Chapter 223: Chapter 223
As the players from both teams gradually walked through the player tunnel, someone patted Tang Long on the shoulder.
He turned around to see it was Pirlo.
"How is it? Kid, are you feeling tired?"
Pirlo said with a smile.
This is Pirlo’s last season with Juventus. After this match, he’ll head to Major League Soccer in the United States to retire.
Even though Pirlo has collected numerous honors, he no longer craves championships with the same urgency as when he was younger.
However, as a professional player, he wouldn’t mind adding one more championship to his career as his retirement approaches.
What’s more, if there’s a chance to win the treble, it would be the biggest recognition and affirmation of his career!
This is something Pirlo has never achieved in his many years of playing football.
"A bit tired, let’s see who scores first."
Tang Long looked at this player who had once been his mentor in the AI Cloud Training Ground and smiled faintly.
The battle between the two teams was in full swing.
As the two most threatening generals on the field.
There wasn’t much more conversation between Pirlo and Tang Long in the tunnel.
He patted Tang Long’s shoulder again and turned away.
Tang Long began to keenly realize that Juventus was not only more driven by the glory of the championship than Inter but also had a more relaxed mindset!
This was definitely not good news for Inter.
If they continued to play this way, it was only a matter of time before Juventus slowly harvested the game in the second half.
CCTV live broadcast studio.
Chinese viewers watching the match were also feeling downcast!
As the only hope of the village, Tang Long drew a large number of fans into the live broadcast room for this match.
If Juventus fans still supported their team to win the championship, then the rest, not to mention Inter Milan fans, those of Liverpool, Barça, Real Madrid, Bayern, Chelsea, Manchester United, Manchester City...
Almost all Chinese fans, except for Juventus fans, were hoping Inter Milan could defeat Juventus and win the Coppa Italia.
Fans dreamed of Tang Long lifting his first career championship trophy in the spotlight!
Becoming a champion player in his first year of his professional career!
This is what all Chinese fans wish for!
They desperately want a Chinese player to win a significant honor trophy in the top arena of the five major leagues.
Instead of being like Dong Fangzhuo at Manchester United back in the day, a marginal figure following the team to win championships.
-[What’s going on? In the previous two matches against Juventus, one loss and one draw, the scene wasn’t as ugly as today.]
-[Yeah, Inter was completely suppressed by Juventus for 45 minutes, and Tang Long had very few chances to get the ball, with his teammates’ support looking ineffective.]
-[It seems that, indeed, the league is different from when it involves championship contention, the style of play completely changes!]
-[Do you even need to say? Juventus has already reached the Champions League final, won the league in advance, and has a good chance to go for the treble, they definitely don’t want to lose this Coppa Italia.]
-[Honestly, only we Chinese fans hope for Tang Long to win the championship. Just look at the Italian president at the venue, smiling so happily, and the football association official sitting next to him is also smiling, they definitely hope Juventus wins!]
-[Exactly, Italian football has been dormant for too long, they certainly hope Juventus can lead and bring Italian football back to prominence by winning another treble.]
-[Mancini, Mancini, you have to think of something, adjustments must be made in midfield, it’s urgent!]
-[Replace whom, Icardi? It would be great if he were here, a definite Juventus killer, it’s really a pity he’s not on the roster!]
-[I’ve said before, there’s no one in Inter who can replace Icardi now, that Bonazzoli or whoever, playing center forward, does he have the capability?]
-[Bonazzoli is a rookie, completely crushed by Juventus’ national team defense, he just goes up there to get abused, better to have me up there.] )
-[Put my grandma in the center forward position, the effect would probably be the same as Bonazzoli, invisible anyway, what do you all say?]
-[Oh my, this is driving me crazy, Tang Long, come on, if no one can score, you go and score a goal!]
-[Brothers, the situation doesn’t look optimistic, Inter might GG in this Coppa Italia final!]
He Wei in the studio was also sweating profusely with anxiety.
This match cost the station half a billion to secure the broadcasting rights!
It’s said that the executives made this decision for an important enhancement to CCTV’s viewership ratings and brand value.
The marketing department has already discussed with several advertisers, once the viewership hits 7.0, they can sign several big advertising contracts.
At the beginning of the first half, the ratings soared from 5.1 at one point to 6.5, just a step away from 7.0.
But as Inter was suppressed for too long, after 30 minutes, the viewership fell back, sliding to 6.3.
If there’s no rebound in the second half, this half-billion could go to waste!
This concerns the performance bonuses of everyone in the station, so it can’t be taken lightly.
Otherwise, spending half a billion for fans across the country to watch Tang Long lose, not only would it be a business loss, CCTV 5 would also become the laughingstock of the entire CCTV~
It would be a disgrace.
Shao Jiayi seemed to notice the change in He Wei’s expression and comforted him, saying:
"Don’t worry just yet, although Inter is at a disadvantage, the score is still 0:0, both sides are still on the same starting line."
"But going by how things are, I don’t see any hope," He Wei said.
Shao Jiayi was originally an attacking midfielder, and he had his own unique insights.
"Although Bonazzoli isn’t playing well, as a 1.85-meter tall target man, he’s now Inter’s only proper center forward, he can’t step down. If I were Mancini, I’d switch to a two-striker system."
"Switch to two strikers?" The defenders were taken aback.
Inter Milan’s usual tactic was a 4-2-3-1 with a single forward, a tall target man up front, creating through balls by pushing from the wings for Tang Long to connect with the striker, a routine and tactic they commonly used.
A two-striker formation was used before but only in the first ten matches of the league season, even before Tang Long was promoted from the youth team to the first team.
"I think Jiayi is right," Sun Jihai analyzed, "Bonazzoli has his foundation here, he needs a forward to share some burden, after all, he can’t stand against Juventus’ defensive line alone, he needs a helper."
"Moreover, Jiayi didn’t mention one thing, I’ll speak for him," Sun Jihai and Shao Jiayi exchanged smiles, "Adding a forward can free up Tang Long, freeing up Tang Long is key to Inter turning the situation around!"
"Haha, exactly," Shao Jiayi said, "This is the time for someone to stand up, and that person can only be Tang Long!"
Juventus coach Allegri was very pleased with the team’s first-half performance!
Although the score remained 0:0 and they didn’t break the stalemate, everything was under Allegri’s control.
This season, Juventus was all about "stability"!
Their league points were at the top, securing the Serie A title three rounds early.
However, in terms of goals, they not only fell behind Inter Milan, but also behind Rome, ranking third in the league.
Yet Juventus’ defense was at the top of the league!
After 37 rounds, they only conceded 18 goals, with an average of less than 0.5 goals per game.
Looking at Juventus’ past matches, they often ended the first half with a 0:0 scoreline, launching sharp offensives after the opponent’s stamina wore down past the 60th minute, decisively harvesting the game.
This was a stamina-conserving playing style, and also very ruthless!
Because once the opponent was behind in the latter part of the match, after 60 minutes, even if they wanted to equalize, time was very limited!
This Juventus team was not only a leader on the league table, but their mindset was also far ahead.
Regardless of whether winning by one or two, I will thoroughly defeat you!
Mancini looked at his disciples in the locker room, each lifting their heads to look at him, awaiting a strategy.
He also felt a headache.
Without Icardi, the connection between Bonazzoli and Tang Long was cut by Juventus’ three veteran defenders.
There was still time, just, what change should be made?