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Chapter 274 The Absolute Defense of Milan
Pisano received the ball in midfield, facing Milan's two complete defensive lines, just like the two walls of the city.

Faced with such a dense defense, Pisano passed the ball to the left flank.

Tyne's left-back Anderson Nova had already moved to the sideline, and as the ball was passed to him, Milan's right-back Ademilson Pedrio also ran over from the flank.

As Anderson Nova received the ball, Pedro appeared exactly two meters in front of him, blocking his path.

Nova knew his national team teammate very well and knew that Pedro was a tough opponent, so he didn't try to force a one-on-one duel.

Anyway, Vitini has already cut diagonally from the middle to the flanks to support him.

So Nova passed the ball to him.

Milan's right center-back Owen Gavitto was positioned on the flank and immediately followed up when he saw Vitini making a diagonal run.

Vitini feinted, not taking the ball, but naturally letting it slip between his legs.

He successfully fooled Gavito, making the latter rush forward with him, thus revealing the path behind him.

Wang Lie was there to meet them!
However, Wang Lie also had a Milan defender by his side, center-back Alberto Rosetti.

Papacioli's advantage in playing with a five-man defense was on full display at this moment—if it were a four-man defense, Wang Lie might have been left unmarked. If he had to come up to cover Wang Lie, Ribeiro would have been left unmarked.

Now Owen Gavitto is marking Vitini, with Alberto Rosetti in the middle to defend Wang Lie, and Lorenzo del Caro, the left center-back, is responsible for marking Ribeiro.

Tyne's three forwards are all surrounded by teammates.

Although Wang Lie successfully received the ball, he failed to shake off the defense. At the same time, Ribeiro saw Wang Lie receive the ball and accelerated to close in, but he was also accompanied by Milan City's center-back Del Carlo.

Wang Lie couldn't possibly pass the ball to Ribeiro.

Further away, Cabella appeared on the right flank, and Milan's left-back, Stefan Anelli, was marking him.

At the same time, Milan's midfielders immediately moved closer to the defense, sandwiching the three forwards, Tyne, in the penalty area and compressing their space to receive the ball.

Three of them rushed towards Wang Lie, joining Rossetti in an attempt to surround him with four against one.

Therefore, even if Wang Lie wanted to fight alone and create opportunities through his personal abilities, it would be almost impossible under such defensive pressure.

At this point, he can only pass the ball.

With his back to the goal, Wang Lie shielded Rosetti behind him, using his body to protect the ball, and then passed it out of the penalty area to Pisano.

Pisano kept moving forward after launching his initial attack.

But he wasn't running very fast; sometimes he would run to the left to support Nova, and sometimes he would turn to the flanks to coordinate with Vitini.

Finally, he moved to the middle and became the best target for Wang Lie to pass the ball.

As Wang Lie passed the ball out, one of the three Milan City midfielders who had come up to surround him immediately turned around and rushed towards Pisano.

The remaining two simply turned around but did not come up; instead, they continued to surround Wang Lie.

They clearly know who the most dangerous Tyne player is in the penalty area.

Facing the ball that was passed to him, Pisano swung his right leg, seemingly about to shoot directly.

After drawing the attention of almost all the Milan City players to himself, he flicked the ball up with his right foot and sent it towards the far post.

A long, lobbed pass!
The ball flew straight behind the weak flank of Milan's defense!
"nice shot!"

"A brilliant transfer!"

Although the pass was well-intentioned and received high praise from the commentators, it failed to achieve its purpose.

Because right after Pisano passed the ball, Milan midfielder Emil Forsberg, who was originally on the edge of the penalty area, started running towards the byline.

This wasn't because he was precognitive and predicted how Pisano would pass the ball.

Rather, it was purely because of the defensive tactical system that assigned him the task; in this position, he was inherently responsible for defending the weak side of his own defensive line.

Because of his thorough preparation, Pisano's pass was ultimately headed back by Forsberg.

Just as Forsberg jumped up to head the ball away, Barnabas behind him also jumped up to contest the header.

Because Forsberg blocked his position, Barnabas, despite having the better jumping posture, failed to head the ball at all and could only watch as Forsberg headed the ball out of the penalty area—he didn't even head it out of bounds, not even wanting to pass it to the corner flag. This is the confidence of an Italian powerhouse with a strong defensive tradition.

Although Forsberg's header landed in the hands of Tyne's players, Tyne was unable to threaten Milan's goal despite controlling the second ball, thanks to Milan's tight defense.

They could only pass the ball back and forth, trying to break up Milan's formation.

After a series of passes, Ribeiro came to the sideline to receive the ball.

As the ball rolled toward him, Milan's left-back, Stefan Anelli, also rushed forward.

However, Anelli discovered that Ribeiro would receive the ball before him.

If he continues to rush forward at this point, Ribeiro will easily get past him—as a former teammate, he and Ribeiro have faced off many times in training, and he knows all too well what Ribeiro would do in this situation.

So he immediately slowed down and prepared to turn around.

Sure enough, Ribeiro didn't stop the ball, but instead dribbled it forward!

Simultaneously initiate a breakthrough!

Anelli's anticipation played a crucial role at this moment. His decision not to rush forward maintained a safe distance for himself, while his early turn allowed him to quickly close in on Ribeiro, reaching out to grab the latter's jersey and arm to prevent him from gaining speed.

Ribeiro waved his hand, trying to push his hand away.

The two of them became entangled and chased after the football.

Seeing that he couldn't shake off his former teammate's defense for the time being, Ribeiro made another sudden stop, stepped the ball behind him, and turned around to change direction.

Anelli also turned around and stood in front of Ribeiro.

At this point, both sides slowed down, and Tyne's attack once again turned into a positional battle.

Ribeiro feinted a shot, but Anelli remained unmoved, so he passed the ball back to the right-back Barnabas who had come up to receive it.

After passing the ball to Barnabas, Ribeiro moved towards the center, leaving space on the wing for Barnabas.

Anelli chose to stay on the wing to defend Barnabas.

As for Ribeiro, he'll be left to his teammates in the middle and flanks.

Facing the well-prepared Italian national team's starting left-back, Barnabas was not confident of breaking through, so he directly crossed the ball, preparing to forcefully find Wang Lie in the penalty area.

However, the pass was slightly off target; the ball didn't reach Wang Lie's area but instead flew directly towards the far post.

At the far post, Tyne's left-back Anderson Nova tried to get to the ball, but was blocked by his national team predecessor, Ademilson Pedrio.

Despite his attempts to go around him, he was blocked by the more experienced Pedro.

In the end, he could only watch helplessly as Pedro shielded the ball out of bounds...

"There was absolutely no chance... The game had been going on for 28 minutes, and although Tyne was dominating possession, the score was still 0-0."

Seeing this scene, Luo Jin sighed with emotion.

The ball going out of bounds means the end of Tyne's attack, which had lasted for over four minutes. Zhao Chuanfeng said:

"Papacioli was indeed well-prepared for this match. The correct tactical arrangements and targeted personnel ensured that Wang Lie, Vitini, and Ribeiro were never facing just one defender when they had the ball. In the previous attack, even though Ribeiro successfully broke through Anelli on the first touch, there was actually Del Carlo waiting behind Anelli to disrupt Ribeiro's run..."

He was referring to the moment when Ribeiro tried to dribble past Anelli on the wing. It seemed Ribeiro couldn't shake off Anelli's defense, which was a pity.

But even if he breaks through Anelli's defenses, it will be difficult for him to pose a threat.

Because Milan's left center-back Lorenzo del Carlo has already run from the flank towards the edge of the penalty area.

※※※

Like other Tyne fans, Tang Lin applauded Tyne's failed attack and then asked his landlord, "Is Milan's defense that strong?"

As a new fan, it's already quite impressive that he knows a little about his favorite team, Tyne. Expecting him to be an expert on other teams in Europe is clearly unrealistic.

Before this match, all he knew was that Milan City was a powerhouse with a long history and the most Champions League titles won by any Italian team.

As for the team's personnel, preferred tactics, and so on, we know nothing about them.

After the game started, Tyne clearly had the upper hand on the field, but he couldn't score.

That's why Tang Lin asked that question.

Mr. Berg explained to him: "Milan's strength lies in its exceptional defense. Look at their backline: a goalkeeper plus five defenders. Except for the right-back and right center-back, the rest are all key players on the Italian national team. They have outstanding individual abilities and excellent teamwork. Facing their defensive wall, it's really difficult to deal with them..."

Theo Collins, the bar owner standing behind them, said: "Actually, we really lack experience in playing this kind of tight defense. Because we used to be the weak team that needed to play a tight defense, and there weren't many teams in the league that parked the bus when facing us... So the game against Milan City is really a test for us."

※※※

Federico Papacioli looked up at the scoreboard on the big screen in the stands, which displayed the live score of the match.

The match has been going on for almost thirty minutes, and the score is still 0-0.

During these 28 minutes of the match, Tain had a very high possession rate because Milan City voluntarily conceded possession.

To outsiders, Tyne's high possession rate but inability to score suggests that Milan's defense was quite effective.

Commentators around the world are praising Papadopoulos's work:
"It's been almost thirty minutes! The powerful attacking force, Tyne, still can't score!"

"Milan's defense is like a solid, one-piece reinforced concrete fortification! This kind of football isn't pretty, but it's Milan's philosophy for survival!"

"Milan City's incredibly resilient defense has shown the Tain fans that this is the kind of opponent they will face in the Champions League!"

The Italian commentator was even more optimistic, saying:

"Papacioli showed China Wang the 'Great Wall of China' on the football field! We know that Wang has scored in eighteen consecutive games in all competitions, and everyone is asking when he will stop... It's time! It's time to end his scoring streak!"

Papacioli's true feelings were definitely not as optimistic as his fellow Italian claimed.

The game has only been going on for less than 30 minutes, with two-thirds of the time remaining. How could he dare to declare victory so easily?
In the past 28 minutes, Tyne has left space behind the defense as he pushes forward in attack.

But he chose to use gestures from the sidelines to calm the players' restless hearts time and time again, reminding them not to attack rashly and not to give Tyne a chance to score...

Although this is Tyne's first time participating in the Champions League, and although just six months ago, the team was contemptuously called "mercenaries," Papacholi showed sufficient caution and full respect for Tyne in both tactical arrangements and the selection of starting players.

He had carefully studied Tyne's key matches in this season.

A conclusion can be drawn:
On paper, Tyne is already a top-tier team.

That's why they were able to rank first in the league.

It's not just luck, as some outsiders believe, but a matter of chance.

However, Papacioli also believes that beneath such a dazzling and glamorous performance, Tyne actually harbors a huge hidden danger—a lack of maturity.

As a dark horse team, a challenger, immaturity is not a problem, but rather an advantage, meaning they can break the mold and create miracles.

But this comes at a price.

The trade-off is that in top-level competitions, it's easy to make some inexplicable mistakes.

For example, in the match against Lille, Papacholi believed that Tyne's lead after just twenty minutes was a very good start.

If it were him, he would use this lead to solidify his defense and launch counter-attacks – Lille, playing at home, certainly cannot accept falling behind, and they will intensify their attack, which will create many gaps behind their defense, allowing his team to extend their lead through counter-attacks.

So what did Tyne do?

Tyne continued his attack, and his offensive was even more intense than that of Lille.

Although they came close to extending their lead at one point, they ultimately failed to capitalize on the opportunity.

Lille turned the tide and scored two goals.

Many people might say that if Vitini had scored that goal, the outcome would have been different.

But in Papacholi's view, whether Vitini's shot went in or not cannot change the conclusion that Tyne's team is immature.

Even though Tyne ultimately won the game away from home, Papacholi still felt that Tyne's team was not mature enough.

Because Tyne's victory was achieved through Wang Lie's individual ability, rather than because the team as a whole had any tactical brilliance.

Before the match against Atlético Lille, everyone was saying that Tyne's team was participating in the Champions League for the first time and had no experience.

Papacholi disagreed with this view, arguing that Tyne has players like Wang Lie, Pisano, and Katic who have played in the Champions League, and even won it, and these players will naturally bring their Champions League experience to the team.

Therefore, he never underestimates this team.

Those championship-winning players can influence Tyne, and conversely, an inexperienced head coach can also influence Tyne, and quite significantly.

Yes, Papajolly believes that Tyne's immaturity stems from their head coach, Sam McNeil.

It can be said that all the crises Tyne has encountered so far this season stem from McNeil.

Despite Tyne currently being ranked first in the league, this is still early in the season, and many top teams haven't really gotten into the rhythm of the season yet.

In the early stages of a league, it is common to see some mid-to-lower-tier teams briefly ranking high in the league.

But the league is a marathon, and the one who laughs last is the true winner.

Non-elite teams often fall behind during long seasons due to insufficient bench depth.

Therefore, Papacholi believes that Tyne's current league ranking does not indicate anything.

He actually values ​​the details of the game more.

Through these details, he could see the immaturity of head coach Sam McNeil.

In his view, this immaturity might not usually lead to any serious consequences.

However, if faced with greater pressure and more difficult matches, the head coach's immaturity could bring utter disaster to the team.

This immaturity is also the key to his ability to defeat Tyne on the road and take all three points in today's game.

In the first round of the Champions League group stage, his team was held to a draw at home by Ruhr United and currently has only one point, so he is under pressure.

To advance from the group of death, this match against Tyne is absolutely crucial!
(End of this chapter)