AC Milan had, in truth, no room left for retreat.
They had to push up and attack away from home.
Allegri knew that as well.
He certainly understood that if the whole team pushed forward, Atlético Madrid—with someone like Shane Carter, a master passer—would absolutely target the space behind them.
But AC Milan had no alternative.
More than that,
if AC Milan could come out of the gates with real momentum,
then even if Atlético could see the space behind them, that space would not necessarily be exploitable.
As long as Milan scored first,
they would still have enough of a chance.
Being behind 1-2 after the home leg was not the end of the world.
"We need to attack. We need to suppress them with attack!"
Fifteen minutes before kickoff, at the final pre-battle talk,
Allegri roared with passion,
trying to push AC Milan's fighting spirit to its absolute peak.
...
From Allegri's point of view,
Atlético Madrid, with two away goals and a one-goal lead, would probably choose an economical, steady counterattacking approach at home.
That would be safe,
but it would also give AC Milan a chance.
Just one goal!
As long as they scored first,
they could get back into the tie.
But once the match began,
Allegri stood on the touchline with a dark, iron-gray face.
The home side, damn it, did not drop back.
They launched an attack from the very first moment.
They gave AC Milan no chance to build momentum.
"Damn it..."
Allegri cursed under his breath.
He had read it wrong.
...
The Calderón might very well be the most ferocious stadium in La Liga.
In many European countries, clubs are closely tied to neighborhoods and social classes.
In Madrid,
Real Madrid belonged to the upper classes, the aristocracy.
Atlético Madrid belonged to the workers and the lower, common classes.
At the Bernabéu,
the atmosphere was intense too,
but it rarely reached the level of madness that the Calderón could produce now.
The atmosphere created by Atlético's fans put tremendous pressure on AC Milan's players.
For those with weaker nerves,
being in that environment alone would probably make them turn pale.
Under those conditions,
AC Milan's attack looked like thunder without rain.
"AC Milan are trying to play forward, Boateng receives the ball, and he's looking for El Shaarawy..."
The moment Boateng took the ball,
Shane instinctively sensed something.
He shifted a couple of steps to one side.
Then he saw Boateng lift his foot, preparing to pass toward the left flank.
In that instant,
Shane exploded forward.
Like a leopard.
The moment Boateng released the ball, Shane completed the interception!
"Shane! Successful tackle!"
The commentators shouted.
The cheers inside the Calderón were deafening.
After intercepting the ball, Shane drove forward with it himself.
He knew what that sudden premonition had been...
Tackle Specialist. What a good thing!
He carried the ball past midfield.
As AC Milan scrambled to get back into shape,
Shane had already seen a passing lane.
He lifted his foot and struck the middle of the ball with his instep.
The ball skidded forward along the ground, spinning tightly...
"Shane... a direct pass! That ball was rushed..."
Commentator Mario instinctively said it the moment he saw the pass.
Because the counterattack had only just started, and Atlético's other players were still pushing up.
Who was supposed to reach that?
At the very least, Griezmann couldn't.
He watched the ball travel diagonally into the box from not far away and was just about to complain, when he saw that after entering the area, the ball slowed down and, because of its heavy spin, began to curve left along the ground.
What had looked like a straight line toward goal
had suddenly become parallel to the goal line.
And at that exact moment,
a figure burst into the box.
"Diego... Costa!!!"
...
Costa had charged forward the instant Shane won the ball.
By the time he was approaching the box, he saw Shane wind up and pass.
He assumed it was a lofted ball, so he accelerated further.
But then he realized the ball wasn't flying through the air at all—it was angling into the box.
Costa instinctively slowed down.
The defenders also turned their heads toward the pass.
And right then, Costa immediately understood...
This ball was going to bend back!
The moment he had slightly reduced speed, he reaccelerated and attacked the box.
Before anyone else had reacted,
he met the ball and pushed it toward goal first time!
The ball went in before Abbiati could even react.
...
"Beautiful! Beautiful! Three-one!! Three-one! The aggregate score is now 3-1!"
"Atlético Madrid are just one step away from the Champions League quarterfinals!"
"Shane's pass... look at that through ball, which nearly covered half the field! That pass was unbelievably imaginative..."
After the goal, Costa looked up toward Shane in the distance.
Shane had only just crossed midfield.
Seeing the ball hit the net, he raised both arms and pumped his fists in delight.
...
On the touchline,
Simeone raised his arm in excitement.
He knew exactly what AC Milan had been planning.
They wanted to build momentum, launch a fierce attack, and use offense to suppress Atlético Madrid.
But now, with this goal,
AC Milan's momentum had not even been built yet,
while Atlético Madrid's had already exploded.
And although there was still a long way to go in the match,
Atlético had already put one foot into the quarterfinals.
...
Allegri frowned.
Atlético Madrid scoring first would definitely make the pressure on AC Milan even greater.
But Allegri did not change his strategy.
Because now, even if Atlético had scored,
AC Milan still needed at least two goals.
The difference was this:
if Atlético had not scored,
and AC Milan managed two goals,
then AC Milan could send Atlético Madrid out and advance to the quarterfinals immediately.
Now that Atlético had scored,
AC Milan still needed two goals.
At worst, they could still beat Atlético Madrid 2-1, make the aggregate score 3-3, and drag the match into extra time.
But after conceding first,
AC Milan had even less room to breathe.
Just as Allegri was thinking this through,
the match had already restarted.
He was still calculating how to further strengthen the attack
when, from the stands behind him,
a huge roar erupted.
"Suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!"
Allegri jumped in surprise.
He turned his head first toward the stands behind him.
All he could see was a sea of Shane Carter posters, shirts with his number, and various cartoon images of him.
He turned back around.
It turned out Shane had already made another interception, and was now driving forward with the ball.
Allegri immediately tensed up.
A thought flashed through his mind:
on this guy's home ground, if you try to go toe-to-toe with him in attack, what are the odds?
Cold sweat broke out across Allegri's back in an instant...
Could AC Milan's momentum...
really hold this guy down?
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