The Prince of Inter Milan starts with Brother Xiaosa

Chapter 156 Advance on both fronts
  Three days later, Mourinho led the Nerazzurri to Bergamo, not far from Milan.

There they will usher in the sixteenth round of Serie A, an away game against Atalanta.

In addition to the "true blue and black" dispute between Inter Milan and Atalanta, it can also be regarded as a Lombardy derby.

However, what is very interesting is that there is actually no major conflict between the two teams, and the grievances between the two teams are much smaller than those between Inter Milan, Juventus and AC Milan.

Of course, this may also be related to the fact that Atlanta has not often been able to threaten Inter Milan's performance for a long time.

At the beginning of this season, Atlanta won four consecutive league defeats under the leadership of new coach Gregucci and was dismissed immediately.

The "young coach" Conte who took over did not bring any significant improvement to the team after taking office.

Now after fifteen league rounds, Atlanta is only ranked third from the bottom, in the relegation zone.

Before the game against Inter Milan, they had lost six of seven consecutive games and won only one.

What’s even more interesting is that on December 12, at the Atleti Azzurri Stadium, the head coaches of both the home and away teams were suspended for today’s game and were unable to personally direct from the sidelines.

Both Mourinho and Conte received red cards for protesting against the coach's penalty in the last league game.

In comparison, Inter Milan may be more adaptable.

Because this is not the first time Mourinho has been sent to the stands.

Others don't know, but Leo has long been used to the absence of the head coach on the sidelines.

Balotelli, who started the last Champions League game, returned to the bench. Pandev, Milito and Eto'o are Mourinho's most satisfied striker combination at the moment.

Behind Leo are Zanetti and Cambiasso, while Chivu returns to the starting lineup, Cordoba replaces the injured Samuel partner Lucio, and other positions remain unchanged.

Although it was an away game, the Nerazzurri did not test it at all and quickly launched an offensive after the opening game.

Leo's precise guidance from the center, Milito took the ball on the left side of the penalty area and was surrounded by three people. He walked past Bianco extremely calmly, then turned around and got rid of Manfredini!

The Argentinian passed three people and then volleyed with his right foot in front of the goal into the near corner!

One to zero!

Inter Milan took the lead in the ninth minute of the game!

Two minutes later, Eto'o received Leo's pass and broke into the penalty area but was brought down by De Asentis.

The referee didn't say anything, which aroused the dissatisfaction of the Cameroonian. He complained twice but was given a yellow card.

Then Pandev was knocked down by an Atlanta defender on the left, and Inter Milan got a free kick.

Leo's free kick went over the wall and hit the crossbar!

The quality of this ball was already quite high, but it was a pity that Leo missed the goal by just a hair.

Before the end of the first half, Inter Milan's corner kick went to the back point, and Cordoba's shot was blocked by the Atlanta goalkeeper.

A one-goal lead is the most unsafe, and Mourinho asked his players to further strengthen their offense in the second half.

In the 46th minute, Golic broke through and passed near the right baseline. Bellini followed up and hit the goal with a kick.

The ball hit Ferreira Pinto and Cordoba and then slightly missed the right post!
  At the beginning of the second half, the home team almost equalized the score!

Mourinho's face didn't look good, and he felt something was wrong, but he didn't wait for him to make adjustments.

Five minutes later, Caserta, who came on as a substitute, sent a long pass from the midfielder. Tiribochi stopped the ball on the left and pushed the ball into the far corner!
  One to one!
  Atlanta equalized!
  Without even looking up, just hearing the cheers from the supporters of the home team in the stands showed how excited they were.

It is impossible for any player to maintain the best condition forever, and there will always be fluctuations affected by various factors.

Eto'o, who just scored two goals in the last game, doesn't know why his condition is mediocre today.

Leo passed several good balls to him, but the Cameroonians failed to seize the opportunity.

Leo had to reduce his passes to Eto'o, and now he even dribbles the ball to the right wing himself.

In the 59th minute, Leo made a 45-degree diagonal pass from the right into the penalty area!

Milito knew that it would be difficult for him to get a header under the double-teaming of Manfredini and Bianco, so he gave up the fight for the top and leaned on the Atlanta defender with his back.

Leo's precise pass fell in front of Milito. Even if the Argentine could stop the ball, he would never be able to turn around and complete the shot.

The home team's defensive players all thought so.

So Milito's move was beyond their expectations. Inter Milan's top scorer did not turn around or stop the ball, but seized the opportunity to shoot with an overhead kick!

Atlanta goalkeeper Coppola flew to save the ball but it was only a little better than nothing, becoming the backdrop for Milito's overhead kick.

Two to one!

Inter Milan takes the lead again!
  Milito scored twice today. As long as one of the Nerazzurri forwards is in hot form, scoring goals will not be a problem.

In the 64th minute, Eto'o tripped Guarente from behind and was sent off with two yellow cards.

After receiving a card for a completely meaningless foul, Leo looked at Eto'o who bowed his head and left the field with a wry smile and sighed in his heart.

Mourinho was helpless. He saw that the Cameroonian was not in good condition today, but because of the team's advantage, it was not good to replace him too early.

Balotelli had already gone to the sidelines to warm up and prepare to play, but now he could only sit back on the bench and continue waiting.

With one less player to fight, although Inter Milan still has an advantage in the score for the time being, it is difficult to say whether the home team will seize the opportunity to equalize the score again.

After a few minutes, the Nerazzurri coach replaced Pandev with Thiago Motta, and Inter Milan shrank its defense and defended with all its strength.

Milito was the only forward on the field, and everyone else retreated to defend their own half.

Inter Milan's Argentinian striker originally had a good scoring momentum and had a chance to score a hat trick today, but now he failed to score the third goal due to the numerical disadvantage. However, Atalanta was unable to take advantage of one man's advantage to break through the Nerazzurri's goal and equalize the score.

Mourinho's team eventually won 2-1 away from home.

Just two days later, Inter Milan returned home and ushered in the 09-10 Italian Cup quarter-finals against Livorno.

This is the first time the two teams have met in a cup competition.

As the defending champion, Inter Milan, who aims to win the Triple Crown, will naturally not give up the Italian Cup easily.

The opponent was relatively weak, so Mourinho made a substantial rotation and arranged a semi-substitute lineup.

"Italian Cup goalkeeper" Toldo entered the starting lineup for the first time this season, and Chiwu switched to central defender and partnered with Materazzi.

Young player Donati serves as the right back, which is also his official debut for the adult team, and Thornton continues to start.

Midfielders Stankovic, Vieira and Muntari got the opportunity to play, and Suazo partnered with Balotelli on the striker.

Some Inter Milan fans also exclaimed after seeing today's first start.

"Is this guy still on the team?"

It seems that Suazo has not played yet this season and is rarely included in the squad.

Those who didn't know thought he had already been sold by the team.

Leo also sat on the bench to rest today.

But he was a little worried because he felt that the players on the field were not very reliable.

It goes without saying that Livorno's hard power is not as good as Inter Milan, but they are also a Serie A team, and they only entered the top 16 of the Italian Cup after eliminating Sampdoria.

Suddenly a gust of cold wind blew by. Leo couldn't help shivering and wrapped his coat around himself. He thought that it would be better to play in the game while sitting on the sidelines with the cold wind blowing.

The temperature at Meazza today is close to zero degrees Celsius, and it will be really uncomfortable if there is a slight breeze.

Although Inter Milan's substitute lineup does not seem to take the Italian Cup very seriously, the players on the field are quite serious.

After all, some of them only look to the Italian Cup to get some playing time.

If they are eliminated again, they will basically have no chance to play official games.

Not long after the first half began, Suazo collided with his former teammate Rivas' knees and both fell to the ground. Fortunately, they were not seriously injured.

"There is only one game left before the winter break. Do you have any plans?"

"What else can you do when you get home? Are you going somewhere to play?"

When Leo was sitting on the bench, he heard that the two teammates behind him were already discussing where to go after the holiday, which showed that his mind was no longer here.

Yes, it’s almost Christmas, it’s human nature.

Attention returned to the game. Thornton kicked the wall with Stankovic in the center on the left. Stankovic passed the ball directly to Muntari, but was blocked by Livorno defender Rivas in the middle.

Stankovic's right foot from outside the penalty area hit the right post!

Three minutes later, Balotelli dribbled the ball through the middle and was tripped by Perticone.

Then Bashen's free kick was blocked by Bennusi and hit the right post!
  Two consecutive goal posts seemed to mean that Inter Milan would not win the game smoothly today.

Muntari fouled Tomas Danilevicius, and Lucarelli's free kick hit the wall.

His subsequent follow-up shot missed the goal post.

Candreva's long-range shot was easily caught by Toldo.

At the end of the half, the score was still zero to zero.

Livorno made the first substitution in the second half, with Marcus Dinis replacing Konezevic.

Another ten minutes passed, and Leo looked drowsy. If it wasn't really a bit cold, he might have fallen asleep on the bench.

In the 67th minute, Mourinho couldn't wait any longer and Inter Milan made two substitutions.

Leo and Milito came on as substitutes, replacing Suazo and Stankovic.

There were two substitutions in the opposite positions, so the Nerazzurri's formation did not need to be adjusted.

And these two substitutions had an immediate effect.

The appearance of Leo and Milito immediately revitalized Inter Milan's frontcourt offense.

In the 68th minute, Leo had just come on as a substitute for a minute. He received Thornton's cross kick in the frontcourt and passed it into the penalty area with a kick!

Rivas was awarded a handball while defending Balotelli in the penalty area, and the referee gave a penalty kick!

Milito's penalty kick was scored in one stroke, and Inter Milan finally broke the deadlock on the field!

One to zero!

Although the team was ahead, Mourinho still shook his head and was not very satisfied.

In the 76th minute, the Madman replaced Donati with Maicon.

Leo made a direct pass from the frontcourt, Balotelli scored the ball, and Milito dribbled the ball into the left side of the penalty area and shot!

But Benusi, who attacked, made accurate judgment and blocked the ball in time!
  At the end of the game, Inter Milan defeated Vono 1-0 and advanced to the quarter-finals of the Italian Cup!

(End of this chapter)