Leon decisively rejected the offers of Laporta and Barcelona, he is a very sane and calm person, very clear about what he needs.

He craves honor, that feeling of being in control.

Barcelona, with its complex environment, is obviously not a good place to go.

Leon thought that if he rejected Laporta on the phone, Barcelona would end there, and the matter would not be publicized.

He didn't expect this incident to be poked out by the media, and now almost the whole world knows about it.

This made Leon very unhappy, because he had a guess that nine times out of ten, this incident was deliberately poked out by Barcelona.

Leon was able to guess the reason why Barcelona did this, and it was clear that his refusal did not make Laporta completely dead, although perhaps Leon's words made Laporta also worried about Leon's tough personality, but now there are constant troubles. Laporta, who has been questioned, really needs to use Leon's influence to save his image and consolidate his position, and after weighing it again and again, the president of Barcelona still wants to invite Leon to coach Barcelona, so there is such a play: this is to use media public opinion to pressure and hype, and it will also cause distrust between Leon and Inter Milan, and Barcelona will have a chance.

If it were someone else, he might be influenced by the media's public opinion, and even driven by the media's public opinion trend, but what kind of person is Li Ang, how could he be affected by public opinion, as an experienced veteran driver in fighting against the media, he has no fear of these at all.

On the contrary, Laporta's approach will make Leon unhappy.

***********

The day before Inter Milan's home match against Livorno in the 23rd round of Serie A, Inter Milan owner Moratti visited the team at the Pinenati training base.

In the match against Livorno, Inter Milan played at home, but it was obvious that an opponent like Livorno did not need Moratti to come to the training base to cheer the team on, and the purpose of his coming to the Pinenati training base was obvious.

At the Pinenati training base, Moratti and Leon had a meeting, it is clear that the president of Inter Milan is very sensitive to the media hype that Leon was invited by Barcelona, Leon is the head coach of Inter Milan, and it can even be said that it is the soul of this team, this Inter Milan is built by Leon, after so many years of Inter Milan's troubled years, Moratti is more aware of the preciousness of Leon's success in leading Inter Milan in recent years, and he is more aware of the importance of Leon to Inter Milan.

Now, the Barcelona people are actually digging Leon, which is simply digging the optimus pillar of Inter Milan, and it is strange that Moratti is not in a hurry.

"In recent days, I've been getting a lot of calls from journalists asking if you're leaving Inter Milan...... What's going on in Barcelona?" Moratti asked, the two of them chatted as they walked, he and Leon had a pretty good relationship, and in addition to their work relationship, they also had a good personal relationship, so they didn't beat around the bush.

Leon smiled and told Moratti that Barcelona had contacted him and invited him.

"Joan Laporta called me and asked me to coach Barcelona. Leon took the cigar handed by Moratti, looked at it, and said in surprise, "Romeo One?"

Romeo One is a popular brand in Europe and is said to be the favorite brand of Cuban cigar of former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

"I won't forget you, I've got some for you, and I'll have someone send it to your office. Moratti said with a smile.

Moratti is a big smoker, and he knows that Leon sometimes smokes when he thinks about problems, so some good cigarettes will also think about Leon.

***********

"Then you're welcome. Li Ang laughed, however, did not ignite, he only needs tobacco when thinking about the problem, usually does not smoke, Li Ang continued, "I directly rejected Laporta's invitation, I thought that this matter would be over, but I didn't expect the media to start hyping up." ”

After hearing that Leon had simply rejected Barcelona before, Moratti seemed particularly happy. He doesn't care about the media hype, he only cares about Leon's attitude.

Moratti doesn't think that Leon is responding to him perfunctorily, he has a good relationship with Leon and knows Leon's personality, if Leon really wants to leave Inter Milan, he will definitely explain it directly and will not hide it.

"Then I'm relieved. I haven't been able to sleep well for the past few days. Moratti said.

Although Moratti's words were a slight exaggeration, Leon understood what Mr. President was trying to convey by the importance he meant, and he was comfortable listening to it.

"I have a lot of trophies waiting for us at Inter Milan. Li Ang smiled slightly and said.

Moratti laughed and was in a good mood. Although he also knows that Leon cannot stay at Inter Milan forever, the two sides are still in the honeymoon period, and the cooperation is pleasant, and we will talk about it later.

A day later, in the 23rd round of the 2007/2008 Serie A season, Inter Milan defeated Wano 2-0 at home thanks to goals from Cassano and Adriano, making it 23 consecutive wins in Serie A since the beginning of the season, and proud of the Apennines.

And just after the game, Li Ang made it clear in the post-match press conference that he was very happy to work at Inter Milan, that he would not go anywhere and would continue to stay at Inter Milan.

And Inter Milan President Moratti also solemnly stated in an interview with the media: Mr. Leon is the coach of Inter Milan, and he is and will still be, he loves this team deeply, and we love him deeply, this is a happy marriage with long-term love.

Both Leon and Moratti have made it clear, although some media insist that this is just a formulaic statement on the part of Inter Milan, but in fact it is certainly not the case, maybe Barcelona are already making efforts and are close to taking Leon. However, for Leon, he can't control what the media says, just as the media can't control his mouth, Leon doesn't pay attention to the media noise, he focuses on the upcoming match.

***********

The 2007/2008 UEFA Champions League quarter-finals are about to be ignited, with Inter Milan facing Premier League giants Liverpool in the quarter-finals, with the first leg being played at Liverpool's Anfield Stadium and Inter Milan playing away.

Inter Milan were ready to leave for Liverpool and the game was particularly eye-catching.

Among them, the most eye-catching is the duel between the two head coaches.

Inter Milan is coached by Leon, who has a UEFA Champions League, a UEFA Cup, a La Liga title, two Serie A titles, a Spanish Copa del Rey trophy and two Coppa Italia trophies.

Liverpool's head coach is Rafael Benitez, who has also won the La Liga championship and also has the UEFA Champions League trophy in hand, and both are recognized as tacticians.

Similar to Leon's very inspirational success, Benitez's success is legendary.

Rafael Benitez was born in Madrid, Spain, in 1960. Benitez seems to have been born to be a coaching material, and he stepped into the coaching position at the age of 26. After coaching small teams such as Valladolid and Tenerife, Benitez became the head coach of Valencia in the summer of 2001. Valencia had reached the Champions League final for two consecutive years under the tutelage of Argentine Cooper. To be able to take over such a team with unlimited potential was both an opportunity and a challenge for Benitez, who was unknown at the time.

Benitez seized the opportunity, and in his first season in charge of the "Bat Army", he led the team to snatch the La Liga title from Barcelona and Barcelona, and won the La Liga and League Cup double in the 2003-2004 season. His success at Valencia saw Benitez favored by a number of big clubs, and in the 2004-2005 season, Benitez landed in the Premier League, taking over the reins from Houllier.

The 2004-2005 season was one of the highlights of the Premier League: defending champions Arsenal went unbeaten last season and extended their unbeaten run to 49 games this season. It was Manchester United who broke the Gunners' golden form, with the Red Devils getting the young and famous Wayne Rooney, while a Portuguese man also known as "Ronaldo" in the team is growing rapidly. But the biggest surprise was Chelsea, with the arrival of new Champions League-winning manager Jose Mourinho transforming Chelsea from a "nerve-knife" young soldier into a hideous tiger and wolf army, and the Blues eventually won the league title with a record 95 points. Compared with these top three, Liverpool's strength is much inferior. At the end of the season, the Reds finished fifth in the league, even behind city rivals Everton, which made Benitez also questioned.

In the Champions League, Liverpool also stumbled. In the final round of the group stage, Liverpool hosted Olympiacos. Having lost 1-0 in Greece, the Reds had to win this game to qualify from the group. As a result, with a brave performance at the last moment, Liverpool reversed the opponent 3-1 and advanced to the round of 16 as the second in the group.

No one would have thought that a thrilling qualification for the group stage would be the start of a miracle. Since then, Liverpool, who escaped death, was unstoppable and reached the Champions League final in one fell swoop after overcoming a number of strong opponents!

On May 25, 2005, the Champions League final was played in Istanbul, and Milan's status at that time was somewhat similar to that of Inter Milan of Leon now, and it was the most terrifying team in Europe.

The Rossoneri boast superstars such as Shevchenko, Kaka and Andrea Pirlo, and have a stellar Champions League record, winning the title in 2002-03. Liverpool's European results have been lackluster since that magical 'Treble' season (2000-01), and their last Champions League victory was 21 years ago, so almost no one is optimistic about them in this game.

Sure enough. In the first half, Milan took a 3-0 lead thanks to Maldini's fastest goal in the history of the Champions League final and Crespo's brace.

Three goals down at half-time, not to mention in the final, everyone knows what it means, and no one thinks Liverpool will turn the tables.

However, Benitez did not give up and decided to switch to German midfielder Hamann. Because Benitez realised that Kaka's liveliness was the main reason for Liverpool's overall passivity in midfield, and Hamann's appearance would contain Kaka in defence while freeing Gerrard completely. However, the team will need to remove a defender, but Benitez is willing to take a gamble, and he must also take a gamble.

The substitution proved to be the turning point of the game. After Hamann came on, Liverpool gradually became able to compete with Milan in midfield, and the first goal was not long in coming: in the 54th minute, Reese crossed, Gerrard stepped forward into the penalty area and shook his head to score, 1-3!

Two minutes later, Hamann split the ball, and substitute Czech veteran Smitchell shot from outside the penalty area, and the ball flew from Dida's hand into the net, 2-3!

After another four minutes, Gerrard was tripped by Gattuso in the box and took a penalty! Although Alonso's penalty was saved by Dida, he quickly made a follow-up shot to send the ball to the top of the net, 3-3!

After that, neither side achieved anything, and the game went to penalties. At this time, Dudek stepped up, and the "lap dance" on the goal line of the old Polish goalkeeper became a nightmare for Milan. Indeed, if it weren't for Dudek blocking Shevchenko's two consecutive close-range strikes at the end of extra time, the Reds would not have been able to wait for the penalty shoot-out.

With Shevchenko's feeble penalty saved by Dudek, the Ataturk Stadium boiled over and Liverpool miraculously staged a comeback and climbed to the top of Europe in an incredible way!

It was Liverpool's fifth Champions League trophy in their history, and more importantly, it put the Reds back on the centre stage of the European stage and re-established themselves as a respected giant. And Benitez has also entered the ranks of the world's top coaches with this championship.

***********

Not to mention how Benitez's Liverpool fare in the Premier League, Benitez's team has performed quite well in cup competitions, especially in the Champions League, and Benitez is also known as a cup specialist.

In the quarterfinals of the 2004-05 Champions League, Liverpool, who was short of major generals at that time, challenged Juventus, the Serie A champion, away. Considering the "Old Lady's" strong attack in the middle, Benitez, who is familiar with the 4231 system, unexpectedly chose to change the formation of three central defenders. In order to paralyze the opponent, he asked the team to start the game according to the 4231 formation, and then quietly change to 3511 a few minutes later. As a result, the Reds, who won the first leg (2-1), managed to draw 0-0 away and took a solid step to create a miracle.

In the 1/8 finals of the 2006-07 Champions League, Liverpool encountered the defending champion Barcelona with Ronaldinho and Messi. In order to limit Messi, who is powerful in cutting inside, Benitez decided to arrange a cameo for Spanish right-back Arbeloa, who had just joined the team in the winter, on the left wing. As a result, under the watchful eye of Arbeloa, Messi did nothing throughout the game, and Liverpool finally overthrew Barcelona 2-1 away, giving the Catalan giants a rare taste of defeat at Camp Nou. And Benitez's use of the backfoot left-back is also a stroke of genius.

Suffice it to say, although Liverpool are fourth in the Premier League, 16 points behind leaders Arsenal, they can't use league results to cross Liverpool in the Champions League.

Therefore, Inter Milan, who qualified first in the group, met Liverpool in the first round of the knockout round, and many people think that Inter Milan's luck is not very good, of course, this is not to say that they think that Inter Milan is not as strong as Liverpool, but that Liverpool is a hard bone and is not easy to play.

In addition, Benitez's Liverpool is strong-willed, tenacious and tenacious, and is a "hard bone" that no team wants to encounter. In the 2005-06 FA Cup final, Liverpool faced West Ham United. The Reds were down 0-2 and 2-3 before Steven Gerrard equalised from distance in stoppage time. In the end, the Reds defeated the Hammers on penalties to win the title, a game that is still talked about by many today.

At this time, Benitez's Liverpool has a central axis that is popular all over Europe: the goalkeeper is the Spanish goalkeeper and the penalty expert Reina; in the central defender position, the team's veteran Carragher has rich experience, and both Agger and Skrtel, who joined this winter, are considered to be trustworthy and powerful stars; and in the midfield, Gerrard and Alonso, Argentine iron waist Mascherano complement each other, and are the best midfield "iron triangle" in Europe; on the front line, Torres is at the peak of his career. At the same time, several role players are also distinctive: the hard-working Kuyt, the excellent footwork of Aurelio, and the versatile Arbeloa...... At least in terms of lineup, many media believe that the Red Army has the strength to win the championship and establish a dynasty.

Inter Milan have stars such as Adriano, Diego Milito, Luka Modric, Mata, Carlos, Zivo, Samuel, Patrice Evra, McConn, Zanetti and Cesar, as well as new champions like Deco.

And, of course, there's the duel between the two managers.

Therefore, the meeting of Benitez's Liverpool and Leon's Inter Milan, two tacticians, top champion coaches, was in the spotlight for a while.