"Boss, that bastard is attacking us again."
Standing in the center of the training field, watching Simone walk over, Li Shiguang didn't even need to guess who the "scumbag" he was talking about was.
He took the notebook from Simone and looked at it.
Sure enough, the Manchester Evening News's sports section featured a front-page headline article titled "Leeds United's waning momentum and empty declaration of victory," with the author's name in smaller print being none other than Charles Wolters.
He hadn't seen this idiot reporter for a long time since he was scolded by Li Shiguang at the press conference last time.
After glancing at it briefly and finding nothing new, the entire article criticized Leeds United's championship aspirations for this season as wishful thinking, so Li Shiguang returned the computer to Simeone.
"Boss, I'm going to find Lind and ask him to help me write a counterattack article!" Simone said angrily as he took the computer.
To his surprise, Li Shiguang shook his head and rejected his suggestion: "Ignore him, he's just a clown. Competitive sports are all about results. An uncrowned king is always an uncrowned king, you know what I mean?"
"But this kid is too damn arrogant. Every time we lose a game, he jumps out and barks!"
"Hahaha, whatever, don't you think it would be more satisfying to slap him in the face after winning the championship? Let's go, time to train, we can't afford another draw in the next match."
····
On Saturday, the entire Leeds United team arrived at The Valley Stadium with an unwavering determination to win, facing Charlton away from home.
Considering that the opponent was not very strong, and that Leeds United would be traveling to Milan to play AC Milan in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals after playing Charlton, Li Shiguang made a lot of rotations for this game, including putting Sun Jihai in today's starting lineup.
For Li Shiguang, this match was just a simple league game, the kind where he would play for 90 minutes, get three points, and leave.
But for Chinese fans back in faraway China, watching the game on TV late at night, it held a slightly special significance. This was because Charlton had loaned a player from China, Zheng Zhi, during the winter transfer window.
In Charlton's match against Newcastle United last week, Zheng Zhi made his first start since joining Charlton and won over manager Alan Pardew and Charlton fans with this game.
Because he not only scored a goal himself in the previous match, but also won a penalty for the team near the end of the game, Charlton defeated Newcastle United with these two goals, gaining three very important points in their fight to avoid relegation.
An unintentional rotation led to a Chinese derby, and Li Shiguang almost burst out laughing when he saw Zheng Zhi in the opponent's starting lineup.
His gaze kept shifting between Cannavaro, who he had arranged to rest on the bench today, and Zheng Zhi, who had been placed in the shadow striker position by Alan Pardew.
He secretly cursed to himself, "Damn it, it's a good thing we had to rotate the squad before the Champions League, otherwise this would have been too much of a mess. Zheng Zhi would have experienced the power of his future assistant coach years earlier than expected."
Even against a Leeds United side fielding almost entirely reserve players, Charlton did not fare well at home.
Zheng Zhi also failed to continue his brilliant performance from the previous game. Under Mascherano's close marking, Zheng Zhi did not get any good opportunities.
On the contrary, Sun Jihai scored an assist through a one-two with De Bruyne, and Leeds United ultimately took three points from The Valley with a header from Podolski, continuing to put pressure on Manchester United.
····
After playing Charlton, Leeds United will face the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final match.
Unlike the previous round when they played Barcelona, now, apart from the Italian media, most people are more optimistic that Leeds United will easily defeat AC Milan.
The reason is quite simple.
Leeds United defeated defending champions Barcelona in both home and away matches.
AC Milan had an exceptionally difficult time against Celtic, a team widely considered one of the weakest in the round of 16.
The two-legged tie, lasting a full 180 minutes, ended in a 0-0 draw.
AC Milan ultimately made it into the quarterfinals only thanks to Kaká's goal in extra time in the second match.
Moreover, their recent performance in the league has been mediocre, suffering a 2-1 defeat to their city rivals Inter Milan and drawing 1-1 with Roma last week.
Given this situation, it's understandable that most people don't have a high opinion of them.
But probably only Li Shiguang knows that this is all just a facade!
In his previous life, Li Shiguang's understanding of football underwent a slight change after watching this season's Champions League final.
Because sometimes, a world-class player really can carry a team forward!
For example, Kaká, who is currently in AC Milan's squad!
····
April 4, 2007, San Siro Stadium.
The two teams facing off tonight have already lined up inside the stadium.
Ancelotti, who always presents a friendly image, didn't keep Li Shiguang waiting for long. After finishing the final pre-match arrangements on the home team's bench, he quickly came over, took Li Shiguang's hand, and joked, "Li, good evening. You'd better make sure the Leeds United lads go easy on you later!"
Although they were rivals, the fat man with his gentle smile did not inspire any hostility in anyone.
Li Shiguang could only smile and agree: "Good evening, Carlo. Well then, it's settled. You tell your players to kick the ball into their own goal near the end of the game, and I'll tell them not to attack too hard, hehehe."
“That won’t do.” Upon hearing Li Shiguang’s words, Ancelotti shook his head vigorously. “This year I’m only looking to earn some prize money from the Champions League, so you have to leave me a way out.”
Li Shiguang was planning to chat with Fatty An for a bit longer.
Suddenly, Simone appeared from the side: "Gentlemen, you've finished guessing which side you're on. Shouldn't you get back in position? Those cameras and microphones are pointed at you over there. Don't say I didn't warn you, you don't want those reporters to hear your ridiculous conversation, do you...?"
"roll!"
The two men simultaneously chuckled and cursed at Simeone before parting ways and returning to their positions, patiently awaiting the referee's opening whistle...
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