Moratti chatted happily with the players. The players all respected their boss. Putting aside the results of Moratti's Inter Milan team, Moratti's love for Inter Milan was unquestionable. Moratti's family was not the richest family in Italy, but Moratti had gritted his teeth and persisted in spending money over the years in order to restore the glory of the great Inter Milan.
Moratti encouraged the veteran, Vieri. Recently, the veteran's form had been average, and he even showed signs of wanting to leave Inter Milan.
Moratti solemnly expressed to the players that he was considering paying out of his own pocket for the players to stay in a luxurious hotel before the game. He would use the best service to escort the team.
After leaving the players' dormitory, Moratti went to Pinenati's exclusive office. The club's chairman, Facchetti, as well as the club's general manager, Blanca, and Oriali were already waiting for him.
This was a closed-door meeting of Inter Milan's upper management.
There was only one topic in the meeting: whether to continue to trust the team's manager, Mancini.
*****
Mancini had just taken up the role of Inter Milan's manager last summer.
It could be said that Mancini was personally appointed by Inter Milan's owner, Moratti.
It could even be said that if Moratti had not personally appointed him and insisted on it, Mancini would not have been able to get the position. At that time, Inter Milan's chairman, Facchetti, had opposed inviting Mancini to coach.
Last season, when Cooper's position was in jeopardy, Mancini was the person that Inter Milan's owner wanted to poach the most. At that time, Mancini's biggest obstacle was Facchetti, who had guaranteed Zaccheroni's retention. Therefore, after Moratti expressed his intention to invite Mancini to coach, Inter Milan's old captain, Facchetti, even planned to resign as chairman. However, Moratti successfully convinced Facchetti to give up on the idea of resigning after a half-hour phone call. He reluctantly agreed that Mancini would be Inter Milan's manager for this season.
Just like that, Mancini became Inter Milan's manager. However, Facchetti had always been cautious about it.
In the league last weekend, Inter Milan's home game was forced to a 1-1 draw by the relegation team, Chievo. This once again caused dissatisfaction among Inter Milan's upper management.
Inter Milan was currently the only undefeated powerhouse team in the five leagues. This result seemed good, but after 20 rounds of the Serie A, Inter Milan's record was 6 wins and 14 draws. You didn't read it wrong, 14 draws!
This had already created the record for the most draws in Inter Milan's history after twenty rounds of league matches.
Too many draws also dragged down Inter Milan's results. With six wins and fourteen draws, Inter Milan currently had 32 points, which was 15 points behind Juventus at the top of the table. They could basically declare that they had no chance to compete for the Serie A title.
Inter Milan's chances of winning the league were just halfway through the league season. This was unacceptable to Inter Milan's club and fans. Inter Milan's chairman, Facchetti, once again expressed his doubts about Mancini. Only Moratti still insisted on trusting Mancini. However, in the face of the opposition from Facchetti and the other upper management, Moratti sometimes doubted whether his decision to choose Mancini was correct.
*****
In this closed-door meeting, Moratti spent a lot of effort to convince Facchetti, who agreed to give Mancini more time.
However, Facchetti also said that if Inter Milan continued to perform badly, he would formally request the club to consider changing the manager.
After Facchetti and the others left the command center, Moratti leaned back in his chair, looking very tired.
On his desk was a copy of Milan Gazzetta dello Sport. The title of this page was: The Magical China Manager!
Because Albertini and several other Italian players played for Sporting de Gijón, the Italian media had always paid attention to Sporting de Gijón. This time, the Spanish media was hyping up Hill's intention to invite Li Ang to coach. Naturally, the Italian side followed up. This was an article written by Milan Gazzetta dello Sport about Atletico Madrid's manager, Hill's intention to invite Li Ang to coach. Obviously, the Italians were surprised and curious that a traditional powerhouse like Atletico Madrid would invite a China man to coach.
Moratti remembered that Cambiasso and Vieri had mentioned this when they were chatting.
Curious, Moratti picked up the newspaper …
*****
Iberian Peninsula.
January 30, 2005, La Liga's 21st round.
Sporting de Gijón turned the tables and defeated Real Mallorca by a score of 3-1. Ribery and Modric scored for Sporting de Gijón. The substitute veteran, Chiesa, scored a beautiful overhead goal.
The focal point of this round of the league was the game between Barcelona and Sevilla.
Barcelona's first defeat of the season was at home to Sevilla at Camp Nou. However, this time, Rijkaard's team completed their revenge against Sevilla by a score of 4-0.
Sevilla's media lamented that after the 5-1 defeat at the feet of Sporting de Gijón, the team's condition plummeted. In short, it was all Sporting de Gijón's fault. It was all Li Ang's fault.
After the 21st round of the league, people noticed the changes in the La Liga standings.
Barcelona was in first place with 14 wins, 4 draws, and 3 losses, accumulating 46 points.
Sporting de Gijón was in second place with 11 wins, 5 draws, and 5 losses, accumulating 38 points.
Real Madrid was in excellent form after the winter break. The Galácticos were in third place with 12 wins, 2 draws, and 7 losses, accumulating 38 points. They had the same number of points as Sporting de Gijón, but their goal difference was six fewer than Sporting de Gijón's.
The most surprising team was Villarreal, nicknamed the "Yellow Submarine," Villarreal. This team had achieved four consecutive victories after the winter break, catching up from behind. Currently, they had 9 wins, 7 draws, and 4 losses, accumulating 34 points, surpassing Sevilla and Valencia to rank fourth in the league.
Next were Sevilla, Valencia, and Real Betis. These three teams also had 34 points, the same number of points as Villarreal. Because of their goal difference, they were ranked fifth to seventh.
The Spanish media also sighed. This season's competition for the fourth place in La Liga would be unprecedentedly fierce. What they did not expect was that Sporting de Gijón did not fall behind after the winter break, and even improved, accumulating the same number of points as Real Madrid to maintain pressure on the league leader, Barcelona!
"Sporting de Gijón continues to amaze us. Now, no one knows how far this team can go. Perhaps even their manager, Li Ang, does not know. However, it is undeniable that this newly promoted team has now become a new force in La Liga. At the very least, they have had a profound impact on the league this season …" — Efe News, Spain's largest news agency, said in their sports column.
*****
[Do you want to upgrade now?] The system asked.
Li Ang suppressed the joy in his heart and chose to confirm.
He had finally upgraded!
His treatment for the little boy, Barthez, had finally been successful. The little boy could now walk and even jog. The pathological problem had been solved. What little Barthez had to do next was to actively train and adapt to his body's coordination. This was a process of recovery and had nothing to do with treatment.
The successful treatment of little Barthez allowed Li Ang to gain more experience points than he expected. It could be said that the medical system, which had been stagnant for a long time, was upgraded directly to level six!
This made Li Ang ecstatic.
[Do you want to draw the reward now?]
Confirm!
The familiar lottery roulette wheel appeared again. After Li Ang shouted to stop with his consciousness, the needle finally stopped slowly.
[Congratulations, you have drawn a beginner strength pill!]
[Beginner strength pill]? What was that?
In a game, after using this skill on a player, the player's physical fitness will be instantly revived for fifteen minutes.
Li Ang pondered for a moment. This was a skill card that only worked on an individual. It was not very useful, but it was not useless. For example, in a fierce game or even overtime, if he used this skill on an important player on his side, such as Ribéry, imagine a revived Ribéry appearing in overtime. This scene was really wonderful.
*****
[Do you want to continue with the lottery?]
Because it was a three-level upgrade, Li Ang had the opportunity to draw three times.
Confirm!
After the lottery roulette wheel stopped, Li Ang's face was full of astonishment. This was [Beginner Misfortune Transfer]!
[Beginner Misfortune Transfer]? What did it mean?
In a game, especially against a team with a rough style of play, if Li Ang was worried that a player on his side who was prone to injury would be injured, he could use [Beginner Misfortune Transfer] in advance. The injury probability of this player on his side would be reduced by twenty percent, and the injury probability of a random player on the other side would be increased …
After Li Ang recovered from his astonishment, he touched his chin. This was really a necessary medicine for revenge, resentment, and harm.
[Do you want to continue with the lottery?]
Confirm.
For the third time, the roulette wheel needle stopped very, very slowly. This made Li Ang very surprised. What did this mean? Could it be a sign of something?
Then, he saw the needle stop at a wooden sign. After the wooden sign was turned over, it was blank!
The system gave a notification: Sorry, you have a bye. Please continue to work hard!
F * ck you!
Li Ang was so angry that he cursed. There was actually a bye. This was the first time he had encountered such a situation. Was it easy for me to get a chance to draw the lottery? Now, there was actually such a loophole. He was so angry!
This made Li Ang very depressed. He cursed the system in his heart for a long time before he calmed down.
*****
After the Medical System's lottery ended, it was time to upgrade the Football System.
During this period, Sporting de Gijón had achieved outstanding results. Li Ang had also accumulated a considerable amount of experience points. It was only because of the Medical System's upgrade restrictions that he had not been able to upgrade it. Now, he could finally upgrade it.
He saw the system explosively upgrade from Level 6 to Level 9.
Li Ang's heart was filled with anticipation. Next was the lottery.
[Do you want to draw the lottery now?]
Li Ang was just about to confirm, but his heart skipped a beat. If he was unlucky and drew a bye again, then he would be extremely unlucky.
He thought for a moment and asked a question: Is there a way to avoid a bye?
[Yes,] the system replied.
"What's the way?" Li Ang was overjoyed. Then, when he heard the system's answer, he was a little hesitant. The system meant that by combining the number of lottery draws, he could avoid a bye. Of course, if he did that, Li Ang would be at a disadvantage. Therefore, the system said that every time the lottery draws were combined, the chances of drawing a high-level prize would increase by 10%.
In other words, if he chose to combine the three lottery draws now, he could avoid a bye, and his chances of drawing a high-level prize would increase by 20%.
The so-called high-level award referred to the level of the Skill Card. For example, the Skill Cards that Li Ang had previously drawn were Beginner Skill Cards, while the high-level award referred to Intermediate Skill Cards, or even higher level Skill Cards.
*****
After weighing the pros and cons, Li Ang gritted his teeth and went all out!
[Do you want to combine the lottery draws?]
Confirm!
Then, he saw that in the upper right corner of the system interface, the number representing the number of lottery draws had changed from three to one. Li Ang's heart ached. However, when he saw the number of 20% in the lower right corner, he was somewhat comforted.
[Begin lottery draw!]
The huge roulette wheel began to spin. The needle spun very quickly at first, then gradually slowed down. Finally, the needle slowly came to a stop.
The wooden sign of the prize he had drawn flipped over. Li Ang took a deep breath and 'widened' his eyes to look at it: [Intermediate Great Shot]!
[Intermediate Great Shot]?
Li Ang knew the meaning of 'Great Shot'. It described a person's archery skills very well, and could also be understood as' Perfect Shot '!
Was this related to the scoring rate of the shot?!
*****
Sure enough, as Li Ang had guessed, this was a Skill Card that could increase the scoring rate of the shot.
[Intermediate Great Shot]: When used on a player, the player's shooting skills during training and competitions will be accelerated. It can increase the player's scoring rate of the shot in a competition by more than 30%!
Increase the scoring rate of the shot by 30%!
This could be said to be terrifying!
What made Li Ang the happiest was that, unlike the other Skill Cards that he had drawn this time, this [Intermediate Great Shot] Skill Card had a validity period of three months!
Moreover, even after the validity period had passed, the player that Li Ang used this skill on would have a certain improvement in their shooting ability, which would have a positive impact.
In addition, this Skill Card could have a chance to change the target, but the effect would be reduced by half. For example, Li Ang had originally used it on Diego Milito, but Milito was later injured in a game. Li Ang could change the target and use it on other players, but the effect would be reduced by half. It could only increase the shooting percentage by 15%.
Even so, this made Li Ang very happy. This prize was really awesome!
Li Ang touched his chin. This [Advanced Great Shot] Skill was a good benefit. Which player should he use it on?
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