Inter Milan defeated their nemesis, AC Milan, 5-2 in the Milan derby. This game was the focus of this round of Serie A matches.
Inter Milan further widened the gap between them and AC Milan.
Di Gennaro, the chief reporter of Milan Gazzetta dello Sport, had become a hardcore supporter of Li Ang. He praised Li Ang in his column and even said that Li Ang was the manager that Inter Milan had been waiting for for ten years!
AC Milan's boss, Berlusconi, was angry and even a little frustrated by AC Milan's defeat in the derby. Berlusconi even raised the white flag after the game. He said after the defeat in the derby, "We can no longer do anything about the league. The gap between us and Juventus can no longer be filled."
AC Milan's striker, Shevchenko, was also disheartened. "It's clear that Juventus is too far ahead, even though the league is still long."
Interestingly, AC Milan refused to admit that they were too far behind Inter Milan. They still saw Juventus as the most powerful contender for the title and were only willing to talk about the gap between them and Juventus.
Although the boss and the team's ace had lost the courage to catch up, AC Milan's vice-president, Adriano Galliani, still refused to admit defeat. "I don't understand why we're talking about the slim hope of the title when we're not even halfway through the league. We still have half a season to catch up."
Fiorentina, currently ranked third in the league, seemed to have no intention of joining the "league championship" discussion. The club's goal was very practical: to enter the next season's Champions League. The club's current consideration was more to strengthen the team during the winter transfer season. If the transfer was successful, Fiorentina, without the pressure of European competition, believed that they should be a strong contender for the league's runner-up.
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The game between Inter Milan and AC Milan was not the last game of this round of Serie A matches. The last game of this round of Serie A matches was Juventus' away game against Lazio.
After Inter Milan won the match, they surpassed Juventus in the standings and became the leader of Serie A. However, the match between Juventus and Lazio had not started yet. Therefore, whether or not Inter Milan could secure the throne of the leader still depended on the result of the match between Juventus and Lazio.
When Juventus' general manager Moggi was asked about Inter Milan's temporary lead in Serie A, his response was very domineering. "Inter Milan has won the five-hour lead!"
Juventus' match would take place five hours after the Milan derby. What he meant was that Juventus would defeat Lazio and return to first place in the standings.
"We definitely can't let the two Milan teams catch up. Because we are very focused, and because we are not babies that were born yesterday. We are a championship team. Today's Juventus was obviously stronger than ever.
Five hours later, the Olympic Stadium of Rome was filled with sighs.
The scoreboard at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome showed the final score of the game: Lazio 1: 1 Juventus!
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Rocchi and Trezeguet scored for Lazio and Juventus respectively.
However, until the last moment of the game, Lazio still had a chance to score. However, Rocchi's shot hit the crossbar.
In the end, Lazio forced the strong Juventus to a draw at home with a score of 1: 1.
After the game, Lazio's captain, Di Canio, said domineeringly in an interview that Moggi thought Juventus was destined to win. This statement angered Lazio's entire team. They wanted to create trouble for Juventus, but unfortunately, they did not win.
When Li Ang heard Di Canio's words, he laughed out loud. He had not jumped up to slap Moggi's face, but Lazio's people had already slapped Moggi.
Juventus was forced to a draw by Lazio!
This was great news for Inter Milan.
In this way, at the end of the 16th round of the 20052006 Serie A season, the Serie A league standings had changed.
Inter Milan led the Serie A standings with a score of 13 wins, 2 draws, and 1 loss, with a total of 41 points.
After being forced to a draw by Lazio in this round, Juventus' record was 13 wins, 1 draw, and 2 losses, with a total of 40 points, and they slipped to second place.
Fiorentina was ranked third with 11 wins, 3 draws, and 2 losses, with a total of 36 points.
After losing the Milan derby, AC Milan's record was 11 wins, 1 draw, and 4 losses, with a total of 34 points, and they were ranked fourth, seven points behind the league leader, Inter Milan.
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The next day, Pinenati was full of laughter. Juventus lost points, and Inter Milan became the league leader. This made the whole team excited.
This was the first time in three years that Inter Milan became the Serie A leader before the end of the winter break, after losing the league title at the last minute of the 20012002 season.
Inter Milan's boss, Massimo Moratti, was very happy. After the day's training, he invited the whole team to a banquet to encourage them.
Of course, if Inter Milan wanted to keep their position as the league leader at the beginning of the winter break, they needed to win in the next round of the league, which was also the last round of the Serie A league before the winter break. In this way, even if Juventus also won, Inter Milan would still be the league leader.
December 21, 2005, Milan, Meazza Stadium.
The whole stadium was a sea of cheers.
"Goooooaaaaal!" In the stadium broadcast, the announcer's high-pitched voice of "Goal" rang through the stadium.
On the field, Ronaldo was running to celebrate. Beside him were the excited Inter Milan players.
At this time, the Meazza Stadium's scoreboard faithfully recorded the current game time and score:
In the 83rd minute of the game, Inter Milan 5: 1 Empoli!
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In the first half of the game, Agüero scored twice, helping Inter Milan to a 2: 0 lead.
In the second half of the game, Figo, Mata, and Ronaldo each scored. Ronaldo's goal helped the team change the score to 5: 1!
This was also the final score of the game!
When the referee, Rossetti, blew the whistle at the end of the game, the whole stadium erupted like a volcano. All the fans stood up and cheered.
The players on the field also hugged each other. The players on the Inter Milan bench also rushed onto the field to celebrate.
The seventeenth round of the Serie A League had ended. Inter Milan won the match against Empoli by five to one. Not only did they obtain a great victory, but they also accumulated 44 points with 14 wins, 2 draws, and 1 loss. When the winter break arrived, they continued to lead the Serie A League!
The camera panned to the sidelines. The Inter Milan manager, Li Ang, stood on the sidelines with his arms raised high. His face was full of confidence and excitement. Beside him were his coaching staff colleagues who ran over to hug and celebrate with him.
In the other games in this round, Juventus, Fiorentina, and AC Milan defeated their opponents respectively. However, this did not stop Inter Milan from entering the winter break with the honor of being the Serie A league leader.
"Inter Milan, Leading Serie A!" After the game, Inter Milan's official website used such a concise title!
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