Good news, veteran fan Li Shiguang has been reborn and reincarnated as a rich second-generation.
Bad news, his father, who was Leeds United's largest shareholder, passed away right before...
The course of the match was exactly as Li Shiguang remembered: the mighty Juventus was overwhelmed by Arsenal's relentless running. 19-year-old Fabregas fully displayed his talent in this match, contributing a goal and an assist to help Arsenal win the game. Juventus, on the other hand, suffered a 2-0 defeat and returned to Turin in disgrace to prepare for the second leg next week.
Throughout April, Leeds United and Arsenal were locked in a fierce and evenly matched battle.
In the 32nd round of the Premier League, Leeds United were held to a draw by Blackburn away, but Arsenal won 5-0 at home against Aston Villa. After two consecutive draws, Arsenal have narrowed the gap between them and Leeds United to 2 points.
In the 33rd round of the Premier League, Leeds United, who were in poor form, were once again held to a draw at home. However, fortunately, Arsenal lost to Manchester United away in this round, and Leeds United widened the gap to 3 points.
In the 34th round of the Premier League, Arsenal, fielding a largely reserve squad, still managed to defeat West Bromwich Albion at home. Following this match, West Bromwich Albion became the second team this season, after Sunderland, to be relegated. Meanwhile, Leeds United ended their three-game draw streak with a victory away from home, maintaining their lead over Arsenal. After this match, Leeds United once again overtook Tottenham Hotspur, moving into third place in the standings.
In the 35th round of the Premier League, both teams won again. After this round of matches, even Li Shiguang had to admire Wenger.
It's important to remember that Arsenal played four matches in those 12 days, including two crucial Champions League semi-finals. Under these circumstances, Wenger maximized his ability to utilize his players, not only securing a win and a draw in the Champions League to reach the final, but also maintaining pressure on Leeds United in the Premier League.
Amidst this tense and exciting atmosphere, the 2005-2006 Premier League season finally came to an end.
Since Chelsea had already secured the league title after a clean 3-0 victory over Manchester United at Stamford Bridge in the previous round, the focus of the final round of matches was mainly on the battle for the top four between Tottenham, Leeds United, and Arsenal, and the relegation battle between Birmingham and Portsmouth.
The relationship between Birmingham and Portsmouth is not that complicated. Since the two teams are not direct opponents in the last round, and Portsmouth is currently two points ahead of Birmingham, as long as Portsmouth doesn't lose this game, they will be able to avoid relegation.
But now the relationship between Tottenham, Leeds United, and Arsenal is a bit complicated.
After entering April, Tottenham's form plummeted. During the period when Leeds United were on a losing streak, they suffered several defeats. Although they adjusted later, they were still overtaken by Leeds United.
Currently, Leeds United are third in the standings with 65 points, followed closely by Tottenham Hotspur, one point behind, while Arsenal are fifth, two points behind Tottenham. Each of the three teams has its own strengths.
First, there's Arsenal, who are at the bottom of the table. If Arsenal can beat Barcelona in the final in two weeks, they can directly qualify for next season's Champions League as the defending champions, regardless of their final league position. But Wenger doesn't dare to gamble on that, after all, it's Barcelona. In comparison, Leeds United is easier to deal with.
For Li Shiguang, the situation is very simple: as long as he doesn't lose the match against Arsenal, he can secure a Champions League spot.
Tottenham's advantage lies in the fact that they don't have to go to extreme lengths in the final round like the other two teams. Their opponent is West Ham United, who are ranked 9th, and frankly, the chances of them upset them are not very high.
Since May 1st, discussions in the media and online about these key matches six days later have never stopped, but when everyone's attention was focused on the games...
On the morning of May 4th, an explosive news broke out in Italy and quickly spread throughout the world of football!
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May 4, 2006, Thursday, Sunny
As usual, Li Shiguang arrived at the Thorpe Arch training base around 9 a.m.
He's been incredibly busy these past few days preparing for Sunday's crucial match against Arsenal. After all, this game not only determines whether Leeds United can secure a Champions League spot next season, but it also relates to the task the system assigned to Li Shiguang: finishing in the top four of the Premier League will earn him a Platinum Treasure Chest as a reward from the system.
"It's been so long since I've opened a treasure chest!" Li Shiguang muttered as he rubbed his slightly sore shoulders and opened the office door.
I made myself a cup of tea, sat down, and just as I turned on my computer, my phone rang.
"Mr. Li! You're amazing!" Raiola's excited voice came through the phone as soon as he put it to his ear. "No wonder you warned me before! You knew about Mogi's shady dealings beforehand, didn't you?"
Li Shiguang was a little confused when he first heard Raiola's description, but when he heard Moji's name, he immediately realized what was going on. He picked up his phone and looked at it. Damn, it's already the 4th! He's been so busy lately that he's forgotten the date. Today is the day the phone scandal broke out!
Just five minutes earlier, after finishing breakfast, Raiola received the newspaper delivered that day. As usual, he lit a cigar, sat comfortably on the sofa, and opened the "Gazzetta dello Sport" on the coffee table.
But just a glance at the big headline on the front page was enough to captivate Raiola with the content inside.
Because Gazzetta dello Sport devoted two full pages to reporting on the phone records between Juventus general manager Luciano Moggi and Serie A referee designator Giuseppe Paileto over six seasons. The article detailed evidence that Moggi bribed Paileto to designate a specific referee to officiate Juventus matches, thereby manipulating the results.
After reading it, Raiola had only one thought in his mind: if the above news was true, then Serie A was doomed. This kind of egregious match-fixing incident would definitely destroy the image of Italian football.
Just as he subconsciously put the cigar into his mouth, Raiola suddenly remembered that a few months ago, Li Shiguang had told him in Turin that something might happen in Italian football and that he should make some preparations in advance. So he quickly put out the cigar he had just taken a couple of puffs of, took out his phone and dialed Li Shiguang's number.
He was so curious: how could Li Shiguang, an Englishman, know such secrets about Italian football so far in advance?