Chapter 730: Devil’s Home
Accompanied by a screeching sound of tires rubbing against the runway, a Boeing plane with the Emirates Airlines logo printed on it slowly landed on the runway of London Heathrow Airport.
Not long after, a luxury bus with the Real Madrid logo printed on its body drove onto the tarmac of Heathrow Airport.
A few minutes later, when the group of reporters who were waiting in the Heathrow Airport terminal for Real Madrid to appear ran out of the gate, the bus that picked up the Real Madrid players had already left.
We got on the highway and headed south to Southampton.
After more than an hour's flight, the players on the bus generally sat in their seats, either putting on headphones and listening to music, or simply closing their eyes to rest, while some turned their heads to look at the scenery outside through the window.
The scenery along the way from London to Southampton is quite nice.
At least it's much better than Madrid.
"Gareth, you've lived in Southampton for so many years, is there anything fun here?"
Ramos, who was sitting next to him, asked expectantly.
He asks this question almost every time he goes to an away game.
Gareth Bale shook his head and smiled bitterly: "I'm afraid it's hard for me to answer this question."
"Why?" Ramos was a little surprised.
Several teammates around heard their conversation and looked over with curiosity.
After Gareth Bale transferred from Southampton to Real Madrid, he was somewhat out of tune with the many factions within the team, which made him have few friends to talk to in the team, and therefore no one knew about his affairs.
Nowadays, it is a rare opportunity to find out more, and anyone with a little gossip spirit will not miss it.
"Actually, I didn't live in Southampton for very long."
Carvajal leaned his head against the seat, looking a little puzzled, "Aren't you a youth player of the Saints?"
"Yes!" Gareth Bale nodded. "I did come from the Saints' youth training camp, but I had been receiving training in Bath before. Southampton has youth training academies in many places in England, which can be regarded as part of the Saints' youth training system."
"Bath, I know this place. It's a very famous tourist city. I think it's also a world cultural heritage city."
The young Real Madrid talented rookie Jesse said excitedly.
As a young man, he also longs to better integrate into this group of stars.
"Yes, it's a very beautiful town with a very good university. I stayed there for a long time until I graduated from high school. Then I came to Southampton and entered the Saints' youth training camp. Not long after that, I played. Then the Saints were relegated, and then I went to Tottenham Hotspur."
In that case, his time at Southampton was indeed not long.
No wonder, it seemed that he had no so-called loyalty to the saints. So this is what was going on.
Vidal on the side said at this time: "If you go to Southampton for fun, the New Forest is not far away, and the Isle of Wight is also very close. The most popular places now are the underwater hotel and the offshore football stadium."
Undersea hotel? Sea football field?
When you hear this name, you will feel it is extremely high-end and classy.
"Arturo, have you been back?" Carvajal asked.
He has never returned to Southampton since his move to Real Madrid.
"Well, I went back during the winter break. I plan to let my children stay in the UK to study." Vidal laughed.
Although he always looks like a workaholic on the field, he is a bit introverted and shy off the field. He is also very family-oriented and cares deeply about his family and children.
"Education in the UK is indeed much better, but it is not very convenient to leave children in the UK." Xabi Alonso, who had been silent, also spoke.
Everyone in the team knows that Xabi Alonso is a well-known literary youth. During his rest time, his greatest interest is to pick up a book and read it in a place where no one is around.
Moreover, his daughter is of school age, so he attaches great importance to the topic of education.
"I heard that the school Young Master Huan helped me find is also very famous in London. Even if you have money, you can't get in. And I calculated that it only takes half an hour to fly from Madrid to London. I come back once a week, and my family stays in the UK, so it should be no problem."
Xabi Alonso listened and nodded, "Yeah, that's pretty good."
After a pause, he smiled again, "I didn't expect that your Master Huan would be so nice to you and even help your children find a school. That's great!"
"That's right!" Carvajal interrupted and said, "Speaking of Master Huan, there is nothing to say. He is completely different from other rich second-generations. He is righteous and easy to talk to. Most importantly, he loves football very much and respects and takes care of us players. Such a boss is hard to come by!"
"Is it really that good?" Ramos next to him deliberately asked with doubt.
"Of course!" Carvajal said.
Cristiano Ronaldo had been listening for a long time. He couldn't help but laughed and made a joke, "Since he is so good, you guys are not allowed to let him go. We want to defend the Champions League, don't show mercy!"
The Portuguese superstar's words immediately made everyone in the bus burst into laughter.
"Don't worry, Master Huan despises those who betray their own people the most. If we really let him go, the first person who will look down on us will be Master Huan!"
Carvajal is a youth player of Real Madrid. He is very close to Casillas, Ramos and others, especially Ramos, so he has some status and influence in the team.
"But, Cristiano, you have to clean your shoes tonight and be more accurate with your feet."
"Why?"
"At St. Mary's Stadium, Southampton will not give the opponent too many chances!"
"Really?" The Portuguese was a little unconvinced.
He had witnessed Southampton's pressing and oppression in the game at the Bernabeu, and had also experienced the suffocating pressing and oppression of Barcelona during its heyday. Could the Saints still compare to Barcelona?
But after listening to this, Vidal nodded solemnly and reminded: "He is right. Southampton at home is completely different from Southampton away. If the Saints at St. Mary's Stadium can play at a level of 10, then the Saints in the game at the Bernabeu can only get 7 points at most!"
Seven points?
Everyone in the bus was stunned.
What is the concept?
The entire Real Madrid team has tried their best, but in the end, the opponent only exerted 70% of their strength?
Head coach Ancelotti, who had been sitting in the front row of the bus and had been silent all the time, just listening to the players talking, stood up at this time, turned around, looked at everyone present, and nodded solemnly.
"Arturo is right. St. Mary's Stadium is the most famous devil's home ground in the Premier League in the past few years. I have checked their information. In the two seasons of the Europa League, they have maintained a perfect record at home. In the strong dialogues in the Premier League, their home record is also quite outstanding."
"So, Southampton's St. Mary's Stadium is a well-known devil's home ground in the Premier League!"
Ancelotti's words, coupled with his expression, made everyone in the bus feel a solemnity, and even felt the worry in the head coach's heart.
From the battle at the Bernabeu, they all deeply felt that Southampton was definitely stronger than they had imagined.
Originally they thought that the Saints were at best at the level of Valencia or Sevilla.
But what was unexpected was that Southampton’s strength was not weaker than Real Madrid at all.
It is hard to say whether a draw at home is good or bad, but the two away goals allowed Southampton to take the initiative to some extent.
What tactics will Bielsa use in this game?
Will it attack or defend?
These are all questions!
"Everyone!" Ancelotti felt the solemn atmosphere in the car and he immediately spoke again, because his purpose was not to tell the players how strong Southampton was, but to let them not underestimate the enemy.
“I have absolute confidence and assurance that as long as we play to our full potential, we will be able to escape from St. Mary’s Stadium unscathed and advance to the semi-finals. I promise!”
With Ancelotti's words, everyone in the car felt a little more at ease.
But everyone still has some worries in their hearts. After all, this is Southampton's home ground.
When the bus got off the highway and entered the city of Southampton, everyone in the car was stunned by what they saw.
It was still afternoon, but both sides of the street were filled with Saints fans wearing red and white arrow striped jerseys. Many even had their faces covered in paint. Whenever they met each other, they would enthusiastically shout, "Saints must win!"
As soon as the Real Madrid bus came into the sight of these fans, there was a burst of boos.
"Look, the Real Madrid bus!"
"Brothers, shush it!"
"Boo these Real Madrid players, tell them to go back!"
"Stop throwing things. Hey, whoever throws things again is not a saint!"
"Yes, that's right. If we want to win, we have to win honestly on the court, not by any tricks off the court!"
But more and more Saints fans chased after the bus, shouting all kinds of harassing slogans, and even booing loudly from time to time.
Apart from anything else, the scene alone was enough to make everyone in the car tremble with fear.
Especially when they got closer to St. Mary's Stadium, the closer they got, the bigger the crowd became, and almost all of the people around were Southampton fans, and everyone was booing them, with many even threatening and insulting them.
Although everyone in the car was accustomed to all kinds of scenes, they still couldn't help feeling a chill in their hearts.
Damn, there are so many people here, what if things get out of control?
"Hey, Arturo, you guys are really disloyal. Why didn't you give us a warning in advance?" Ramos looked at Vidal with a complaint. Even though he was so bold, he was a little unsure.
Vidal looked at Gareth Bale and Carvajal, both of them smiling bitterly.
"We don't know why there is such a big fuss. The Saints' game attendance was high in the past, but it was never this outrageous. Looking at this situation, I'm afraid the whole city will be out in force, and the streets will be empty, right?"
"It should be. I saw in the media that this is the best European result in Southampton's history. So, they hope that Southampton can go one step further. Everyone wants to witness the Saints take this step with their own eyes, so it is said that the tickets are snapped up like crazy!"
The bus was soon blocked outside the stadium by the red and white crowd and could not move.
Everyone in the car looked around and saw Southampton fans everywhere. They were very nervous.
Especially when some Saints fans picked up objects and even smashed the car windows, they were all frightened, fearing that the situation could not be controlled. If the fans started to make trouble, it would be a big deal.
Fortunately, within a few minutes, the police arrived and cleared a lane for the bus, allowing them to enter the player tunnel of St. Mary's Stadium directly.
But even so, everyone in Real Madrid still felt a certain amount of pressure.
Is this the so-called devil's home court?