Chapter 890 Welcoming the New Era
It was just dawn, the air in Milan was fresh, but a little chilly?
Christmas is coming!
The entire city of Milan, every corner, is decorated with lights and filled with the atmosphere of the coming Christmas.
Renato turned his wrist and looked at his watch. It was the 23rd, another year had passed!
Renato yawned loudly, rubbed his bloodshot eyes, and tried hard to keep himself awake. He walked on the streets of Milan towards the store.
He runs a fashion store and doesn't open so early, but he doesn't dare to go home, so he plans to go to the store first and catch up on some sleep.
Who made him disobey his wife's orders and run to Turin last night?
After turning the street, we soon arrived at the door of a grocery store.
"Hey, Renato, why are you here so early today?" A fat Italian man came out.
"Yes, as usual, a copy of Gazzetta dello Sport."
As he reached into his pocket to take out the coins, he suddenly thought of something, "Oh, by the way, another copy of Turin Sports Daily, hehe, I just want to see what those bastards at Juventus say."
After saying this, he kept laughing and seemed to be in a particularly happy mood.
"Sorry, Renato, this morning's newspaper hasn't arrived yet." The fat boss said apologetically.
He runs a grocery store here and does business with people he knows in the neighborhood, and Renato has been his regular customer for many years.
"Why so late?" Renato frowned. He was in a hurry to go back to bed.
The fat boss laughed, "I guess those reporters are just like you, they watched the game too late."
Renato also laughed. He felt a little cold staying outside, so he simply opened the door and walked in. He immediately felt warm and sat down on a lazy sofa next to him. Oh, it was so comfortable that he almost fell asleep.
That was originally the seat where the fat boss sat when he was slacking off, but it was taken by Renato. He was not angry, but just stood aside with a smile.
"Did you go on an away game again last night?"
Renato closed his eyes, nodded and said nothing.
"You don't dare to go home?" The fat boss laughed.
Renato knew that he was a die-hard Inter Milan fan, but his wife was not a fan and always complained that Renato did not take enough rest in order to watch the game and that he loved drinking, which made his health very bad.
Not to mention, this guy has gained weight again recently.
I can smell the alcohol on him, which has not dissipated yet. It would be strange if he dares to go home.
"Did you drink again last night?"
Renato nodded and was silent for two or three seconds. "We drank in Turin. After we came back, everyone was happy and drank a lot more."
After he finished speaking, he paused and grinned, "You don't know, watching the game last night was so exciting. I tell you, Inter Milan hasn't played so beautifully in many years. It was simply a dream."
As he was talking, this guy started gesticulating.
"Brother, you don't know how arrogant those bastards in Turin were before the game. They all looked down on us, saying that our team was weak and that our winning streak was just luck. They also said that they would let us down at home. What was the result?"
Renato grinned and laughed non-stop.
"Three to zero, a perfect victory. It made those guys in Turin shut up. They are all speechless."
“Brother, you were not there at the time. After the game, Klopp led the players to thank the fans. Hundreds of us were singing loudly in the stands. You didn’t see the cowardly look of those bastards in Turin. It was so damn satisfying!”
"We are now the league leaders and half-time champions!"
At the end of his speech, he closed his eyes again, but his mouth was still mumbling.
Coming and going, he would just talk about what he saw and heard during the game and express how great the team was.
The fat boss saw him like this, laughed and shook his head.
As a native Milanese, he knew that there were countless people like Renato who were so happy that they couldn't sleep last night.
It's no wonder that Inter Milan's form has declined rapidly since winning the Champions League. Then Juventus won three consecutive championships, and the club was heavily in debt and Moratti was about to quit, which almost made the fans of the Nerazzurri collapse.
Last season, Moratti sold the team to Chinese investors, which caused a lot of complaints from the fans.
As a result, more than 100 million euros were invested during the winter break and many players were introduced, but the team's performance did not improve.
At that time, all the fans' anger was vented on the management and head coach Mazzarri.
This is very simple. We spent so much money, but all the players we brought in are duds and their performances are so bad. How can the fans be happy?
As a result, who could have imagined that after Mazzarri was sacked and Klopp came in, Inter Milan was completely transformed.
It was only recently that all Inter Milan fans suddenly realized that they had misunderstood.
It’s not that the management’s ability to recruit players is too poor, but that Mazzarri’s skills are not deep enough and he can’t use this group of players well.
Due to the guilt caused by the misunderstanding and the significant improvement in the team's performance this season, the fans' favor towards the management and investors has been growing day by day. Now everyone is eager for the team to go one step further and win a league championship.
Renato was lying on the lazy sofa, squinting his eyes and breathing evenly. It was unclear whether he was resting or had fallen asleep. Anyway, the fat boss had no time to pay attention to him and was just sorting the newspapers and magazines in the store.
There will be more people coming soon, so he has to clean up quickly to avoid being in a hurry when there are too many people.
Just at this moment, a newspaper delivery truck stopped outside, the door opened, and a man rushed out.
The man was holding a large bundle of newspapers in each hand. He walked over quickly, banged the newspapers twice, and placed them heavily on the newsstand.
"Coming!" The fat boss immediately went out to greet him.
"Well, hurry up and order them!" The newspaper delivery man pointed to two bundles of newspapers and said, "It's a little late today, so we have to leave quickly."
The fat boss didn't say much. He just counted it roughly, found that the quantity was correct, and immediately signed for it.
Carrying two bundles of newspapers into the store, the fat owner finally believed that Renato had fallen asleep.
"This guy..." The fat boss smiled and shook his head.
He put down the newspaper, went inside, found a blanket, and when he came out he gently covered Renato with it.
Once it's cooked, it's quick to put away the newspapers.
In a short while, the newsstand was tidied up inside and out. By the way, I also took a Turin Sports Daily and a Milan Sports Daily. I originally wanted to put them next to Renato, but seeing that there was no one there and it was a bit empty, I simply found a stool nearby and sat down to read the newspaper.
Without exception, the front-page headlines of both newspapers were about last night's game.
The commentary article in Gazzetta dello Sport was written by the famous journalist Fabio Licari, and his title is also very attractive.
The Nerazzurri end the Zebra dynasty!
Fabio Licari's early part of the article, which mainly introduces the competition, is well written and fascinating.
Later he focused on evaluating the significance of this game.
He compared this game to a Normandy Landing by Inter Milan against Juventus, believing that this game will become a watershed in this season's Serie A and announce the strong rise of Inter Milan.
Fabio Licari believes that Inter Milan now has the strength to compete with Juventus, and as long as Klopp's team can make good use of the winter break, adjust the team's condition, and continue to maintain the current momentum in the second half of the league, Juventus will give up the league championship.
Of course, the reporter from Gazzetta dello Sport also pointed out that the reason why Juventus suffered a crushing defeat was indeed due to problems with the schedule, and Pirlo's injury was also a big loss for Juventus.
But no matter what, Fabio Licari firmly believes that Inter Milan has a good chance of winning the championship.
In another newspaper, Turin Sports Daily, which is known as the mouthpiece of Juventus, the same game was also discussed.
But as a newspaper close to Juventus, they deliberately downplayed Inter Milan's performance and the significance of this game in their comments, but instead pointed out the biggest gap between the two teams.
"There is no doubt that Inter Milan will have the last laugh thanks to their superior tactics!"
"Klopp brought advanced tactical concepts and effectively integrated the team, allowing Inter Milan to integrate into one whole and walk into the Alpi Stadium with the same belief, which made them unprecedentedly strong."
"On the other hand, Allegri did not have much tactical innovation at Juventus. After Pirlo was injured, he was worried about the outcome and finally arranged for Pirlo, who had not recovered from the injury, to start. As a result, Pirlo did nothing in the first half."
"Although Allegri realized the team's problem during the halftime break and replaced Pirlo, by then, Juventus were already two goals behind and it was already quite difficult to catch up."
"In the past few years, Italian teams have been actively seeking breakthroughs, but have also deeply felt their own tactical limitations. Therefore, many teams, including Napoli and Fiorentina, have adopted tactics that are closer to the European mainstream. This is inseparable from the role of Benítez and Montella."
"This season, Inter Milan dismissed Mazzarri and hired the world-famous coach Klopp, who is a staunch supporter of this direction and trend. Now, we all see that Klopp has completely transformed Inter Milan in just six months and won the half-season championship."
"What's funny is that under Mazzarri's leadership, this team can only get fifth place in the league. The gap is already very obvious."
"Juventus' 0-3 loss to Inter Milan is not a reflection of the real strength gap between the two teams, but should be seen as a reflection of the gap between the two head coaches Allegri and Klopp, as well as the tactical systems of the two teams."
"It was a fantastic victory and also a wake-up call for Italian football."
"Klopp's team, behind the vibrant and enthusiastic spirit, has not lost its delicate skills, and is intertwined with rich and varied tactics, which makes the Nerazzurri very competitive in Serie A."
Subsequently, this commentary article also pointed out that the rise of Klopp and Inter Milan is definitely a good thing for Italian football, because if Italian football wants to make a breakthrough, it must make Serie A a feast for the flourishing of tactical ideas again.
Only in this way can it be possible to restore the former glory of Italian football and regain the love of Italian fans.
But at the same time, Turin Sports Daily also pointed out that if Juventus wants to make a difference in Serie A and even the Champions League, it must let go of its ideological burden, be brave to embrace innovation, and make its tactics closer to the mainstream and more advanced.
After reading the comments on these two reports, the fat boss shook his head and smiled.
The Turin Sports Daily is truly worthy of being the mouthpiece of Juventus. Even a loss was made light of in such a way.
Is it difficult to make them admit that Inter Milan is stronger than Juventus?
Look at Renato lying on the lazy sofa. I believe that at this moment, in Milan, in Italy, and even in Europe, there are countless Inter Milan fans like Renato. They are regaining their former passion because of the team's revival.
But can the Nerazzurri really usher in a new era for Inter Milan?