The Prince of Inter Milan starts with Brother Xiaosa

Chapter 183 Not a real man

Forty days ago, Inter Milan won 2-0 at home in the first leg of the Italian Cup semi-finals.

Coming to the away game today, Mourinho made a substantial rotation.

Leo, Milito, Pandev, Zanetti, Samuel and other main players have all faded out of the starting lineup.

Balotelli and Wang Dong got the opportunity to start and partner Eto'o on the striker.

The three midfielders are Stankovic, Thiago Motta and Muntari.

Left back Chivu, right back Thornton, Cordoba and Materazzi formed the central defender, but Cesar was the goalkeeper.

For the home team, Prandelli also made adjustments to the starting lineup, with Gilardino, Vargas, De Silvestri, Marchionni and Zanetti returning to the lineup.

Now no one can say which side can win the game today and which side can advance to the finals.

The main reason is that Inter Milan looked down on others so much that they came up with a semi-substitute lineup in the away game.

Before the game started, both sides observed a minute's silence to commemorate the victims of the train derailment in Merano, Italy, on April 4.

Lippi, the head coach of the Italian national team, also came to watch the game today.

Mourinho had made arrangements before the game. As long as they did not lose in the second round, they would be able to secure their place in the Coppa Italia final.

Then there is no need to use too many main players to waste energy.

Three days later, when they play Juventus at home, they will definitely have to do their best to defeat them, right? Otherwise, I will be sorry to the fans and myself.

We have to play Barcelona again in a week, and there is no room for failure.

In comparison, let’s put today’s Coppa Italia match on hold for a while.

At the beginning of the game, Vargas tackled Muntari and was given a yellow card by the referee.

But then Balotelli took a free kick 27 meters away from the goal and went directly over the crossbar.

Ba Shen touched his chin with confusion.

"What's going on? This is what the boss taught me. Why is there no arc? You should fall quickly when you reach the door."

Eto'o ran from the left and broke through the three-man blockage before cutting into the penalty area!

Unfortunately, in the end, the Cameroonian's right-footed volley from the small penalty area missed slightly.

The breakthrough with the ball in front was wonderful, but the final kick was a little off.

As the game progressed, Florence, which was playing at home after all, had a slight advantage.

Zanetti took the ball into the penalty area and was pushed out by Inter Milan central defender Cordoba. Vargas' left-footed long shot from outside the penalty area was higher.

Jovetic made a pass from the right, and Gilardino unloaded the ball lightly with his outside instep before turning in front of the goal and shooting with his left foot from a small angle!
  Cesar turned in the opposite direction and was unable to stop him. Materazzi destroyed the ball on the goal line!

A minute later, Marchionne's shot from outside the penalty area was blocked by Materazzi again!

Vargas took a corner kick, and Gilardino volleyed hard from the front of the small penalty area and missed the left post.

Balotelli suddenly stepped forward and stole the ball from De Silvestri's feet!
  Then Bashen dribbled the ball into the left side of the penalty area, and his left-foot shot before the penalty spot missed the far post!

Zanetti passed the ball straight into the penalty area. Gilardino passed Cordoba and turned around to shoot with his left foot but was blocked by Chivu's beautiful sliding tackle!
  In the 35th minute, Viola threw the ball into the left sideline. Gilardino cleverly responded, but Jovetic's left-footed diagonal shot in front of the goal was actually high.

Three minutes later, Montolivo's powerful volley from the outside of the penalty area was held firmly by Cesar from a slightly positive angle.

Chivu kicked down Marchionne in the back and was given a yellow card.

Before halftime, Jovetic cut in from the left and shot a low shot with his right foot from the left side of the penalty area and missed the near post.

In the first half, there was a lonely back and forth, and the score was zero to zero.

In the 49th minute of the second half, Mourinho reluctantly asked Leo to go to the sidelines to warm up and prepare to come on as a substitute.

Balotelli dribbled the ball through the middle and then distributed the ball. Thiago Motta took the ball from the right and cooperated with Maicon to kick the wall. Then he suddenly passed the ball diagonally with his left foot in front of the goal!
  On the other side, Wang Dong attracted the attention of the home team's central defender and helped the Cameroonians get enough space.

Eto'o successfully broke into the penalty area against offside and faced Fiorentina goalkeeper Frey alone!

Near the penalty spot, the cheetah moved the ball with the tip of his right foot and made a slight adjustment, then volleyed with his left foot straight into the upper left corner of the goal!
  One to zero!

Inter Milan took the lead!
  At the same time, the total score of the two rounds came to 3-0, plus they had an away goal in hand. If Florence wants to reverse, they must score at least four more goals at the Stadio Franchi.

However, now there is only forty minutes left to make the best decision. Can Viola do it?
  Anyway, Mourinho thought they couldn't do it, so the madman called Leo back with a smile.

"There is no need for you to appear, we have already won."

Prandelli replaced Santana and Callison, and the home team went all out to attack!
  But it seemed that the Florence players on the field had lost their fighting spirit and were completely unable to produce any threatening offensive cooperation.

Instead, Balotelli and Wang Dong got excellent shooting opportunities one after another.

The final score of 1-0 remained until the end of the game, and neither team was able to score in the subsequent games.

Inter Milan beat Viola twice at home and away, and also kept a clean sheet against their opponents, successfully advancing to the Coppa Italia final!

And their opponent in this year's final is likely to be their old rival Roma.

Because although the second leg has not yet been played, Roma also won 2-0 in the first leg of the semi-finals and defeated Udinese.

Mourinho looked happy after the game.

"We have achieved a goal but the season is not over, we still have two titles to fight for.

We will fight to win and never give up any title.

It is important for us to reach the Coppa Italia final and I hope we can play against Roma in the final so that we can show our true quality.

Tonight's performance proved that we never give up and I'm pleased with the character of the team and the determination they showed on the pitch. "

Three days later, back at home, Inter Milan ushered in their opponent in the 34th round of the league, Juventus.

If it were any other team, Mourinho might have just given up in this game before playing Barcelona.

Unfortunately, they are going to fight the Bianconeri today, so they have to fight hard.

There is no need to say more about the reasons.

Juventus defeated Cagliari 1-0 in the last round, ushering in two consecutive home wins, and their state has improved slightly.

However, the Bianconeri are currently ranked sixth in the standings with only 51 points, three points away from the top four.

In other words, if the "Old Lady" wants to compete for the Champions League qualification for next season, they cannot lose any points in the next few games.

Although Barcelona will play against Barcelona next Tuesday, Mourinho, who celebrated the milestone of coaching Inter Milan in 100 games today, still sent out all the main players to play!

On the forward line, Pandev, Milito and Eto'o formed a three-point arrow.

Leo leads the midfield, with Zanetti and Cambiasso behind him.

Left back Kolarov returned from injury, right back Maicon, center backs Samuel and Lucio appeared together, and goalkeeper Cesar. Italian coach Zaccheroni, who took over the Bianconeri midway, led the team to face his old club, hoping to end their recent three-game losing streak in the league.

Trezeguet and Giovinco were absent due to injuries, Del Piero and Iaquinta partnered up front, and Amauri was on standby.

Diego leads the midfield and Sissoko returns from suspension.

Juventus' club bus was attacked with eggs as it arrived at San Siro.

This also shows how much Nerazzurri hates them.

Just one minute into the game, Leo took a long shot from the arc of the penalty area to test his feet.

The curve ball thrown by Inter Milan's No. 10 passed the Juventus defender and was held out by Buffon with one palm in front of the goal!

After twisting his feet, Leo nodded. He felt okay. He might be able to score again today.

Juventus quickly counterattacked and hit the frontcourt. Zebina passed the ball diagonally from the right. Iaquinta leaned on the defender and turned around in front of the goal to shoot with his right foot without any power. Cesar fell to the ground and confiscated the ball.

A minute later it was Juventus' attack again!
  Iaquinta passed the ball, Del Piero took the ball in front of the penalty area and got rid of two defenders, then swung out of the angle and volleyed vigorously outside the penalty area!

Cesar struggled to save the ball from the bottom line!
  Diego broke through from the left and distributed the ball. Marchisio shot high with his right foot from outside the edge of the penalty area.

After the opening, Juventus turned against the visitors and scored three goals in less than five minutes.

Fortunately, the home team did not make any major mistakes on the defensive end. In addition, Cesar was in excellent condition and managed to keep the goal.

Of course, it is impossible to win the game by always defending. Inter Milan quickly launched a counterattack after stealing the ball in the backcourt.

Leo dunked Marchisio and passed straight. Pandev accelerated and got rid of Zebina's defense. He was hit on the head by Chiellini's left elbow in front of the penalty area and fell to the ground!

Referee D'Amato showed Zebina a yellow card as a warning.

The smell of gunpowder is gradually getting stronger. Even if you don't take into account some things that happened this season, the two teams themselves are mortal enemies.

As long as players don't fight on the court, any kind of conflict is normal.

Maicon made a low pass from the right. Leo changed his left foot outside the penalty area and drew a curve ball with his back again. Buffon flew to seal the left goal post!

Leo's corner kick from the left was pushed out by the Juventus defender, and Cambiasso returned to the penalty area!
  Lucio's left-footed volley from the right side of the small penalty area was blocked by Zebina's right elbow!
  The Inter Milan central defender immediately raised his hand to signal Zebina's handball, but the referee D'Amato believed that the two were too close and ignored the Brazilian's complaint.

Then the Bianconeri counterattacked, Del Piero broke into the left side of the penalty area and shot into the far corner with his right foot but was hit by Cesar!

Samuel and Iaquinta pulled each other in the penalty area, and both were given yellow cards by the referee.

Not long after, Juventus' Sissoko and Inter Milan's Kolarov also received yellow cards.

The game had only lasted twenty minutes, and the referee had already issued five yellow cards.

D'Amato was very proud, no matter how big a star you are, you still have to listen to me?

If the fight continues like this, won't it be possible that someone will be fined soon?

Leo's premonition was indeed correct, and the accident happened soon.

In the 31st minute, Zanetti dribbled the ball along the left sideline and broke through. Sissoko took down the Inter Milan captain diagonally behind him!
  The referee blew the whistle decisively, and Sissoko received his second yellow card and was sent off!
  The Bianconeri coach quickly asked Melo to go to the sidelines to warm up.

Leo was surprised. He hadn't noticed before that this guy had recovered from injury ahead of schedule?
  It seems that the expert Juventus hired has good skills. The operation was successful and the recovery is also good. Can Melo play in the game now?
  Leo made a pass from the frontcourt and sent it to the left side of the penalty area. Eto'o received the ball and turned to dunk past Zebina!
  Marchisio, who returned to defense, stepped forward to interfere in time. Eto'o shot a low shot with his right foot in front of the goal but Buffon fell to the ground and confiscated it in the near corner.

Del Piero was replaced by Melo, and Buffon took over the captain's armband from the zebra prince.

Of course, when Zaccheroni replaced Melo, he wanted to keep the midfield and backcourt intact. If it didn't work, he could also stay in the away game and defend a draw.

After Melo came on the field, he also performed the tasks assigned by the head coach "very well".

Just after he came on the field, the Brazilian kicked Pandev's right leg with an extremely vicious flying shovel!

Melo's spikes made several deep scratches on Pandev's shin guards.

The referee only took out a yellow card, and the Inter Milan players were very dissatisfied.

Players from both sides had some "minor" friction on the court.

Then D'Amato solved it by playing fifty boards each, and Pandev and Chiellini each received yellow cards.

The Macedonian looked innocent and could not understand the referee's decision at all.

Only Leo stood aside silently, frowning and looking at Mello.

He really didn't understand why this guy didn't change at all after experiencing a broken leg.

Maybe a birth will always be a birth, and you can't change into a human being.

Put Melo aside first, winning this game is the first priority.

Breaking through with the ball in the middle, Melo pressed forward. Leo opened his arms to protect his body and "accidentally" hit the Brazilian in the face with an elbow.

The referee stopped the game and showed Leo a yellow card.

Leo shrugged nonchalantly, this was just an appetizer.

However, something seemed wrong. Melo's eyebrow bone was cracked after being hit by Leo's elbow. His face was covered in blood and he went to the sidelines to be bandaged by the team doctor.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Leo stole the ball in the frontcourt and passed the ball into the penalty area!
  Maicon was unusually calm outside the penalty area and flicked the ball past Amauri three times in a row. Following up with a powerful volley from the outside of his right foot, the ball drew a wonderful arc and flew into the far corner of the goal!

This is the Brazilian star!

Even Buffon was powerless in the face of such a wonderful shot!
  One to zero! Inter Milan finally broke the deadlock on the field!

The bleeding couldn't be stopped, and the team doctor said Melo had to go to the hospital for stitches. Zaccheroni was speechless and replaced him with Poulsen.

When Leo saw Melo being replaced, he curled his lips and thought to himself:

Just ran away? It's really boring that I let you escape so easily.

Don't they all say that a real man is a tough guy who can't get out of the line of fire even after being slightly injured? Leo despised Mello's behavior of running away from the battlefield.

At the end of the first half, D'Amato gave six minutes of stoppage time.

Maicon made a low pass from the right, Milito caught the ball, turned around, got rid of the defensive player and moved to the left side of the penalty area.

Pandev passed a low pass in front of the goal, but Buffon was unable to do anything to attack!

Eto'o and Leo outflanked each other at two points, and the latter easily pushed his right foot into the empty net in front of the goal!

Two to zero!
  Inter Milan expands its lead!

Mourinho replaced Leo and Pandev in the second half, but neither side improved the score of 2-0.

In the end, Inter Milan easily defeated Juventus at home without any effort, giving their opponents a fourth consecutive away defeat.

(End of this chapter)