Chapter 576: Champions League Final, Fateful Showdown
June 4, 2017, Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, Wales.
The 2016-2017 UEFA Champions League final will be staged here soon.
The stadium, which can accommodate more than 80,000 spectators, was already full at this time.
Because the game was held in the UK, there were obviously more Manchester City fans attending the game than Real Madrid.
Manchester City fans wearing sky blue jerseys occupied more than half of the stadium stands.
However, although Real Madrid’s number of fans is not as large as Manchester City’s, the noise and commotion they create are no less than that of Manchester City.
Almost all the Real Madrid fans who can come to Wales to watch the game are die-hard fans of the team.
Everything was organized in advance before they came, and all the props were prepared.
There were slogans and banners supporting the players, huge flags with the Real Madrid logo, and support scarves in the hands of fans.
Before the game started, Real Madrid fans displayed a huge portrait of Ronaldo on the south stand, which immediately attracted the attention of the audience.
"It seems that Ronaldo is very popular among Real Madrid fans. They even made such a huge portrait for him."
"After all, Ronaldo has played for Real Madrid for eight years. It can be said that he has spent the best period of his career in Real Madrid. Real Madrid fans can see his contribution to the team and naturally respect him."
"C Ronaldo is 32 years old this year, and I don't know how long he can stay in Real Madrid. In my impression, few players can spend their entire lives in Real Madrid, even if they are very famous and talented stars."
In fact, as early as two years ago, there were rumors that Ronaldo and Real Madrid were unhappy over salary issues, and Ronaldo even had the idea of transferring.
Although Real Madrid Club and Ronaldo himself have never made any statement on this matter, this rumor may not be groundless. After all, the other two superstars of the same level as Ronaldo have seen their salaries increase significantly after signing their contract extensions. At this time, their annual salary is almost twice that of Ronaldo.
Seeing that Lin Quan and Messi both got salary increases, even if it is not for money, but for the sake of the superstar's face, Ronaldo will definitely make corresponding requests to Real Madrid.
As to whether Ronaldo's request has been met by Real Madrid, it is unknown. Anyway, Ronaldo and Real Madrid have not renewed their contract yet, but Ronaldo's contract time is almost up. If the two sides cannot reach an agreement as soon as possible, Ronaldo is likely to leave the team this summer or next year.
Therefore, the actions of Real Madrid fans are not only expressing their love for Ronaldo, but also putting pressure on the club, hoping that the club can find a way to keep Ronaldo.
Cristiano Ronaldo, who was warming up on the field, was deeply moved when he saw his portrait on the south stand. He ran over enthusiastically to greet the fans, and even took photos with several die-hard fans sitting in the front row. He also gave them a few autographed footballs.
Ronaldo's people-friendly behavior received warm cheers and applause from the fans. When it comes to pampering fans, Ronaldo and Lin Quan on the opposite side are almost cut from the same cloth.
Both of them are humble in front of the fans and will try their best to meet the fans' various requests as long as they are not too excessive.
Just now, while Ronaldo was signing autographs with his fans, Lin Quan was chatting with a group of Chinese fans who came from Asia.
"Brother Lin, here!"
Lin Quan was juggling the ball on the sidelines to keep his touch. When he heard the local accent coming from the sidelines, he stopped and walked over.
In the stands near the edge of the stadium, there were a dozen or so Asians with yellow skin and black eyes, who were greeting Lin Quan excitedly.
"Ah, Emperor Lin is coming!"
"He saw us!"
Several young female fans saw Lin Quan walking towards them and screamed excitedly.
The superstar that they could only see on TV and in newspapers appeared in front of them in real life at this moment, making them extremely excited.
"Hello everyone, I am Lin Quan. Thank you very much for coming all the way to support us. Thank you all!"
Lin Quan behaved very politely because he knew that most of these people were coming for him.
Moreover, the expenses for food, clothing, housing, transportation and watching the game alone would probably not be a small amount.
If they weren't true fans, who would spend so much money to watch the game live? You know, tickets for this year's Champions League final are hard to get, and even Lin Quan doesn't have many tickets.
"You are too polite, Emperor Lin. It is our blessing to see Chinese people dominate the game on a stage like the Champions League final. We should thank you!"
The person who spoke was an old man from Sichuan. His surname was He and his nickname was "Brother Money Return".
This guy unexpectedly became popular because of a match in the Chinese national football team's World Cup qualifiers last year and became a well-known figure in the football circle.
Brother Tui Qian loves football from the bottom of his heart. Even if the Chinese national team's game is terrible, he is willing to spend a lot of money to buy tickets from scalpers to watch the game.
It’s just that the performance of the Chinese national football team has been getting worse and worse in recent years, which has hurt Brother Qian badly.
Therefore, Brother Tui Qian wanted to come to Europe to enjoy some high-level competitions and refresh his eyes.
He had come to last year's European Cup and had taken a photo with Lin Quan. Lin Quan had some impression of him, so after hearing what he said, he nodded and said, "In recent years, more and more East Asian players have studied abroad. This proves that we yellow people are no worse than anyone else in football!"
"That's right, Emperor Lin, you don't know that after you became famous, fans throughout East Asia and even the whole of Asia regard you as their idol. Because of your appearance, the ceiling of Asian players has been greatly raised, allowing us all to realize our unlimited potential!"
Lin Quan didn't expect that his influence in Asia would be so great. According to Brother Tui Qian, his appearance has led to a football fever in Asia.
The attention, discussion and even investment in football have increased significantly.
And with Lin Quan's successful example in front of us, everyone realizes the importance of youth training.
In recent years, many professional football schools have been built in China, and a large number of experienced and highly qualified football coaches have been hired from the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain at high salaries to help improve the domestic youth training system and train young players in the most professional way.
After hearing these introductions, Lin Quan felt very happy.
The celebrity effect has a huge demonstration and driving effect on a certain sport.
Take basketball for example. Because of Yao Ming’s sudden emergence, the popularity and attention of basketball in China have greatly increased.
In recent years, the performance of the Chinese national football team has been getting worse and worse, which is terrible. But even so, there are still a large number of fans who support the national football team without giving up. Even if they curse after watching the game, when there is a game of the national football team, they will still put down everything in their hands and concentrate on watching the game on TV, computer or even mobile phone.
Just imagine, if there is a football star like Yao Ming in China, how much more attention and topic will the sport of football receive in China? Although Lin Quan does not have Chinese nationality and cannot represent the Chinese team, domestic fans are not at all shy about him and treat him as one of their own.
Even to this day, there are still many people who feel very sorry and curse the Football Association for being stupid. If the Football Association had acted faster and recruited Lin Quan into the national team earlier, he might be a member of the Chinese national team now, and might even lead the national team into the World Cup!
"Well, just work hard on youth training and leagues, and make incremental progress. I believe that one day, we will see many Chinese players in the top five leagues, and the national football team's performance may improve!"
"I hope so. I just hope this time will be different from before!"
When Brother Refund heard Lin Quan's words, a light flashed in his eyes, but it quickly went out as if he thought of something, and his tone became bleak.
"The front row tickets are not cheap, right? How much did you pay for these seats?"
Seeing that the other party was unwilling to discuss the topic of the Chinese national football team, Lin Quan changed the subject.
If these people had not been so close to the stadium and there had not been such a loud noise, Lin Quan might not have noticed them.
"The price on the official website was 610 euros, but unfortunately we didn't get any. We bought these tickets from scalpers at a high price. The total cost of 15 tickets was 28,000 euros!"
Hearing the price, Lin Quan was shocked.
The ticket cost 610 euros, but the scalper sold it at three times the price. This is simply robbery!
"It's quite expensive, but the seats are really good, and our seats are almost next to each other. If we hadn't bought the tickets from scalpers, we might not have been able to get so many adjacent seats."
Most of those who can go abroad to watch football games have well-off families. After all, the round trip alone, just the money for air tickets, food, accommodation and game tickets, would cost at least tens of thousands of dollars.
"Emperor Lin, you must win. Screw Real Madrid. We are all Manchester City players tonight!"
A young fan in his early twenties took off his coat, revealing the sky blue No. 10 jersey underneath, and said to Lin Quan.
Lin Quan took a quick look and saw that almost everyone, male or female, was wearing his number 10 jersey from Manchester City.
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He is definitely a die-hard fan!
…
The weather today is pretty good. Although there are still a few clouds in the sky, it doesn't look like it's going to rain.
And the temperature is also quite suitable, the night temperature is around 14-15 degrees, accompanied by one to two levels of breeze, which makes people feel relaxed and comfortable.
Such good weather is perfect for fighting!
In the player tunnel, the 22 players on both sides could no longer wait.
The players on both sides stood on their respective sides, looking straight at each other, clearly separated, and exuding an aura of "no strangers allowed" all over their bodies.
Before the game, former Manchester City player Kroos wanted to come over and say hello to his old teammates at Manchester City, but feeling the heavy atmosphere in the player tunnel, he had to give up the idea.
The two teams have acquaintances with each other, some of whom are teammates who played together in the national team, and some of whom are former teammates who worked together in other clubs for a period of time.
But at this moment, they only have one identity - Manchester City & Real Madrid players! At this moment, all other relationships can be temporarily put aside. In the eyes of the players on both sides, the other side is not their friend, but their mortal enemy on the court!
A few minutes later, under the guidance of the referee, the players of both teams, each holding a caddy, walked into the court one by one.
Seeing the players from both teams coming out of the player tunnel, the fans of both teams cheered at the top of their lungs, trying their best to outdo the other team in momentum.
Although Real Madrid fans tried very hard, they were few in number and most of the people in the player tunnel were Manchester City fans.
So when the players from both teams entered the stadium, almost all you could hear was cheering for the Manchester City players.
"Emperor Lin, rise up and defeat Ronaldo!"
I don't know who it was, but someone shouted at the top of his lungs.
It just so happened that his shout was heard by players from both sides.
The corners of Ronaldo's mouth twitched slightly, but soon returned to normal, and he even showed a look of disdain.
Lin Quanze was a little curious and turned around to try to find the person who was shouting.
But unfortunately, there were a lot of fans lying down near the player's tunnel, and even some fans who were not sitting nearby ran over to join in the fun.
With so many people crowded together, if that guy didn't make a sound, Lin Quan really wouldn't be able to find him.
The photographers also understood who the protagonist of this game was.
Ever since Lin Quan and Ronaldo entered the stadium, the photographer's camera has been aimed at them.
Especially during the handshake session before the game, when Lin Quan shook hands with Ronaldo, there was a series of clicking sounds coming from the scene. It was countless reporters pressing the shutter of their cameras, wanting to freeze this scene.
"I will definitely win tonight!"
While shaking hands with Lin Quan, Ronaldo moved his lips and uttered a few words.
Lin Quan paused for a moment, and instead of moving on to the next person, he looked into Ronaldo's eyes and said word by word:
"Okay, I'm waiting for your challenge!"
After saying that, he no longer paid attention to Ronaldo, but walked towards the next Real Madrid player.
When Ronaldo heard Lin Quan's words, he was slightly angry: This guy, does he think of himself as the champion and me as the challenger? How arrogant!
Although I was very unconvinced in my heart, the reality was that what Lin Quan said was absolutely right.
Manchester City, which has won three consecutive Champions League titles and reached the Champions League final again, is undoubtedly the champion of the Big Ears Cup.
If you want to take the Big Ear Cup, you have to get past them first! After tossing the coin and exchanging team flags, both sides returned to their own half of the field.
Players from both sides gathered together and made a final mobilization before the game started.
"Overthrow Manchester City and win the Champions League!"
Real Madrid’s approach was simple and straightforward, with no unnecessary nonsense, just this simple sentence!
Manchester City's slogan is simpler and more straightforward. Their slogan is just two words: "Champions!"
"champion!"
"champion!"
After shouting three times, the players put their hands together and threw them into the air!
At 18:45, in front of 84,500 spectators and hundreds of millions of fans around the world, the referee blew his whistle and the final of the 2016-2017 UEFA Champions League finally kicked off!
(End of this chapter)