Chapter 343 Before the winter break

11 consecutive victories! Inter Milan broke the longest winning streak since the establishment of Serie A. Although many people were mentally prepared before this, it still caused a huge sensation when this moment really came!

Serie A is known as the most difficult league in the four major leagues, which can be seen from the winning streak. The longest winning streak in the Bundesliga is the thirteen consecutive wins set by Bayern in 1981, and the longest winning streak in the Premier League was set by Arsenal not long before the start of this season. The last thirteen rounds of last season and the first league victory of the Premier League this season, Arsenal set a record of fourteen consecutive wins, and the La Liga winning streak is the fifteen consecutive wins maintained by Real Madrid, which can be traced back to the 61-62 season in the Puscarstino era. Although Inter Milan created a brand new Serie A winning streak, Serie A's winning streak is still the shortest among the four major leagues.

"We must continue to win in a row!" Inter Milan fans shouted wildly on the streets of Milan. Although they only played eleven games in the league, they firmly believe that Inter Milan's advantages are unshakable!

Indeed, from the perspective of the standings, Inter Milan's advantage is indeed difficult to shake - it is seven points ahead of Lazio, nine points ahead of Juventus, and eleven points ahead of AC Milan - this is already a huge advantage. Although the second stage of the Champions League group stage will definitely distract them, Juventus and AC Milan will also be distracted in the Champions League group stage...

"The only thing that can stop Inter Milan now is a two-front battle. After December, the Italian Cup will also begin. It would be better if they just plan to attack in the Champions League and the league, but if they still have to focus on the Italian Cup, it will increase the burden on the players."

However, Cooper had a different view on this.

"There are not many games in the Italian Cup. We started directly from the quarterfinals. Even if we reached the final, we just played eight more games (the Italian Cup final is now two rounds and has not been restructured yet), and the opponents we meet may not be very strong, so there is no need to give up the Italian Cup. In the Italian Cup, I will send more substitutes, and I hope you can seize such an opportunity. I said, in my eyes, there is no distinction between main players and substitutes. It depends entirely on your condition. Do you understand?" Cooper said to all the players.

Of course, Cooper will not let the substitutes come on the court to show their skills in the Champions League game...

After going to the UK, the starting lineup sent by Cooper did not change much from the Milan Derby. Only Recoba did not play in the front quartet, but replaced him by Emre. At the same time, he placed Koko, who made a fatal mistake in the last game, and replaced him by young player Pasquale. Koko's performance has not been particularly outstanding since the beginning of this season, which disappointed Inter Milan fans who were expecting him to fill the black hole of Inter Milan left-back. The low-level mistake in the derby reminded people of Grasco last season...

The Derby is a magnifying glass that can amplify the wonderful performance of those outstanding players and also magnify the players' mistakes. Cooper's rotation of Koko in this game also has a big factor in this regard.

Inter Milan played quite smoothly in this game. Just two minutes into the game, Sanetti broke through Hughes' defense on the side and passed the penalty area with a low pass. Ronaldo missed the front point, and Vieri at the back point involved most of the opponent's defender's attention. Tiger, who was inserted from the middle, quickly fell to the ground and shoveled the ball into the goal guarded by Jiwen!

In the 35th minute, Tiger's corner kick was pushed out by the opponent's defender. Zanetti, who inserted it, volleyed directly without waiting for the ball to land, and made a wonderful world wave, and Inter Milan expanded the score.

Before the end of the first half, Ronaldo scored his ninth Champions League goal of the season, and Emre assisted him. After receiving a pass from Tiger, Emre made a cross from the bottom, and Ronaldo got rid of the defender and pushed the ball into the goal, 3-0.

Even Cooper himself did not expect that the fans of St. James Park Stadium were in great pain and returned to the Champions League game, but they found that the gap between them and top giants like Inter Milan is still very big...

After the second half, Cooper began to mobilize troops. He first replaced Tiger with Dalma to allow him to rest. Tiger has been a starter since the beginning of the season and almost attends all. Cooper didn't want his disciple to be exhausted before the second half of the season began.

Soon, Concesan replaced Emre, Dalma appeared in the left forward position, and Inter Milan began to slow down the offensive rhythm. Although Solano scored a point for Newcastle in the 72nd minute, in the 80th minute, Recoba, who had just appeared as a substitute Ronaldo, received a pass from Dalma and scored a arc goal in the front of the penalty area. Four to one, Inter Milan won a brilliant victory.

The league also won, the cup, the main players scored goals, and the substitutes also scored goals - at this time Inter Milan did have some unstoppable intentions, and in the next league game, Vieri, who still failed to score in the Champions League, shining in the league - staged a big four-game Bobo to help Inter Milan sweep Brescia four-to-zero, and Inter Milan expanded the winning streak to twelve games!

The 20 consecutive victories in all competitions, but Inter Milan unexpectedly stopped winning streaks in the next Cup of Italian - after sending almost all substitutes, Inter Milan was very uncomfortable in the away game and eventually lost to Barry zero to one. This loss ended Inter Milan's winning streak in various competitions and also made Cooper furious in the locker room...

"Before the second leg of the Italian Cup, no player in this game will have a chance to play! And in the second leg, I will send all of you who are not pulling. If that game cannot advance, you will not want to play this season!" Cooper roared loudly in the locker room.

After the winning streak of various games ended, Inter Milan's winning streak in the league was also ended. In the 13th round, they were tied 3-3 by Lazio away and almost suffered a defeat. In the first thirty minutes of the first half, Lazio played extremely well. Tiger's former teammate Claudio Lopez scored a hat trick, helping Lazio lead Inter Milan three-to-zero at home!

However, one minute later, Inter Milan quickly scored a point, and Ronaldo's shot bounced back on the post, but just hit Coto's head and flew into the goal. In the second half, under the leadership of Tiger, Inter Milan launched a Jedi counterattack.

A beautiful spoon shot from the front of the penalty area, a direct volley from the top of the penalty area, Tiger scored twice in the second half, completing his tenth league goal of the season. They even had the chance to complete a super reversal, if Vieri hadn't headed the ball to the post...

However, Cooper was not angry this time. The reason is very simple. This draw was not easy. It was not easy to get even after three goals. However, after this round, Inter Milan's advantage did not shrink. Juventus was tied by Brescia and suffered three consecutive draws. Inter Milan has been leading this old opponent by as many as 11 points, leading AC Milan and Lazio each with nine points, and the advantage is also very big. The draw of three consecutive goals under the disadvantage is enough to prove the tenacious fighting spirit of this Inter Milan!

However, the two consecutive games were not won, which was enough to arouse Cooper's vigilance. The players' states were often crescent-shaped. The players' states were very outstanding before, but now it is obvious that the players' states are beginning to show signs of decline, and the next game will appear very dense, and it is time to adjust.

There are four games left before the start of the winter break, two league games, one Champions League and one Cup of Italian. Inter Milan will have a 20-day break. What Cooper has to do now is to try to grab points in the next few games, and then set an advantage in the league at the beginning of the second half of the season!

The second round of the Champions League will be held in two days. Inter Milan's opponent is Leverkusen, the runner-up of the Champions League last season. After the Sanya king last season, Leverkusen's loss is not small, and Barack's departure is already a huge loss. Since the beginning of this season, their results in the league are very average. Although the Champions League entered the second stage of the group stage, they were defeated by Barcelona 2-1 at home in the first game. For Leverkusen, if he wants to continue his journey to the Champions League, he has to defeat Inter Milan to maintain a glimmer of hope.

Leverkusen, who came to Meacha Stadium, came with a back-to-back battle. Their performance was indeed excellent. However, at Meacha Stadium, no team has been able to escape here this season...

Vieri and Ronaldo both seemed very tired in this game, but fortunately, veteran Dibiagio stood up - he received a series of assists from Tiger in the first half and scored twice. This was the first time Dibiagio scored two goals in a game after transferring to Inter Milan...

The final score was three-to-one. Ronaldo stopped his continuous goals, and Inter Milan's Trident failed to score in the game this season for the first time. Emre, who came on as a substitute in the second half, scored a lucky goal. He originally wanted to pass the ball, but Leverkusen's goalkeeper Butte failed to touch the ball under the interference of Caron, who also came on as a substitute. The ball rolled directly into the goal. Although Brazilian striker Franza scored a point before the end of the game, he still could not save Leverkusen's fate of losing away.

With Barcelona defeating Newcastle three-to-one at home in another game, the situation in this group began to gradually become clear. Barcelona and Inter Milan won consecutively, while Leverkusen and Newcastle both lost in a row. In the next two rounds of games, Inter Milan will face Barcelona in a row, and Leverkusen will face Newcastle in a row. These two rounds of the league will determine the direction of the group.

Of course, that will be late February next year. Inter Milan's energy will be all in the league, and of course, it also includes the Italian Cup...

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"Inter Milan has begun to show fatigue. They have been in a state that has been too good since the beginning of the season. Now it is indeed time for their state to slowly decline. But one of their luck is that the winter break is about to begin, and Inter Milan players will have twenty days off."

In the 14th round of the league against Atlanta, Inter Milan lost the most goals in the league. Vieri was in poor form against Leverkusen and sprained his foot and could only miss this game. Cooper sent Recoba and Ronaldo to partner with the forward line. However, after missing Vieri, Inter Milan did not have many ways to face the opponent's iron barrel formation. In the end, they could only rely on a substitute Caron to defeat Atlanta and continue to lead the standings. However, the collective fatigue of the players is an indisputable fact.

In this case, Cooper sent a lineup of all substitutes in the second leg of the Italian Cup against Barry on Wednesday.

Goalkeeper Fontana, defender Vivas, Gamara, Adani, Pasquale, midfielder Almeida, Concesan, Emre, Dalma, the forwards are young Martins and center Coradi - after scoring the last substitute goal, Caron was injured again...

"Cooper made a wise choice. The two-line battle has already made Inter Milan's main players very tired. It is a bit unworthy to waste physical fitness in the Italian Cup. The Serie A season has started half a month late. In addition to the intensive schedule of the Champions League, Inter Milan basically plays double games in a week, and their opponents are very strong. If they cannot rotate properly, Inter Milan may encounter a huge crisis in the second half of the season."

After seeing the substitute announced by Cooper, Milan Sports said this.

In fact, this is also a consensus among everyone. However, in the next game, Inter Milan's substitutes proved that they are not vassals of the main players, nor are they players who make a living in Inter Milan's first team!

You should know that, except for Fontana, who is already very old, Pasquale has just made his mark and Dalma has no chance in the French national team, which other players are not internationals in various countries? Adani and Coladi have also been selected for the Italian national team, Gamara is Paraguay international, Vivas is Argentina's fringe international, Almeida, Concesan, and Emre are internationals in Argentina Portugal and Turkey respectively, and young player Martins has excellent speed...

Just five minutes into the game, Martins showed his outstanding speed. Dalma's midfielder's straight pass was originally a bit big. At the start, Martins was at least five meters away from the defender in front of him. However, in just thirty minutes of sprint, the Nigerian young player narrowed the distance with a speed visible to the naked eye, and then rushed past the opponent's last defender and got Dalma's pass!

Unexpectedly, Martins' speed could be so fast. When the opponent's goalkeeper came back to his senses and attacked, Martins had completely controlled the ball. The next thing was simple. Using his own speed, Martins dribbled the ball over the opponent's goalkeeper, and then pushed the ball into the empty goal...

The excited Martins completed six consecutive front flips on the court, and then rushed off the court to hug Cooper. In the first round, Martins came on as a substitute but did not perform much, while Cooper insisted on using him...

In the 22nd minute, Martins received Emre's pass and forced a breakthrough along the sideline, and then made a big cross. Corady competed for a header in the penalty area, and Inter Milan expanded the total score to two-to-one!

Cooper slapped off the court, and Martins' wonderful performance gave him confidence. At least on the front line, he had another choice... Vieri's injury seemed to be very serious and he might not be able to play in the next league. With such a distinctive player addition, Inter Milan does not need to worry about Vieri's injury.

However, the good times did not last long. Shortly after the second half began, Barry's midfielder Berla Vista shot in the penalty area. Gama, who rushed back to defend, stretched his foot to block it, but blocked the ball into his own goal. Barry tied the total score 2-2 and led the lead again with the advantage of away goals!

In the following time, it became Inter Milan's half-court offensive and defensive performance, Emre became Inter Milan's savior. After Martins broke through and created a free kick on the flank, he accurately drove the free kick into the penalty area. Attracted by Corradi and others, Barry's defenders let go of the defense at the back point. Concesan headed the ball near the post in the back and pushed the ball into the empty goal, allowing Inter Milan to lead again. This score was also the final score of the whole game.

With a total score of 3-2, Inter Milan's substitutes completed their redemption and won the next chance to play!

Cooper showed a satisfied smile and took a step further in the Italian Cup. The main players also took a week off. Next, in the last league game before the winter break, they were able to play the game with all their heart...

In the last round, with Vieri, Caron, Ventola and Ronaldo both injured, Inter Milan, who was expeditioning to Parma, sent a forward combination of Recoba and Martins. Tiger opened the first record in the 37th minute of the first half. Recoba's free kick was passed into the penalty area, Cordoba headed the ball, and Tiger headed the ball and was saved by Frey. However, he had a quick eye and quick shot and scored a goal first. Although Mutu equalized the score shortly after the start of the second half, Tiger's straight pass helped Martins score two consecutive goals, laying the victory of the game!

Before the winter break, Inter Milan maintained an outstanding record of 14 wins and one draw in the 15th round of the league. With 43 points, he was the best in the standings, leading the three opponents behind him at the same time as eleven points. After all the inexplicable entanglements and combinations, AC Milan, Juventus and Lazio's points were thirty-two points...

"I won't win the league championship this season, and I will withdraw from professional football from now on!" Cooper said in an interview after the game.
Chapter completed!