The Prince of Inter Milan starts with Brother Xiaosa

Chapter 284 Golden Ball Candidate List!
  After narrowly defeating Juventus at home, Inter Milan also successfully expanded its lead over second place in the standings.

This made other Serie A teams very disappointed. They originally thought that the Bianconeri could give the defending champion their first defeat of the season.

After several seasons, the Nerazzurri's consecutive victories have been like a dark cloud hanging over the Apennine Peninsula.

Teams other than Inter Milan can't wait to take their place.

After the team changed owners, the coach changed, and the lineup was significantly changed, they thought it would be a different day, right?

The result is still the same, Inter Milan still maintains a strong unbeaten record domestically.

In fact, the Nerazzurri, who are still in the process of running in at the beginning of the season, have many flaws and shortcomings.

But they were not defeated at that time. Now that the new Inter Milan has initially formed a whole, it is naturally even more invincible.

Is there anyone who can beat this current Inter Milan team?
  Fans of all other Serie A teams asked this question while despairing of the Nerazzurri's dominance.

Juventus, originally ranked second, was overtaken by AC Milan and fell to third after losing to Inter Milan in an away game.

So currently, looking at the entire Serie A, perhaps the most promising one is Inter Milan's city rival AC Milan.

"I'm very happy that we were able to win this traditional Italian El Clásico.

Juventus is strong this season and now they are ranked in the top three in the league standings.

When playing against a team of Juventus' level, conceding goals is inevitable.

I won't criticize the team's defensive players too much after the game. They have done a good job.

The game was full of twists and turns, but my boys showed extraordinary tenacity and achieved the ultimate victory.

What's more important is that in such a dense 'devil's schedule', our players withstood pressure from all aspects.

I'm so proud of them!

Of course, it is impossible for them to take a vacation, and we will immediately get into preparations for the next game. "

After a near-miss victory in this focus battle, Inter Milan head coach Carlo Ancelotti still had a nonchalant attitude in the post-match interview.

Just the day after the Italian El Clasico ended, Tuttosport announced the shortlist for the 2011 European Golden Boy Award, with many well-known European geniuses shortlisted.

Among the many candidates, Barcelona midfielder Thiago and Dortmund star Gotze have the highest calls for the championship.

Thiago is the son of former famous Brazilian star Mazinho. He performed well in this summer's Audi Cup and helped Barcelona win the championship.

Gotze helped Dortmund win the long-lost Bundesliga championship last season. He started 11 games this season, scoring two goals and providing five assists with outstanding results.

In addition, Lille's Hazard and AC Milan's Shaarawi are also talented.

However, Ligue 1 does not pay much attention to it, and Xavierra does not have many playing opportunities in Milan. These objective factors have become obstacles for them to win the award.

The chances of other candidate players counting further down are even smaller.

Although Neymar came to Europe due to an early transfer, he still played in Brazil in the first half of the year. His performance in these few games after the start of the new season was not enough to qualify him.

The European Golden Boy Award was founded in 2003 by Italy's "Torino Sport".

The award recognizes the best young talent from European clubs under the age of 21.

The winners were voted by more than 30 media outlets from 20 European countries, including L’Equipe and Marca.

The final winner is regarded as a future football superstar.

There are now as many as three European golden boys in the Inter Milan team, namely Leo, Balotelli and Gareth Bale.

Last year, Bell had his last chance before reaching his age limit and won the Golden Boy Award by virtue of his outstanding performance in the Premier League.

Finally, I am not too far behind my friends.

It seems impossible to continue to fall for Inter Milan this year.

This year's session is actually David Thornton's last chance.

If there was no chance at all, he might not worry too much about gains and losses.

It is because he has been shortlisted more than once, and Leo and Balotelli around him have also won the Golden Boy Award.

It made David feel that he didn't have a chance.

But now it is just one step away, but it seems like a chasm.

Thornton, who returned from injury, showed great spirit on the training ground and worked hard for a starting position again.

"David, you don't actually have to do this..."

"It's okay. The injury has actually healed a long time ago. I can't wait to get back on the court!"

Hey, Leo could understand Thornton's eagerness to return to the game, and shook his head gently without saying anything more.

Also announced on the same day was the shortlist for the second FIFA Ballon d'Or.

Leo will naturally continue to be selected. Eto'o, Milito, Zanetti and Cesar, who won six championships with Inter Milan last year, are also absent.

Although Barcelona lost to Inter Milan, they still have as many as five people on the list.

Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, Pique and Alves were all selected for the 23-man Ballon d'Or award.

With his extraordinary performance in the Premier League and Champions League last season, Gareth Bale became the only British player other than Rooney on the shortlist.

Modric, like Bale, was selected for the first time in his career.

In fact, their performance last season is one of the reasons. This season, their transfer to Inter Milan is also crucial.

This is the importance of the platform.

Even though Real Madrid only won one Copa del Rey last season, they still had three players selected, including Ronaldo.

Because the exposure rate in Real Madrid is different from that in other teams. With the same performance, you can be shortlisted for the Ballon d'Or in Real Madrid, but it is hard to say in other teams.

This is one of the reasons why many players desperately want to go to a wealthy club even though they know it is not easy to get involved.

At the same time, the official also announced the list of ten candidates for the 2011 Coach of the Year.

Sir Alex Ferguson from the Premier League, Villas-Boas and Wenger from the Premier League, as well as Mourinho and Guardiola from La Liga were all selected.

Of course, Leonardo, who is now the director of Inter Milan, is also indispensable. His achievements in leading Inter Milan to defend the Triple Crown last season are indelible.

According to the previous predictions of various media, Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Leo are the favorites to be crowned the Golden Ball in terms of players.

As for coaching, Leonardo and Guardiola have more advantages.

"You want me to say that Villas-Boas has a better chance than Guardiola? Didn't he just win La Liga last season?"

"Yes, he lost to Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey and lost to us in the Champions League. He also deserves to be awarded the best coach?
  Villas-Boas still won the Triple Crown no matter what.

It must be said that Mourinho also had wins and losses with Gua Tu, but it was just that he was eliminated from the Champions League too early. "

It just so happened that at the end of training that day, Leo invited his teammates who were close to him to come to his home.

Everyone unconsciously turned the topic to the announcement of the Golden Globe Awards.

"Although I also hope that I can win the award, I still have self-awareness.

It's probably Leo again this year, right? "

Bell's words were unanimously recognized by everyone else present, only Leo shrugged disapprovingly.

"Who can say for sure about this kind of thing? Maybe it will be taken by Messi or Ronaldo in the end."

"Ah? How is that possible? Why should they compete with you, the boss!"

"That's right, whether it's personal data or team honors, they are far behind you!"

Leo now seems to be the core figure of their small group, and he does not feel overwhelmed by the public praise.

"Ahem, I've passed it. I think I'm better than them in terms of team honors, but my personal performance is just about the same.

My goals and assists are slightly better than theirs, but there is not a huge gap.

So we still have to see how the judges vote. "

"I heard that the selection is not based solely on the performance of the players?"

"Haha, of course, in addition to the results and data on paper, there is also media momentum, online support, and relationships with judges who are eligible to vote, etc.

Any aspect may have an impact on the final result.

To be honest, I am quite annoyed by this. If I compete for it again this year, I may not be very interested in this award anymore.

Then you will all have a chance, and I will do my best to help you produce better data.

As for which one of you is more up to date, whether you can win the competition with Cristiano Ronaldo or Messi depends on your own performance. "

As soon as these words came out, everyone present looked at each other in confusion, their eyes flickering.

Whether it's Modric or Bale, or Santon Neymar, or even Balotelli, who doesn't look too smart,

Who wouldn't want to taste for themselves what the highest personal honor for a player in world football feels like.

"Well, having said this, I am now thinking about playing well in the last period of my career at Inter Milan and trying to win a few championships.

Then it's almost time to retire, and it would be best to see who is willing to give me a big pension contract.

At that time, I can only watch you young people continue to fight on the green field. "

Berbatov's slightly pessimistic speech made the atmosphere at the scene a bit lower.

Leo smiled and waved his hand.

"Dimita, you are just joking. With your old-age playing style, you won't have any pressure to play in mainstream European competitions for another ten or eight years, right?
  By then, maybe all the people in my room will have won the Golden Globe Award, and you can also go out and brag to people that you have a bunch of Mr. Golden Globe friends. "

"Hahahaha!"

The joke made everyone laugh, and even Berba, who had lamented about retiring, fell down on the sofa with laughter.

"It's you, Leo, I don't know if you are praising me or hurting me!

But you are right, I also want to compete with you for a few more years. "

To be honest, with Berbatov's playing style, the impact of age is really very small.

Unlike those players who rely on their physical condition to conquer the world, Berbatov has never been good at speed or physical confrontation. On the contrary, as he grows older and more experienced, his skills become more and more proficient, and his simple stops, dunks and shots on the court have a bit of a return to nature.

As long as he stays healthy, Berbatov, who is only in his thirties, will definitely have no problem playing for another five years.

The first game in November came so quickly, only two days apart from the last game against Juventus.

Inter Milan ushered in the fourth round of the Champions League group stage at home.

Ancelotti leads the Nerazzurri to face Lille at San Siro.

As long as Inter Milan wins this game at home today, they will qualify ahead of schedule having won all four rounds of the group stage.

For Lille, the double champion of Ligue 1 last season, although they still continued their eleven-game unbeaten run in the league, their performance in the Champions League was very poor.

In the previous three games, they only scored two points and were at the bottom of the group, almost on the verge of elimination.

Therefore, although this game is an away game, the only goal of the Lille team is three points.

Although Thornton has recovered from his injury, Inter Milan still has a lot of injured players.

Continuous games have made even the uninjured members of the team quite exhausted.

Ranocchia, Motta and Samuel have all resumed training despite minor injuries, but they will definitely not be able to play today.

Coutinho and Pazzini need to continue to recover from injuries. Zanetti also accidentally sprained during yesterday's training. Although it is not serious, he will need to recover for at least one to two weeks.

Fortunately, after today's game, it entered the national team match day, and Zanetti was able to get enough time to recuperate and rest without missing more games.

In the first match against Lille and in the last game against Juventus, Inter Milan used a 4-2-3-1 formation.

But today Ancelotti did not follow the previous tactics and switched to 4321.

Berbatov is the lone forward, Leo and Neymar partner as the attacking midfielder, and Pirlo, Modric and De Rossi sit in the midfield.

Kolarov has been playing almost full duty since the start of the season and had a rare rest today.

Chivu and David Thornton, who has returned from injury, serve as left backs respectively. Bonucci continues to partner Lucio as a central defender. The goalkeeper is still Handanovic.

As for the visiting team Lille, they also made adjustments to their formation today.

Their starting formation changed from 4-3-3 to 4-4-2.

The double forward combination of Yellen and Sow, Hazard and Joe Cole are on both sides, and Mawuba and Pedretti serve as midfielders.

Left back Beria, right back Debich, Rozenar and Ceju partnered as central defenders, and main goalkeeper Landero returned to the starting lineup.

Lille, playing away from home, took the lead.

Less than two minutes into the game, Chivu sent a long pass from the backcourt. Berbatov shook off Rozenar and broke into the left side of the penalty area to form a single opportunity!
  Facing the attacking goalkeeper, Brother Xiaosha volleyed with the outside instep of his right foot!
  The ball bounced off the crossbar!
  The inevitable goal was blocked by the goal frame, and Berbatov pouted with regret.

The main reason is that the game just started and he has not yet fully entered the state.

A minute later, Modric made a pass from the left, Leo cleverly responded, and Chivu's long-range shot from outside the penalty area was blocked by the defensive player!
  At the beginning of the game, Chivu performed very well, which made the head coach on the sidelines shine.

Since a serious head injury, Chivu's playing time at Inter Milan has been significantly reduced.

This might actually be a good thing for him.

That serious injury brought not only physical damage to Chivu, but also psychological damage.

Chivu worked hard to recover from his injury, but his strength inevitably declined.

Of course, before the injury, Chivu was actually no longer at his peak at Inter Milan. He spent his best years in Ajax and Romania, and his four years in Rome were not wasted.

But in the Nerazzurri, some people will always question whether his level is enough to get a place here.

However, it is undeniable to everyone that Chivu’s tenacious fighting spirit and unyielding fighting spirit will continue to inspire the Inter Milan players to move forward.

However, as the game progressed, the Romanians fell into silence on the offensive end.

Limited by his current strength and condition, it is not easy to guard the left wing in high-intensity Champions League games.

Leo made a direct pass from the middle. Neymar broke through two defensive players and broke into the penalty area. He had physical contact with Lille's defender and fell to the ground!

Everyone looked at the referee, but the German referee Stark, who was close at hand, did not interrupt the game and refused to call a penalty kick.

In the eighth minute, Pirlo made a diagonal pass, and De Rossi's right-footed low shot from the front of the penalty area was confiscated by visiting team goalkeeper Landero.

The defending French Ligue 1 champions played away from home and did not play conservatively. After adapting to the rhythm of the game, they gradually strengthened their offensive.

Yellen received Beria's long pass from the left and broke into the penalty area with a cold arrow!

The ball was blocked by Inter Milan central defender Bonucci, and then Pedretti shot from the outside and missed the baseline.

Hazard dribbled through the middle and was tackled to the ground by Modric who was returning to defend. Lille got their first free kick of the day.

Hazard's free kick from the left front of the penalty area went directly to the goal!
  The ball hit the wall created by Inter Milan and popped out of the baseline, a corner kick!

After Pedretti took a corner kick from the right, Joe Cole's attack in the small penalty area was blocked by Handanovic!

Joe Cole made a pass from the right, and Musasou's header from the back was blocked by Lucio.

In the 18th minute, David Thornton, who had returned from injury, hit back after dribbling the ball from the right!

Berbatov swung his right foot continuously on the sideline of the penalty area and then suddenly shot a low shot hard. The ball was saved by Lille goalkeeper Landero and then flew under his armpit and hit the side net!

Leo took a corner kick, Lucio jumped high from the penalty spot and beat Mavuba with a header!

Landro was powerless now and could only watch as Lucio headed the ball into the lower right corner of the goal!
  One to zero!

Inter Milan scored first!

However, the home team's leading goal did not extinguish Lille's fighting spirit.

Hazard is worthy of being the favorite for the Golden Boy Award. Although the visiting team is at a disadvantage, his performance today is still outstanding.

Lille No. 10 Hazard dribbled continuously in the middle to break through the defense and then hit a powerful long-range shot, but Handanovic fell to the ground and bravely saved it!

Chivu was subsequently injured in a physical confrontation, but the Lille team did not stop the game. Yellen's furious shot from outside the penalty area was blocked by Handanovic.

While the team doctor came in to examine Chivu, Leo quietly walked to the referee.

"This was unsportsmanlike behavior on their part."

The referee Stark glanced at Leo, shrugged and said:
  "That's true, but I can't punish him for it."

Of course Leo knew this, he just wanted to give his opponent some eye drops from the referee.

Although Chivu was fine and could continue playing, Ancelotti still didn't want to take any chances.

Gareth Bale came on after emergency warm-up.

The Nerazzurri in the stands burst into warm applause, both for Bell and for Chivu who came off the field.

After Bell came on the court, he was no longer a full-back. He made forward assists more frequently.

There will indeed be a gap behind him, and he has no choice but to rely on his teammates for cover.

However, in this way, Inter Milan's impact on the wing has also been greatly enhanced.

Especially with the experience of the last confrontation with his opponent, Bell was much more calm this time when he faced Debich.

Leo stole the ball in the frontcourt and passed the ball directly behind Debich. Bell cut in from the left and broke into the penalty area to form a single!

However, the Lille defender brought the ball down in front of the small penalty area, and the referee Stark decisively awarded a penalty kick.

Leo smiled at Bell and shook his head. The opponent would rather give a penalty kick than let Bell shoot.

That's why you can't blame him.

As the team's top penalty taker, Leo took the penalty spot without hesitation.

Faced with the interference from the opponent's goalkeeper Landero, Leo didn't care and hit the ball directly!

"Shh!"

It's done overnight!

Leo's penalty kick went straight into the dead center of the goal!
  Two to zero!
  Inter Milan expands its lead!

The visiting team was intercepted by Inter Milan soon after the kick-off. Leo passed the ball into the penalty area. Neymar followed up and stopped the ball and turned around and volleyed but Landero confiscated it.

In the stoppage time of the first half, Bell broke through from the left and passed a half-high ball near the baseline. Berbatov leaned over and headed the ball slightly wide.

Yellen took a pass from the right and reached the penalty area with a single shot, but his shot was firmly held by Handanovic. At the same time, the linesman had raised the flag and he was offside.

Inter Milan entered the halftime break with a 2-0 lead.

After changing sides in the second half, Lille adjusted its forward line. Rudy Garcia replaced Yelen with high center forward Tulio De Melo.

Not long after the start, Modric and Pirlo cooperated and split the ball, and Thornton sent a cross from the right!

Bell responded with a header and Berbatov's volley from inside the penalty area was missed!
  Brother Xiaosha has missed many scoring opportunities today, which makes him a little dissatisfied with his performance.

In the 55th minute, Neymar's diagonal pass, Thornton accelerated through the double-team of two defensive players and cut the ball to the right side of the penalty area and passed the ball low!
  After the start of the second half, David Thornton got better and better, which may have also strengthened the opponent's defense against Bell on the other side.

It has something to do with the greater space on Thornton's side.

In short, judging from his performance in this game, it is not obvious that he is a player who has just recovered from injury and has not played for a long time.

Berbatov did not waste his teammates' passes this time and volleyed the ball into the goal with his right foot!

Three to zero!
  Inter Milan sealed the victory!

A few minutes later Ancelotti replaced the goal hero Berbatov with Balotelli.

It also announced that the Nerazzurri switched from offense to defense.

They are already leading 3-0, and they don't have any deep hatred against Lille. They just want to keep a line so that they can meet each other in the future.

There's no telling when Inter Milan might trade players with the other side, so there's no need to be too desperate.

Leo was subsequently replaced early.

The home team completely surrendered and they maintained the victory until the end.

In the end, Inter Milan defeated Lille 3-0 at home, ushering in four consecutive victories in the new season's Champions League group stage and locking in a place in the knockout rounds in advance!
  Although on the other side, CSKA Moscow and Trabzonspor scored 0-0 at home and scored one point each, Lille could only continue to be at the bottom of the group and had no hope of advancing.

(End of this chapter)