Chapter 264: Advance to the top 8
During the Champions League break, Inter Milan had a dense schedule of league matches. They resolutely rotated the squad, not because they were worried about the upcoming second leg, but rather concerned about the possibility of key players getting injured.
On February 26th, in the 27th round of Serie A, Inter Milan hosted Udinese at home. The substitute lineup made the game somewhat ugly, with Udinese's defender Muntari and forward Aquilani each scoring a goal in the first and second halves, putting Inter Milan 0-2 behind!
Amidst the calls from home fans, Mancini finally substituted in Wang Feng in the 75th minute of the second half. Eight minutes later, after Emre intercepted the ball in midfield, he passed it to the edge of the penalty area, where Wang Feng swiftly advanced. He received the ball, faced defender Krivá, suddenly stopped and changed direction, dribbled the ball inside and cut into the penalty area.
Before the arrival of other defending players, he decisively took a shot from a narrow angle, and the ball flew to the far corner, just out of the reach of goalkeeper Dessena's dive, pulling one back for Inter Milan! Unfortunately, the time left for Wang Feng was too short, and he couldn't create a comeback. With a score of 1-2, Inter Milan lost the match.
The next day, major media outlets questioned whether Mancini's rotation plan was too aggressive, almost replacing all the key players, and Wang Feng's limited playing time also led to the team's eventual loss.
"Although Juventus seems unstoppable, has Inter Milan already given up on competing for this season's league title?"
Although the team lost, Wang Feng's performance still received widespread praise. His goal against Udinese in the match brought his current league goal tally to 30, dominating European football. It seems that the Golden Boot award for this season is also destined to be his.
In addition, to fulfill Ribery and Adriano's attacking desires, his assist count has also reached 14.
On March 6th, in the 28th round of Serie A, Inter Milan challenged Roma away. In this match, Wang Feng did not score, but he assisted Ribery to score a goal in the 33rd minute of the first half.
Towards the end of the match, Totti used a chance from a free-kick in the opponent's half to head the ball to Perrotta inside the penalty area, equalizing the score. In the end, both sides shook hands with a 1-1 draw.
On March 12th, in the 29th round of Serie A, Inter Milan hosted Sampdoria at home, finally breaking out after two consecutive winless rounds.
Just 5 minutes into the game, Civu sent a long pass from the back, a bit too big, but Wang Feng, chasing desperately, finally caught up with the ball near the goal line.
Following closely, defender Pisano tried to tackle the ball almost like a collision, but Wang Feng extended his left arm to block him, and in almost zero angle, took a shot with a slight lift, the ball flying past the far post. The goalkeeper's diving save fell short, and Inter Milan took the lead early with 1-0!
In the 34th minute, it was Wang Feng again who dribbled forward, shaking off defender Falcón, and passing the ball diagonally into the penalty area, where Adriano followed up and scored, further extending Inter Milan's lead.
In the second half, Sánchez assisted Ribery to score the third goal, while Sampdoria managed to pull one back through forward Pazzini.
3-1! Inter Milan took all three points.
Although the Nerazzurri only earned 4 points in three rounds, they still firmly held onto the third position on the league table, with a considerable gap between them and fourth-placed Fiorentina and the leading pack.
On March 15th, the second leg of the Champions League round of 16 was held at the San Siro. Before the match, all the media did not favor Ajax. They had to ensure not conceding a goal away and score four against Inter Milan to reverse the situation.
This was an impossible task. It was estimated that no team in the world could achieve such a result at the San Siro under Wang Feng's dominance, let alone Ajax with their morale in tatters.
According to reports from Dutch newspaper "Telegraaf", the heavy defeat to Inter Milan left the Ajax club's top management extremely dissatisfied, considering the early dismissal of coach Blind.
Once the match started, Inter Milan predictably took control. However, they were not in a rush to attack but rather controlled the rhythm slowly, after all, they were the side leading by a big margin.
In the 26th minute, Wang Feng received a pass from Sánchez, faced defenders Emanuelson and Maduro, and suddenly started to maneuver between the two.
Maduro was instantly left behind, while Emanuelson was positioned deeper. Seeing this, he hurriedly moved closer to block, but Wang Feng effortlessly evaded the entanglement with a quick stop and dribble, then advanced towards the penalty area.
Just as he entered the edge of the penalty area, Wang Feng lifted his right foot and took a powerful shot. The shot was quick and fast, and the defender Heitinga tried to block it, but the ball deflected off his leg, changing its trajectory, surprising goalkeeper Scott Lundberg, who could only watch it go into the net.
1-0! Inter Milan continued to expand their lead!
Wang Feng didn't anticipate this change in the shot; he just felt it was worth a try. Even if it was saved, it wouldn't be a big deal. He never expected it to deflect and go in.
And just before the end of the first half, Civu intercepted the ball from Rosales at the back, then sent a long ball to Wang Feng near the center circle. Ajax's defense wasn't very stretched out, with many players not participating in the attack just now.
Civu's accurate pass, combined with Wang Feng's sharp judgment, allowed him to arrive at the ball's landing point first, flicking it aside as defender Maduro rushed over.
Seeing this, Wang Feng pushed the ball forward with his toe, then leaped into the air, with the ball flying over Maduro.
In the air, Wang Feng's toe still touched Maduro's left leg, causing him to stumble after landing, but with precise control over the force, he barely steadied himself and continued chasing after the ball.
At this moment, another defender, Vermaelen, had also arrived. With both players almost simultaneously touching the ball, in a critical moment, Wang Feng's ball control skills prevailed, and the ball, under the influence of both forces, flew into the front court, still flying forward.
What followed was very simple. Wang Feng accelerated past Vermaelen, and by the time he turned around to chase, the two had already opened up a distance.
Entering the penalty area, there were only one defender, Emanuelson, and goalkeeper Scott Lundberg waiting for him.
"Wang Feng has entered the penalty area, the remaining two players simply can't stop him, shot! Goooooooooooooooal! The ball's in!"
"As the first half approaches its end, Inter Milan once again extended their lead through a counterattack, with Wang Feng dribbling past three defenders from midfield and calmly shooting past the goalkeeper."
"Now the total score of the two legs has reached 5-0! Ajax has lost the last glimmer of hope; they must score 6 goals in the second half, which is impossible."
"Perhaps in this world, only Wang Feng can create such a miracle."
The miracle didn't happen; neither side scored in the second half. Inter Milan eliminated Ajax to advance to the Champions League quarterfinals.
In another Champions League match, Juventus won 2-1 away against Werder Bremen. However, they lost 2-3 at home in the first leg, resulting in a 4-4 draw on aggregate, and they were sadly eliminated due to the away goals rule.
This result caused a huge stir in Italy, as no one expected the unbeaten Serie A champions to be knocked out in the round of 16 of the Champions League, and there was a lot of criticism questioning Juventus' strength.
AC Milan narrowly defeated Bayern Munich to smoothly advance to the quarterfinals. It is worth mentioning that Real Madrid was defeated by Arsenal in the round of 16, once again sparking strong dissatisfaction among the club's top management, especially Florentino's position was greatly impacted.
The other four teams in the quarterfinals are Benfica, Barcelona, Villarreal, and Lyon.
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