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Chapter 518 Although I won...

Chapter 518 Although I won...

Seeing that the team lost the ball, Benitez just frowned slightly, and then remained silent.

In fact, Benitez has long been prepared for the various difficulties that may be encountered at St. James’ Park. He has led Chelsea to St. James’ Park more than once or twice before, and he has lost many times. Of course, he knows how strong Newcastle is at home under Mourinho’s ten years of management.

Leading the team to Newcastle this time, Benitez did not have the extravagant hope of beating Newcastle away. In his vision, if he could get a [-]-[-] draw, it would be a very good result.

It can be seen from the previous games that Newcastle is also quite afraid of Inter Milan’s quick counterattack, and the speed of Inter Milan’s frontcourt attack line is also a great threat to Newcastle’s two slow central defenders, so Newcastle is not afraid of Inter Milan’s positional attack, but is afraid of Inter Milan’s counterattack.

Naturally, Mourinho will not be ecstatic because of this goal. He has never dared to underestimate Benitez as an opponent, and he will not have any contempt for the team led by Benitez. You must know that in the second year he led the team to participate in the Champions League, he was originally very hopeful. During the battle, Benitez's tactical command still overwhelmed him. Although Benitez did not mention the fact that he also led the team to eliminate Newcastle led by him in the semi-finals nine years ago before the start of the game, Mourinho will not forget that defeat.

Sometimes Mourinho also wondered, did Benitez not mention that incident because he knew he would not forget the failure nine years ago, so he deliberately did not mention it?You must know that there are not many players in the Newcastle team who participated in those two games. If he mentions the past, it will make him more vigilant, so why not mention it?

For such an outstanding opponent, every move may be meaningful.

But the current game will definitely not be the same as before. At least the current Newcastle does not have obvious flaws and lack of cooperation.

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After this goal, the situation on the field did not have a small climax as the neutral fans hoped. The players on both sides were not disturbed by this goal, and continued to entangle in the midfield, absolutely not showing any flaws in the defense.

The spectators are tired watching such games, but the players on the field are actually even more tired. They must pay attention not to show their flaws at any time. The mental pressure is much greater than the physical consumption, and often in this stalemate state, you can see the outstanding personal ability of a player.

Balotelli tested Cech's defense with long shots after a series of wonderful dribbles. Aguero also created a chance to shoot in the penalty area through the cooperation with Destro. Although they failed to score, Newcastle's defense felt dangerous.

Not to be outdone, Newcastle launched a counterattack. Messi tore through Inter Milan's defense line through his personal skills, but his last shot was blocked by Thornton who returned to the penalty area to defend. Gerrard also took a long shot from outside the penalty area, which was saved by Cesar's quick reaction.

Whether it is Newcastle's Messi, Gerrard, Ribery, or Inter Milan's Aguero and Balotelli, they are all players with excellent personal skills. In this stalemate state, their occasional individual performances brought bright scenery to the boring game.

As for the defense of set kicks, both sides also pay equal attention to them. Whenever a set kick is obtained, players who are threatening in the penalty area are closely guarded, and both sides pay great attention to the location of the foul. Basically, they will not give the opponent a free kick in a good position.

Before the end of the first half, Balotelli made Newcastle break out in a cold sweat with a direct free kick from 30 meters away. However, luck favored Newcastle at the critical moment. Although Balotelli's free kick had fooled Cech, it was ruthlessly blocked by the crossbar.

As this free kick was not scored, the referee blew the whistle at the end of the first half. Newcastle temporarily relied on the top star Messi's goal at home to lead Inter Milan [-]-[-].

Mourinho did not make too many adjustments during the intermission. After all, he is now ahead of the opponent. The next thing to do is not to allow the opponent to score away goals. Of course it is the best to expand the score in the remaining time.

The current Inter Milan is not the time when the three major centers of Ibrahimovic, Cruz, and Crespo are all there. Among the forwards, Balotelli is tall, but he is not good at heading.

Therefore, Mourinho has always been worried about Inter Milan's quick counterattack and set-piece tactics. Newcastle is really not afraid of Inter Milan's strong attack.

The players of Newcastle stepped onto the field confidently, preparing for the second half of the game. Benitez did not make a substitution because he fell behind in the first half, and Inter Milan still played with the same team in the first half.

After the start of the second half, Inter Milan suddenly accelerated the pace of attack. Sneijder and Aquilani continued to attack in the midfield, and then Aguero, Chivu, Balotelli and Thornton on the two wings attacked Newcastle's flanks in turn. Newcastle's defense began to tighten for a while.

Mourinho couldn't help admiring Benitez. The formation he formed can be said to be four-four-two, four-three-three, or even four-five-one when defending. However, no matter how it is changed, Maicon and Bale rely more on the attack and defense of the two wings.

However, Mourinho also sneered in his heart. Since he dared to form such a starting lineup, how could he be negligent about the weak defensive wings? Essien and Gerrard in the midfield are both midfielders with strong running ability.You can pass it on as you like!

Mourinho was right. Inter Milan’s attack after the start of the second half seemed lively, but in fact they could not directly threaten Newcastle’s goal. However, Newcastle’s counterattack appeared to be more threatening. After about ten minutes of attacking, Inter Milan had to start shrinking because of Newcastle’s fierce counterattack, giving up the initiative on the scene again.

Newcastle started to control the situation on the field step by step, and continued to attack through the midfield to gain the advantage. However, Inter Milan may be too accustomed to facing this situation.

"Although the current Italian Super League is far from the scenery of the World Cup era, the Italian Super League team has not lost their tradition."

Seeing that Messi's beautiful breakthrough was perfectly resolved by Inter Milan's defense, Pei Wei couldn't help sighing. As a Chinese fan with "Serie A plot", although he chose to buy a Premier League club for various reasons and practical factors, he has always admired the Italian team.

It is no wonder that Inter Milan has always been the pioneer of Italian club tactical changes. For example, among the four most symbolic tactics in Italian football, in addition to shadow forwards, other chain defenses, cross defenses and full-back assists were first applied by Inter Milan on the pitch. It was done on a sharp counterattack, so Inter Milan has always been willing to buy defenders and strikers, but they are reluctant to buy midfielders, because in their tactical system, midfielders can play little role.

With this tradition, plus Benitez, a coach who also thinks about defense first and then offense, Inter Milan is not afraid of being overwhelmed by opponents at all now-we are still a little bit worse in attacking, and how many people are needed for counterattacks.

It was precisely because he saw this that Pei Wei felt such emotion.

"The Italian team's defense is always very solid, but didn't we also score goals?" Mourinho laughed. He said this to boost the morale of other assistant coaches and substitute players: "No matter how strong the defense is, there will be times when it is broken. As long as we don't reveal any flaws that can be exploited by them, the victory in this game must belong to us!"

The assistant coaches and substitute players next to him nodded one after another. They absolutely believed in this. Didn't Newcastle do this perfectly when they played Real Madrid at home last time?Not only won the opponent two goals, but also prevented the opponent from scoring an away goal. Inter Milan is no exception.

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"Gerrard shot from outside the penalty area! The ball was blocked by Lucio with his body! Ribery planned to follow up and hit again, and Thornton made a clearance! During this time, Newcastle's offense was very fierce, and Inter Milan could only defend in their own half!" ESPN commentator shouted.

"A long pass from the backcourt to counterattack, Balotelli took the ball...he passed someone! Ribery was easily swayed away by him, and Balotelli came up to meet him. Balotelli's technique was really good. Although under the interference of Bell, he still dribbled the ball through the midfield...It's a pity that Inter Milan has too few players following up to attack. No matter how good the technique is, Balotelli can't pass all the defenders to score. The ball passed to Destro is too obvious.

"Maicon puts in the assist... beautiful two-for-one! Walcott's goal is just right! A cross! Instead of passing to Long Bisheng in the front line, it is passed to Gerrard who is in the back row! Gerrard shook his head and hit the goal. The ball hit the crossbar and Inter Milan escaped!"

"Aguero's dribble was intercepted by Maicon and Walcott, Newcastle launched an attack, and Inter Milan returned to the defense very quickly! Long Bisheng took the ball from the front of the penalty area, passed through... the pass was intercepted by Chivu, and made a big-foot clearance!"

Ever since Newcastle withstood Inter Milan's attack and gradually gained an advantage through midfield competition, anyone with a discerning eye could see that if [-]% of all offensives were made, then Newcastle had at least [-]% of the advantage. It could almost be said that they were playing against Inter Milan.

However, in this case, after five years of painstaking management by Benitez and the resilience of Inter Milan, which has won the Champions League, it was shown. They looked very embarrassed on the field and were suppressed by Newcastle.

"These guys are really tenacious." Pei Wei said with emotion: "Even if we are facing Chelsea, I am afraid that our offensive will score goals, right? Will Inter Milan's defense be better than Chelsea's?"

What Pei Wei asked makes sense. After four years of management by Benitez and five years of coaching by Carlo Ancelotti from Italy, Chelsea's defense can even be said to be better than Newcastle's, and it is also top-notch in Europe.

"No, that's not the case." Mourinho shook his head: "They are being beaten by us, but we can't attack unscrupulously. After all, we have to prevent their counterattacks, so the two full-backs can only take turns to provide assists. In addition, Long Bisheng is stared at by a super defender who is no shorter than him, so this happens..."

Speaking of this, Mourinho suddenly stopped, gritted his teeth, and said viciously in a voice that only Pei Wei could hear: "Damn it! I was cheated by this guy!"

"What's wrong?" Pei Wei asked hurriedly.

"He didn't even think about scoring goals at our home court. He pinned his hopes on the second round! Even if he lost a goal, he was willing. The attack at the beginning of the second half was just to cover up his purpose..." Mourinho gritted his teeth and said: "A goal loss in an away game is an acceptable result for him. It seems that we are facing much greater difficulties in the second round!"

"No matter what, we won at home... If this continues, Inter Milan will not have the strength to fight back." Pei Wei said a little puzzled.

"So in the second round they can use more places, and we dare not use dense defensive tactics in the away game. After all, the advantage of one ball is too insecure, and they still have many free kicks... If I can judge his intention early, then if I spare no effort to attack during this period, I may be able to score the second goal! I missed this opportunity for nothing..."

"We can still strengthen our offense now." Pei Wei was still puzzled.

"No... time is running out..." Mourinho looked at his watch with a wry smile: "There are only 10 minutes left before the end of the game. With this little time left, we can't take the risk of attacking, because scoring one more goal will only increase the weight of the second round, but if we lose the ball, then we will be in an extremely disadvantageous situation. Rafael, this guy, he can't ignore this situation."

As soon as Mourinho finished speaking, Benitez made a substitution. The Macedonian veteran Pandev replaced Destro. The three attackers in the frontcourt of Inter Milan have all become players with excellent speed and technique.

"See, this guy has considered everything. Although we won this game, the difficulty we faced in the second round was much greater." Mourinho said with a sigh.

At this time, it was already after the end of the game, and on the electronic display above the stands of St. James' Park Stadium, it clearly showed Newcastle [-]-[-] Inter Milan.

(End of this chapter)