Starting as a Defensive Midfielder at Real Madrid

”Your performance far exceeded my expectations.

I remember during those two matches against Madrid, you didn’t attempt any progressive passes or playmaking at all.”

As the celebrations wound down, Pirlo leaned close and whispered with a hand over his mouth.

Li Ang turned and met the eyes of the midfield maestro—filled with both curiosity and surprise.

”Learned it from my teacher,” Li Ang replied, smiling. ”He always told me to apply what I’ve learned.

If there’s a chance and I’m confident, I should give it a try.”

”Alonso?”

”Yes. I picked up a lot while training beside him at Madrid.”

Pirlo gave him a deeper, more thoughtful look—he scanned Li Ang from head to toe—but in the end, he said nothing. He patted the young man’s back and went off to high-five the others.

Li Ang was left scratching his head, but didn’t have time to dwell on it—Zlatan had already pulled him into another bear hug, laughing heartily.

”Little Lion, you’re the real deal!

Sure, I like doing it all myself sometimes, but easy goals like that? Damn, that’s sweet!

You really unlocked Andrea today. Don’t worry about the boss—if you’ve got the skills, go for it.

He won’t tie you down on offense. Just defend well when the attack’s not working. See? Simple, no?”

Li Ang nodded, half convinced.

In the few training sessions he’d had since arriving in Milan, Allegri didn’t seem to emphasize offensive tactics much. In fact, it seemed like the players were free to shape the attack however they wanted.

That couldn’t be right… right?

Back on the bench, Allegri wasn’t annoyed at all about Li Ang’s decision to break forward on his own. In fact, he was thrilled.

He told his assistant coach: in future training scrimmages, Li Ang should be given more tactical freedom when attacking.

As long as a player could prove they could boost Milan’s attacking output, Allegri was happy to offer them ”tactical privileges.”

Of course, that ability had to be consistent—flashes of brilliance weren’t enough to earn his trust.

So yes, Milan’s attack was often labeled chaotic—but it was chaos orchestrated by stars with individual brilliance and consistency.

Now, in addition to the usual approaches—

”Give the ball to Zlatan,”

”Midfield crash the box and shoot,”

”Just bomb it into the box and hope for the best”

Allegri now had two new weapons:

”Let Pirlo look for openings”

and

”Li Ang dribbles forward and dishes to Pirlo.”

Yep—this was Allegri football.

And while people joked about the offense, nobody questioned the defense.

Under a coach who valued structure, Li Ang’s opportunities to shine were artificially boosted.

But for Milan’s fans?

Things got rough again.

After going 2–0 up, Milan dropped into a half-field shell, and the match devolved into a slow, grinding battle.

Fans felt like they were chewing on some kind of mysterious, stinky-looking food that—surprisingly—tasted like chocolate.

Not pleasant to watch. But hey—they were winning.

That’s all that mattered.

They’d gladly eat a mystery chocolate-looking blob over being served something that looked like chocolate but wasn’t.

After a short burst of offensive firepower, Milan dragged the game into a slugfest.

Li Ang and Gattuso were everywhere in midfield, breaking up plays and frustrating opponents.

2–0. That was the score heading into halftime.

As boos rained down from the Cagliari home fans, the Milan players jogged back to the locker room at a leisurely pace.

Allegri gave a passionate speech during the break, followed by clear tactical instructions:

”Hold the line.”

They didn’t have to turtle up—but if a clear scoring opportunity appeared, go for it.

If not? Don’t force it.

This ”pragmatic clarity” nearly fried Li Ang’s Mourinho-trained brain.

”How’s that for pressure, huh?

Second half’s all yours now. Make the most of it.”

Zlatan gave him a firm slap on the thigh as if clocking out early from his shift.

Li Ang didn’t know what to say.

Milan’s style was fine for Serie A.

But in the Champions League?

They’d get slaughtered.

Then again… he couldn’t play in Europe this half-season anyway.

He only had the league and the Coppa Italia.

If nobody else was stressing about Milan’s Champions League future, why should he?

Clearing his mind, he poured everything into the second half—on defense.

By the time the full-time whistle blew, Li Ang had racked up:

7 successful tackles4 key interceptions2 clearancesAnd countless duels and cover runs

Thanks in part to him, Milan saw out the match with a calm, secure 2–0 win.

But then…

Napoli got destroyed 4–2 by Inter.

Cue the celebrations!

They’d finally shaken off Napoli.

In the first 17 rounds, Milan had already left Inter, Juventus, and Lazio in the dust.

Only Napoli had stuck to them like glue.

Now?

Napoli had collapsed, and Milan took full advantage by beating Cagliari and taking sole possession of first place.

That night, half of Milan was chanting one name:

”Lucky Charm Li Ang!”

With Milan now alone atop the Serie A table, fans were already looking ahead to the next match against Udinese.

If they could win that game too…

Milan would become the halfway champions of the 2010–2011 Serie A season.

And in post-reformat Serie A history, teams that led the league at the halfway point went on to win the title over 80% of the time.

After six long, championship-less years, Milan fans were desperate.

This halfway title?

It meant everything.

”Beat Udinese!

We want the Winter Title!”

January 9th.

With thousands of fans chanting from the sidewalks, Milan’s team bus slowly rolled toward the San Siro.

Inside it sat a teenager, suited up and calm.

Li Ang was about to make his San Siro debut.

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