The chat with Florentino ended pleasantly. After hearing that Li Shiguang had agreed to sell two star players to support him, the old man readily agreed to cooperate with Li Shiguang's plan.
Li Shiguang was also very happy.
Although they hadn't reached the point of negotiating the price yet, he remembered very clearly that in his previous life, the year Florentino Pérez returned to power, he spent a whopping 261 million euros in the transfer market to build the second "Galácticos".
With a friend who is absolutely wealthy, Li Shiguang has no worries about not being able to sell his players for a good price!
····
the next day.
After a satisfying trip to Switzerland, Li Shiguang and his two teammates returned to England. The players who were not called up by the national team had already ended their holidays and returned to Leeds one after another.
Leave the training to Simone and Rivaldo.
Li Shiguang also took two days off, enjoying a comfortable two-day getaway with Shakira before returning to work at Thorpe Arch to prepare for the upcoming matches.
On October 20th, Leeds United will host Portsmouth at home.
Since most of the key players played for their national teams on the 18th, and considering that Leeds United will be flying to Ukraine to play a Champions League group stage match against Dynamo Kyiv after this game.
After careful consideration, Li Shiguang decided to give the main lineup a rest and fielded a group of substitutes to face Portsmouth, who had a very good season.
Although most of the players sent were substitutes.
Before the match.
Both Li Shiguang himself and the media and fans believed that Leeds United, who had just won three points from Manchester United, could easily defeat Portsmouth at home.
But less than 20 minutes after the game started, Li Shiguang was already cursing on the sidelines in anger!
Portsmouth were already leading Leeds United 2-0 away from home.
Moreover, Portsmouth's second goal was a penalty!
Cannavaro, who was not called up to the national team this time, committed a foul from behind in the penalty area, giving Portsmouth a wonderful red card and penalty.
After the start of today's match, Li Shiguang felt that Cannavaro was not in good form. Facing the attacks of Portsmouth forwards Utaka and Benjani, two fast African forwards, he seemed to be struggling.
Several times, I was directly outpaced by my opponent.
The first goal conceded was also caused by Utaka outmaneuvering Cannavaro and crossing from the byline.
As Li Shiguang was considering whether to substitute Cannavaro at halftime, he was substituted off the field early...
Li Shiguang could see it very clearly from the sidelines.
Cannavaro, who was shown a straight red card by the referee, wanted to argue for himself, but when he spread his hands and the words were about to come out, he swallowed them back. He could only shake his head with his hands on his hips and walk to the sidelines with his head down.
I don't know why.
At that moment, Li Shiguang suddenly felt that the pillar of the defense that he had personally poached from Juventus was showing signs of fatigue.
Cannavaro, who had walked to the sidelines, looked up at Li Shiguang and said apologetically, "I'm sorry, boss, I... I thought I was going to be able to tackle the ball."
These regretful words made Li Shiguang's heart tighten, and the scene of Rivaldo coming to his office to chat with him last time suddenly flashed into his mind.
But the game was still going on, and the team was down by two goals while also receiving a red card.
The first thing Li Shiguang needs to consider is how to adjust his tactics.
So he didn't blame Cannavaro, but simply patted the Italian veteran on the shoulder and said softly, "It's okay, Fabio. Everyone makes mistakes. Go change your clothes first."
Next, Li Shiguang substituted Hummels for Reus, and then instructed the players to stabilize the defense, leaving only Podolski on the front line.
Leeds United, who had initially planned to equalize by launching a barrage of attacks after falling behind by a goal, completely switched to a defensive counter-attacking strategy after their opponents scored a penalty.
Fortunately, in the next twenty minutes or so, the Leeds United players maintained their composure and prevented Portsmouth from extending their lead.
During halftime, Li Shiguang returned to the locker room and flew into a rage, giving the starting players a severe dressing-down for their performance in the first twenty minutes. He then substituted Adriano for the ineffective Podolski in the first half.
Fifteen minutes later, the two sides switched sides and resumed play.
Leeds United maintained a defensive posture.
Perhaps wanting to kill the game early, or perhaps having a numerical advantage, Leeds United struggled to break through the halfway line. In the 70th minute, Portsmouth's defense finally found an opportunity with Adriano.
After Utaka's long-range shot from outside the penalty area was saved by De Gea, the Spanish goalkeeper, who started today, directly threw the ball to Adriano, who was waiting in the center circle.
The strong Adriano managed to win the first ball against Portsmouth center-back Campbell, then turned around and used his individual skill to create a one-on-one opportunity!
Finally, he easily dribbled past the onrushing goalkeeper James and sent the ball into the empty net.
1:2!
Leeds United pulled one back.
After the game restarted, Portsmouth manager Moussinho seemed to realize that continuing to play like this might ruin their chances, so he quickly instructed his players to focus on defense and stop pushing forward with all their might and bombarding Leeds United's penalty area as before.
In this way.
A very strange scene unfolded at Elland Road Stadium.
Portsmouth, leading and with a man advantage, huddled in their own half and parked the bus, while Leeds United, trailing and down to ten men, became the ones launching a siege.
However, it is an objective fact that there will be one less player on the field.
Leeds United struggled to find a way to break through Portsmouth's impenetrable defense.
Finally, as the game neared its end, Li Shiguang, standing on the sidelines, pondered for a long time.
I've decided to use the "Match-Beat Card" on Adriano. If we can turn the score around and win the game, that would be great. Even if we can't turn the score around, getting a point would be a blessing in disguise.
The system's products have proven to be truly useful.
The score has entered stoppage time.
Leeds United are awarded a corner kick.
Camoranesi's corner kick had a very clear target, finding Adriano at the near post.
This time, the victim for Portsmouth was another center-back, Distin.
Despite Distin's interference, Adriano leaped high, overpowering the veteran, and delivered a powerful header, once again breaching James's defense.
The final moments of the game.
Leeds United have finally tied the score at 2-2!
After Adriano scored, the referee did not allow Portsmouth to restart the game, but instead blew the final whistle.
After using up another chance with the [Final Kill Card],
Li Shiguang finally managed to secure this precious point at home!
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