Chen Hero's response was absolutely unacceptable to Barcelona. It was a slap in their faces, bringing up old grievances.

This could not be allowed to stand!

So the war of words continued to escalate, with Barcelona's players joining in.

Even the usually low-key Quique came out with a sarcastic remark: "Since it's the last game of your career, maybe you shouldn't say so much…"

He didn't name names, but everyone knew who he was targeting.

Quique's statement surprised many.

Because Quique had never commented on Liverpool or Chen Hero, even though they had never had the chance to meet. The media would always ask him what he thought of Chen Hero and Liverpool.

Quique had always remained silent, refusing to answer such questions.

So in the wars between various geniuses and Chen Hero, Quique had never been involved. Even though the media maliciously tried to provoke Quique to join the battle.

But Quique didn't take the bait.

He remained low-key and silent.

This gave many people a good impression of him.

In public, Quique was a low-key, humble, perfect player: talented, with a good personality, handsome, and his height was no longer a drawback.

So no one expected Quique to jump out at this time.

Although he didn't name names and didn't say anything too harsh, he had expressed his attitude!

That was enough.

After Quique spoke, the media were collectively stunned for a while, and then the internet began to wildly speculate about Quique's remarks targeting Chen Hero.

Some media even embellished the story, deliberately exaggerating Quique's tone and content.

Quique did not come out to refute or clarify these claims.

Chen Hero was about to retire anyway, so there seemed to be no need to continue wearing a mask. He had endured these frustrating days for six years, and he could no longer bear it. The raging fire in his heart could no longer be suppressed and was about to burst out!

He felt that he really needed to show his attitude, otherwise, when Chen Hero retired, he would no longer have this opportunity. By then, even if he became the best in the world, people would think of him as Chen Hero's successor.

But this was unacceptable to him. As a Barcelona player from La Masia, his dislike for Chen Hero was almost innate. So Quique could never accept ascending the throne as Chen Hero's successor. He felt that he had to at least state his attitude to prove to everyone that his relationship with Chen Hero was nothing like they thought.

So he remained silent about the media's hype.

Giving the impression of tacit agreement.

※※※

Those pro-Liverpool and pro-Chen Hero media were very dissatisfied with Quique's statement.

Because of the posture Quique had previously shown, these supporters of Chen Hero had always had a good impression of him. He was perhaps the only Barcelona player who could win the favor of Chen Hero and Liverpool supporters.

But now, these people suddenly felt a sense of disgust at being deceived. They felt that their feelings had been betrayed, that Quique was such a despicable and shameless villain!

"... Why has Quique been silent all this time? Not because he respects Chen Hero, but because he was afraid that after expressing his attitude, he would be crushed to bits by Chen Hero. This has been thoroughly demonstrated by many of his predecessors. But now there is no such danger. No matter what he does or says, Chen Hero will retire next season, and no one can threaten his position anymore. With his strength, he will be a strong contender for the world's number one player..."

"What annoys me is not Quique's expression of hostility towards Chen Hero. It's the timing of his expression of hostility. He didn't do it before, but he chose now because he felt that Chen Hero had reached the end of his career and he could humiliate the other party at will without worrying about retaliation from Chen Hero... But is it fun to bully people like this?"

The media criticized Quique's actions.

But this was only the practice of a few media outlets.

More media outlets were following the hype of this matter.

They had been looking forward to a direct confrontation between Quique and Chen Hero for a long time, but Quique had never given them the opportunity before. And the two teams had never met again after Quique was transferred to the first team, so Chen Hero could not take the initiative to find Quique's trouble.

But now the two were finally going to fight!

This made the media very excited.

They were afraid that Quique's ambiguous words would not clearly express his meaning and would not arouse Chen Hero's anger, so they added fuel to the fire.

For a time, various sensational headlines sprung up like mushrooms after a rain.

"Quique: The future belongs to me, old man, retire!"

"Quique challenges Chen Hero's authority, years of resentment erupt in one day!"

"A tiger falls in the plains, Chen Hero is ruthlessly ridiculed by Quique…"

"Quique is full of confidence in winning the championship, the aging Chen Hero cannot stop him!"

…

With everyone's hype, this matter was炒成了赛前最大的看点.

Everyone started to extend the topic from this matter, and then it became a direct duel between the two major centers.

Quique and Chen Hero are currently the most outstanding centers in European football—Amoruso hasn't come to Europe to play yet, so he's not counted.

However, the styles of the two are not exactly the same.

Quique is not a powerful center forward like Chen Hero was when he was young, but a shooter with a keen sense of smell, exquisite shooting skills, and a one-shot kill. At the same time, he also has excellent footwork and good speed from La Masia.

His height of 1.8 meters makes him less powerless when fighting for headers than his predecessor Messi.

In short, this is a relatively comprehensive forward. But it's not a truly comprehensive one. Because in Barcelona, he rarely has the opportunity to use his headers. He relies more on scoring points or dribbling.

He doesn't rely on his body and speed.

Chen Hero is different.

The former Chen Hero interpreted "comprehensiveness" to the fullest.

Heading, left and right feet, dribbling, speed, strength, free kicks... All-knowing, all-proficient.

At that time, he was at his peak and was invincible in the world.

Now that Chen Hero is older, he has gradually transformed into a pure scoring shooter, relying on his rich experience and elusive running position, as well as a precise shot to score.

Both of these people are leaders among the forwards in today's football.

Among them, Chen Hero is still firmly in the position of world's number one center and number one player at the age of forty, which makes many people feel deeply afraid.

Now these two are finally going to face each other for the first time.

Everyone is very excited.

※※※

The face-to-face confrontation between Chen Hero and Quique is first reflected in the war of words.

Quique implied that Chen Hero should get lost after finishing this game and stop talking nonsense. This is an eager and about-to-appear rookie impatiently urging, he can't care about whether it's graceful to sit like this anymore. He was just short of saying, "Don't you occupy the latrine without shitting."

Chen Hero would naturally not be willing to be humiliated.

He immediately fought back.

"Kid, it's best to be polite to old people, otherwise you will be punished. Also, don't think that you can be king and dominate from next season. Be careful of being carried away!"

Chen Hero's counterattack made the media feel unfulfilled.

Because what he said was not murderous enough!

It was far less murderous than when he exposed Barcelona's scars.

Could it be that Chen Hero is really afraid of Quique, who is seventeen years younger than him?

It shouldn't be? With his temper and personality, he shouldn't be afraid of anyone... Chen Hero has been in his career for twenty-four years, and he is not even afraid of FIFA and UEFA. Is there really anything in this world that makes him afraid?

If it's not fear, how else can this scene be explained—his response is too weak and feeble, okay?

That's how everyone guessed. Whether they were willing to believe it or not, they could only come to one conclusion, which was that "it seems that Chen Hero seems a little lacking in confidence when facing Quique, who is seventeen years younger than him..."

※※※

Chen Hero's reaction not only surprised the media, surprised the fans, surprised the onlookers, but also surprised Quique himself.

After expressing his attitude, he won cheers and applause from Barcelona fans. At the same time, he was also prepared to endure Chen Hero's anger.

But none of this happened.

Chen Hero's response seemed so weak and powerless.

He even called himself an "old man" and talked about retribution... What a joke! Would I, Quique, be afraid of this kind of threat? Does retribution really exist? No one believes it! If there really is retribution, you bastard will really be punished! Look at the things you have done. I don't know how many people have cursed you with the most vicious language, but aren't you still living well? You haven't lost a single championship. So what kind of retribution is there? It's all just a lie! There is absolutely nothing in this world that can give people retribution!

Faced with such a weak Chen Hero, Quique felt that it must be because the other party thought that he was going to retire after this game, so he couldn't say any harsh words.

Yes, it must be like this!

People have inertial thinking. Once a thought is formed in their minds, they are likely to be swayed by this thought, and all their ideas will develop along the trajectory of this thought. This is the so-called self-hypnosis.

Once people believe in their preconceived notions, it is difficult to change them. They will firmly believe in their own judgment. Unless they hit a wall.

After reaching such a conclusion, Quique was even more confident in defeating Chen Hero in the final.

An old hero, with himself and Barcelona going all out, how can he not be defeated?

After this final, the Liverpool dynasty and the Chen Hero era will come to a complete end, and Barcelona will return to the peak of the world under its own leadership!

At that time, a new era will begin in the entire world of football!