Chapter 350 Saints, Don’t Lose

As the game approached, the Mestalla Stadium in Valencia, Spain, was filled with people.

The players of the home team, wearing white tops and black shorts, are warming up before the game on the court.

Southampton players in red and white jerseys also appeared on the field.

Sitting in the press box, Charlene Lahiri with her long golden hair looked very dazzling.

She was wearing a tight OL outfit with a white shirt inside. The open neckline seemed to be stretched out by her bulging chest, which made her look particularly charming and arousing imagination.

"Charlene!"

Not far from her, a young Spanish reporter was looking at her with a smile.

That's Victor, a reporter from Marca.

"I just got Valencia's starting lineup. All the main players are out. Emery is determined to win!"

Charlene Lahri raised her eyebrows and took the piece of paper he handed over. On it, the names of eleven players were written in different positions.

The goalkeeper is Diego Alves, the defense line from left to right is Mathieu, Victor Ruiz, Rami and Miguel, the midfield is Albelda and Tino Costa forming the double defensive midfielders, Piatti, Juan Mata and Feghouli forming the front court, and the single striker is Soldado.

This is the strongest lineup Emery can put together.

"The Bats have performed very well in La Liga this season. Emery and his team are in good shape now and are planning to make a strong start. Southampton is in trouble!"

Victor said this with a chuckle and then looked at Charlene Lahiri.

"Charlene, everyone says that Southampton advocates offensive football, but this game is an away game, and they are already behind by an away goal. They should be relatively conservative, right?"

After hearing this, several other reporters around also nodded.

"Yes, Victor is right, Southampton is playing away after all!"

"When you go from England to Spain, you will definitely not be able to adapt to the playing style. It's better to be conservative!"

"I think that Javi Martinez can't play, so Matic should be the defensive midfielder because he is good at defense and reliable!"

"I think so too. Southampton has to defend first. Only if they defend first, there will be hope!"

"You're right, Valencia is not an easy team to deal with. Even Real Madrid and Barcelona couldn't beat them easily this season, so Southampton can't be sure of winning!"

Charlene Lahiri saw the journalists around her discussing the issue and couldn't help but chuckle but shook her head.

"What? Did we say something wrong?" Victor was a little surprised.

Charlene Lahiri nodded, "You don't know Southampton at all!"

Victor glanced around and found that everyone also looked puzzled.

"What's the meaning?"

"In Southampton's eyes, there is no difference between home and away games. Even the strength of the opponent has no effect on them. In their view, when they step onto the pitch, they have only one belief, which is to play Southampton's offensive football!"

Charlene Lahiri said this calmly, but many reporters present were stunned and speechless for several seconds.

"No way? Do you think you are Barcelona?" Victor quickly burst into laughter.

"Yes, the only team in the world that dares to play like this is Barcelona!"

"How powerful is Real Madrid? But when they meet Barcelona, ​​don't they have to retreat and defend helplessly?"

"I tell you, I really don't believe it today!"

"Yeah, I don't believe it either. If Southampton really dares to play offensive football away from home, I will really admire them!"

"Hey, you dare to insist on playing offensive football in Spain? It would be strange if the Bat Army doesn't score a goal and beat them to death!"

"You're right, offensive football is the label of Spanish football, you know?"

Seeing the Spanish reporters so angry, Charlene Lahri did not refute, but just smiled and said, "Wait a minute, you will know!"

Seeing how confident she was, the reporters present were a little skeptical, but still couldn't believe it.

A Championship team, representing England, came to Spain to play Valencia, currently ranked third in La Liga, and still dared to say that they would stick to their offensive football?

Isn't this just asking for trouble?

At this moment, Charlene Lahiri's cell phone on the table vibrated.

When I picked it up, it turned out to be Barbara Slater.

Why are you calling at this time?

Charlene Lahiri felt puzzled but quickly picked up the phone.

"Hey, Barbara, hey, hey, do you hear me?"

The noise was so deafening that even if we were face to face, we had to shout loudly, and the phone call couldn't be heard at all.

"I'll call you back when I get to the lounge!"

After saying that, Charlene Lahiri hung up, stood up and walked towards the lounge area.

It becomes a little quieter here after closing the doors and windows.

I followed up on the call that had just come in and made a call back.

But this time the person who answered the phone was not Barbara Slater, but Roger Moses.

"Hello, Charlene, I'm Roger!"

"Roger?" Charlene Lahiri was surprised. "What's going on?"

"Let me ask you, are you in Valencia, Spain now?"

"right!"

"How's the situation over there now?"

“There are so many people, it’s so noisy!”

Roger Moses on the phone laughed twice, "We have some problems here, so we need to adjust the plan temporarily."

"What's going on?"

"Both Manchester United and Manchester City are likely to lose!"

"What?" Charlene Lahiri was shocked.

Both teams lost?

"It's only the first half, but Manchester City is already 2-0 down and Manchester United is also 1-0 down. I guess there's no hope!"

"How could this happen?"

As a reporter, Charlene Lahiri knew very well that Premier League fans all over England and even the world were watching these two teams, but they both lost!

But soon, she realized a problem.

Roger Moses called at this time. Could it be that...

"We have decided to temporarily adjust the live broadcast plan. During the halftime break, we hope you can give us some on-site commentary and introduce the pre-match situation between Southampton and Valencia. Our filming crew is already in place!"

Roger Moses sighed. He really had no idea how to find anyone.

"In addition, as soon as the match between Manchester City and Sporting Lisbon is over, we will continue to broadcast Southampton's away game against Valencia on Channel 1, and we hope you will be the live commentator."

"Me?" Charlene Lahiri was shocked.

"Yes, I believe you can do it and do it well."

The fact that Roger Moses called personally proved that the situation was really out of necessity.

Who could have thought that both Manchester United and Manchester City would lose!

Is it possible that the Premier League is really going to experience such a catastrophic collapse?

"Okay, I'll get ready right away!"

Charlene Lahiri also made a prompt decision. No matter what, let's just move on!

…………

…………

Ten minutes later, Charlene Lahiri appeared on the BBC Channel 1 TV screen!

"Hello, audience friends, I am Charlene Lahiri!"

"I'm live from the Mestalla Stadium in Valencia, Spain!"

"With our camera, we can see that in the stands, there are many Southampton fans who came from England."

"According to the data I got from Valencia and Southampton officials before the game, there were more than 15,000 Saints fans who followed the team to the away game. It was very touching!"

"In Southampton's more than 100-year history, the number of times they have entered European competitions can be counted on one hand. The most recent one was in the 2003-2004 season, when Southampton participated in the UEFA Cup, which was then called the UEFA Cup, but was eliminated in the first round by Romania's Steaua Bucharest."

"This season, Southampton reached the Europa League round of 16, which is the best European performance in the club's 100-year history. Saints fans have high hopes for this and hope that the team can make a difference in the Europa League."

“Interestingly, this season’s Europa League final was held in Bucharest, Romania.”

"In the first round, Southampton tied with Valencia 1-1 at home. The main central defender Javi Martinez was sent off with a red card and missed the game. Many people think that Southampton will have little chance of qualifying!"

"But look, more than 10,000 Southampton fans have occupied a large area of ​​the stands. They seem to want to turn the Mestalla Stadium into their St. Mary's Stadium. They are using practical actions to tell their players, Saints, not to give up!"

“Here, I also want to say that the Southampton players and fans have not given up, and neither have we. You must not give up either. Come on!”

…

"Well, well said!"

In the live broadcast room of the BBC headquarters, Roger Moses heard Charlene Lahiri's commentary and couldn't help but cheer loudly.

Who could have thought that the Europa League would end up like this?

"Roger, the audience's reaction is very enthusiastic!" Barbara Slater immediately stepped forward to report the situation.

Roger Moses couldn't help but nod repeatedly. The audience liked it, which proved that his choice was right.

Both Manchester United and Manchester City lost, and Southampton is the only fig leaf left in the entire English football.

Whether Southampton wins or loses, the fans will definitely be looking forward to it and paying attention.

"Let's start making arrangements right away. After the match between Manchester City and Sporting Lisbon is over, we will immediately switch to the live broadcast of the match between Southampton and Valencia!"

"Understood, I'll do it right away!" Barbara Slater agreed and turned to leave.

Roger Moses suddenly called her, "Wait, come back!"

"Anything else?"

"When the second half of the match between Manchester City and Sporting Lisbon is broadcast live, please add some subtitles below and broadcast some news about Southampton to warm up the match!"

"I know what to do!" Barbara Slater nodded.

"By the way, they just asked me, if the game is transferred to Channel 1 for live broadcast, what about the sports channel?"

Roger Moses was stunned. Yes, it was booked before, the sports channel was broadcasting live, but now it has suddenly changed. What will the sports channel broadcast? You can't just stop the channel, right?

"Whatever, two channels broadcast simultaneously!"

"Simultaneous broadcast?" Barbara Slater was a little surprised.

Isn't this too good for Southampton?

Isn't the stakes a bit too high?

What if Southampton, like Manchester City and Manchester United, is a hopeless mess and loses? What should we do?

Barbara Slater quickly realized the problem.

There is no other way around it. If we don’t do this, what will the sports channel broadcast?

"Go ahead, I know my limits!" Roger Moses waved his hand.

He also knew that by doing this, he was betting too much.

If the reaction is really bad, or if Southampton loses the game and the fans are angry, he will suffer as well.

But he can't do anything now and can only pray to God and hope that Southampton can win.

“You, come here!”

Roger Moses thought of something again and immediately waved to one of his men.

"Immediately go to the PR department and ask them to create more hype for this game online and on social media to boost the ratings!"

"Okay, I'll do it right away!"

Roger Moses watched him leave and only then breathed a sigh of relief.

But my heart was still hanging at the corner of my throat, unable to let go.

Saint, oh saint, I’m betting a lot on this one, you must not lose!

If you don't lose, I will do my best to help you.