Chapter 121: The Eve Before Facing Real Madrid

Beep!

"The match is over! Ten years in the making! With three league games still to play, Arsenal have clinched the 2012–2013 Premier League title early — this is the fourth league title in Arsenal's history."

"No one expected, before the new season started, that the Arsenal who fought for top-four every year would break the Manchester duopoly and, after ten years, bring the title back to London."

After the referee's whistle.

Wenger led his coaching staff onto the pitch, and Xia Qi, Jack Wilshere and the substitutes followed them onto the field.

"Xia Qi excitedly and, with teammates, lifted Wenger and paraded him around the pitch."

Arsenal fans wildly waved whatever they could wave and screamed hysterically.

Some fans couldn't wait for security to open the barriers and just climbed over.

"Fans rushed onto the pitch to celebrate with the players; it reminded me of something Xia Qi said when he first joined Arsenal:

For the title!

Arsenal were already finishing fourth before I joined, so signing me was, of course, for the title.

At the time I thought the kid was a little crazy, but now I think young people should have a dream-chasing heart — I just suddenly feel a bit sorry for Robin van Persie."

[Haha, can't stop laughing! To praise Xia Qi you have to step on Van Persie? I also think young people should chase dreams, and I also feel sorry for Van Persie's ambition.]

[Support young people chasing dreams +1, feel sorry for Van Persie's ambition -1.]

…

"Viewers, right now you see Thomas Vermaelen holding up the Barclays trophy, but that trophy is fake — the real award ceremony will be held at Arsenal's last home game, that is, matchday 37.

Viewers, we'd love to broadcast the interaction between Arsenal players and the fans, but our live window is over, so regrettably we must say goodbye. See you for the Champions League broadcast."

On the pitch, Emma and Cheryl, Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp also came out onto the field…

At the referee's whistle…

"Ding dong…"

"Ding, this match has ended; rewards being settled…"

"The host played 85 minutes in this match, participation B+, performance A+, award: +5 attribute points."

"Host, completed this season's double over Manchester United quest, reward: Stadium Taboo Patch Pack."

"Ding, regional legend rating +1."

"…"

Wenger didn't let the players celebrate for long — firstly, tonight wasn't the award night; secondly, they play Real Madrid in four days, and if the players were too excited they'd be physically fatigued.

Back in the dressing room, Wenger gave a short speech.

"Kids, thank you for bringing Arsenal back to the top after ten years, but now is not the time to pop champagne. We still have a test to face.

This test is extremely important to us. I want everyone to go home tonight, rest well; don't go out celebrating, even if that girl is very charming."

At this, Wenger looked at Xia Qi, and good-natured laughter rose in the room.

Xia Qi rubbed his nose without arguing, but in his head he was frantically thinking: Even if I party every night, it won't affect my matches, because I don't pay to watch the games.

"Meet at the base tomorrow morning at nine. We fly to Madrid at noon. I'll now read the squad list — Szczęsny, Martínez…"

As Wenger announced the Champions League squad, the dressing room fell silent; the previous joy disappeared and the atmosphere turned heavy.

That heaviness partly came from the disappointment of the players left out, but more from uncertainty about the journey ahead.

If beating a twilight Manchester United was this hard, then how could they possibly beat the rising sun that is Real Madrid?

…

Emma and Cheryl came to support them; Xia Qi thanked the two after the match.

Xia Qi and Emma are public friends — they haven't publicly dated, but they appear together in public. The relationship with Cheryl is an underground romance that can't be exposed; in public they are business acquaintances.

Emma didn't know about Xia Qi and Cheryl's relationship and graciously invited Cheryl to join them for a late-night snack.

Of course Cheryl agreed, and Xia Qi died of embarrassment on the spot.

Watching the two beautiful women chatting merrily opposite him, Xia Qi's feet were so awkward he felt he could scrape out a whole apartment floor with them.

And Cheryl's foot was not behaving — under the table it slid between Xia Qi's legs.

Whoa! A thirty-year-old woman is like a tigress.

That meal felt like a death sentence; every second for Xia Qi was agony.

Finally he managed to see the troublemaker off, but the lust raging through him wouldn't be extinguished. He couldn't hold back and gave her instant justice in Emma's nanny's car…

The shaking car ruined many paparazzi film reels.

As a result, Arsenal's ten-year title return didn't even trend the next day.

…

Madrid, Spain — Real Madrid training base.

José Mourinho sat in the video room watching Arsenal vs Manchester United and took notes on his laptop.

"Boss, we're four goals up; we can play it any way. We can park the bus and defend the four-goal lead, or keep the same lineup. Last time we scored five; at home, can't we get six or seven?"

Mourinho gave a bitter smile and shook his head. "Arsenal with Xia Qi and Arsenal without Xia Qi are completely different teams."

"And Xia Qi averages 3.8 goals per game. With that, we're not really that far ahead…"

"Then use Casemiro to mark him. With that build, Casemiro shouldn't lose out physically to Xia Qi…"

"You think Casemiro can do it? A midfield double pivot of Casemiro and Xabi Alonso, and up front Modrić or 272?"

"Modrić controls the rhythm much better than 272…"

…

April 29, afternoon, the whole Arsenal squad arrived at Madrid International Airport.

Outside the arrivals area it was packed; camera lenses for reporters stood like a forest. As the Arsenal players appeared in the corridor and hadn't cleared the arrivals area, flashbulbs started strobing, dazzling like neon.

Besides reporters, most of the arrivals were Arsenal fans, including many Chinese students.

Xia Qi's appearance stirred a football craze in China.

Football has always had a flow code in China: with no Chinese players in the big five leagues nowadays, those of Chinese descent become their spiritual anchor.

Wenger and his coaching staff were the first to walk through the arrivals; reporters immediately flooded toward Wenger with microphones.

"Question: Arsenal need to score at least five goals to progress. Do you have confidence in pulling off a comeback at the Bernabéu?"

"Of course."

"Mourinho says Arsenal are a soft team, lacking iron-blooded spirit; they can only play when they're ahead…"

"I'm glad he thinks that. Sir Alex Ferguson thought so too; after last night's match he refused to shake my hand and left in a huff. I believe at the Bernabéu in three days you'll see the same scene."

"…"

Soon Xia Qi pushed his luggage trolley and walked out with his teammates.

"Xia Qi!"

Amidst the cheers, very standard Mandarin could also be heard.

This made Xia Qi feel unusually close, and he quickly found Chinese students among the crowd who looked like him.

Xia Qi pulled a few jerseys from his luggage, signed them and gave them to the waiting students; of course, there weren't enough for everyone, so it was by chance…

"Xia Qi, we'll go to the Bernabéu to support you."

"Heh, you should be going to Wembley to support me."

"We will, we definitely will."

That evening's news:

Arsenal arrive in Madrid and take up residence at Atlético Madrid's Espinosa training base (renamed Wanda Atlético Madrid Training Center in '16). The whole Arsenal camp are optimistic about reaching the final; their star Xia Qi even told fans to buy Wembley final tickets in advance…

When this news broke, 272 was unhappy; he uploaded a photo of the first-leg 1–5 score on his Twitter and captioned it: This is an unbridgeable gulf!

The implication was clear.

His teammate Cristiano Ronaldo liked and retweeted it…

Cristiano Ronaldo's influence runs wide; not only football insiders liked and retweeted, but celebrities from other spheres joined in.

Shakira, Spanish actress Penélope Cruz, tennis great Rafael Nadal, NBA star Pau Gasol… all liked and retweeted under Cristiano's post.

Of course there were supporters of Arsenal too, such as former Arsenal player Cesc Fàbregas, who commented on Cristiano's tweet:

This Arsenal can create miracles. Eight months ago no one thought they'd be Premier League champions, yet yesterday they were winners of the Barclays title.

Shakira's boyfriend Gerard Piqué: We were the ones knocked out — why can't you be? Five goals don't stop Arsenal moving forward.

Support for Arsenal came not just from football but from entertainment.

Spanish young actress María Pedraza:

You and Xia Qi are both players I like; whoever progresses I can accept. But I want to say: against a goal machine like Xia Qi, a four-goal lead isn't safe.

These comments pushed the heat around the Champions League semi-final ever higher.

May Day at Atlético's training ground.

After training, Wenger didn't dismiss the team; instead he called the players together, forming a circle with himself standing in the middle.

"First, happy Labor Day to you all!"

"Boss, pay double wages today."

Wenger smiled and nodded, then continued:

"Tomorrow is the semi-final. This is our second objective. I won't say much about what this match means."

"First I want to thank you all for letting me stand here. If it weren't for Xia Qi, Wilshere, Marouane, Kevin…"

Wenger read every player's name aloud.

"You guys kept telling me, 'Boss don't give up.'

I think that's good; young people should be like that.

Last summer, when we bought Xia Qi, he, like all of you, told me with righteous certainty: I joined Arsenal for the title."

Wenger, usually stern, even mimicked Xia Qi's voice…

The whole place erupted in laughter again.

When everyone had laughed enough, Wenger continued: "And he succeeded."

Wenger paused, then shouted loudly: "Congratulations, 2013 Premier League champions!"

"Tomorrow night I'll also be able to congratulate you at the Bernabéu on achieving the second goal, right?"

"Right!"

"272, Cristiano… they think five goals is hard — is it really that hard? We can slaughter Bayern and Barça, and of course we can slaughter Real Madrid. No dragon can escape because you are the invincible dragon-slayers."

"Warriors, get a good night's sleep; don't end up trending for car sex like someone else. Rest up tonight, tomorrow we slay the dragon!"

…

May 2, 7:00 pm, the bus carrying the Arsenal players slowly left Atlético's base and immediately plunged into a sea of red and white.

Don't mistake it for the theatre of the sheet army's red and white; it was Arsenal red and white.

Sitting by the bus window, Xia Qi screamed: "How are there so many fans?"

This is an away game!

It turned out winning the Premier League had ignited Arsenal fans' passion.

At the same time, Arsenal fans knew the players play three games a week and are physically and mentally exhausted; the least they could do was come and cheer them on.

Escorted by fans, they drove into the Bernabéu plaza, which of course was a sea of white.

The red stream flowed into it and was quickly swallowed.

The Bernabéu holds eighty thousand, but Real Madrid only gave Arsenal thirty thousand tickets.

Real Madrid had a big home advantage.

Sitting on the bus, Xia Qi could clearly hear the Real Madrid supporters' anthem outside:

"Hala Madrid, come on Real…"

Arsenal's bus drove straight into the stadium.

After getting off, Wenger and Mikel Arteta went to hold a press conference.

Xia Qi and the others finished equipping and started their warm-up.

Before departure, Wenger had already announced the starting lineup.

At that moment, Europe's biggest broadcaster, Sky TV's football show, was on air.

The host introduced the expert pundits for tonight's broadcast.

To be fair, they usually invite a legend from each side.

Tonight was no exception; they invited Raúl, the ring-bearer luxuriating in Gulf money, and the King of Highbury, Thierry Henry.

Both had led the line for their teams in their day, and their presence pushed the show's ratings high.

"With less than ten minutes until kick-off, can you both predict the result and the flow of the match?"

Henry spoke first: "Arsenal must score five goals and Real Madrid must not score at all — frankly that's very difficult.

But football is round. From a probability perspective, a comeback from hopelessness is possible, and Arsenal, buoyed by their new championship momentum, might actually create a miracle at the Bernabéu."

Raúl: "Although I'm in Qatar, I've been following this year's Champions League. Arsenal are a sharp attacking side; they knocked out Bayern and Barça by big scores.

Both those eliminated teams are, on a competitive level, far above this Real Madrid. The reason Madrid could beat Arsenal heavily in the first leg was Xia Qi's red-card absence.

Tonight, Arsenal's goal-scoring beast returns, but the hole his teammates dug before is just too large.

And Mr. Mourinho is good at defending. If you say Arsenal can win tonight, I wouldn't be surprised. But if you say Arsenal will progress, then I want to ask Mourinho and his players: tonight, are you asleep?"

Raúl's words were actually quite fair and echoed many Real fans' views.

They didn't expect their team to win tonight, but they were convinced Madrid would progress — after all, the deficit was really big.

"Penguin Sports!"

"Dear viewers, welcome to the Penguin live room, on time for the second leg of the 2012–2013 Champions League semi-final.

I'm your old friend Zhang Lu,

I'm Zhan Jun."

(END CHAPTER)

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Chapter 120 - Chapter 121: The Eve Before Facing Real Madrid