On the evening of 15 September 2010, light rain.

65,000 Milan fans and 5,000 England fans travelling with the team gathered in the stands at the San Siro Stadium, where England national team coach Fabio Capello was in attendance.

The referee of the match was Frenchman Lanoy, who was in charge of AC Milan for the first time and Manchester City for the first time.

It's no surprise that the Blues haven't played in the Champions League for decades.

AC Milan coach Allegri wore a crisp suit and tie, standing in the roof of the home team's dugout, staring intently at the stadium, his brows furrowed, making his whole face look like a living embarrassment.

In this game, he learned the lessons of the away game against Cesena three days ago and lined up a 4312 formation.

The goalkeeper is Abbiati, the backline is Jankulovski, Thiago Silva, Nesta and Abate, the midfield three are Seedorf, Flamini and captain Gattuso, the midfielder is Kevin Boateng, and the double striker is a combination of Pato and Inzaghi.

This is also the most solid set of combinations he can put out so far, asking himself defensively.

Manchester City, who are playing away, still insist on their three, four and three style of play.

After the team went crazy in the Premier League three days earlier, hiding South American players such as Alexis Sanchez, Kaka and Mascherano, the cold side still bloodied Blackburn Rovers in the Premier League, showing strong attacking power.

AC Milan will have to keep out Manchester City's attack if this game is to have a chance of winning.

Goalkeeper Petr Cech and Vincent Kompany, Xavi Martinez and Mascherano at the back, Xavi Alonso in midfield, David Silva and Luka Modric in the middle, Kaka up front, and Cristiano Ronaldo, Karzema and Sanchez up front.

The Portuguese superstar played just 60 minutes in the league three days ago and ended up with a five-man denko in a shocking attacking momentum, and neither Kaka nor Alexis Sanchez played in that game, especially Kaka.

But this one is clearly different.

The most difficult thing about Manchester City's attack is that they have a group of top superstars with outstanding individual ability, and Gao Han is able to knead these superstars into an organic whole, which makes the opponent unable to guard against them.

You know, there are only four men in the defence and defensive resources are limited, and if the focus is on limiting the wings, then Kaka, David Silva and Luka Modric in the middle will have more space to move and not lose the threat to the wings at all.

However, if heavy troops are placed in the middle, then the side lane will inevitably be vacant.

Just like in this game, Allegri put his posture very low before the game and concentrated on the defensive counterattack.

He knows very well that this is Manchester City's first Champions League game, Gao Han is determined to win, and Manchester City's recent form is too good, AC Milan has no capital at all, even at home.

But even if you want to defend and counterattack, you have to be able to defend it.

Therefore, he switched to a back three, Gattuso combined with Abate and Nesta on the right to limit Cristiano Ronaldo, and Seedorf and Jankulovski were in charge of the Sanchez side of Manchester City's right side.

However, in order to avoid being too thin in the middle, Allegri's overall formation retreated, which made AC Milan look very embarrassed on the field, very passive, and even completely conceded possession.

As luck would have it, it finally rained in Milan after a few days of cloudy weather before the game.

But then there is no problem, right?

No, the veteran Seedorf's running ability is very poor, and he is a little overwhelmed by two consecutive games, and obviously can't keep up, so, on the left side of AC Milan, it is more Jankulovski defending Sanchez one-on-one.

The cunning Gao Han must have realized this, and made adjustments soon after the opening, Manchester City began to increase their attacking efforts, concentrating firepower on the left side of AC Milan, Sanchez began to be very active, frequently breaking through Jankulovski, or crossing, or entering the penalty area, like a mixed dragon, the entire defense of Milan was turned upside down and embarrassed.

In just ten minutes of the opening game, Manchester City made four shots on goal, although none of them could form a direct threat, but this time they all shocked AC Milan into a cold sweat.

After that, Manchester City's offensive continued unabated, and with its skillful passing and control advantages, Blue Moon organized and planned attacks again and again.

Especially in the 17th minute, Manchester City suddenly moved the ball from the right to the left, David Silvala went to the left side to receive the ball, diagonally crossed the box, Benzema grabbed the first spot, header to Cristiano Ronaldo, the Portuguese shot from close range.

As a result, the shot hit the crossbar solidly and bounced back into the box.

Then there was a scuffle in the AC Milan penalty area, Kaka took advantage of the chaos to kill, and another low shot, but was blocked by goalkeeper Abbiati, and then followed by Benzema's follow-up shot, but was blocked by Nesta's key kick and popped off the bottom line.

The whole thing happened in the blink of an eye, but City hit three shots from inside the box, and every time they were dangerous.

After the corner, Thiago Silva judged the landing point and cleared the ball with a header.

As the ball flew past half-pitch and as City's players raced out of their own box, Allegri let out a heavy sigh of relief as he survived another crisis.

But he didn't quite let go of that breath as City sent the ball over the halfway line and into Milan's half.

Allegri's heart, which had been halfway up, lifted it up again.

"Damn, it's not endless!" Allegri scolded indignantly.

Manchester City relied on their passing dominance, firmly controlled the ball, and constantly organized and planned attacks, reaching the Milan half and the penalty area.

'The problem we have now is that we can't get the ball. The assistant coach said depressedly on the side.

It's not for nothing that Allegri took Andrea Pirlo and Ronaldinho at the same time, both of whom lack defensive ability, and facing a cold Manchester City, it is likely that AC Milan's defense will be directly penetrated by the opponent.

In the last game, Cesena was active on the flanks and crushed AC Milan with a strong centre-forward, and Allegri had to learn his lesson, so this game took Ronaldinho and Andrea Pirlo, and chose Kevin Boateng and Flamini, two players with better defensive qualities.

But the price is also huge, and there is only one Seedorf left who can hold the ball.

But Gao Han's game focused on arranging Modric to restrain Seedorf, as long as Seedorf got the ball, Modric got close as soon as possible, so as not to let him easily create a threat.

As soon as Seedorf was restricted, AC Milan's attack struggled, Kevin Boateng frequently dropped back to participate in the defense, and Pato and Inzaghi were isolated in the frontcourt, more like decorations.

"Tell them that the referee's enforcement in this game is a bit soft, and the action can be appropriately bigger, don't let Manchester City control the ball so freely. Allegri said indignantly.

…………

…………

"At the end of the day, AC Milan is still not strong enough to choose. ”

Unlike Allegri, who stood up to watch the game from the beginning of the game, in the away team's coach's box, Gao Han was sitting on the ground, watching the game leisurely, not to mention how relaxed and freehand.

Today's AC Milan is no longer the Rossoneri when Gao Han coached Inter Milan, and the current Milan is more like a twilight hero of the past, long gone.

Whether it is Nesta, Pirlo, Ronaldinho, Inzaghi and Gattuso, they have long lost the vigor of the past, and some are just old and strong.

But in front of the young Manchester City, they simply can't hold on.

From the very beginning of the game, the ball and rhythm were completely controlled by Manchester City, and AC Milan could only blindly defend, unable to counterattack at all, and even difficult to organize counterattacks with the ball in many cases.

"Maybe this is when he should consider taking a striker and replacing Ronaldinho with more chances to get the ball up front. Brian Kidd suggested.

Sometimes, Gao Han's team will also simulate the opponent's thinking in the game and predict the opponent's next move in advance.

But Gao Han shook his head after hearing this, "I don't think so." ”

"Why?" said Brian Kidd.

"Big Inzaghi is 37 years old and can't support AC Milan's forward line on his own, while Pato is relatively young and immature, and it is difficult to take advantage of it alone, so Allegri will stubbornly choose a double striker. ”

In the final analysis, it is caused by the unreliable strength of the players.

Pato was once a European golden boy that everyone was looking forward to and optimistic about, especially when he joined AC Milan, but in the past two years, Pato's development has deviated more and more from everyone's expectations, and his performance has begun to shrink.

Originally, AC Milan wanted to bring in Ibrahimovic from Barcelona, but after a detailed discussion with Gao Han, coupled with the failure to bring in Villa, Guardiola dismissed his mind and changed his decision, leaving Ibrahimovic.

As a result, Ibrahimovic and Messi have become more and more skillful together this season, and have become the two major offensive artifacts in La Liga.

At one point, AC Milan considered bringing in Robinho from Chelsea, but that didn't happen.

In the final analysis, it is because there is no money, there are no people, and the strength of the team is insufficient.

Fortunately, Allegri did not play Pirlo and Ronaldinho in this game, otherwise, these two veterans plus Gattuso and Seedorf formed a midfield, and Manchester City's attack power was enough to destroy them.

But even now, Gao Han is still full of confidence.

Manchester City completely controlled the situation on the field after the opening, and all the statistics such as possession and shots on goal were ahead of AC Milan in an all-round way, and according to the current situation, scoring goals is a matter of time.

Because of this, Gao Han never had the intention of using skill cards.

In the last game against Blackburn, he was useless, and the team still killed Blackburn Rovers 7-1.

If he used the skill card in that game, he would have scored at least a few more goals, and it would be possible to score double-digit goals, but in Gao Han's opinion, there is no point in brushing this kind of goal, let alone saving some face for Allardyce, isn't it?

He was also full of confidence in this game, so he didn't consider using the skill card for the time being.

"They're moving a little bit big right now. Brian Kidd said with a frown.

On the pitch, AC Milan's Kevin Boateng was fouled by the referee when he tackled the Spaniard during a comeback to David Silva, but he was not given a card, which made the Manchester City players on the pitch a little unhappy.

Gao Han turned his head sideways, glanced at Allegri, and snorted, "I guess this is his last move." ”

After a pause, Gao Han smiled proudly again, "Tell the players, keep keeping the ball, keep attacking, and the goal is right in front of you!"

Brian Kidd quickly transferred Gao Han's words to the court.

The morale of the Manchester City players was boosted.

They know that Gao Han has always been like a god, and if he says that if he wants to score, then he must score!

(End of chapter)