On the last weekend of April, the 34th round of Serie A is played over two days, and thanks to the cup task next week, the Torino team will be the first to take action on Saturday afternoon.

As expected by the outside world, in order to ensure that he can face Inter Milan in the strongest state, Li Mudi really made certain adjustments to the starting lineup in the league. But even with stars such as Matchley and Bruno Fernandes on the bench, the league leaders will be hard to beat for Sassuolo at home.

Ninety minutes later, thanks to a maiden goal from French centre-back Issa Diop in Serie A and the icing on the cake from second-half substitute Immobile, the Red Bulls won 2-0 on the road, and with Juventus also taking all three points, they continued to lead the table by four points, surviving what was considered the most likely hurdle to capsize.

Four days later, the Torino team, who played in Meazza with the main line-up, made some tactical adjustments, and in response to Spalletti's usual 4-3-3 formation, Li Mudi actually lined up a set of 4-5-1 positions, Vukocevic and Ascarcibal, two defensive midfielders and Barceli with basically the same offensive and defensive tasks, these three became a strong barrier in front of the defense of the visiting team in this game.

The wing-backs on either side were played by Dickman and Boyer respectively, and the desire to cut forward was not strong, and more often they stayed in their respective positions to help the team control the ball in the midfield area. And when Immobile in front of him also occasionally retreated to the center circle to participate in the inversion, the formation of the Torino team became a classic 4-6-0, which can be regarded as the ultimate iron bucket formation.

However, this is also a trick that Li Mudi used only when he was forced to do so, because the opponent's state is too good, and if he doesn't send a strong defensive formation, he really doesn't have the confidence to guarantee not conceding a goal.

After losing to today's opponent in the 25th round of the league, the Nerazzurri burst out with amazing momentum, not only completing a wave of unbeaten record of 6 wins and 3 draws in Serie A, basically locking the third place in advance, but also playing a triumphant song in the Europa League. After beating Chelsea 4-1 at home in midweek, they can return to the Europa League final after a 21-year hiatus, as long as they can avoid making an unforgivable mistake in the second leg.

The only game they lost in the two-and-a-half-month period was 1-0 at the Olimpicia di Torino in the first leg of the Coppa Italia semi-final, the second defeat of Inter at the feet of their opponents this season.

So, whether it's from the point of view of fighting for more honours or to maintain the excellent form of the team in recent times, Spalletti and his disciples have no reason not to give their best in this game.

So when Li Mudi detected that the morale and competitive state of Inter Milan players were close to full value through the FM system the day after last week's league, he quickly made a decision to put out a defensive-oriented lineup. And after the game really started, and saw the performance of Benasi, the former veteran of his side, who was even more suspicious of the possession of the football king, the Torino coach immediately praised his foresight.

If it weren't for the inclusion of two defensive midfielders in the starting line-up at the same time, with the support of Matcheri, the visitors' previous 3-4-1-2 formation would not have been able to resist the opponent's penetration in the middle, and there would have been a lot of gaps in the area at the edge of the penalty area, leaving the backline completely exposed to Inter's fire.

The advantage of the 4-5-1 position is that it can be used to stock up in the midfield, maintaining possession while also intercepting opponents' passes, so this formation is still very common in knockout games. And it's not exactly for the underdogs, with some 4-3-3 teams often letting both wings reclaim when they score first or have a clear lead.

During his time in charge of Liverpool, Rafa Benitez used a 4-1-4-1 evolution of the 4-5-1 formation to achieve excellent results. On the night of Istanbul 2005, the Reds were in a desperate situation of falling behind by three goals in the first half, and it was only after changing their starting 4-4-2 position to a single striker tactic that they broke out.

In that classic game, the Reds' defensive midfield was handed over to German veteran Hamann who came off the bench, freeing up Xavi Alonso and captain Steven Gerrard, allowing the two world-class stars to devote all their energies to attack. In addition, Garcia on the right and Smitchell who switched back and forth between midfielders and left wing-backs also played their part in snatching the fruits of victory back from AC Milan in their prime.

Compared with Bei Shuai's back-to-back tactics that focus more on attack power, Li Mudi's 4-5-1 is obviously heavy on defense and light on offense. Two wing-backs who rarely get forward and three central midfielders who lag behind make Immobile almost completely isolated by the opposition defence, making it difficult to connect with his team-mates.

And when the Torino team grabbed the ball, due to the huge gap between the front line and the midfield line, their counterattack could not be played at all, which can be said to indirectly give up all the advantages of their own side in the attacking end.

However, there is no way to do it, as the likes of Icardi, Perisic and Benassi are in excellent form, and the probability of conceding a goal with regular defensive intensity is still quite high, and the Red Bulls' one-goal advantage at home in the first leg may soon be erased. And once the aggregate score is drawn, under the conditions of the disadvantage of time, people and people, Li Mudi's team will face a more difficult situation, so it is understandable to play a little cowardly away from home.

Fortunately, the arrival of Glick, the rapid growth of Ascacibal and the timely return of Ranocchia gave the Torino team that appeared at the Meazza stadium today a set of top Serie A defenses, and with the cooperation of everyone, they finally withstood several dangerous attacks from Inter Milan and maintained the score of 0-0 until the 70 minutes of the second half.

With no way back, Spalletti gave the order for a general attack with the remaining twenty minutes of the game, and he sent on Argentine talented striker Lautaro Martinez to change the formation to 3-3-2-2 and start the last ditch.

Li Mudi took advantage of the gradual reduction of the opponent's forces in the backfield, replaced Immobile with Lucas Moura, and began to use the Brazilian's speed to seek the possibility of counterattacking, while Boyer and Dickman also consciously increased the range of activities to help Mora open up the space for movement. It's just that under the joint marking of Miranda, Skriniar and De Vriyi, it still failed to achieve much effect, but at least it still contained some of the home team's energy and slightly weakened their investment in the attacking end.

Another advantage of the 4-5-1 formation is that no matter how the two wing-backs move, they will not break the team's defensive structure in the middle, and the two full-backs can create time for the forwards to return in time.

Eventually, when the fitness of the Torino players was on the verge of collapse, the half-time whistle finally sounded, and Inter Milan failed to score the goal that dragged the game into extra-time, and were excluded from the Coppa Italia final with a two-legged aggregate score of 0-1.

For the second year in a row, Li Moody led the team to the final stage of the domestic cup competition, losing last year to local rivals Juventus, missing out on the club's first title since 1993. A year later, the Red Bulls had another chance to prove themselves, but the opponent was a different one.

Twenty-four hours later, their opponents in the final were officially decided, with Napoli beating Roma 3-1 at home to qualify for the Coppa Italia title 5-3 on aggregate. The final was scheduled for 22 May at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.

Coincidentally, both teams have won the competition five times before, and this year's head-to-head outcome will determine who can move up to the joint fourth-most title tally with Fiorentina and Lazio.

Returning to the league context, Torino's enormous energy at Milan gave Juventus supporters hope of a comeback, and in the days leading up to the weekend, there was a resurgence in predicting that the Red Bulls would make mistakes.

In this regard, Li Mudi did not bother to refute it, he once again sacrificed the closed Dafa and blocked all external interference from the team. With their rivals finishing the game first and temporarily reducing the deficit back to one point, he used a lineup with multiple rotation players to beat relegation team Frosinone 4-0 on his own doorstep, leaving the media and fans who sang about him and his team silent.

The victory was a pretty much the end of the week in the Turin derby, and even if the Bianconeri were able to take all three points at home and they currently lead on goal difference (by five), a seven-year-old Juventus dynasty would collapse as long as the Red Bulls did not have any surprises in the next two rounds. Even if they can win a strong back-to-back championship in the years that followed, it would be a whole new history.

Thankfully, in the Champions League semi-finals in midweek, Allegri and his disciples completed the most important task of revenge, knocking out Real Madrid, who had beaten their dreams of winning the Big Ears Cup two years in a row, with a total score of 3-2 over two legs. After 741 days, they reached the Champions League final again, and their opponents were La Liga giants Barcelona who had stepped on their own corpse to reach the top of Europe four years earlier.

The victory over Real Madrid also proved how wrong Ronaldo was by Lafayette in the decision to sell him last summer, while the Portuguese proved that he is still the best footballer in the world and that he has not given up his last hope of hitting the ball.

Although Juventus' league hegemony is very likely to be ended, relatively speaking, in the minds of most people, the status of the Champions League is naturally higher.

Especially since they have become accustomed to winning the Serie A title as a drink and a meal, and even if they encounter a small setback, they have absolute confidence that they can immediately put them back under their control. But the Champions League is a different story, it is a thorn buried deep in the heart of the Serie A hegemon, and pulling it out as soon as possible is the most important goal for all Juventus people year after year, and this year, they finally have another great opportunity.

There is no doubt that Juventus are the worst team in the Champions League, and the history of only two previous titles is tied with Benfica and Porto, and even less than a fraction of Real Madrid's.

At the same time, their bad luck in this event is well known. Seven runners-up times have made them the biggest losers in the history of the Champions League, and they have been the number one eyewitness to major historical events in almost every case.

For example, in 1973, he gave Ajax three consecutive championships and was awarded the title of adult beauty; In 1983, the Hamburg team won the only big-eared cup in team history, which is really a philanthropy; In 1997, Borussia Dortmund, another German team, reached the top of Europe for the first time, and it was also the only time that the Hornets reached the top, and Juve were properly promoted to the top of the list; In 1998, he helped Real Madrid regain its former kingly spirit, and then started the hegemony of the triple crown in five years; After entering the 21st century, he selflessly helped AC Milan return to the top...... After such statistics, even the old woman's heart, which had been through vicissitudes and had been trained to be extremely hard, inevitably became painful.

It is precisely because they want to make a shame and overturn the team's previous image of a loser in European football, Juventus will come up with a rare gamble last summer, signing the 33-year-old Ronaldo with a total investment of more than 300 million euros, just to rely on the latter's king DNA in the Champions League to be able to rise once or more.

In the minds of the people within the club, the Champions League is the number one goal, and as long as they can win the Big Ear Cup, then even if they lose all other honours, it is acceptable. So when the news came that the team had eliminated three-time champions Real Madrid and advanced to the final venue of the Wanda Metropolitano stadium in Madrid, Juventus supporters instantly forgot about the poor performance of being excluded from the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia and the slim hope of winning the league title, and threw themselves into the celebration and anticipation of the final.

It is in this state of mind that the Turin derby on 12 May has shown a downward trend in importance, which is already too small. Although the coaches and players of both sides stressed before the game that they would go all out to win, with the home team wanting to keep their championship hopes alive and the visitors hoping to lock in the title early, the vast majority of outside comments regarded the game as irrelevant. Even if Juventus have a good chance of winning at home, the chances of a comeback at the top of the table are very slim.

Some have even claimed that as long as the Bianconeri can avoid being crowned league champions on their home turf and then beaten by their opponents, it is acceptable, and their attention should start to shift to preparing for the Champions League final in more than 20 days.

In the midst of these arguments, the 201st Turin derby was officially kick-off.