Chapter 1 Manchester United Defends Completely

Manchester United had finally gone into complete defense, abandoning even the slightest hint of a counterattack. This was what Mazzarri had expected them to do from the very beginning, but who would have thought that they would wait until the seventy-fifth minute to completely hunker down?

However, with Manchester United completely hunkered down, Napoli had no intention of letting them off the hook.

Because the score was still 1:1! Ending the match like this meant that Manchester United would be the ones laughing as they left, not Napoli!

Cassano's task upon entering the game was to strengthen the attack and try to win the match, preferably by scoring a few more goals.

Unfortunately, Manchester United was still Manchester United. Even with their stamina severely depleted, the team still maintained their special qualities.

They didn't fall easily.

So… it was only in the eighty-sixth minute that Hamsik scored a goal, helping Napoli win the match.

One could say that Napoli had achieved a narrow victory. But Mazzarri was very dissatisfied. Why? Because the opponent was down a man, and they were playing at home, yet they only managed to win in the eighty-sixth minute, and only by one goal. It was too embarrassing…

He seemed to have forgotten what level of team Manchester United was, and what level his Napoli was considered to be…

Ferguson, on the other hand, couldn't be happy either. Although he had achieved the one point away from home that he had hoped for, he had lost two key players. Rio Ferdinand would definitely be unable to participate in the second leg, and it was unknown whether Park Ji-sung would be able to play in the next leg. No one knew how much impact that collision had on him. Would he be fine after a night's sleep, or would he wake up to find it even worse?

Park Ji-sung wasn't exactly a core player for Manchester United, but he was still an important asset.

Especially his tireless style, allowing him to effectively be two players in one on the field. Moreover, he strictly adhered to tactical discipline, making him a player that coaches loved. Such players might lack flair, but they could truly compensate for their shortcomings through hard work, eventually achieving success. However… they often matured late, and their careers wouldn't be glorious for many years.

Park Ji-sung was currently the most popular player in Asian football, with the greatest fame, strength, and achievements. Chen Hero seemed to be catching up to him, as goalscorers were always more popular.

Ferguson was annoyed by Ferdinand's suspension and Park Ji-sung's injury, but he didn't dwell too much on the red card. In his opinion, Rio Ferdinand had brought it upon himself, so there wasn't much he could say.

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In short, both coaches were dissatisfied with the result.

As a result, the second leg, a week later, became extremely important.

It was essentially a final showdown.

All the media outlets that were covering the clash between these two teams believed that the match at Old Trafford was the key to everything. It couldn't be said that Manchester United, with the advantage of playing at home, had a sure thing.

After seeing Chen Hero's form, that was no longer certain.

Chen Hero was able to score a hat trick at the San Siro, so causing some trouble at Old Trafford was no big deal.

Everyone could see that Napoli had come this far in the Champions League mainly due to Chen Hero's efforts. In the five knockout stage matches, Napoli had scored a total of fifteen goals, of which Chen Hero had scored ten himself. Not to mention that he had also assisted on one goal, meaning he was involved in eleven goals.

Everyone could imagine what the result would have been if Chen Hero hadn't been there.

So, as long as Chen Hero's form didn't falter and he continued to score goals, it wouldn't be unreasonable for them to eliminate Manchester United on their home turf…

As for whether Chen Hero's form would falter… given his current momentum in competing with Messi for the top scorer title, it wouldn't be easy to see his form decline.

Coverage and attention regarding Napoli and Manchester United would temporarily come to an end here.

Because on this day, there was news even more worthy of the media's attention.

To be honest, although Chen Hero was currently a rising star in the Champions League, the combined influence of Napoli and Manchester United still couldn't compare to the two teams that were appearing today…

The last time Real Madrid and Barcelona faced each other in the Champions League was in the 2001-2002 season, in the semi-finals. That season was the era of Real Madrid's glorious Galácticos. In the first leg at the Camp Nou, they defeated Barcelona 2:0, and in the return leg at home, they held them to a 1:1 draw, eventually advancing to the final with an aggregate score of 3:1. They then defeated Bayer Leverkusen in Glasgow to lift the Champions League trophy.

This was also the only time Real Madrid and Barcelona had met since the Champions League was rebranded.

Now, it was the second time.

Both teams were currently at their peak. Barcelona was known as the "Universe Team," and although they were eliminated by Inter Milan last season, their glory had not diminished. As for Real Madrid, with Mourinho at the helm, the team's combat power had also increased exponentially.

Two teams at their peak meeting in the Champions League semi-finals brought all their grievances from the league to the highest level stage in football, so it was no wonder everyone was paying so much attention.

The whole world didn't know how many eyes were glued to this semi-final.

Even in China, the fans' enthusiasm for this match might even slightly surpass that of the Napoli-Manchester United match.

Who asked these two teams to have a massive following in China?

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Chen Hero was also very interested in the clash between these two teams. Of course, not because he was a fan of either team, but because he was more concerned about which team Napoli would ultimately face at Wembley Stadium—yes, he was just that kind of person. His own team hadn't even secured a spot in the final yet, and he was already worrying about their opponent.

He certainly hoped in his heart that Barcelona would reach the final, so that he would have the opportunity to thoroughly beat them at Wembley Stadium, while also shamelessly humiliating them, venting all the anger from last season.

Otherwise, he felt that his asshole wouldn't be able to breathe freely—that would cause constipation!

Since he was so focused on this match, naturally he had to sit in front of the television to watch it.

So his attitude towards the match was very strange. One moment he was cursing Barcelona for acting, the next he was hoping for Barcelona to win. Cabrera, who was sitting next to him watching the game, was confused and stopped watching the game, focusing only on him. Every shout and curse of his drew Cabrera's attention.

However, the beautiful female bodyguard didn't roll her eyes at Chen Hero's exaggerated performance. Her eyes, as deep as a pool of emerald, were fixed on Chen Hero. The images on the large plasma television screen were reflected in that pool, constantly changing and flashing, but no one knew what this woman was thinking.

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As a result, in this match, Pepe, who was responsible for defending Messi and played in the defensive midfielder position after switching from center back, was sent off with a red card for stamping on Alves, which caused a fundamental reversal. Without Pepe's restraint, Messi was like a fish in water, scoring twice in the match and defeating Real Madrid 2:0 on the road, taking a key victory and two away goals.

Chen Hero's conflicting feelings were concentrated in the final twenty minutes of the match. He didn't know whether Alves had faked the fall. He couldn't tell from the slow-motion replays in the live broadcast, but out of dislike for Alves himself, Chen Hero naturally had to yell at Alves for faking the fall.

However, Pepe being sent off was in line with his thinking. He hoped Real Madrid would lose and Barcelona would advance, so that he would have the opportunity to vent all his anger.

Unfortunately, the person who helped Barcelona score was Messi. And he scored twice… in one game, he went from being behind to being ahead again.

Even the Italian commentators were shouting wildly, "Messi! Messi! Leo Messi! He scored his eleventh goal in the Champions League this season! Now he is in the lead! The competition between these two shooters is truly wonderful!"

Chen Hero didn't feel very comfortable listening to the praise of Messi.

Another discomfort was that he had not held the leading position for long, less than a day, and in the blink of an eye, he had become a pursuer again. It seemed that he would have to continue to be the pursuer…

Moreover, Messi scored two goals in one game, a brace, while he? He only scored one goal, and he would be surpassed…

So he was conflicted…

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After the game, Real Madrid protested and questioned Pepe's red card. Barcelona also strongly criticized Pepe, who was "infamous," believing that Pepe, a savage person, was not worthy of being a football player.

The entire European media was discussing this matter… oh, wrong, it was the entire world media, Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Europe were all involved.

The reason was naturally because a European television station released the video of the controversial clip in a frame-by-frame manner, allowing everyone to understand what was going on. So they found that Pepe had not actually touched Alves.

This thing came out and caused an uproar. People who questioned the technical means said that there would be frame drops in the TV broadcast, so the results obtained by analyzing the results extracted frame by frame might not be correct; some people felt that even if Pepe did not touch Alves, he should still get a red card for that action; others said that if Alves had not been touched by Pepe, how could he have made such a difficult flip, which completely violated the laws of physics.

It wasn't that no one was standing on Real Madrid's side, but they were all focusing on Barcelona's playing style, such as Alves, the person involved. There were also many people who denounced Alves for diving, especially since he had a previous conviction last season—the cover-up that framed Chen Hero was simply too classic and had become a joke for everyone. Chen Hero didn't even touch a hair on him, and he was embarrassed to cover his face and fall down. If he could do such a thing, what was it to deal with Pepe in the same way? Not to mention that Pepe's freezing of Messi was very effective when he was on the field. Messi basically had no effective performance, and all his activity started after he was sent off.

Since Chen Hero was mentioned… the old story between Chen Hero and Alves would inevitably be brought up again for everyone to talk about.

So… after Chen Hero finished training, he was surrounded by reporters who wanted him to comment on whether Alves dived in that instant between Alves and Pepe, or whether Pepe really committed a foul…

Chen Hero was confused, "What does the feud between Real Madrid and Barca have to do with me? Sorry, I didn't watch that game, I don't know anything!"

"Then about Messi's two goals…" a reporter raised another question. Anyway, they had many questions for Chen Hero.

Chen Hero's face darkened, but he said very arrogantly, "I, Chen Hero, am not afraid of anyone when it comes to scoring goals!"

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ps, there will be another three-part explosion tomorrow~~

Asking for everyone's monthly votes!