Chapter 222: Chapter 222

Juventus held absolute advantage on the field, making Trezeget in the Sky Sports studio quite pleased.

This forward, who scored a golden goal to defeat Italy in the Euro 2000, securing the cup for France, spent most of his illustrious career at Juventus and remains a steadfast supporter of the team.

He started teasing another guest commentator, Ronaldo.

"Hey! Ronnie, I’m just saying, with the current situation, even if you were in your prime on the field, Inter still wouldn’t win!"

Dilata raised an eyebrow: "That’s hardly fair. Peak Ronaldo was like a player from another planet."

"I think they wouldn’t win," Trezeget chuckled with the demeanor of someone who’s been through it all, "Today’s football emphasizes midfield control more than in our days. The old tactic of planting a forward and booting the ball from the back is gone."

"Just look at the midfield setups. Juventus has Pirlo, Pogba, and Vidal, which is clearly a level above the combination of Tang, Medel, and Gualin. If the midfield can’t support the forwards, how can they score?"

Beside him, Ronaldo was quite dissatisfied but restrained himself from speaking out.

But after just three seconds, Ronaldo couldn’t help but say:

"Although Inter Milan’s lines are a bit disconnected right now, once Tang links up with a forward, they will definitely threaten the goal. I’ve seen this happen many times, I firmly believe it!"

"Link up? Tang and who, Bonazzoli? Ha ha!"

If Icardi were on the field, Trezeget might be wary of the connection between Tang Long and Icardi.

After all, Icardi is a typical Juventus nemesis, having scored the most goals in the four matches between the two sides over the past two seasons.

But now, due to the turmoil of refusing training, Icardi has been banned by the team.

Bonazzoli, who replaced Icardi, hardly caught Trezeget’s attention!

"Bonazzoli might rack up stats against a weaker team like Palermo, but he’s up against Juventus now, facing Italy’s national defense!"

"You see, under Mancini’s single forward tactic, Bonazzoli has practically vanished. How can he connect with Tang? I’m skeptical of that claim."

Trezeget was spot on.

Bonazzoli was completely lost under the ironclad defense of Chiellini, Barzagli, and Bonucci.

Although he occasionally shines in Inter’s performances this season, he remains just the mainstay of the Italy U-21 National Team and hasn’t been selected for the senior team yet.

Bonazzoli is fast, has strong heading ability, and shows some goal-sense — all of which fades under the shadow of Juventus’s national defense.

In the 17th minute, during a counterattack, Tang Long made another precise through pass, but Bonazzoli couldn’t keep up with the direction, and the ball rolled out of bounds.

In the 25th minute, Shaqiri made a great cross from the wing, with excellent control of the technique and power, and Bonazzoli found space.

Just as he was about to leap and head the ball home, Chiellini came across swiftly, decisively clearing it!

During the subsequent one-two play between Tang Long and Bonazzoli, Bonazzoli’s pass was off, ridiculously kicking the ball straight to goalkeeper Buffon.

After missing several opportunities, Bonazzoli was deeply frustrated.

Despite Tang Long continuously comforting him, Bonazzoli still covered his head with his jersey in disappointment.

"We can see the disappointed body language of Inter’s starting center-forward Bonazzoli. He’s struggling today," said Shao Jiayi.

"This kid is still quite raw, quite a distance from Icardi!"

Sun Jihai commented, "I did my homework before this match, watched many Inter match tapes. If the earlier play had been Icardi, he would have comfortably executed the one-two with Tang Long. Once Tang Long collects the ball at the top of the box, he could shoot immediately. What a chance!"

"His technique is still a bit rough," Shao Jiayi added, "And importantly, I feel the coordination between Bonazzoli and Tang Long is far less harmonious than that between Icardi and Tang Long. Many times, Bonazzoli’s positioning was clearly wrong, not matching Tang Long’s thought process. They aren’t on the same cognitive level."

Regarding Bonazzoli, Trezeget from Sky Sports and Shao Jiayi and Sun Jihai from CCTV reached a consensus.

At least against a formidable team like Juventus, Bonazzoli still can’t replace Icardi or form a valid threat to the opponent’s goal.

In Mancini’s 4-2-3-1 tactic, the lone forward up front is like a tall tower in the opponent’s penalty area.

If this tower’s foundation isn’t firm, it’s challenging for the ball to penetrate the opponent’s box.

With the attack faltering, Inter’s priority remains solidifying their defense.

Fortunately, defense has always been a strength of this Inter squad, and coach Mancini is known for his defensive strategies.

Against Juventus, Inter adopted a relatively conservative stance, employing a defense-oriented counter-attack strategy.

Since their counterattack hasn’t succeeded, focusing on solid defense for the first half is also a viable approach.

Inter’s three lines began retreating deeper than at the start.

Meanwhile, Juventus seemed unhurried, continuously shifting the ball under the meticulous coordination of their core midfielder, Pirlo.

Pirlo made a gesture.

He motioned to his teammates, moving his hands back and forth horizontally.

This was a clear signal for Juventus players to move and draw out their opponents.

At the Olympic Stadium in Rome, Ronaldo, wearing headphones, had a stern expression on his face in the exclusive broadcast booth of Sky Sports.

The wealth of career experience told Ronaldo that what Pirlo was doing was undoubtedly cutting flesh with a dull knife!

Juventus did not intend to dismantle Inter Milan in the first half.

Though their overall player strength was unquestionably higher than Inter’s.

But Inter wasn’t so weak as to be dismantled by Juventus in the first half.

So Pirlo’s thinking was very clear, which was to greatly exhaust the opponent’s stamina in the first half.

Football was like a cruise missile, constantly being launched at Pirlo’s feet.

The ball "bang" came to the left wing, Inter Milan’s formation tilted toward the left wing.

But Lichtsteiner, who received the ball on the left wing, did not forcefully reach the goal line, but immediately passed the ball to Vidal.

Vidal returned the ball to Pirlo, who then turned leisurely and took another long pass to Evra on the right wing!

Evra also used the same trick, attracting two Inter Milan players to come up to defend, then returned the ball to the center, back to Pirlo’s feet.

From left to right, from right to left;

Again to the left, again to the right.

Dealer Pirlo controlled the situation.

As the football was continuously dispatched, Inter Milan players’ stamina kept depleting.

Because they must keep running in the direction of the ball, otherwise, gaps in their formation would be exposed.

But once they start running, then Inter Milan, positioned passively under attack, would consume more stamina than the ball-controlling Juventus.

Stamina was just one aspect; more importantly, it was the players’ attention and focus.

As the defending side, Inter Milan must be 120% mentally prepared to face Juventus’ dispatching.

This meant they were consuming much more mental energy than Juventus!

With Tevez taking a left-footed shot at a tight angle on the wing, it was thrillingly blocked out for a corner by Handanovic’s foot, as the referee blew the whistle for halftime.

Even though there were no goals, applause still resonated throughout the venue!

The camera showed the President of Italy.

He was smiling and chatting with the football association officials beside him, seemingly very satisfied with the progress of the match.

They supported Juventus’s championship win, supporting Juventus to become the new generation of Europe’s treble winners!

Inter Milan players took a deep sigh of relief.

These 45 minutes weren’t easy!

Felt much longer than the usual 90 minutes.

The two most frequently running midfielders, Gualin and Medel, were already sweating heavily, as if escaping labor under the scorching sun.

Even in the hot month of May, strands of white smoke still rose from their heads, resembling the desert under scorching sun.

The circumstances for attacking midfielder Tang Long were also far from optimistic.

Facing constant setbacks in the offense, he decisively decided to devote more energy and stamina to defense, a switch that led to massive stamina depletion, sweat, like light rain, slipped off his eyebrows, permeating drop by drop blurring his vision.

The lone authentic center on the field was now clutching his rib, with heavy breaths and stumbling steps, moving as if under a heavy burden.

Despite his scarce opportunities to touch the ball, in the fierce tangles with Chiellini, Bonucci, and Barzagli, he was alone, hard to fend off the triple attack.

The physical disturbances inflicted by subtle and sly moves in multiple areas of his body made his stamina consumption enormous, the highest on the entire field.

Fortunately, halftime offered a 15-minute reprieve to rest a bit and catch breath.

"From the first half’s data, Juventus is in absolute leading position!"

"In terms of possession, Juventus reached an astounding 71%, Inter Milan only a pitiful 29%!"

"Concerning shots, Juventus took 8 shots with 4 on target, Inter Milan only one and missed!"

"Juventus won 5 corners, whereas Inter Milan got none!"

"And in fouls, Juventus made 4, Inter Milan made 8."

"It seems they’ve no choice but to apply fouls in defense to stem Juventus’s attacks."

At halftime, William Hill adjusted the real-time odds:

Juventus 1:1.5, Inter Milan 1:2.8.