Andrés dribbles forward, with Izalelt on his left and the team’s central forward on his right, forming a three-pronged attack.
Andrés makes a pass to the right, piercing Liverpool’s defense.
The AC Milan central forward finds himself one-on-one on the right flank, but the angle is too tight for a shot, so he opts for a cross in front of the goal.
Izalelt rushes in and blasts the ball into the net with a powerful shot.
AC Milan leads two to zero!
Victory is within their grasp!
Five minutes later, Praxedes intercepts the ball from a Liverpool player once again, passing it to Andrés.
Andrés looks up to see Izalelt already advancing past the midfield, with only two defenders around him.
Andrés delivers a long, straight pass that cuts through Liverpool’s midfield and defensive line.
The pass has a slight curve, reminiscent of a bending ball, but it is primarily a vertical through ball with minimal horizontal displacement.
Yet, that tiny horizontal displacement spells doom for Liverpool.
A Liverpool central defender leaps to intercept but misses the ball.
The ball slides past him and is picked up by Izalelt.
Bam!
Quick and decisive!
Izalelt scores a brace!
The Liverpool player trailing on his right side poses no obstacle to him!
AC Milan leads Liverpool three to zero at halftime!
The whole stadium, half heaven, half hell.
During halftime, AC Milan players are extraordinarily excited, complimenting and praising each other.
Praxedes is hailed as the defensive cornerstone and counterattack engine.
Izalelt is revered as Milan’s War God, the Son of God!
Even when the head coach enters, he first praises Praxedes, then kneels on one knee, mimicking a shoe-cleaning gesture for Izalelt.
This sets off a frenzy in the locker room, with everyone in high spirits.
Yet, Andrés feels out of place amid the smiling faces.
He doesn’t hear the praise he thought he deserved, assuming someone would notice today that he was different from before.
Today, Andrés nearly found a perfect way to coexist with Izalelt, drawing inspiration from Morici and Lu Yang’s relationship and playing style.
The Italian Cup defeat sparked a transformation in him, making him feel he had improved!
This coexistence with Izalelt is not like before when Andrés played a supporting role, but a true unleashing of all his talents without diminishing Izalelt’s dominance.
It’s a synergy greater than one plus one, even surpassing three.
AC Milan’s first goal came from Andrés delivering the ball to Izalelt’s feet at the first opportunity, giving Izalelt space to execute his best moves in a central breakthrough.
Simultaneously, it was Andrés who took the set piece, directly assisting Praxedes in scoring!
For AC Milan’s second goal, Andrés advanced with the ball and deftly passed to the team’s central forward, who crossed it for Izalelt to score.
The third goal came directly from his long-range, surgical through-ball assist.
In summary, all three goals were initiated by him, earning him two assists.
If truly rated, with each goal worth ten points, the participants would share the score.
For the first goal, Andrés and Praxedes each get four points, Izalelt two.
For the second goal, Andrés and Praxedes each get three points, the central forward and Izalelt two each.
For the third goal, Andrés claims four points, with Praxedes and Izalelt each getting three.
Overall, his first-half performance was the best on the team!
Even better than Praxedes and Izalelt!
Yet, he doesn’t receive the recognition he deserves.
He doesn’t ask for much, even if the coach praises him third, he could accept that.
But the coach’s celebration is confined to Praxedes and Izalelt.
Andrés is overlooked!
Andrés’s pride absolutely won’t allow him to accept such treatment.
If he were a slacker, he’d accept being ignored.
But if he is indeed talented, why shouldn’t he achieve his rightful fame?
At this moment, Andrés experiences a metamorphosis.
The playing mentality he developed from Morici and Lu Yang is once again abandoned, his world of football filled with self-interest, even more so than before!
Meanwhile, in the other locker room.
Liverpool is in turmoil, with all players disheartened.
Liverpool’s head coach is also at a loss, as their tactics aren’t flawed, and they’re not significantly weaker on the field.
They even had a chance to equalize earlier.
But they missed it, and instead, conceded another goal.
Such a spell is very demoralizing, making one wonder if this is fate, if their loss is destined.
"Are you just going to give up like this?" Assistant head coach Laird speaks up, unexpectedly finding the perfect moment to utilize a video he edited, "Now, everyone watch this video quietly."
"You may know the game, but there’s no way you are inferior to those in the video! Because you are Liverpool, the team that never walks alone!"
Even at three to zero, you never walk alone!
Because a week ago, another team experienced the same nightmare and overcame it!
In the video, AC Milan’s players dominate the field, and Izalelt’s smile is so radiant.
But when a player named Lu Yang takes the field, everything changes.