Chapter 91: Battle in the Rain Against Juventus
Before they could even celebrate for Fino in the locker room, they all boarded a plane to Portugal for the final group stage match of the Champions League, AC Milan's away game against Porto.
Four days after that match, they faced Juventus. Ancelotti fielded a completely reserve lineup without hesitation, with a defensive formation. Ultimately, they lost 1-0 to Porto, suffering their first defeat in the Champions League.
With this, all six group stage matches in Group G have concluded.
AC Milan finished first in their group with 13 points (4 wins, 1 draw, 1 loss); Porto finished second in their group with 12 points (4 wins, 2 losses); Dynamo Kyiv finished third in their group with 8 points (2 wins, 2 draws), qualifying for the UEFA Cup; and Fenerbahce finished with 1 point (1 draw, 5 losses), exiting European competition this season.
With the Champions League competition temporarily over, Milan only has the Serie A league to focus on before the knockout stage resumes at the end of February. At this point, they are 4 points behind league leaders Inter Milan, while Juventus are 2 points behind, temporarily ranking third in the league.
On December 14, in the cold rain of Turin, the battle between Milan and Juventus was about to break out.
Both sides were missing several players in this match.
On the Juventus side, six or seven players, including Buffon, Trezeguet, and Camoranesi, are injured and can only watch the game from their boxes.
For Milan, Kaladze and Borriello suffered serious injuries, Bonera suffered a minor injury, Kaká and Flamini failed to return to their best form, and Gattuso was suspended due to accumulated yellow cards.
This season, Milan has been alternating between the 4-3-2-1 and 4-3-1-2 formations. According to Ancelotti's observation, Kaká and Ronaldinho are not particularly compatible. Ideally, only one of them should be on the field. Whether to use a single attacking midfielder or two attacking midfielders depends on Seedorf's form.
In this match, Ancelotti used a 4-3-2-1 Christmas tree formation because Kaladze and Bonera were both injured, and Maldini appeared in the starting lineup again, partnering Nesta in central defense.
Ancelotti thought to himself that the club should really give Maldini a shout-out. Maldini originally just wanted to play a leadership role in the locker room to stabilize the team's morale and retire after playing ten or eight games, but now he has been forced to become a regular starter.
Is an annual salary of 1.5 million euros really that much? How dare the South Stand criticize Maldini for being greedy?
The two full-backs are Zambrotta and Jankulovski, with Abbiati guarding the goal.
In midfield, Emerson replaced Gattuso, who was suspended due to yellow cards, and partnered with Pirlo and Ambrosini.
This season, Emerson's physical fitness and form have declined significantly. Every time he comes on, he plays for about 50 or 60 minutes before being substituted by Ancelotti. Emerson should not have been scheduled to play in such a crucial match, but Milan's midfield had no other options, so Emerson had to fill in temporarily.
This made Ancelotti very much looking forward to, or rather, eager for, Beckham's arrival.
In the midfield and forward positions, Seedorf and Ronaldinho formed a double attacking midfield pairing, with Fino leading the attack as the lone striker.
As the team lined up to enter the stadium, Fino saw Manninger, the unfamiliar goalkeeper for Juventus, and couldn't help but think to himself, "Two seasons have passed. Last season, I was injured at Juventus' home stadium, and this season, Buffon is injured at Juventus' home stadium. I wonder when I'll be able to eat the meal that Buffon is treating me to."
Despite the absence of several players, neither team played conservatively.
Juventus, in particular, have remained very aggressive in attack even after losing their star player Buffon. It's unclear whether they have too much confidence in their backup goalkeeper Manninger or simply want to play an offensive game against the defense.
After Seedorf's angled shot went wide, Juventus immediately provided Milan with three consecutive shots: Del Piero's powerful shot from the left was blocked by Abbiati, Nedved's volley from the middle was blocked by Maldini, and Marchisio's long-range shot was caught by Abbiati.
In the 12th minute, Juventus orchestrated another attacking move. Marchione crossed from the right wing, and Amauri attempted a beautiful bicycle kick, but it went wide, the ball grazing the left post and going out of play.
The commentator slapped his thigh and sighed, "Amauri's bicycle kick was such a pity. If he had scored, it would definitely have been the goal of the round. It seems the heavy rain affected the players' performance. Both sides are playing very hard, but so far no goal has been scored."
No sooner had the commentator finished speaking than Juventus had the opportunity to change the score.
Nedved and Marchisio combined to break into Milan's half. As they approached the penalty area, Nedved dodged Maldini's sliding tackle and passed the ball to Del Piero on the wing. Before Del Piero could react, Jankulovski tackled him from behind.
"Oh dear, Jankulovski's tackle was a bit reckless. A tackle from behind is a foul. Luckily, he was going for the ball, and Del Piero isn't injured. Let's see how the referee decides," the commentator continued.
The referee showed Jankulovski a yellow card and pointed to the 12-yard box, resulting in a yellow card and a penalty kick!
Maldini, wearing the captain's armband, went up to the referee to argue that a yellow card had already been issued and that a penalty was a bit too harsh.
The referee showed great respect to the Serie A legend, but remained unwavering in his rulings.
"Paul, that was a tackle from behind in the penalty area, a penalty is a reasonable decision. You should be glad it wasn't near the end of the game."
Maldini understood the referee's hint. This should have been a red card and a penalty, but since the first half wasn't even halfway through, the referee had already let Milan off the hook to avoid affecting the excitement of this high-stakes match.
Maldini nodded, not making things difficult for the referee. He knew, of course, that the referee's decision was correct, but as captain, he had to go through the motions; it was his duty.
Del Piero took the penalty himself. He placed the ball on the penalty spot, stepped back a short distance, took a deep breath, started his run-up, and unleashed a powerful shot with his right foot, sending the ball into the top right corner of the goal.
Abbiati guessed the right direction, but Del Piero's free kick was too fast for Abbiati to reach.
1-0, Juventus take a one-goal lead at home.
Milan immediately retaliated.
After the restart, Ronaldinho dribbled the ball towards Juventus' half. Facing Sissoko and Nedved who came to block him, Ronaldinho used a brilliant feint to get past the two Juventus players and continued to run forward.
Ahead of him were two defenders, Grygera and Molinaro, while behind him, Sissoko and Nedved had already turned and were chasing. Caught between a rock and a hard place, Ronaldinho didn't continue his breakthrough, but instead cleverly passed the ball to Seedorf on the right.
Seedorf received the ball and immediately crossed it, but it only served as a transition. He launched a high ball, aiming at Ambrosini in front of the goal.
At this moment, Ambrosini was only 4 meters away from the goal, and there was only goalkeeper Manninger in front of him. Juventus' two center-backs, Mellberg and Chiellini, were both drawn away by Fino.
This was a fantastic scoring opportunity. Mellberg and Chiellini were visibly excited and lunged at Ambrosini, but it was too late. Ambrosini leaped high and headed the ball into the net.
At a crucial moment, Juventus' substitute goalkeeper proved to be very reliable, calmly and collectedly saving the close-range header.
Before Manninger could even smile, Fino's follow-up shot came again. After Melberg and Chiellini rushed towards Ambrosini, Fino was left unmarked and took advantage of the loose ball.
Manninger collapsed to the ground, powerless and helpless.
1-1, Milan equalized the score away from home.
The cheers of the home fans were abruptly cut off, followed by a deafening chorus of boos.
Fino chuckled to himself, completely unconcerned; the boos from his opponents were the best reward for him.
Then Ambrosini pulled him into his arms and showered him with kisses on the forehead.
Fino wiped his face, smoothed Ambrosini's hair, and then walked towards the center circle with his arm around Ambrosini's shoulder, thinking to himself, "In this heavy rain, how could Ambrosini still kiss me?"
Next, another violent collision occurred on the field.
During a Juventus attack, Marchisio passed the ball to the left wing, and Nedved was knocked down by his former teammate Zambrotta while vying for the ball.
Zambrotta tried to help Nedved up, but Nedved clutched his knee and shook his head, seemingly injured. He then signaled to head coach Ranieri on the sidelines to make a substitution.
Ranieri was shocked and immediately arranged for De Ceglie to come on as a substitute.
Juventus fans, worried about Nedved, booed Zambrotta loudly. There was even a unified chant of "Red Card!" from the stands. Their Pavel had been injured, and Zambrotta had to be sent off.
However, this was a perfectly fair and square confrontation, and Zambrotta had no intention of hurting anyone, so the referee did not issue a card.
The home fans were very disappointed and started chanting "biased referee" again!
Fino was still feeling sorry for Nedved's departure. Nedved, who was already in the twilight of his career, was playing one less game after another. This Ballon d'Or winner from the Czech Republic, like Maldini, would soon be saying goodbye to the football field.
But when the home fans started clapping for a "biased referee," Fino found it rather amusing. How dare Juventus call it a "biased referee"? Who was relegated to Serie B in the "Calciopoli" scandal?
But then he remembered that Milan wasn't clean either, so he could only awkwardly purse his lips.
Despite the protests from the home fans, the game continued.
As Nesta dispossessed Del Piero, Milan launched a quick counter-attack. The ball was passed between Pirlo and Seedorf and quickly moved into Juventus' backfield.
After receiving a pass from Seedorf on the left wing, Ronaldinho delivered a low cross that nutmegged Grygera, who was marking him, and then passed the ball into the middle. Fino, 5 meters from the goal, slid in and slid the ball into the net, catching Manninger off guard once again.
Milan took the lead in the 35th minute of the first half.
The commentator exclaimed passionately, "Gooooal! Ronaldinho's nutmeg assist, Cabrini's sliding shot and goal! AC Milan's newly crowned Golden Boy super talent truly lives up to his name, scoring twice before the first half is even over. There's still plenty of time left in the game; let's see if Cabrini will bring us more surprises!"
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