Soccer: I became Bruno Fernandes.

Chapter 212: Steps Toward the Serie A Championship

On the evening of April 18th, local Italian time, Udinese faced Chievo in the 31st round of Serie A. With an upcoming match against Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena just three days away, Guidolin made extensive rotations to the Udinese lineup.

At Bentegodi Stadium, the home team took the lead in the 39th minute when Meggiorini crossed from the left and Pellissier broke free from his marker to score. Udinese equalized in the 72nd minute when Chievo defender Cesar, under pressure from Thereau, accidentally deflected the ball into his own net. In stoppage time, Chievo nearly secured a dramatic win, but Zukanovic's shot was denied by the crossbar. Ultimately, Udinese, with their rotated squad, managed to secure a fortunate draw at Bentegodi Stadium.

Simultaneously, Juventus secured a 2-0 home victory against Lazio, the third-placed team, ending Lazio's seven-match winning streak in Serie A and reducing the gap with Udinese to 8 points.

On Monday, the Udinese squad traveled north to Germany for the second leg of their Champions League quarterfinal against Bayern Munich, which was scheduled for Tuesday night at the Allianz Arena. Over three thousand Udinese fans accompanied the team.

Following their 1-3 home defeat to Udinese six days earlier, Bayern Munich faced heavy criticism, and many believed Guardiola's days as head coach were numbered. Historically, overturning a 1-3 first-leg deficit in the Champions League was rare, especially against a team like Udinese, which had been performing exceptionally well throughout Europe this season.

As the final whistle blew, the away fans in the Allianz Arena erupted in cheers. Despite losing the match 1-2, Udinese advanced to the Champions League semifinals with a 4-3 aggregate victory, marking a historic achievement for the club.

In the Allianz Arena, Guidolin set up Udinese in a very defensive 4-3-1-2 formation, focusing on counterattacks against Bayern Munich. The strategy proved to be correct. Under the relentless pressure of 70,000 home fans, Bayern launched a furious assault on Udinese's goal from the start, pinning them back entirely. Only Udinese's strong defensive effort prevented a collapse.

Bayern's Polish striker Lewandowski was in sensational form, scoring two goals. Without Udinese's solid defense and the outstanding performance of their Greek goalkeeper Karnezis, Udinese might have suffered a heavy defeat. Udinese's lone goal was scored by captain Di Natale, but the credit went to the attacking trio of Bruno, Salah, and Di Natale.

The next day, Udinese Daily celebrated the club's first-ever advance to the Champions League semifinals on its front page. The entire city of Udine was filled with joy and laughter.

Italian media, not just the local press, also celebrated Udinese's achievement. Advancing to the Champions League semifinals is a rare feat for any team, especially considering Serie A's recent poor performances in European competitions, which saw their UEFA coefficients overtaken by the Bundesliga, reducing their Champions League spots to three.

In this context, any Italian team's advancement to the Champions League semifinals is seen as a significant step toward the revival of Italian football. Udinese, a small club from northeastern Italy, was now being taken seriously.

In recent years, Udinese had often been considered an easy opponent in European competitions, but in the past two seasons, they had undergone a dramatic transformation. Last season, they won the Europa League, outperforming giants like Juventus, and this season, they had defeated both Schalke 04 and Bayern Munich to reach the Champions League semifinals. This was very beneficial for Italy in terms of UEFA coefficients, helping them potentially surpass Germany and return to the top three.

A day later, Juventus also secured their place in the Champions League semifinals by holding Monaco to a 0-0 draw, advancing with a 1-0 aggregate victory. With two Italian teams in the Champions League semifinals, it was a dream scenario for Italian football.

On Thursday night, the two Italian teams in the Europa League also performed admirably. Fiorentina defeated Dynamo Kyiv 2-0 at home, advancing 3-1 on aggregate, while Napoli drew 2-2 with Wolfsburg, advancing 6-3 on aggregate. With four Italian teams in the semifinals of both European competitions, Italy had effectively taken up half of the remaining spots, making Serie A the biggest winner in European competitions this season.

The entire country was ecstatic when the Champions League and Europa League semifinal draws were made on Friday. In the Champions League, Udinese was drawn against Barcelona, while Juventus was paired with Real Madrid. In the Europa League, Fiorentina would face Sevilla, and Napoli would take on Dnipro.

Many Italians began to dream of the possibility of four Italian teams appearing in the finals of both European competitions.

On the afternoon of April 26th, Udinese hosted AC Milan at the Stadio Friuli. In the first half, Antonelli's goal was disallowed. In the second half, goals from Pinzi and Badu gave Udinese a two-goal lead. Substitute Cerci assisted Pazzini to pull one back for AC Milan, but it was their only shot on target. Udinese eventually secured a 2-1 victory, completing a league double over AC Milan this season.

In another match, Juventus lost 1-2 in the Turin derby against Torino. After 32 rounds, Udinese led Serie A with 81 points, 11 points clear of Juventus in second place.

Many now believed that it was only a matter of time before Udinese secured their first Serie A title in the club's history.

Two days later, in the 33rd round of Serie A, Udinese hosted Inter Milan at the Stadio Friuli. With the Serie A title within reach, Udinese's players were highly motivated, but Inter Milan had also been in good form recently. The match was intense, with plenty of heated moments.

In the 41st minute, Hernanes was brought down by Domizzi, who was making his 200th appearance for Udinese, and received his second yellow card, leaving Udinese with ten men. Just 40 seconds into the second half, Hernanes set up Kovacic, who was brought down by Danilo in the box, resulting in a penalty. Icardi converted to give Inter the lead.

Despite being a man down, Udinese equalized in the 50th minute. Bruno's low cross from the left found Di Natale, who controlled the ball and scored from 12 yards, making it 1-1. This was Di Natale's 226th Serie A goal, moving him past Nordahl to third place on the all-time Serie A scorers list.

In the 58th minute, Badu received a yellow card and then insulted the referee, resulting in a red card and leaving Udinese with nine men. Eight minutes later, Inter scored their second goal. Hernanes' corner was cleared but fell to Podolski, who scored from 20 yards out.

In the final stages, despite being down to nine men, Udinese launched a fierce attack led by Bruno but ultimately couldn't equalize, losing 1-2. The next day, Juventus defeated Fiorentina 3-2 at home, reducing the gap with Udinese to eight points.

In their first Serie A match in May, Juventus won 1-0 away at Sampdoria, cutting the gap to five points with a game in hand. This served as a wake-up call for Udinese.

In the afternoon, Udinese played Verona away. Despite having a Champions League match against Barcelona in three days, Guidolin fielded his strongest lineup, understanding the importance of maintaining their lead in Serie A.

Guidolin knew that reaching this stage in the Champions League was already a blessing for Udinese, and eliminating Barcelona's MSN trio in a two-legged tie seemed like a far-fetched dream. Even if Udinese somehow managed to beat Barcelona, they would still have to face either Real Madrid or Juventus in the final.

Therefore, focusing on securing their first Serie A title made more sense. A win against Verona would restore their eight-point lead.

At Bentegodi Stadium, Udinese faced strong resistance from Verona. It wasn't until the 62nd minute that Bruno assisted Di Natale to score, breaking the deadlock.

This goal proved to be the match-winner, as Udinese held on for a 1-0 victory. With 84 points, Udinese maintained an eight-point lead at the top of the Serie A table, inching ever closer to their first Italian league title.

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(End of chapter)