Leonardo wanted a draw from the Stadio San Paolo, but if he actually got his wish, it would only mean that Napoli had failed miserably.

A draw?

Inter Milan might accept it as minimizing their loss, but Napoli would never accept it!

This Italian civil war attracted the attention of all of Italy. Of course, the Italian media didn't hold back from scolding UEFA before the match—"UEFA's determination to destroy Italian football remains undiminished!"

Far away in England, the media there were saying the same thing, only replacing "Italian" with "English."

England had three teams, and two of them were in internal conflicts, while the other was locked in a life-or-death struggle with Real Madrid, with little chance of success. Italy had only two teams left, and UEFA had drawn them together. Wasn't this to prevent two teams from the same country from reaching the final?

Don't think that Real Madrid and Barcelona seemed to have gotten good draws; in reality, they would also meet in the semi-finals—if they could both make it to the semi-finals...

In this way, there would almost certainly be no teams from the same country in the final.

UEFA did this, of course, to avoid the Champions League final becoming a civil war of one country, just like the year when Manchester United and Chelsea reached the Champions League final, which was ridiculed by the media as the "English Champions Cup." This naturally made UEFA feel quite embarrassed.

The Premier League is now powerful, and if it is not curbed, the Champions League might really become the English Champions Cup in the future...

Similarly, the dominance of any league is unacceptable. Even for La Liga, if the final result is Real Madrid and Barcelona reaching the Champions League final, it's okay to create hype once, but it is absolutely not allowed to happen again.

The Italian media might scold, but they couldn't ignore the match.

After all, this was a clash between last season's treble winners and the rising stars of the domestic league.

Would the old hegemon defend its glory, or would the new aristocracy successfully replace the old hegemon and usher in a new era?

Everyone was very concerned.

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The first leg of the match took place in Naples in the autumn. Napoli was playing at home.

Everyone was well aware of Napoli's advantage in their own stadium, and they themselves knew it very well. So, if Napoli wanted to defeat Inter Milan, they had to start working hard from this first match. If they could achieve an undisputed victory at home, then perhaps there would be little suspense in the second leg.

Therefore, Mazzarri's tactics for the team were to attack with all their might at home, hoping to score more goals.

Especially since Inter Milan had just lost the Milan derby, and their morale was low, this was an opportunity that Napoli could, and must, take advantage of.

So, from the moment the game kicked off, Napoli used their home advantage to launch a fierce attack on Inter Milan's penalty area.

But to their surprise, their fierce attack did not immediately result in a goal.

Inter Milan chose to retreat and defend thoroughly in Napoli's home stadium. Normally, with Inter Milan's strength and reputation, even when playing away, unless there were special circumstances, they would not give up attacking the front and choose to defend from the start.

Because... for a giant like Inter Milan, doing so would be a bit too shameful...

Even last season's Inter Milan, when playing against Barcelona away from home, did not directly defend from the start, but after Motta was inexplicably sent off, playing with fewer players, they had no choice but to defend.

Even then, many experts and veterans criticized Mourinho's tactics as parking "a bus in front of the goal," being passive and conservative, a disgrace to football, and a regression of modern football.

Not to mention Leonardo coming up with such a low profile...

"Inter Milan actually gave up attacking from the start of the match and chose to defend? This..." The commentator on Inter Milan's side was also stunned, because this scene really made him, a die-hard Inter Milan supporter, feel a little... humiliated.

"Even if Napoli's players are all supermen in their own stadium, Leonardo doesn't need to be so afraid, right? No matter what, he is leading Inter Milan, a giant, and he has a good hand... In terms of player strength alone, few people in Napoli can compare with Inter Milan... Of course, Hero can be a starter in any giant team..."

"Leonardo's tactics are really incomprehensible—before the match, he said he had found a way to achieve an acceptable result away from home. Is this it? Relying on defense? He's crazy, what threat is there in defending without attacking at all? Look at Napoli! Their center-back Ranocchia is almost a central midfielder!"

Not only the commentators, but even the reporters in the media box thought that Leonardo was completely incomprehensible.

"No wonder so many Inter Milan fans hate him, there's a reason... I think any Inter Milan fan can't stand this scene..."

The reporters were complaining about what they were seeing.

"This is too passive, isn't it? I understand Leonardo's idea of getting a draw and leaving, but there's no need to do this..."

At this time, scattered boos also rang out in the stands. These boos were not from the home fans towards the away team, but from the away fans towards the away team. In other words, Inter Milan fans were dissatisfied with Inter Milan's performance.

The commentators and reporters were right. Inter Milan, from the start, didn't even have any offense, and directly retreated to defend, which really made them feel humiliated.

We are Inter Milan, the defending champions of the Champions League, how can we be so "submissive"?

"I said he was a spy sent by AC Milan!"

"What a bastard! How can we advance playing like this? The most important thing for a team is momentum, is spirit!"

"I miss José so much. His Inter Milan dared to fight against the Cosmos Team..."

"Go back to Milanello, Brazilian! Inter Milan doesn't welcome you!"

※※※

Leonardo, sitting in front of the away team's coaching bench, could hear those scattered boos, and he knew that these boos were all directed at him.

Because from the looks of the field, Inter Milan was indeed very embarrassed...

He could also guess what the commentators were saying about him at this moment, and how the reporters in the media box were evaluating him.

But in the face of these doubts, ridicule, and criticisms, he responded with a sneer.

Face? What is face worth? If they can't beat Napoli and are eliminated from the top eight, that would really be a loss of face!

If being passive on the field can be exchanged for the ideal result, what's wrong with doing so? When José Mourinho parked a bus in front of the goal, why didn't these Inter Milan fans boo him?

In fact, Leonardo's tactics were inspired and influenced by Mourinho. Last season's Champions League semi-final, the match between Inter Milan and Barcelona away from home, left a very deep impression on him. He believed that Mourinho's Inter Milan in that match demonstrated the highest level of defense... with one less player, facing the world's number one attacking team, Barcelona, they only conceded one goal, and it was only at the end of the match.

He wondered why we couldn't use this to deal with Napoli?

He knew that the defense he had trained was certainly not comparable to last season's Inter Milan, and the players' conditions were also different. But Napoli was not Barcelona after all, so it should be feasible.

So, his strategy was to defend desperately away from home from the start, using tenacious defense to wear down the patience and confidence of Napoli's players. Once they became impatient, that would be Inter Milan's chance. At that time, they could suddenly switch to counter-attacking, seize the opportunity, and if they were lucky, not to mention a draw, leaving the Stadio San Paolo with an away goal and a victory was not a pipe dream.

But these things couldn't be told to outsiders, as long as he and the players understood.

And the fact that he could still sit securely on the coaching bench now was the most convincing thing.

The fact was that thirty minutes into the match, although Napoli had launched wave after wave of attacks unscrupulously, they had not been able to really break through Inter Milan's goal, and the score on the field was still 0-0.

In these thirty minutes, except for the beginning when the attack was fierce, he stood up, he had been sitting in his chair obediently at other times. On the other hand, Mazzarri next door, occasionally got up and stood on the sidelines, focusing on the field.

Leonardo knew that this person was getting anxious, even if he didn't show it on the surface.

Playing at home, they had wasted a full thirty minutes without being able to score a goal.

It would be strange if he wasn't anxious.

Maybe Mazzarri had already thought of the outcome of being tied by Inter Milan or being stolen a victory by Inter Milan.

If he really thought that way... that would be a good thing. Because this would completely disrupt Napoli's arrangements. If the opponent's coach was restless, let alone the players...

Leonardo sat steadily on the Diaoyutai fishing platform (a metaphor for being calm and confident), patiently waiting for the opportunity that belonged to him and Inter Milan. He not only wanted to give Napoli a hard slap, but also to give a heavy slap in the face to all those who were questioning him, ridiculing him, and criticizing him!

※※※

Mazzarri was indeed very anxious, but he couldn't show it. Because that would shake morale and affect the team's spirit—who would be anxious in the first half?

A head coach, no matter how good his coaching level is, first of all, you must have enough patience. A person without patience can never be a head coach. Patience means that no matter how unfavorable the situation is, you can't act like an excited fan. You must be calm, even if your heart is in a mess, you must maintain your composure on the outside. You must know that the TV broadcast will give you close-up shots at any time. If your face shows a panicked and dazed expression, it won't be long before the whole world knows that you are an incompetent head coach. At that time, you will not be able to convince everyone in the locker room, and you will not be able to lead this team, because even your own players will begin to doubt your level.

Mazzarri stared at the situation on the field. Napoli's attack was fierce, but Inter Milan's defense was even fiercer...

He glanced at Leonardo sitting on the coaching bench next door.

He couldn't tell that this Brazilian would actually play the trick of defending to the death...

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ps, a preview again, there will be three updates tomorrow, three updates the day after tomorrow, and three updates the day after the day after tomorrow!