Advocaat had not responded to the media's accusations of "Chen Hero possibly using banned substances" because the match against Bayern Munich was about to begin. He didn't want to get caught up in this matter, nor did he want it to distract the team and affect their morale and preparation. So he could only keep a low profile.

However, his and Chen Hero's cold treatment became "tacit consent" in the eyes of the media.

"... If he really didn't do such a thing, why doesn't he openly refute us?"

"He and the club have chosen to remain silent. I think this is obviously suspicious!"

"... I now formally request the National Anti-Doping Agency and the European Anti-Doping Committee to thoroughly investigate this matter!"

"If this is true... then it would be the biggest scandal in the history of Russian football! No, it is the biggest scandal in the history of Russian sports!"

……

All kinds of voices were rampant, even surpassing everyone's attention to Bayern Munich and the game itself.

At this moment, Vera Nikolaevna Ivanova issued an open letter to all the media outlets that reported on this matter.

In the letter, she first denied the allegations that her boss Chen Hero had taken any banned substances, and then she demanded that all the media outlets who said so provide evidence, otherwise they would be sued for defamation. However many media outlets were involved, they would sue that many!

"... We understand the Moscow media's jealousy of St. Petersburg Zenit's outstanding results, and their envy of a Chinese player's success in the Russian league, but we cannot understand your slander of an excellent young player. All the media outlets involved in this matter that have slandered Chen Hero in the media should produce conclusive evidence. Hearsay cannot be used as evidence. We will give you a week to investigate and collect evidence. If you cannot provide any evidence, we will file a lawsuit in court, accusing you of defamation and infringing on Chen Hero's right of reputation..."

The wording revealed a coldness. Although it was not激烈, everyone felt the other party's cold and sharp counterattack.

Some newspapers simply stopped slandering Chen Hero. Of course, they did not make any apologies or explanations. They simply didn't mention the matter anymore.

Some media outlets remained stubborn, saying they would use the week to collect evidence, and then they would hand over the evidence to the National Anti-Doping Agency or the European Anti-Doping Committee—it seemed they really believed that Chen Hero had taken banned substances...

However, it was also true that it was incredible for a player to be in such a crazy state for so long. But for them to suspect him of taking drugs because of this was too presumptuous.

Chen Hero had already undergone a urine test after a match, and the results showed that everything was normal—he was clean.

The media did not trust the facts; they only believed their own judgment. Even if the urine test results were normal, it could not prove that Chen Hero was innocent. Because... who knew if he had secretly switched the urine sample?

In the eyes of these media outlets, Chen Hero was a "grand thief" who could disguise himself and sign into the urine test laboratory in full view of the public, and then swap the samples in an undetectable way, thereby affecting the test results.

Faced with the unfounded accusations and suspicions of the Moscow media, Chen Hero and Zenit Club chose to remain silent because they still had to prepare for the semi-finals. But the St. Petersburg media did not need to prepare for the semi-finals, so they responded on behalf of Chen Hero and Zenit Club.

"This is clearly naked envy, jealousy, and hate!"

"St. Petersburg Zenit's next league opponent is Moscow Central Army. These two teams have always had grudges. I think this may be why the news about Chen Hero taking medicine has suddenly become rampant recently?"

"If a player is in good shape, you say he took medicine, then who would dare to say he is in excellent form these days? Pavlyuchenko averages 0.78 goals per game, which is not a small number, so we can also suspect him of taking banned substances..."

Poor Pavlyuchenko, truly caught in the crossfire for no reason.

※※※

If Bayern Munich's players could read Russian newspapers, they would be very surprised—the important UEFA Cup semi-final second leg was about to begin, but the Russians were not concerned about the outcome of the match, but were arguing endlessly about whether a striker had taken banned substances...

But this was obviously a good thing for Bayern Munich. It meant that St. Petersburg Zenit certainly had no intention of dealing with them now, and they could take a brilliant victory away from home!

Bayern Munich's players couldn't read Russian newspapers, but Hitzfeld paid great attention to collecting information and trends about this opponent. When he learned about the situation that St. Petersburg Zenit was currently facing, he had to admit that he was very surprised at first—at this time, they were actually arguing about such a thing...

These Russians!

But this made it easier. He wondered how much energy they had left to prepare to deal with them after all this turmoil?

Hitzfeld felt that it was a foregone conclusion that Bayern Munich would enter the UEFA Cup final.

All he had to do was take advantage of their distress caused by the media and add fuel to the fire.

※※※

No matter how much Advocaat tried to downplay this matter, it was impossible for Zenit's players not to know about it or discuss it.

Obviously, Zenit's players all believed in their teammates. They simply didn't believe that Chen Hero would take drugs... They were very angry about this criticism and accusation from the Moscow media.

Some people also wondered why the always arrogant Chen Hero was so well-behaved this time.

Chen Hero chuckled: "Wait until we finish playing Bayern Munich, and then I'll deal with them!"

Yes, the primary goal now was Bayern Munich. In his opinion, the Moscow media were just the distant barking of a defeated dog. Anyway, there was a spokesperson, so he didn't need to come forward in person now. But he was ultimately a person who couldn't stand loneliness. How could he not get involved in such a thing? So from the beginning, he planned to come forward and slap those media outlets in the face after playing the game against Bayern Munich. The spokesperson? She was just doing the foreplay.

Suppress his own state to avoid suspicion?

Chen Hero couldn't do such a thing. The more others questioned him, the better he had to perform, the better his state had to be, and the more goals he had to score. He wanted to make everyone speechless, except for fear and more fear.

He had to do, work hard, constantly do, and do as much as possible what the enemy didn't want to see. The more angry and furious the enemy was, the happier he would be.

This was Chen Hero's "relationship between the enemy and me."

※※※

The match between St. Petersburg Zenit and Bayern Munich attracted the attention of many media outlets. The match was broadcast globally, and more people would have the opportunity to see Chen Hero's crazy state, or perhaps watch his team be slaughtered by the powerful Bayern Munich...

In the stands of the Petrovsky Stadium, many Chinese media outlets were worried about Zenit's future.

Because before this, the team had always been in the vortex of the "Chen Hero doping scandal." It was impossible for them not to be affected at all, and it would inevitably involve a lot of energy. The ultimate impact of this matter on this game was also unknown.

Although the St. Petersburg media had put up the headline "This is another defense of Leningrad," it could not reverse everyone's attention to the doping incident.

"Those damn Russian media..."

"This is obviously naked jealousy! When Hero performs well, it makes the Russians feel humiliated."

"Moscow's xenophobia is indeed much stronger than in St. Petersburg... St. Petersburg is an immigrant city after all, so it's not so serious in this regard, but Moscow is different..."

"I think Chen Hero should leave the Russian league as soon as possible. Playing in such a xenophobic league, any achievements you make will be questioned... It's really boring!"

Chinese reporters were all indignant for Chen Hero. They had already done this in the media outlets where they worked. After they introduced this matter to domestic fans, it also aroused strong protests from domestic fans. Some nationalistic fans and hackers even attacked the homepages of Moscow teams such as Moscow Central Army, replacing them with a five-star red flag...

More fans vented their dissatisfaction on the Internet, expressing their protest against the Russian media.

But no matter what, these actions could not affect the Russians, especially the hacking of their website could only give the other party more reasons to attack the Chinese and attack Chen Hero.

The only counterattack that could truly make them feel threatened could only come from Chen Hero himself...

※※※

The entire St. Petersburg Zenit team was sitting in the locker room, listening to Advocaat's final speech and instructions. This great battle was imminent.

"In this game, we have no other choice but to win. I really want to go to Manchester. Does anyone not want to go?"

No one said anything. Everyone wanted to go.

"I know that beating Bayern Munich is a bit difficult. But haven't we been practicing for a week to defeat them? Before facing them away, didn't many people think that we were doomed to lose and that Bayern Munich had locked in the final ticket in advance? What was the result? We drew with them! Since we can draw with them away, there is no reason why our performance at home is not as good as away! So... beat them! Let's go to Manchester!"

At the same time, in Bayern Munich's locker room, Hitzfeld was also making pre-war mobilization.

"We were tied in our own home, which means that we must go all out to win in this game. In the final analysis, this is all about paying off debts! Paying off the debts we owed in the last game! So, gentlemen. You must win this game. We have no other choice. No matter what happens on the field, please remember—you are Bayern Munich! You are the symbol and pride of German football! You are invincible!"

※※※

ps, I'm going out to get my new ID card this afternoon, and I may not be able to come back within an hour or two. So the bonus update for 4300 monthly votes is sent in advance~