Two days later, Inter Milan welcomed their opponent in the fifth day of the UEFA Champions League group stage, Artemedia, at home.
Before the start of the group stage, the Slovak League champion team was recognized as a weak team. However, no one expected this team to have the same number of points as Glasgow Rangers after the four group stage matches. They were ranked second in the group and had hopes of advancing from the group stage.
In the first match between the two sides, Inter Milan won the away game 3-0. At that time, the Italian media criticized Inter Milan for winning too little and playing poorly.
Now that the two teams met again, the Italian media began to praise Artemedia as a team worthy of respect and called on Inter Milan to be careful, to take it seriously, and not fail miserably!
Then, when the game started, the fans, the media, and the commentators were shocked. The Inter Milan manager, Li Ang, made a large rotation for this game.
The goalkeeper was the Brazilian goalkeeper, César. On the defensive line, Samuels and Materazzi were both rested. The center back partners were the Colombian defender, Córdoba, and the young player, Bonucci.
As for the full backs, Evra and Zanetti were paired on both sides.
The biggest change was in the front and center of the field. Carlos was resting, Cambiasso was in the starting lineup, Marchisio was given the opportunity to be in the starting lineup, Stankovic and David Silva were in the starting lineup, and Agüero and Cruz were the partners on the frontline. The two main strikers, Ronaldo and Adriano, were not in the starting lineup. Ronaldo did not even enter the substitutes' list, but sat in the stands to rest.
*****
"Isn't Li Ang being too careless with his starting arrangement?" Ferrari said with some concern.
The reporters in the media seats were also discussing. Some of the reporters who had been waiting for Li Ang to lose were secretly happy. They were waiting for Inter Milan to lose this game. If they lost to Artemedia, they would be in for some fun after the game.
Li Ang did not know the thoughts of those who were waiting to see him make a fool of himself. Even if he knew, he was too lazy to care.
His idea was simple and direct. Since Inter Milan had already qualified ahead of time and secured first place in the group, the next two matches were not important. They could be used to train the young players.
The smiles on the faces of those who were waiting to see him make a fool of himself disappeared in the 15th minute of the match.
After Agüero and David Silva continuously passed the ball, they suddenly diverted the ball to the other side. Cambiasso, who plugged in, sent a wonderful pass, and Cruise scored with a header. 1: 0!
Inter Milan opened the door to victory early on.
The young center back, Bonucci, who was given the chance to start today, performed well and did not let his defensive zone become the Artemidians' breakthrough point.
Of course, this was also related to Inter Milan's firm control of the match. The Artemidians did not put any pressure on Inter Milan's defensive line.
Therefore, in Li Ang's opinion, a match like this was the best place to train the rookies. First of all, this was the UEFA Champions League group stage. The level of the competition was high enough. These youngsters would be very excited to get the opportunity to play. Moreover, Inter Milan had qualified as the group's first place, which would lessen the pressure on the young players. Even if they did not perform well, it would not affect the overall situation. Furthermore, although Artemedia was the dark horse in this group, their strength was really average. The reason they were the dark horse was not because Artemedia was strong, but because Rangers and Porto performed poorly. Therefore, Inter Milan had the confidence to control the match. A match like this was important enough. However, winning or losing did not affect the overall situation. The opponent's strength was average. It was really the best place to train the rookies.
*****
Before the end of the first half, Agüero and Stankovic scored again. At the end of the first half, Inter Milan was leading Artemedia by three goals to nil. Everyone who was waiting to see Li Ang make a fool of himself was embarrassed. They knew that the bastard must be even more proud. He had changed the main lineup, trained the rookies, and won by a large margin!
Not long after the start of the second half, Li Ang made a substitution.
He substituted Marco Borriello for the Argentine veteran Cruz, who had scored the first goal for the team.
Cruz was a player brought in by Cooper when he was the manager of Inter Milan. At that time, the transfer fee was only seven million euros. Moreover, Inter Milan had star players such as Adriano, Martins, Vieri, and Recoba on the frontline at that time. The Argentine was brought in to strengthen the substitutes' bench. Not many people had high expectations for the Argentine. At that time, the Italian media even said that it was possible that after one season, the Argentine would leave Pinenati and become a passer-by of Inter Milan.
Cruz's first goal for Inter Milan was scored at Highbury. However, Cooper, who brought him in, did not last until the winter. Later, when Zaccheroni took over the team, Inter Milan changed to a 3-3-3 formation. Zaccheroni even used him as a rear striker. He was actually very handy as half an attacking midfielder. Then, he scored twice in the away game against Juventus. It must be known that at that time, Inter Milan had not won at the Stadio Alpi for ten years. In the past, they had made mistakes at the beginning of the game. After Cruz's arbitrary goal from the far corner, Inter Milan went crazy.
And this summer, after Li Ang came to Inter Milan, he directly cleared out Vieri and Recoba. He also cleared out Martins. Just when many people thought that Cruz would also be cleared out, Li Ang surprisingly kept Cruz.
At that time, Moratti even asked about it. Moratti intended to keep Recoba at that time and chose to clear out Cruz. However, Li Ang's answer was that Cruz was a player he admired!
That's right. Li Ang admired Cruz. This player was very magical. He was always able to score repeatedly with limited time as a substitute. At the crucial moment, he completed the decisive move to save the national team. And the most incredible thing was that even though he had been sitting on the bench for a long time, his condition was not affected at all. Every time it was his turn to play, he would always quickly get into the zone. There was a more appropriate competition for this, and that was a microwave oven that could be heated quickly. It could be switched on and used immediately.
In terms of ability, Cruz's speed and speed were relatively slow. He was not a powerful striker who could rely on his own advantage to tear apart the defensive line. However, his stopping and passing skills were solid, and he handled the ball reasonably. In particular, he was very calm when he scored the goal. He swung his leg, shook his ankle, and pushed the corner to trick the goalkeeper. In addition, Cruz was tall. Although he did not have his own system like Ibrahimovic, he could also be used as a bridgehead. He could also be pulled out as a ball. He was good at headers. He relied on others to handle the ball in the penalty area and was also very stable. He could also play as a lone arrow. In addition, his free kick skills were very good. In Li Ang's tactical system, Cruz was an important addition. This Argentine could partner with Ronaldo, Agüero, and Adriano. It was simply a plug and play.
*****
Li Ang high-fived Cruz, who had left the field. It was obvious that he valued and appreciated this Argentine veteran. This surprised the reporters in the media box.
"It seems that Li admires Cruz very much. The Argentine has always performed well in limited time. This might be the reason why he chose to keep Cruz," Ferrari said after thinking about it.
In the end, in this game, Inter Milan defeated the dark horse team, Artemidia, 5-0 at home. In the second half of the game, Borriello, who came on as a substitute, assisted Cambiasso's goal. Marchisio was also lucky to score a goal in a chaotic battle!
After the game, the Milan Gazzetta dello Sport's headline: The Mighty Inter Milan!
The picture used was Inter Milan's five-goal victory over their opponent. After the whistle blew at the end of the game, their manager, Li Ang, shook hands with their opponent's manager with a faint smile …
A five-goal victory over an opponent like Artemidia obviously could not excite the Chinese manager.
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