Chapter 183: Leonardo Changes His Mind

The teams saw out the remaining minutes of the first half without another chance. Both sides seemed content to take the deadlock into the break. When the referee blew his whistle, the scoreboards at the San Siro read 1-1, a scoreline nobody in the home crowd thought possible forty-five minutes earlier.

The Schalke players trotted down the tunnel, still joking with Jones. The midfielder kept his head down, grinning widely at the floor. Neuer caught up with him and slapped him across the shoulder.

“With a hit like that,” Neuer said with a loud laugh, “the front office will have to draw up a whole new contract. We can’t have our best finisher on ball-winner wages.”

“Leave him be, Manuel,” Farfán chimed in, chuckling as he wiped sweat from his eyes. “He’ll just waste every extra euro picking up dinner tabs for Annan.”

Jones just grinned wider and let them have their fun. When a defensive midfielder smashes a half-volley into the top corner at the San Siro, he can handle all the locker room banter in the world.

In the away dressing room, Magath let them celebrate for about a minute. Then his face settled back into its usual stone-cold look.

“That was a great goal, Jones,” Magath said, cutting through the noise. “But I want every single one of you to realize it was also fortunate. If you get ahead of yourselves thinking we’ve figured them out, which we haven’t, we will pay for that arrogance.”

He turned to the whiteboard, picking up the marker.

“Inter conceded that goal because they completely ignored Jones. In the second half, they won’t make that mistake again. Leonardo will have an adjustment ready before we walk back out, so we can’t use similar tricks with other players.” He tapped the marker against Mateo’s name on the board. “Our wingers are still having trouble getting loose. Mateo is still getting swarmed whenever he takes a touch in the middle. One clever move caught them off guard once. But it will not work a second time against veterans like them.”

The manager looked around the room.

“So here is our adjustment. Mateo, I want even more movement from you. Don’t slow down. Drift deep, move wide, or pull completely away from their midfield triangle. Force them to make a choice every ten seconds whether to track you or hold their line.” Magath shifted his gaze down the bench.

“Farfán. Zanetti is a legend, but he is thirty-eight. Take him on. Run at him once, twice, ten times if you need to. Force him to turn his hips and sprint toward his own goal over and over. His legs will get heavy eventually. Vardy, I know you have two of their defenders on you, and I am not asking you to outclass them right away, but stay sharp in the box and hunt for every loose rebound.”

He turned his eyes toward the end of the bench. “And Klaas.”

Huntelaar looked up from retying his boot.

“Maicon has pushed up three times already,” Magath said. “He can’t resist it. He is going to keep pushing high to create chances and crowd our half. But that also means there will be green grass behind him. Attack that space, use your pace, and trust it.”

Magath clapped his hands together with a sharp crack.

“They are brilliant players, but they are an older squad. We are level on aggregate in their home stadium. Nobody walks off that pitch tonight wishing we had shown more courage. Go back out there and make them run.”

Down the corridor in the home dressing room, Leonardo had come to the exact conclusion Magath expected.

He stood by the tactical board, looking around at his players with calm authority.

“The mistake in that half was simple,” Leonardo said, holding up a finger. “We let their boy dictate where our midfielders went. Cambiasso, Stanković, when you chased him forty meters deep into their half, our whole structure broke down. That is the only reason Jones found that pocket of space.”

He picked up a piece of chalk, drew an arrow from the center, and wiped away the tight circle around Mateo’s position.

“No more chasing him into their third. No more dragging two men out of position just to shadow one teenager. From now on, we play our game.” Leonardo turned toward the flank players. “Maicon, Javier, push higher and hug the touchlines. Stretch them. Make their midfield defend the full width of this pitch. If we make that kid sprint forty yards from side to side every possession, his legs will burn out before the hour mark.”

He set the chalk down and straightened his jacket, looking at his squad with steady confidence.

“This is the San Siro. If Schalke want an open, running match in our house, let them have it. We show them what happens when we stop playing polite.”

The referee led both teams back out onto the grass, and the second half started at a totally different speed.

Schalke kicked off. Vardy rolled the ball back to Jones, who was visibly relieved to be back in his normal defensive midfield slot. Jones looked up, took a simple touch, and rolled a pass directly to Mateo. With Inter backing off their tight double-team, Mateo found himself with plenty of breathing room.

He waited for Sneijder to step up, drew him in, and slid past him with a quick change of pace, stopping dead before bursting forward to gain half a yard. Stanković slid across to cut off the lane, but Mateo didn’t bother forcing a direct duel. He smoothly slid the ball out wide to Farfán and kept his run going.

Farfán remembered Magath’s team talk and attacked Zanetti immediately.

He didn’t try any fancy stepovers. He just dropped his shoulder, knocked the ball ahead, and accelerated down the flank. Zanetti had to pivot awkwardly and sprint toward his own goal, chasing the winger down for the first time all night. The veteran captain recovered because of his pure defensive instincts, but he had to burn serious energy to do it. On the Schalke bench, Magath stood quietly, counting every one of those recovery sprints.

The entire rhythm of the match changed. Inter pushed forward in heavy numbers, leaving big pockets of green grass whenever their attacks broke down. Eto’o and Milito started drifting between Schalke’s defensive lines, trying to pick up through balls.

At the other end, Farfán kept driving at Zanetti, while Huntelaar repeatedly drifted into the wide channel behind Maicon whenever the Brazilian bombed up the wing. The game turned completely open. Both goalkeepers suddenly had to deal with shots, and the continuous singing from the stands broke down into nervous gasps whenever the ball entered either penalty box.

It was turning into an open, chaotic game, exactly what Magath had asked for at the break.

Mateo wiped the sweat from his eyes, tracking the ball as it swung back into the middle, not knowing yet that the next breakthrough would come from pure grit, or that it would cost a face covered in blood to put it in the net.

Hey guys! Just a quick reminder of our bonus event this week: Let’s see if we can hit the target. Enjoy the read!