Inter Milan had secured first place in the group two rounds ahead of time. It was truly a glorious moment.
Four teams from Serie A were participating in this season's UEFA Champions League.
Juventus had lost to Bayern Munich 1-2 in the second round of the group stage. Therefore, they were only second in the group.
AC Milan was not considered strong in the group. So far, they had one win, two draws, and one loss. They were not even guaranteed to advance out of the group stage.
Sampdoria had finished four rounds of the group stage. They had one win, one draw, and two losses. They were third in the group, and their hopes of advancing out of the group stage were slim.
Although some people said that Inter Milan had secured first place in the group ahead of time because this group was too weak, these sour words could not change the fact that Li Ang's Inter Milan was in good form. They had won glory for the Serie A team in the UEFA Champions League.
Inter Milan's boss, Massimo Moratti, was a generous boss. After Inter Milan defeated FC Porto and advanced out of the group stage, Moratti announced that the promotion bonus, which was supposed to be paid after the group stage of the UEFA Champions League, would be paid ahead of time. Moreover, the bonus would be increased by 20% as a form of encouragement.
What did professional players play football for? It didn't matter if it was for the sake of their hobby or for the sake of their profession. Everyone loved money. For a moment, the whole of Pinenati was filled with cheers.
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Li Ang also received his promotion bonus for the UEFA Champions League group stage. It was 100,000 euros!
This was not a lot of money. It was mainly because for a powerhouse team like Inter Milan, advancing out of the group stage was the most basic task. According to Li Ang's contract with Inter Milan, he would lead Inter Milan forward in the UEFA Champions League. With every step forward, the bonus would gradually increase. If he could lead Inter Milan to the UEFA Champions League final this season, the bonus would be considerable. If he won the UEFA Champions League, his bank account would receive a large sum of bonus.
Inter Milan's top management also held a closed-door meeting. The powerhouses, including Moratti and Facchetti, fully affirmed Li Ang's performance as coach of Inter Milan.
Among them, Moratti breathed a sigh of relief and felt a little proud. He had gone against the wishes of the masses to hire Li Ang as coach and had shouldered a lot of pressure. Now, after a month or two of adjustment, Inter Milan had begun to show surprising performances. Naturally, he was very satisfied and proud.
November 5, 2005, Rome, Stadio Olimpico.
"Goooooaaaaal!" Sky TV's commentator, Ferrary, let out a long string of "Goal" sounds. "Agüero! Agüero! After scoring in the match against Roma, the Argentine kid suddenly found the feeling of scoring! What a beautiful goal! He scored a goal after bypassing many people. Score 2: 0! Inter Milan was leading Lazio by two goals! They've locked in the victory! "
This was the away game between Inter Milan and Lazio. In the first half of the game, Ronaldo assisted Modric's goal. In the second half, after more than seventy minutes, Agüero and Ronaldo cooperated with each other and charged into the penalty area. After a series of spikes in the narrow penalty area, Agüero scored a volley and helped Inter Milan expand the score to 2-0!
The final score of the game was 2-0. Li Ang's team took three points from the Stadio Olimpico in Rome and also won five consecutive victories in the Serie A league.
However, in this round of the league, Fiorentina, AC Milan, and Juventus also defeated their opponents. Therefore, Inter Milan was still ranked fourth in the league.
The Italian media also exclaimed for a moment. This season's Serie A championship was unprecedentedly fierce.
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However, Inter Milan also had the opportunity to narrow the gap between the teams in front of them. In the twelfth round of the league, the league leader, AC Milan, would directly face off against Fiorentina, who had the same points.
As long as Inter Milan could defeat their opponent in this round of the league, Parma, then regardless of the result of the game between AC Milan and Fiorentina, Inter Milan's ranking would improve.
At the Meazza Stadium, Inter Milan finally defeated Parma 2-0 at home with Ronaldo and Mata's goals in the first and second half.
Their game with Parma was the first game in this round of the league. After defeating Parma, what they had to do now was to watch the fierce battle between AC Milan and Fiorentina.
For the game between AC Milan and Fiorentina, Li Ang naturally preferred Milan to lose. There was no other reason. Compared to Fiorentina, AC Milan was Inter Milan's opponent in the league.
In the end, in the twelfth round of the Serie A game at the Stadio Franchi, AC Milan lost to Fiorentina 1-3 in the away game, ending their eight-game winning streak. Fiorentina surpassed them in points and lost their position as the leader. In the first half, the current league's top scorer, Toni, opened the scoring and Gilardino tied with a header. Now, he was tied for third place in the league's top scorer list with eight goals. At the beginning of the second half, Jorgensen surpassed the score again. Brocchi then handballed in the penalty area, but escaped the penalty. Gilardino's header into the net was disallowed. Toni then scored twice, reaching 15 goals this season.
In another game, Roma, who had been massacred by Inter Milan, was slaughtered by Juventus again at home with a score of 1-4.
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In this way, at the end of the 20052006 Serie A season, Fiorentina, who won the battle of Monte Carlo in this round, led the league with a score of 31 points with 10 wins, 1 draw, and 1 loss. Juventus was in second place with 10 wins, 2 losses, and 30 points. Inter Milan, who defeated Parma and won six league games in a row, was in third place with 9 wins, 2 draws, and 1 loss, with 29 points. AC Milan, who lost in this round, was in fourth place with 9 wins, 1 draw, and 2 losses, with 28 points.
According to the post-match report of Milan Gazzetta dello Sport, AC Milan's boss, Berlusconi, was furious that the Rossoneri lost the crucial game against Fiorentina. He even angrily said that if he had been the manager of this game, they would have definitely won.
In this regard, AC Milan's manager, Ancelotti, could only smile bitterly and say that this showed Mr. President's love and high requirements for AC Milan. He only said that to show his disappointment at our loss …
Li Ang, who was enjoying his lunch in front of the TV and discussing the next Champions League group stage matches with his assistants, saw the news and pursed his lips.
"Ancelotti has a good temper," he said.
Banderas laughed. He suddenly thought of an interesting picture. If the manager of AC Milan was Li Ang, and Berlusconi dared to make such a dig at the manager, there would be an earthquake in Milan.
Moratti did not have much patience for managers, and Inter Milan changed managers frequently. However, Moratti was very good at one thing. As long as the team did well, he was satisfied and would not criticize the manager. Even if it was a defeat in a game, he would not say such hurtful words.
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