There were still quite a few things Simeone and Shane hadn't anticipated.
For example, both of them had assumed that Allegri's use of three holding midfielders was specifically aimed at man-marking Shane and suppressing his attacking organization and forward runs.
But in reality,
that wasn't Allegri's primary intention at all.
His purpose in deploying three holding midfielders
was to build a solid defensive line.
To set up two layers of barriers in front of goal.
To keep the formation compact, defend firmly, and wait for chances to counterattack.
He had no intention of losing his head and pushing forward recklessly.
That would only give Atlético Madrid more room to counter.
Compared to letting Atlético play on the break,
it was better for AC Milan to be the one choosing to counterattack.
Even if this match ended 0-0,
Allegri wouldn't care.
He would even be happy if the second leg at the Calderón also ended 0-0, and the whole tie went to penalties.
A penalty shootout?
When had Italian teams ever been afraid of that?
"Remember this: our defensive shape must never become disordered. Four defenders, three holding midfielders. Unless absolutely necessary, do not cross the halfway line. Keep the shape compact at all times. Do not leave them any space to break through. Do not rush into challenges lightly. Shane's dribbling ability is extremely strong—we must fully understand that. This is a player whose ability to beat defenders is comparable to Ronaldo. Most of you have never had to defend Ronaldo, but I think all of you have at least heard what you're supposed to do when facing him..."
Inside the home dressing room,
Allegri was emphasizing the final details to his players.
"Do not dive in blindly. Hold your positions. Force him sideways, force him backward. Do everything you can not to give him room to break forward or pass forward!"
It was obvious that Allegri had studied Shane in great detail.
He knew exactly where the danger lay.
So his demands for defending Shane were very simple:
Use the numerical advantage of three holding midfielders to limit his direct forward dribbling,
and compress space to restrict his through balls.
Those were the two most dangerous parts of Shane's game.
Allegri believed that Shane was indeed extraordinary.
His dribbling was comparable to Ronaldo's, and his passing was comparable to Zidane at his peak.
But so what?
Italians were best known for defending.
Even peak Ronaldo and peak Zidane
had both experienced being frozen out in Italian football.
A classic Italian chain-defense system built from four defenders and three holding midfielders
was enough to give any elite attacker in the world a headache.
What remained after that
would depend on AC Milan's counterattacks.
"The important part is what we do after we win the ball—our quality and speed in the transition from defense to attack!"
Allegri looked toward Montolivo.
He was AC Milan's successor to Pirlo.
Strictly speaking, when it came to launching transitions, the best player of that type was of course Pirlo.
But Milan had failed to keep him.
Now they could only ask Montolivo to take on that role.
Montolivo's technical profile actually had some similarities to Pirlo's.
He was a very complete player technically.
When he was younger, he had been called "the new Roberto Baggio"
and was once regarded as a historic-level Italian attacking midfield talent.
But later, his position gradually dropped deeper
until he became a holding midfielder,
mainly using his vision, long passing, and control of tempo to function as a deep-lying organizer.
Montolivo noticed the head coach's gaze and nodded.
He didn't say much.
He had spent most of his career living in Pirlo's shadow.
If Pirlo had never existed,
perhaps people would have called Montolivo an Italian midfield master.
But Pirlo had been too dazzling.
So Montolivo's fame had always been capped.
Still, coaches had always recognized his ability.
After all,
midfielders on Pirlo's level did not appear often.
And Montolivo's ability, placed in the wider world of football,
was absolutely first-class.
Allegri's demands for detail were extremely high.
He had assigned a task to every single Milan player.
As for his tactical level,
there was no need to question it.
A coach who had made a name for himself in Italian football and then led the last great version of Milan to a Serie A title had already proved his quality.
San Siro was packed to the brim.
The passion of AC Milan's supporters had ignited the stands.
Although Milan's hopes of winning Serie A were already basically gone, and even holding on to a top-three finish and a Champions League place had become unstable,
once it came to the Champions League,
Milan's fans were still full of confidence.
Among Italian clubs,
they were the most successful team on the European stage.
They had seven European Cups.
Just look at their city rivals Inter Milan.
Inter had only three Champions League titles, and two of those had come more than half a century ago.
And Juventus?
Juventus had reached the Champions League final plenty of times.
They had appeared in seven finals.
But unfortunately,
they had only won two of them,
making them the team with the most runners-up finishes in European Cup final history.
Although Juventus had won more league titles than anyone else in Italy,
even they could not compare with AC Milan's Champions League achievements.
On the European stage,
AC Milan supporters were always full of confidence.
They firmly believed Milan was a club with Champions League DNA.
Yes, in the group stage Milan had performed poorly and had even been beaten home and away by Málaga.
But the knockout stage was different.
Historically,
how many teams had stumbled through the group stage only to transform once the knockouts began?
What's more,
Balotelli, who had joined in the winter window,
was already showing excellent form.
Seven matches, eight goals.
Milan's results had also started improving during that stretch.
Under those conditions,
Milan supporters had every reason to look forward to their team's knockout-stage performance.
Italian teams seemed to possess a strange buff:
the less they were favored, the more likely they were to win it all.
Even if AC Milan were not among the main favorites for this season's title,
their fans did not care.
They created a wild atmosphere in the stands.
Red flares lit up the seating areas.
Smoke drifted everywhere.
And through that smoke,
the players of both sides stepped onto the pitch.
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