectively.
After Nesta was substituted, Siena's attack finally became more aggressive.
In the first ten minutes of the second half, Siena launched several attacking plays, but under Maldini's direction, Milan's defense thwarted Siena's attacks one by one, and their only shot on target was saved by Kalac.
On the other hand, Fino replacing Ronaldo was not a one-on-one substitution in the same position. Ancelotti needed Fino to link up the midfield and attack, allowing Inzaghi to return to the penalty area.
In other words, Ancelotti was using Fino like Kaká, changing the 4-4-2 formation to a 4-4-1-1.
Ancelotti kept a close eye on Fino's performance. In previous matches, Fino had repeatedly demonstrated his dribbling skills, but he had never actually played in Kaká's position.
If Fino can fill this position, he can play as a striker or replace Kaká in future matches, giving Ancelotti more options for rotation.
If given the opportunity, Ancelotti would also try playing Pato in the attacking midfield position.
In this match, Fino needs to dribble past his markers to create more one-on-one opportunities for Inzaghi. Conversely, Inzaghi also needs to create space for Fino to make forward runs through his positioning. This will be a test of the chemistry between the two.
In the 72nd minute, Brocchi intercepted the ball from Vergassola in midfield, but instead of passing it to Pirlo for playmaking as usual, he passed the ball directly to Ambrosini, who was unmarked to his left.
After receiving the ball, Ambrosini immediately passed it to Fino, who had rushed back to receive it. Fino then began to dribble towards the penalty area.
Two Siena center-backs rushed to intercept, but Fino remained calm and used his speed to outpace Portanova, then quickly changed direction to get past Loria.
Loria grabbed Fino's jersey, trying to disrupt Fino's breakthrough. He turned quickly, but Fino was even faster. Before Loria had fully turned around, Fino had already dragged him several steps away.
Loria was dragged so far that he almost lost his balance and fell, pulling Fino's jersey so far that it was too obvious. In order to prevent the referee from blowing the whistle, Loria had no choice but to reluctantly let go.
At this moment, only two defenders, Rossettini and De Ceglie, were with goalkeeper Manninger in front of the goal. However, when Loria grabbed Fino's jersey, Portanova took the opportunity to rush back a few steps, trying to pressure Fino from behind.
Manninger tensed up and began directing De Ceglie's positioning to prevent Fino from shooting directly. Of course, he didn't forget that Inzaghi was still lurking in the penalty area, and Rossettini's task was to mark Inzaghi closely.
Rossettini kept Inzaghi pinned to the offside position with his back against him, and even then, he wasn't satisfied, so he would occasionally turn around or reach back to make sure Inzaghi was still in the same spot.
As Fino closed in, Manninger and the two defenders grew increasingly tense, keeping a close eye on Fino's feet, hoping to anticipate his shot.
Fino, facing the goal, didn't see that Portanova was getting closer and closer behind him, only a step away. But De Ceglie, facing Fino, saw it, and joy spread across his face. He decided to press forward and double-team Fino with Portanova.
Fino remained calm, and as Portanova's fingers touched his back, he deflected the ball away from De Ceglie's foot and then quickly kicked it away.
The ball didn't fly towards the goal. Rossettini sensed something was wrong. He reached back and grabbed at it, but touched nothing. When he turned around, he saw a scene that terrified him.
Inzaghi beat the offside trap, received a pass from Fino, and slotted the ball into the net.
From Fino's pass to Inzaghi's goal, only a second or two passed, and Siena's goalkeeper Manninger didn't even have time to react until the ball splashed white waves in the net.
Milan lead 1-0.
After scoring, Inzaghi lost all composure, ran towards Fino with a ferocious expression, jumped onto Fino like climbing a tree, and waved and shouted towards the fans in the stands.
Fino, forced to bury his face in Inzaghi's chest, was happy for Inzaghi, but also secretly relieved that Inzaghi was much lighter than Kaká, so it wasn't as difficult for him to lift him up.
After Inzaghi slowly slid off Fino, he finally regained his composure. He gently kissed Fino's cheek and whispered in her ear, "Thank you, baby."
The score remained 1-0 until the end of the match.
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