Chapter 572 - 41: Again! (Part 2)
And Chen Zhong pointed towards the goal.
"Beautiful!"
"Di Maria’s continuous breakthroughs!"
"What’s he going to do next?"
"Choosing to use his left foot for a curling shot!"
After receiving Chen Zhong’s approval, Di Maria slightly adjusted and then took a curling shot with his left foot.
He pursued the angle intensely, attempting to have the ball fall into the far corner of the goal.
This shot left Milan fans with their hearts stopped.
"What a pity for that shot!"
"The ball glanced off the goalpost and flew out."
"Di Maria has already done excellently."
"Just lacked a tiny bit of luck."
Di Maria flashed his big white teeth, seemingly feeling a bit regretful for the narrow miss, while Chen Zhong gave Di Maria a thumbs-up, indicating he should keep it up.
This scene also inspired the Argentine.
Just five minutes later, Di Maria threatened again after receiving a pass from Chen Zhong.
Once more, it was a one-on-one with Zambrotta, at this moment Zambrotta seemed to be psychologically pressured facing Di Maria.
Di Maria used the same trick to rid himself of the "old" Zambrotta, then passed towards the far point.
And at the far end, Chen Zhong swiftly moved forward, with Gattuso entangling from behind and Nesta ahead, he overwhelmed both, jumping high to complete a powerful header.
"Boom!"
The ball pounded towards Milan’s goal.
If not for the goalkeeper’s outstanding performance.
Real Madrid would have equalized the score.
At the 65th minute, Real Madrid came rolling back.
Chen Zhong held the ball with his back inside the penalty area, bearing down against Milan’s players, using a heel pass to Di Maria, who took the ball, faced Abbiati’s charge, and chose a lob shot.
At close range Abbiati couldn’t respond.
Watching the ball about to drop into the net.
Abate vigorously headed the ball out from the goal line.
And Cristiano Ronaldo, witnessing this scene up close and wanting to follow up, showed an unwilling expression.
He looked at Chen Zhong, not speaking but his eyes conveyed his meaning to Chen Zhong, which was, give me a chance to perform, I want to play.
"Real Madrid completely controlled the situation on the field."
"Their attacks came one after another."
"Milan struggled to cope."
"In the second half, centering the attack around Chen Zhong."
"Milan is completely being led by the nose right now."
Chen Zhong gave Cristiano Ronaldo a firm nod and a thumbs-up.
Milan’s players, seeing this, had Gattuso remind Abate to keep a close eye on the opponent.
But in the subsequent attack, Chen Zhong once again passed the ball to Di Maria, directly wasting Milan’s emotions, and leaving the Portuguese sad.
Di Maria got the ball and drove forward long on the right flank.
If Abate restricted Cristiano Ronaldo on the left, then Di Maria could only be described with four words on the right, "do whatever he wants."
Facing his old rival, Zambrotta, this time Di Maria chose not to stop abruptly to start up, but instead used a rhythm variation to beat him.
He directly cut across to the front of the penalty area and then sent a direct pass.
"Di Maria!"
"Cuts across."
"Arrived at the edge of the penalty area."
"Passed to the advancing Chen Zhong!"
This direct pass showcased Di Maria’s wide vision and solid passing foundation, the ball went through the masses of Milan’s defense and ended up at Chen Zhong’s feet.
Nesta attempted to interfere with Chen Zhong’s shot, but with Chen Zhong positioning himself in advance, his interference could only be considered as better than none.
Under Nesta’s interference, Chen Zhong calmly made a stab shot facing goalkeeper Abbiati.
"Goal!"
"2:2"
"Chen Zhong scores again for Real Madrid!"
"Two goals!"
"Beautiful!"
"So beautiful."
"The collaboration between the two was very tacit."
"If Higuain had been as calm in front of the goal as Chen Zhong in the first half."
"He would have scored already."
Higuain is an excellent striker but is considered by some fans as a "soft-leg shrimp," with fans commenting that Higuain in front of the goal always seems flustered and rushed.
While Chen Zhong is just the opposite.
Though he can sometimes be fierce on the pitch, he is frighteningly calm when facing such opportunities.
After seeing the team equalize, Mourinho celebrated crazily, he removed his jacket and tossed it skyward, then ran and jumped around the pitch.
This provoked Milan fans into discontent.
But Mourinho did not care at all.
Just while he was feeling proud, Milan fans in the stands let out excited cries.
"2:1"
"2:1"
They shouted repeatedly, and soon everyone understood what it meant.
Ousel surprisingly had a 2:1 lead over Ajax at their home!
Even though the match hadn’t ended, this reignited the desire in Milan players.
Allegri no longer cared about appearances.
With less than 20 minutes left, he directly opted for the entire team to defend.
The final score for the two teams was frozen at 2:2.
Even until the last moments of the match, fans in the stands kept chanting 2:1, meaning Ousel had triumphed over Ajax at their home.
It’s worth mentioning that in the first leg Ajax had a 2:1 victory at their home over Ousel as well.
In the post-match press conference, Di Maria received praised, Mourinho also extolled this player whom he had insisted on buying, saying: "Even when already exhausted, he keeps running non-stop. His performance was brilliant, besides providing elegant passes to assist Chen Zhong, he also had two excellent scoring opportunities himself."
"If it weren’t for Kaka in this position, he would be my absolute main player."
Early in the season, when Mourinho had just arrived, he hoped the club would spare no expense in purchasing the Argentine.
At that time, Benfica offered a high price of 25 million euros for Di Maria, which was troublesome for Real Madrid.
But under Mourinho’s repeated insistence, Real Madrid Chairman Florentino finally made a compromise.
Thus, Di Maria became the most expensive player Real Madrid brought in this summer.
However, this most expensive player had only a few chances to play, leading many to question Mourinho’s judgment, but after this match, everyone believed the Argentine was indeed worth the price.
To put it another way, isn’t it quite normal to not play as a starter at Real Madrid?
Think about Owen...
Too many examples.
Argentinian "Ole" also commented: "Di Maria joined Real Madrid amid doubts, his price wasn’t cheap, and in Maradona’s national team, he didn’t perform well, but if Di Maria knows what to do, it’s to adapt rapidly to Real Madrid. In fact, he not only seamlessly integrated into Real Madrid but also repeatedly showcased crucial performances."
Allegri also mentioned Di Maria, stating: "Di Maria is a fast, bold player, in any situation, he dares to perform feats like dribbling, heel pass, overhead kick."
"He possesses great professionalism, which is very important for Real Madrid and is one of the reasons why Mourinho likes him. Whether with or without the ball, he performs well, with the ball he’s generous, without the ball he’s aggressive in fighting. Perhaps his price isn’t low, but as long as he maintains his current growth rate, the investment is sure to be worthwhile."
Then there was a discussion about Inzaghi, Mourinho and Allegri both congratulated Inzaghi on his achievements and didn’t delve too deeply into that offside.
Finally, regarding Chen Zhong.
