They Bought Every Pair of SG-Soled Boots in the Nearby Shops! The Counterattack Starts Now!

During the 15-minute halftime break.

The cheers at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza never stopped for even a second!

Even on their way to the court to use the restroom, they cheered and shouted "forzainter".

The hot dog stand inside the stadium was also bustling with activity and noise.

"Hey, we sold more hot dogs today than we did in the entire past week!"

"That's right, they advanced, the fans are in a good mood, and they're willing to spend 8 euros on a hot dog!"

The staff members were all smiles and laughter.

At that moment, another round of boos erupted outside the restroom.

Seven or eight Manchester City fans, dressed in light blue jerseys, were blocked at the entrance to the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza's restrooms. They looked anxious, clutching their stomachs and stamping their feet in frustration.

But they were blocked by a group of tall, burly Inter Milan fans who were all smiles and wouldn't let them in no matter what they said.

"Losers don't deserve to pee here. Go back to Manchester and pee there!"

"This toilet costs 100 euros per use. Pay up and I'll let you in!"

"How about you shout ForzaInter's slogan once, and I'll let you in!"

"Oh dear, look at you, your face is practically green! You weren't this anxious when Bonazzoli scored those two goals!"

A burst of laughter erupted from the crowd.

The staff recognized these disruptive Inter Milan fans; they were all members of certain extreme fan groups in the North Stand.

Reselling tickets and jerseys, bringing fireworks and alcohol into the stadium in violation of regulations, fighting, and bullying away fans are common occurrences on every home game day.

The staff have seen it all before, and as long as they don't take action, they just don't bother with it.

Moreover, with Inter Milan's advancement imminent, the staff were in high spirits and decided to watch with a spectator's mentality, to see how these Inter Milan hooligan fans would harass the away Manchester City fans.

"Please, have mercy, I really can't hold it in anymore, I'm about to come..."

A Manchester City fan, speaking broken Italy, pointed to his groin and Baba a plea to the other person.

A bald man, who looked like a fan leader, glanced at the back of the Manchester City fans' jerseys and saw the name "Tang" written on them, and laughed:

"Alright, since you're wearing a Tang jersey, I'll be lenient and let you in!"

Although the push sent him shoving into the toilet, he collided head-on with the person coming out and almost fell on the wet toilet floor.

The onlookers burst into laughter.

Although they were being bullied, these Manchester City fans, seeing that the other side outnumbered them and were glaring at them menacingly, including several bald, tattooed men, dared not retaliate, fearing they would be beaten up.

After the Manchester City fan wearing Tang Long's jersey came out, others who wanted to enter were also prevented from doing so.

In the end, one by one, they took off their clothes to change, and only Manchester City fans wearing Tang Long's jerseys were allowed to go into the toilet.

Several staff members, arms crossed, leaned against the window, watching with great interest and chatting:

"Haha, I didn't expect that even though Tang has been gone for almost a year, our fans still have feelings for him."

"Of course, didn't you see the banner they put up in the North Stand? [Don, welcome home!] Even former captain Ranocchia didn't get that treatment."

"Yes, throughout the first half, every time a Manchester City player got the ball, they were booed. Only when Don got the ball did they not boo him; there was even slight applause."

"Sigh, it's all tears when I think about it. If Tang were still at Inter Milan, we wouldn't have been so badly dominated by Juventus in the league!"

Do you think Tang will return to Inter Milan in the future?

"Go back to Inter Milan? What a joke! We have neither the money nor the ability. Aren't they doing well at Manchester City? If they're going to go back, it'll be at least ten years from now!"

"Ten years? My God, I'll be retired by then."

Inside the VIP box in the stands.

These old boys from Inter Milan kept opening bottle after bottle of champagne.

Cambiasso downed three glasses in a row, exclaiming how enjoyable it was!

Milito then invited the blonde waitress who served the drinks to have a drink with him, and asked for her phone number, saying he would contact her after the match.

Terry was the most excited, shaking a bottle of new champagne vigorously, and finally, deliberately sprayed it all over Ronaldo.

What are you doing!

Feeling a cool sensation on his face, Ronaldo was somewhat annoyed. He stood up and wiped his face with a handkerchief.

Materazzi grinned and handed him a glass of champagne.

"Roni, you're different from us. You own your own agency now, you're a big boss, but you can't show favoritism to your clients."

Ronaldo accepted the champagne and laughed, "Favoritism? Not at all. I always treat all clients equally. I'm grateful for their trust in me and their choice to sign with me."

"Heh, that's just bureaucratic talk. Everyone knows what you're thinking. If you don't believe me, I'll ask everyone for you," Materazzi said dismissively.

Materazzi is over 1.9 meters tall with long legs; with a slight lift of his leg, he can place his foot on the champagne stand.

He looked around at everyone, clapped loudly three times to attract the attention of the others in the private room, and then said loudly:

"Quiet down, everyone!"

"As everyone knows, Don and Bonazzoli are both Roni's clients."

"Tell me, of these two, who does he prefer?"

As soon as he finished speaking, a burst of laughter erupted.

"Of course! Tang is his precious darling, what is Bonazzoli compared to him!"

"It's definitely Tang! Last year, Manchester City spent a club-record transfer fee to buy him, I remember it was tens of millions of euros, making that fat guy a fortune!"

"Heh heh, that's just the commission from this one deal. I could do ten years of commentary for Sky Sport and still not earn that much."

"Jokes aside, Tang's strength and potential far surpass our Bonazzoli's. Teachers always like good students, which is understandable."

Ronaldo wasn't annoyed that everyone was making fun of him;

He clinked glasses with his compatriot Adriano and downed the champagne in one gulp.

"Don't talk nonsense. I like both of these young men. Dom is indeed very strong, but Bonazzoli is not bad either. He was already a starter for Inter Milan at the age of 19. How many of you here are already a starter for a top club before the age of 20?"

Ronaldo's words drew frequent nods of approval from the Inter Milan legends present.

Indeed.

Tang Long is very strong, but Bonazzoli is not bad either!

At least among Italy players of his age, he is undoubtedly the best!

"You still say you're not biased?"

Materazzi was up to his old tricks again. He deliberately shook the champagne bottle at Ronaldo, startling Ronaldo into taking a step back.

"If you weren't biased, why didn't you celebrate our second goal, Bonazzoli's beautiful pendulum swing?"

Upon hearing this, Ronaldo opened his mouth slightly;

The words that were in his mouth were swallowed back down.

Bonazzoli's second goal was truly spectacular!

With a series of pendulum-like movements, he dribbled past Kompany, the Premier League's best center-back for two consecutive seasons, and then unleashed a clean and decisive shot to score.

That dribble drew applause and cheers from the Inter Milan legends in the VIP box!

"My God, he actually used a pendulum!"

"Haha, even the best center-back in the Premier League is nothing special. Our little Bonazzoli completely fooled him!"

"You know what, those moves have a touch of Roni's style when he was young!"

"This is all thanks to Master's excellent teaching, Roni, don't you think?"

When everyone started congratulating Ronaldo and praising him for training a good disciple.

Ronaldo remained silent.

He didn't speak, but frowned, his expression seemingly revealing a hint of worry for Bonazzoli.

Ronaldo thought to himself, "Bonazzoli's pendulum swing is beautiful, but knowing him as I do, his flexibility simply can't support such a large swing. And today's field is such a scrambled field, it's not suitable for dribbling at all. I just hope this kid doesn't get injured, especially his knees..."

Inside the Manchester City dressing room.

Teaching assistant Rayne ran in carrying a large bag, followed by several other people, each carrying a large woven bag.

With a few clattering sounds, the sneaker boxes inside the woven bag poured out.

"The shoe sizes are all written on them, hurry up and choose your sneakers!"

The players rushed forward, especially the starting 11, who scrambled to the front, each searching for their own size of sneakers.

"Puma? Do you have any Puma? My sponsor is Puma, I can't just wear anything, they'll fine me!" Kolarov said.

"I want kangaroo leather, not synthetic leather!" Agüero opened the shoe boxes marked with size 41 one by one, and the shoes fell to the ground.

"Why are they all lace-up?" Sterling scratched his head in frustration. "I'm used to wearing laceless shoes, and they have to be Adidas!"

The changing room was in chaos, with shoe boxes flying everywhere and new shoes scattered all over the floor.

It turns out that after Clichy slipped and fell in the first half, leading to the team conceding their first goal, the incident occurred.

Head coach Pellegrini felt that if the game continued like this, they would continue to concede goals!

His intuition told him that Manchester City's usual FG boots were unreliable on this slippery pitch, and that he would have to wear long SG boots like the Inter Milan players to have any chance of competing with their opponents!

Because Inter Milan pulled off an unexpected move, Manchester City was unprepared and didn't have SG (striking guard) cleats. So, after learning about the situation, Pellegrini immediately sent his assistant coach, Rayne, to buy SG cleats from shops around the stadium.

"Buy as much as you can get, hurry up and get more stock!"

Fortunately, Rayne had the team's size information, so he and a few guys rushed out of the stadium to buy shoes.

They first went to the shops located below the nearest stadium, which is the official store of Inter Milan.

However, the store manager recognized them as Manchester City coaches and refused to sell them the boots no matter what.

Rayne was furious, but he didn't have time to argue, because he only had less than an hour left.

He quickly took out his GPS, and the three of them split up and took taxis to three nearby sports stores.

There were very few SG football boots available because the studs were too long for amateur football enthusiasts. In addition, they had to fit the players' sizes. Rayne and the shop assistants turned the warehouse upside down. Together with the other two Manchester City coaches, the three of them went to three different stores and only managed to buy 16 pairs of SG football boots.

(SG sole, with longer and fewer spikes, providing stronger grip than FG)

Fortunately, the starting players' sizes were all matched.

As for the substitutes, we can't worry about that too much.

However, although the sneakers have arrived, time is tight and the task is heavy, so we can't be too demanding about the brand and style.

Therefore, it carries all kinds of brands, including Dida, Nike, Puma, Umbro, Mizuno, etc.

"What's the point of choosing? Stop arguing, just wear the right size if you find one," Pellegrini yelled impatiently. "Is the championship more important or the sponsors getting fined? You need to be clear-headed at a time like this!"

Many players on the team, such as star players like Agüero and Sterling, have their own dedicated shoe sponsors.

But Pellegrini doesn't care about any of that!

His goal is to lead Manchester City to the treble!

In the Chile's view, this was the only way to save himself from being replaced by Guardiola at the end of the season and being sacked in disgrace.

I refuse to believe that if I win the UEFA Champions League, City Football Group will still change coaches.

This has never been the case in football throughout history!

If the goal is to win the championship, how can they afford to lose to Inter Milan in the first knockout round?

That was truly a case of being caught off guard and suffering a complete disaster.

Captain Kompany, wearing his new boots, jumped up and down twice and said, "The boss is right. What are we doing at this point? This lousy stadium, forget about your personal interests. If we win the UEFA Champions League, you won't have to worry about money. Just stick the logo on your boots with black tape. Don't worry, if the sponsors make you lose money, the club will cover it up for you!"

Everyone thought this was a good idea and nodded in agreement.

Searching for that person in the chaotic crowd, Tang Long was a step too slow.

When it was his turn, there were only two pairs of shoes left on the ground.

One pair of Adidas is size 47, and the other pair is size 42 Li-Ning.

Adidas's size is too big; even Toure, the biggest player on the entire Manchester City team, only wears a size 46.

Li-Ning, on the other hand, was a brand that no one recognized, so no one dared to wear.

Tang Long picked up the pair of Li-Ning soccer shoes and tried them on; to his surprise, they fit perfectly.

After walking a couple more steps, I found that the kangaroo skin provided a very good fit, and was more Nike than the Nike's technical leather.

"What kind of shoes are these? Are they any good quality? Don't wear random things, Tang. Why don't you switch with Clichy?"

Pellegrini frowned when he saw Tang Long wearing unidentified football boots.

Klichy immediately jumped up and down, "I'm not changing my shoes! Coach, I already fell once at the beginning, I need a good pair of shoes more than anything!"

Pellegrini glared at him. "You won't substitute? Then I'll substitute you off!"

Seeing Clichy's face darken, Tang Long smiled and waved to him, then said to Pellegrini:

"It's alright, boss. I'm familiar with this brand. I've worn it in China before, so the quality is absolutely guaranteed."

The players, wearing gleaming, long-studded SG sneakers, clattered as they made their way into the player tunnel.

They are facing a tough second half.

Can the game be turned around within 45 minutes—at least two goals if the opponent stops scoring?

This is a challenge for everyone!

Although tactical adjustments were made at halftime, whether these adjustments could be implemented and yield results depends on the outcome within 45 minutes.

Many people are unsure.

"Alright viewers, the second leg of the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 match between Inter Milan and Manchester City is about to begin!"

"The players from both sides have begun to emerge from the players' tunnel."

"We see that it seems to be drizzling?"

"Manchester City, the away team, suffered a lot from the slippery pitch in the first half, and this is going to make matters worse!"

"How will they adjust their tactics? Going back to ground passing and control will definitely not work. I believe Pellegrini will also make targeted adjustments."

"When the aggregate score reached 1-3, Manchester City only needed a draw to advance away from home!"

"This statement seems to be a curse. Let's see how this UK team faces the challenge!"

(The author has some things to take care of right now; there's another chapter due at midnight.)