Chen Hero and Zlatan Ibrahimović had already sparked some friction when they shook hands before the game. Though they did shake hands, the look in Zlatan Ibrahimović's eyes as he looked at Chen Hero was full of anger and hatred.

Chen Hero was much calmer than he was. Chen Hero looked up at the sky—he had been the victor in several competitions with Zlatan Ibrahimović, so was it really necessary for a winner to snarl at a loser all the time?

If a loser wasn't honest, then just slap him to death. There was no need to waste words.

So Chen Hero didn't even bother to glance at Zlatan Ibrahimović.

This attitude of his was interpreted as provocation by Zlatan Ibrahimović, which made the Swede furious and determined to teach Chen Hero a lesson in the game.

But after the game started, Zlatan Ibrahimović realized that the team wasn't supporting him.

AC Milan's tactics in this game were defense, and their strategy was also defense, using the most reliable defense to prevent Liverpool from scoring.

Arsenal's 0:0 draw with Liverpool had become required viewing for many teams before facing Liverpool. Especially those teams that wanted to hold on for a draw and didn't want Liverpool to score.

AC Milan fit this requirement very well, so Allegri had carefully studied the video of Arsenal's game against Liverpool. He concluded that a solid defense was the key.

To avoid conceding a goal, one had to be willing to invest heavily in defense, and not think about both not conceding a goal and scoring a few goals against Liverpool. In the end, they wouldn't score and their defense would be riddled by Liverpool.

Allegri imitated Wenger's Arsenal and retreated across the board. As a result, there was very little support for the attack. Zlatan Ibrahimović didn't ask him to retreat. Leaving him alone in front was actually also for defense. Just like Liverpool still kept Chen Hero at the front when defending, this was a deterrent to the opponent's defense, so that they couldn't press forward across the board. It wasn't really to count on the striker to launch a counterattack or score a goal.

If Zlatan Ibrahimović wanted to attack, wanted to score, then he had to fight alone, because most of the time, his teammates wouldn't come up to help him.

After understanding his situation, the displeasure on Zlatan Ibrahimović's face was clear to everyone through the television screen.

Because he understood that the team didn't seem to support his decision to take on Chen Hero one-on-one…

He felt dissatisfied with Allegri.

※※※

Zlatan Ibrahimović's matter was temporarily put aside. AC Milan's attacking opportunities were almost zero, so he naturally couldn't appear in the television broadcast.

The protagonist of AC Milan in this game was Thiago Silva, now the core of AC Milan's defense, the most reassuring pillar of the Milan team, and one of the best center backs in the world.

The collision between him and Chen Hero would surely attract worldwide attention.

To be honest, in the current Premier League, apart from Liverpool's Pepe, there were no more world-class center backs. In the past, there were still Rio Ferdinand and John Terry, two of the world's best center backs. But with the successive retirements of Rio Ferdinand and John Terry, there were no more world-class center backs in the Premier League.

Pepe was still with Liverpool, so everyone naturally couldn't see the duel between the world's best center back and the best striker.

Chen Hero lacked opponents!

In Serie A, Thiago Silva and Chiellini were both world-class center backs, but they rarely encountered Chen Hero.

Now that there was finally such an opportunity, everyone wanted to see what kind of great battle would ensue after the best center back in Serie A faced Chen Hero.

Thiago Silva was very clear that stopping Chen Hero was definitely not something he could do alone. But he could rely on the team's tactics to carry out key defenses.

He analyzed his own advantages and disadvantages. The disadvantage was his body. He was not tall and his body was not strong at all. Compared to Chen Hero, he was simply vulnerable. If he had to compete with Chen Hero's body, he would definitely die miserably.

That was unwise.

A center back cannot do such an unwise act of hitting a stone with an egg.

So many years in Serie A had taught him a truth—defense is not about the body, but about the brain.

His advantage was his speed, strong anticipation ability, precise positioning, and excellent technique. So what he needed to do was use his technique to entangle Chen Hero, or simply anticipate the opponent's passing intentions in advance, and then position himself on the passing route to intercept the soccer that Liverpool players passed to Chen Hero.

What if Chen Hero had already taken the ball?

Don't stick to him, just interfere with him next to him, and don't let him take the ball comfortably.

It was not easy to completely intercept Chen Hero's ball. Any defender who wanted to accomplish this in one fell swoop would eventually be crushed by Chen Hero, because they simply didn't know how to defend Chen Hero.

Chen Hero was definitely not the kind of center forward whose ball you could intercept all at once.

Therefore, when defending, you should think about how to interfere with him taking the ball, rather than how to intercept his ball.

In order to be able to defend Chen Hero, he specially watched a lot of Chen Hero's game videos, studied Chen Hero's current characteristics, and had a clear understanding of his playing style.

Thiago Silva, who had made all the preparations, welcomed the opportunity to meet Chen Hero.

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After the game started, because AC Milan quickly retreated and made a defensive posture, Liverpool naturally pressed forward to attack.

Chen Hero didn't encounter Thiago Silva at the beginning. He first had to get past the first line of defense composed of AC Milan's central midfielders. Boateng, as the core of AC Milan's midfield, was very strong, but still vulnerable in front of Chen Hero.

He just planned to use his body to clash head-on with Chen Hero, and the result was naturally a miserable defeat…

If the referee hadn't called Chen Hero for charging twice, Boateng would have been completely defeated.

Later, Boateng avoided Chen Hero—he knew that he was not Chen Hero's opponent, so he just interfered and that was enough. It was not necessary to freeze Chen Hero here. In that case, what were the defenders for?

Chen Hero quickly broke through the first level. And now he could finally face Thiago Silva face to face.

For Thiago Silva, who was now one of the best center backs in the world, Chen Hero had no special impression—he had forgotten how he had abused Silva in Naples.

So Thiago Silva was no different from any ordinary center back in front of him.

For Thiago Silva, who was determined to get back the humiliation he suffered back then, if he knew Chen Hero's attitude, would he be so angry that he vomited blood?

※※※

In order to defend Chen Hero's header, Allegri arranged it in detail. His tactics were all-round and three-dimensional. Starting from the wing, all the way to the front of the goal, first of all, he didn't want Liverpool's players to be able to easily lift the ball on the wing, and then in front of the goal, he asked all the players with good headers to come back to participate in the defense and compete with Chen Hero. Now Liverpool only had Chen Hero as a center forward, so it was relatively easy to defend. Everyone just had to focus on Chen Hero.

In addition, goalkeeper Amelia was required to expand the defensive area, not only to stay in front of the goal, but also to frequently attack and pick off aerial balls. For this reason, Allegri specially had Amelia train to attack and intercept crosses.

The purpose was to let as few of Liverpool's passes as possible be passed to Chen Hero's head. Cut off his source of supply, and even if his header was strong, he would have no use for it.

AC Milan's contraction of defense also gave them the opportunity to do so, because in this way, whether in the middle or on the wing, AC Milan's defense could ensure that there was a large number of troops, so that they would not be penetrated by the opponent if a certain link was relatively weak.

If Liverpool wanted to go through the middle, AC Milan would also have heavy troops guarding it. Penetration through the middle was originally the most difficult.

In this way, Allegri arranged both the wing and the middle to be as solid as a rock.

This defensive tactic reduced a lot of pressure on Thiago Silva, and he could deal with Chen Hero wholeheartedly.

※※※

Liverpool quickly realized that this game was not easy.

First of all, it was difficult for their attack to pass the soccer into the penalty area. The defense of Italian teams was almost integrated into their genes. They did a better job of contracting defense than teams in England and Spain.

Chen Hero broke through Boateng's defense and entered the penalty area, only to find that he might as well not have come in…

Because he couldn't get the ball.

He finally got the ball, and just when he was about to turn around and dribble the soccer away, it was stabbed away by Thiago Silva!

"Thiago Silva!" The Italian commentator in the commentary box was very excited. "Silva looks to be in good form today! His defensive actions are very clean and agile!"

This successful defense did give Silva confidence.

He clenched his fists behind Chen Hero's back.

Good job!

He cheered himself up.

The key to dealing with Chen Hero is to be fast! The defense must be fast, otherwise the opponent will seize the opportunity and form a breakthrough.

And his short stature meant that he was relatively faster and more agile than Chen Hero.

Thiago Silva gave full play to his strengths of good anticipation and agility.

He seized the gap between Chen Hero's stopping the ball and controlling it again, and used his excellent judgment and agile movements to quickly defend and destroy Chen Hero's ball.

Twenty minutes into the game, AC Milan had not conceded a goal, and Thiago Silva's defense was indispensable.

Even the Italian commentators praised: "Thiago Silva is definitely the best center back in the world today, bar none! He has won several confrontations with Hero. Hero is like a clumsy giant, at a loss in the face of the short but clever Thiago Silva!"

"It's worthy of being the racial talent of Italian teams… This defense has made Chen Hero helpless!"