Chapter 785: Inter's Confusion

Bang!

Handanović slapped Tang Ye's cross away with one hand.

Damn!

De Jong surged up from behind.

Ready for the follow-up shot!

Seizing the chance, De Jong fired a volley, but this follow-up strike hit Handanović.

"Oh!"

Though it was a bit harrowing, Inter ultimately held firm against this onslaught.

Inter's defense was actually quite decent, yet Inzaghi on the sidelines couldn't bring himself to smile.

The defense might look flawless, but while watching the play on the field, you also need to glance at the match time displayed on the big screen!

It's only the 3rd minute of the first half!

To have your throat grabbed by the opponent in just three minutes, how are you supposed to handle the rest of the game?

"Pass it back!"

"Shoo!!! Counterattack, get them!"

"Don't rush! Wait for Lautaro to make his move!"

The Italian fans in the stadium had already started shouting instructions.

Only now did people realize that quite a few AC Milan fans had shown up today.

Clearly, many Serie A fans wanted to use this opportunity to see Manchester United in action and understand why this team was being hyped by so many media outlets as the "biggest favorite for the Champions League."

Additionally, AC Milan fans could take the chance to cheer for Manchester United as well.

Go Manchester United, go Tom.

Take down Inter!

"..."

"Inter seems to be under quite a lot of pressure... but then again, there's no helping it; Inzaghi actually chose a three-defender formation, so he must bear the risks that come with it."

"Wan-Bissaka, coming up on the right flank."

"Give the cutback!"

"Ouch! Haha!"

Wan-Bissaka's cutback pass sent the ball straight to Çalhanoğlu, but an Inter midfielder happened to stick his foot out at just the right moment, making it look as though he had proactively completed the tackle, which looked incredibly cool.

"Wow!!!!"

However, Çalhanoğlu failed to control the ball.

Varane charged forward, using physical contact to shove Çalhanoğlu aside.

Success!

Possession regained, Varane threaded a through-ball into the penalty area!

Slap!

B. Fernandes!

Another shot!

B. Fernandes' strike hit Bastoni on the head.

"Ouch!"

To be honest, the plays from both sides in this sequence were a bit cringeworthy; the main theme was simply passing the ball immediately upon gaining possession, without considering who the recipient actually was.

Of course, within the Manchester United squad, only B. Fernandes and Wan-Bissaka had passes that were somewhat abstract; the others were relatively stable.

Bang!

Rodri headed the ball back toward the penalty area.

Handanović leaped out to make a save, but his fingertips fell just short of touching the ball.

"It must go out of bounds!"

"Oh! Dembélé!"

"Haha! Goal!"

"Beautiful! Dembélé!"

"Was there an offside on that play?"

"There shouldn't be an offside, because from what I saw, Dembélé's point of contact was still quite a distance away from the penalty area."

"Shooo!!!!"

The Inter fans in the stands had already started cursing; Dembélé didn't wait for the referee to signal a valid goal and immediately ran toward the corner flag together with Wan-Bissaka.

"Vamos!"

Dembélé jumped up, throwing an uppercut with his right hand.

"Beep!!"

The goal stands, and the score is now 1:0!

"Fuck you!"

"Stupid Manchester United!"

"Beep beep beep beep!!!!"

Perhaps because the goal came too quickly, the Inter fans directly lost their cool.

"Haha!"

"Wow!"

Tang Ye leaped onto Dembélé's back; the Manchester United striker pointed at his own nose and shouted loudly into Tang Ye's ear, "I'll carry you! I'll carry you!"

"Idiot!"

Tang Ye gave Dembélé a thump on the head: "What's one goal? The opposition is so weak."

"Hey!"

Bruno Fernandes slapped Tang Ye's thigh; only then did the latter realize he had misspoken, and he quickly shut his mouth.

Jumping down from Dembélé, Tang Ye shook his head at his teammates: "No, no, no, one goal means nothing. Osman, you should calm down first."

The Manchester United midfielder tugged the captain's armband on his arm: "The captain will lead you to victory."

"Haha, fuck!"

【Is Inter Milan any good? Didn't they say they were Serie A's first this season?】

【Wait, you think being first in Serie A means you can go toe-to-toe with Manchester United? Let Inter play against the fourth-place Premier League team and see if they dare claim an easy win.】

【What's up with Boss Tang? He hasn't registered a single assist in this season's Champions League knockout stage; is he just focused on taking his company public to rake in cash?】

【What do you mean 'rake in cash'? How bold! It's called fundraising. My King Tang is a figure who spends big money to accomplish great things, not some small-timer!】

【Lautaro is... a bit abstract. Maybe Inter should just light a candle; it feels like Inzaghi's coaching ability isn't up to scratch either.】

The fans in the comments section were having a great time chatting, but in reality, out of every five fans discussing the Serie A league, three didn't actually understand the situation in Serie A; a large portion hadn't even watched a single Serie A match this season—they were purely cloud-gaming their opinions.

Comparing Serie A and the Premier League was not the focus today, nor was Inzaghi's coaching ability.

The focus was that Inter Milan seemed to have encountered a slight problem today; they had not displayed the level they were capable of.

When the starting lineup was first released, seeing the three-defender formation, many fans worried Inzaghi was planning some little trick, the kind where you hide C4 inside your shirt.

As a result, less than ten minutes into the match, Inter Milan dropped a massive bomb...

"..."

Lautaro!

Shifting to the wing to receive the ball, Lautaro took Dumfries' back-pass.

Pretending to move toward the center, waiting for the defender to lean his way, Lautaro prepared to make his move...

"Byline!"

Tang Ye pointed at Dumfries.

A strange scene unfolded: Lautaro actually sent a through-ball to Dumfries, who was positioned on the byline.

Luke Shaw intercepted the ball.

"Press up!"

Inzaghi shouted.

Dumfries and Vidal quickly ran toward Luke Shaw.

However, the Inter players did not seem to fully understand "pressing"; Lautaro almost completely exposed his weakness for Luke Shaw to see.

Breaking free.

Luke Shaw!

Slap!

A long pass forward toward the front field, targeting Rashford.

The pass wasn't very accurate, but that didn't prevent Rashford from controlling the ball.

High balls are hard to control; Rashford directly knocked the ball to Bruno Fernandes.

Bruno Fernandes likewise did not control the ball, immediately playing it to Tang Ye.

Here comes the most flamboyant one!

The camera zoomed in slightly; Tang Ye first feinted as if to control the ball, but just as it rolled in front of him, he flicked it out directly with one touch.

On the right wing in the attacking third, Dembélé appeared suddenly like a ghost.

"Oh!!!!"

Dribbling with alternating feet, Dembélé tried to eat Bastoni alive with his rhythm, but he seemed to have underestimated the Inter defender's defensive experience.

Nothing could be done about that.

But that did not prevent Manchester United from launching their attack.

Dembélé delivered a cross that was neither too high nor too low, which was collected by Bruno Fernandes charging forward.

It was Bruno Fernandes impersonating a striker in this match!

Look at the move!

Slap!

A shot struck the crossbar; the ball rebounded out.

The landing spot!

Tang Ye!

Leaping up, he headed it lightly!

A very poor header; one could say it had absolutely no pace.

The saving grace was that Handanović had just stood up and couldn't reach Tang Ye's header.

"Goal!"

"Tang Ye!"

It's still that same man; he always steps up at the most critical moments!

Hmm... although right now couldn't exactly be considered a particularly critical moment.