I'm 198cm tall. Are you giving me a Maradona template?

Chapter 171 Champion's Stage [15]

Monaco eliminated Barcelona and advanced to the Champions League final, becoming the biggest dark horse in this season's Champions League.

This immediately attracted worldwide attention.

Of course, this also includes Real Madrid Club.

If we were to ask who is the biggest contributor to Monaco's advancement to the Champions League final this season.

That is of course the super scoring machine Sunshine who has scored 23 goals in the Champions League this season.

This scoring machine.
He was the young player who was released by Real Madrid.

If Sunshine had become a nobody after being released by Real Madrid, who knows what he would be doing in some corner of a low-level league.

No one would be interested in his story.

Every year, a large number of graduates from Real Madrid Sports Academy cannot find jobs. Although most of those who can play in Real Madrid's echelon are players who performed well in the youth team, in fact, the gap between the youth team and the top league is still too large.

Even many graduates of Real Madrid's U19 youth team still have to go to semi-professional leagues to find jobs.

But now, Sunshine is the most watched center in the world.

His story naturally became the most interesting topic among the media and fans.

"At first, you were right."

Florentino put down the newspaper and looked at Real Madrid coach Zidane who was sitting opposite him.

"Zidan, we shouldn't have let him go."

Zidane shook his head: "No one knew his potential at the time. Who could have known that he could grow into the player he is now?"

"Do you think he can return to the team?"

Florentino asked, adjusting his glasses.

Zidane frowned slightly when he heard this.

"I talked to him about this issue after the end of last season." Zidane looked at Florentino, "He wants unlimited firing rights."

Florentino nodded when he heard this: "I understand."

"But we already have Cristiano Ronaldo in our team," Zidane reminded.

"I still want to bring him back to the Bernabeu. Ronaldo is 32 years old, Zidane,"

"You want"

Florentino waved his hand: "It's just a precaution, and I don't want to meet Mendes's conditions."

Zidane's expression changed slightly when he heard this.

Ronaldo still has two years left on his contract with Real Madrid.

However, for a core player of a team, when there are two seasons left in his contract, the club should consider renewing the contract.

Not many clubs will wait until their core player's contract has only one season left before negotiating a contract extension.

Because the conditions negotiated in this way will definitely be more stringent, and there will also be the risk of core members leaving.

"You don't have to look at me like that, I'm a businessman, Zidane." Florentino smiled.

"After this season, Real Madrid's top transfer priority is to bring him back to the Bernabeu!"

Zidane looked at Florentino's back and couldn't help looking left and right.

Okay
Now, he is the only one who knows this.

Otherwise if it gets out.

Then I guess it’s not certain that we can even make it to the semi-finals, let alone the Champions League final.

Zidane suddenly felt more sympathetic towards Ronaldo.

The club chairman has already begun preparing for his "aging".

This may be the fate of the players.

Debut, fame, peak, aging
From a personal perspective.

It's cruel to do so.

But only such ruthlessness can make a team strong forever.
Zidane sighed.

At another training base in Madrid.

Atletico Madrid coach Simeone turned off the TV.

His team is now facing tremendous pressure. There is no hope of winning the league title this season. The only thing they can fight for is the Champions League title.

But in the first leg, his team lost away to Real Madrid.

Although Atletico Madrid has an away goal.

But, losing is losing.

This means that Atletico Madrid must beat Real Madrid at home to advance to the final.

If it were another team, Simeone would not be under so much pressure.

But the opponent is Real Madrid.
This team is very good at playing "leading ball".

And Atletico Madrid is the team that hates playing behind the ball the most.

With Monaco taking the lead in advancing to the final, all media outlets are now analyzing this game to see whether Atletico Madrid or Real Madrid will be Monaco's opponent.

Analyze over and over again.

Most media believe that there is a high probability that Atletico Madrid will eventually be eliminated.

"If only my team had a sunshine."

Simone muttered.

Then he was stunned for a moment.

"Why not?"

He stood up and paced back and forth.

The head coaches of the two Madrid teams that were about to compete in the second leg of the semi-final were thinking about the same player who did not belong to them a few hours before the game.

finally.

The semi-final match ended in a 1-1 draw.

Real Madrid had the last laugh, reaching the final for the second consecutive season.

All media outlets were worried about Monaco.

First play Barcelona, then play Real Madrid.

This season, Monaco is on a collision course with the two Spanish giants.
"Perhaps there is one statistic that is in Monaco's favor, that is, since the Champions League was reformed, no team has ever successfully defended the Champions League title."

The news anchor of France 4 TV said this when reporting on the Champions League semi-final match.

As for Monaco.

No matter who the opponent in the Champions League is, that will be a month later.

This season's Champions League final will be held on June 3 at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales.

There are still more than twenty days left.

So it is impossible for Monaco to prepare for the Champions League final now.

What's more, they actually have two championships to compete for.

French Ligue 1 champion, French Cup champion.

The French Cup final will be held at the Stade de France on May 5 after the French Ligue 28 season ends, against their derby rivals Nice.

The French Ligue 1 title is already within reach.

Just get 1 point in the next three league games.

Monaco will win the league title.

The only possibility for Monaco to lose the league title is three consecutive defeats - this has a certain probability of happening, but there are people who win five million by buying lottery tickets, so this probability is indeed not too high.

5 month 15 day.

The 36th round of French Ligue 1.

Monaco plays against Lille at home.

In this game, Monaco only needs to remain unbeaten to win the league championship.

A draw means winning the championship.

In the French Ligue 1, Lille is not a weak team.

They have won the French Ligue 2010 title three times in their history, the most recent being in the 2011- season.

They also have six French Cup titles.

Historically, Lille has played the role of "league spoiler" many times.

This season, Lille had a bad start and was in the relegation zone for a long time in the first half of the season.

In order to get rid of the shadow of relegation, Lille has changed three head coaches in a row
Finally, under the leadership of the third interim head coach Frank Passi, the team successfully avoided relegation.

Lille is now in a state of having no desire or ambition.

But sometimes, this kind of team is difficult to deal with because they have no pressure and the players are more relaxed.

In addition, no team would like to see their opponent win the championship at their expense - this means that Lille will definitely not let up in this game.

"Yes, Monaco will win the title, but I hope not against us!"

At the pre-match press conference.

Lille's interim head coach Frank Passy smiled at the reporters present.

"Yes, they are very strong. But there is no pressure on us. It will be an exciting game."

the other side.

Monaco's head coach Jardim was trying to cool down the game: "This is not a crucial battle. We only need 1 point to win the championship. We won't be under pressure. What pressure can we have?"

"I have full trust in my players and the French Ligue 1 title is a natural progression for us."

according to rules.

The last two rounds of the league will start at the same time.

The 36th round of the league will not start at the same time.

In theory.

If Paris Saint-Germain fails to get all three points in this round of the league, Monaco can win the championship without playing this round.

However, Paris Saint-Germain obviously did not give Monaco this opportunity.

They beat Rennes 3-1 away from home, temporarily narrowing the gap with Monaco to six points.

Now the pressure is on Monaco.

As long as they get even 1 point in this game, they can win the championship.

Although Paris Saint-Germain players and fans know it.

The possibility of Monaco losing three games in a row is very low.

But what if?
It is not impossible for a team to suddenly decline in form and lose three games in a row.

For the supporters of China's sunshine.

This "critical battle" was very unfriendly.

The game starts at 1:30 am China time.

So it's another game that requires staying up all night.

However, before this, CCTV had already started warming up for this game.

Although this season there is no gimmick of "the first top five league championship".

But winning the championship is exciting.

Ask Bayern's fans, they have won the championship for five or six consecutive seasons, do they feel winning the championship is boring?
For the fans.

They wish their team could win all the championships in every season.

Before the game, three hours.

The whole country of Monaco seemed to be caught in a kind of restless atmosphere.

Every household began to hang the flag of AS Monaco Club.

The club represents the Principality of Monaco in the French Ligue 1.

The vast majority of the country's more than 10,000 citizens and tens of thousands of permanent residents are fans of Monaco Football Club.

Since the Principality of Monaco is not a member of UEFA, they do not have a national team called "Monaco".

To some extent.

Monaco Football Club is their national team.

That day, before the players boarded the bus from the hotel.

Prince Albert II of Monaco came to the hotel lobby with his wife Princess Charlene, shook hands with every player of the club, and sent them on the bus to the stadium. Albert II will also watch the game at the Stade Louis II accompanied by Monaco club owner Rybochenov.

The players lined up and prepared to go up and shake hands with the prince one by one.

Mbappe discussed the entertainment gossip of the past few days in front of the sun.

"Do you know why the prince came here today?"

"why?"

"Don't you feel that there are a lot more media today than usual?"

“Because we are going to win.”

"No, no, no, no, young man, you are too picky." Mbappe shook his head repeatedly. "You may not know, but the gossip a few days ago said that the prince and princess broke up again. He came here to make a public appearance to refute these rumors."

"What does this have to do with you?" Yangguang asked in surprise.

"Don't you watch the news?"

“I don’t watch this kind of news.”

“No wonder you’re not fashionable at all.”

"A black man wearing women's clothing is fashionable?"

"Well, what you said is a bit racist."

“I’m just describing the facts.”

The two chatted as they followed the queue and came to Albert II.

"Yang, you are the best striker in the world!"

The Prince of Monaco smiled as he held Sunshine's hand.

"Thank you." Sunshine grinned.

Then he and his teammates boarded the bus and headed to the stadium.

Along the road, Monaco fans stood on both sides of the road and cheered for the players.

Various TV stations also began to access the live broadcast signal.

"Dear audience, Monaco's bus has entered the stadium!"

In the CCTV studio, two players who had studied abroad, Dong Yuanzhuo and Shao Jiayi, were invited to comment on the game together with commentator He Wei and guest commentator Xu Yang.

CCTV's live broadcast began one hour before the game.

At this moment, the Stade Louis II is already full.

When the players from both sides came out to warm up.

The Monaco fans' cheers for the players shook the stadium.

It felt like a small earthquake had occurred on the field.

As the players returned to the locker room.

The staff of the French Ligue 1 placed the French Ligue 1 championship trophy at the entrance of the players' passage.

Cameras circled the trophy, making everyone aware.

This is no ordinary league!

This is a league that can decide who will win the championship.

"Guys, we have finally made it this far. Fortunately, we don't need to care about other people's faces or count the scores. We just need to do our best and win this game to win the championship!"

"We have proven to the world that we are the strongest team in the league by winning game after game! And now, a symbolic victory is just confirming this. After 90 minutes, I hope everyone can hold up the trophy in our own home stadium!"

In the home team's locker room.

The voice of head coach Jardim echoed.

"Go, go play, go fight, go win, go lift the trophy!"

"I don't think you want to be the background of the champion."

In the visiting team's locker room.

Lille head coach Passy was also giving his players a final pre-match mobilization.

"They are very strong, they are the strongest team in the league. But specifically in this game, we may not have no chance."

"They might want to eat us whole."

“They may be anxious about gains and losses.”

"They may have been distracted by the fact that they were about to win the championship."

"None of this matters, guys. All we need to do is be ourselves and stay patient. We are not champions, but we don't want to be someone else's stepping stone!"

The Lille players nodded one after another.

They stood up.

"We will not be a stepping stone!"

they roared.

(End of this chapter)