CHAPTER 155: CHAPTER 132: VIOLENT LEAP TO THE TOP! TANG LONG PERSONALLY SMASHES THE OPPONENT’S ARTWORK!

The tactic of taking the first three strikes actually worked in the first match between the two teams.

In that match, Turin’s star striker Quagliarella, at the 8th minute, curved a beautiful world-class shot from the arc top!

Afterwards, the entire Turin team kept a staunch defense and ultimately held on for a 1:0 at the Meazza Stadium.

Turin played the match very ugly, yet left Inter Milan helpless!

After fully learning from the lesson, Inter pulled back all three lines very defensively at the start.

Tang Long retreated from the attacking midfield position to the defensive midfield, forming a three-man iron chain with Mavic and Medel, stationed in front of Ranocchia and Andreolli, fully protecting the area atop the penalty arc.

Meanwhile, Dambrosio and Nagatomo also intentionally withdrew.

Except for Bonazzoli at the front, almost all players retreated to their own half to defend.

At the 5th minute of the game, Turin’s right wing-back Damian and the young Benasi made an exquisite one-two pass.

Before Podolski could react, he heard two "pa" sounds!

Looking back again, Damian had already broken through to the baseline!

Damian quickly raised his head and saw that four or five teammates in red shirts were already standing in Inter Milan’s penalty area.

"Great opportunity!"

Damian pressed forward, and at the moment his inside foot touched the ball, his ankle quickly flicked!

Like hitting a topspin in table tennis, the ball swiftly floated and dropped towards Inter Milan’s penalty area!

At this point, there were also only 5 Inter Milan players in the penalty area, about the same number as Turin’s players.

Although Inter retreated tightly at the start, this time the opponent’s collaboration was so fast that quite a few players had not returned to position in time.

However, Damian’s ball was very cunning!

As an Italian international full-back, Damian fully demonstrated his international level insight.

He didn’t pass to the crowded small penalty area, but instead made a reverse triangle-like curved pass towards the space between the penalty spot and the arc top of the large penalty area.

In this position, Quagliarella was already lurking and waiting!

Seeing no one around, Quagliarella stepped back, following the ball’s trajectory, ready for a volley shot.

This Italian homegrown forward, who played for Juventus for three seasons, won three consecutive Serie A titles.

He has a trait: he rarely scores simple goals, he prefers to score high-difficulty ones~

Missing one-on-ones, pushing wide open goals, are common for him.

But volleys, scissor kicks, and bicycle kicks frequently appear in his goal highlights.

This ball, Quagliarella seemed possessed by Robben, about to execute a shocking volley!

He had meticulously adjusted his pacing; leg muscles taut, like a spring ready to unleash, prepared to deliver a thunderous strike!

However, at this critical moment—

A blue-black figure ghosted out halfway, forcefully inserting itself in front of him. With a loud "bang," headed the ball straight out!

The ball, like a leaf lifted by a fierce wind, flew far towards the sideline.

On the bench, Turin’s coach Ventura, who was ready to punch the air in celebration, his face blossomed in a smile.

Got it~

This kind of attacking routine had been meticulously honed in pre-match training, with a goal success rate strikingly over fifty percent.

In his heart, the horn of scoring had already sounded in advance.

However, his half-thrown fist stiffened mid-air.

The smile on his face froze instantly, replaced with incredulity and astonishment.

"Ah, how can this be?"

"Who headed the ball out?"

Quagliarella’s leg had swung halfway but had to quickly withdraw.

Losing balance, he staggered, unsteady, and fell to the ground.

He looked up hurriedly, only to see Tang Long standing beside him, a faint smile on his face.

As if saying, "Sorry, I was just passing by and did a good deed along the way."

"Where did you come from?" Quagliarella curiously asked Tang Long.

In fact, Turin had intentionally rehearsed this attacking route in pre-match training.

Teammates flocked to the small penalty area, drawing all Inter Milan’s defensive players there.

But as the true center forward, Quagliarella did the opposite.

He retreated to the space between the penalty line and the arc top, just waiting for Damian’s reverse triangle pass.

But what Quagliarella never anticipated was, just when Damian’s ball barely left his foot by 10 centimeters, Tang Long had already predicted the trajectory in advance!

He swiftly sprinted from an interior penalty box position.

He arrived before Quagliarella could touch the ball, diving header to clear it far away.

"Beautiful! Beautiful defense!"

"This is Tang Long’s first touch this match, and it’s a header clearance!"

"That position was completely open; if Tang Long wasn’t there, Quagliarella might have scored another world-class goal."

"He’s always very adept at scoring world-class goals; if that went in, it might have made it to the weekly Top 10 in ’World Football’, haha!"

"Tang Long thwarted a potential world-class goal from happening!"

"He is the only Inter Milan player on the field not fooled by Turin’s tactics."

"Tang Long not only can attack fiercely but also provide defensive help for Inter Milan."

An originally promising brilliant world-class shot was forcefully destroyed due to Tang Long’s timely anticipation.

Just like a work of art about to be completed, under everybody’s attention, and at this thrilling moment—

Tang Long smashed it to pieces with a loud "clang"~

The Turin fans on-site also sighed with regret.

By now, the match time reached 7 minutes, and half of the 15 minutes of upfront aggression aimed at the start by Turin had already passed.

"Keep pushing up, don’t stop, don’t stop!" Coach Ventura continuously shouted from the sidelines, urging Turin’s players to push forward.

Meanwhile, Mancini watched nervously, observing everything, constantly reminding his players to maintain their positions.

Actually, the biggest issue Inter Milan faces now is: many teams won’t use Tian Ji’s horse racing strategy against them, forfeiting matches!

The so-called Tian Ji’s horse racing strategy on a football pitch refers to during a marathon-like season of 38 league matches, when a team faces another team with far superior strength, they might voluntarily forfeit the match.

Either by fielding all substitutes or by including a few main players but not exerting full effort during the game.

Because they won’t win anyway, trying hard is futile.

Rather conserve energy, focus on the next match, and try to score points.

The league is a long process.

Beating a strong team gets you three points, beating a non-strong team also gets you three points.

Why not focus energy on teams more likely to yield points?

Currently, the only team in the entire Serie A that makes mid-to-lower league teams use the Tian Ji’s horse racing tactic is the Big Brother Juventus.

In the minds of many mid-to-lower league teams, Juventus is an insurmountable mountain.

Trying to climb it is impossible.

And there’s no need to challenge it, it’s too difficult.

By then, you’ll get injured all over, lose, and for what? It’s not worth it, totally not worth it.

The remaining second-tier teams, like AC Milan, Napoli, Inter Milan, Rome, Lazio.

These second-tier teams are naturally stronger than mid-to-lower league teams in terms of strength.

However, they don’t have the same crushing dominance as Juventus!

Especially like today’s Turin, as a typical mid-level team, if they play hard, fight for it, it’s totally possible to earn points from second-tier Serie A teams.

"Pa!"

Finally, with a stretch of Handanovic’s long leg, he blocked Quagliarella’s low shot into the box.

Accompanied by Quagliarella’s disappointed head-clutching.

Inter Milan tenaciously held the score in the first 15 minutes!

As the ball didn’t go in, seeing the initial three-strikes tactics didn’t work, Turin’s team, meticulous in its strategy, immediately retreated without a moment’s pause.

They had already created two excellent chances, yet converted none.

Next, both teams will enter a fiercely contested tug-of-war!

Tang Long immediately advanced his position from defensive midfield to attacking midfield, close to Bonazzoli.

"Turin’s defense isn’t as strong as Samp’s; Bonazzoli, your chance is coming, seize it!" Tang Long said.

Bonazzoli nodded nervously, "Alright, today I definitely won’t waste your setup!"