In the early morning of Beijing time today (9th), in the 36th round of the Serie A, AC Milan challenged Verona away. With one goal conceded first, Leo assisted Tonali twice, Florenzi came off the bench, and Milan won a valuable three-point win over Verona 3-1 to return to the top of the table.
Deadly Verona?
In the 1972–73 season, the Rossoneri, led by champion coach Rocco, played Verona in the final round of the league, and as long as they won, they could ensure that they would win the championship. Outcome? The desperate Verona had already taken a 3-0 lead half an hour later, with the team eventually beating Milan 5-3, while on another pitch, Juventus beat Napoli 2-1 with Kukuredou's goal in the 87th minute of the match, surpassing Milan in the table and winning the 15th Serie A title in the team's history.
Once doesn't seem like enough. In the 1989–90 season, the league reached the penultimate round, with Milan and Maradona's Napoli side-by-side in the table, and the Rossoneri had just eliminated Bayern Munich in extra time in the Champions League semi-final before coming to Verona. Perhaps it was the exhaustion of the two-sided battle that overwhelmed Sacchi's team, Marco Simeone took the lead in the first half, while The backline led by Baresi lost twice in the second half, and Saki was sent off along with Rijkaard and Van Basten. Over there, Napoli easily beat Bologna and eventually maintained the lead to the end.
The entry "Fatal Verona" was written into the Italian football dictionary half a century ago and bolded and marked in red at the height of the Milanese dynasty. On 8 May 2022, Sandro Tornelli celebrated his 22nd birthday by lighting 22 candles and scoring two goals at the Bentgodi Stadium, the wax oil dripping from the candles falling on the dictionary, finally covering the "fatal Verona" completely. After this campaign, Milan reached 80 points in the table, surpassing the final points of the previous season (79) - regardless of the outcome of the championship, it is a great season of red and black.
No one knows when Tonali learned the new role of "center forward". In this game, Giroud was caught in the bag of Verona's three centre-backs, and Milan No. 8 stepped forward and took over the responsibility of attacking the team. Milan had a chance to open the scoring a quarter of an hour later, when a long pass from Menion went straight to Tonali, who won a one-on-one match against Illic and then faced Montipo with a one-handed break into the net, only to be nullified for slight offside. Menion nearly recorded his second assist of the season, and his long pass will remain a secret weapon for red and black to open the situation in the future.
Maybe it's the celebration of his birthday, or maybe it's the tension brought about by the team's championship competition, which makes Tonali have unlimited motivation in this game. Milan also played the smoothest half hour in the offensive end in recent times, but failed to take the lead, and then paid the price for a flaw in the defense: Verona tore apart the Milan defense with two passes, Caprari split the ball to the left, Razovic's precise cross found Faraoni, and Inter's youth wing-back easily broke the hammer.
The figure of "Fatal Verona" looms on the horizon. For Raphael Leon and Tonali, however, the history is too heavy and too long. Just before half-time, the Portuguese winger began his solo show on the left: leading the ball, starting speed, breaking through, cross-passing, flashing a white figure near the goalpost, shoveling the ball into the net – or Tonali! Milan fans have a hard time believing their eyes. It is worth mentioning that the two centre-backs played a crucial role in this goal: Kalulu's repeated steals of the cow candy, which overwhelmed Caprari and eventually lost the ball with a return pass, while Tomori found Leon with a long pass near the center circle, allowing the team to attack the clouds.
AC Milan copied the winning routine of the sworn enemy in the same city two days ago. Being able to equalise before halftime allowed Pioli's side to emerge from the midfield dressing room in a more relaxed state. Just 3 minutes into the second half, Verona's corner kick attack was defused by Milan, the visiting team launched a high-speed counterattack, Leon, Salmax and Tornelli fired three arrows, the Belgian transitioned the ball to the fastest Leon in midfield, Milan No. 17 copied his own job: left breakthrough, cross, Tonali at the back point once again pushed the empty goal from close range.
Leon, who made two cakes in this game, reached a seven-time assist report card in the season, successfully setting a new personal record, and Tonari also had his first taste of the second degree on his 22nd birthday. Milan's entire squad is aiming for an 11-year-old Serie A title, but perhaps no one is more eager to touch the trophy than Tonari, and if the team can finally win the buck, perhaps no one is better suited to play the red and black hero in the sprint stage. The Milan midfielder has never been more efficient in his career: in the previous vicious away game against Lazio, he broke the net in front of goal in the second minute of stoppage time, and three goals in two weeks brought the team six points of gold.
Tonah celebrates his birthday in the most perfect way. Before him, milan in the 21st century had only two players who could score on their birthdays: José Mari in 2000 and Sharawi in 2012 – the former's light was fleeting, while the latter was lost in wandering and injury. Tornelli is not a comet, and he seems destined to take the red-and-black captain's armband from romagnoli and Calabria. He set out with high expectations, and his career has been dubbed too many "seconds" so far. Pirlo or Gattuso? Coach Pioli said after the game: "Tonari himself said that others have compared him to Pirlo, but he himself feels closer to Gattuso's style. If I had to mention a template, perhaps De Rossi's style would best represent a combination of the two. ”
Wen | Shen Tianhao
Edit | Peppery Soup