AC Milan's goal was a difficult one, but the Rossoneri were able to take the lead at the San Siro anyway. Cutrone has also been in good form of late, scoring in two consecutive games and has scored ten goals so far this season, including seven in the league and three in the Champions League, making him the team's second-highest scorer behind Kylian Mbappe.

Tottenham, like Milan, were trying to break out of the group, and now that they are behind in the game, they have strengthened their attack, and Milan's defence is a little tight, but Tottenham have not been very lucky and have not been able to score.

In the 73rd minute, Inzaghi removed Cutrone and replaced him with Zhang Shujie. Less than four minutes into the game, he created a penalty in the Tottenham penalty area, and it was all possible to seal the victory.

Zhang Shujie walked to the penalty spot with the ball, although he is older, as long as he is still on the field, he is the team's first penalty taker, and Mbappe can only be ranked behind him. However, Zhang Shujie's penalty was saved by the goalkeeper, and Mbappe hit it in time and stabbed the ball into the goal with his left foot, 2:0.

With Mbappe's follow-up shot, AC Milan defeated Tottenham at home, won all three points, and accumulated 12 points from four wins and two losses in six group games, and advanced to the knockout stage as the second in the group.

After the Champions League group stage, AC Milan played another round of Serie A and picked up a draw, before heading to Japan for a Club World Cup match.

On December 15, AC Milan faced América de Mexico in the semi-finals, appreciating goals from Kylian Mbappe and Cutrone, as the Rossoneri beat América Mexico 2-1 to advance to the final. Zhang Shujie did not play in this game and sat on the bench throughout the whole game. According to Inzaghi, there were no plans to let Zhang Shu stand out before the final.

AC Milan's opponent in the final is the Brazilian powerhouse Gremio, this game Inzaghi has the idea of letting Zhang Shujie play, but did not put him in the starting lineup, AC Milan fell behind 0:1 in the first half, Inzaghi decisively discharged Zhang Shujie in the second half, Zhang Shujie's performance was also very positive, Milan has not been able to equalize, until the 87th minute of the game, AC Milan got a corner kick, Romagnoli scored with a header, Milan struggled to make the score 1:1, and dragged the game into extra time.

In extra time, both sides played cautiously, and the number of attacks was not much, and in the 116th minute, Gremio still scored, and the score became 2:1, and then Milan counterattacked with all their might, but time was limited, and they could not get the score back, and the Club World Cup championship was also handed over.

It's hard to evaluate AC Milan's performance in this game, to say that it is not qualified, but the players played normally, and the goalkeeper or the defender cannot be blamed for the two goals conceded at the back. If you really want to find something wrong, it's probably the forward line. Zhang Shujie still works as hard as he did when he was young, but unfortunately the growth of age makes him inevitably a little powerless. Cutrone and André Silva also missed a couple of great chances. Chen Hui sighed: "If it were Zhang Shujie at his peak, there should be no problem with scoring two goals this time." ”

Zhang Shujie himself admits that he lacks some crosshairs when shooting: "I still shoot like I did when I was younger, but I find that the trajectory of the ball is completely different from what I expected. I don't want to make excuses for myself, but I have to admit that age-wise, it does bother me a bit. ”

What does this sentence mean? Is Zhang Shujie old? Maybe. We can clearly see that his impact, explosiveness, speed, breakthrough and other abilities have begun to decline, and his shooting is not as accurate as before. He will turn 37 in March next year, and it is unclear how many more games he will play for Milan by then.

Zhang Shujie is still useful for Milan, and his experience can play a crucial role in some key games. Although he failed to score in the Club World Cup final, it is impossible not to ignore the positive role he brought to Milan up front. His techniques such as drop-back and back-to-back ball protection are abilities that players like Cutrone don't have.

"Inzaghi has to think about it, they need someone to replace Zhang Shujie next season, no one knows if Zhang Shujie will stay in the team after next summer, and even if he can stay, he will not be able to play for most games," said Milan Sport. ”

Sport believes the search for a replacement for Zhang Shujie will begin next summer, while the club believes that the winter transfer market will start to have the idea. They are already preparing and looking for the right players.

With the final three league games to go, AC Milan won two and lost one, picking up six points and moving up to fifth place in the standings. Zhang played two of them and scored a goal. Now AC Milan is looking for a strong striker, but after looking for a long time, they have not found the right person, in fact, the club also has a favorite player, but people are not willing to come. If you come to Milan, it means that you will not be able to participate in the knockout stage of the Champions League.

In desperation, AC Milan can only make a simple supplement in the winter, loaning some players with quality but average reputation. AC Milan won two and drew two of their four Serie A games in six matches throughout January, but were eliminated from the Coppa Italia. However, this is not necessarily a bad thing for AC Milan, at least they can concentrate more on the league and the Champions League.

In the first league game in February, Zhang Shujie started with Mbappe and Cutrone out injured and scored a goal in the second half to bring his tally to six goals in Serie A this season, while he only needed 12 games, an average of one goal in two games, which is very high for a veteran who is about to turn 37.

However, in the 80th minute of the second half, Zhang Shujie was injured again, and he limped out of the stadium with the support of the team doctor, and the hearts of AC Milan fans were in their throats. Let's not talk about the veteran's role in Milan, just because of his prestige in the team and his status in the hearts of the fans, everyone feels distressed when they see him injured.

The on-site commentator also sighed: "Zhang Shujie is injured again, I have the impression that this is the first time in his career that he has been injured twice in the same season. ”

Although no injury has been reported, it may take some time to recover given his injury and his age, but how many more games he will play for Milan by then?

(End of chapter)