Chapter 1 Zhang Jun Understands Bati's Words

Zhang Jun understood Bati's words; he didn't want to fall out with Malesani before the season was over. After all, it was almost May, a critical time for the team to stay in Serie A. Creating internal conflicts now would truly be disregarding the big picture.

He trained diligently every day. If Malesani let him play, he played. If he made him sit on the bench, he sat on the bench, without the slightest complaint.

At this time, he discovered he had a new position—attacking midfielder. Due to Maresca's injury, Malesani looked at everyone on the team and thought Zhang Jun would be a good choice for the role.

But in reality, Zhang Jun didn't perform well as an attacking midfielder. He wasn't suited to dropping back and feeding the ball to his teammates in front. Malesani simply decided Zhang Jun was no good at anything and completely abandoned him.

Fiorentina could truly be said to have had a terrible season. In addition to the conflict between players and the coach, several players were injured, greatly affecting their performance. Riganò, Zhang Jun, Bojinov, Maresca… Bojinov was the unluckiest of all. He couldn't find success at AC Milan, so he wanted to follow in Zhang Jun's footsteps and transfer to Fiorentina to regain his form. But what happened? He injured his knee after only a few games and was out for the rest of the season.

In Zhang Jun's opinion, the team's unfavorable situation was due to both objective and, more importantly, subjective factors. Some players were physically in Florence, but their hearts were elsewhere.

They simply didn't have a Fiorentina heart.

Miccoli came to Florence to seek revenge against Piero and Juventus, while Maresca had declared before arriving that he didn't want to come to Florence at all. Although he denied it afterward when the deal was done, the fans still despised him from the bottom of their hearts.

Obodo, Gigli, and others came to Florence simply to get playing time. This was the world of professional soccer, and there was nothing wrong with that. But in Zhang Jun's eyes, a sentimental person, if you didn't have a Fiorentina heart, then you shouldn't play for Fiorentina at all.

Seeing the team inching closer and closer to Serie B, some people in the team didn't care at all. Of course, they didn't care; if Fiorentina was relegated, they could just switch to another place to play.

Zhang Jun realized that many people on the team also lacked the professional ethics and dedication that Bati had talked about.

※※※

May 1, 2007, Serie A, Round 34, Fiorentina lost 1:2 to Roma at home.

May 8, 2007, Serie A, Round 35, Fiorentina narrowly won 2:1 against Chievo away.

May 15, 2007, Serie A, Round 36, Fiorentina was held to a 0:0 draw by Atalanta at home.

May 22, 2007, Serie A, Round 37, Fiorentina drew 1:1 with Lazio away.

At this point, Fiorentina ranked sixteenth, firmly pressed down by fifteenth-placed Bologna. According to Serie A rules, the bottom three were directly relegated to Serie B, and the fourth-to-last had to play in a relegation playoff.

Now, in addition to Messina, who had already been relegated, nine teams, including Fiorentina, Bologna, Empoli, Brescia, Parma, and Siena, were all likely to be relegated or had a chance to stay up, making the situation very delicate. With one round left in the league, nine Serie A teams had yet to escape the threat of relegation, which was rare in European soccer in the past decade.

In addition, the championship battle this season was unusually fierce. Juventus had successfully reached the Champions League final and automatically gave up the domestic championship race. What remained was the city championship derby between AC Milan and Inter Milan.

In Round 37 of the league, AC Milan was in first place, one point ahead of Inter Milan. In the last five rounds of the league, both teams had been winning, chasing each other closely.

Inter Milan fans were excited; they finally had a chance to win their first Serie A title in eighteen years. But Mancini was very calm; he repeatedly told his players to stay cool and not to repeat the mistakes of the 2001-2002 season.

※※※

May 29, 2007, the final round of the Italian Serie A, AC Milan would challenge Fiorentina away, while Inter Milan would remain at home to face Bologna.

Survival and glory, relegation and championship, were intertwined by the hands of fate. Zhang Jun, Yang Pan, and Li Yongle were also linked together by these hands.

After understanding the situations they each faced, none of the three contacted each other. They became tense and cautious for the first time. This was their future, and none of them dared to joke about it.

Fiorentina also became tense. Zhang Jun felt like this was how a relegation battle should be.

Malesani's face, which was already expressionless, became even more so, and Miccoli became taciturn. Zhang Jun maliciously guessed that he must be thinking about where to go after the team was relegated, rather than how to help the team stay up.

Maresca had recovered from his injury, which meant that Zhang Jun couldn't even play as an attacking midfielder. Although he desperately wanted to play, he remembered Bati's words. Faced with neglect and distrust, he remained silent, but after hearing that he was a substitute, he crushed the plastic water bottle in his hand—if he didn't, he was really afraid he wouldn't be able to stop himself from punching Malesani in the nose.

※※※

Zhang Jun pushed the movable wall to the front of the penalty area and dumped a bag of soccer balls on the ground. Although he was a substitute for tomorrow's game, didn't know if he would get to play, or when he would get to play, he still had to continue his daily free kick practice. It had become a habit, not a conscious decision.

He looked at the training ground where he had stayed for a year and a half and sighed softly. Malesani's decision had completely discouraged him. Bati was right; whenever there was conflict between a player and the coach, the player was likely to leave. Rivaldo at Barcelona, Ronaldo at Inter Milan, Stam at Manchester United, Beckham at Manchester United, and now it was his turn?

He took a step back and kicked the soccer ball, but it hit the wall and flew out of bounds.

His teammates had all left, and he was the only one on the empty training ground. It had been like this every day, but today, facing the setting sun, Zhang Jun felt very lonely.

Someone picked up the soccer ball he had kicked out. He was surprised to find that it was old Captain Di Livio, who hadn't changed his clothes and was still in his training gear.

Zhang Jun didn't understand why the captain was here at this time.

Di Livio read the confusion in Zhang Jun's eyes and said, "I'm here for extra practice too, just like you."

Zhang Jun was even more surprised. This season, because the captain was older, he rarely had the opportunity to play, so he naturally hadn't seen him doing extra practice—because there was no need for him to.

Della Valle and Malesani had the same position on him: a spiritual leader. He didn't need to participate in the game; as long as he was on the team, he could stabilize morale, boost morale, and maintain balance in the locker room.

Before Riganò was injured, the captain's armband was usually worn on his arm. After Riganò was injured, it was worn on Lucarelli's arm. But no matter who wore the captain's armband, everyone knew there was only one captain.

However, Di Livio's role as a spiritual leader was also becoming weaker and weaker. This was the same as what Zhang Jun thought: some people in the team didn't have a Fiorentina heart; they never regarded themselves as Florentines, so a spiritual leader was naturally useless to them.

Di Livio could tell why Zhang Jun was surprised, but instead of directly answering why he had come for extra practice, he kicked the ball to Zhang Jun. "Tomorrow is my last game."

Zhang Jun heard another meaning in these words. He stammered, "You…you mean you're retiring?"

Di Livio smiled and nodded, as if retirement was as ordinary as going home from work for him.

"But why has no one ever heard of this?" Zhang Jun wasn't interested in practicing free kicks now. Compared to tomorrow's game, the captain's sudden retirement was a big deal.

"Why are you so surprised? It's normal for me to retire at this age," Di Livio said with a leisurely smile.

"The problem isn't that, it's why no one has heard of it before? Retirement isn't a small matter; shouldn't there be some publicity, and a farewell match…"

Di Livio waved his hand, "Why so many rules? I think I should retire, so I'm retiring. Besides, the team has been in the relegation zone, and I don't want to distract everyone."

Zhang Jun was stunned. He had always thought that retirement had an extraordinary meaning for a professional soccer player. It was a summary of a dozen years of his professional soccer career, like the finale of a big show. Which player didn't want to leave in a glorious way? With countless fans crying "Don't go!" behind him.

But Di Livio didn't do this, simply because he was afraid that the team would be distracted by the news of his departure. Just for the sake of other people, he gave up the glory he could have had, those beautiful moments that were worth remembering again in the years to come!

However, Zhang Jun suddenly realized that something was wrong. "Since you're afraid of distracting your teammates, why did you tell me? Aren't you afraid of distracting me?"

Di Livio said with a grin, "Don't worry, you're a substitute anyway."

"…"

"Haha! Just kidding! Just kidding!" Di Livio waved his hand. "I know all about the situation between you and Malesani. The reason I'm telling you is because I hope you can stay, stay in Florence."

Zhang Jun looked at Di Livio.

"There are rumors that you're leaving, but I don't think those are just rumors, are they?" he asked, staring at Zhang Jun.

As expected of the captain, his eyes were sharp. Zhang Jun lowered his head, neither nodding nor shaking it. He defaulted.

"In that situation, any player would think about leaving. You don't have to feel ashamed. I understand you. But I still hope you stay."

"Why?" After a long time, Zhang Jun only managed to squeeze out such a low-level question.

"You're one of the few people who still have feelings for Florence. I don't believe in Della Valle's empty talk about reviving Florence, but I don't want someone like you to leave Florence either. Florence doesn't want to see anyone who has feelings for her leave. Be honest, when you made the decision to leave, you must have been in a lot of pain, right?"

Defeated! Defeated! Why could older people see through so many things? Zhang Jun nodded in acknowledgment.

"The reason why Florence was able to rise in the 1990s was not only because they had a group of high-level players, but also because of the atmosphere in the team. At that time, everyone felt a strong sense of belonging in Florence. I wasn't in Florence at that time, but I knew many friends in the Florence team. They were proud to be able to play for Florence. That Florence team made me yearn for it, so I came here in '99. Although it's not the same as before, I still love this team and am proud to play for her. But now, everything is different. All my teammates talk about is money, beautiful women, sports cars, villas, bonuses, and big clubs…" Di Livio sat on a soccer ball, muttering. Zhang Jun also sat down and listened attentively.

"Of course, as professional players, there's nothing wrong with talking about these things. Maybe I'm just old and can't keep up with the times. Zhang, you know what? When I chose to stay, many people mocked me, but that choice was my principle. It was Florence that gave me a new lease on life, and that's how I was able to be selected for the national team to go to South Korea for the World Cup. People should be grateful, and I couldn't abandon Florence, which gave me my second sporting life, for the sake of money. And Zhang, I see a bit of myself in you. You're like the players from the classic Florence team, like Roby, like Bati. You have deep feelings for Florence, so I hope you stay. You're their hope."

Zhang Jun knew who "they" referred to, the millions of Florence fans. But he was baffled by Di Livio's high praise. In fact, Zhang Jun was also baffled by the captain's sudden lengthy talk about his past. He was listening attentively only out of respect for the old captain.

In the evening, Zhang Jun mentioned this to Li Yan, and Li Yan, in the manner of someone who had been through it all, said to Zhang Jun, "You think the captain is all glamorous? Actually, the captain has a lot of pressure, especially an old captain like Di Livio. He has to be the coordinator in the locker room, the bridge between the coach and the players, the guide for the new players, the person to whom the players confide their feelings… You guys can pour out your troubles to him, but who can he tell his pressures and worries to?"

"Then why did he tell me?"

"Idiot, because after tomorrow, he won't be the captain anymore, and he won't have to carry that heavy burden anymore. He's just an ordinary person, so he doesn't have to worry about his teammates saying he's weak, or that he's afraid to take responsibility." Li Yan blew a smoke ring on the other end of the phone and said in a very vicissitudinous tone, "Not just anyone can be the captain."

Di Livio looked up and saw that it was getting late, so he got up to leave.

Zhang Jun looked at his back and suddenly asked, "Captain, since you can't stand their words and actions, why don't you point them out in the locker room?"

Di Livio turned around and said to him, and Zhang Jun would clearly remember that sentence many years later: "Idiot, being a captain isn't just about scolding people!"

Zhang Jun didn't understand at the time, and Di Livio didn't explain, waved his hand, "Good luck in tomorrow's game!" Then he turned around and left.

In the end, he still didn't do extra practice—he didn't need to. It wasn't because he couldn't get on the field, but because with his professionalism, maintaining his form didn't require extra practice after normal training.

Zhang Jun waved goodbye to Di Livio and suddenly realized that there was a problem with the captain's last sentence. "What am I cheering for in tomorrow's game? I'm just a substitute anyway." He muttered and kicked another ball, which bypassed the wall and went into the unguarded goal.

※※※

In order to ensure the fairness of the game and the credibility of the results, the last round of Serie A kicked off at the same time.

The Stadio Artemio Franchi was packed, with many fans from both AC Milan and Florence. The former hoped to witness the club's eighteenth league title in history, while the latter came to cheer for the team to stay up.

Since the championship trophy would be awarded after the game, and now two teams had a chance to win the title, to be on the safe side, the Italian Football Federation prepared two championship trophies. The real one was brought to Florence, ready to be awarded to AC Milan, while the replica was in Milan. If Inter Milan won the title, it would be used as a temporary placeholder, and the real one would be awarded to them later.

In this game, Malesani still used his most frequent 4-5-1 formation. Old Captain Di Livio appeared as the left midfielder, Miccoli was the lone striker, behind him was the injured Maresca, Jørgensen was the right midfielder, Obodo and Donadel were the two holding midfielders, the center backs were Ujfalusi and Dainelli, the left back was Maggio, the right back was Chiellini, and the goalkeeper was Lupatelli.

On the AC Milan side, it was a 4-4-2 formation. Shevchenko and Gilardino were the strikers, Kaká was the attacking midfielder, Yang Pan was the left midfielder, Gattuso was the right midfielder, Pirlo was the holding midfielder, Nesta and Stam were the center backs, the left back was their captain Maldini, the right back was Oddo, who was signed from Lazio, and the goalkeeper was Dida.

It could be said that AC Milan sent out all their elite players who could play. They were determined to win, and even playing away, they didn't plan to give Florence a chance to turn the game around. Losing the championship to Inter Milan in the title race would not only mean losing a championship, but also losing face, and they wouldn't be able to hold their heads up in front of Inter Milan fans for a whole summer.

The weather forecast said it was 32 degrees Celsius today, but under the scorching sun, the ground temperature of the stadium was at least 50 degrees Celsius. On such a hot day, at two o'clock in the afternoon, the Stadio Artemio Franchi was almost full. Many fans were shirtless and sweating profusely, and in the stadium, there were several water taps spraying water to cool down the stands.

But the fans' enthusiasm couldn't be cooled down even with spraying water. Opposite the press box, thousands of AC Milan fans had been constantly waving flags and shouting, while Florence fans occasionally responded with curses. This was a life-or-death battle for Florence, and a battle for glory for AC Milan. There was a specially cleared stand between the home and away fans as a buffer zone, separated by barbed wire, and the police near the stadium were already densely packed, as if facing a formidable enemy. A helicopter was circling in the sky above the stadium, and it was impossible to see from a distance whether it belonged to Sky TV or the Florence Police Department.

A local Florence reporter in the press box was using the paper in his hand as a fan, "This is the hottest day in Florence so far this year."

Many other reporters nodded in agreement.

Li Yan also thought so, not only because of the weather. That's why he chose to come here to report on the game, rather than staying in Milan. With his sense, even if Inter Milan won the title, it would be far less attractive to Chinese readers than this game.

This was Zhang Jun's confrontation with Yang Pan and Kaká.

Although he wasn't on the field now, the confrontation still existed.

※※※

Zhang Jun sat on the bench, waiting with the other substitutes for the starting eleven to come out. Malesani made him a substitute, and he couldn't see a trace of a future in Florence. Although the old captain hoped he would stay, what would he stay for? There was no future at all. He wasn't young anymore and didn't want to waste his time in this cycle.

The huge cheers in the stadium interrupted Zhang Jun's thoughts. The players from both sides came out.

When Di Livio, wearing the captain's armband, came out first, the Fiesole hard-core fan zone unfurled a huge banner: "Captain, you're always with us."

Seeing this, Zhang Jun was moved. What moved him was the loyal fans' feelings for Florence, and the Florence fans' feelings for the loyal players. They didn't know that Di Livio would retire after the game. This wasn't a carefully prepared farewell message, but their years of consistent support and gratitude.

Many clubs had loyal players, and in Serie A, AC Milan and Florence had the most. AC Milan was a powerhouse, so it wasn't surprising to have loyal players. But Florence's history wasn't too glorious, and it had even been relegated twice and was on the verge of bankruptcy in the last twenty years, so it was truly not easy to still have so many loyal players.

As the saying goes, a friend in need is a friend indeed. Di Livio had won the respect of the entire city with his actions.

He himself also wanted to be a loyal player, at least not leave after only a year and a half, but there was always a huge gap between reality and ideals.

Watching the captain applaud the fans in thanks, drawing even more frenzied cheers, Zhang Jun felt a pang of emotion. After today, the last legend of Florence would also bow out. Such a huge team, with countless die-hard fans and a long history, had no one who could reach the height of "legend" anymore.

After Roby came Bati, after Bati came the captain, and after the captain?

Zhang Jun shook his head. What did he care so much about? He wouldn't be here in the second half of the year, so what did it have to do with him whether there were legends or not?

※※※

At 2:30 p.m. on May 29, 2007, with the sound of a whistle, the last round of Serie A began simultaneously in ten different places. The games that determined who would stay up, who would be relegated, who would win the championship, and who would be disappointed had begun.

Although their strength was clearly not on the same level as the home team, it was, after all, an away game, and facing the crazy home fans and Florence, who had been forced into a corner, AC Milan didn't dare to underestimate them. They adopted a cautious stance from the start.

Unfortunately, Malesani was still conservative at this point, as could be seen from his formation. After the opening, they only launched a few tentative feints before shrinking back again.

Zhang Jun had heard Li Yan introduce Malesani. The fifty-one-year-old began his coaching career at Chievo and later coached Florence in the '97-'98 season, which was why Della Valle wanted to invite him back to coach—because of emotion. Della Valle believed that coaches who had coached Florence before would have more emotion, be more familiar, and be more dedicated. But as it turned out, he was thinking too beautifully.

Malesani's true glory came after he coached Parma the following year. He not only led the team to win the Italian Cup, but also won the UEFA Cup, rising to fame and being called a "famous coach," and also entered the Champions League the following year.

But after achieving success, Malesani began to be arrogant, thinking highly of himself and being very superstitious about the so-called authority of the coach. He believed that the head coach should be the master of a team, and everyone should listen to him, and no one should disagree with him, not even the president of the club.

Before the '00-'01 season, Parma sold talented players like Chiesa and Verón, simply because their personal relationship with Malesani was very bad. This sounded a bit bizarre. How could a professional coach make such a rash decision? In fact, this was very common. Malesani wasn't the only one who did this. Fergie was an expert at it.

From this alone, Zhang Jun had every reason to be pessimistic about his future. Whichever player had a bad relationship with Malesani, he would convince the club to let that player leave. Zhang Jun's relationship with Malesani was now irreconcilable, so if he didn't leave himself next season, he would be sold by Malesani.

That season, after selling the people who were at odds with him, Malesani publicly declared that he had never felt that a team was as much his own as Parma was today, and there would be no problems within the team. However, due to the sale of several talented players, the team's performance was not ideal. They were eliminated early from the Champions League, and the goal of winning the league became empty talk. After losing 0:2 to Reggina, he was fired by the club.

Since being fired this time, the aura of "famous coach" seemed to have disappeared from Malesani, and his coaching results were consistently disastrous. In his subsequent coaching of Verona and Modena, he was fired for poor performance. He relegated Verona, and only won one game in eighteen games with Modena, and the team was on the verge of relegation. In the twenty-sixth round of the league, he was fired again for losing to Reggina.

After that, he briefly coached Panathinaikos in Greece, and finally returned in disgrace, and was then invited by Della Valle.

It could be said that Malesani's later coaching career was a complete failure, but why did Della Valle still invite him?

Li Yan analyzed it for Zhang Jun this way:

Della Valle was a successful businessman, but not a qualified club president, but rather a Florence fan with some romantic fantasies. This could be seen from a series of his actions. He let Bati come back to work, and strongly invited Rui Costa, and even dreamed of letting Baggio return to the green field, wearing the purple jersey… He had been looking for the people from Florence's glorious period, wanting to bring them back, thinking that this would allow Florence to regain its glory, but in reality, he was just replicating a memory in his heart. This was the typical mentality of an old fan.

Inviting Malesani, this "old friend," back was also based on the above reasons. He must still remember the touching scene when Malesani wore only his underwear and rushed to the stands with the players to celebrate the victory with the fans. Malesani also got the nickname "Big Underwear" because of this. Those were passionate years that made people's blood boil…

It was a pity that time would change everything. Malesani had changed and was no longer the passionate head coach he had been. Della Valle hadn't realized this and naively thought that he could make Florence regain its glory.

In the end, Florence's failure this season could be summarized in one sentence: an inexperienced president who liked to daydream hired the wrong coach at the wrong time, resulting in the wrong season.

Li Yan always believed that Zhang Jun had done nothing wrong. Facing this kind of coach, there was really no need to be polite to him, so in his reports back to China, he firmly supported Zhang Jun and belittled Malesani, once again fulfilling the role of "Zhang Jun's personal writer."

※※※

The fans were fanatical, but the beginning of the game was very boring. Florence had to shrink back before daring to fight against AC Milan, who were defending, which reminded people of the quarter-finals of the '98 World Cup in France, where Italy lost the game due to being too conservative.

Would this game also have that result?

It wasn't until the twenty-second minute of the game that there was the first shot. Shevchenko hit the outside of the post from twenty meters out, giving the Florentines a cold sweat. AC Milan realized that Florence, even at home, didn't pose a threat to them and began to attack—which sounded deflating for Florence fans, but it was true.

Yang Pan's high-speed breakthroughs and inside cuts and powerful shots, Kaká's vertical breakthroughs and passes, and long shots, plus Pirlo's distribution, Shevchenko and Gilardino's attacks, AC Milan's attack made Florence's defense tremble and totter in the storm.

Ujfalusi was the strongest of the defenders, but he also found it very difficult to face Shevchenko.

AC Milan was the team with the most goals this season, which was enough to show how strong their attack was.

Zhang Jun watched from the sidelines. Yang Pan and Kaká were very serious, not showing any mercy just because this might lead to Zhang Jun's relegation to Serie B. Zhang Jun maliciously guessed that maybe these two people couldn't wait for Florence to be relegated.

Malesani looked very nervous, walking back and forth on the sidelines. The more Zhang Jun looked at him, the more he looked like a clown, so he simply focused all his attention on the game.

※※※

In the thirtieth minute of the first half, news came from the San Siro that made Florence fans fall silent and AC Milan fans cheer.

Bologna, fighting to stay up, was leading Inter Milan 1:0 away!

AC Milan was happy to see Inter Milan lose. But Florence fans definitely didn't want to hear the news of Bologna winning.

AC Milan's cheers were only out of joy for the impending championship, but Florence fans thought it was a mockery and gloating, and loud Italian curses immediately rang out at the Stadio Artemio Franchi—“vaffa,” meaning something like "get out of here," "go to hell," or "fuck your mother."

Zhang Jun wasn't experiencing a relegation battle for the first time, but it was clear that Volendam's relegation couldn't be compared to Florence's. Now, listening to the deafening curses in the stands, he felt like he was in a battlefield, with both sides wishing each other dead.

The Florence fans' curses instead aroused AC Milan's fighting spirit, and in the forty-third minute, as the first half was about to end, the away team scored.

Shevchenko excitedly pounced on Yang Pan, who had assisted him. The pass just now was too comfortable. The two people surrounding him couldn't stop him from scoring, and Ujfalusi and Dainelli were like children in front of him.

Silence filled Florence, from the bench to the stands. Only the AC Milan fans were shouting recklessly: "Serie B! Serie B! Serie B!!" Fiercely countering the insults they had just received.

Malesani's performance could be described as "furious" regarding this goal. With Florence down by one goal, they were one step closer to the Serie B abyss. He ran to the sidelines and loudly rebuked Chiellini for easily allowing Yang Pan to break through.

Chiellini, who was being scolded, looked very aggrieved. He shrugged at Dainelli: "That number 11 is so fast, how can I defend against him?" Number 11 was Yang Pan's new number at AC Milan. He was destined not to wear number 7, and wearing number 11 left by Zhang Jun wasn't bad either.

He had really tried his best, but Yang Pan was just bullying him. Facing him, he pushed the ball five meters away and rushed to chase the ball. How could Chiellini, who had to turn around, keep up with that speed?

Dainelli didn't know what to say. He and Ujfalusi hadn't stopped Shevchenko even when they joined forces, so they would definitely be scolded during the half-time break. He just patted Chiellini on the shoulder: "Next time, just foul him…" But he didn't sound confident when he said this.

Although Zhang Jun wasn't as furious as the head coach, he was still very unhappy. He didn't like Malesani, but that didn't mean he could accept Florence being relegated. He had always distinguished between Malesani and Florence.

He blamed Yang Pan a bit, and he also knew that this blame was unreasonable and unpopular. But that was the feeling he had in his heart.

He really wanted to go on the field and face Yang Pan and Kaká, and blast them to pieces. At this time, his opponent wasn't Shevchenko, who had scored, but his friends.

But he turned his head and saw Malesani's gloomy face and immediately deflated. He wouldn't let himself play, not even for a minute. Letting him sit on the bench was just to humiliate him for the full ninety minutes.

※※※

Dainelli's premonition was correct. During the half-time break, Malesani scolded them almost beyond recognition. Faced with the unfavorable situation, this outdated head coach could only use loud scolding to boost morale.

This kind of scolding had no effect now. Opponents like AC Milan couldn't be defeated just by boosting morale.

The second half had just started, and the entire Florence team was disoriented by Malesani's scolding, unsure of what to do, while AC Milan simply turned the game around and launched a barrage of attacks.

Yang Pan and Kaká worked together on the wing. Yang Pan took the ball in the backfield, and then cross-passed to Kaká in front, and continued to run forward after passing the ball. Kaká passed the ball back to him again, the two of them with a two-on-one.

After getting the ball, Yang Pan dribbled along the sideline. He didn't rush to break through. He was waiting for Kaká to cut inside. When Kaká ran in front of him, he passed diagonally again, followed by accelerating forward, Kaká once again passed the ball to him, with two consecutive two-on-ones!

Yang Pan, who received the ball again, suddenly made a sharp stop and changed direction, cutting to the center, facing Chiellini's defense. This move was unexpected by Chiellini, and even if he wanted to foul, he couldn't. Yang Pan poked the ball, jumped up to avoid Donadel's tackle, and after landing, he adjusted his steps and angle slightly, and shot!

No one could stop this ball. The ball went straight into the goal, 2:0!

The Stadio Artemio Franchi was filled with only the screams of AC Milan fans again. Many AC Milan fans continued to shout "Serie B! Serie B!" to the Florence fans, and some even tried to rush to the Florence fan stands to provoke them, but they were quickly driven back by the police with batons.

This goal was a huge blow to Florence. The fans didn't even use curses to counter the opponent. Being led 2:0 by AC Milan, what did that mean? It meant that they almost couldn't turn the game around.

The disappointed Florence fans began to loudly curse the club's president Della Valle. They believed that it was the incompetent Della Valle who led to Florence's current predicament. And Della Valle's expression looked very unnatural as he listened to the insults.

Painful groans came from the bench. Under the scorching sun, everything on the field became blurred. Old Captain Di Livio was shouting desperately, reminding everyone that the game wasn't over yet, that they still had thirty minutes, but it had little effect.

Goalkeeping coach Buso walked up to the substitute players and told them to all warm up. Zhang Jun didn't understand what Malesani wanted to do, but he still went. But he had no intention of warming up now. His mind was filled with a terrible thought: it's over, Florence is going to be relegated!

※※※

Curses, similar to those of the fans, came from the press box. Li Yan heard an old reporter next to him sarcastically say with Italian humor, "Hey, this is great! Florence has also become an 'elevator'!"

Malesani's face was ashen. He replaced the out-of-form Maresca with young Pazzini, switching to a 4-4-2 formation.

Zhang Jun was still paying attention to the situation on the field. Di Livio was the most hardworking player on the team, because he was the one who had been on this team the longest among the eleven players on the field. Watching him charge left and right, it was hard to believe that he was forty years old this year.

Pirlo fell very dramatically, and was dragging out the time, Di Livio rushed up and roared at him like a lion, "Goddamn it! Stop wasting time! You're embarrassing yourself!"

Reminding his teammates on the field, arguing with the referee, and scolding the opponents, this was what a captain should do. He was still fulfilling the captain's responsibilities.

Jørgensen passed the ball long to Di Livio, and everyone thought that this "old man" would pass the ball out again, and even Gattuso in front of him thought so.

But Di Livio pushed the ball forward, and dribbled past!

Gattuso was caught off guard, and a careless mistake allowed the experienced Di Livio to pass. He shouted, turned around, and lunged at Di Livio—he would rather foul him than let him pass like this. But although Di Livio was old, his technique was still very skilled. He skillfully adjusted his steps and passed Gattuso.

Then he dribbled wildly, and facing Oddo, he made a feint with his upper body, and the ball spun between his legs, suddenly passing through Oddo's crotch!

Oddo obviously didn't expect Di Livio to pass through his crotch, and at that moment, his reaction wasn't to turn around, but to reflexively retract his legs, resulting in him awkwardly falling backward due to inertia, allowing Di Livio to break through again!

"Passed two people! Great Angelo! He's not old at all! He's the only one in Florence who