The Prince of Inter Milan starts with Brother Xiaosa

Chapter 264 Fierce Battle at White Hart Lane

On April 2011, 4, the White Hart Lane stadium in North London was packed today.

There were also tens of thousands of Lilywhites fans outside the stadium who had not been able to buy tickets.

Playing against the defending champions in the Champions League semi-finals may be an unprecedented experience for Spurs.

Tottenham Hotspur, who were making their first appearance in the Champions League, upset Real Madrid in the quarter-finals.

This North London team showed an unparalleled fighting spirit.

And they met the "six-time champion" Inter Milan in the semi-finals, and the first round will be played at the home court of the Premier League powerhouse.

To be honest, Leo really didn't expect Tottenham to complete a shocking reversal and eliminate the Galaxy Battleship.

What Leo didn't know was that Gareth Bale was precisely stimulated by his good friend to achieve such a feat.

Before the game started, during the warm-up at White Hart Lane, Leo smiled and talked with Bell, his opponent.

"This is our second visit to White Hart Lane this season."

"We won't let you take away even one point today."

In the previous Champions League group stage, Inter Milan played against Tottenham twice and remained unbeaten with one win and one draw.

Now that they meet again in the semifinals, the situation is different.

Competition in the Premier League is fierce this season, and Tottenham barely managed to finish fourth last season.

No one expected that they could achieve such outstanding results in their first trip to the Champions League.

Of course, the opposite is that when Tottenham Hotspur, which has limited lineup depth, fights in the European competition, it is inevitable that it will be a little weak in the league.

Now they are just one step ahead of their city rivals Arsenal, ranking fifth in the Premier League.

Just before this Champions League game against Inter Milan, they drew two consecutive games and lost four points.

In the last five Premier League games, Tottenham will face several strong opponents including Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City.

It depends on how they choose, whether to try their best to create new history in the Champions League, or return to the league and strive to be among the top four at the end of the season.

Leo hugged his former teammates one by one, and the game was about to officially begin.

Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy took a front-row seat at White Hart Lane.

He also had mixed feelings at this time. Leo briefly played for Tottenham for one season.

He achieved a good performance and also helped Lily Bai win his first championship trophy after taking charge of the club.

At that time, Levi had the intention to keep Leo, but it was a pity that Lang had no intention of keeping Li Ao. Leo still wanted to return to Inter Milan.

Facts have proved that Levi was not wrong. The Leo and Bale he favored have become famous in Europe and have become the top stars among the younger generation.

It's just that Tottenham doesn't have this fate. This year's results in Tottenham's Champions League have far exceeded his expectations.

We have already reached the semi-finals, who doesn’t yearn for the final championship trophy?
  "If Leo is in our team now, he and Bale may really have a chance to bring Tottenham the first Champions League trophy in history."

Levi looked at the young man with a bright smile on the green field, and couldn't help feeling a little sad.

It's a pity that all this can only exist in his fantasy and cannot become reality.

Inter Milan played away from home, and Leonardo chose a relatively safe starting lineup of 4,312.

After going round and round, the Nerazzurri returned to this tactical play that is most suitable for Leo.

The midfield combination of Thiago Motta, Cambiaso and Zanetti can effectively provide support for Leo behind him, and the defense of the midfield is reassuring enough.

On the front line, Eto'o, who had suffered an ankle injury, returned and played alongside Milito, with Pandev on standby.

Left back Kolarov, right back Maicon, Bonucci and Lucio partnered as center back and goalkeeper Cesar.

Redknapp also made slight adjustments to the lineup at Tottenham.

Tottenham Hotspur today started a set of England's traditional four-four-two parallel position.

The two forwards of Crouch and Defoe are a classic partnership, one high and one fast, while Gareth Bale and Aaron Lennon fly together on the left and right.

In the middle, Modric and Van der Vaart sit in the midfield.

Left back Asuekto, right back Joel Luca, center back combination of Michael Dawson and Ledley King, goalkeeper Gomez.

In fact, Tottenham captain Ledley King was still recovering from injury, but he came back early in order to play in this game with Inter Milan.

Despite this, the home team's lineup today still feels top-heavy.

"Do they want to use offense as defense? This starting lineup is very aggressive, but the defense may depend on the performance of Ledley King and the state of Gomez."

The healthy Ledley King is undoubtedly a top central defender with excellent defensive ability. He can easily steal from the Premier League's top forwards without relying on small tricks such as fouls.

Unfortunately, his biggest problem is that it is too "glassy" and he was injured every three days. "It takes two hours to charge and five minutes to talk."

Under the influence of frequent injuries, no matter how outstanding a player is, he cannot maintain his condition.

Not to mention Tottenham's goalkeeper Gomez, he is a "nervous knife" with extremely good reflexes.

When he's in good form, he can make any kind of save at his fingertips, but don't even think about breaking the goal he's guarding.

But sometimes I lose my concentration, and it happens from time to time that I am stuck in a daze and my opponent scores a goal.

In stark contrast to the unreliable back line, the Lily Legion's offensive line today.

The midfield combination of Dutch golden boy Van der Vaart and "Magic Flute" Modric has no doubt about their ability to pass forward, but their defensive ability...

At this time, Modric was not the almost omnipotent Mr. Ballon d'Or in the future. Now he is recognized as strong in offense and weak in defense.

Needless to say, Bell, the "electric mouse" Aaron Lennon on the right is not tall but extremely fast. He is also a famous wing speed horse in the Premier League.

The tall striker Crouch has good scoring ability, and he also has excellent foot skills that do not match his height of more than two meters.

As for Defoe, he is not inferior at all. In the Premier League match where Tottenham defeated Wigan Athletic 8-1 more than a year ago, Defoe once performed a good show of "five goals" in half the game.

Leo was a little worried. He knew that today's game would definitely be difficult, and he couldn't hesitate in the face of such an opponent.

"Let's fight against each other! The more powerful they attack, the more opportunities we have!"

Yes, the stronger Tottenham's offense becomes, the weaker their defense becomes.

If Inter Milan, playing away from home, hesitates and the home team seizes the opportunity, then this game may really be decided.

At the beginning of the first half, the Nerazzurri took the lead.

However, Milito did not expect that the black man wearing the captain's armband at Tottenham was so difficult to deal with.

After all, when they played against Tottenham before, Milito and Ledley King happened to be recuperating from injuries and had not played against each other.

Before he could react, Ledley King easily stole the ball from Milito's feet!
  Modric's long pass flew to the frontcourt, Tottenham Hotspur's quick counterattack!
  Amidst the cheers of the White Lily supporters in the audience, all the frontcourt offensive players of the home team pressed forward!

They counterattacked very quickly, and Inter Milan's defensive players rushed back to defend.

But it’s already too late!
  Bell broke through at high speed on the left wing, and Tottenham formed a five-on-three frontcourt!

That's right, not only was Bell fast enough, but Defoe and Lennon were not far behind either, and even Crouch and Van der Vaart could keep up in time!

Cesar also panicked, as if he instantly returned to the game a few months ago where Bale scored three goals in a row.

On the one hand, one must be wary of Bell hitting the goal directly, and on the other hand, one must also pay attention to other Tottenham offensive players who insert into the penalty area.

Lucio and Bonucci were both one against two. Fortunately, Maicon returned to defense very quickly today and was almost behind Bell.

Gareth Bale decisively took the ball with his left foot and passed it into the penalty area!

Crouch took advantage of his height advantage to head the ball back, and Defoe got rid of the defense and scored from close range!

One to zero!

Tottenham Hotspur, playing at home, scored the first goal!

Alas, Leo sighed after the team lost the goal.

He had expected this to happen, but he had to step up and cheer up his frustrated teammates.

"Don't worry, it's just one goal. This is their home court after all.

Next, let's not mess up our position, just look for opportunities to score a goal for them! "

Leo's words were still useful, at least the Nerazzurri players calmed down quickly.

Facing the fiercely attacking Lily Army, we must not show weakness!

One minute after Tottenham changed the score, Leo also led his teammates to attack!
  Modric's excellent offensive ability cannot cover up his current defensive deficiencies. Leo just turned and accelerated quickly and left him behind.

Van der Vaart was not much better. He was beaten cleanly by Leo after a symbolic press.

The home team's midfield is almost undefended!
  This is also the price they pay for their all-out attack.

If one of the Brazilian midfielders Sandro, Hoddlestone or Janas was on the court now, the defense in the midfield might be much better.

But the corresponding offensive ability has naturally declined.

Lao Lei chose a big gamble. If he won the gamble, he would create history at Tottenham. If he lost the gamble, it would be just a deserved defeat.

After passing two people, Leo was not in a hurry to pass the ball, and slowed down to wait for other teammates to get in position.

Milito was tangled up with Ledley King again.

Standing with his back turned, Milito raised his hand for the ball.

Out of trust in his teammates, Leo passed the ball immediately.

Tottenham captain Ledley King also wanted to repeat his old trick and steal from Milito's feet again, but the opponent was already prepared.

Since Milito has already been intercepted once, he is somewhat sure if he dares to take the initiative to ask for the ball this time. After stopping the ball with his chest and a little bit with his right foot, Milito stopped suddenly outside the arc of the penalty area and turned around to forcefully get rid of Ledley King's personal marking!

He broke into the penalty area and followed up with a powerful low shot!
  Gomez, the home team's goalkeeper, fell to the ground and tried to save but was still unable to do anything!

One to one!

Inter Milan equalized the score!
  Although he has not played much time this season, although he has been troubled by injuries, and although he has been questioned by many outsiders, Milito has not wavered!

Or maybe he had doubts about himself, but in the end he still had firm belief!
  This is the style of the top scorer on the Triple Crown winning team last season.

Nerazzurri, who traveled with the team, applauded Milito's goal.

No one knows better than them how good Milito was last season.

Even though the Argentines are struggling with injuries this season, with their injuries fluctuating, they still look forward to Milito returning to his previous performance!

In today's game, when the situation was somewhat unfavorable to the Nerazzurri, Milito stood up.

He didn't live up to the fans' expectations, nor did he live up to Leo's trust.

At that time, Leo could actually pretend not to see it, pass the ball to other teammates, or take two steps forward and hit the goal himself.

But he still chose to believe in Milito, and Milito repaid his trust with wonderful goals.

The two sides returned to the same starting line.

Tottenham Hotspur continue to launch strong attacks, they have no other choice!
  Modric made a through ball, and Lennon quickly inserted the right wing and hit the inverted triangle near the baseline. Defoe failed to adjust his center of gravity in time in the penalty area, and the shot he followed went over the crossbar.

Bell threw a sideline ball from the left into the penalty area. Crouch stopped the ball with his back, turned around and fired a shot that hit the side netting.

Van der Vaart dribbled the ball laterally from the outside of the penalty area and got rid of Zanetti's defense. Then he adjusted to his left foot and his long-range shot was blocked by Cesar!

Tottenham took a corner kick, and Ledley King's high-leaping header from the front missed the top of the crossbar and went out of the baseline!

The home team went on the offensive amidst the cheers of the audience, wave after wave.

However, the Nerazzurri's defense was still very solid, not conceding the ball easily and withstanding the pressure.

In the 37th minute, Asuekto kicked the ball from the left, Modric headed the ball back, and Bell volleyed with his left foot from the penalty area and scored!

The Tottenham fans in the White Hart Lane stands had already stood up and cheered for the goal, but they waited in confusion when the referee ruled that the goal was invalid.

The linesman had raised his flag the moment the goal was scored, and Modric was offside when he headed the ball back.

Yes, I was happy for nothing.

The Lily Legion, which had been unable to attack for a long time, fell into a stage of weak attack.

Anyway, the first half is almost over, and it seems like they all want to finish the game quickly and go back to the locker room to rest before playing again.

The first half entered stoppage time, and Leo launched an attack from the frontcourt.

The ball was distributed to the right, and Maicon was under a lot of defensive pressure today. Bell caught him and made a sudden attack.

The Brazilian can only reduce the frequency of forward assists and prioritize defense.

The game was coming to an end, and he finally got a chance. Maicon quickly broke through to the right side of the penalty area and passed in!

Thiago Motta's powerful volley was saved by Gomez!
  In fact, the Tottenham goalkeeper's line of sight was blocked at the time, so he took off slowly.

But Gomez bounced up like a spring and hit the ball with one punch!

The first half is not over yet, Tottenham has a chance to counterattack quickly!

Or Bell's unreasonable speed after receiving the ball!
  This time only Defoe and Lennon were able to keep up, but at the same time Inter Milan's defensive players were slower to react and were still struggling to get back.

There was no other way. Inter goalkeeper Cesar was facing one against three this time. He decisively abandoned the goal and attacked Bell!
  As long as Bell can clear the ball before he takes off, it doesn't matter whether he wants to pass the ball or hit the goal himself!

But just when Cesar was about to get closer, Bale made a strong left foot move, causing the Inter Milan goalkeeper to miss!
  Then Bell dropped Cesar and accelerated again, dunking the ball back before it went out of the baseline!
  With just a slight push to the center, Defoe can hit the empty goal!

However, at this opportunity, Bell didn't want to make a wedding dress for his teammates anymore. He took a distance horizontally, and before the Inter Milan defensive players caught up behind him, he pushed his left foot into the middle of the goal and hit the net!

Two to one!

The home team ended the first half with a one-point lead!
  It was originally an opportunity for Inter Milan to counterattack, but it ended up being counterattacked by Tottenham.

This made Leo very uncomfortable.

Of course, Maicon rushed too far forward and then had no time to go back. Being beaten by Bell was also a very important reason.

At the beginning of the second half, Tottenham Hotspur, who was leading the score, continued their attacks.

In the 47th minute, Van der Vaart fell to the ground and passed from the right. Crouch, unguarded, flicked his head in the middle of the small penalty area and hit the goal!
  The ball hit the crossbar and Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp regretted on the sidelines.

Leo still finds it interesting. Although Crouch is over two meters tall, heading the ball is really not his strong point.

Gao Lao is not a good nickname. Not to mention when he was young, even now Crouch's tall, thin and "bamboo pole" appearance makes it difficult to associate him with a football player.

Indeed, Crouch is often able to grab header opportunities due to his height advantage.

If his heading skills can be as good as his foot skills, maybe he can score many more headers in his career.

Some people have never seen Crouch play football. If they only look at the statistics, they may think that he has scored a lot of headers and he should be pretty good at headers.

In fact, during Crouch's playing days, his headers have been criticized by all walks of life.

Compared with the skills and talents he showed in Marseille pirouettes and upside-down golden hooks on the field, Crouch's header level is really not worth mentioning.

Of course, we are afraid of comparison in everything. Even if Crouch's header ability is average, but considering that he is more than two meters behind, most people should not humiliate themselves if they want to compete with him in header.

Going back to the game, although another good scoring opportunity was missed, the Lily Legion, which was leading the score, was still full of confidence.

At the 65th minute, Tottenham took the lead in making substitutions, with Sandro coming off the bench to replace Crouch.

Defoe's single arrow came forward, Van der Vaart returned to his most familiar attacking midfielder position, and the midfield combination of Modric and Sandro also greatly improved his interception ability.

Tottenham's formation was instantly adjusted to 4,2,3,1!

Leonardo saw Maicon, who was out of breath after completing a defense against Bell, and had no choice but to replace the Brazilian with David Thornton.

The game entered a stalemate for the first time. Tottenham strengthened its defense because they felt that holding on to 2-1 was quite satisfactory.

The home team changed from its previous all-out offensive posture to a defensive counterattack.

Inter Milan was determined to equalize the score, but could not find a chance.

In the 86th minute, Van der Vaart got the ball in the frontcourt, and Thiago Motta and Zanetti intercepted the ball effortlessly.

After receiving the pass from his teammate in the frontcourt, Leo immediately turned around and pushed forward, and then sent a diagonal kick to the left.

Kolarov and Eto'o cooperated and passed the ball high in the second half, but no one in the penalty area touched the ball.

David Thornton, who inserted at the far end, received the ball and returned it. Leo stopped the ball with his chest at the top of the arc in the penalty area and passed Modric's defense.

Michael Dawson stepped forward to press for the ball, but Leo turned around and dunked the ball.

In the penalty area, Leo looked up to the left side of the goal and took a powerful shot!

Gomez was deceived by Leo's gaze and turned in the opposite direction. He watched in despair as the ball entered the net from the upper right corner of the goal!

Two to two!
  Inter Milan once again tenaciously equalized the score!
  Leo did not celebrate after scoring. Many Tottenham fans were moved to shout Leo's name and applaud him after seeing it.

At the end of the game, the home team suddenly woke up and replaced Pavlyuchenko to strengthen the attack again, but it was too late.

Tottenham counterattacked. Defoe took possession of the ball and turned around to avoid the defensive player. He circled outside the penalty area and volleyed directly away.

In the 93rd minute, Asuekto's shot from outside the penalty area was also blocked by the Inter Milan defender in the penalty area.

In the end, Inter Milan tied with Tottenham Hotspur 2-2 away from home!
  “Tottenham’s offense was very exciting, but if our defensive players had not played well, they would have conceded more than two goals.

Taking away a draw at White Hart Lane is acceptable to me.

Now we have two away goal advantages in hand. When we return home, I believe that my players can maintain the advantage and eliminate Tottenham to reach the Champions League final for the second consecutive year!

It’s too early to think about the opponent in the final. I think we still have to respect the opponent in front of us.

It may not be impossible for Tottenham Hotspur to create a miracle at Meazza, and we will definitely not take it lightly! "

Although they failed to win in the away game, all Inter Milan fans who watched the game said they could accept it.

Anyway, there is still the second round of the game, and the Nerazzurri are expected to advance to the Champions League final again amid the cheers of the home fans!
  However, before the second round with Tottenham, Inter Milan still has a game in the 35th round of Serie A to be played away from home.

At Cesena's home court, Inter Milan, which rotated their lineup, led their opponents 2-0 in the first half with Leo's two goals.

Although Cesena forward Boudin helped the home team get a goal back in the second half, Leo soon assisted Pazzini to score to bring the lead back to two points.

After Milito returned from injury, Leonardo used him very conservatively in order to avoid the recurrence of the Argentine's old injury.

Therefore, Pazzini played in the league, Milito mainly played in the Champions League, and the two got along well.

In the end, even though Leo was replaced in the 70th minute, he still scored three goals with two shots and one pass to help the Nerazzurri win 3-1 away from home.

Leo also rewritten the Serie A single-season scoring record to 40 goals in one fell swoop!

As for their Champions League rivals Tottenham Hotspur, life is not so easy.

Just after playing the first leg of the Champions League against Inter Milan, they ushered in the London derby against Chelsea.

The tired Lilywhites were no match for the Blues, and Ancelotti's team defeated Tottenham 2-1 at Stamford Bridge.

At this point, Lily Legion has little hope of reaching the top four of the Premier League this season.

Unless he wins all the next few league games and some of the competitors ahead of him are left behind.

This depends too much on luck. Whether it is Levi or Redknapp, they have put all their hopes on the Champions League!

On May 2011, 5, the weather in Milan was sunny and sunny.

Inter Milan is sitting in Meazza, ushering in the second leg of the Champions League semi-finals with Tottenham!
  (End of this chapter)