Chapter 405: The Grand Slam of New Goals

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There used to be a 'Grand Slam' term in European football, which meant that a team had won all three major European cups, so it was a Grand Slam team.

The Champions Cup, Cup Winners' Cup and UEFA Cup have led European football for 40 years, including 28 years at the same time, during which time all three major cups have been the goal of all teams.

In the past 40 years, there have always been teams that have been at the top of the football food chain, and people have called them 'giants'. It stands to reason that these giants should have no shortage of three cups for such a long time. However, no.

'Yoabai'! That's all. Juventus, Ajax, Bayern Munich are the only three Grand Slam teams to date. Of course, there is controversy over whether Barcelona is a 'Grand Slam', with Barcelona having one Champions League and four European Excellences, but never winning the UEFA Cup.

Barcelona are not convinced, as they have three 'Fair Cups' in their hands. The Expo Cup is widely regarded as the precursor to the Confederations Cup, and the two tournaments happened to be dead in 1971. However, UEFA does not recognise the Expo Cup, as it is a 'private event', similar in nature to the previous Toyota Cup, and is not officially authorized by UEFA.

In any case, there are only three or four Grand Slam teams, and with the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1999, Real Madrid, Inter Milan, Liverpool, Porto, Benfica and other giants will never have a chance to play a Grand Slam again, because what they lack is the former Cup Winners' Cup.

AC Milan is also not a Grand Slam, with the Rossoneri having only seven Champions League trophies and two Cup Winners' Cups. However, they still have a chance to win the Grand Slam as Milan are missing a UEFA Cup alone.

From the Club World Cup (Toyota Cup) to various Super Cups, from domestic to European and international, AC Milan has won almost all the honors that the club can touch, and indulged in flowers, only to regret that they could not get a taste of the League Cup.

In the 36 years since the UEFA Cup was established in 1971, AC Milan have competed in the Champions Cup 19 seasons, played in the Cup Winners' Cup three times and watched 10 seasons. There have been four UEFA Cup appearances in the year, but AC Milan have not even reached the final in these four appearances, and their best result is the semi-finals of the 01-02 season.

Failed to win the championship in 4 competitions, in fact, it is very normal in the whole knockout event, and in the history of the coexistence of the three major cups, the League Cup itself has the lowest influence among them, after all, this is an event where losers talk about comfort, and the traditional giants are more likely to take this opportunity to recuperate or upgrade. For AC Milan, there is no difference between a runners-up and 32nd place in the UEFA Cup, so it has been difficult for them to focus on this competition from a strategic level.

This season is the fifth time that AC Milan has competed in the League Cup, although after the Champions League restructuring and the Winners' Cup, this League Cup is no longer the other League Cup, which is roughly equivalent to the weakened version of the Old League Cup + Winners' Cup, but both officially and privately, the new League Cup is still regarded as a continuation of the old League Cup.

Originally, AC Milan only planned to go through the motions in the League Cup this season, and the focus of competition was only the league, and the importance of the League Cup was ranked after the Club World Cup and the UEFA Super Cup, which was slightly stronger than the FA Cup. But now that the halfway point of the competition has passed, the competitive situation on several fronts has given the club's top management new ideas.

The Club World Cup and Super Cup have been won, but the league that wants to compete with Inter Milan the most has been disappointing. After 23 rounds, AC Milan is in 5th place with 45 points from 11 wins and 12 draws, while Inter Milan, who are also unbeaten, have 57 points from 17 wins and 6 draws.

Football is not short of miracles, but now it is a bit self-deceptive to go to Inter Milan to compete for the Serie A title this season, first ask the first two, three or four places Roma, Juventus, Fiorentina to say yes.

If you want to stand as tall as possible in the arrogant wind of your neighbors, the dream of a 'Grand Slam' is undoubtedly the best and only choice, because Inter Milan will never have a chance to win a Grand Slam in this life, and if it succeeds, AC Milan can use it to squeeze the sworn enemies in the city at any time for the rest of their lives.

And after analyzing the situation, AC Milan found that this year's UEFA Cup is relatively ideal. In the round of 16, Italy and Spain are left alone, Germany and England have three seats, and the remaining eight teams are all there, and there are no giants in the 16 who can be on par with Milan in terms of identity, and there are only three or two of them that call the head, such as Bremen, Bayer Leverkusen, and Tottenham.

Since the restructuring and expansion of the Champions League, the League Cup has become more and more declining, and has gradually become a stage for dark horses and second-tier powerhouses to make a name for themselves, such as Madiburg and Sevilla. The last time the traditional G14 giants Zerma League Cup was Liverpool in the 00-01 season, when the Reds beat Aston Villa 5-4 in a Premier League civil battle.

After Dortmund finished runners-up in the following season, there was no traditional strong figure in the final of the League Cup, which can be seen in the neglect of the giants in this competition. This year has been particularly bleak, with AC Milan being the only prominent figure in the UEFA Cup from the round of 32 onwards.

With the competitive situation permitting, the temptation is sufficient, and there are no super rivals in the way of the future, it is only natural for AC Milan to change their goals for the season.

The day after the win over Rosenborg, AC Milan officially announced the decision internally: the goal of this season is to win the UEFA Cup and finish second and fourth in Serie A.

The league is guaranteed to qualify for next season's Champions Cup, with the difference just a matter of whether or not you need to start with the qualifying round. For a club like AC Milan, the absence of the lucrative Champions League for two consecutive years will bring great inconvenience to the operation, not only the direct dividends from UEFA, the sponsor's sponsorship amount, the development of various commercial activities will be greatly affected, and the star recruitment will also be disliked by the other party, and a vicious circle will be formed if it is not done well.

Therefore, the club's change of season goals this time has become a happy thing, the players no longer have to vomit blood and tear their hearts to chase Inter Milan, there is no particularly stubble in the League Cup, in the current stage of Ronaldo's injury and Inzaghi's flowering slump, this will undoubtedly make everyone a lot easier.

As for Zhuo Yang, he already has two League Cup titles, and in this he has surpassed AC Milan and many big teams. So, whether he can win the championship is actually not very attractive to him, but he is still quite interested in the top scorer.

In Serie A, Zhuo Yang, who has reupgraded his shooting boots, has scored 27 goals, which is enough to be the top scorer in an ordinary year. In this way, Trezeguet, Ibrahimovic, Mutu and the like have already given up on their thoughts, and Totti has only scored 7 goals. The suspense of Serie A this season is not whether Zhuo Yang can win the top scorer, but whether he can break the single-season goal record in Serie A.

Zhuo Yang also topped the list with 9 goals in the League Cup, and it is stable to go forward casually, although it is unrealistic to break his own record of 27 goals set in the 04-05 season, but it is Zhuo Yang's competition with himself, and it has nothing to do with others.

Top scorer, this is the correct posture of striker Zhuo Yang.

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