Chapter 729 This is Inter Milan’s last chance!
While the whole world was discussing the news that Ferguson decided to postpone his retirement plan and renew his contract, far away in the small town of Arpino Gentile in Milan, Italy, at Inter Milan's Pinetina training base, Mancini and assistant coach Mihajlovic were reviewing the just-concluded Champions League quarter-finals.
In both rounds of Inter Milan's match against CSKA Moscow, Inter Milan's performance was not satisfactory.
Both games ended in a 1-0 scoreline, but neither performance was ideal, especially the second leg at home.
Mancini used a 4-3-3 formation in this game, with Pandev and Quaresma on the two wings.
Quaresma was acquired by Inter Milan from Barcelona this season as part of Ibrahimovic's transfer.
Mancini expected to face stiff resistance from CSKA Moscow, so he hoped to stretch the formation and create threats through both flanks, but the effect was not ideal.
On the contrary, it was CSKA Moscow whose attacks from both flanks caused a lot of trouble for Inter Milan.
In the first half hour, Inter Milan failed to create an offensive threat.
This is a very serious problem.
What's more serious is that Inter Milan's midfield was too thin in this game.
"The combination of Stankovic and Cambiasso will probably be hard to stop Bayern's attack, especially in the middle controlled by Schweinsteiger and Modric, not to mention protecting our flanks."
After watching the video, assistant coach Mihajlovic analyzed the various problems exposed in the game with Mancini.
The most obvious of these is midfield defense.
"The whole world knows that Bayern's wing attack is very active, but more importantly, the connection between the two flanks."
"In the frontcourt, they use the two wingers cutting inside and Su Dong's transition. In the midfield, they use more short and medium-distance passes. Modric and Schweinsteiger are the key. With our current midfield, it is difficult to contain them."
Bayern is a very comprehensive team that not only has a sharp attack, but also an unbreakable defense.
There is no need to talk about the offense. On the defensive end, there are world-class players like Mascherano, Lucio, and Lahm. Pepe has also become famous in recent seasons. Marcelo is considered a weak link in the defense and is always the focus of attack, but his performance on the offensive end is also obvious to all.
However, the midfield is always needed to connect offense and defense. Midfielders like Modric and Schweinsteiger can be regarded as the top midfielders in Europe, and even show world-class standards.
"Bayern's offense likes to use this kind of transfer between the left and right flanks to pull the opponent's defense line, thereby causing it to loosen up and create threats, creating more opportunities for Su Dong. We all know that a player like Su Dong, as long as you give him a chance, as long as there is even the slightest loophole in your defense line, he can dig it out for you and create a goal."
When Mihajlovic analyzed this, the expression on his face was more solemn than ever before.
When he was a professional player, he once competed with Su Dong. At that time, Su Dong was a rookie, but he had already shown an unstoppable momentum.
Thinking back, from that season, Su Dong officially found his own way of football and started his journey to the top.
You know, when Su Dong just debuted, even Mihajlovic and Stam couldn't be stopped.
This left a deep impression on Mihajlovic.
…
Manic has been sitting at his desk, listening silently to his assistant's analysis.
Many of his judgments are also based on what he sees.
"Montari is too aggressive and too impulsive, I am worried about him," Mancini said.
Mihajlovic thought about it and suggested: "Let Zanetti play in this position, together with Stankovic and Cambiasso."
"Three defensive midfielders?" Mancini frowned, "Four-four-two?"
Mihajlovic nodded, "Sneijder plays as attacking midfielder, Diego Milito also plays, and the other one... Pandev or Balotelli, either is fine."
"In this case, there will be basically no attack from the front flanks, especially against Bayern's left flank." Mancini was somewhat unwilling.
The whole world knows that Bayern's left side is a defensive weakness. Marcelo is a good attacker, but he is a sieve in defense. There is always space behind him for opponents to exploit.
Of course, many times, Heynckes would specifically target this point and deliberately let Marcelo leave the defensive loophole on the left to the opponent, with the aim of allowing Marcelo to take advantage of the offense.
"If Zanetti goes to midfield, who will guard Robben on the left?" Mancini was a little puzzled.
"Use Qiwu."
"Is he okay?"
Chivu was once favored by many top teams and had performed quite well, but he fractured his skull in a Serie A match in January and underwent major surgery. He has only recently returned from injury.
"Qiu Wu will defend on the outside, and the left defensive midfielder will defend on the inside. I believe they can strangle Robben."
After a pause, Mancini continued: "The same is true for the other side, let Maicon guard the outside and the right back guard the inside."
Bayern's two wingers are both well-known for their ability to cut inside with their left foot, and it is difficult for the full-backs to defend against them one-on-one.
But the center back cannot move.
It is hard to say whether Samuel and Materazzi can defend against Su Dong together. If they are asked to divert their attention to help the full-backs defend, it is basically unrealistic.
In the end, the wing was defended, but Su Dong in the middle was unimpeded. Isn't this more dangerous? Who in the world doesn't know how lethal Su Dong is?
While the two were communicating, Mancini had already written down this list on the white paper on the desk.
Four, three, one, two, this is obviously a defense-oriented starting lineup.
"In this way, our attack will have to rely entirely on the first three players." Mancini drew Milito, Pandev and Sneijder in a circle and added a big question mark next to it.
Can such an attack break through Bayern's defense? If they don't play like this, will Inter Milan have a chance?
Mancini knows very well that Inter Milan is not strong enough to compete with top clubs like Bayern or Barcelona, but in all these years coaching Inter Milan, this is the furthest he has ever gone in the Champions League, and even the furthest he has ever gone in his career, so he still hopes to give it a try.
And Mihajlovic.
This right-hand man has been his right-hand man over the past few years. He has rejected recruitment offers from teams such as Bologna and has been dedicated to helping him lead Inter Milan. However, this summer, he will leave Inter Milan and coach on his own.
This season is the last chance for him, his assistants, and even Inter Milan.
Thinking of this, Mancini gritted his teeth.
Try your best and your bicycle will turn into a motorcycle! …………
…………
On November 22, in the 30th round of the Bundesliga, Bayern will challenge Leverkusen away.
The first threatening attack of the game occurred in the sixth minute. Ribery made a straight pass from the left rib, Su Dong pulled to the left side of the penalty area, and after receiving the ball, he forced a cross from the bottom and passed the ball to the back of the penalty area. Robben followed up and shot directly.
As a result, the ball was not kicked in the right place and bounced to the middle and was cleared by Leverkusen.
Soon, Bayern successfully defended a set-piece and Pepe headed the ball to Robben.
Robben, who was unguarded, dribbled the ball all the way and advanced quickly along the right, while Su Dong in the middle followed closely.
After breaking into the right side of the penalty area, Robben made a cross pass to the penalty spot, and Su Dong followed up and easily shot the ball into the goal, opening the scoring for Bayern, one to zero!
Just two minutes later, Leverkusen made a mistake in passing the ball in the backcourt. Su Dong successfully intercepted the ball, dribbled to the right side of the penalty area, and passed it to Ribery on the left, but the Frenchman failed to follow up in time and missed a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to shoot into the empty goal.
Ribery nodded his head in frustration, feeling as if he had missed out on millions of euros.
Afterwards, Leverkusen launched a counterattack and created opportunities continuously.
Bayern had just fought hard against Manchester United and was exhausted both physically and mentally. They were a bit passive on the field, but their defense was still solid.
It was not until the 67th minute of the second half that Bayern made a successful defense in the backcourt, and Mascherano passed the ball directly to Su Dong who retreated and took the ball with his back.
Su Dong stopped the ball with his back and passed it to Thomas Muller, who dribbled forward and quickly passed it to Robben on the right.
After Robben made a high-speed run, he rushed into the right side of the penalty area with the ball, stopped suddenly, cut inside, and passed the ball with his left foot in front of the penalty spot.
At this time, Su Dong, who came in from behind, rushed over, received Robben's pass, and shot directly, sending the ball into Leverkusen's goal again, two to zero!
This score remained until the end of the game.
Bayern finally defeated Leverkusen 2-0 away thanks to Su Dong's two goals.
…………
…………
On the evening of April 17th, in the 31st round of the Bundesliga, Bayern played against Hannover 96 at home.
Just seventy-nine seconds into the game, Su Dong stopped the ball on the left rib and cut inside. After replacing the defender, he volleyed the ball with his right foot into the far corner, scoring the first goal for Bayern.
Just four minutes later, Modric made a diagonal pass from the right, and Su Dong headed the ball into the goal from nine meters in front of the goal, 2-0! In the 15th minute, Bayern got a corner kick in the front court. Robben took the corner kick, and Su Dong headed the ball into the goal from the back point, scoring another goal for Bayern, 3-0! Hat trick!
In just fifteen minutes, Su Dong performed a hat trick and his scoring momentum was unstoppable.
Afterwards, Bayern continued to attack Hannover 96. Ribery scored another goal for Bayern in the 21st minute, and Robben also scored a goal in the 30th minute.
Before the end of the first half, Su Dong pushed the ball in front of the goal and scored four goals, extending the score for Bayern to six to zero.
During the half-time break, Su Dong was substituted.
But after the start of the second half, Thomas Muller and Robben both scored two goals, and Robben performed a hat trick.
In the end, Bayern beat Hannover 96 10-0 at home, winning their biggest victory so far this season.
The entire Allianz Arena was in complete carnival.
Before the match against Inter Milan, Bayern won a thrilling victory!
(End of this chapter)
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