Chapter 166: Advance
When Inter Milan secured three consecutive victories and stepped into the Champions League quarter-finals, the headline in the Italian newspaper "Milan Sports" read as follows: "The Happy European Journey of the Blue and Black Legion"
The article pointed out that Inter Milan's journey in the Champions League had been smooth sailing, relying on extremely good luck in the draws. Up to now, they had not encountered any truly strong opponents.
"Whether it's Ajax and Lyon, or Leverkusen and Barcelona, they were all in a low state for various reasons, so it's not surprising that Inter Milan was able to defeat them."
"In contrast, AC Milan first topped the group ahead of Bayern, and now they have defeated Real Madrid and Dortmund, facing tough battles all the way. Therefore, the author is more optimistic about AC Milan."
Meanwhile, in the Catalonia region, the defeated Barcelona once again faced criticism from the media. "Barcelona contributed to a game without any fighting spirit. We cannot see their determination to win."
"Tiki-taka is the traditional skill of Barcelona football, but it is more for attacking and winning. However, in this Barcelona team, possession has unexpectedly become an excuse for passive play."
"There are many players in the current team who are not worthy of wearing the Barcelona shirt. The club's top management needs to seriously consider what to do next."
On February 23rd, in the 22nd round of Serie A, Inter Milan faced Piacenza away.
Inter Milan dominated the entire match. In the 19th minute, after receiving the ball at the edge of the penalty area, Wang Feng suddenly turned and took a powerful shot, opening the scoring for Inter Milan.
Then, in the 37th minute, it was Wang Feng again breaking through on the right, passing to Ribery in the penalty area, who scored, expanding Inter Milan's lead.
In the second half, in the 59th minute, Ribery repaid the favor, penetrating Piacenza's defense with a through ball, and Wang Feng, who successfully beat the offside trap, easily scored his second goal.
This goal was Wang Feng's 24th league goal, leading the top scorer list by a wide margin ahead of the second-placed Shevchenko with 15 goals. At the same time, his assists also reached an astonishing 19, continuing to dominate the assist rankings.
3-0! Inter Milan took all three points against Piacenza.
On February 27th, in the fourth round of the Champions League group stage, Inter Milan hosted Barcelona at home.
When the match reached the 31st minute, Inter Milan won a free-kick opportunity in the opposition half. Worth mentioning is that before the foul, Wang Feng once again won against Xavi in a duel, and Xavi had to foul him.
Xavi also received a yellow card, but he breathed a sigh of relief, glad that he didn't fall in the same spot twice.
Two minutes later, his mood turned sour again because Wang Feng personally took the free kick, and the ball flew over the wall, grazing the crossbar and into the net.
This goal eventually helped Inter Milan win 1-0 against Barcelona.
With four wins out of four, accumulating 12 points, Inter Milan led Barcelona by a full six points, advancing to the Champions League quarter-finals two rounds early!
As time moved into March, Inter Milan would face two crucial matches next, both against Juventus, one in the league and one in the second leg of the Italian Cup quarter-finals.
These two matches were crucial for Inter Milan. To win the league title and the cup, they had to beat Juventus in both matches!
On March 2nd, in the 23rd round of Serie A, Inter Milan hosted Juventus at home.
In the 6th minute, Juventus took the lead. After a breakthrough on the wing by Nedved, he crossed, and Trezeguet tapped in front of the goal, giving the visitors the lead.
To make matters worse, in the 16th minute, Cocu was injured in a duel with Pirlo, and Cooper had no choice but to substitute Pasquali, leaving Inter Milan's defense in a major crisis.
Juventus quickly seized this opportunity. Seven minutes later, Nedved sent a through ball, and Pirlo took advantage of Pasquali's defense to receive the ball and score, piercing the goalkeeper's fingertips once again.
2-0! Juventus led by two goals! Less than 30 minutes had passed in the first half, and the Black and Blues were stunned by Juventus at the Meazza! Fortunately, they had Wang Feng! In the 35th minute, Zanetti's long pass found Wang Feng on the right. After receiving the ball, he dribbled past the defender Thuram with consecutive feints, entered the penalty area, and then shot into the far corner, pulling one back for Inter Milan.
In the 46th minute, Di Biagio's cross from the left found Wang Feng in the penalty area, with his back to the goal, he leaped high and kicked the ball with his left foot, piercing Juventus' goal before Ferrara could react.
A spectacular bicycle kick! 2-2! Inter Milan successfully equalized!
During halftime, Inter Milan's players remained serious. Just received the news, Cocu had a meniscus injury and would miss all remaining matches this season.
The drawbacks of long-term multitasking finally surfaced! Besides Cocu, except for Wang Feng, other key players had more or less some fatigue injuries. The upcoming matches would only get tougher!
Shortly after the start of the second half, Wang Feng appeared on the left side of the field, receiving a through ball from Di Biagio, dribbled sideways to the edge of the penalty area, facing Thuram, he feinted a shot with a shoulder drop, then cut to his left foot and shot, the ball went straight into the top left corner of the goal.
Inter Milan turned the score around! Wang Feng scored a hat-trick!
The entire Meazza stadium turned into an ocean of joy. Wang Feng seemed unstoppable. Without exaggeration, in the hearts of the fans, he was the "king" of Inter Milan.
Unfortunately, they couldn't maintain the lead until the end of the match. In the 85th minute, Trezeguet successfully broke the offside trap, broke into the penalty area from the right, and chipped the ball into the goal, equalizing the score once again.
Both sides shook hands with a 3-3 draw.
This was a golden opportunity for AC Milan. As long as they won all three points in this round, they could surpass Inter Milan and top the league standings for the first time.
However, to everyone's surprise, they unexpectedly lost 1-2 at home to Udinese, once again wasting the opportunity to overtake.
With this victory, Udinese surpassed Parma to reach fifth place in the league, just one spot away from a Champions League spot.
After the match between Inter Milan and Juventus, the Italian media were all pessimistic about Inter Milan. "The season-ending injury to key player Cocu is a fatal blow to the Blue and Black Legion, making their already weak defense even more difficult."
"Wang Feng has become Inter Milan's last straw, but one person can't hold up the whole team. They seem to have good results in three competitions, but trouble will soon follow."
"Tuttosport" believed that now was an excellent opportunity for Juventus. "With Wang Feng's eruption, Inter Milan managed a difficult home draw against the Bianconeri."
"But in the Italian Cup, Juventus holds a one-goal lead and three away goals. Inter Milan, with a depleted lineup, will find it difficult to reverse the situation."
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