Chapter 161 Draw

On the television screen, the draw guest, Portuguese legendary star Luís Figo, was drawing the teams for the quarter-finals.

From this round onwards, the draw would no longer avoid teams from the same group or the same football association, it was completely random. Therefore, there was a high possibility of numerous domestic derbies, and teams that had faced each other in the group stage could also meet again.

Before this, Figo had already drawn the two matchups of Lyon against Sevilla, and Bayern Munich against Manchester United.

Now he was drawing the third matchup, first drawing the team that would play the first leg at home.

"Inter Milan." Luís Figo drew his old team.

"Napoli! Napoli!" In front of the television, Hamsik was staring intently at the screen, muttering to himself.

This time, Napoli TV did not invite the Napoli players to the studio to record the program and watch the draw live.

So everyone was watching the live broadcast at their own homes.

So far, there were three teams that had not been drawn: Napoli, Arsenal and Barcelona.

Barcelona was definitely a team that Napoli didn't want to face, Arsenal was too unfamiliar, and only against Inter Milan had they played many times in the league, even achieving a double victory this season, giving them enough psychological advantage. If they had a choice, Inter Milan was the only team left that they would be willing to face.

But Hamsik was disappointed. Figo rummaged in the pot for a long time, there were only three balls left, he drew one out, unfolded it and saw...

"Arsenal."

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"Another Italy-England showdown!"

"Platini loves playing this game!"

The reporters who were also watching the television broadcast also commented on the result, but then they suddenly realized—the point to complain about wasn't Inter Milan versus Arsenal, but the remaining matchup that no longer needed to be drawn...

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"F*ck..." Napoli coach Mazzarri, who was also watching the live broadcast at home, leaned back against the sofa.

Napoli would face Barcelona in the quarter-finals...

Platini wasn't going to stop until he had completely destroyed Napoli!

Hamsik's mouth widened, his eyes bulging as he watched the television. He couldn't believe what he was seeing.

Cassano was stunned for a moment before suddenly sneering.

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Only one person was an exception.

When Arsenal was drawn, Chen Hero burst out laughing in front of the television.

Because he had guessed it again, he had a sense of smugness, feeling like a prophet, a seer. Of course, his teammates certainly wouldn't feel smug about this...

Christine Cabrella sat next to him, watching the very happy Chen Hero.

Somewhat confused.

"Barca, Barca! Oh-oh-oh!! Barca, Barca! Oh-oh-oh!" Chen Hero finished laughing and raised his arms in the air, still not satisfied.

First play Real Madrid, then play Barcelona, play against the two best teams in the world in one season.

As expected, it was something that could only happen in the Champions League. The Champions League was indeed more worthy of his expectations than the UEFA Cup.

Chen Hero noticed Cabrella was looking at him with the eyes one reserves for madmen, so he sat down and explained to Cabrella, "Do you know why I'm so happy, Christine?"

"I don't know," Cabrella replied.

"Because it's fun to play against strong opponents, Christine!"

"Is Barcelona very strong?" Cabrella asked.

"Not just strong!" Chen Hero nodded vigorously. "The strongest team on this planet, almost invincible. Whether it's the individual ability of the stars or the overall level, they are extraordinary, even... completely out of this world."

If the media were to hear this, they would be very surprised—that arrogant kid who always dismissed his opponents in front of the media actually had such high praise for an opponent.

"If they're so strong, why do you still want to play against them? Aren't you sure to lose?" Sometimes Cabrella couldn't understand what her boss was thinking...

"Who says?" Chen Hero looked at her, "Almost invincible is not absolutely invincible. Precisely because the opponents are so strong, if we beat them, it will make us even more impressive!"

He said it as a matter of course, as if Napoli would definitely be able to defeat Barcelona.

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When Arsenal was drawn, there was a burst of laughter at the scene. Obviously, this laughter wasn't for Arsenal and Inter Milan, but for the two balls remaining in the glass bowl.

Barcelona and Napoli were drawn together.

They didn't think too much about it, they just felt that this was a great show. Napoli, who had just eliminated Real Madrid, was in the limelight, the biggest dark horse in this season's Champions League, and now the biggest dark horse met the strongest team, they would definitely spark countless fireworks.

This match was really worth watching. As expected, the Champions League was the highest level football competition in the world today!

Although the matchup had been revealed, there was no suspense, but it still had to be drawn, who would play the first leg at home, who would play the first leg away.

This time, Figo didn't rummage inside for a long time before taking out the small ball, he took one out directly, opened it and saw: "Barcelona."

Barcelona would play the first leg at home, and Napoli would play the first leg away.

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After the draw, the media began their routine evaluation work again.

Among the quarter-finals, the most worthy of discussion, the most imaginative were actually only two matchups. The match between Inter Milan and Arsenal could be regarded as a strong-strong dialogue, while Barcelona and Napoli was a direct dialogue between the defending champion and the biggest dark horse.

In addition, according to the results of the draw, the winners of these two matchups would meet in the semi-finals.

Mazzarri received a call from a reporter at the first moment. He hadn't recovered from the anger that this result had brought him, so his words were a bit harsh.

"Against Barcelona? What can I say? I have nothing to say. I can only say, the round of 16 against Real Madrid, the quarter-finals against Barcelona. For Napoli, who returned to the Champions League after eighteen years, this treatment is too great!"

Even a fool could hear the sarcasm in his tone.

Napoli club president Aurelio De Laurentiis also accepted a telephone interview with reporters.

"When we drew Real Madrid in the round of 16, many people thought we were done, but we proved we could do it with our actions. So... Barcelona or whatever, I don't care."

The old man's answer was more sophisticated, giving people confidence without complaining about anything. Although he himself knew very well the meaning behind this draw.

As for the players...

The next day, when the team trained, everyone met in the locker room.

There was no "everyone was listless" situation, but a series of foul-mouthed rants.

"Damn it! UEFA is too rampant!"

"Platini is really not a good bird!"

"Just because we beat Lyon once, look at how long he's held a grudge..."

Chen Hero appeared at the door of the locker room, greeting everyone with vitality: "Hey, brothers, good morning!"

Everyone turned to glare at him.

"Uh..." Chen Hero raised his hands, "This time it's really not my fault, you all shut my mouth..."

"You jinx!!"

A group of people made a racket again...

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Mazzarri was originally quite worried about the team. After facing two super giants in a row, he was afraid that the team would show insufficient fighting spirit—which was quite normal. Any team would probably lack fighting spirit and have a feeling of "despair" when facing Barcelona.

So he planned to come to the locker room before training to see the situation. If the team's morale was insufficient, he would have to find a way to boost it.

As a result, just as he walked to the door of the locker room, he heard the noise inside.

"This time we really have to shut Hero's stinky mouth!"

"Let's use stinky socks, anyway, his mouth is stinkier than socks!"

"Hero, listen! This is the angry voice of the people!"

"Damn it! It has nothing to do with me, Platini is the one who's playing tricks!"

"Then tell me, are you Platini's godson? Why can you always know the draw results in advance!"

"So many media outlets have guessed the draw results correctly many times, are they also Platini's godsons? Isn't this Platini's intention, known to everyone..."

"Stop talking nonsense! In the future, you are not allowed to express any opinions on the draw results, nor are you allowed to make predictions!"

"Damn it, it's just Barcelona, what are you afraid of! We'll just fight them..."

"Damn it, who's afraid of Barcelona! We're annoyed with you!"

Mazzarri ultimately didn't go in, because he felt that he might have worried for nothing...

This Napoli really had the shadow of Maradona's era.

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After the commotion, everyone rested, and Chen Hero asked his teammates: "Are you really not afraid of Barcelona?"

"Are you afraid, Hero?" Hamsik asked him back.

"I'm not afraid of anything!" Chen Hero said in his hometown dialect.

But the teammates didn't understand: "What did you say?"

"Oh, my hometown dialect, it means I'm not afraid at all!"

"Your hometown dialect is quite interesting, Hero..."

"I've always liked Chinese culture, look!" Cassano rolled up his sleeves, and there was a row of Chinese tattoos on his arm: Antonio.

That was his name.

"I've had this idea for a long time—why don't you teach me to speak Chinese!" Cassano said to Chen Hero.

His words were seconded by other teammates: "It would be so cool to speak Chinese! I want to learn too!"

With Chen Hero's joining, more and more Chinese reporters came to the Volturno training base to interview Napoli. Everyone could often see them, and sometimes they would accept their interviews. They generally spoke English, and occasionally they would encounter someone who spoke Italian, making communication really difficult.

However, Cassano and others wanted to learn Chinese not to communicate with reporters, but just to joke in front of Chinese reporters.

Chen Hero smiled: "Okay, I'll teach you. Come on, watch my mouth, learn from me—I am a bastard!"

A group of teammates followed him and learned: "Wo xi gui er zhi..."

"No, no, it's 'guierzi'!" Chen Hero said seriously like a teacher.

"Guierzi!"

"Woshiguierzi!"

"Woshiguierzi!!"

After the Champions League quarter-final draw results came out, the Napoli players still didn't feel any tension.

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ps, three chapters completed, asking everyone for double monthly tickets!

Last day of the double period!