Chapter Fifty-Four
Deegan didn't know why he was here, sitting in the stands like an idiot, watching other people play, he felt like he was sitting on the fire and being roasted.
Ancelotti seems to be full of confidence. Even without Digan, the team's top scorer, he is full of confidence in the face of Schalke 04. Germany can be regarded as Ancelotti's blessed land. In 2003 In the season that won the championship, AC Milan led by him defeated Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund in a row.
The head coach of Schalke 04, Rangnick, arranged a 4-4-2 formation in this game. Goalkeeper Rost, right back Brazilian Rafinha, center back Bodden partner Rodriguez, left back Kels Tajic, the four muscular men of Ernst, Poulsen, Lincoln, and Kobia Schwilli in the midfield, and Kuranyi's partner Soren Larsson in the forward line.
As soon as the game started, the trend of development seemed to be verifying Ancelotti's almost overwhelming confidence. AC Milan's first attack knocked on Schalke 04's goal.
After the kick-off, AC Milan first hit the ball to the right. After Seedorf got the ball, he didn't pass the ball immediately. Instead, he waited for the opponent's defensive player to pounce, and then made a long pass and transferred the ball to the left. Kara Ze tried his best to fight, but his height was a bit too much for him, and Poulsen's header broke the bottom line.
Karadze threw the ball into the sideline, and Pirlo caught the ball. His action seemed to be to pass back and reorganize the attack, but when Schalke 04's defensive players felt a little slack, Pirlo suddenly With a twist of the arch of his foot, he crossed the ball to the middle, and Seedorf, who rushed to the horse, got the ball and cut inside. Schalke 04's defense suddenly became chaotic. Rafinha wanted to tackle, but his The action was still a bit slow, Seedorf pulled the ball horizontally, avoided Rafinha's feet, and then volleyed with his right foot. Although the power of the ball was not too strong, the goalkeeper Rost was at the near corner. , After seeing the flight trajectory of the ball, he turned around and rushed to the left, but the ball still got into the far corner from under his left arm, and AC Milan took the lead 1:0.
After scoring the goal, Seedorf seemed very excited and kept beating the Milan team logo on his chest. There has been a lot of controversy surrounding him recently, especially in the last game against Treviso. The continuous mistakes in the field almost caused Milan to lose the ball.
After that game, some fans even called on Ancelotti to win Seedorf, so that after the start of the new season, Ambrosini, who performed well, became the team's regular main force.
Seedorf also endured a lot of pressure, and now he can score a goal in less than a minute after the opening, and Seedorf also used his strength to justify himself.
However, AC Milan's lead did not last long. A quick counterattack by Schalke 04 equalized the score. In less than three minutes, Schalke 04 also launched an attack from the sideline. , Kuranyi passed the ball to Lincoln, Lincoln took the ball and broke through the left side of the penalty area and made a pass. The ball hit Nesta's outstretched leg and bounced in front of the goal. Kaladze, who was supposed to be in the defensive position, had a short-circuited brain when Larsson headed the goal. Schalke 04 easily scored the equalizer and the score was 1:1!
Ancelotti is obviously very annoyed by this conceded goal. There is a problem with the defense again, and it is Karadze who made the mistake. Since the start of the new season, Karadze's state has made people very worried. During the game, there are always attentions. In the case of lack of concentration, this time it was like this again.
Karadze also seemed very frustrated. The loss of the ball just now was indeed his responsibility. When Lincoln passed the ball, he even forgot what to do, but when he reacted, he remembered to stop Larson from attacking the goal , it was too late.
"What were you thinking just now?" Maldini frowned, "Concentrate, what happened last season must never happen again!"
What Maldini was talking about was the match against Liverpool in the European Champions Cup final last season. AC Milan led 3-0 in the first half, but because of lack of concentration, Liverpool seized consecutive opportunities in the second half and equalized. The score was broken, and finally a penalty shootout was hated.
When Milan lost the ball, Degan didn't react at all, and he didn't want his teammates who were spectators like him to hold their heads in their hands and look regretful.
When Lincoln passed the ball just now, he had already guessed that Milan's biggest problem this season was defending high-altitude balls, especially Karadze who appeared in a key position, and it was reasonable to lose the ball.
Before this game, during the team training, Serginho's condition was obviously better, but Ancelotti's fat-filled brain had already formed a fixed pattern, and Karadze was the main force. Serginho can only act as a surprise soldier.
Now Fatty An's confidant has lost an adult to him, even though he knows it shouldn't be, Digan is gloating in his heart.
In the subsequent game, the offensive and defensive transitions between the two sides were carried out very quickly, and both teams got a lot of opportunities. In the tenth minute, Pirlo took a free kick from the right, Maldini flew the header, and Gilardino rushed to the top of the back post but failed. to rub. Two minutes later, Schalke 04 made a clearance not far away, and Gilardino shot low with his left foot in front of the goal and missed the right post.
Everyone can see that Gilardino's condition is very average, but whoever asked him to introduce him by name by Ancelotti, born by his own mother, is always more popular than Digan, a stepmother.
So what if the state is not good, the power of life and death is in Ancelotti's hands, and he can do whatever he likes.
Gilardino missed scoring opportunities in a row. As a result, in the 13th minute, AC Milan was almost overtaken by Schalke 04. Kobia Schwilli made a pass from the left, and Kuranyi headed the goal in front of the goal, slightly wide of the left post.
Like Gilardino, Kuranyi is no less capable of squandering opportunities.
In the 20th minute, Pirlo's overhead ball accurately found Gilardino in the penalty area, but Gilardino's second kick went too far after stopping the ball, and the ball went directly out of the bottom line.
Gilardino also had an unbelievable look on his face. Degan curled his lips in disdain. You only have this little ability, so annoyed!
In the 24th minute, Larson turned around in front of the goal and shot with his left foot, which was directly confiscated by Dida, who reacted quickly. Then throw the ball to launch an attack. Pirlo made a straight pass and passed the ball to Seedorf on the left. After Seedorf got the ball, he instructed a long pass. After Shevchenko got the ball , broke through the two defenders along the right, but before he could take a shot, Rost, who abandoned the goal and attacked, ruled out the danger in time.
In the next game, AC Milan's defense is still hard to be reassuring, testing the hearts of comrades all the time.
In the 31st minute, Kuranyi made a diagonal pass from the right, and Lincoln turned sideways in front of the goal and volleyed with his right foot and missed the far post.
In the 33rd minute, Schalke 04 counterattacked with a long pass from the backcourt. This time it was Nesta's mistake. Kuranyi succeeded in countering offside, but then unloaded the ball and pushed it wide of the right post.
In the 36th minute, Lincoln took a free kick 30 meters in front of the goal and missed the right post.
Schalke 04 launched consecutive attacks, and AC Milan's city gate was in turmoil for a while. Anyone seemed to be in danger of losing the ball at any time. The defense line was unstable, and the front line repeatedly missed scoring opportunities.
If it weren't for the fact that Schalke 04's strikers were as bad as they were, Milan's goals would have been blown down.
In the second half, they changed sides and fought again. The forwards of both sides were still wasting opportunities. First, Kuranyi shot low with his right foot from 25 meters in front of the goal and missed the left post.
Immediately afterwards, Gattuso made a short pass from the right, and Kaka went straight to Gilardino's feet, but the latter's low shot with his left foot went wide of the near post again.
In the fifty-sixth minute, Kuranyi tried another right-footed shot from the outside, which was resolved by Dida falling to the ground. A minute later, Kobia Shivili volleyed with his left foot 25 meters in front of the goal and also missed the left post.
In the fifty-eighth minute, Milan finally scored again. Pirlo took a free kick from the right side close to the touchline. After Schalke 04 made a clearance, the AC Milan midfielder intercepted the ball on the spot and counterattacked. After dodging the defense with a side kickback, Shevchenko made a cross with his right foot. Shevchenko took off between the two defenders, shook his head and hit the goal, and went straight to the lower right corner. AC Milan led again 2:1.
After scoring the goal, Shevchenko also seemed extremely excited. He hadn't scored a goal in a sports game for too long, and even risked getting a card by taking off his jersey, naked on his upper body, in front of tens of thousands of German fans In front of him, he was well lit up.
Ancelotti finally felt a little more relieved. The situation on the court just now was very unfavorable to AC Milan, but fortunately he scored a goal.
Ancelotti glanced towards the stands, with a sneer on the corner of his mouth. Obviously, he was telling Degan that without Degan, his team could still beat the opponent.
Digan noticed it, and immediately felt furious. If the stadium could be entered indiscriminately, he might have rushed in by now, grabbed Ancelotti's collar and performed the Eighteen Palms of the Dragon.
There is a fart to be proud of the lead. If Lao Tzu was on the court, he would still use such strenuous effort. At least he could seize the few opportunities wasted by Gilardino several times.
After gaining the lead again, AC Milan became more relaxed, but Rangnick refused to sit still and called Altentop to his side.
In the 65th minute, Shevchenko broke through the two defenders with his right rib, and volleyed with his right foot 17 meters in front of the goal and slightly missed the near post. Immediately afterwards, Rafinha stopped the ball outside the penalty area and took a volley shot. Dida, who performed well, struggled to save it.
After that, Rangnick replaced Ernst with Altintop.
This substitution soon had a miraculous effect. In the 70th minute, Altentop, who had just been on the field for two minutes, touched the ball for the first time and equalized the score for Schalke 04. Schalke 04 lost consecutively in midfield , and then Lincoln suddenly sent a through ball, and Milan's defense was short-circuited collectively again. Before Nesta rushed up, Altintop suddenly shot with his right foot 28 meters in front of the goal. The ball passed Dida and fell quickly. Hang the far corner into the net, 2:2!
The German fans in the stands erupted in an instant, and the cheers sounded like a tsunami. Digan sat in the stands and felt his head buzzing, like a big bell.
Ancelotti was also dumbfounded by these, he didn't expect Schalke 04 to fight so tenaciously.
Now how to do?
Ancelotti hesitated, and immediately replaced Gilardino with Vieri, and the pace of the field did not slow down. Kuranyi responds to a long pass and heads it wide from the corner of the six-yard box.
In the 73rd minute, Kaka, who was constantly being provoked by Poulsen in this game, finally couldn't hold back, kicked Poulsen down and was warned by a yellow card.
Ancelotti saw that the momentum was not good, and then replaced Kaka with Rui Costa, and Kuranyi was also replaced by Sander due to injury.
In the 74th minute, Dida saved Milan with an incredible save. Sander lobbed a header 8 meters away from the goal on the right, and Dida flew to the bottom line with a single palm!
Then Ancelotti replaced Cafu with Stam.
What the hell is going on?
It is understandable to replace Vieri, after all, Gilardino's feet are too smelly, replace Vieri to try his luck, Vieri has a strong volley from outside the penalty area, and the number of shots is too many, who knows Will it perform miracles?
It was a good decision to replace Rui Costa. Kaka was completely lost in Schalke 04's muscle group today, and without the support of his teammates, he couldn't perform at all.
But what happened to replace Stam?
Self-defeating martial arts?
Vieri relies on crosses from the side. Could it be that Stam's offensive ability from the side is better than Cafu?
In the following games, AC Milan played more and more impatiently. In the 77th minute, Pirlo shot high with his right foot in front of the goal. In the 80th minute, there was another loophole in Milan's defense. Larsson seized the opportunity and shot from the outside with his left foot. The angle was too straight, which did not pose too much threat to Dida.
In the 87th minute, Milan's defense was not far behind to clear the siege. Lincoln's beautiful right-footed volley shot was resolved by Dida to the right. One minute later, Great Altintop made a cross from the right, and Stam grabbed the header before Larsson. In the eighty-ninth minute, AC Milan almost took the lead for the third time. Shevchenko responded with a long pass. After controlling the ball in the penalty area, he was almost single-handedly. fleeting.
Shevchenko also seemed very incomprehensible, looking at Vieri suspiciously, with anger in his eyes, but he was powerless even if his lungs exploded. Vieri was not helping at all when he played. It's messy.
Now everyone in the world knows that Vieri has gone downhill. The once majestic Italian bull is now waiting to enter the slaughterhouse. I am afraid that only Ancelotti still has some expectations for Vieri, but it is a pity Vieri repaid Ancelotti's trust in such a way.