Chapter 1 After Cassano's Heart Attack

After Antonio Cassano suffered a heart attack, Barcelona, Napoli's opponent in the Champions League, sent their best wishes from head coach Pep Guardiola.

He said Cassano was an excellent player and wished him a speedy recovery. "...If possible, I hope to see him in the second leg of our match, but obviously that's unlikely..."

Aside from that, Barcelona didn't talk much about the topic.

Because the issue was a bit sensitive. Constantly discussing the opponent would give the media something to talk about. Especially the Italian media. Barcelona knew the Italian media was unhappy with them, and saying too much could lead to mistakes. If they found something to exaggerate, the pre-match preparations would be greatly affected.

This match could be described as a "life-or-death battle" for Barcelona.

If the defending champions lost in the quarterfinals, it would be a real… disgrace.

If Barcelona had won easily in the first leg, they might have been more willing to talk about Cassano's condition and make more friendly gestures. But now, their minds were focused on the game.

This away trip was incredibly dangerous.

From a certain perspective, Cassano's heart attack was good news for Barcelona... After all, the Napoli attack of Cassano, Chen Hero, Arshavin, and Hamsik was very powerful, as Barcelona had already experienced at the Camp Nou.

And Napoli without Cassano was like a broken arm, reducing Barcelona's defensive pressure.

That was naturally a good thing.

This showed how seriously Barcelona took this match.

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The day before the match, Barcelona flew to Naples, where countless reporters gathered at the airport to interview the strongest team on Earth.

"I regret what happened to Cassano, and I wish him a speedy recovery. But we will not hold back in this match," Guardiola said in an interview.

Chen Hero responded in an interview, "I don't think a team that let us score two away goals has the right to talk about holding back, right?" True to his style. "We will dedicate this victory to Antonio. It's a pity he can't be there to watch the game..."

He spoke as if victory was already in Napoli's grasp.

If it weren't for the two away goals, Napoli probably wouldn't have had such confidence. But the way they said it, no one felt anything was amiss.

Cassano couldn't attend the game because he had to have surgery that day, a very unfortunate timing.

Before the game even started, the war of words between the two sides was already intense.

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Zlatan Ibrahimović didn't travel with the team on this away trip, so he lost the chance to compete against Chen Hero in person.

It was said that he had completely fallen out with Guardiola. After Napoli scored two goals at home, Guardiola was furious and berated everyone in the locker room. At the time, it was said that no one dared to say a word, but the reality was different. Rumor had it that Guardiola's anger wasn't because of the two goals conceded, but because Ibrahimović provoked Guardiola after returning to the locker room, pointing at the coach and shouting, "You're a coward! You're a wimp!"

That's when Guardiola, already in a bad mood, exploded.

As punishment, Ibrahimović wasn't even on the roster for the subsequent league game. And he didn't bring the Swede on this crucial Champions League away trip.

Rumors were circulating that Ibrahimović would leave Barcelona at the end of this season.

The center forward who cost Barcelona a sky-high price of more than forty million euros had a falling out with the team in less than a season. That money was really wasted…

Ibrahimović's absence disappointed the media, who had planned to hype up the conflict between him and Chen Hero.

But this match would never be short of topics.

If they couldn't hype up Chen Hero and Ibrahimović, they could hype up Chen Hero and other Barcelona players…

But the reporters were disappointed. After responding to Guardiola, Chen Hero didn't say another word, much to the disappointment of those media outlets eager to exploit him.

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Chen Hero and his teammates sat in the locker room. No one spoke, no one joked around. The locker room was very quiet.

The silence allowed the sounds from the stadium outside to be heard clearly.

The fans were chanting and singing wildly.

If Real Madrid had been shocked by the atmosphere at the Stadio San Paolo on their last visit, then this time, "shocked" was an understatement.

Before the match, both teams had warmed up. Even the Napoli players were taken aback by the packed stadium.

A giant sky-blue flag appeared in the Blue Stand, with the huge Napoli team logo and, of course, a huge image of Maradona next to the logo.

This flag wasn't seen often, usually only at very important matches.

It was a way for the passionate ultras to express their support for the team.

It was quite visually striking.

In addition, many other banners, slogans, and flags were waving in the stands.

At the top of the South Stand, people couldn't wait to light blue and yellow flares, and the smoke filled the stands and spread into the stadium.

In addition, the bottom of the South Stand and the North Stand were covered with white streamers. Fans sprayed confetti in various ways, and it fell like a snowstorm.

The match hadn't even started, but Napoli fans had already heated up the stadium in their own way, and Barcelona would feel like ants on a hot pan when they took the field...

But now, it was eerily quiet in the locker room.

Usually, with Cassano around, the locker room would never be truly quiet.

But today, Cassano wasn't here.

"Antonio's surgery is over, and it was very successful. I called his agent fifteen minutes ago," Mazzarri began. "I know many of you are concerned about him, so I'm telling you this news first so you can focus on the game."

The locker room came back to life, and many people smiled, visibly relieved.

Logically, it was a minor surgery, and there shouldn't have been any risks. But concern can cloud judgment, and the players who cared about Cassano were still worried.

Now that they knew Cassano's surgery was successful, they were finally relieved.

"Alright, now let's focus on the game…" Mazzarri clapped his hands. "Our opponent is very strong. That goes without saying."

Barcelona had just defeated Athletic Bilbao 4-1 at home in the weekend's league match. However, Real Madrid had caught up with them in the league, and after thirty rounds, the two teams were tied with seventy-seven points. Real Madrid was temporarily ahead of Barcelona with a one-goal advantage in goal difference, ranking first.

But Barcelona wasn't worried about that. The second round of the El Clásico was next. Although Barcelona was challenging Real Madrid away from home, they were still confident they could beat Real Madrid, based on their current performance, and regain the top spot in the league.

Barcelona was more focused on the Champions League. They wanted to defend their Champions League title. If possible, they wanted to defend the sextuple.

"But we are just as strong!" Mazzarri immediately changed his tone. "Since we were able to score two goals against them at the Camp Nou, we can score even more goals against them at the Stadio San Paolo!"

"Guys, our tactics for this game are no different from the last one. The only thing we need to pay attention to is not getting carried away by the fans and rushing out to attack Barcelona. Napoli fans certainly want to see an exciting back-and-forth match, and everyone likes to see one goal after another. But you need to know that they prefer victory. If we are eliminated, Napoli fans will not be satisfied, no matter how beautifully you play!"

Mazzarri looked serious.

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Meanwhile, in the away team's locker room.

Olympique Lyonnais had experienced the poor soundproofing of the Stadio San Paolo's away team locker room, and the Barcelona players certainly felt the same way.

They were currently suffering from noise interference.

But fortunately, this Barcelona team was already coordinated, and they didn't need to say much to each other. How to play? Just play like we always do.

That was enough.

Guardiola's main purpose in saying something was to boost the players' morale.

After all, being tied by Real Madrid in the league and conceding two goals at home in the Champions League was a blow to morale. Barcelona players were human, not machines. There had been too much talk about Barcelona being invincible, and Guardiola didn't like that. Because it would make his players really think they were invincible, making them complacent.

The first leg against Napoli had shown that.

Before the game, the Catalan media had been hyping up Napoli's apparent weakness, and any compliment they paid to Barcelona would make the front page of the newspaper.

And what was the result? No matter how much he reminded them, the players didn't treat Napoli as a threatening opponent.

"Our opponent is very strong. You must recognize that. This is even the strongest opponent we have faced in the Champions League this season. The real Champions League starts now, so you must give it your all. I believe you are already well aware of the consequences of pride and complacency."

After the first leg, Barcelona was mocked by the Madrid media.

Before the game, the Catalan media had taken the opportunity to ridicule Real Madrid, who had been eliminated by Napoli, saying that they would avenge Real Madrid.

As a result, after this game, the Madrid media shouted, "With this level, you want to avenge us? Maybe in a hundred years!"

The Madrid media also made a big deal out of the change in Napoli's attitude towards Barcelona, claiming that this was a typical example of Barcelona's arrogance and conceit, so they deserved to be unlucky.

The Madrid media's ridicule was naturally unbearable for the entire Barcelona team. Dani Alves couldn't stand it anymore and ran to scold the Madrid media: "What right do losers have to laugh at us?"

The result was an even bigger argument, with the Madrid media and the Catalan media arguing, heating up the atmosphere for the El Clásico in the thirty-first round of the league…

"In this game, I want you to completely forget about those two goals conceded and remember that we are still in the lead on aggregate!"

Guardiola was worried that the team would be overwhelmed by the huge psychological pressure—it was a matter of course for Barcelona, with their superior strength, to advance to the semi-finals. It was this "matter of course" mentality that became Barcelona's pressure. So he used this method to remind the players that they were still in the lead, so they didn't need to be too nervous.

"Play well. As long as you can play at your normal level, Napoli and their crazy home crowd cannot stop us!"

As he said this, a huge cheer came from outside, drowning out Guardiola's voice.

The cheers gradually subsided like a tide.

Guardiola continued, "Here, let them see the Barcelona football we've been following for more than twenty years!"

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ps, Starting tomorrow, there will be more chapters!

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