Chapter 1 The Key

Real Madrid believed the key to breaking the "Dream Team" curse lay within themselves. They disdained participating in tedious Q&A sessions like other clubs, wondering "What are our opponents like?" They didn't discuss their opponents, Napoli, at all. Only a few Madrid media outlets introduced Napoli to Spanish fans.

For many, their memories of this team remained in the distant 1980s. That was when Maradona transferred from Barcelona, setting a world record transfer fee of ten million US dollars.

What did ten million US dollars represent in 1984? At the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, the total television broadcasting fee for the entire European Broadcasting Union was nineteen million two hundred thousand US dollars.

Since Maradona transferred from Barcelona, Spanish fans still remembered that era to some extent.

Spanish media introduced Napoli's current situation to the fans, but it was mostly a superficial overview. They mentioned a few of the team's stars, their current league ranking, and their performance in the Champions League group stage. That was all.

Actually, their introduction was quite informative in terms of data. They listed Napoli's goals scored and conceded in the league this season, as well as a series of data from their Champions League group stage matches, for analysis.

But why still call their introduction superficial?

Because with Napoli, simply introducing data and their record could only ever scratch the surface. You could never delve deeper into the team.

The reason this team was called Napoli, and was unique throughout Italian football, was definitely not because they had won a few games, scored a few goals, lost a few games, or conceded a few goals.

It was because...they were called "Napoli."

※※※

Real Madrid Club didn't talk much about Napoli, and similarly, Napoli didn't talk much about their opponents either.

This was truly a strange pairing in this Champions League round of sixteen. After the draw, other teams always talked incessantly about their opponents. Even teams like Barcelona couldn't avoid it. From players to coaches, they all spoke about Stuttgart, whether it was thinking they had an easy draw, or warning their teammates not to underestimate them.

But Napoli and Real Madrid unexpectedly didn't discuss each other. Real Madrid not discussing Napoli was understandable. They were the best team of the twentieth century, a giant among giants, and had to maintain the airs of a superclub, disdaining to discuss opponents of Napoli's caliber.

But Napoli not discussing Real Madrid was a bit strange to the media—they obviously weren't ignoring a team like Real Madrid because of their own fine traditions and glorious past.

So why hadn't they talked about Real Madrid?

Outsiders might not know, but people within the Napoli team understood very well.

Because from the moment the draw results were announced, Mazzarri felt that Napoli's opponent wasn't Real Madrid, but...UEFA and Platini.

The day after the draw results came out, Mazzarri gathered all the players during team training. He had a few words to say to everyone.

"To be honest, guys. We've been screwed!" Mazzarri frowned, his face overcast.

Everyone was used to his swearing and didn't think anything of it.

"There are some things I can't say publicly, but I want you all to be clear about them. Why were we paired with Real Madrid? Because we slapped Platini in the face in Lyon without any mercy. This is his revenge. We all knew they wanted us to lose to Lyon to ensure Lyon qualified for the group stage, and even got first place. Now he's using practical actions to tell us that first place isn't a guarantee either." Mazzarri looked at everyone, his expression serious.

"But I want to thank him. Why? Because he made us realize a reality, which is...never pin your hopes on how far you can go in this competition on the opponents you might encounter. We thought first place in the group would give us a free pass, but reality slapped us hard. What determines how far we can go in this top competition is actually very simple..." Mazzarri held up one finger. "Only one thing: our own strength. If we had Barcelona's powerful absolute strength, would we still care who our opponents are? So, forget who our opponents are, and work hard to improve our strength!"

"I'm truly honored for you, guys. Because Napoli is the first team in history whose opponent isn't Real Madrid or Barcelona, our opponent is the powerful UEFA, is UEFA's President Mr. Platini. Challenging the powerful has been Napoli's fate since the Maradona era, and I'm very happy that we still have the chance to continue this glorious tradition today! We Napoli gave Platini a strong counterattack in Lyon, and I hope that next February, we can still make Platini feel uncomfortable for several days!"

The players burst out laughing. The coach's words were too vivid. They seemed to be able to imagine Platini's expression in Lyon.

Mazzarri's words made everyone feel warm inside on this cold morning, their blood boiling, filling them with motivation and fighting spirit, wishing they could immediately start the two-legged Champions League round of sixteen tie with Real Madrid.

Mazzarri seemed to know what the players were thinking. It wasn't good to be too fired up. A good coach had to be good at controlling the players' emotions, not just arousing them.

"Oh, right, there's one more thing. Don't work too hard during training today, because... you all know, we have a Christmas dinner tonight. I don't want anyone ending up in the hospital before that..."

※※※

The Christmas dinner was a celebration organized by the Napoli club. Although there was still a week until Christmas, the last game of the year was on December 20th. After the game against Chievo, the team would be on vacation. It would be impossible to hold any celebrations then. Everyone would be impatient to go on vacation. Who would care about the club's celebration dinner?

The players had worked hard for a year. Through this dinner, the club thanked the players and staff for their hard work, while also strengthening their fighting spirit and enhancing the players' sense of belonging.

Especially with the draw having given them Real Madrid, such an unfavorable outcome, this dinner was particularly important.

In fact, the club had officially notified each player about the Christmas dinner long ago, and had also informed them that it was a family dinner, and they could bring their female companions and children. The so-called female companions meant that those with wives should bring their wives, those with girlfriends should bring their girlfriends, and if they didn't even have a girlfriend... they should hurry up and find one!

Chen Yingxiong belonged to the category of "poor guys who don't even have a girlfriend."

Actually, with Chen Yingxiong's popularity with women, he shouldn't have lacked a girlfriend. But he was really single now, which might have something to do with him being too promiscuous. Which woman was confident that she could tie down this womanizer who wanted to sleep with every beauty he saw?

So Chen Yingxiong was quite distressed about where to find a female companion.

※※※

Because there was a club event in the evening, training ended early today. The team gave each player time to go home to change and bring their families.

Before leaving, Cassano was still joking with Chen Yingxiong: "I said, Hero, why don't you call that girl from the TV station? I think she's interested in you." He hadn't forgotten the infatuated expression of that woman when they were filming the show at the TV station.

Chen Yingxiong gave him the middle finger: "Don't worry, I'll definitely bring a beautiful woman! You don't need to bother yourself!"

Cassano laughed and left. Although he was joking, he felt that Chen Yingxiong didn't seem to have any better choices other than that woman...

Chen Yingxiong got into Cabrero's car in frustration and drove home.

The female companion issue really gave him a headache. Although he wasn't lacking in women, at this moment, he lacked a suitable female companion candidate...

He sat in the car, thinking about this problem for a while, racking his brains, going through all the women he knew in his mind, and found that there really weren't any suitable ones. Vera, as his spokesperson, could come to the rescue at this time, but she was still in Russia... this was too far to be of any use.

The car suddenly accelerated, and he leaned back abruptly. He knew that Cabrero was accelerating again to shake off the fans who were chasing the car, wanting autographs and photos. For the popular players in the Napoli team, trying everything possible to avoid those crazy fans on the way home was their basic skill, which naturally included high-speed driving.

This acceleration shifted Chen Yingxiong's attention to Cabrero, who was driving.

This cool female bodyguard was still wearing a black suit and trousers—she always dressed like this, and sometimes Chen Yingxiong even thought she never changed her clothes all year round. Her hair was slightly longer than when Chen Yingxiong first met her, at least she could style it now.

Chen Yingxiong had lived under the same roof as her for more than a year, and had never seen her put on makeup, not even the most basic lipstick.

No necklace, no earrings, no rings, and no other accessories.

She wasn't interested in anything that women were interested in.

If her figure wasn't still curvy, people would really think she wasn't a woman.

In the past, Chen Yingxiong had the idea of teasing her, such as asking her to pretend to be his girlfriend to hide his identity when he went out. As a result, he found that this person had no romance at all, and was really too boring, so he slowly stopped doing it.

The problem of finding a female companion was still bothering Chen Yingxiong. He looked at the woman in front of him who didn't seem like a woman and thought that he might as well try his luck. If she refused, he would go find the new female vase from the TV station. She had come to leave him her phone number after the show that day, so at least she wouldn't refuse him...

"Hey, Christine."

"What's the matter, Mr. Chen?" Cabrero's tone was cold, giving off a feeling of rejecting people from thousands of miles away. If Chen Yingxiong hadn't been used to her tone, he would have shut up on the spot and not said the request that followed.

"Help me with something. We have a Christmas dinner at the club tonight, and... it's a family-style banquet, requiring each player to bring a female companion or something..."

"You want me to be your female companion, Mr. Chen?" Cabrero directly stated Chen Yingxiong's request.

Chen Yingxiong nodded: "That's right. Of course, uh, if you don't want to, it doesn't matter, I'll go find other women..."

"Okay. Protecting you is my duty, Mr. Chen."

Cabrero's answer left Chen Yingxiong speechless for a moment. He was still babbling: "...You know, I'm very popular with women, so actually I have a few other candidates... What did you say?" He reacted at this moment, like his internet speed was lagging.

"I said okay. Protecting you is my duty, Mr. Chen." Cabrero repeated.

Chen Yingxiong opened his mouth wide: "That's an internal banquet, there definitely won't be any extremist fans sneaking in..."

"You can't let your guard down in any situation," Cabrero replied in a formulaic way.

Chen Yingxiong wanted to complain a few words, but when he thought that she had already agreed, he couldn't be too mean...

So he just pursed his lips and didn't say anything.

※※※

After a long time, Cabrero, who was concentrating on fighting wits and courage with the fans, suddenly heard a voice from the back seat: "Thank you, Christine."

※※※

ps, Our goal is to exceed as much as possible on the monthly ticket list, and to jump forward as much as possible!

Everyone, please satisfy me!