The Prince of Inter Milan starts with Brother Xiaosa

Chapter 64 Unfavorable First Battle
  Balotelli first felt angry at what Leo said, although he didn't know why.

But he quickly calmed down under Leo's gaze, and he thought carefully for a while with his not very bright head.

"Boss, I want to prove myself."

Seeing that Ba Shen figured it out so quickly, Leo smiled and said that this kid is not that stupid.

"Then train hard. Mourinho will change his attitude towards you after seeing it."

In another timeline without Leo, even though Bashen was not very obedient and had a poor training attitude, he still got a lot of opportunities to play.

This season, he also scored more goals second only to Ibrahimovic, and more goals than Adriano, Crespo and Cruz.

Of course Mourinho can see the talent in Bashen, but he often feels helpless about his "unsatisfactory performance".

Although his nature is hard to change, under the influence of Leo, Balotelli still moved a little bit in a good direction.

Regardless, this is a good start.

The much-anticipated draw for the Champions League group stage came out on the 29th, and Inter Milan undoubtedly drew a good draw.

Mourinho's team is in the same group as Werder Bremen of the Bundesliga, Panathinaikos of Greece and Anorthosis of Cyprus.

To be honest, the opponent is not strong and there is not much pressure on Inter Milan to qualify.

On August 2008, 8, in the first round of the 30-2008 Serie A season, the Nerazzurri visited the Luigi Ferraris Stadium to face Sampdoria.

This is Mourinho's first Serie A game after taking charge, and Inter Milan's boss Moratti also came to the away game to help.

Compared with the last Italian Super Cup game, Inter Milan's lineup in the midfield and frontcourt has not changed.

In the defense, Materazzi returned from injury and started the game in place of Burdisso, who was injured and absent. Cordoba also appeared on the bench.

Rossetti served as the referee for this game, and more than 30,000 spectators almost filled the stadium.

Samp, who played at home after the opening, took the initiative. Mancini and Figo, who played mediocrely in the previous game, continued their poor performance.

Under Palumbo's pressure, Leo still picked the ball and passed it to the wing.

Mancini wanted to cut inside with the ball but was easily intercepted by Sampdoria defender Pieri.

He sighed helplessly. It was impossible for Leo to organize the attack by himself, break through with the ball, and then complete the shot by himself.

Mancini and Figo were in poor condition, so he had to pass the ball to Ibrahimovic.

However, Ibrahimovic, who has not returned to his best form after returning from injury, has difficulty getting good scoring opportunities under the double-teaming of Gastaldello and Accardi.

In the sixth minute, No. 99's home team forward Cassano cut in from the left to get rid of Maicon's defense, and his right-footed curved ball outside the penalty area missed the far post.

Kamako is not only ugly, but also has a bad temper. Not many fans even like him.

However, there is nothing to say about his skills with his feet. He caused a lot of trouble for Inter Milan's defense in the frontcourt today.

Ibrahimovic turned back with his heel, and Leo's long shot was saved by Sampdoria goalkeeper Mirante.

Figo took a corner kick from the right, and Maicon's header in front of the small penalty area went slightly wide.

Palombo broke through Stankovic head-on and then passed straight to the left side of the penalty area. Samarko, who joined the home team from AC Milan, stopped the ball in the penalty area and turned around to shoot with his left foot, which was confiscated by Cesar.

The two teams continued to attack, but no one broke the deadlock.

Before half-time, Pieri made a pass from the left, and Stankovicius' header from the back was destroyed by Cambiasso!
  The two sides returned to the locker room with a score of zero to zero.

Mourinho was very dissatisfied with the team's performance, but he did not want to change to 442 like the last game.

The league is different from the cup, it is a long process, and the outcome of one or two games is not that important.

The madman just wants to confirm whether his four-three-three will work in Serie A.

At the beginning of the second half, the home team made the first substitution, with Mazzarri replacing Stankovicius with Padalino.

In the 51st minute of the game, Padalino, who came on as a substitute, made a pass from the right, and Franceschini, who received the ball from behind, was ready to dive for the top! Maicon was the first to make a clearance but failed to kick far. Sampdore striker Del Vecchio volleyed into the empty goal with the outside of his right foot near the penalty spot!
  One to zero! Sampdoria scored first!

Mourinho's face became increasingly ugly on the sidelines.

Inter Milan, which was lagging behind, made two substitutions in a row.

Mourinho replaced Figo and Mancini with Crespo and Jimenez who performed unsatisfactorily.

The visiting team looked like it was going to attack hard, but the situation on the field did not change in the direction that the Portuguese expected.

Cassano received a long pass from the backcourt and broke through with the ball, but he hesitated at the edge of the penalty area and was chased back by Materazzi and poked the ball away.

Pieri knocked across the wing, and Palombo's furious shot from the front of the penalty area was saved by Cesar.

After taking the lead, the home team felt that the score of 1-0 was not safe, and they continued to attack.

Would it be better if Balotelli was brought in today?

Mourinho is not a person who likes regrets. Such thoughts only appeared in his mind and were forgotten for a moment.

In the 72nd minute, he replaced Cruz and attacked with all his strength, but Inter Milan still found it difficult to change the passive situation.

The three forwards not only did not have any decent cooperation in front, but also interfered with each other. Sometimes when Leo passed a good ball, two Inter Milan forwards ran together and failed to get it, wasting the opportunity.

There is no other way, there is not much time left, if we don't work harder, the first game of the new season to defend the championship will end in failure.

In the 85th minute, Maicon made a pass from the right. Ibrahimovic and Leo kicked the wall twice in a row and passed many defensive players.

Leo volleyed the ball with his right foot to the left side of the penalty area. Ibrahimovic stopped the ball on his chest and volleyed from a small angle with his left foot into the far corner!
  One to one!

The away team finally equalized the score near the end of the game!

The game entered stoppage time, and both teams were still looking for chances to win.

Leo intercepted the ball in the frontcourt and passed it into the penalty area. Crespo faced the goalkeeper and his header went over the crossbar!

In the end, Mourinho's team tied with their opponents one to one away from home.

"We have to accept this result, we performed well but luck was not on our side.

Two wingers? Mancini and Figo are both very good players, but maybe I will make some adjustments in this position.

It doesn't matter if we fail to get a good start, I believe the team can find its form as soon as possible. "

On the last day of the 2008 summer transfer window, Inter Milan finally finalized the transfer of Portuguese winger Quaresma with Porto.

At the request of the Portuguese Super League giants, Inter Milan paid part of the transfer fee with the young player Pele they had previously bought from them.

The Nerazzurri spent 25 million euros and a Portuguese teenager Pele in exchange for Quaresma.

Mourinho seemed very happy about the arrival of this "comatriot".

"Quaresma can give us speed and skill on both wings.

He is another weapon besides Mancini and Figo.

I hope he can be integrated into the team's overall tactics as soon as possible and help the team offensively. "

On the morning of September 9, Ricardo Quaresma arrived at the Angelo Moratti Sports Center, which is the Pinetina training base. The Portuguese winger who newly joined Inter Milan began their first joint training.

"You have another competitor. If you want to play, train hard and let the coach see your attitude."

Knowing that Balotelli and Quaresma have different positions and technical characteristics, Leo still said this deliberately.

Bashen's eyes flashed fiercely, and he nodded fiercely as he watched the Portuguese showing off his skills on the court.

(End of this chapter)