Chapter 61

Just as Niang was feeling a headache coming on, he received a call from Chen Hero.

"Lu Niang, what exactly is going on?" Only two people in the entire club dared to call Niang by this nickname, one was club chairman Chen Xing, and the other was Chen Hero.

Niang was surprised that Chen Hero would call at this time.

He looked at his watch. "Are you done with training?"

"Yeah, just finished. I was blocked on my way back to the locker room, those reporters were like crazy, asking me what I thought about AC Milan refusing to let us use their training base... What's going on? Did we really ask AC Milan to borrow their training base?"

Chen Hero understood things like borrowing training bases, but he didn't expect the club to actually ask AC Milan.

So he came to Niang to verify.

If anyone else had asked this question, Niang would have hung up. But he couldn't hang up on Chen Hero. He just felt very embarrassed.

Embarrassed or not, he still had to explain it clearly to Chen Hero.

After all, Chen Hero was one of his own, truly one of his own.

Not just because he was a Liverpool player.

So he told Chen Hero the whole story.

However, he didn't tell him his suspicion that AC Milan was the one who leaked the information.

But after listening, Chen Hero blurted out, "Damn, it must have been those Italians!"

Niang's mood improved instantly.

After expressing his feelings, Chen Hero asked Niang, "So what are you going to do?"

"Of course, I can only admit it… But I plan to condemn AC Milan's actions. What they did was too unethical. This kind of behavior is a blatant trampling of the unspoken rules of football!"

The more Niang spoke, the angrier he became. Liverpool was completely caught in the crossfire, being ridiculed, while AC Milan, the instigator, was staying out of it.

He felt unhappy.

Unexpectedly, Chen Hero rejected his plan.

"Admit it, but don't blame AC Milan."

Niang found this strange. "Huh? Why?"

"Blaming AC Milan would show that we're afraid of them. Only weak people would use this kind of complaining to others to gain sympathy..."

"Hey, Hero, I'm not trying to gain sympathy..." Niang argued.

"I know, I know. But that doesn't stop others from thinking we're trying to gain sympathy. Think about it, Lu Niang. When you were a kid, if you got beat up, what would you do?" Chen Hero asked.

"Tell the teacher, of course." Niang's answer was quick, and his tone was matter-of-fact.

Chen Hero was speechless. "You really are girly..."

"Aren't you?"

"We bad kids are different from the honor students. I would just punch back!"

"The problem is I can't win..."

"Even if you can't win, you still have to fight! You have to show your attitude, otherwise people will think you're easy to bully. They'll keep looking for trouble. So as long as you show a desperate attitude, they'll be scared. So you have to fight back!" Chen Hero said as a matter of course.

"AC Milan is doing this to make us a laughingstock in European football—and they've already succeeded. If we then complain that it's all because of their leak, we'll become an even bigger joke. We need to be tough and slap those who are waiting to laugh at us hard!"

Niang wasn't a fool. After hearing what Chen Hero said, he suddenly understood.

With such an important day coming up, right before the Champions League final, if he followed his own plan, it would only attract more mockery from the media, which would be a devastating blow to the team's morale.

But if he did what Chen Hero said, responding to the matter with a tough attitude, showing that they weren't afraid of ridicule at all, then the media wouldn't be able to continue to exploit the issue. At the same time, it would be a great boost to the team's morale—the players have been ridiculed, it's impossible for them not to feel anything. At this time, the club's strong response would resonate with the players, so they would work even harder in the final...

What a brilliant move!

※※※

Liverpool Football Club quickly published a statement on its official website.

The statement acknowledged that they had discussed borrowing a training ground from AC Milan and been rejected. This direct admission surprised many media outlets. They had originally thought that Liverpool Football Club would be furious and deny the matter. After all, before Liverpool Football Club admitted it, it was just a rumor, and AC Milan hadn't officially admitted it either.

As long as Liverpool stubbornly refused to admit it, no one could use it against them.

But would things really develop that way?

Of course not.

According to the media's predictions, Liverpool Football Club would most likely deny the matter, and then the media would have a reason to laugh at Liverpool. This time, their reason for ridicule wouldn't be that Liverpool was rejected by AC Milan, but that Liverpool was a bunch of spineless sissies.

This would be even more malicious than ridiculing Liverpool for being rejected by AC Milan.

If they really did that, Liverpool's morale would plummet, and Liverpool's preparations would be mired in endless verbal battles, exhausting their energy.

This was definitely not what Liverpool wanted to see.

But now, Liverpool had admitted the matter very frankly.

This exceeded the media's expectations, leaving those reporters who had done their homework at a loss for what to do.

Moreover, Liverpool's response wasn't just that simple.

Liverpool's public statement only admitted the matter.

But it didn't show a strong attitude.

Of course, Liverpool couldn't come up with anything too strong right now.

But someone could.

Chen Hero was Liverpool Football Club's sharpest and most vicious knife.

※※※

Right after Liverpool Football Club issued a public statement, Chen Hero made some outrageous remarks in front of a large group of reporters during an interview.

"...I know about this, and I'm surprised by your reaction. Is being rejected a funny thing? I think it's even more ridiculous to reject others. Have you ever seen a powerhouse like AC Milan treat a powerhouse like Liverpool like this before?"

The reporters looked at each other, not knowing what to say.

He had hit the nail on the head.

Why should Liverpool be laughed at for being rejected by AC Milan?

In fact, it was AC Milan that should be laughed at... After all, everyone would choose to agree to this kind of thing, so when Liverpool asked AC Milan, they didn't know that AC Milan would refuse. But AC Milan refused, which broke the rules.

"I don't think there's anything shameful about this," Chen Hero continued. "What's shameful is the people who laugh at us, and the people who made this public. I know what they're trying to do. They hope to use this kind of thing to create trouble for our preparations and distract us..."

"Are you talking about Real Madrid, Hero?"

A reporter interrupted him and raised his hand to ask.

Chen Hero shrugged. "I didn't say that, but I know that this news first came from Spain. Also, AC Milan said they didn't reveal this information to the reporters... Some people have the guts to do it, but they don't have the guts to admit it. I think they should be laughed at."

He bluntly aimed the cannon at AC Milan.

Although AC Milan had nothing to do with this final, Liverpool and AC Milan had completely become enemies because of this. Chen Hero's words were equivalent to completely tearing apart the relationship with AC Milan.

But Chen Hero didn't care at all. So what if they tore apart the relationship?

As the instigator of this matter, AC Milan must be punished. Some things were hard to say from the club's perspective, but from the perspective of an individual player, it was easy to say. Therefore, Chen Hero had to pull Liverpool from behind the scenes to the front, and drag them down together.

"I want to tell them, don't waste your efforts! With your meager strength, you can't stop us from reaching the top!"

A roar erupted from the reporters—this was exactly what they wanted to hear!

Chen Hero lived up to expectations!

In one interview, he not only attacked Real Madrid but also hit AC Milan!

Offending two major powerhouses at the same time, truly worthy of being Chen Hero!

But would Liverpool Football Club let him run wild like this?

A day later, Liverpool Football Club issued a second statement on its official website, shorter than the first, very short, but with even tougher wording.

"We at Liverpool Football Club firmly support our players. No matter what the situation, Liverpool Football Club is the strongest backing for its players!"

※※※

Chen Hero and Liverpool's response left AC Milan covered in dirt, especially Chen Hero's words.

He pointed out the core of the problem—it was normal for Liverpool to apply to AC Milan to borrow their training ground, after all, Inter Milan's training base had already been borrowed by Real Madrid. According to the unspoken rules of football, being granted permission was a sure thing. But AC Milan refused.

From this point of view, AC Milan's actions weren't very ethical.

Secondly, AC Milan leaked this matter, causing a commotion. Don't even mention AC Milan denying it. Since this matter was so low-key and secretive, naturally no one other than Liverpool and AC Milan would know about it. Why would Liverpool expose their own dirty laundry and publicize their rejection, something that would make them lose face? So it could only be AC Milan, who disliked Chen Hero and Liverpool, who leaked it.

Everyone actually knew this, but no one had pierced the paper window. After all, AC Milan was a century-old powerhouse. Although it was no longer what it used to be, it was still a major player in European football.

Since they didn't admit it, to insist that they did it would be a slap in the face. Most people wouldn't do something so idiotic.

But Chen Hero was a genuine idiot.

A genuine idiot would naturally do genuine idiot things.

So he unhesitatingly pulled down AC Milan's underwear, pushing a naked, unmasked century-old powerhouse in front of everyone.

While many people were lamenting that AC Milan's actions were unethical, they were also marveling at Chen Hero's toughness and arrogance.

One person actually dared to put a century-old powerhouse on display like this...

Moreover, he had the full support of Liverpool Football Club.

Some people had already smelled something else in the air.