Starting as a Defensive Midfielder at Real Madrid

Chapter 58: I Heard You Were the Loudest One Cheering?

"We will defeat Milan, no doubt. Everyone will fight to the end for victory, we're fully prepared!"

"At this point, we'll give everything we have. Maybe we weren't good enough before, but that's in the past. Now we're in our best form, anything can happen. Three points at San Siro? Why not?!"

"Ezequiel [Lavezzi] is very upset. His injury will definitely make the match more difficult, but we will fight for him. No Napoli player will back down in front of Milan."

"See you on the 28th! Forza Napoli!!!"

As the Napoli squad traveled to Milan a day early, nearly every key player made their determination to win clear to reporters.

The entire city of Naples seemed to be boiling over with excitement for this Serie A showdown.

Wave after wave of Napoli fans in blue jerseys began making their way to Milan.

The tension for this clash had been building all week thanks to relentless media coverage.

Even though Milan and Napoli weren't traditional archrivals, the overwhelming media hype created a sense of hostility between the two teams.

In a title race, there are no friends.

With fans from the other top-six teams stoking the flames, Milan and Napoli supporters clashed in minor verbal altercations across Milan on the night of the 27th.

Fortunately, there were no ultras involved, so things didn't escalate into physical fights.

Still, the animosity was real.

After the Sampdoria vs. Inter match ended on the 27th, the Napoli vs. Milan match on the 28th became the final fixture of Serie A's Matchday 27.

To say all Serie A fans worldwide would tune in might be a stretch—but claiming that 80% of them would? That was entirely believable.

And in numbers, that meant hundreds of millions of viewers—a massive audience for Serie A.

As soon as the broadcast began that night, with both teams lining up behind the referee crew, the viewership numbers rocketed up like a rocket launch.

Chinese fans made a huge contribution to the viewership spike.

Commentators Liu Jianhong and Zhang Lu were in the CCTV studio right on time to provide commentary for Chinese viewers.

The duo chatted first about Milan's Champions League disappointment, their dominant league win over Chievo, and Napoli's recent three-match winning streak.

Then they praised Leon's recent form until the pre-match handshakes were shown on screen, prompting them to steer the discussion back to the starting lineups.

"Alright! The match is about to begin. Director Zhang, please introduce today's starting lineups for both teams."

"Sure... The home side Milan is sticking with the same 4-4-2 formation as the last round.

Goalkeeper: Abbiati.

Back four from left to right:

Antonini, Thiago Silva, Nesta, Abate.

The midfield is again a diamond shape:

Pirlo holding, Leon and Gattuso on the flanks, Boateng in the hole.

Up front: Ibrahimović and Pato."

"Napoli are going with their familiar 3-4-3.

De Sanctis in goal.

Because of Lavezzi's injury, today's attacking trident will be Cavani, Mascara, and Hamsik.

Compared to previous matches, Napoli's attack is slightly weakened, but coming to Milan's home ground, they haven't backed down. It looks like coach Mazzarri has prepared a very aggressive strategy."

As Zhang Lu calmly broke it all down, both teams completed the pre-match rituals.

Half a minute later, with the referee's whistle, the Serie A Round 27 highlight match officially kicked off!

Napoli pushed forward aggressively from the opening kickoff. But Milan, seemingly anticipating this, had already locked down their defensive positions.

Seeing no early gaps, Napoli's midfielder Gargano decided to launch a long ball forward.

Cavani, who had recently been in fiery form, charged into Milan's half, tracking the ball.

He was confident in his physical strength.

But in football, winning the ball isn't just about raw athleticism.

Positioning often matters more.

Leon had already established his ground, bracing his core, but didn't jump with full force.

Cavani came barreling in, winning the aerial battle—but also knocking Leon off balance and to the ground.

Before Napoli fans could start cheering, the referee blew his whistle.

"A foul?! That kid just lost his balance! My player went for the ball!" Mazzarri gestured angrily on the sideline.

But he knew very well: Leon had clearly established his position—classic "bait and punish" defending.

His protests were just a bit of sideline pressure on the officials.

"This kid's defensive awareness is getting better and better. Not easy to handle," Mazzarri muttered.

On the other bench, Allegri smiled in satisfaction as he offered a few choice words to the fourth official.

Milan regained possession, and more importantly, Cavani had now left a poor impression with the ref as being over-aggressive.

A clever play by Leon—appearing to lose the duel, but ultimately gaining both the ball and referee's favor.

The fans didn't care about all that.

The 60,000 Milan faithful unleashed a chorus of boos at the Napoli players, while the 10,000 Napoli supporters tried their best to respond, resulting in an ear-splitting roar at San Siro.

Pirlo wasn't bothered. He scratched his ear, asked Leon if he was okay, and calmly took the free kick.

Milan's experienced backline kept the ball under control, not rushing forward recklessly.

Compared to Napoli's "youthful enthusiasm," Milan looked far more composed.

Cavani and Hamsik ran tirelessly, but their pressing had little effect on Pirlo.

Il Maestro's passing and movement seemed casual—but each touch had been pre-calculated.

With him orchestrating calmly, Milan's backline and midfield ticked like clockwork.

Napoli pressed hard for ten minutes—and couldn't even keep the ball.

Leon, Pirlo, Gattuso, and the backline had passed rings around them.

And so, the battle of San Siro began—with Milan showing, from the very first minute, exactly who was really in charge.

Leon couldn't help but be awed—it was a rare sight to see Maestro Pirlo going all out.

"Long-ge [Alonso] could probably orchestrate like this too, but to do it with such ease and elegance like Pirlo... probably still a little short. Maestro Pirlo's control is just unreal."

Leon subconsciously compared his mentor Alonso with Pirlo and, in the end, had to admit: Alonso was more well-rounded and could handle both organization and defense. But if the conversation was strictly about organizing and breaking through pressure, then perhaps only Xavi could rival this version of Pirlo.

Alonso still came up just a touch short in the fine details.

Snapping out of his admiration, Leon moved further toward the touchline alongside Gattuso, following Pirlo's direction to use the full width of the field for passing and movement.

Seeing that Napoli had left defensive gaps by pushing their formation higher, Pirlo began orchestrating Milan's counterattacks with his signature pinpoint long balls.

Napoli's 3-4-3 setup, deployed by coach Mazzarri, was generally well-balanced, especially effective when playing the counterattack. But like all systems with three center-backs, it had one glaring weakness: when the opponent bypassed the midfield quickly and attacked the space behind the backline, the lack of pace from the central defenders became a glaring liability.

Wingbacks might be labeled "two-way players," but once they pushed past midfield to join the attack, their recovery time on defense was anything but quick.

Allegri knew Napoli well. He had studied them thoroughly and understood exactly how to make them uncomfortable.

With Pirlo's long balls, it was no problem for Milan to bypass Napoli's midfield in transition. As for the pace needed to trouble Napoli's slow central defenders, Allegri had just the man for the job—Pato.

The 21-year-old striker, still considered a "young talent," might be a bit injury-prone, but when healthy, he was a deadly weapon in Serie A.

Fast, sharp, technically gifted—last season, at just 20 years old, Pato scored 12 goals in 20 league starts for Milan.

In today's football world, that kind of efficiency practically screamed "future superstar."

Well, that phrasing might be off—if Pato weren't made of glass, he probably would've already been a superstar.

Even though Allegri had benched him for partying too much with Ronaldinho earlier in the season, once Ronnie left Milan, the coach gave Pato more and more chances.

Now, as long as Pato was fit to play, Allegri almost always started him alongside Ibrahimović.

That's how highly Allegri rated his talent.

In this match, Allegri had basically placed the offensive burden squarely on Pato's shoulders.

Pirlo would feed him passes, Ibrahimović would draw defenders and act as a pivot.

And all Pato needed to do—was run.

Mazzarri never expected Allegri to gamble like this. Like every other Serie A coach, he designed his defensive strategy around stopping Ibrahimović first, then worrying about Pato or Milan's midfield runners.

But today, Allegri flipped the script.

Ibra wasn't the main threat. Yet two of Napoli's three center-backs were busy marking him.

The remaining one, veteran Aronica, wasn't exactly known for his speed.

So when Milan launched their first long-ball counterattack just 13 minutes into the first half, Pato tore into Napoli's box with terrifying success.

Aronica scrambled to cut off the angle, knowing full well he couldn't match Pato's pace. He tried to take a shortcut to block the Brazilian's inside cut.

But to his surprise, Pato opted to cross instead—right as he reached the edge of the penalty area.

Ibrahimović was still battling with Campagnaro and Paolo Cannavaro. Clearly, he wasn't the target of Pato's pass.

Aronica turned in horror toward the back post, but by then, it was too late to yell at De Sanctis.

Two red-and-black shirts were already charging into the box—with Napoli midfielders Maggio and Gargano trailing half a step behind.

Only the ball—and a gaping goalmouth—lay ahead of them.

"Pato's first touch was immaculate! Aronica can't keep up—Napoli's defense is falling apart—Pato crosses! The far post is wide open!!!"

As the commentator from Sky Italia roared with excitement, millions of Serie A fans widened their eyes, staring at the exposed back post.

"Yours!"

Boateng realized he had overrun the pass slightly and shouted out loud.

Leon instantly understood.

Ten seconds earlier, they had made their forward runs together—now, their chemistry showed again.

Boateng halted his run, opening the lane.

Leon, just outside the box, took one final powerful step and leapt into the air!

Veteran commentator Claudio Crudelli screamed first in the broadcast booth.

A second later, the ball connected squarely with Leon's forehead, altering its course in midair and soaring past De Sanctis' desperate hand.

The net bulged.

Napoli fans fell into icy silence.

"GOAL——!!!! We've scored! WE'VE SCORED FIRST!!! LEON! LEON!!! Our little lion breaks through Napoli's wall! Milan leads 1–0!!!"

Crudelli tossed off his glasses, shouting into the mic as 60,000 Milan fans at San Siro erupted into a thunderous frenzy!

Leon crashed to the turf but didn't care.

He leapt to his feet, roared at the camera, thumped his chest in celebration.

His teammates swarmed him near the end line in a chaotic pile-up.

On the sidelines, Allegri and his assistant first hugged, then the head coach punched the air.

Once. Twice. Three times.

Only after the third did Allegri stop, looking smugly toward Napoli's dead-silent bench.

"Oh, I heard you guys were the loudest before?"

"No worries. A good beating should quiet you down."

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