Chapter 82 After Maradona

Real Madrid's loss was Barcelona's greatest joy.

The next day, the Catalan media flaunted their mockery and ridicule of Real Madrid, except this time they didn't try to associate themselves with Napoli.

They mocked Real Madrid with: "...It seems the glory of Spanish football can only be maintained by us Catalans! So wait for us Barcelona to avenge you, Madrid people! Hahaha!"

"Unable to even handle Napoli, and still have the nerve to say they'll lift their tenth Champions League trophy at home? Real Madrid has really lost their minds!"

"With Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka, two major superstars, they've earned six years of failure. The cruel reality has slapped Florentino in the face, telling him that football isn't something you can just play with money. The Barcelona model is the king's way in football!"

The Real Madrid fans gnashed their teeth at the Catalan media's mockery, but in the face of harsh reality, they were powerless to fight back, because they had indeed lost, and lost to a Napoli team they thought they could easily defeat...

Even now, they still didn't believe that their elimination was because Napoli was too strong. They still thought they lost because of their own failures. Because Real Madrid simply hadn't performed at their normal level in these two games.

What was considered normal level?

Beating Valladolid 4:1 away in the league was normal, narrowly defeating Sevilla 3:2 at home was also normal, crushing Tenerife 5:1 away was normal, and a 6:2 home victory over Villarreal was normal... Only the two Champions League matches against Napoli, sandwiched between these games, weren't normal performance.

It seemed that this was indeed the case, because Real Madrid had performed so badly in these two games. They didn't have any decent attacks, and the players on the field were like headless flies, bumping around everywhere.

"...This Real Madrid team is full of superstars, and even if they only perform at half their usual level, it would be enough to eliminate Napoli and advance all the way to the final... What a pity!"

The Madrid media could only sigh in the end.

They also admitted that Napoli wasn't a very difficult opponent, and losing to Napoli was truly a shameful defeat.

Since the team itself hadn't performed at its true level, who was to blame?

"...Senior officials at Real Madrid Club have revealed to us that they are already looking for a successor to Pellegrini!"

"Rumor has it that Mourinho may take over from the 'Chilean Engineer' next season and become the helmsman of the Galácticos..."

"After the game, it is said that a fierce conflict broke out in Real Madrid's locker room. Pellegrini has lost control of this team. Just look at the team's performance on the field, I have no idea what the coach is doing or what role he played in these two games..."

…

See, it's all the coach's fault!

※※※

《The Quarter-Final Curse Continues to Plague Real Madrid!》

《This Season's Biggest Dark Horse in the Champions League – Napoli!》

《The Strong Return of Napoli After the Maradona Era!》

…

There were many newspapers on the table, all discussing last night's game.

Platini, sitting at the table, stared blankly at the repeated names in the newspapers.

Napoli…

He never thought they would be able to defeat Real Madrid in the round of sixteen!

You had to know that this year's Champions League final was held at the Bernabéu Stadium, and Real Madrid had enough reason and motivation to reach the Champions League final.

But they fell at the quarter-final door once again… This was truly ironic.

But it was also good…

Platini had always been very dissatisfied with the financial policies implemented by Florentino's Real Madrid. Last summer, they spent a staggering 159 million euros in one week, buying Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka, becoming a sensational news story. In Platini's eyes, this news was indeed a serious shock to the order of European football!

He believed that teams like Real Madrid and Chelsea were destroying the purity of football, making this beautiful sport tainted with the stench of commercialism.

Real Madrid had spent so much money but still failed to advance past the round of sixteen for six consecutive years. Platini hoped that this would make Real Madrid Club realize that their business philosophy was completely wrong.

Who had the best business philosophy in Europe? Of course, it was Barcelona. La Masia had become a model for European youth training. It would be more helpful to promote the football image and philosophy he hoped for if such a team won the championship. People used to say, "Beautiful football can't win championships," "Offensive football doesn't equal championships," and "You win fans with attack, but you win championships with defense." He wanted to change this outdated view throughout Europe, and even the world. Now, beautiful, good-looking offensive football, artistic football, can also win championships!

Only when all teams thought so would the exciting flowers of beautiful football bloom again across the European continent.

This was Platini's great ideal.

He wanted to make good-looking football the mainstream of world football, so he especially hated "negative football," "conservative football," and "pragmatic football" represented by Mourinho.

If someone like Mourinho led a team to win the championship, it would simply be a humiliation and a blow to the football philosophy he advocated. At that time, pragmatic football would dominate the world again, and everyone would play defensive counterattacks.

People like Mourinho must be nipped in the bud.

But he didn't expect that he broke through Chelsea's obstruction and successfully entered the quarter-finals…

Platini shook his head, he felt that he seemed to be thinking too much. Now it wasn't Mourinho's problem, but Napoli's problem.

His dislike of Mourinho could still rise to the height of different football philosophies, but his dissatisfaction with Napoli was purely a personal grudge.

Just thinking that the players of this team actually slapped him in the face in person made him very upset. Chen Hero's arrogant celebration was still replaying in his mind, and it wasn't so easy to forget.

But… it ends here, Napoli, your good luck is over!

※※※

A week later, all the Champions League round of sixteen matches were over.

The Champions League quarter-finalists were: Bayern Munich, Lyon, Arsenal, Manchester United, Inter Milan, Napoli, Barcelona, and Sevilla.

These eight teams would determine the quarter-final matchups, as well as the semi-final matchups, through a draw.

During this week, Napoli played a league match, drawing 1:1 with Fiorentina at home. Chen Hero, who had finished his suspension, returned and scored a goal in the game. However, his goal still didn't help the team win, and Napoli was held to a draw at home. Fortunately, Palermo lost, otherwise Napoli's fourth place in the league would be in jeopardy.

The only good news was that Chen Hero's rival, Di Natale, didn't score this time, and Chen Hero regained the top spot in the scorer list with nineteen goals.

※※※

After the quarter-finalists were revealed, UEFA held a draw ceremony in Nyon, Switzerland. This time, the draw ceremony didn't invite the head coaches of the participating teams, only some representatives came, not even the club presidents. However, many media were present to observe the draw ceremony.

The draw ceremony was also very simple. They invited a lottery guest and drew all four matchups in one breath.

Before the draw, Napoli fans were guessing which team they would face in the quarter-finals. Given the good memories of the group stage, everyone hoped that Napoli could draw Lyon again. Napoli had a psychological advantage, and it wouldn't be a problem to beat Lyon, so they could advance to the semi-finals.

Of course, the opponent that everyone didn't want to meet was… Barcelona!

Judging from this team's match against Stuttgart, there was no team in European football that could stop them from moving forward.

This expectation and speculation was not only circulating among Napoli fans, but also within the Napoli team.

"I think it's good to play against Lyon, and if that doesn't work… Sevilla is also okay, anyway, they're not strong! That's the safest!"

"Why not Inter Milan? We've defeated them twice in the league. I think it's entirely possible to defeat them twice again in the Champions League!"

The teammates expressed their wishes for the draw results in the locker room.

Chen Hero sneered at them: "You guys are so unambitious! How can you be afraid before the battle? We even eliminated Real Madrid, why are you afraid of other teams? I say, we might as well just play against Bar..."

Before he could finish speaking, a group of teammates pounced on him and pinned him to the ground, everyone scrambling to cover his mouth.

"Damn it! Don't let him say it!"

"Absolutely can't let him say that name! He's such a jinx!"

"Towel, towel! Stuff it in his mouth! Stuff it in, that's right!"

A group of people worked together to subdue Chen Hero and finally blocked Chen Hero's mouth.

However, when the teammates got up from the ground, they were surprised to find that what was stuffed in Chen Hero's mouth wasn't a towel, but… a long sock from who knows who…

Everyone was shocked.

Chen Hero obviously realized this too. He tore off the stinky sock and, like an angry bear, pounced on his teammates.

"You bastards! Prepare to die——!!"

"Wah! Run! Hero is angry!"

"Hero, have mercy!"

"I didn't do it..."

The teammates scattered in all directions, and the locker room was filled with chaos…

Before the Champions League quarter-final draw ceremony, the Napoli players didn't feel nervous at all.