Chapter 194: UEFA Champions League draw and league opening
Wang Feng's declaration, through reports from major media outlets, has sparked huge reactions in the Italian football community and across Europe. Many believe this signifies the new season's goal for Inter Milan: defending their titles!
"Inter Milan once again successfully lifted the Italian Super Cup and the UEFA Super Cup," stated Milan Sports Daily, "It's quite coincidental that the last team to successfully defend was AC Milan, winning the Italian Super Cup in 1994 and the UEFA Super Cup in 1990."
"Does this indicate AC Milan's decline and Inter Milan's rise, with Inter becoming the city of Milan's representative team?"
These remarks from the report naturally stirred dissatisfaction among many Red and Black Legion fans. However, Inter Milan has indeed firmly pressed ahead of AC Milan, leaving them only to describe Inter Milan with terms like "nouveau riche" to console themselves.
Spain's Mundo Deportivo said, "Barcelona's new president brings us a new standard, the Brazilian genius Ronaldinho, a player who can rival Wang Feng."
"But this season, Barcelona can only compete in the League Cup. We hope the rebuilt Barcelona can quickly regain strength, and Ronaldinho doesn't fall too far behind Wang Feng."
During the summer, under the recommendation of Barcelona's godfather Cruyff, new coach Rijkaard replaced the firefighting manager Antic, and Barcelona has essentially completed its reconstruction.
Germany's Sport Bild published photos of Wang Feng raising the UEFA Super Cup for two consecutive years, commenting, "European football welcomes the era of Wang Feng!"
"This summer, while Real Madrid and Barcelona competed to pursue Wang Feng, Bayern Munich quietly tightened their pockets. They shifted their focus to Dutch striker Roy Makaay, bringing him back from Deportivo La Coruna for 18.75 million euros."
"He's the second top scorer in Europe after Wang Feng, but his value is only a quarter of Wang Feng's. The main reason is that he can't play the role of a talisman and hasn't helped the team win any championships."
"When Italian powerhouses are not as strong, La Liga is rising, and the Premier League has ample funds, Bundesliga clubs still maintain a thrifty attitude, refusing to spend money on superstars. This will further weaken their competitiveness in European football."
"The Bundesliga needs stars like Wang Feng to create their own era. Bayern can be said to have forever missed Wang Feng, but they once came very close. Let's hope they don't miss the next Wang Feng."
Britain's Sky Sports reported, "Wang Feng declares war on European football!" Since the restructuring of the Champions League, no team has been able to defend their title. Now, Inter Milan's aggressive aim at this throne is a declaration of war on all European football powerhouses.
Wang Feng didn't expect his expression of joy to trigger such a huge public opinion response. However, his teammates not only don't blame him but are rather eager to try.
"Are we being seen as the evil boss?" Ribery exclaimed excitedly. "So we have to defeat all our opponents and step on their corpses to ascend to the throne!"
In the midst of the excitement, the draw for the Champions League group stage and the UEFA annual awards ceremony took place in Monte Carlo, Monaco. Since there were no major events this summer, the Champions League qualifiers started early to determine the final participants before the start of the major leagues.
Naturally, Wang Feng was invited to the ceremony. He became the center of attention, not only making it into the Best XI and winning the Best Forward award but also receiving the highest honor of the UEFA Club Footballer of the Year!
With five titles, the European Golden Boot, and being the top scorer in the Champions League, his achievements were too dazzling. He received almost all the votes, far ahead of the second-placed Raul. It's believed that a similar scenario will unfold in the end-of-year dual award ceremony.
Inter Milan continued their good luck in the Champions League group stage draw, being in the same group as Celta Vigo, Ajax, and Club Brugge. Their advancement is almost guaranteed.
AC Milan faced Arsenal, Dynamo Kyiv, and Lokomotiv Moscow. Juventus was grouped with Galatasaray, Olympiacos, and Real Sociedad. Lazio was placed with Chelsea, Sparta Prague, and Besiktas.
Overall, Serie A teams have a strong competitiveness in their groups. Italian media are very optimistic about their chances of advancement, even boldly stating their desire to replicate last year's glory, occupying three of the four spots in the Champions League semi-finals.
With everything settled, on August 31, 2003, the Serie A opening match officially kicked off. Inter Milan welcomed Modena at home.
Modena narrowly avoided relegation last season and didn't have the financial capacity to invest in the transfer market over the summer. Therefore, their goal this season remains to avoid relegation.
Facing such opponents, Mancini didn't dare to be careless. This was his first league match coaching Inter Milan, and it was the opening match played at home. Therefore, he fielded the strongest lineup.
After the match began, Inter Milan's players were more active. They had just experienced the UEFA Super Cup, so although they were a bit tired, their competitive state was much better than Modena, who had rested for over a month.
Just five minutes into the game, after a header from Vieri, Wang Feng quickly started, sprinting into the penalty area ahead of everyone to meet the ball and score for Inter Milan!
The leading Nerazzurri continued to press forward. In the 27th minute, Inter Milan's midfield intercepted the ball and launched a swift counterattack. Wang Feng appeared on the wing, received Ribery's pass, dribbled past the defenders, and scored with his right foot into the near corner, piercing Modena's defense once again!
"Wang Feng is still in excellent form. It's only been 27 minutes, and he has scored twice! From his positioning and shooting, he's as sharp as ever. I even think he's become more terrifying!"
"I think Inter Milan's opponents now need to carefully study how to stop Wang Feng."
Leading by two goals and absolute dominance, Inter Milan went into halftime. Mancini breathed a sigh of relief. After all, getting past the first hurdle of the league was considered done. The more important challenges against Juventus and AC Milan awaited.
In the second half, Mancini successively substituted Wang Feng and Vieri, two frontline generals. Inter Milan slowed down the pace of the game on the field. In the 77th minute, they scored through a free-kick in the opponent's half, with Zambrotta heading in the goal.
3-0! Inter Milan beat Modena comprehensively, securing a victorious start to the league.
Wang Feng watched the entire game from the bench. One point he deeply felt was that the team's defense had become much more solid. Although Modena's attacking ability was weak, based on last season's situation, they could have made mistakes after slowing down their offense, leading to conceding goals.
However, in this game, no matter when, Inter Milan's defense remained stable. The defensive players were very focused, maintaining a calm demeanor even under Modena's pressure and pressing.
This is the temperament of a strong team!
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