[FM13] Giuseppe Bergomi - The King of Calcio

Good luck for both finals!

I hope you lose win them

Walter: Thanks

The Madridista: Not to say I'm taking these finals for granted...but I am

fzemdegs: I am starting to yawn a bit, not going to lie

Josh_MU: Ayyy 5 am comments FTW!

AaronHJFT96: Glad you enjoy the updates

Pauker: Thanks Pauker, hopefully we can win them both!

Justice: Screw you Thanks!

After all the waiting, all of the previous rounds, and all of the excitement, the Coppa Italia finally came to a close yesterday with an outstanding final match, from which Inter Milan emerged the 3-1 victors thanks to a stunning brace from Lorenzo Insigne.

It was by no means an easy match for the usually rampant Inter side. Il Toro set up very soundly with their defensive shape and looked to try and catch their opposition on the break, focusing mainly on trying to nullify Inter's lethal attacking potential.

22 minutes in, however, it was Insigne who started the scoring. Chilean teenager Omar Carrasco had broken forward from right back and cut into the middle of the field. Seeing Insigne making the run to the top of the box from the left flank, Carrasco rolled the ball into his teammates path, allowing the Italian international winger to rifle home a first time finish into the bottom corner.

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Italy international Lorenzo Insigne picked up the man of the match award, scoring two goals to lead his club side past Torino and win the team's fifth piece of silverware on the year.

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Vincenzo Montella's men tried pushing up a bit more after that but were turned away more often than not by the Nerazzurri's rock-solid defense led by Andrea Ranocchia and Emerson Luiz with Jan Kirchhoff sitting in front of them. However, four minutes before halftime, Juraj Kucka's brilliant backheel found Almen Abdi running through on goal, and the Swiss midfielder showed a clinical touch to roll the ball past Fernando Muslera and equalize.

After the break, Inter resumed their dominance. Torino's inspirational goalkeeper Par Hansson was forced into making 9 saves in the second half alone to deny the likes of Ademilson and Rogerio as the Milanese side's Brazilian contingent started to take control of the match.

With time ticking down and just seven minutes remaining, however, it was Lorenzo Insigne again there to save the day. Rogerio's corner kick from the right side found Emerson Luiz at the back post, and the Brazilian headed the ball back across goal to Insigne at the back post to tap in. Torino's hearts seemed broken and heads began to drop.

In the final minute of regulation, Rogerio put the icing on the cake, poking home a cross at the back post after a mazy run down the left flank by Lucas Digne in which the French fullback managed to beat 2 men simultaneously with his quick feet.

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Lucas Digne turned in a brilliant performance from left back, getting up and down the left wing, defending well, and popping up with the third assist for Inter on Rogerio's goal.

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"This is a wonderful achievement," said an ecstatic Bergomi after the match. "Torino gave us a really good battle, but we triumphed in the end, as all true champions do." The Nerazzurri have now won the competition on six consecutive occasions and a record 13 times in total.

"We want to celebrate, of course, but there will be time for that later," he continued. "The most important game in all of our lives is just a week away; no team has won the Champions League final three times in a row since Bayern in the 70's. We want to join those ranks."

Nice win

Ah, walter, a deliciously written update and all you have to say is "nice win".

Insigne? Digne? What's gotten igne?
Seriously though do you even have any regens in your team?

Nice win.

Great update, well done on the wins!

Now for the champions league to put the free scoring spurs in their place.

2014-07-08 00:26#183347 Rablador : Seriously though do you even have any regens in your team?

Nice win.

u wot m8

Walter: Thanks bud

Rablador: Haha yes the -igne's are killing it, also nice white text lol. As for regens, yes, I have three in my regular starting lineup

pokarioboy: Thanks, yet another trophy to add to the cabinet!

TheMS99: Yes, who cares who they've beaten 5-0 and 6-0, we can thrash em

Justice: Hahahaha

Inter Milan is in the Champions League finals yet again. Five time UEFA Champions League winners. Two time European defending champions of the competition. Heavy favorites to be the first team to win the UEFA Champions League / European Cup three times consecutively since Bayern Munich in 1974, 1975, and 1976.

And their upstart opponents; Tottenham Hotspur. It's their first appearance in the UEFA Champions League final, having stunned the likes of Bayern Munich 5-0 and FC Barcelona 6-0. Under new manager Michael Appleton, Spurs will try to dislodge the imperious Inter Milan from their throne atop Europe.

Let's begin with each team's starting lineup:

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Inter Milan (4-3-3)
Marc-Andre ter Stegen; Omar Carrasco, Andrea Ranocchia (C), Emerson Luiz, Lucas Digne; Jan Kirchhoff, Rogerio Paulo, Lorenzo Crisetig; Raheem Sterling, Lorenzo Insigne, Ademilson Junior

Tottenham (4-4-2)
Hugo Lloris (C); Kyle Walker, Guillermo Burdisso, Inigo Martinez, Martin Olsson; James McCarthy, Sandro Cordeiro, Joe Allen, Gareth Bale; Emmanuel Adebayor, Yassine Benzia

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When the sides kicked off, everyone knew what Inter's intent would be; for the last three years they'd done it better than anyone else. Keep the ball, pass quickly in and around the box to create combination play and chances, and keep the opposition in their half. After a few minutes, it became clear how Spurs were going to try and combat this; by keeping two banks of four relatively high up the pitch, keeping as much pressure on the Nerazzurri as possible while still keeping shape.

In fact, 22 minutes into the match, the first chance of the game fell to Tottenham. Martin Olsson's early cross from the left flank found the head of the bursting Emmanuel Adebayor, but the Togolese striker's header was acrobatically tipped over by the sprawling Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

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Emmanuel Adebayor has enjoyed a fantastic final season in professional football, scoring 21 goals, and almost scored the first goal of the UEFA Champions League final with his header.

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For the remainder of the game, all of the events unfolded into one titanic midfield struggle. McCarthy, Sandro, Allen, and Bale most certainly outplayed their opposition midfield for most of the match, but struggled to break down Inter's backline, led by the inspired Ranocchia / Luiz partnership.

Other than the early Adebayor header, no real chances were created for either side, and regular time finished 0-0. The game then went onto the Extra Time, and it was here that Inter started to get more of a grip on the game. Having switched a narrow 4-1-2-1-2 diamond midfield before the start of Extra Time, Bergomi's older tactics, the Nerazzurri started connecting more passes and created a few chances.

Just three minutes into the first period, substitutes Mattia Destro and Philippe Coutinho combined as the former played in the latter, only for Hugo Lloris to make a spectacular kicksave to deny the Brazilian attacking midfielder and keep the scores level.

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Despite an on-and-off season due to injuries, Philippe Coutinho has scored 15 goals in all competitions this year, his second highest (behind last year), and almost scored again.

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A few minutes after this scare for Spurs, however, the London side were right back at it. Martin Olsson chipped through striker Danny Welbeck on goal, only for the England international to watch his curled strike be palmed into the post by the outstretched ter Stegen; the German shot-stopper was vital in keeping the score down and saving Inter.

Even after 120 minutes, the two teams could not be separated. Thus, Inter and Spurs would have to fight for the UEFA Champions League crown in the most dreaded way of all: the 'lottery' of the penalty shootout.

Marc-Andre ter Stegen, who had perhaps been Inter Milan's best player throughout the match with all of the big saves he made, truly proved his worth in the shootout. Danny Welbeck and James McCarthy for Tottenham and Rogerio and Philippe Coutinho for Inter had netted their penalties, leaving the score at 2-2 after two each.

After this, though, Inter nearly choked, just like in the 2014 final against Manchester City when the Nerazzurri missed every single penalty. Mattia Destro and Andrea Poli, Inter's two Italian takers, both hit their spot kicks wide, only to be saved by the glorious Marc-Andre ter Stegen; the netminder stunningly denied Yassine Benzia and Davide Santon to keep it 2-2 after four each.

For the fifth penalty, Ademilson stepped up for Inter. The third Brazilian to take a kick for the Italian side made no mistake, much like his compatriot, slotting the ball with confidence into the side netting to put all the pressure on Welsh superstar Gareth Bale. Bale stepped up, fired...

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...and was expertly denied by German goalkeeping hero Marc-Andre ter Stegen!!!

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The final score in penalties was 3-2 to Inter, their young goalkeeper the hero, and, despite great adversity, a third straight UEFA Champions League crown was theirs at last. The entirety of the team and coaching staff piled upon their penalty-saving hero; pure bliss in black and blue, utter despair in white.

"I think there is absolutely no question now," said Bergomi after the match. "If this doesn't make this team the greatest on earth, nothing will. We are the champions, we are the Kings of Calcio."

Huge congrats Neal, that's some achievement. Its taken me a while but I am practically up to date on this story now, having read pretty much the entire story over the last week and a half or so. When I joined the site it was already strong going, but I never fully realised WHAT A STORY IT IS! Instead I have been following all of your FM14 stories just simply because I hadn't been able to follow from the start and I was so far behind, however now I do regret not reading Bergomi's adventures earlier. This is truly a classic on FMScout, one of the best stories ever no doubt about it, with an unbelievable writer to match. You have developed your skills as you have gone a long on this journey and boy it has been a journey! Your updates are consistently superbly written and very interesting too. Again congrats on the CL win, you are the Kings of Calcio!

I can just agree with pompey, this story is great!

this is phenomenal, should go down as one of the greatest fm saves of all time. Forget the dafuge challenge completers, you took a team seemingly on the decline at the start of the game and turned them into Invincibles from the get-go, the fact you hate drawing a match is indicative to that. Plus, you must have considerable mental strength not to get bored of this.

Thankyou Neal for your wonderful service to the site by posting this!

This is and always will be one of the great stories!

CHAMPIONES CHAMPIONES OLE OLE OLE
also how old is Adebayor?