Let's put aside the winter transfer window for the time being, after all, Italian football has been so lackluster in this month that there is nowhere to put a few more words down, so we have to shift our focus back to the game. In the last two days of January, when the Premier League teams were still recruiting heavily to improve their strength, the two first-leg matches of this season's Coppa Italia semi-finals were quietly launched.

On the evening of the 30th, AC Milan and Juventus, the two most successful teams in Italy, played first, and although the Rossoneri, who had begun to pick up recently, were still a little inferior in terms of strength, they finally drew 0-0 with the powerful old lady with the advantage of home and the tenacious style of the players. Gattuso's tactics and on-the-spot approach were met with praise after the game, and even though the draw was still a disappointing second leg away game, at least in everyone's mind, AC Milan had shaken off their previous slump and started on the right path. This also brings more variables to the subsequent games, maybe they really have a chance to fight all the way back, at least most of the Rossoneri see the hope of the team's rise.

The next day was Atalanta's home game against Torino, but this matchup, which had been considered to be equal strength by the outside world, was stolen by a sudden news at noon that day. Atalanta coach Gasperini said in an interview with local media outlet Bergamo Echo that he might leave Atalanta, which immediately attracted the attention of the entire Italian football scene.

"I'm here now because a year ago I chose the plan of the president of the team, Mr. Perkasi, and if I can fulfill the president's wishes, I will naturally stay, but if the club's strategy changes, then there is no point in me staying," said the coach. His plan was to have three or four big names in the squad and then promote the youngsters from the Academy, which is not what the team is like now, and I don't agree with that. There is no doubt that this Atalanta team is strong, but the transfer market has weakened compared to the team, and despite some investment in the summer, the club is far from what it was a year ago, which has to be disappointing. ”

From Gasperini's words, it is easy to analyze why he had the idea of leaving the club at this time, and the gaffe of the club's top management has led to inaction in the transfer market this season, which makes the team manager see no hope for future development, and naturally there will be huge dissatisfaction. However, compared to the civil strife in Atlanta, everyone is still more looking forward to where his next home will be once the coach is really not ready to stay. After all, this is the third local powerhouse in last year's best coach selection, single-handedly brought the son of Poseidon into the European competition, and also made the team's players' skills and value skyrocket, Conte Jr. and Kessie not only became the stars of Serie A, but also benefited from a high transfer for the club, I believe that many clubs hope to be able to sign this late manager.

In terms of public opinion, few people are criticizing Gasperini for not exposing the club's internal feuds, because everyone thinks that Atalanta president Perkasi has not fulfilled his promises first. And even under such difficult conditions, the coach still did his best to get the team to the Europa League knockout round and the Coppa Italia semi-finals, a kind of hero that only appears in the movie is reflected in reality, which makes the fans almost one-sided stand behind the "weak" and cheer for it.

However, the manager's remarks still affected the players' performance on the field to some extent, although due to some injuries and reasons for the weekend league, the home team did not show all their strength in this game, but Alejandro Gomez, Cristante, Berisha, Palomino, Marcello, Hartbauer and other three absolute main players have entered the starting list, indicating that they still attach great importance to this game.

On the side of the Torino team, Li Mudi did have a certain hesitation before the game, not knowing whether to use his best today. Because the Red Bulls will travel to Luigi Ferraris in four days to take on No. 2 arch-rival Sampdoria. Gianpaolo's side are currently in a strong position to qualify for the Europa League, so they will be sure to seize every opportunity to surpass Roma or even Inter Milan in front of them, and will naturally show 100% ability to fight with themselves. And the Torino team, who seem to be in good shape at the moment, do not have much room to make mistakes, and their lead in the league may not be as solid as it was stuck due to the distraction of European competitions, and Li Moody's plan is to drop points against several strong teams such as Juventus and Napoli, while against other teams is to try to get a win and ensure that next season's Champions League qualification is always the team's first goal.

However, at the club meeting on Tuesday night, the chairman Urbano Cairo suddenly made a suggestion to temporarily shift the focus to domestic cup competitions, and for good reason, the club has not won a single title since 1993, which is a real embarrassment for the whole team. As usual, it would have been a shame to have made it all the way to the last four of the Coppa Italia this season, and they were lucky enough to draw their weakest opponents, and their hopes of reaching the final look quite high.

Once they make the cut, it means they are just one step away from the eventual title, and in a game that is a winner, the team may have a chance to make it to the top. Therefore, the senior management of the club represented by the chairman hopes that the head coach of the team can devote his main energy to the cup competition on the basis of ensuring that the league does not fall off a cliff, and strive to get an honor for the red bulls after 25 years, which will play a great role in promoting the status of the club.

This, combined with last season's lack of results, did make Li Moody waver in the focus of several of the team's goals, and he did not think that Torino had much chance of winning the Europa League in what was considered the strongest in history, and similarly, there was little hope of winning the Serie A this season. So in addition to ensuring third place in the league, should he launch an all-out attack on the Coppa Italia, he still came to a conclusion after thinking about it all night. Whether it is to follow the wishes of the club president, or to say that it is short-sighted to only see the immediate benefits, anyway, at noon on Wednesday, the starting list announced by Li Mudi expressed his determination to win this game, and all the core players played.

On the day of the match, there was a heavy fog in the city of Atra, and visibility was less than 30 meters at the worst time, and both teams were ready to be notified of the postponement of the game. Fortunately, a southerly wind blew in the evening, and although it lasted for a short time, it did some effect, blowing away some of the fog and allowing the semi-final to kick off on time. However, some of the home fans in the stadium even ignored the bad weather conditions and burned some fireworks, which caused the smoke situation in front and behind the goals of the two teams to be particularly serious, which also indirectly interfered with the sight of the two goalkeepers and laid the groundwork for the final result of the game.

In the third minute of the game, with the defenders barely able to see the situation up front, the away side Torino got off to a dream start, with Benasi's through ball giving Immobile the chance to dribble forward at high speed on the left side of the middle. He brushed past the home team's Swiss centre-back Freuler and then burst into the box, and then used a deft feint to shake off centre-back Marsielo, leaving him with only Atala goalkeeper Berisha as a defender. In the position near the penalty spot, the opposing goalkeeper could not see every detail clearly due to foggy conditions, and under such conditions, the right-footed push of the Torino No. 10 naturally escaped into the bottom right corner of the goal without suspense, and the score was also rewritten to 0-1.

Atalanta, who were disadvantaged, immediately launched a counter-attack, and the 3-4-1-2 formation they used today was meant to strengthen the control of the midfield, so they came out strongly under the instructions of the manager to push the visitors back to half-time after taking the lead. However, due to poor sight conditions and the overall defense of the opposition, the home team players did not create any offensive that could threaten the Torino goal for a long time, and it was not until the game came to the twentieth minute that they gradually adapted to only being able to play within 15 meters, which made the atmosphere in the stadium break out a little high. Tide.

In the 23rd minute, Dutch midfielder De Jong sent a diagonal pass from the right side of the field, and Swiss striker Cornelius stopped the ball in the middle of the penalty area without success, and the ball bounced at his feet, just hitting the outstretched arm of the visiting central defender Gordanica who was defending behind him, and the Atalanta players raised their hands to signal to the referee that it was a foul in the penalty area, demanding a penalty. Referee Paolo Valeri was distracted by the fog and was not sure what had happened, but with the addition of VAR in the new season, he could judge by watching video replays from the sidelines. Two minutes later, the referee who returned to the pitch blew the whistle and gestured to the penalty spot, and the stadium was filled with applause and cheers from the fans.

Gordaniga, who knew what he had just done, did not go to the referee to theorize, although the handball was unintentional at first, but he made a subconscious hitting action at the moment after contact, and there was nothing to complain about when he was awarded a foul. However, the dejected Turin defender became extremely excited after thirty seconds, because his teammates helped him avoid becoming a sinner. Atalanta's number one star and Argentine short striker Gomez's right-footed push was firmly pressed under him after being pounced sideways by the brave Casey, and the home team's golden chance to equalize the score was completely lost.

The Atalanta players, who missed a penalty opportunity, immediately fell into an emotional trough, and the visitors seized the opportunity to play a series of sharp counter-attacks, almost extending the lead. In the 28th minute, Baseli dribbled the ball from the right and crossed, because Mobile pressed the home defenders in the penalty area to form a push, but unfortunately there was some interference, and the ball went over the crossbar. In the 36th minute, it was because of Mobile's brilliant performance again, he drove the ball straight into the back cross on the right side, the reversed Falke stopped the ball on the left side of the penalty area and knocked it horizontally, and Vukocevic, who was inserted in the middle, volleyed with his right foot on the edge of the penalty area, which was blocked by Atalanta central defender Toloy who flew into the gun's eye, and then Benasi's second shot was off the post, shocking the home team in a cold sweat.

Before the break, the two sides were evenly matched in terms of possession, but the shooting statistics were a little ahead of the Red Bulls, and due to the bad weather conditions, the two teams also made more mistakes, and the pass success rate was below 80%, and the quality of the whole game was not very high.

After the rematch, Atalanta finally regained its normal form and began to attack the opponent's goal. In the 47th minute, Gomez won the ball on the left side of the penalty area and cut inside and chose to shoot with his right foot, trying to take advantage of the fog to make a surprise attack, but the ball was still held firmly in Cassie's arms, leaving no chance for the home team.

In the 51st minute, it was Gomez's breakthrough on the left, he used a series of feints to get rid of Silvestri's entanglement, and kicked the ball towards the goal, Cassie was paying attention to the opposing striker who was outflanking in the middle, but found that the ball went straight to the top of the near corner. Although it was expected that the ball would likely be slightly higher than the crossbar a few centimeters, the Torino goalkeeper, who did not dare to be careless, returned to the defense in time and knocked it out of the bottom line with both fists.

Seeing that his side could not open the situation, the coach made adjustments to the players, with Slovenian centre-forward Ilicic and 19-year-old Gambian striker Barrow from the youth team coming off the bench to strengthen the home team's attacking strength. In the 82nd minute, homegrown striker Petagna also got a chance to play, and the home team's formation had changed to a frantic 3-3-4. However, it also caused a lot of holes in their own backline, and both sides created a lot of chances to attack after the final ten minutes of the game, but unfortunately they couldn't get the most out of them.

In the 83rd minute, Immobile dribbled the ball on the left side of the front, cut inside and used continuous speed change to get rid of the defender's marking, and shot with his right foot at the top of the arc of the penalty area, and the ball grazed the left post out of the bottom line. Five minutes later, the young Barrow fired a brilliant left-footed shot from the edge of the penalty area, which was blocked by a decisive Casey to keep the city open. Atalanta, who were always threatened by the opponent's counterattack, could not press the attack with all their might, and because the Torino team, which had to strengthen their own defense, could not invest more troops in the attack, so the battle between the two sides continued until the last minute of injury time and could not change the score on the field.

In the end, after 90 minutes of fierce battle, the Red Bulls defeated Poseidon 1-0 away to take the lead in the two-legged semi-final contest, and the team had a good chance of reaching the final, much to the delight of the club's hierarchy and fans.