CHAPTER 163: CHAPTER 137: JUVENTUS COMING TO HELP? INTER, PLEASE DON’T THANK ME TOO EARLY!

In the 28th round of Serie A, Inter Milan will return to their home ground to face Verona.

This round’s Inter game is scheduled for the evening match, with a kickoff at 7:30 p.m. local time in Italy on Sunday.

However, on Saturday night, there is another highlight that Inter fans are extremely concerned about!

Napoli will face Juventus at home!

Throughout Italy, besides Napoli and Juventus themselves, no team is more focused on this match than Inter.

Because in the last round, the 27th round of Serie A, Napoli was shockingly held to a 1-1 draw by the underdog Palermo away!

This southern powerhouse suffered an unexpected setback.

It also reduced the point gap between Inter Milan and them from 8 points to 6 points!

Napoli ranks third in the league, while Inter Milan ranks fourth.

Both are exerting every effort for the last Champions League spot in Serie A, especially in the final stages of the league sprint, where every point is extremely important.

Before the match against Juventus, Benitez issued a stern order to the whole team.

"Play this game seriously, give it your all! If anyone doesn’t give their best against Juventus, don’t expect to play under me again!"

Even Maradona returned to São Paulo Stadium to oversee the battle, attempting to use his influence as Naples’ legendary king to inspire the players on the field to defeat Juventus, the Serie A powerhouse.

Maradona even went to the dressing room before the game to shake hands and cheer on every player.

In Tang Long’s dormitory at the training base.

The small trio, Tang Long, Bonazzoli, and Di Marco, squeezed in front of a small desk, focused intently on the computer.

It was streaming the Napoli vs. Juventus match.

"Tang, you Chinese are really amazing, you can even get free live streams, quickly teach me where to get them,"

Di Marco and Bonazzoli curiously asked Tang Long.

In Italy, not every Serie A match is broadcast live.

Most of the time, especially for heavyweight clashes like Napoli vs. Juventus, broadcasters don’t show them on domestic television.

The purpose is to encourage fans who want to see the game to go to the stadium.

This is also an agreement between the club and the broadcasters.

Otherwise, tickets wouldn’t sell well!

After all, ticket revenue is an important income source for the club.

Especially now, when Italy’s economy is not doing well, even die-hard fans hesitate to shell out sixty or seventy euros for an in-person Serie A ticket. It’s not a decision made lightly.

Thus, there is an interesting program in Italy~

Sky Sports invites two commentators, each representing one of the opposing teams, seated on either side of the studio.

However, instead of showing the players on the field, the broadcast only shows the two commentators explaining the game.

They often use exaggerated, high-pitched expressions to recreate the match conditions to the fullest extent.

However, this broadcasting style just leaves blind guesses, and the audience does not find it satisfying.

Therefore, Tang Long simply called Di Marco and Bonazzoli to his dorm.

Then bypassed the firewall to access a website back home.

There, it had free live streaming.

"These kinds of matches are all free to watch in China; only you Italians can’t see them!"

Tang Long leaned back in his chair with a tactical recline.

Napoli’s São Paulo Stadium, known as the toughest fortress in the southern Apennines.

With legendary king Maradona present, Napoli fans firmly believe they will defeat the powerhouse Juventus at home, maintaining their point advantage over Inter Milan!

Especially with the three main scoring threats, Higuain, Callejon, and Gabbiadini, showing exceptional enthusiasm from the start!

In Benitez’s 4-3-3 formation, the three forwards frequently penetrated Juventus’s penalty area, attempting to strike a quick deadly blow and firmly grasp the initiative.

However, Juventus is still Juventus.

In the 25th minute of the first half, Argentine forward Tevez, with a nimble step inside the box, outmaneuvered Napoli’s defenders and scored with a shot to the far corner.

"Beautiful! Tevez!"

"Haha, well done, crush those southerners."

"Tevez is definitely stronger than Higuain, Higuain can’t beat him."

The small dormitory of Tang Long erupted with boisterous cheers.

Only 15 minutes later,

Juventus breached the gates of São Paulo Stadium again!

This time, Pogba demonstrated what it means to be a world-class B to B!

He intercepted Callejon’s dribble at the top of his own penalty area, then charged forward like a bulldozer, passing three men, and handed the ball to Morata.

"Morata’s one-on-one, go for the far corner, go for the far corner!"

Bonazzoli excitedly sprang to his feet.

"He’s scored! Another goal! Beautiful!"

Seeing Morata’s clean strike into the far corner, Di Marco grabbed and shook Tang Long in excitement.

São Paulo Stadium fell silent.

And Maradona, disappointed, covered his face with his hand and leaned back in his chair.

Higuain also looked bewildered.

After all, Juventus is Juventus, the absolute dominator of Serie A, possessing supreme dominance in this league.

Especially the midfield trio of Pogba, Pirlo, and Marchisio, which is considered world-class.

On the defensive line, the three center-backs Chiellini, Bonucci, and Balzaretti, coupled with goalkeeper Buffon, have completely secured the defensive line of the Italian national team.

"Juventus is indeed strong, their forwards, midfielders, defenders, including the goalkeeper, are all world-class. Winning the league in Serie A is incredibly easy for them."

Bonazzoli’s tone revealed a deep respect for Juventus.

"Their opponent in the Champions League quarter-finals is Monaco, who probably can’t stop Juventus. I think Juventus has a great chance of winning the Champions League this season."

Di Marco added.

Di Marco also mentioned the performance of Juventus’s youth team in the youth league, which was also top-notch. This season, both the first team and the youth team of Juventus are very likely to win the championships in their respective leagues again.

In the first match between Inter Milan and Juventus, in the 15th round of the league, Inter also lost 1:2 at home to Juventus.

In the 30th round, two rounds later in the league, Inter Milan will visit Juventus away.

The result of that match will largely determine whether Inter can achieve the goal of reaching the top three in the league.

In the second half, Morata scored another goal, making it a brace.

In the end, Juventus used a clean and decisive 3:0 away victory to blow the roof off the São Paulo stadium!

Maradona looked very grim.

With 5 minutes left in the game, he hurriedly left the VIP box.

Seeing the 3:0 score, Tang Long, Bonazzoli, and Di Marco all let out a long breath.

The result is certainly advantageous for Inter Milan.

Napoli, who played a match earlier, lost 0:3 to Juventus.

If Inter can smoothly defeat Verona at home, the point gap between Inter Milan and Napoli will only be 3 points!

points, it’s just the gap of one game.

With around ten rounds left in the league, the opportunity is great!

Despite saying that, after a short burst of joy, the three of them remained silent for a long time.

They were just quietly watching the screen, where Morata was roaring toward the camera.

Achieving a relaxed 3:0 at São Paulo stadium, besides Juventus, no one else in Italy can do it.

In the Coppa Italia, Inter Milan also once narrowly defeated Napoli in the quarter-finals, though it was just a narrow victory, and the game was very tight. In some crucial shots and possession rates, Inter Milan was inferior to their opponent.

Juventus, on the other hand, showed complete dominance in this game, and it was in the league, a much more important match.

The control they displayed shattered Naples, a fortress rumored never to be conquered by the South, into pieces!

"Sigh, when can our Inter Milan truly compete against Juventus?"

Bonazzoli said reluctantly.

"Our Inter Milan also had glorious times. After Calciopoli, we were ahead of them, but in recent years Juventus has revived, and it’s really not easy to compete against them." Di Marco said.

The tone of the two young players revealed a deep-seated fear of Juventus.

In Serie A, overcoming the giant that is Juventus to win the league title is almost harder than winning the Champions League.

Tang Long made no comment, only taking out his phone to check the schedule.

"We’ll find out whether we can do it or not in two rounds."

After Juventus won 3:0 away at Naples, the Sky Sports reporters interviewed Alvaro Morata, who scored twice in this game and was named the man of the match.

When the reporter mentioned that this match objectively helps Inter Milan have more hope of breaking into the top three in the league and securing a spot in next season’s Champions League.

The 22-year-old dashing Spanish forward was taken aback and took a while before he reacted.

"Juventus is just Juventus, I don’t pay attention to Inter Milan."

"For Juventus, the goal of this season is to win the league, Champions League, and Coppa Italia. Yes, we want to become a treble-winning team."

"As for helping Inter Milan enter next season’s Champions League..."

"Sorry, I can’t answer that question because I have never played in the UEFA Europa League in my career, I’ve always been in the Champions League, so I really don’t understand what it means to rely on another team to enter the Champions League. Can’t they do it on their own?"

Meanwhile, the then-coach Allegri’s straightforward remarks at the post-match press conference caused quite a stir!

"If someone says that our 3:0 victory over Naples was to help Inter Milan qualify for the Champions League, I think it’s incorrect."

"Juventus and Naples are not good friends, and even more so with Inter Milan!"

"Inter Milan fans, please do not thank me yet."

"Because in two rounds, we’ll play against you at home."

"I think after that match, maybe the Naples fans will thank me instead, saying that beating Inter was helping them get into the Champions League. So I think we shouldn’t jump to conclusions just yet!"

Even Allegri couldn’t hold it in and burst into a pig-like laugh.

His eyebrows furrowed into a big囧 character.

"Haha, sorry, I might offend someone with these words, but I’m just speaking the truth, hahaha!"

(Watching the Olympics, the last shot by the women’s basketball team left me stunned, another Chapter will be updated at midnight)