Chapter 387 Guess

An Airbus flying from the Spanish capital of Madrid slowly landed at the Henri Coandà Airport in Bucharest, the capital of Romania.

Not long after, Atletico Madrid walked out of the airport gate led by head coach Diego Simeone and the team leaders.

Since their itinerary was kept secret, there wasn't much commotion at the airport.

There were only a few reporters from Spanish newspapers waiting here, but they were all taking pictures of them from a distance.

Are you kidding? There’s Diego Simeone walking in front of us who looks like a gangster boss. Who would dare to offend him easily?

A group of people walked out of the airport with ferocious looks and got directly into a bus with the Atletico Madrid logo painted on it.

"Count the number of people, and leave when it's enough!" As soon as Diego Simeone sat down, he told Borges to do things.

The former Argentine goalkeeper immediately walked through the carriage highway, counting the number of people along the way.

When he came back, he nodded to Diego Simeone and said, "Yes, we are all here!"

Diego Simeone immediately looked at the driver in the front seat of the car and said, "You can go now!"

That's Atletico Madrid's driver.

This is also the traditional way for European teams to play away games.

The team bus is a mobile fortress of the team. The coaching staff will discuss game tactics on the bus, and the players may also chat about some private topics on the bus, so the bus drivers must be people trusted by the club.

Therefore, when playing away games, the buses are usually rented temporarily, but the driver and deputy driver are both their own people.

Some wealthy football teams even have their own buses.

There is no other way. They are rich and powerful, so before the team leaves for the game, they ask the driver to drive the bus to the away game and wait.

There is definitely no way to deal with a poor team like Atletico Madrid.

As soon as Simeone finished shouting, he leaned back in the back seat, closed his eyes, and planned to take a nap comfortably.

But strangely, after waiting for a while, there was no movement from the bus.

"What's going on?" Simone opened his eyes again and looked at the driver in front of the car, "Why aren't you leaving yet?"

The Spanish driver turned around and said apologetically, "Oh, OK, right away, I'll check the navigation!"

Simeone curled his lips, somewhat dissatisfied, but helpless.

The drivers of the top teams can drive the bus around the city where the away game is held two or three days in advance to familiarize themselves with the city's transportation, as well as the locations of hotels, training grounds, and stadiums.

But Atletico Madrid can't do that, at least they don't have the funds!

So, there is no other way but to rely on navigation every time!

After finally finding the place, I turned on the navigation, started the bus, and slowly drove forward.

After all, it is a rented car, so it is not that comfortable. Moreover, the team is stingy with money, so they rent cheap buses, and the air conditioning is not strong enough.

Just think about it, on a hot day, dozens of people are huddled in a carriage, but the air conditioning is not very cold. What kind of experience is that?

The players were complaining a little in the carriage, but the general idea was to bear with it since they would be arriving soon anyway.

"Diego!"

Assistant coach Boggs, who was sitting next to Diego Simeone, came over.

"The team hasn't given an answer to the winning bonus yet. Should we push for it?"

Diego Simeone opened his closed eyes, looked ahead, and a hint of anger flashed across his face.

He urged them, but the management did not give a direct answer. Instead, they used the tactic of procrastination, saying that they were discussing it and would give a bonus plan before the competition.

In the Europa League final, the prize money for winning the championship alone is as high as 6 million. It doesn't need to be more. Is it too much to take more than 1 million from it as a bonus? Is it outrageous? Is it very reluctant?

Seeing Diego Simeone's expression, Boggs knew that the head coach was not in a good position either.

"I just heard some players discussing this on the plane. You know, it's better to make things clear before the game."

Diego Simeone himself is a professional player, so he certainly knows this.

Nowadays, all the talk of honor, sense of mission, and emotion between you and professional players is bullshit!

Why are professional players called professionals?

That's because playing football is the source of their and their family's livelihood!

That's money!

Nothing is more important than money!

"Don't worry, I'll ask again when we get to the hotel!"

When Simeone manages the team, he still takes care of the interests of the players, which is one of the reasons why he wins the respect of the players.

After all, no one wants to work for a head coach who doesn't care about their own interests at all.

But as soon as Simeone finished speaking, he heard the driver in front of him shout "Oh no!"

"What's going on?" Simeone raised his head and looked ahead and around.

They are all cars!

The driver turned around and said, "It seems there is a traffic jam!"

It’s not just like that, it’s exactly like that!

Simone looked at the time. It was rush hour and the road he was taking was not a main road, so it was no wonder there was a traffic jam.

"I'm sorry, I didn't pay much attention just now because I was taking a shortcut!" said the driver apologetically.

It’s all because I’m unfamiliar with the place. If it were in Madrid or some major European cities, why would there be traffic jams?

"Forget it, forget it, quickly find an intersection to turn around!"

Simeone noticed a phenomenon: there was a traffic jam in the two-way lane in the direction he was in, but the traffic on the other side was unobstructed.

The driver agreed and said he would turn at the next intersection.

But as we waited, the traffic in front of us moved as slowly as a snail.

Time passed by minute by minute, the temperature in the car was hot, and the air conditioning was not effective. The experience... you can imagine.

The worst thing was that at this moment, some sharp-eyed bastard saw a bus coming from the opposite direction from afar.

“Wow, Southampton even sent a bus here!”

“Is this true or false?”

"Nonsense, look for yourself, isn't that Southampton's bus?"

"Yeah, there are players up there!"

"How did they come from that direction?"

"I think they must have already explored the road conditions!"

As luck would have it, the Southampton bus seemed to have also seen the Atletico Madrid bus.

No wonder, the bus is so tall and the team logo is so conspicuous that it can be seen from a distance.

"Hey, are you guys stuck in traffic?"

"Ouch, bad luck, there's still a long way to go!"

"The road ahead is being repaired these days. The traffic is blocked every day in this direction. Only a fool would go there!"

"There are still several kilometers to go. I'm afraid we'll have to wait a long time!"

"Just wait, we're leaving first!"

The Southampton bus just passed by the safety island and then went away behind us. It was so cool.

The most painful thing in life is that I am stuck in traffic, but I see the person I hate the most passing by unimpeded.

"Damn Southampton!"

"That's outrageous!"

"They found out the road conditions, but they didn't inform us in advance!"

"Damn it! Let's kill them tomorrow night!"

"Yes, let out a big sigh of relief!"

Suddenly, the howling of Atletico Madrid players was heard in the bus.

Finally, more than an hour later, this group of players who could not be shouted, called, or even walked appeared in front of the hotel booked by the team.

"Is this the hotel we booked?" Simeone looked at the hotel in front of him, feeling a little amused.

Isn’t this too simple?

There are four stars?

Oh no, is there a Samsung?

It's already nightfall, and the whole hotel is still pitch dark, with not even the lights on. Is that acceptable?

"It seems so!" The team leader smiled bitterly, he didn't know either.

"Hurry up and make a phone call to ask!" Simeone felt a fire burning in his heart.

This question turned out to be this hotel.

The reason is simple. Southampton booked the best five-star hotel near the Bucharest National Stadium, the Marriott, in advance, and other hotels were also snapped up by fans from the UK.

According to UEFA, Southampton's entry into the Europa League final attracted more than 30,000 fans to Bucharest, most of whom were British fans.

Once these 30,000 people flood into the city, it will be a huge test for Bucharest's reception capacity.

And Southampton also demonstrated excellent operational capabilities this time.

After the team defeated Sporting Lisbon in the second leg of the semi-finals, they immediately sent messages on their official website, app and WeChat to collect fans willing to go to Bucharest to watch the game. In addition to giving away tickets, they also helped contact hotels for free.

As a result, Southampton's move immediately received a positive response from fan organizations and fans. The 25,000 fans were recruited in just a few days. Many fans even contacted the team and expressed their willingness to come to the scene to buy tickets on their own.

Therefore, Southampton sent people to Bucharest to contact some hotels near the national stadium and obtained very favorable group ticket prices for the more than 30,000 fans.

Atletico Madrid contacted the hotel relatively late, and by the time they started practicing at the hotel, all the surrounding four-star and five-star hotels, and even some three-star hotels with good reviews, had been booked out.

As a last resort, they could only choose this one.

Otherwise, you will have to choose a hotel that is farther away and travel back and forth.

After Simeone heard the whole story, he was helpless.

Who made Atletico Madrid poor and unprofessional?

Look at how Southampton's management operates. They are almost blowing the shit out of Atletico Madrid's management.

Not only Simeone was depressed, the players were also in a bad mood.

Who would want to stay in such a horrible hotel?

"Okay, everyone, go in and follow the room arrangements we normally make. Hurry up and get ready. We'll get familiar with the venue later. Quick!"

With Simeone's order, the Atletico Madrid players, no matter how reluctant they were, knew that the situation was irreversible.

A thousand furry and mud horses are roaring through my heart, but the cruel reality has to go on.

…………

…………

When Simeone greeted the players into the hotel, Southampton had just finished their last training session at the National Stadium in the western part of Bucharest.

Bielsa was determined to keep the suspense going until the end. In this training session, Toni Kroos only participated in some relaxation training of the team. When the team was conducting some tactical drills, the German midfielder was training alone on the sidelines.

This also made all the reporters who came to the scene to inspect Southampton feel very confusing.

Will Toni Kroos participate in the competition?

When the reporter threw this question to Bielsa at the press conference organized by UEFA, the Argentine madman smiled and did not give a positive answer, but said something rather witty.

"you guess!"

At this moment everyone understood that Bielsa was throwing a smoke bomb.

But the problem is, no one knows whether Toni Kroos can play?

Everyone feels that the German midfielder was included in the squad because he has recovered well, but Bielsa wants to put him on the bench, and the real starter is still Matic.

After all, the Serbs played too well and too steadily against Liverpool.

One is just recovering from an injury, and the other is in great shape. Anyone would know what to choose, right?

Besides, if Toni Kroos has really recovered, why doesn't he participate in the team's tactical training?

Although we have already practiced what we should practice before, practicing together one more time means we will have a better understanding of each other.

Therefore, basically everyone still thinks that Matic should start!

"But why do I always feel that this matter is not that simple?"