Became The Premier League’S Youngest Manager [EN]: Chapter 211

211: The Wall of Europe is High

“Daniele!!”

“What the hell!!”

Upon hearing his name called out suddenly, AC Milan’s attacking midfielder Daniele Maldini smiled brightly and passed the ball backward. Burnley’s midfielder Tommaso Pobega, who was marking him, turned around and cursed.

Why the hell is that guy up here?!

Sandro Tonali, AC Milan’s central midfielder, who had been sitting back throughout the game, constantly spraying long passes and intercepting Burnley’s attacks, suddenly sprinted all the way to Burnley’s penalty box and received the ball from the attacking midfielder.

“Oh, no!!”

Hyeongmin, standing in the technical area, exclaimed with a mixture of admiration and despair. AC Milan’s young midfielder, standing just outside the penalty box, leisurely looked around with the ball at his feet.

Burnley’s defense, which had been tormented by AC Milan’s four-man attack throughout the first half, was unconsciously positioning itself accordingly.

On the left flank, Burnley’s left-back, Luca Pellegrini, was marking AC Milan’s right-winger, Alexis Saelemaekers.

On the right flank, Burnley’s right-back, Oscar Mingueza, was marking AC Milan’s left-winger, Rafael Leão.

In the center, Burnley’s center-backs, Nathan Collins and Mika Màrmol, were marking AC Milan’s center-forward, Divock Origi.

And Burnley’s defensive midfielder, Tommaso Pobega, was marking AC Milan’s attacking midfielder, Daniele Maldini, who was constantly moving from side to side to link up the attack.

In the end, a slight numerical advantage of 5 against 4 was formed, but Sandro Tonali’s sudden appearance transformed it into 5 against 5.

It was the gap created when Burnley’s central midfielders, Patrick De Paula and Luca Sučić, briefly double-teamed to try and steal the ball from Ismaël Bennacer.

Believing that his teammates would somehow connect a pass forward in a 2-on-1 situation, he had charged forward, and that belief was rewarded with the ball, passed from Daniele Maldini to him.

“Hold your positions and block the passing lanes!!”

The manager and goalkeeper shouted at the defense simultaneously, but it was already too late.

AC Milan’s center-forward, Divock Origi, rapidly moved to the left flank, dragging Burnley’s center-backs, Mika Màrmol and Nathan Collins, with him.

It’s natural to double-team when a pass is connected to the opposing team’s center-forward inside the penalty box, as it can lead directly to a goal, but the timing was terrible.

On the left flank, Luca Pellegrini, Mika Màrmol, and Nathan Collins were tangled up with AC Milan’s Divock Origi and Alexis Saelemaekers, effectively neutralizing that side, while the center of the penalty box was left completely empty.

The situation was now a disadvantage of 3 against 2, with 3 AC Milan attackers against 2 Burnley defenders.

As AC Milan’s winger, Rafael Leão, who had been waiting on the right flank, shook off Burnley’s full-back, Oscar Mingueza, and penetrated into the penalty box, Tommaso Pobega, after hesitating, finally abandoned Daniele Maldini, whom he had been marking, and desperately ran towards Sandro Tonali.

With only the goalkeeper left between the goal and the opposing team’s player with the ball, it was an unavoidable choice, but it turned out to be the worst possible one.

Sandro Tonali, seeing the opposing team’s midfielder running towards him, smiled and swung his right foot to pass the ball back to Daniele Maldini.

“Shit!!”

It was the second curse that erupted as he watched the ball pass by him, but no one could blame Tommaso Pobega.

And as soon as he received the ball, Burnley’s goalkeeper, Marco Carnesecchi, rushed out to meet AC Milan’s young attacking midfielder, who was charging diagonally towards the goal.

“Help me!!”

The pronunciation was terrible, but the meaning was clear.

As Burnley’s defenders rushed in unison to support the goal, Daniele Maldini, seeing the massive goalkeeper rushing towards him, used his left heel to flick the ball back behind him.

“Huh?!

As Burnley’s defenders let out embarrassed groans, AC Milan’s Rafael Leão, who had already penetrated the penalty box, smiled and swung his right foot with ruthless precision, leaning his upper body forward.

“Wooaaah!!!”

The San Siro [AC Milan’s home stadium] home fans, sensing a goal, simultaneously roared and stood up. The ball, ignoring the desperately outstretched fingertips of Burnley’s goalkeeper, Marco Carnesecchi, who had changed direction and thrown himself, flew straight into the net.

AC Milan scored the opening goal that Burnley had so desperately wanted.

***

Rossoneri siamo noi! (We are the Rossoneri!)

ma chi cazzo siete voi! (But who the hell are you!)

noi del milan siamo qua! (We from Milan are here!)

e per voi non c’è pietà! (And for you there is no mercy!)

quando il Milan segnerà! (When Milan scores!)

questo stadio esploderà! (This stadium will explode!)

dalla curva s’alzerà! (From the curve will rise!)

la canzone degli ultrà! (The song of the ultras!)

Siamo l’armata Rossonera! (We are the Rossoneri army!)

e mai nessun ci fermerà! (And no one will ever stop us!)

noi saremo sempre qua! (We will always be here!)

quando il Milan giocherà! (When Milan plays!)

forza Milan vinci ancora! (Come on Milan, win again!)

per gli ultras! (For the ultras!)

The AC Milan players who succeeded in scoring an additional goal gathered at the corner flag to celebrate.

As the excited San Siro was filled with the thunderous chants of the Rossoneri [AC Milan’s nickname], Hyeongmin asked with a dark face.

“How’s Nicky?”

“It’s just a light ankle sprain…”

Team doctor Simon Morris couldn’t continue speaking and clicked his tongue.

Sometimes these unlucky things happen.

Nicholas Seiwald, who was warming up on the sidelines, slightly collided with another player who was also warming up and twisted his ankle.

“At most a week. No, he’ll be back in three days. But he has to rest for today’s game.”

Team doctor Simon Morris said soothingly to the manager’s face, which was full of tears.

“I’ll be back by tomorrow. No, now that I’m sitting down, I think I can play in today’s game too!”

Taejin hit the back of Nicholas Seiwald’s head at his words, as he was carried to the bench and sat down.

“Be quiet, kid. The adults are talking right now.”

“Hmph…”

It couldn’t be said to be anyone’s fault, but the captain, who was admittedly careless, closed his mouth gloomily.

“Well, these things happen.”

The manager, who had a dizzy expression, seemed to come to his senses and got up from his seat with a sigh.

“Sebastian! Get ready to come on immediately!”

“Huh? Ah, yes!”

Sebastian Szymański, who was sitting on the bench with a worried expression, watching Nicholas Seiwald and the coaching staff gathered around him, was startled and answered.

As he hurriedly took off his training clothes with the help of his teammates and warmed up, Karolina followed Hyeongmin, who was heading to the technical area.

“What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to take Patrick out and put Sebastian in.”

Karolina frowned at Hyeongmin’s answer.

“Then are we completely retreating?”

“Yeah.”

It was now a complete failure to have a great head-on match against AC Milan at San Siro.

The head coach made all sorts of faces at the manager’s words that he would retreat completely and huddle up to avoid conceding any more goals, but in the end, she couldn’t argue with him.

Unlike AC Milan, who had a comfortable lead over 2nd place and a relaxed schedule, Burnley had to play the Premier League Round 33 against Manchester United in 4 days.

And just 3 days later, they would face AC Milan again in the Champions League quarter-final second leg.

To prevent the gap in points with Liverpool from widening further, the match against Manchester United was a must-win.

It would be foolish to pour all their energy into an away game with less than 40 minutes left when the second leg would be played at home.

Then it would be better to take out Patrick De Paula, who looked completely exhausted, and have Luca Sučić and Sebastian Szymański, who could take advantage of counter-attack opportunities, out on the attack.

“Karolina.”

“Why?”

Karolina, who was about to run towards the fourth official to announce the substitution, stopped and turned her head towards the manager who called her.

“Tell Sebastian to tell Jamal and Emanuel. There’s no need to be greedy, just make sure to prevent any further goals.”

“Okay.”

The blonde head coach nodded once and ran back towards the fourth official.

Sebastian Szymański, who had already finished preparing on the bench, was also hurrying towards the fourth official.

Hyeongmin, who glanced at the home team’s technical area, where manager Stefano Pioli was watching the game with a relaxed expression after scoring an additional goal, turned his head back to look at the stadium.

It’s a pity.

***

“Andiamo piano, eh?” [Let’s take it easy, huh?]

Lorenzo Lucca, the central striker for the Italian national team and Burnley, looked down at AC Milan’s center-back, Pierre Kalulu, who was talking to him with a smile.

The young defender, who had already started being called up to the French national team, was 179 centimeters tall, which was small for a center-back.

He is a head shorter than Lorenzo Lucca, who is over 200 centimeters tall.

However, so far, he has succeeded in perfectly defending his shots with his central defense partner, Fikayo Tomori.

Now, with AC Milan pouring attacks against Burnley, who have retreated to the back, not many passes are being connected to Lorenzo Lucca, who is isolated at the forefront.

Occasionally, Burnley goalkeeper Marco Carnesecchi’s long kicks are launched, but they are easily intercepted under the cooperation of AC Milan’s center-backs and central midfielders, who have not lost their concentration.

“I don’t want to?”

“Oh, don’t be like that. It seems like your team is going to lock the back door and finish the game now, so let’s both take it easy, huh? There’s also the second leg, right?”

“…”

Pierre Kalulu smiled and said to Lorenzo Lucca’s blunt answer, but Lorenzo Lucca didn’t say anything and started moving again.

He is not as fast as Benjamin Šeško, but he is often praised for being faster than expected.

Especially compared to his height.

While occupying a mid-level speed in Burnley, the young Italian striker, who was the only one instructed to attack in Burnley’s formation that had completely retreated to the defensive formation, steadily moved to carry out the task assigned to him.

The current location is about halfway between AC Milan’s penalty box and the halfway line.

It’s okay if he doesn’t get to touch the ball even once from now until the end of the game.

The instruction given to him was to move left and right and back and forth to keep the opposing team’s defenders nervous so that they could not rashly participate in the attack, and to attempt an attack if possible.

At least the manager, coaching staff, and teammates will know that Lorenzo Lucca has faithfully carried out the task assigned to him.

No, more than anything else, it would be enough if I knew that… what…?”

“Huh?!”

Leaving behind Pierre Kalulu’s bewildered shout, who had been following him, Lorenzo Lucca turned around and started running towards AC Milan’s penalty box at full speed.

Burnley’s left-back, Luca Pellegrini, who had barely blocked AC Milan’s attack, sent a brilliant long-distance pass that pierced through AC Milan’s midfielders and defensive line.

The ball, which started next to Burnley’s penalty box, was flying fiercely towards AC Milan’s goal.

AC Milan’s defenders, realizing the crisis, were rushing towards their goal in unison, but the one at the forefront was Lorenzo Lucca, who had seized the opportunity first.

“Stop him! Stop him!!”

With a desperate shout, AC Milan’s goalkeeper, Mike Maignan, rushed out of the goal.

“Lorenzo!!”

He could hear his teammates shouting his name from behind, and Lorenzo Lucca lowered his head and increased his speed.

“Hey, who said that if you’re tall, you’re slow? Usain Bolt is 195 centimeters tall.”

Speed depends on leg strength and running posture, as well as height and weight.

That’s what coach Taejin Jeong, who was conducting personal training after he arrived at Burnley, told him.

“And how many times do you think a soccer player will have to run 100 meters? That distance is from goal line to goal line. We only need to be able to run 20 meters quickly. We don’t need to be faster than anyone else. We just need to be fast enough to get to the ball first at that moment.”

He quickly reached the white line marking the outside of the penalty box, and the determined expression of goalkeeper Mike Maignan came into view.

“Aaaaargh!!!”

Along with the home fans’ bitter cries, Lorenzo Lucca stretched out his long legs and slightly, very slightly, changed the direction of the ball that was crossing the grass.

“Shit!!”

AC Milan’s goalkeeper, Mike Maignan, with a bitter curse at the sight of the ball passing by him, threw his body towards Lorenzo Lucca.

He was thinking that he would rather give up a penalty kick with a red card than allow a shot into an empty goal.

It’s a good judgment, but he caught the wrong opponent.

Lorenzo Lucca, who was running with the momentum of a runaway train, used his massive body of over 2 meters to bounce off the opposing team’s goalkeeper who was crashing into him.

“Ugh!!”

Goalkeeper Mike Maignan flew away as if he had been kicked by a racing horse, but no one was paying attention to such trivial things.

Lorenzo Lucca, who had shaken off the obstruction, followed the ball that was flowing at the same speed as he was running, and then lightly pushed the ball into the empty goal.

“Uwaaaah!!!”

Burnley’s away fans, who were huddled in a corner of San Siro and cheering enthusiastically, shouted in unison and beat the drums. Lorenzo Lucca, watching the ball nestled neatly in the goal net, put his hands on his knees and gasped for breath.

20 meters my ass.

I think I just ran about 40 meters?

Anyway, today’s mission is complete.