"Boss, we got roasted again today."
"Um."
"Some media outlets write really awful things, do you want to take a look?"
"don't want."
"No, bro... we've been attacked! Aren't you going to do anything about it? Shouldn't we get the Yorkshire Post to write an article to fight back?"
Four days later is the league match against Tottenham Hotspur.
So after yesterday's Champions League match, Li Shiguang did not give the team a day off, and training continued as usual today.
As soon as they arrived at the training ground, Simeone approached Li Shiguang with a disgruntled expression and began to complain about the various media outlets that day.
Li Shiguang usually ignored these idiot media outlets, but seeing how concerned Simeone was, he decided to offer some advice: "Diego, in that case, I'll have to give you a lecture again. Let me ask you, besides leading the team to continuous victories, what qualities does a head coach need?"
"Ensure the stability and unity of the locker room?" Simone blurted out, remembering that Li Shiguang had mentioned this to him before.
Upon hearing this answer, Li Shiguang rolled his eyes at Simone, utterly speechless: "So that's all you remembered?"
"What else? Didn't you teach me in the cafeteria last time?"
"Fine, fine, so you're going to play this game with me, huh?" Li Shiguang said, annoyed by Simone, as he stretched out his leg and shoved it into Simone's buttocks.
"Hey hey hey... Let's talk this out, boss, let's talk this out, everyone's watching!" Simone dodged Li Shiguang's attack with a grin, then pointed to the players who were looking at them curiously.
Following the direction Simone was pointing, Li Shiguang turned around, his face dark, and yelled, "What are you looking at? Run your laps properly! If you keep looking, everyone gets five more laps!"
With the threat of an additional five laps looming, the players finally turned their attention back to training.
"Hehehe, boss, just say it directly. Keeping people in suspense isn't a good habit." While Li Shiguang was speaking, Simone quietly slipped back to Li Shiguang's side and said obsequiously.
Forcibly suppressing the urge to kick Simeone, Li Shiguang slowly said, "Maintaining a calm mindset is also one of the essential lessons for a team's head coach!"
A stable mindset?
I was very calm on the court.
But these media outlets are using such nasty language, and I'm not even allowed to respond?
Simone didn't quite understand what Li Shiguang meant, and blinked, continuing to look at him curiously.
Knowing that Simone didn't understand his meaning, Li Shiguang sighed and continued, "Just like you said, we're going to get the Yorkshire Post to fight back against these media outlets that are attacking us. I want to ask you, what's the point? We did lose! When we win, we praise; when we lose, we criticize. Isn't that what the English media, no, isn't that what all the media in the world do best?"
“But the insults they used were so awful!” Simone pouted, looking displeased.
Seeing that Simeone was still a little unhappy, Li Shiguang patted him on the shoulder and comforted him, "Don't worry about them. Look at Ferguson. Manchester United hasn't won a championship in so many years, and his back is probably swollen from all the media criticism! But as long as you don't confront him directly, have you seen him respond?"
When Li Shiguang mentioned Ferguson, Simone really thought about it carefully.
It seems that this is indeed the case. Manchester United's performance has been lackluster in recent years, and they have often been criticized, but Ferguson seems to have never responded to these media outlets with any strong remarks.
"So we just wait for them to say that? We have no way to retaliate at all?" Even though he had figured it out, Simone, who was not a good-tempered person to begin with, did not like being passively scolded.
"What did I tell you before? Competitive sports?"
"Is food the original sin?"
"Right, let them hurl insults now, and write down the names of these media outlets in your notebook. When we win the Premier League title, and they send you interview requests, refuse them all! Believe me, that's worse than killing these media outlets!"
"Boss!"
"What's wrong?"
I've suddenly realized that you're a really bad person!
····
After Li Shiguang's encouragement, Simone's mood improved significantly.
But it was the Leeds United players who suffered. In order to refuse these media interview requests after winning the Premier League title, Simeone really pushed these players to their limits during the rest of the training session today.
Seeing this situation, Li Shiguang was happy to have some free time and clocked out on time at four o'clock.
After returning home, having dinner, and taking a relaxing bath, he turned on the two TVs in the living room on time and leaned back on the sofa to wait for the start of the two Champions League matches that evening.
The group stage draw for the Champions League quarterfinals this season has changed due to Leeds United's appearance and the group stage draw that Li Shiguang remembered. Originally, AC Milan was supposed to eliminate Bayern Munich to advance to the semifinals, but now both teams have made it to the semifinals.
In the lower half of the bracket.
In the first leg, Manchester United lost 1-2 to Roma away from home, while Chelsea drew 1-1 with Valencia at home.
Historically, Manchester United would have won convincingly at home against Roma today, while Chelsea would have narrowly defeated Valencia away, with both Premier League teams advancing to the semi-finals.
But things have changed in the upper half of the bracket, so who knows what will happen in the lower half?
With this uncertain anticipation, Li Shiguang eagerly awaited the start of the competition.
At 9:45 p.m., both matches kicked off simultaneously.
But Li Shiguang only watched for 20 minutes before focusing entirely on Chelsea's match. In those less than 20 minutes, Manchester United had already scored three goals at home.
Although I don't know if the final outcome will be the same as I remember, judging from Manchester United's current form, even if Roma isn't slaughtered today, they probably won't fare well either.
Chelsea's game, on the other hand, was more closely contested.
Valencia, playing at home, took the lead in the 32nd minute through Morientes, and Chelsea failed to equalize until the halftime whistle.
However, Manchester United have extended their lead to four goals.
After the 15-minute break, the four teams switched sides and started playing again. Li Shiguang had already turned off the TV showing Manchester United's game and was now watching Chelsea's game intently.
In the 51st minute, Mourinho's adjustments paid off, with substitute Shevchenko helping Chelsea equalize, bringing the aggregate score to 2-2 and both teams having an away goal.
The game then became a stalemate.
Just when Li Shiguang thought the two teams were going to go into overtime.
In the 90th minute, Chelsea suddenly surged ahead. Essien received a header pass from Drogba and unleashed a powerful shot from the edge of the penalty area, giving Chelsea the lead away from home! Valencia couldn't mount any significant comeback in the following minutes of stoppage time.
Ultimately, Chelsea advanced to the semi-finals with a 3-2 aggregate score.
The result of the other match remained unchanged, with Manchester United thrashing Roma 7-1 at home, also advancing to the Champions League semi-finals...
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