Chapter 494 History and Insults
Cataluña (Spanish) means Catalonia, a hilly region in northeastern Iberia, Spain, and the Basque lions are their neighbors. The Catalans enjoy the sunshine of the Iberian Peninsula like other Spaniards, but the difference is that these people claim to be descendants of Louis XIV. Since history, this group of people has longed for the French Republic and feared the power of Louis XIV. In the early days, they did not have any pursuits and lived in a peaceful era.
However, the establishment of the Roman dynasty made them feel the rule of the Carthaginians and the scimitars from the Persian Gulf, a power they feared. Therefore, they believed that only France, which had real power, was their home.
It’s a bit complicated to explain, but what does this change of mind among Catalans mean?
Perhaps in Chinese, this is called betrayal and cowardice.
In fact, people in other parts of Spain can only describe the Catalans in six words: cowardly, ugly, and ignorant.
From a historical point of view, the Catalans have sent their heroes to the guillotine and submitted to the cruel kings, and they are proud of it. The people of this region seem to be born with a kind of betrayal, submission and cowardice.
Because of this sentiment, the Catalans were very corrupt politically and militarily in the 19th century, but they were unwilling to be lonely.
Following the trend of European nobles, the Catalans established a football club called Barcelona. They mobilized all the financial, energy and other available resources of the Catalans to make the club strong, so as to serve as the Catalans' hope.
They said this club was going to be 'great'.
At the beginning of the establishment of Barcelona Club, they had already added the three words "Great" in front of the club.
The history of the founding of the Barcelona Club seems so childish and ridiculous to people in other parts of Spain. It is like there are always a few inconspicuous countries in the world, but they often make a noise that makes their neighbors and several powerful countries look at them, such as "South Korea, Poland and Vietnam". However, the word great is never given by oneself, but is forged through the long river of history.
What is greatness?
Greatness is a tradition. What is tradition? Tradition comes from a nation, a government, an enterprise, and an individual who has been doing correct and consistent behavior for dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of years. This is what we call greatness.
Because only in this way can it be recognized by everyone, and this can also be described in Chinese - the unity of knowledge and action.
The word "great" should obviously not be given by one's own nation.
After the establishment of the Barcelona Club, it quickly became the pride and sustenance of the Catalans. They were proud that their club had become the top team in Spain and the world, and the Barcelona Club also placed all their hopes on it. They hoped that they would also have the ability to compete with the "superior people".
The 'higher class' is undoubtedly the capital of Spain, and in football, it is Real Madrid.
This is the origin of the Spanish derby.
For a hundred years, the Catalans have been full of hatred towards the capital Madrid. In contrast, Madrid has no hostility towards the Catalans because it is just an area ruled by Spain.
However, with the competition between Barcelona and Real Madrid, and the repeated battles on the field, Real Madrid players gradually developed a deep hostility towards Barcelona. In the course of a hundred years of history, this hostility gradually turned into hatred, and both teams had a deep hatred for each other.
This hatred is very strong!!
To make an analogy, it is like the hatred between the ancient Eastern country and the small Japanese pirates. The two sides are almost fighting to the death, and neither side will have any sympathy for the other's experience. If Real Madrid encountered an air crash, I am afraid that Barcelona fans will not feel sorry, but will celebrate instead.
Of course, from this point of view, the hatred between the two is stronger than that between the ancient Eastern country and the small Japanese pirates. After all, when the small Japanese pirates encountered natural disasters, an oil company in the ancient Eastern country "donated" a large amount of oil to show friendship, while when the ancient Eastern country suffered a disaster, they only donated a small amount of supplies. Well, maybe the two are now reconciled.
These have nothing to do with this article.
In short, although Real Madrid and Barcelona are in the same country, the hatred between them is endless and there is no possibility of calming down. This kind of thing sounds incredible, but it really exists.
In the eyes of Spanish fans, winning the Spanish derby can even be considered an honor.
After more than half a season's baptism, Wang Li has deeply understood this hatred. Although he himself has no special opinion on Barcelona, facing the media and fans, he still has to stand up and express Real Madrid's confidence in victory to give fans confidence in winning.
Now, he is the "image representative" of Real Madrid to the outside world.
"We will be victorious."
In an interview with the media, Wang Li said: "Yesterday I heard a fan say that he hoped the result of the game would be 1:0. I also hope so, but it is too risky. So, I think we will try our best to widen the score, and it would be best if we can win by a large margin, so as to ensure the team's victory and results."
"So, how many goals do you think you can score in the derby?" asked the reporter from Marca with interest.
"At least not less than usual league."
Wang Li nodded and confirmed: "Barcelona is a very strong team. They beat us last time, but I was not able to play in that game because I was still suspended. I don't think they are that scary. I think Real Madrid will win easily."
"We have to win for the fans as well."
That afternoon, Wang Li's words spread throughout Spain and even throughout Europe. On the eve of the Spanish derby, as Real Madrid's top star, Wang Li's influence was profound, and almost all fans were paying attention to this.
Wang Li's declaration of victory made Real Madrid fans excited, because whenever Wang Li said the word victory, he never broke his promise. They felt that the game would definitely go smoothly. Perhaps, they would be able to see Barcelona's embarrassed figure at the Bernabeu. This idea made all the fans excited.
However, Barcelona fans don't think so.
They almost hated Wang Li, and many fans cursed Wang Li online that he would be injured before the game and would not be able to play. Of course, such curses were meaningless.
In order to boost the team's morale and increase the fans' confidence, Barcelona players had to stand up and launch a series of counterattacks.
"He's strong, but we won't lose."
In an interview, Barcelona's pillar Ronaldinho said: "We have the strongest lineup, the team's morale is very high, and we have made all preparations. We won last time and we can win this time as well."
Ronaldinho's words did not have a strong counterattack. In fact, he was not a player who liked to curse. He behaved very politely in the team. However, the other Barcelona players were obviously angered by Wang Li's words! !
Goalkeeper Valdes said directly: "All Barcelona fans hate that black-haired boy. He never knows what respect is and is very arrogant."
Deco said: "I think he will pay the price for what he said. He wants to score? Then come on."
Eto'o also said: "I don't know why he has such confidence, just because he scored a few more goals in the league? God, this is the first time I have seen such a person."
The Barcelona media also wrote articles to support the team. They generally used historical perspectives and recent results to prove that Barcelona has a greater chance of winning this game.
These are still the more "polite" media. More Barcelona loyal media directly published articles criticizing Wang Li and Real Madrid.
"Everyone has seen that the black-haired kid is just putting on a show. He always tries to attract the public's attention in this way. I have to say that he succeeded, at least outside of the game. Now, we are all arguing about his words, and he has become the focus of the world. But if he plays a real game, will he still succeed?" - Mundo Deportivo
"His words are more powerful than his strength!!" - Catalonia Evening News
"In the last match between Real Madrid and Chelsea, he only had one assist and one goal. It can be seen that his performance against top teams is much worse than in normal games. Barcelona is stronger than Chelsea. Can he really score goals? Perhaps, starting from this game, this black-haired kid will become a weakling. We look forward to it happening."
While mocking Wang Li, these Barcelona supporters did not forget to laugh at Real Madrid's last 3:0 loss to Barcelona. In this way, they mocked Real Madrid and won the war of words.
In this mutual spitting and verbal abuse, the Barcelona media has the upper hand in the argument against Real Madrid, because the recent record of the two teams' encounters is there, and Real Madrid is indeed at a disadvantage. However, when it comes to the argument against Wang Li, the Barcelona media is at a great disadvantage.
In the last season, when Chelsea played against Barcelona, Wang Li scored 4 goals by himself. This performance gave the Real Madrid media an advantage. Wang Li's performance in Real Madrid was an average of 3 goals per game.
“Can Alan score in the derby?”
Even the Barcelona media dared not mention this because they were afraid of slapping themselves in the face after the game.
Amid this war of words in the media, both teams trained hard and made final preparations for the war.
At this time, Barcelona head coach Rijkaard was watching the match videos between Real Madrid and Chelsea over and over again. He has been doing this since the team returned from Portugal.
At least this season, after Wang Li's comeback, Chelsea's defense against Wang Li was definitely the most successful. They successfully limited Wang Li's performance.
Rijkaard's purpose of watching the game video was to find a way to limit Wang Li's performance. He knew that if he couldn't do this, it would be almost a fantasy for Barcelona to win the game.
(To be continued)