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At night, the San Siro Stadium is lit up, and the night sky above is lit up like day. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

The parking lots around the stadium are all full, and fans are constantly coming out of the subway station exits.

It was a game of great concern and the San Siro Stadium was destined to burst today.

The Hoffenheim and AC Milan players had arrived an hour and a half early on the pitch and were warming up on the pitch.

The stands at the San Siro are filling up at breakneck speed. Italian fans are very good at creating atmosphere. Before the game even started, they had already set off red fireworks in the stands, and the flag of Italy and AC Milan, as well as large portraits of various players, were flying in the stands.

Players from both sides can see it clearly from the pitch.

In the warm-up, Chu Zhongtian, Salihovic, Quaresma and even the two full-backs came up to try the feeling of shooting on goal, and the defenders were the main scoring point in this game, so the state of their shots directly affected the team's results.

No one wants to have a good chance and shoot away, right?

Chu Zhongtian came first, he didn't play the football, but let the football roll forward against the turf, Enyema quickly fell to the ground to save, but the football rolled faster than he expected, and finally rolled into the goal by grazing his fingertips.

Then there was Salihovic, whose long-range shot was too much for the angle and went a little wide.

Quaresma, on the other hand, cut inside on the right flank and fired home with the outside of his right foot. Nyema, despite being in the air and making saves, was unable to stop the ball from flying into the back of the net.

Seeing him complete such a beautiful shot, Chu Zhongtian couldn't help but applaud him, and then gave him a thumbs up: "It's in good shape today, Ricardo!" ”

Quaresma smiled at him.

Then Chu Zhongtian tried to play the football again, and this time although he used a lot of strength to shoot, the angle was slightly correct, and he was punched out by Enyema's double fists. However, the loud "bang" sound was heard even by the AC Milan players on the opposite side, and they turned their heads to look.

Enyema got up from the ground and shook his hands twice. Obviously, he was a little hurt by Chu Zhongtian's beating.

Chu Zhongtian hurriedly made an apologetic gesture to Enyema.

Judging from the warm-up, Chu Zhongtian felt that his shooting felt good, and he only needed to shoot more in the game.

After the warm-up, the players returned to the dressing room one after another. In half an hour, they will be back on the pitch and will start playing.

In the dressing room, Rangnick was already waiting for them.

The players returned to the locker room, changed out of their warm-up shirts and trousers, and changed into their official match clothes.

There is air conditioning in the dressing room, and the people of AC Milan are not "mean" enough to not turn on the air conditioning on a cold day. Some teams use any means to keep the away team from playing in normal form. Especially in England, this is basically what every team's manager does. For example, on a cold day, there is no hot shower, and when you turn the switch, it is cold and biting cold water that comes out, and there is no empty sky on a hot day, and the locker room is like a steamer. In short, in order to disturb the mood of the away players and interfere with their preparation, the home team often does everything to stop.

AC Milan is also a century-old giant, and it still disdains to do such a thing.

In the warm air-conditioned locker room, Rangnick was going to say a few final words.

AC Milan's starting line-up has come out, and it's pretty much the same as he guessed. The goalkeeper is Abbiati and the defenders are Nesta and Thiago. Silva, Zambrotta at left wing-back and Ambrosini at right-back. In midfield, Boateng, Andrea Pirlo, Abate and Seedorf were in midfield. The strikers were partnered by Ibrahimovic and Robinho.

This starting line-up is not much different from what Rangnick had previously speculated.

"Gentlemen, this is a game of life and death for us. We've said enough about the importance of this game in the past two weeks, so I'm not wasting time here to reiterate it. I'm sure each and every one of you will give it your all because it's about whether we can get out of the group and whether we can go far in the Champions League. ”

Rangnick's tone was calm, but he was actually a little nervous inside. He just tried to be as calm as possible so that his players were not under pressure.

"I just want you to remember to be patient in the game, to be patient when you attack, to be patient when you defend. We only need a draw to qualify for this game, so it should be AC Milan who is impatient, not us. ”

At the same time, in the AC Milan dressing room, head coach Allegri was also cheering the players: "It's a good chance, boys! Our home stadium, against our direct qualifying rivals, as long as we win them, we qualify. It's much better than if we won the game and had to look at the result of the other game. It's made easy, our goal is to win! ”

"Oh!" The AC Milan players shouted.

It looks like their morale is much higher than on Hoffenheim's. Because after the manager said that, they had an enthusiastic response.

※※※ When the fans of both sides were in their positions, it was only ten minutes before the game started.

Players from both teams are standing in the aisle, ready to enter. The two teams didn't have a deep grudge before, so the wait was peaceful. The AC Milan players chatted together, their expressions relaxed, as if they were the ones who had the upper hand in the situation. Hoffenheim's players, on the other hand, were cautious and didn't talk much. Represented by Chu Zhongtian, everyone waited silently for the appearance.

In AC Milan, Chu Zhongtian has no acquaintances, and he is not used to chatting with enemies before games. He has this mentality - although the game has not yet started, since they have all walked to the middle of the road, then the group standing next to him are all enemies, and since they are enemies, there is no reason to get close to them.

At the beginning, Wimbledon legend Pooh. Jones' rant at Liverpool's players in the run-up to the FA Cup final against Liverpool illustrates this spirit – the enemy is the enemy. Treat your enemies as ruthlessly as the autumn wind sweeps away the leaves.

Chu Zhongtian inherited such a spirit, and he never gave the enemy a good look on the court. He will not return to his normal performance until the game is over.

The referees came out of the lounge, stepped forward from the back of the line, hugged the footballs, and said to the two captains: "It's out." ”

The captain then conveyed the message, and the two teams followed the referees out of the court.

As the players played, the live broadcast was introducing the players on both sides. It was the visitors who came out first, and every name was accompanied by a huge boo. The AC Milan players may not have much hatred for Hoffenheim, but their fans are different. In the first leg between the two sides, Hoffenheim defeated AC Milan at home, which directly led to AC Milan not being able to determine whether to qualify until the final round of the group stage, and a giant team beat a nouveau riche team, which can be regarded as a great shame, so AC Milan fans have been haunted by this defeat.

Now back at home, they certainly have to "welcome" Hoffenheim with a fierce boo. The AC Milan fans near the exit leaned down and leaned on the railings to yell at the Hoffenheim players: "We'll show you how awesome!" Don't try to get out of here alive! German bunnies! ”

But they were all yelling in Italian, and none of the Hoffenheim players could understand what they were shouting.

When it was the turn of the home team to be introduced, the boos and scolding of the fans turned into cheers and applause.

When the names of every AC Milan player were announced, there was a huge cheer from the audience.

That's the atmosphere at home, and it's really easy for the home players to burst out with their huge potential, and to play at 200 per cent in the game. That's why many teams have a big difference between their home and away results. Managers who are good at adjusting the psychology of their teams will make the most of this home atmosphere to take their team's performance to the next level, just like Jose Mourinho, so his team can maintain the "myth" of being unbeaten at home for nine years and 143 games.

Although Allegri is not Mourinho, AC Milan can really burst out with a lot of energy at home, and they almost beat Real Madrid at home, so their performance at home should not be underestimated.

However, Hoffenheim did not switch to defensive counter-attacking because AC Milan were doing well at home. Rangnick's mission to Hoffenheim was to attack at AC Milan's home stadium.

He didn't know how Allegri would have predicted Hoffenheim's tactics, but Hoffenheim couldn't do anything but attack. Football tactics should focus on playing to strengths and avoiding weaknesses, and you must not rashly use tactics that you are not familiar with before an important game. What Hoffenheim have to do is simply play what they do best, play to the extreme, play the attack, play the speed, press the front court to the extreme, and play the whole movement to the extreme...... In this way, even if you face a strong opponent AC Milan, even if you are away, you still have a fight.

As the players took to the pitch, the boos and cheers subsided. After the necessary ceremony, players from both sides stand on either side of the pitch in their respective formations and wait for kick-off.

This battle of life and death is finally about to begin.

At the Bernabeu Stadium on the other side, the atmosphere of the game was not relaxed. Although they have already qualified early, Real Madrid's top spot in the group is still unstable. If they are held to a draw or beaten at home by AJ Auxerre – which is unlikely but always possible – and Hoffenheim beat AC Milan on the road, Hoffenheim will top the group with 13 points ahead of Real Madrid on 10 or 11 points.

Group winners can avoid the other group winners in the round of 16 draw, which will help the team go further in the Champions League. Real Madrid has not passed the quarterfinals for six consecutive seasons, this season they brought in Mourinho, the minimum goal in the Champions League is to pass the eighth, if you want to successfully advance to the quarterfinals, you have to take advantage of the draw for the quarterfinals, and it is the safest to win the group, when Real Madrid may draw a group that is not very strong.

Therefore, Real Madrid must win this game. However, they are much less difficult than Hoffenheim and Auxerre are unlikely to pose any threat to Real Madrid, who soon regained some confidence and morale with a 2-0 home win over Valencia in the league despite suffering a humiliating defeat in the national derby.

Both matches are to be kicked off at the same time to prevent irregularities.

The referee spoke to the fourth official on the pitch through a headset to confirm the kick-off time. Then on both pitches, the referee blew the whistle for the start of the game at the same time!

※※※ The life-and-death battle between Hoffenheim and AC Milan is obviously more interesting than the match between Real Madrid and Auxerre, so China Central Television Sports Channel chose to broadcast this game live, and put the Real Madrid game on the online TV sports channel.

He Ping and his partner, Xu Yang, sat in a studio in Beijing once again to narrate the game for Chinese television viewers.

The popularity of this match in China completely exceeds that of other Champions League matches, on the one hand, because one side is in AC Milan, which is very popular among Chinese, and on the other hand, naturally because of the Chinese player Chu Zhongtian.

"CCTV, CCTV, audience friends, hello! Join us in the early hours of the morning for the much-talked-about Champions League group stage, where AC Milan takes on away Hoffenheim. He Ping's voice rang out.

His voice was a little small, and for a moment it was drowned out by the sound coming from the scene. In this game, AC Milan fans are holding back their strength to give Hoffenheim a little bit of power, whether Hoffenheim has the ball or AC Milan has the ball, they will not stop making noise. Now that AC Milan is in possession of the ball, there are huge cheers in the sky above the San Siro stadium, and through the transmission of signals, their voices even affect the Beijing studio thousands of miles away.

He Ping had to raise his voice to broadcast the starting lists of both sides in this game.

AC Milan kicks off, he is not worried, after reading the starting line-ups of both teams, maybe not a single shot on goal. But if it was Hoffenheim kicking off, He Ping would never dare to take his eyes off the TV screen at this time, he was afraid that just by lowering his head slightly, he might miss a wonderful shot.

After reading the starting line-up, AC Milan had just completed a shot on goal. A long-range shot from Ibrahimovic was deflected wide and no goal was scored.

Without probing, as soon as the game began, AC Milan launched a fierce attack on Hoffenheim's goal. They certainly want to score as soon as possible.

Only scoring goals can make the AC Milan players feel at ease, or rather, only more and more goals can give them peace of mind.

Also looking to score early are Hoffenheim's players.

Nyema took the goal, and instead of kicking it forward, he passed it directly to central defender Simunic, who then passed the ball to Chu Zhongtian, who retreated.

Chu Zhongtian did not pass and run back and forth in the midfield, but directly sent the football forward. He passed to Quaresma on the wing.

After passing the ball, Chu Zhongtian did not stay in the backfield, but quickly stepped forward and ran forward with the speed of sprinting.

His high-profile forward came to the attention of the AC Milan players, and while they were all focused on Chu Zhongtian, Quaresma burst from the flank to the middle.

Meanwhile, Ibisevic and Ruud van Nistelrooy crossed up front and drove to catch the ball and shoot, drawing the attention of the AC Milan defenders for Quaresma. Quaresma didn't pass the ball to anyone, but took it sideways to the middle and then fired a shot with the outside of his right foot!

"It's coming! Quaresma's best right-footed outside instep curling shot! He Ping shouted.

Since moving to Hoffenheim, Quaresma has not scored, but he has performed very well, and he is completely different from Inter Milan on the bench. He is now the main player of Hoffenheim, with Weiss, Azawag and others firmly pressed to the bench, and unless injured, Rangnick will not easily take him off the starting line-up.

Quaresma's right-footed outside of his instep shot from distance was tricky, getting past centre-back Nesta and heading for the far post. Fortunately, goalkeeper Abbiati was very focused, watching Quaresma lead to the middle, just to prevent his shot, and now watching the football fly over, he immediately kicked out with his left foot, and his body flew towards the right post, while trying his best to stretch out his right arm, the whole body spread out in the air, and held the football out with one palm!

"Corner!"

The goal was not scored, and Quaresma was very sorry to hold his head in his hands.

Chu Zhongtian came over and patted him on the head to express encouragement and appreciation, and then ran into the penalty area to prepare for the top corner.

Set-pieces are also a tactic that Hoffenheim attach great importance to, and when playing away from home, against a super team like AC Milan, they will be an important tool if they want to win.

The corner kick was taken by Salihovic, and instead of reaching the goal, the ball flew slightly out and near the penalty spot. Here, Chu Zhongtian and Nesta compete for the top. In the end, it was the experienced Nesta who had a slight advantage and grabbed the football out in front of Chu Zhongtian.

However, Hoffenheim's attack did not end there, and the ball that Nesta topped ended up at the feet of the Hoffenheim players. Sana was outside, stopped the ball that Nesta was pushing out with his chest, and then made a gesture to shoot from distance, which actually did push the pass. The ball passed under the feet of AC Milan midfielder Boateng, who jumped up to defend the shot, and fell to the feet of Ruud van Nistelrooy, who retreated with the AC Milan defence. The Dutch shooter reacted quite quickly after receiving the ball and turned and shot straight away!

The shot was tricky, but it was too tricky, and the ball flew past goalkeeper Abbiati before flying off the post.

'There were quality shots from both sides, but Hoffenheim didn't show cowardice and responded immediately after AC Milan struck their goal. Two threatening attacks in a row seemed to announce their determination to AC Milan! ”

(To be continued)