Chapter 216
Cristiano quickly found a familiar combination - he meant the combination with Bale - which surprised him.
In his previous life, after Bale joined Real Madrid, he did not pay too much attention to how long it took them to complete the running-in. At that time, they were under a lot of pressure. They only had an urgent desire to score goals and win. Apart from this, nothing else was within Cristiano's focus.
This time, Cristiano more or less leisurely observed Bale with an attitude of observing a junior, and then he was surprised to find that the other party was very familiar with his positioning and understood how his role should be coordinated.
However, what Cristiano knew better was that the other party was familiar with his style and movements before 2009, not the later one - the Cristiano with whom they had created the Champions League myth of three consecutive championships - otherwise he would have thought that the other party had brought some memories with him.
"I heard that Tottenham's head coach once wanted to train him to be the second you in the Premier League, but now he has come to La Liga." Pepe whispered beside Cristiano. He saw Cristiano staring at Bale's back as he went to the rest area to get a towel and raised his eyebrows. He knew what the boy was thinking, "He has imitated you for a long time and is always learning your style and skills. Maybe he knows you best in this team."
Cristiano paused after hearing this and frowned in confusion: "Train to be the second me? No wonder their team can never win the championship. Their club is always dreaming of things that will never be possible."
Pepe almost burst out laughing when he heard this. He nodded and laughed: "Yes, there will never be another Cristiano Ronaldo. It will be useless even if they pry Ferguson over to be the head coach."
Cristiano snorted softly, shook his head and said: "Everyone is himself, unique. Gareth has his own advantages. He will not be me. He will only be Gareth Bale, the rising star of Wales."
"He will be great and maybe I can help him find his own style," Cristiano added.
Pepe curled his lips and ruffled Cristiano's hair. "I didn't expect you to say these words. You look like a studious guy. Give me back Chris who said studying is useless."
Cristiano choked, and then he quickly retorted: "I was too young at that time and didn't understand anything! You should forget this!"
"I'm so sorry, Chris, I won't forget this." Pepe laughed and made a face, then ran away immediately.
Cristiano's eyes widened, so childish! !
But he immediately chased after him, causing such a commotion at Real Madrid's training ground that all the players started to join in the fun.
Bale slowly walked out from the wall behind the rest area where the two had just been. He stared at Cristiano running around on the grass, silently clutching the water bottle in his hand, feeling a little nervous, excited, and a little uneasy.
He is looking forward to the future Cristiano talked about, and is happy about Cristiano's high evaluation of him and his "promise". He has always known that Cristiano is a very good person, even though some tabloids are always committed to portraying him as an arrogant little devil.
He also saw a football tabloid with a Halloween theme. The photo of Cristiano in it was photoshopped into a demon with pointy ears, fangs, and a long, thin tail. To be honest, it was really cute, and he even collected that issue of the newspaper.
——But he has always believed that Cristiano is a good person, at least a gentle person, and now he has confirmed it personally. If a reporter puts a microphone in front of him and asks him to evaluate his teammate Chris in the future, he will definitely correct those damn stereotypes.
Bell was also a little uneasy because he was not sure whether Chris cared about his "imitation" and "learning". They are in the same team, and they are even competitors for the position of striker. Sooner or later, they will compete for the absolute core position.
Bale is very sure that even though Cristiano is someone he admires, he will not give up competing for the absolute core. He is also very sure that one day he will have the strength to become one of Cristiano's competitors.
He went to see Cristiano nervously and played ball tricks with Cristiano, oh no, it was training.
Cristiano seemed to have not taken Pepe's words to heart at all. He continued training as usual, just like before. Even if he lost the training game, he had to force him to play another round.
Hmm...
Bell frowned absentmindedly, feeling mixed emotions as if Chris cared or not.
"Focus, Gareth. What are you thinking about? Why are you frowning?" Cristiano called out. He nimbly snatched the ball from Bale's feet, easily and without any difficulty, which made him frown as well.
Bell came back to his senses after hearing that. His ears quickly turned red with embarrassment and he apologized in a low voice.
"I don't mean to blame you." Now it was Cristiano's turn to touch his nose and redden his ears. He almost forgot how seriously Bale, who had just arrived, took his words.
Ramos came over from the side, and while Cristiano was distracted by talking to Bale, he kicked the ball away from Chris' feet, then grinned smugly, so childish that Cristiano rolled his eyes.
"Come again if you have the guts." Cristiano hooked his finger at Ramos.
Ramos grabbed Cristiano's provocative finger and laughed, then turned his head and raised his chin towards Bale: "You still ask him why he frowned, maybe he was scared by your 'one more round'."
Cristiano: “…”
No way.
He looked at Bell.
Bell immediately shook his head to deny: "No, Chris, I'd like to play another round with you!"
Cristiano raised his chin towards Ramos and said, "Did you hear that? Go play somewhere else, Sergio."
Ramos clicked his tongue twice. Although he couldn't understand the Welshman's tongue-twisting English, he could understand it from his body language. He shrugged his shoulders and said, "Well, the new guy is just like your little tail."
Cristiano narrowed his eyes and pretended to kick Ramos on the butt. Ramos raised a big smile and ran away happily.
Cristiano sighed. Sometimes he really couldn't figure out Ramos' mood and temper.
Training days and games are like their three meals a day.
Real Madrid's performance this season is not outstanding, but it is not bad either. After all, with Van Nistelrooy absent from the team, they have only lost two league games so far.
Cristiano's number of goals is pretty good, but in the Champions League, it seems a bit worrying.
In the group stage, Cristiano has only scored two goals so far. Although Real Madrid has already qualified, Cristiano seems to have encountered a goal drought in the Champions League. Messi, who is always compared with him, has already scored nine goals, and the opponent has not even played a group match yet.
"I'm afraid the top scorer position of this year's Champions League has changed. Cristiano had difficulty scoring in the Champions League group stage! This is just the group stage! Barcelona's Messi is in great form and has scored nine goals so far!"
"Maybe this year Messi's number of goals in the Champions League can break last year's record of top scorer. Barcelona is the strongest contender for the Champions League final!"
"What happened to Cristiano? He can't score?"
"Ramos and Marcelo can both score goals, and Cristiano is a great player..."
Discussions about Cristiano's performance are almost filling up La Liga's football newspapers, as if Cristiano is the only player left in the entire La Liga.
Mourinho did not allow those newspapers to appear in any corner of the club and he called out to Cristiano.
"how are things?"
Cristiano asked back: "You mean those goals in the Champions League group stage?"
"You know what I'm talking about." Mourinho snorted.
"It's true that I didn't score," Cristiano said. "But I don't think there's anything wrong with me. I just didn't score that many goals, and I feel fine. If there's any problem -"
Cristiano paused, and he looked at Mourinho: "Maybe just one question, about you. Do you still trust me?"
Mourinho paused.
"Trust in my ability, trust that I can score goals, trust that I can still lead the team to win the game. This is very important, not just a casual nod." Cristiano looked at Mourinho, his eyes fixed on the other's eyes.
Mourinho took a breath, then he exhaled forcefully: "Of course."
Cristiano spread his hands and smiled, then said: "That's no problem."
Mourinho also smiled slightly, but soon straightened his lips again. He knew very well that the pressure and problems they would face were more than that, and not as easy as Cristiano said.
"Let's watch the game, as long as we win, that's enough," Cristiano said.
The Champions League has started the knockout stage. In the following games, every team is like standing on thin ice. If they are not careful, they will fall into the icy abyss and completely end their journey.
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