Ground football: Ronaldo thought I was going to assist him

Even with injuries, they still had to fight.

However, if a player's injury is compounded, it could potentially lead to their downfall.

Manchester City, oh my god, I'm devastated!

April 25th, the 35th round of the English Premier League.

Manchester City, forced to make some rotations, managed a 2-2 draw against Leeds United.

If Leeds United hadn't already been relegated, and Alan Smith hadn't been distracted by news of his transfer to Manchester United, Manchester City might have lost the game.

May 2nd, the 36th round of the English Premier League.

After a brief respite, Manchester City were once again tied by Fulham.

Fulham's attacking linchpin, Mar Blanco, completed a goal and an assist with a powerful punch and kick.

Thus, Manchester City, who had a chance to advance their league title race this season, suddenly faltered.

Arsenal have chased them down by four points in two rounds of matches.

The gap between the two sides has thus narrowed to two points.

If a single match goes wrong, the top spot in the Premier League could change hands.

Sky Sports: "Manchester City is collapsing! Despite Duncan's repeated efforts to turn the tide, with the number of injured players piling up, the building is about to crumble!"

The Times: "They're just one breath away from everything. Manchester City started the season too early and are now running out of steam."

The Echo: "Arsenal are in excellent form, entering the final stretch of the season! Manchester City's dominance has clearly declined, including Duncan's statistics, which have also dropped significantly!"

Perhaps only Dongqiudi still supports Manchester City.

Dongqiudi: "Essien, the 'African Buffalo,' is back! He's already training with the first team and is highly likely to be fit for the second leg match against Inter Milan!"

"Mascherano still appears too inexperienced against high-level opponents."

"Essien's defense is currently in a class of its own at Manchester City, and his return might be able to limit Inter Milan's star player Viana's outstanding performance!"

Meanwhile, Italian media outlets are also discussing the upcoming second leg of the match.

Gazzetta dello Sport: "Inter Milan are on fire, becoming the only Serie A powerhouse to reach the European semi-finals!"

According to the Italian newspaper *La Gazzetta dello Sport*, "Adriano's decision to forfeit Inter Milan's title may become the biggest obstacle to Inter's advancement to the UEFA Cup final!"

Tuttosport: "Inter Milan have made too many bad deals in the last two years, and selling Adriano for less than 20 million euros was absolutely a mistake! Adriano's current value has exceeded 35 million euros!"

Yes!

Italian media are paying more attention to Adriano, a star player who left Serie A.

Transfermarkt recently updated the market values ​​of some players.

Adriano is the one who has made the most rapid progress.

Moreover, players like Ribery, Lahm, Maicon, Toure, and Cech are also on the list, representing a significant increase.

Manchester City contributes almost half of the football world's GDP growth rate!

Adria was weak, then Adriano was weak, and Adria made a magnificent turnaround in one season.

However, perhaps because they had already made their move, Inter Milan fans had been reluctant to acknowledge Adriano's brilliance this season.

After all, the better Adriano performs, the more it proves that they sold him at a loss, right?

But now that things have come to this, they have no choice but to admit it.

Adriano has now scored over 30 goals across all competitions for Manchester City this season!

What does this mean?

Neither Ronaldo nor Vieri scored so many goals in a single season during their time at Inter Milan.

Of course, the Premier League and Serie A are different. It's generally believed that Serie A has the highest level of defense and is the most difficult to score in.

Therefore, some people say that if Adriano came to Serie A, he would only score about 15 goals in a season.

He's a star player who has performed quite well.

But he's far from being a superstar that Inter Milan would regret or envy.

Hmm... I don't regret it.

Even if you're the one who sold it, you have to say you don't regret it, even with tears in your eyes.

……

May 5th.

Manchester City players flew to Milan via a connecting flight on Emirates Airlines.

The following day, both sides faced off at the San Siro Stadium for a crucial second leg of the UEFA Cup semi-final!

"Hello everyone, I'm Huang Jianxiang, and sitting next to me are Zhan Jun and He Wei. Mr. Han Qiaosheng has been unable to commentate on any Manchester City commentary work because he gets diarrhea every time he comes to our studio. I hope you can understand."

Inside the CCTV-5 studio, Zhan Jun and He Wei smiled slightly.

I'm sorry, Uncle Han.

"Inter Milan has made some adjustments to their attacking line today," Zhan Jun quickly commented, "They've set up a 3-4-1-2 formation."

"Vieri will partner with Julio Cruz as the two strikers."

"Julio Cruz is Inter Milan's substitute striker, standing at 1.9 meters tall. He is not only good at playing as a target man, but also has excellent footwork."

"Some people think Cruise is a civilian version of Ibrahimovic!"

Of course, from Deng Kai's perspective, he felt that Cruise was more like the future Giroud.

He has a good skill level, but has long served as a substitute in the team.

Cruz's goal-scoring efficiency is very high among substitute players. He made 129 substitute appearances for Inter Milan and scored a total of 49 goals, which may be second only to Manchester United's super sub Solskjaer.

It's important to understand that these days, defense and offside are extremely strict.

It wasn't one of those rules that later encouraged offense.

Basically, the best strikers at this stage only average around 0.5 or 0.6 goals per game.

You can't compare them to future Messi and Ronaldo, or even future goal-scoring monsters like Mbappe and Haaland.

He Wei quickly followed up on Zhan Jun's words, saying, "Viana is a lone attacking midfielder, and he is undoubtedly Inter Milan's attacking core this season."

Inter Milan fans believe he has performed better than AC Milan's Kaká, and could even rival Juventus' Nedved!

"Someone even created a ranking of the new generation of attacking midfielders. Kaká, Deco, Ronaldinho, and Viana occupy the top four spots! They're known as the four greatest attacking midfielders in football!"

"They are the players most likely to challenge Deng Kai in this position in the future!"

It must be said that Viana's fate has truly changed.

If he hadn't played a year with Duncan at Sporting Lisbon, Viana would probably have joined Tottenham by now and become one of the biggest flops in Tottenham's history.

Where can you find such splendor now?

However, on the other hand, after losing superstars such as Ronaldo, Inter Milan's ability to create stars has indeed declined due to its poor performance in European competitions.

Viana is currently at the peak of his career in Serie A. He may not be the best attacking midfielder, but he is definitely in the top three.

However, his reputation in European football is far inferior to that of the rising star Kaká.

The immense influence of the Champions League is one factor, and Viana's decision to join Inter Milan the following year after only one year with Duncan is another.

Deng Kai has a huge following.

Moreover, the final year of Sporting Lisbon's miracle was the most important year when they truly reaped the benefits of the previous year's popularity and won the Champions League title that year.

(End of this chapter)

I like playing football on the ground: Ronaldo thought I was going to assist him.