After the match against Stuttgart, Hoffenheim's focus shifted to the Champions League. On December 8, on the last day of the UEFA Champions League group stage, Hoffenheim will challenge host AC Milan in San Siro.

The media's focus has also shifted from domestic leagues to European arenas.

Before this game, Hoffenheim's captain appeared on a radio station in Sinsheim. When talking about the game against AC Milan, Chu Zhongtian expressed confidence that Hoffenheim would eventually qualify.

This is just a radio program with some influence in Sinsheim. For some reason, the media in Milan found out.

Chu Zhongtian's remarks were obviously regarded as provocative.

Milan's media fought back without hesitation.

The German media also happily joined the hype, so a new round of war of words began again.

However, the person involved, Chu Zhongtian, did not express any opinions or responses to the various remarks of the Italian media, and he remained silent.

Hoffenheim arrived in Milan the day before the game. When they came out of Marponsa Airport, they saw many AC Milan fans.

"Are they here to welcome us too?" Weiss was a little surprised.

"Obviously not." Salihovic pointed to the Milan fans standing under the slogans. "Although I can't understand Italian, I recognize their gestures." Most of these fans were fiercely giving them middle fingers.

Yes, these AC Milan fans are definitely not here to welcome their opponents, but to show up to Hoffenheim and intimidate them.

Chu Zhongtian's words in an interview with the radio became disdain and contempt for Milan after "adaptation" and "explained" by the Milan media. Chu Zhongtian also became a arrogant and arrogant person in the description of the Milan media.

"...He mentioned Hoffenheim beat AC Milan 2-1 at home, saying that he was surprised that he could beat AC Milan so easily, 'They were simply vulnerable'..."

This is the result of the Milan media adding fuel to the fire. Chu Zhongtian was indeed asked about the first meeting between the two teams, and he was indeed surprised that the game went so smoothly. But he was not surprised that he could easily defeat AC Milan. The last sentence "vulnerable" was simply fabricated by the Milan media.

There are many interview clips like "adapted" based on the media's own meaning.

In short, in order to build momentum for this game, the Italian media did everything they could do.

Chu Zhongtian did not respond because he didn't want to focus all his energy on verbal battles. He is a player, not a coach like Mourinho, and he doesn't have the obligation to relieve stress for his teammates. What he has to do is much simpler than the head coach, that is, train well during training and perform well in the game.

But when he arrived at Milan's territory, he couldn't escape.

As soon as he got off the plane, Italian media flocked to him and asked him about his opponents with AC Milan. The media also asked him what he said in an interview before.

"I have never looked down on AC Milan, this is a great team. In fact, despising opponents is insulting my IQ. I will not look down on my own IQ, nor will I look down on AC Milan. But we are not here to visit San Siro to take photos." Chu Zhongtian's answer was neither humble nor arrogant, and polite, which made those Milan media who were deliberately looking for trouble and didn't know what to say.

Chu Zhongtian stopped answering any of their questions and squeezed into the bus.

In the car, looking at the AC Milan fans who kept giving them middle fingers, Chu Zhongtian sighed: "We have enjoyed the treatment of Inter Milan..."

※※※After leaving the airport, the team's bus drove directly to the hotel where they were staying.

After putting down your luggage in the hotel and having a short rest, the whole team went to San Siro Stadium to do training to adapt to the venue.

After training, they will also attend the pre-match press conference.

Chu Zhongtian, Ibisevic and Rangnik will attend.

Hoffenheim players are all playing in San Siro Stadium for the first time, but they will no longer look around like they did when they went to Allianz Stadium, and spend all their time on the magnificence of the stadium. They soon entered the training state. They did not give a marvelous look at the grandeur of San Siro.

This Hoffenheim team is no longer the first time Liu Laolao who entered the Grand View Garden.

The training team that adapted to the venue was opened for fifteen minutes. Then all the media were cleared. However, Rangnick did not ask the team to conduct some set-piece tactical training, but just a simple shooting training. Finally, a small confrontation match in the team was launched, and the training ended.

He couldn't guarantee whether there was really no one peeking at them in the dark in the huge San Siro. Settings tactics are the team's secret, so it's better to be careful.

After the training, the three people went to the pre-match press conference. Their press conference was one hour apart before the host AC Milan.

The press conference hall of San Siro is already full of reporters. This is the most important game in the Death Group. This game fully reflects the meaning of "death". Everyone has hope of qualifying, and anyone may be eliminated.

When I saw three people appearing at the scene, the hall that had been noisy before suddenly became quiet.

Rangnik sat in the middle, Chu Zhongtian and Ibisevic sat down one left and one right, and then the host announced the start of the press conference.

First, Rangnick announced the starting list for tomorrow's game: goalkeeper Nyema, central defender Simonic and Pogatts, left defender Kolarov, right defender Serna, midfielder Sana and Chu Zhongtian, left forward Salihovic, right forward Quaresma, forwards Ibissevic and Van Nistruei.

This starting list is basically the same as the media speculated before. Except for the people who partnered with Ibisevic, the media believed that Obasi would play, but Rangnick sent Van Nistrui. Obviously, in such a critical game, he hopes that Van Nistrui's veteran's experience can help the team.

After announcing the first list, the reporters began to ask questions.

"Mr. Rangnick, what tactics will you use in tomorrow's game?"

"Hoffenheim only knows one tactic," Rangnick replied. "We only know the tactics we are familiar with."

In the last group stage, Hoffenheim failed at the last moment, allowing Real Madrid to equalize the score. After the game, some media criticized Rangnick's conservative strategy in the last ten minutes of the game, which led to this result. Because Hoffenheim would not defend at all and asked them to retreat, they seemed a little uncomfortable. Moreover, this conservative strategy also allowed Real Madrid players to siege unscrupulously at the last moment, because they were not worried about their defense at all. If Hoffenheim insisted on attacking against Real Madrid, perhaps Real Madrid's full-back would be under pressure to reduce the number of assists forward, which would greatly reduce the pressure on Hoffenheim's defense line.

It seems that in this game, Rangnick learned this lesson - except for attack, Hoffenheim did not consider other tactics at all.

Fighting against AC Milan in San Siro? The reporters bowed their heads and wrote them down in their notebooks.

The following questions revolve around tactics, personnel, and so on.

Rangnick is the protagonist of this period.

Then a Chinese reporter stood up and asked Chu Zhongtian a question, and Rangnick was finally able to rest.

"Chu Zhongtian, recently some media in Milan said that you look down on AC Milan. Don't you plan to defend this?" Chinese reporters were still looking at their own family.

Chu Zhongtian put his mouth in front of the microphone and said in Chinese: "I absolutely do not look down on AC Milan. In fact, I never underestimate any team. Those reports are false, or taken out of context and deliberately distort the facts. But everyone knows what kind of morality the media is, and they are doing this professionally. I don't think there is any need to defend anything. The more you say, the more you make mistakes, the other party can always catch your words and make a big fuss. I think it's better to calm down and speak with your feet on the court. If you win, you win, you win, and if you lose, you lose, and no sweet words are useful."

"Is it a pity that I couldn't qualify in advance with Real Madrid in the last round?" Another German reporter stood up and asked.

Chu Zhongtian smiled and replied in German: "Of course, if we qualify early, we can enjoy the game with a very relaxed attitude. But this is not bad. AC Milan is a strong team, and they are in good shape at present. I enjoy the feeling of fighting a strong team in good shape."

As the captain of the team, he was very confident, but he was not arrogant, and he was just right in his position. This scene made the Chinese reporters in the audience feel emotional when they saw it. Although Chinese football players were crazy, they were neither convinced nor convinced. They lost to South Korea and Japan and said that the gap between us was not that big. In fact, when they arrived on the court, they became obviously unconfident, and even their legs were weak. The person who was truly confident should be like Chu Zhongtian, who was arrogant for a few steps and did not underestimate himself. Unfortunately, there was only one such person in the entire Chinese football world.

"Chu, before the season, you said that the team's goal this season is to go further in the Champions League. But now it is facing a situation where qualifying in the group is a problem. What if you can't qualify in the group?"

"Last season in the Champions League group stage, we did not qualify early before the last group stage, and we were facing strong teams like Manchester United. As a result, we defeated them and got the right to qualify in the group. So I think this year is no different from last year, and I don't think this year is worse than last year. As for your second question, I'm sorry I never think that what hasn't happened yet." Chu Zhongtian doesn't know how to speak Italian, nor does he answer this question in German or English. He chose his own native language.

"I mean if, if you..." the Italian journalist asked afterwards without giving up.

Chu Zhongtian shook his head and said in Chinese: "I'm sorry, there is no if on the football field. If I ask you if AC Milan loses the game, how will your media report on it? So you can ask me this question until we really lose the game, and I will tell you the answer."

The smell of gunpowder was already vaguely smelled at the press conference.

The Italian media has been slandering Chu Zhongtian. If Chu Zhongtian doesn't fight back, it doesn't mean he is not angry at all. After all, he is a 26-year-old young man. It is a time when he is young and energetic. It is already considered to be so old-fashioned.

Then a German reporter came out to ask Ibisevic about his questions, and the tit-for-tat atmosphere finally eased a little.

After the press conference, the three of them left the scene and returned to the bus.

"The Italian media is really unfriendly." After hearing Ibisevic's description of the press conference, a teammate muttered.

"Of course, we are the visiting team." Ibisevic replied. He was very open about the treatment.

"So you know, how much our opponents want us to lose," Rangnick took the opportunity to tell everyone, boosting morale. "They are already presuming that we will lose. If we lose, we will not only be eliminated, but we will also have to endure their ridicule and ridicule. Think about the reaction of Real Madrid after losing the national derby, gentlemen. None of you wants to be treated like that, right?"

"Yes!"

Everyone answered one after another. As the only important event in international football some time ago, Hoffenheim players will naturally pay attention to it. They also know the treatment of Real Madrid after the game. This is how the media is. If you win the ball, you are God, and if you lose the ball, you are a piece of shit.

They can either hit you into the clouds, or throw you down, step on the mud, and step on ten thousand feet.

Hoffenheim's bus drove away from the San Siro Stadium and returned to the hotel where they stayed.

※※An hour later, AC Milan's head coach Allegri was interviewed by many reporters at the San Siro Stadium. When talking about tomorrow night's game, he said: "Our goal is to qualify. Only win can qualify, so we can only win this game, and the draw will be defeated!"

The head coach who is increasingly entering the role looks determined to win.

Of course he is qualified to perform like this. Because after three months of adaptation, the team's performance is getting better and better, and his prestige here is getting higher and higher. Compared with Inter Milan head coach Benitez who is in the same city as him, Allegri is really happy.

This time it is home games again. In San Siro, AC Milan can often burst out with very powerful forces to help them win the game.

Ibrahimovic is in a good state. Everyone also saw the best Robinho in the league last week.

Although Inzagi retired from the season with serious injury, Robinho's recovery can undoubtedly make up for this regret.

Thiago Silva has no health problems, and he and Nesta will form the strongest line of defense.

Currently, AC Milan ranks first in the Serie A standings, leaving Inter Milan, Lazio, Juventus and other strong teams behind. Such results can also greatly improve the players' confidence and help them face Hoffenheim at home.

According to rational analysis, AC Milan will win in this game is basically a foregone conclusion, the key is just how much you win.

Therefore, before the game, major bookmakers generally favor AC Milan.

Hoffenheim?

Although their performance was outstanding and eye-catching, the schedule was not good for them, and the last away game against AC Milan was too bad. If they were playing AC Milan at home, it would be hard to say the outcome of this game.

In the best part, home court is a decisive factor, and the home atmosphere of San Siro is not a big deal.

Allegri then talked about Chu Zhongtian's threatening figure, of course it was Chu Zhongtian. Allegri praised Chu Zhongtian's performance in Hoffenheim, which made it very useful to Chinese journalists.

Then the Milan media changed its tone and asked questions about Ibrahimovic's physical fitness.

As we all know, although Ibrahimovic cannot compete for Messi's core position in Barcelona, ​​he is the absolute core in AC Milan. The team's tactics are all based on him, and he is also very powerful. He uses his excellent performance and goals one by one to repay the head coach's trust in him. Ibrahimovic, who is very disappointed in Barcelona, ​​finally found the feeling of a king at the San Siro Stadium.

But the price of his performance is that he has to play every game and plays almost all of them. As the core of the team, Allegri dares not give him time to rest.

Ibrahimovic has hardly had a rest since the start of the league. He even thanked the Swedish head coach for not calling him into the national team's friendship game because it gave him some rest time.

Ibrahimovic participated in high-intensity games in such continuous success and performed well in every game. While everyone cheered for him, there were also hidden worries. He was no longer the only time he said he was very tired, but he still started in the next game and played the whole game.

Everyone was worried that Ibrahimovic would be overdrawn, so they were particularly concerned about Ibrahimovic's physical condition before this game.

Allegri's answer made everyone feel relieved: "He is fine. I talked to him. He was really tired after the game just now. But now he has rested and his physical fitness is fine."

This is not Allegri is lying. Ibrahimovic did tell him that, and it seems to be the same in daily training.

For this important game, Ibrahimovic had a high desire to fight, so of course he could not have missed due to fatigue.

So will Robinho start at the same time as Ibrahimovic?

"Yes, they will start." Allegri did not announce the starting lineup, but the starting partner on the forward line was already clear. A group of reporters quickly buried their heads in recording, for fear of missing it.

A Chinese reporter asked Allegri: "Since Chu Zhongtian is the most threatening player in Hoffenheim, do you already have any countermeasures?"

Allegri looked at the person asking the question, confirmed that it was a Chinese reporter and spread his hands and said, "I'm sorry, I don't plan to discuss tactical issues too much here."

Obviously, the confident Allegri was still very cautious. He had suffered a loss once. He thought he could easily win the game last time, but he lost the game. That game almost caused him to be dismissed. Fortunately, he could hold on. As the saying goes, one learns from one mistake, Allegri doesn't want to repeat the mistakes he has made before. He seems very cautious about Chu Zhongtian's topic.

In this game, AC Milan has only one way to win, and he can't be cautious. Hoffenheim won a draw, and they have one more way to retreat. Allegri now hopes that this situation can make Hoffenheim look careless, winning or winning? If there are differences within them, it will be better...
Chapter completed!