"Yesterday, through long-term efforts and hard work, we successfully defeated Nice and became the league leader."

"This is the first time we've stood in this position this season. I wonder how everyone feels about it?"

In front of the training field, Jardim, along with his coaching staff, stood before the players and asked them a question.

The players looked at each other, and most of them remained silent, because most of them had watched last night's press conference and knew what the coach wanted to say.

Only a few of the more active members commented: "First place is awesome!", "So awesome!", "Didn't sleep all night," and so on.

Jardim observed all the players' reactions and smiled.

Among them, the older ones were noticeably more composed, listening attentively to what was to come. Surprisingly, the young Lei was the same, showing no intention of speaking at all.

"Guys, being number one doesn't mean you'll win the championship, and being number one isn't permanent. It might be for one game, or it might be for several games. Yesterday, a reporter asked me to predict how long Monaco could stay in this position."

"And what's your answer, Coach?"

For a moment, everyone was drawn to the topic of Yardin.

Yardin gave a wry smile and said, "I'm sorry, but back then I was just like you, full of ambition, so I bluntly said, 'Why can't we always be number one?'"

The players immediately applauded.

"After calming down, I went back to the office and checked. There were still fifteen rounds left in the league. We had already faced our strongest opponents one by one. What did we have to fear from the other teams? At that time, I was very clear that our team had a chance to compete for the championship."

"So, taking this opportunity, I'd like to clearly tell you our plans for the future. We must fight for the league championship. Even though everyone outside doesn't think we have a chance, it's truly the honor we're most likely to win, and it's also a very important honor."

"There are four rounds in the French Cup, the Champions League is uncertain, and there are fifteen rounds left in the league. We only have about twenty games left in total. Every game we play is one less we can play. Perhaps after this season, many people will go their separate ways. But right now, we are a team. Why can't we fight for the club and for ourselves?"

"So from now on, no matter how the outside world evaluates you, whether it is praise or criticism, please ignore it. You just need to remember that the competition is everything to you, victory is everything to us, and honor is what we pursue."

"You just need to focus entirely on the game, and the club will take care of everything else. Hopefully, four months from now, when we look back, we can all say to ourselves: 'I did it.'"

As the head coach finished speaking, everyone clapped and applauded.

At this moment, they were all stimulated by this injection of adrenaline and gained a clearer understanding of the championship.

It turns out that they were already so close to the championship, so what else was there to say but roll up their sleeves and get to work!

In the distance, the club's sporting director, Campos, watched Jardim rouse a group of players into a frenzy and smiled with satisfaction.

This is exactly what he wanted to see, and keeping him on this season was definitely the right choice.

Professional football is cruel. Who cares about second place when it comes to the champion? Just like when I was ruthlessly rejected by Manchester United, now I think I should thank these guys. Without them, I wouldn't have come to Monaco as the director, and I wouldn't have met a bunch of excellent players like Mbappe, Remington, and Bernardo Silva.

...........

Monaco's successful move to the top has made local fans very proud.

Many fans believe that their team might be able to create a miracle this year and recreate the glory of the 20th century.

It's worth noting that they are a team that won the French Ligue 1 title in 1961, 1963, 1978, 1982, 1988, 1997, and 2000. They also had their own proud era.

The bars in Monaco are filled with happy drinkers, all praising the team's performance this season. At this moment, whether rich or poor, they are happy to clink glasses and wish each other a bright future.

However, behind this joy, countless people on the internet are not optimistic about Monaco, saying that they are just the kind of team that only lasts a day and that they will be exposed as nothing after a few more rounds.

Major sports newspapers have described Monaco as a team in a situation where "when the cat's away, the mice will play."

Everyone is discussing how long Monaco can hold on.

Despite the generally pessimistic outlook, Monaco achieved a series of remarkable victories, defeating Montpellier 0-2 and Metz 5-0, securing consecutive league wins.

Falcao scored a hat-trick in the match against Metz, bringing his goal tally to the same level as Balotelli, and the two are currently tied for first place in the Ligue 1 top scorers list.

Mbappe also scored a goal during this period, demonstrating outstanding performance.

Monaco kept a clean sheet in three consecutive matches, and their defensive contributions were impressive to many, especially the goalkeeper, who made world-class saves in almost every game.

When then-Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola received the data from the analyst, his already unkempt forehead became even more wrinkled.

"It's going to be tough, really tough!"

The more he understood his opponent, the more he felt this battle would be difficult.

He truly found it hard to believe that these cost-effective players were all playing for a small team in Ligue 1, and that the combined value of his two forwards was even higher than that of their entire team. It was simply unbelievable.

He was particularly struck by the Portuguese midfielder Bernardo Silva.

He can control the ball, defend, and shoot—isn't this exactly the player I've been looking for?

In several matches where Monaco struggled to break the deadlock, it was this player who managed to change the score with a precise long-range shot.

The more he watched the other player play, the more he liked their style of play.

And then there's Monaco's starting goalkeeper, this Asian goalkeeper, whose statistics are also terrifying. It can be said that Monaco's success during this period is closely related to this young goalkeeper.

Monaco's defense is not solid and has many weaknesses, but this team has managed to go on an unbeaten run of more than ten games in the league, and their goalkeeper is crucial to that.

He simply couldn't ignore this player.

The thought of the team's current goalkeeper being unsatisfactory gave him an urge to buy this young goalkeeper.

For the rebuilt Manchester City, buying spree is the most suitable approach in Guardiola's opinion, after all, there's a reason why expensive things are expensive.