Chapter 1273: Keeping up with the champion
AC Milan didn't let the fans wait too long, Xu Ziyi hung a pass in front of the goal, Zhang Shujie stopped the ball on his chest in the penalty area and pushed the ball with his right foot into the far corner of the goal, turning the score into 1:2, at this time the game had reached the eighty-first minute. The score is 2-2 on aggregate, but United have scored two away goals, and if that score remains until full-time, then AC Milan will be knocked out of the competition.
Zhang Shujie's goal gave AC Milan a glimmer of hope and was the fourth goal of the tournament, which is too small compared to previous seasons. But let's not forget that he is 36 years old and we can't ask for more from the veteran. ”
Zhang Shujie did not celebrate after the goal, he rushed into the goal, picked up the ball and ran to the center circle quickly, and then put the ball away, while he also beckoned his teammates to hurry back and reminded the referee to let Manchester United kick off quickly.
The goal boosted AC Milan's morale, and with United now preoccupied with defending and holding on to that scoreline, they could advance. This also gave AC Milan more confidence to attack.
Milan fans were anxious, Manchester United fans were nervous, and until the 89th minute of the game, AC Milan still failed to score a second goal. In the last minute of injury time, AC Milan launched the last attack of the game, Mbappe passed Zhang Shujie in the second after breaking through in the front, Zhang Shujie did not get a chance to shoot, knocked the ball to Xu Ziyi outside the penalty area, Xu Ziyi picked it up, the ball flew off the ground, and fell to Chen Zihua, Chen Zihua scored with a header, rewriting the score to 2:2.
It was also the final goal of the game as AC Milan held Manchester United to a 3-2 aggregate win over the Red Devils to progress to the last four.
Despite Milan's semi-finalisation, many are not optimistic about AC Milan's prospects. Chen Hui said: "It is not difficult to see that although this Milan team has completed the replacement of the old and the new, compared with a few years ago, the overall strength is still slightly behind. It's not that they are not good enough, but that Zhang Shujie and others in the past were too strong, which made people feel that the current Milan is as strong as before. Their opponents in the semi-finals, whether they are Real Madrid, Barcelona or Bayern, can only play five or five with their opponents, and there is no absolute chance of winning. Even, in terms of dominance on the pitch, Milan can't compare to those three teams. ”
Chen Hui's words were a bit ruthless, but he had to admit that this was an objective fact. Inzaghi also said: "Of the four teams, Milan are not the biggest favourites. ”
Regardless, AC Milan are one step closer to the final, and whether they make it to the final or not, they have guaranteed to reach the semi-finals at least every year for at least the decade, which is a very impressive record. This can also prove that AC Milan's Champions League DNA is definitely in vain.
Milan in the league get no less pressure than in the Champions League, if not more. In the Champions League, the Rossoneri can at least take their destiny into their own hands, but in the league they can't. Although they have now moved up to second place in the league, they have also narrowed the gap to Napoli at the top of the table by three points, from eight to five. But there are only a few rounds left in the league, and even if there is only a five-point difference, it looks so far away.
In the 33rd round, AC Milan challenged Genoa away, Xu Ziyi used her second league goal of the season to help Milan defeat Genoa 1:0 away, and Napoli also won this round; In the 34th round, AC Milan went to the Olympic Stadium to challenge Lazio, Zhang Shujie only played half of the game, scored a goal, and Mbappe scored a hat trick to help Milan sweep the Blue Eagles 4:1. Mbappe has also reached 30 league goals this season, not only as the team's top scorer, but also as the top scorer in Serie A.
Luckily, Napoli were held to a 0-0 draw by Pescara in this round of home shocks, and the gap between them and AC Milan was reduced to three points. The Milan generals seem to be looking at the hope of winning the championship again, especially Yan Tao, who is very eager for Milan to win this championship. Although AC Milan has won too many league games over the years, Yan Tao is not so unusual, but he once made a mistake against Napoli, and he hopes to help Milan win this league title to make up for his mistakes.
AC Milan also welcomed the first game of the Champions League semi-finals against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu. Vazquez's return to the Bernabeu has also been welcomed by the fans here, and although he was not an absolute mainstay at Real Madrid, he can bring obvious help to the team as long as he plays. Vazquez also thanked the fans, but sadly, he didn't start this game.
In this devil's stadium, AC Milan was greatly resisted by Real Madrid, and the boos of the whole stadium were affecting the mood of the players at any time, fortunately, in the 24th minute of the game, Mbappe took the lead in breaking the record on the field, and this goal silenced Bernad, and everyone did not expect that Milan, which looked very passive in the situation, actually scored first.
But that's the style of AC Milan, with Inzaghi's Rossoneri never looking at the game, they just looking at the result. Inzaghi didn't play so well as a player but he always scored goals, and now he also asks his players not to chase the pitch, as long as they can score.
No matter how beautiful the scene is, it is useless to win the ball, only by breaking the opponent's goal can you bring three points to the team.
However, AC Milan's lead did not last long, and in the 33rd minute, Asensio equalised for Real Madrid. He uses his best left foot to make a beautiful arc, which is extremely arcy and has nothing to fault with it. There was nothing Donnarumma could do but watch the ball go into the net.
What's even more tragic is that before the end of the first half, Asensio broke through Romagnoli in the front field, and then stuffed the ball to Mayoral who faced half an empty goal and gently poked the shirt, and the score became 2:1, Real Madrid overtook Milan at home.
This is the real strength of Real Madrid, and many teams have a feeling of "Real Madrid's defense is not good" when they are the first to break through the door of Real Madrid. It feels right, Real Madrid's defense is already very average. But Real Madrid is not a team that relies on defense to win, their strength is attack, no matter how many goals you score, I can find a way to score more than one of you.
In the first half, Real Madrid temporarily led AC Milan at home thanks to Asensio's pass and shot. However, with 45 minutes to go, AC Milan are not without chances, with several high-quality veterans on their bench waiting for Inzaghi's disposal.
(End of chapter)