"Huh? Wasn't there a news report saying Leon Feng appeared in the AC Milan versus Fiorentina match? How come I can't see Leon anywhere?"
"Wait, that's not right. This match has only just kicked off. I'm watching it live. Have I time-travelled or something?"
After switching on their televisions to find the AC Milan versus Fiorentina match had only just begun, quite a few fans from the East were left utterly baffled.
"Here's the thing. Leon isn't in the first team. He's in the youth team."
"AC Milan's youth team just happened to be playing Fiorentina's youth team in this round as well."
"Youth team matches kick off earlier."
Right at that moment, an explanatory post appeared online.
"Ah, so that's what it is. Got my hopes up for nothing. So Leon is still playing youth team football at AC Milan. The media really will hype up anything."
"That's not a great thing to say. What's wrong with the youth team? The youth team is still AC Milan. Leon is only 18."
"Let's talk again when he actually makes a first-team appearance for AC Milan. Otherwise, what makes him any different from all those other players from the East who went abroad and came back with nothing to show for it? It's all just hype."
"Just you wait. I believe Leon will be playing in Serie A very soon."
When fans from the East found out that Leon had not even broken into AC Milan's first-team squad, many of them were more than a little disappointed.
Some of the more extreme supporters began making mockery of him.
This quickly set off a heated argument between two factions of fans.
"Here we go again."
Su Jing, over in Spain, scrolled through the comments online with a weary expression, thinking to herself that the football culture back home was truly rotten to the core.
That explanatory post had been written by Su Jing herself.
She had not expected it to start an argument.
After Leon transferred to AC Milan, Su Jing had far fewer chances to watch his matches in person.
'There will definitely be opportunities.'
'It's not even that far away.'
Su Jing thought quietly to herself.
Also in Spain, at Real Madrid's training ground, Cristiano Ronaldo was watching a match with total focus.
"Huh? Since when did you start following AC Milan?"
"They didn't even qualify for European competition this season, so they won't be facing us."
"Hold on. You're watching a youth team match."
"Cristiano! Are you watching the wrong match?"
Marcelo had just finished his weights session and walked back into the rest room to find Cristiano watching an AC Milan youth team match.
"Come and watch with me."
"Look at that goalkeeper."
Cristiano pulled Marcelo over and pointed at the AC Milan youth team goalkeeper on the screen.
"That goalkeeper from the East?"
"He ended up at AC Milan?"
"Come on, Cristiano. You're not seriously reading too much into one match, are you?"
Marcelo said with complete indifference.
Everyone has a good game every now and then.
One outstanding match meant nothing on its own.
"No. He saved seven one-on-ones against me in a row."
"That is not normal. It is not even logical."
Cristiano could not help but furrow his brow.
"Well, enjoy your viewing. I have no interest in youth team football."
Marcelo remained completely unbothered and walked straight off.
Cristiano, meanwhile, kept watching intently.
Especially when he saw Leon once again comfortably saving a Fiorentina youth one-on-one, his eyes narrowed sharply.
...
25 points.
AC Milan had accumulated only 25 points in the first half of the season.
They sat 11th in the Serie A table.
Following a home defeat to Fiorentina, Inzaghi found himself facing the biggest crisis of his managerial career.
"The club will continue to back you."
"But please, do not actually take us down."
Managing Director Galliani patted Inzaghi on the shoulder.
Had Inzaghi not been a club legend, he would almost certainly have been sacked by now.
But then again, the old president had recently been entertaining the idea of selling AC Milan, and his attention and investment in the club had grown noticeably distant.
Inzaghi would just have to muddle through for the rest of the season.
Galliani's thoughts drifted in several directions at once.
Having spent so many years at AC Milan alongside the old president, it seemed as though the time to say goodbye was drawing near.
Looking at the players currently in AC Milan's squad, then thinking back to the players who had worn the shirt ten years ago, it really was a difficult situation for Inzaghi to be working with.
Galliani shook his head with a quiet sigh.
"I understand."
Inzaghi no longer carried the easy confidence he had radiated as a player.
As AC Milan's head coach, the pressure bearing down on him was enormous.
What was giving Inzaghi even more of a headache was that first-choice goalkeeper Diego López had been injured in the previous match.
The substitute who came on, Agazzi, had been nothing short of a disaster.
AC Milan conceded three goals, and Agazzi bore a considerable share of the responsibility.
The club's other senior goalkeeper, Abbiati, was already 37 years old.
Not every goalkeeper could be Buffon.
Abbiati's form had declined rapidly, and Inzaghi simply did not feel confident enough to play him.
On top of that, Abbiati was a very traditional goalkeeper who essentially stayed close to his line at all times.
But the AC Milan that Inzaghi was managing played in an expansive, free-flowing style going forward.
The backline frequently left enormous gaps in behind.
Under those conditions, Abbiati simply could not cope.
At the halfway stage of the season, AC Milan's attacking output had been genuinely impressive.
Their goal tally placed them third in the league, behind only Juventus and Napoli.
But their goals conceded were equally alarming, placing them fifth in the league for most let in.
Every side above them in that tally was fighting to stay up.
Inzaghi felt that if the goalkeeper situation was not resolved, the club genuinely risked going down.
What a headache.
Life was so much simpler as a player. All you had to do was score.
Scoring, and scoring again. That was just in his nature, an endless pursuit of goals.
How was he supposed to know anything about defending?
Inzaghi muttered to himself in exasperation.
"Pippo, take a look at this."
Assistant coach Tassotti handed over a compiled video reel.
At AC Milan, head coaches had come and gone, but Tassotti had remained as assistant coach throughout it all.
Tassotti was likewise a club legend.
Since retiring in 1997, he had served continuously as assistant coach to AC Milan's first team.
"What's this?"
"A youth team video?"
"Oh? Has someone put in another exceptional performance?"
Inzaghi broke into a smile without thinking.
Before this season, he himself had been the youth team's head coach.
When it came to that group of youngsters in the youth setup, Inzaghi knew them well.
"Wait. A goalkeeper? That goalkeeper from the East?"
Inzaghi's expression became noticeably more serious.
Leon had only just transferred in, so Inzaghi genuinely did not know much about him.
"Bloody hell. He saved that too?"
The video Tassotti had put together this time was thorough.
In addition to Leon's youth team match, it also included footage from the Segunda División B, as well as the Copa del Rey match against Real Madrid.
When Inzaghi watched Leon save Cristiano's one-on-ones again and again, his composure finally broke.
He even found himself mentally stepping into Cristiano's boots.
If he were the one taking those one-on-ones, could he break through the goal Leon was guarding?
He exhaled sharply.
In that moment, a wild idea suddenly flashed through Inzaghi's mind.
He wanted to bring Leon straight up to the first team.
And start him in the very next match.
The next match for AC Milan was the most important fixture of all.
The Milan Derby.
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