When the referee blew the whistle to start the game, Milito, who was standing in the center circle of the stadium, immediately kicked the ball to Sneijder, and then ran towards the AC Milan half.
The entire Meazza stadium burst into thunderous cheers.
This much-anticipated Milan derby has officially begun.
After Sneijder stopped the ball, he did not pass the ball forward, but passed it back to Cambiasso who was standing in the midfielder position.
At this time, Milan's formation also began to slowly press forward.
But at this time, Milan's striker only had Inzaghi, a veteran, and Seedorf behind him was not good at defending, so he did not press the Inter Milan ball carrier, but only symbolically interfered.
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Cambiasso and Guarin passed the ball to each other several times in the midfield, and then passed the ball back to center back Lucio.
The Brazilian defender stopped the ball and took a look. When he saw Inzaghi running towards him slowly, he gently picked up the ball and reached it at the feet of Nagatomo Yuto on the left.
In other words, the Inter Milan players just kicked back in their own backcourt after the start and did not seem to be in a hurry to attack.
This is actually because their pre-game arrangements were completely in vain. The players did not know how to implement the coach's tactical intentions for a while and were in the process of self-adjustment.
At the same time, the Inter Milan coaching staff can also be given time to make a temporary response plan.
After all, Milan's lineup and style of play not only confused Stramaccioni, but also made the Inter Milan players on the field a little confused.
Did you say that the Milan players press fiercely in the frontcourt?
Did you say that Milan's sudden attack from the wing is very sharp?
All gone now.
Therefore, experienced Inter Milan players will not rush to hit the ball into the frontcourt at this time to avoid being disrupted in the fierce battle.
Once Milan's true intentions are found out, both the coaching staff and the players can prescribe the right medicine and adjust appropriate tactics.
This scene reflected in Pan Yi's eyes, and he became more certain about Inter Milan's style of play.
It turns out that Stramaccioni is really so afraid of his frontcourt pressing 433 tactics.
And he did not hesitate to hoard a large number of personnel in the backcourt to compress the sprint space of Milan's forwards.
It is a pity that Milan's current style of play is also to stop quietly and advance slowly, and is not afraid of such a response at all.
You stock up on defense, right?
I also have a lot of people in the middle.
Then come and compete to see which side has the stronger adaptability!
……
At this time, after Inter Milan made several moves in the backcourt, the ball came within the control of Yuto Nagatomo.
This time he did not choose to pass to the central defender.
Because in front of him, Guarin has been pulled to the wing to meet him.
Next to Guarin, there are also no Milan players pressing him.
So Nagatomo Yuto sent a direct pass forward.
After Guarin received the ball, he took a few steps forward and crossed the center line.
This was actually the first time that Inter Milan brought the ball across half-court in this game, and a burst of cheers from the fans erupted in the Meazza Stadium.
But the cheers did not last long.
Before Guarin walked a few meters, Milan's defensive midfielder Van Bommel and attacking midfielder Aubameyang pounced on him fiercely, forming a flanking attack on him.
Guarin could not move forward. In order to avoid losing the ball, he could only pass the ball back to Nagatomo Yuto behind him.
This is equivalent to the fact that just a few seconds after the ball reached Milan's half, it returned to Inter Milan's own half.
This is the defensive strategy Pan Yi designed for Milan’s formation in this game.
He asked most of the players to defend in their own half and did not engage in a full-court press.
In this case, when Inter Milan's ball comes over, Milan has five front and back midfielders to defend, which can block the space.
This can also minimize the defensive gaps on the wings caused by the absence of wingers, minimizing the weaknesses of this Christmas tree formation.
After all, the number of people on partial defense is not as dispersed as when pressing in the frontcourt, and the exposed gaps are naturally much smaller.
And because Inter Milan itself does not have a strong attack mentality, when encountering such a tough defense, it can only choose to pass back.
As a result, the scene was a little frozen for a while.
For quite a long time, the scene that fans saw in the stands looked like this:
Inter Milan controls the ball in the backcourt, and Milan players follow the ball slowly;
Inter Milan kicked the ball across the center line, and Milan players suddenly turned into ferocious beasts and came to fight for it, and the ball returned to Inter Milan's backcourt;
Then Inter Milan continued to control the ball in the backcourt...
It’s simply a boring game!
Milan fans in the South Stand began to boo.
Even some Inter Milan fans started to cheer, even though it was Inter Milan players who were in possession of the ball most of the time.
Stramaccioni couldn't sit still.
He had a vague feeling from the beginning: Did Milan come to this game just for 0:0?
But I thought that Pan Yi needed to win this game to "prove himself", maybe he had other ideas.
As the game progressed, Stramaccioni's feeling became stronger and stronger.
Maybe Pan Yi really doesn’t want to win!
After all, AC Milan currently leads second place Juventus by 14 points. In fact, as long as they score 1 point, they can basically guarantee the league championship.
And they are at a critical moment in the Champions League semi-finals. Now they are sending all substitutes to fight for a draw with Inter Milan. This logic makes perfect sense.
Maybe this Pan Yi doesn't value the victory of this game as much as Stramaccioni originally expected.
Or maybe Pan Yi got instructions from Milan's senior management or Allegri to try to keep the tie in the away game.
In short, if Inter Milan doesn’t hurry up, Milan may really succeed!
After all, Milan can accept 1 point, but Inter Milan cannot!
They are now at a disadvantage in the battle for Champions League seats. After all, their current ranking of sixth place is not guaranteed at all!
Once Inter Milan fails to enter the Champions League this season, it will be difficult for Stramaccioni to retain his position.
After all, Inter Milan has not missed a Champions League game since the 2001-2002 season.
Since the 2005-2006 season, they have won five consecutive Serie A championships, and their monopoly was only broken by AC Milan last year.
If it falls to fifth or sixth place this year, Inter Milan's senior management and fans will definitely not be able to accept it.
Thinking of this, Stramaccioni stood up.
He walked to the sidelines and began to give instructions to Sneijder on the sidelines.
Then, he kept waving to the Inter Milan players on the field, indicating to press the formation forward.
When Pan Yi, who was sitting on the bench, saw Stramaccioni's move, an imperceptible smile appeared on his face.
His opponent finally couldn't help but attack.
This is the moment Pan Yi has been waiting for.
When Inter Milan adjusts the formation conditions and increases the space in the backcourt, then I will let you see how powerful Milan’s ancestral Christmas tree formation is!