Chapter 386: Killing Shot

The more AC Milan plays, the more they look like Barcelona.

This is not to say that they are trying to learn Barcelona's style of play, but that they have no way to deal with Chelsea, who are hiding in the backcourt and defending tightly on the field!

Super clubs like AC Milan certainly have their own ways to deal with the human wave tactics, but in general, the way to deal with it is not much different - pass the ball back and forth in the backcourt to stretch the opponent's defense. But this trick is completely ineffective against Chelsea. Under Mourinho's instructions, the "eight kings" in the backcourt never cross the center line. Even if you pass the ball back and forth until the end of the game, they don't care at all, but will be more happy to do so.

Faced with this shameless tactic of sticking one's face in the ass without showing one's head, Ancelotti was angry and helpless. The old Italian even went to the fourth official to complain that Chelsea "violated the principle of fair competition". Unfortunately, this complaint would never get any results. Even when the referee was not paying attention, Mourinho gave the Italian a little finger. Seeing this scene, Ancelotti almost ran over to have a "big fight" with him.

“Shh…”

The entire San Rossi Stadium was filled with boos. AC Milan fans certainly understood the team's predicament at the moment. They were not satisfied with Chelsea's tortoise-like defense, because it made it difficult for AC Milan to score. However, the Blues fans who came with the team didn't care at all. As long as the team could win, the process was not important. When the Blues won, they usually thought so.

Inter Milan fans, who were enjoying watching the joke, cheered for Chelsea's defenders - "Good job, tackle him to death, you are such a man..."

"Beautiful!! Just play like this, AC Milan bastards will lose the game, you are heroes!!"

"Hahaha..., come on, Chelsea!!"

...In short, everything that comes out of the mouths of Inter Milan fans is detrimental to AC Milan. In the city of Milan, the fans of the two teams are like water and fire. They don't have any united thoughts about facing the outside world. When the opponent's team loses, they will only mock and add insult to injury. These are true rivals in the same city. There is no room for relaxation at all.

On the field, AC Milan attacked. Pirlo and Tomasson made a one-two pass to shake off Makelele. Then, Tomasson passed the ball to Shevchenko, who passed the ball to Kaka who was behind with his heel.

These passes were clean and neat, drawing cheers from the stands. Although the game had been going on for nearly 70 minutes and AC Milan players were becoming more and more impatient on the field, their performance was still very good.

If Chelsea and AC Milan switched positions, would the team still be able to perform like this! ?

Even Mourinho, who is always arrogant on the sidelines, was not sure.

…………After Kaka got the ball, he immediately took big strides and rushed towards the Chelsea penalty area. Even though the defense there was the tightest, he had to do so if he wanted to score a goal.

Kaka's technique was very good. He dodged Paulo Ferreira and shot the ball. He wanted to score so badly that he was a little anxious this time. The ball flew high over the crossbar and he missed it.

AC Milan's attack was once again unsuccessful.

At this point, almost all AC Milan players were desperate. With only 10 minutes left in the game, the score was still 0:0. Even though the home fans were still cheering them on, most of the players didn't want to continue playing. They all prayed that the game would end soon. Ancelotti on the sidelines also knew that AC Milan's Champions League journey was over, and he had to start thinking about next season.

This thought is really scary before the game is over and the results are out.

At least, this would make the team lose all momentum and make the AC Milan players, who had been attacking throughout the game, lazy. So, after Thomas kicked the ball out of the goal, Chelsea launched a wave of attacks.

This time, Lampard stepped in.

Throughout the game, Lampard had never crossed the center line, but this time he stepped forward to assist. As a result, there were Wang Li, Geremi and Lampard in the frontcourt. At this time, many AC Milan players lowered their heads and ran slowly back, not paying too much attention to this detail.

Throughout the game, Wang Li had to face an iron wall of defense. Even though AC Milan's massive attack in the second half made it much easier for him in the frontcourt, he still had few chances due to the disadvantage in the backcourt. But at this time, Wang Li saw hope of scoring again.

AC Milan had not scored for a long time, and the mental state of the players declined. They did not care much about defense at all. Even when the ball was in Chelsea's hands, they still stood very forward.

Normally, because Chelsea players are all concentrated in the backcourt, AC Milan's formation is forward, and the interception ability in the midfield is very strong, the ball can't pass halfway and is intercepted by AC Milan players. But now it's different, Lampard inserted an assist.

Lampard's disadvantage is his poor dribbling ability, but his advantage is also obvious - his overall view is great! !

This was also the important reason why he could always serve as the team's organizational core before Wang Li came.

Wang Li stepped back a few steps and came to a position slightly forward of the center circle, then raised his arm slightly to indicate that he wanted the ball. This action was very attractive. In an instant, all the AC Milan players knew that he was asking for the ball, so the players next to him immediately surrounded him, but Lampard reacted quickly. He immediately understood and passed the ball, then turned to move forward from the left.

Seeing Wang Li get the ball, AC Milan's most famous "blue collar" Gattuso rushed up immediately and shoveled the ball fiercely at Wang Li's feet. The long-term lack of goals made AC Milan players visibly angry. However, Wang Li used his speed to get rid of Gattuso, and the latter's shovel only damaged the grass of San Rossi, which only cost the club some more maintenance fees.

After passing Gattuso, Wang Li had to face the blockade of Stam, Nesta and Kaladze again. Even though he had the ability to walk lightly, he was not sure he could break out of the encirclement of these three people, so he passed the ball decisively. He chose Lampard who was running forward on the left. He kicked the ball in the air and it landed in front of Lampard. The latter got the ball comfortably, and because AC Milan's defense was focused on the middle, the left was even unguarded!

After passing the ball, Wang Li went straight into the penalty area.

AC Milan's defensive players are experienced. They only sent one Kaladze to defend the wing, while the middle was still heavily guarded. Nesta and Stam were inseparable from Wang Li.

"Alan, catch the ball!"

Facts have proved that this choice was correct. When Lampard saw Kaladze pressing forward, he immediately passed the ball into the penalty area. At this time, Nesta had already blocked Wang Li, and Stam also blocked his position with his body, grabbing his jersey with his right hand! !

However, what the AC Milan players did not expect was that the ball was not passed to Wang Li.

Lampard lifted the ball high, passed over Kaladze's head, and rushed past Wang Li's position. This was obviously a long pass. Even if Wang Li jumped higher, he couldn't hit the ball that was almost 2 meters above his head. The ball fell to the right side of the penalty area.

"Gremmy!! It's Gremmy!!"

The Cameroonian midfielder Geremi, who had disappeared for the entire match, appeared and calmly stopped the ball with his chest.

In an instant, AC Milan's defensive players seemed to understand something. They seemed to have been deceived! ? Seeing that Geremi easily stopped the ball and was about to volley the ball, Stam and Nesta, who reacted, immediately gave up the "potential threat" Wang Li and rushed towards the "existing threat" Geremi.

Under everyone's gaze, Geremi swung his right foot towards the rolling ball. Stam had already jumped up to block the ball with his body, but Geremi temporarily stopped his strength, turned the shot into a pass, stepped over the ball with his right foot and rubbed it with the outside of his foot - the ball quickly rolled towards Wang Li! !

It was impossible for the two AC Milan central defenders to intercept the ball.

…………This match can be said to be the most frustrating game Wang Li has played since joining Chelsea, not only because of the outstanding strength of AC Milan’s defenders, but also more because of Mourinho’s tactics.

Facing three of the world's top defenders, Wang Li, who had no offensive support from his teammates, was almost helpless. Looking back, he didn't get the ball many times throughout the game. Such a game was really meaningless. Not only was his play boring, but he felt even more helpless when he thought about the tens of millions of Chinese fans watching his performance.

And now, Geremi's pass finally brought Wang Li a great opportunity.

At this moment, Wang Li thought a lot, but more of it was a kind of emotional release. Faced with the opportunity of no one defending, he gathered all his strength, mobilized all the internal force in his body and poured it towards his right leg nonchalantly. Then, this right leg was filled with violent power in an instant. This sense of power made his desire to vent even stronger.

Just then, the football rolled in front of him.

Without any hesitation, Wang Li swung his right leg and kicked the ball hard. The moment of the swing even brought up a gust of wind, causing Karaze on the left to suddenly stand still.

The football flew towards the goal along the grass like a shooting star! !

The ball was only about 10 meters away from the goal. Wang Liyong shot it with all his strength. On the TV screen, the ball even deformed for a moment in the air. Facing such a fast and tricky ball, Dida, who was standing in the middle of the goal, didn't react at all. He didn't make any move. He just watched the ball fly over his head. He wanted to turn his head to take a look.

With a dull "bang!", the football hit the crossbar hard. Then, just when AC Milan fans breathed a sigh of relief, there was another "bang", and the ball bounced directly from the crossbar to the grass, hit the goal line, and bounced into the net against Dida's heel.

It was only at this time that Dida turned his head, and immediately he saw the next scene.

After the football fell from the net to the grass, it did not bounce up, but made a "puff, sizzle..." sound. Dida closed his eyes tightly, walked slowly towards the ball, squatted down and wiped the sweat with his hands, then picked up the ball with his right hand.

The edge of the football, which was covered with grass, had a big crack... The whole stadium was silent, and almost all the TV stations around the world cut the camera to Dida's hand. The crack on the edge of the ball told them clearly that the ball was broken! !

“Beep…”

It was not until this time that the referee looked at the direction of the football in a daze, then reacted and blew the whistle to indicate that the goal was valid.

However, this did not seem to have much impact on the atmosphere of the whole stadium. Everyone in the San Rossi Stadium stared at the big screen carefully. Dida was silent for a long time holding the football in his hand. After a long while, sparse discussions gradually came from the stadium. At this time, the commentators of various TV stations had already reacted - "Goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooal!!! Goal! Goal!!"

"The ball goes in! The ball goes in! Chelsea leads 6:2!! AC Milan has no chance. I can now be sure that Chelsea has entered the semi-finals. They eliminated AC Milan and entered the Champions League semi-finals!"

Of course, all these fans knew that this was not what they cared about. Graham obviously knew this too. He waved his hand to adjust the slow-motion playback and changed the subject: "The power of that shot just now was really too great. From the slow-motion we can see that the ball was obviously deformed under Allen's right foot. This is really incredible!! These balls for the Champions League are specially made by Adidas. The quality is definitely no problem. I can only say that the power of Allen's kick was really too great!! "

"From the slow motion footage... Yes, Dida was lucky that he was not hit by the ball. This killer shot was so terrifying. It was indeed Alan. Only he could make such a shot..."

Yes, now AC Milan goalkeeper Dida has become the focus of everyone's attention, and even the Inter Milan fans in the audience are looking at him with pity.

In the previous shot, the ball only flew about 30 centimeters from Dida's head. If the ball had been a little lower and hit Dida's head, the result would have been unimaginable. At this moment, Dida, the protagonist, stood in the goal, looking pitifully in the direction of the head coach Ancelotti. After this shot, he now had some psychological trauma towards Wang Li and hoped that the head coach would replace him - who knew if that kid would play this kind of ball again in the future, Dida didn't want to be the first goalkeeper to be hit by a football and die! !

He is still young, and professional football can still bring him a good life. He doesn't want to die... However, Ancelotti, who was flustered by this goal, did not know Dida's thoughts. Even if he knew, he would not choose to replace the goalkeeper.

After thinking about it, before the Chelsea players finished celebrating, Ancelotti had already started to make substitutions. He replaced Stam, Pirlo and Shevchenko with three substitutes. The intention of such substitutions was obvious. He wanted to use the remaining game time to train the substitutes. In other words, he gave up the game.

No one said anything about it. Everyone understood Ancelotti. With just over 10 minutes left and trailing by four goals, AC Milan had no hope of qualifying. They should prepare for the league title.

Dida was the most resentful player on the field because his three substitutions had been used up, which meant he had to stay on the field until the end of the game.

But at this moment, Jose Mourinho became the kindest savior angel in Dida's heart. He waved his hand and replaced Wang Li with Joe Cole, John Terry with Glen Johnson, and Scott Parker with Damien Duff. Both teams replaced their generals at the same time, and the rest of the game became garbage time.

…………The final score was 6:3. In the last minute, AC Milan scored a goal through young player Kaka, which barely saved face at home, but they had indeed been eliminated.

At the press conference after the game, Ancelotti expressed dissatisfaction with Chelsea's tactics. He kept mocking Chelsea's conservatism, saying that "they have no demeanor of a top team", "unworthy of being called a top club", "representatives of conservatism", "purely utilitarian football" and so on.

In short, Ancelotti didn't say anything good in the interview.

Jose Mourinho is obviously not a soft persimmon that can be easily bullied. He smiled and said: "We played utilitarian football, I admit that, but the final result was 6:3. We scored two goals and they only scored one."

In response to Ancelotti's statement that we "don't deserve to be called a giant" and "don't have the demeanor of a top team", Mourinho retorted: "We are not a giant, so we won, they are a giant, they lost. He said we played conservative football, but they played beautiful offensive football and didn't score a goal, while we scored 6 in two games."

These words directly slapped Ancelotti in the face and made him so angry that he stood up on the spot and pointed at Mourinho fiercely, unable to speak for a long time.

In Italian football, as the head coach of the top team AC Milan, not many people dare to scold Ancelotti and AC Milan so bluntly. But obviously, this rule is invalid for Mourinho. He is not afraid of offending this Italian at all. Even after Ancelotti was angry and embarrassed, Mourinho still smiled and hooked his little finger at him in a gentlemanly manner. This provocative action made Ancelotti go crazy!

It seemed that the press conference was about to turn into a personal battle between the two head coaches.

Fortunately, the staff on the scene were very responsible and separated the two men beforehand, so a "boxing match" that shocked the world was avoided. If that had happened, UEFA would have certainly punished the two people who affected the image of European football.

Perhaps some radical UEFA officials would turn a blind eye. They probably think that such things can greatly increase the popularity of European football... But none of this happened. The reporters were not too concerned about the poor performance of the two head coaches. Now that the game between the two teams is over, what they are most concerned about is Wang Li's shot that blew up the football.

This is the real hot topic!

(To be continued)