Seeing Inter Milan's goal, Benítez smiled helplessly. He knew that Liverpool's slim chance to create a miracle was gone.
The goal concede destroyed Benítez and Liverpool's last fantasy of a comeback.
After Benítez accepted the result helplessly, he was relieved. At this time, for him and Liverpool, there was only one goal left in this game: to play this game well. Even if they fell, they had to leave with pride and put an end to this season's UEFA Champions League!
Under such circumstances, the later part of the game became very exciting.
In the forty-first minute of the game, Liverpool scored.
Alonso took the free kick, and Torres overpowered Bonucci to head the ball into the goal.
“Goooooaaaaal！”
"One to one! Liverpool equalized the score! Although this goal did not help them much in terms of the overall score, the Liverpool people showed their tenacity in this game! "
Benítez applauded on the sidelines and cheered for his players.
On the other side, Li Ang shrugged. The goal concede could not be said to be a bad performance by Bonucci. It could only be said that Torres was too strong. At this time, Torres, the Torres of Liverpool, was definitely one of the best strikers on the planet. This goal reflected the Spanish striker's superb attacking ability in front of the goal.
At the end of the first half, the score remained at one to one. Balotelli and Torres scored for Inter Milan and Liverpool respectively.
*****
After the second half of the game began, both sides played more openly.
In the fifty-fifth minute, Liverpool played a beautiful coordination on the flanks. Torres cruised to the flank and passed the ball to the goal. Kuyt's shot hit the ground and rebounded. This made Chivu make a mistake when he tried to break the siege and poked the ball. Instead, it fell at Gerrard's feet. The Liverpool captain scored with an empty goal!
"Two to one! Liverpool has overtaken the score! The England team is very resilient! "
Li Ang immediately made a substitution. Mata came on as a substitute and replaced Montari. Silva also returned to the right flank.
The effects of this substitution were immediate.
In the 61st minute, Inter Milan took advantage of a mistake in Liverpool's rear defensive line. Mata broke through from the middle and sent out a straight ball. Facing the attacking goalkeeper, Reina, Adriano knocked the goalkeeper and sent the football into the goal. 2: 2!
Inter Milan equalized the score. At the same time, Inter Milan led Liverpool by seven goals to three on the total score and maintained a four-goal lead!!!
Inter Milan quickly equalized the score, which was a big blow to Liverpool's morale.
In the seventy-third minute of the game, Inter Milan had a chance for a corner kick. Mata took the corner kick and drove it into the penalty area. Adriano overpowered Carragher and completed a beautiful lion's head kick. The football hit the bottom of the crossbar and then rebounded into the net!
“Goooooaaaaal！”
"Adriano! He is unstoppable in front of the door! "
This goal also once again ignited the enthusiasm of the Meazza Stadium.
Li Ang applauded on the sidelines and cheered for Adriano's excellent performance. In the case of the team fighting in three fronts, having a stable center forward to score points was very important.
After this goal, the pace of both sides slowly slowed down. On the one hand, Inter Milan was leading by five goals and also relaxed. Their offense was not as sharp and fast as before. On the other hand, Liverpool seemed to have finally been drained of their last spirit by this goal and became a little dazed.
In the end, neither Inter Milan nor Liverpool scored again. Inter Milan defeated Liverpool by three goals to two at their home ground and eliminated their opponent with a total score of eight to three. They advanced to the top eight with their heads held high!
Although Liverpool lost, they also showed a certain degree of bravery in the Meazza Stadium. Most importantly, they avoided repeating the fiasco at Anfield in the away game. It could be considered a "glorious defeat."
*****
Inter Milan's elimination of Liverpool was not a surprise. After the five-one win in the first leg away game, no one thought that Inter Milan would be absent from the top eight.
The performance of the other Serie A team, Roma, could be said to be a pleasant surprise for the Italians.
In this game, Real Madrid lost to Roma by a score of one to two at the Bernabéu Stadium and was eliminated by a total score of two to four. In the first half, Aquilani hit the goalpost. In the second half, Baptista's free kick and Roma's substitute, Vucinic's shot were both blocked by the goalpost. Real Madrid's center back, Pepe, was sent off for accumulating two yellow cards. After Taddei scored with a header, Raúl immediately equalized the score and increased his Champions League goal record to sixty-one. He also tied with Inzaghi, who scored sixty-three goals in Europe. Vucinic's header in stoppage time sealed the victory.
At the Bernabéu Stadium, Roma's victory was hard-won: Vucinic and Aquilani's shots were blocked by the goalpost; Perrota and Taddei's shots were saved by the opposing goalkeeper; a serious mistake by the assistant referee resulted in Raúl's "textbook" offside goal effective, allowing Real Madrid to equalize the score to one to one and create a lot of trouble for Roma.
However, Roma was very mature and calm on this night at the Bernabéu. Without being disturbed by the referee's mistake, Taddei and Vucinic became Real Madrid's referees after stabilizing their defense. From the game in Madrid, Roma deserved this victory. Throughout the game, Roma showed a hunger and ferocity for victory.
Before the game, some remarks by Real Madrid's president, Calderón, and manager, Schuster seemed to have angered the Roma people. The Real Madrid president said that his team was the best and that it was impossible for them to not pass the hurdle of Roma. Schuster replaced Capello because of his wonderful football. Before the game, the German criticized Roma for "only knowing how to defend and can only defend," but allowed Roma to have a "slight" upper hand in the game!
After the game against Liverpool, Li Ang watched the video of the game between Real Madrid and Roma and studied the game. If he were to comment on Real Madrid's elimination, he would use a phrase: an arrogant army is bound to lose!
The Spanish media asked Totti and Spalletti sharp questions the day before the game, as if they were examining "lowly people" who had just entered the city. The Spanish reporters asked Totti how he felt at the great Bernabéu Stadium … In the face of such questions, the bald coach, Spalletti, was expressionless and Totti was already suppressing his anger. A Roma reporter with the team angrily said in Corriere dello Sport that the Spaniards were just short of asking the Italians how they would walk out of the Bernabéu Stadium after losing the game.
"It's just that the Spaniards' good mood can only last until the game …" – Corriere dello Sport, sarcastic remarks about Real Madrid after the game.
*****
Inter Milan and AS Roma joined forces to advance to the quarterfinals of this season's UEFA Champions League, which made the Italian media overjoyed. In the words of Milan dello Sport, it was now up to AC Milan.
Because the game between Inter Milan and Liverpool was played at their home ground, the Meazza Stadium, and the game between AC Milan and Arsenal was also played at their home ground, the San Siro, which was actually the same stadium. Therefore, the second leg of the game between AC Milan and Arsenal was postponed to a week later …
In his personal column, the Inter Milan manager, Li Ang, "kindly" reminded AC Milan to be careful of Arsenal.
This attracted strong dissatisfaction from AC Milan. The AC Milan club's vice-chairman, Adriano Galliani, criticized Li Ang for his sinister intentions. This person could not wait to see AC Milan eliminated. He strongly criticized Li Ang's position: AC Milan was fighting for Serie A, Milan had the DNA of a European battle. For Italian football to win glory in Europe, it was up to the Rossoneri.
When Li Ang was later interviewed by the media, he had an innocent look on his face: "I'm really kind. Arsenal is really strong. They really have to be careful, especially of Adebayor."
"At this moment, my heart is with AC Milan, because we both represent Serie A," the Inter Milan manager said with a serious face.
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