In the visitor's locker room at Emirates Stadium.
Unlike the cheerful atmosphere in the home team's locker room, the mood in the visitor's locker room was not good.
The reason was simple: Manchester City's highly anticipated Italian genius, Mario Balotelli, lost the Golden Boy Award, which he had one hand on, due to Fly's sudden emergence.
Mancini, the manager of Manchester City and also an Italian, was a bit upset seeing his fellow countryman miss out on the Golden Boy Award he was determined to win.
Affected by Mario Balotelli and the manager, the other Manchester City players were quietly doing their own things, with almost no interaction between them.
"Alright, Mario, don't be so discouraged. This is just a small setback in life... Stand up like a man and prove to the world that they were wrong!"
"I believe in you, you will be better than Fly sooner or later!"
Hearing his coach's comfort, Mario Balotelli nodded and said to the coach, "I know, Boss, I will show them!"
Just then, news came from outside that the Golden Boy Award ceremony had ended and it was time to enter the field for the match.
At the same time, Manchester City players learned about Fly's remarks.
When Mario Balotelli heard Fly say that he had a 90% chance of winning this year's Ballon dOr, he immediately got angry and said indignantly:
"Damn guy, who does he think he is, being so arrogant!"
"I wouldn't even dare to say I have a 90% chance of winning the Ballon dOr, let alone him, who relies on women!"
Mancini's face was also very unpleasant.
Although he is a coach, the Ballon dOr has nothing to do with him.
But a manager hearing an opposing player say such big words, anyone with a bit of ambition wouldn't be happy.
"Alright, it's because Arsenal's performance this season is so outstanding, and Fly's goal statistics are also explosive. It's not strange for him to say that."
Tevez, Manchester City's current star player, spoke in an indifferent tone.
Mario Balotelli looked angrily at Tevez upon hearing this, but the latter shrugged naturally, completely disregarding this club's substitute.
"Damn it, the current favorite for the Ballon dOr is your compatriot Lionel Messi. Are you just going to watch this guy Fly ride on your compatriot's head and pee and poop?"
Mario Balotelli's mind suddenly became agile, and he even used provocation.
However, it was obvious that for an experienced player like Tevez, Mario Balotelli's move was a bit too naive.
Facing such remarks, Tevez sneered, saying:
"Hehe... What does that guy Leo have to do with me? Will him winning or not winning the Ballon dOr bring me any gain or loss?"
"Obviously, no!"
"In that case, what does it matter if Fly defeats him and wins the Ballon dOr?"
"Mario, instead of bringing up Leo, you might as well bring up Cristiano. At least the latter helped me win a Champions League."
"What about Leo? His Argentina has achieved nothing so far, and was even slaughtered 4-0 by Germany in last year's World Cup."
"All his current honors come from Barcelona, not Argentina!"
"Do you think I would care about such a player?"
After being angrily retorted by Tevez, Mario Balotelli was speechless.
Debating with people is not his strong point to begin with. He just got angry and retorted because he heard Tevez seemed to be speaking up for Fly.
Now that he was countered, he completely lost his ability to organize his thoughts.
"Alright, stop arguing. Whether it's Fly or Leo, they are all our opponents. Whether they are good or bad has nothing to do with us. We only need to focus on ourselves!"
In the end, Mancini stepped in to help Mario Balotelli out of the situation.
Then, at his signal, the Manchester City players walked into the player tunnel.
Mario Balotelli, as a substitute, walked directly towards the bench by the field.
However, the moment he sat on the bench, the banner in the stands made his blood rush.
"Fly, Golden Boy Award winner!"
"Mario, loser!"
In addition to this banner, there were also many photoshopped images.
They basically showed him kneeling on the ground, presenting a crown to Fly who was sitting on a throne.
Seeing this, Mario Balotelli's eyes turned red, and he muttered to himself, "Damn guy, you just wait..."
...
"Hello, viewers in front of the television, welcome to the match of the twenty-second round of the 2010-2011 English Premier League season."
"This match is between the home team, the Gunners Arsenal, and the visiting team, the Blue Moon Manchester City."
"Before the match, we saw Fly accepting the Golden Boy Award from the Turin Sports Daily."
"Seeing this scene is truly moving."
"I never expected that in today's world, there would be a player with Chinese blood who could win the Golden Boy Award, an award that symbolizes the highest honor for young players."
"Especially since this Golden Boy Award was won based on Fly only playing for half a season, which is even more incredible..."
"larry, I saw many people online believe that if Fly hadn't only played for half a season, he might have won the Ballon dOr directly."
"What do you think of this view?"
Larry, who had been looking sleepy, immediately perked up when he heard this, and chuckled:
"Oh, that's a good question."
"How should I put it, for an ordinary player, I would answer 'impossible' without hesitation to this assumption."
"Because we all know that the Ballon dOr, in addition to looking at a player's individual statistics, honor is also essential..."
"This year's Ballon dOr favorites are none other than Wesley Sneijder, who won the treble with Inter Milan and was the runner-up in the World Cup in South Africa."
"And Andrés Iniesta and Xavi, who won the World Cup."
"Finally, there's Messi, who has the best statistics."
"The reason these few people are candidates for the Ballon dOr is that they have at least one of the two important indicators: individual statistics and team honors."
"And the reason why this year's Ballon dOr is more suspenseful than the past three years is that none of this year's candidates simultaneously hold both important indicators of individual statistics and team honors."
"The winners of the Ballon dOr in the past three years, Kaka, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Messi, all won the Champions League in the year they won the Ballon dOr, and their individual statistics were also the best players of the same period."
"So their winning the Ballon dOr was actually without suspense several months before the awards ceremony."
"But this year's Ballon dOr is not like that. With less than a week until the Ballon dOr is announced, we still don't have a clear answer."
"In such a suspenseful year, if Fly had debuted half a year earlier, that is, participated in the second half of the 2009-2010 season."
"Then based on his performance this season, if he played the entire 2010 year, I think he could score at least 50 goals, or even 60."
"You know, Messi, who has the best statistics, only scored around 40 goals in 2010, which is incomparable to Fly."
"In this case, Fly is likely to replace Messi's position and be included in the Ballon dOr favorites as the 'player with the best statistics'."
"If that's the case, I think Fly has at least a 30% chance of winning the 2010 Ballon dOr."
"Of course, there are no 'ifs', but if Fly continues to maintain his performance from the first half of the season, and Arsenal can win important trophies."
"In a non-World Cup and non-European Cup year, Fly has at least a 50% chance of winning the 2011 Ballon dOr."
"If Arsenal can win the Champions League this season, then this probability will be 100%, and not giving it to Fly would be pure foul play."
After hearing Larry's analysis, james nodded and replied:
"larry makes sense, so now let's take a look at the starting lineups of both teams."
"The home team Arsenal is fielding a familiar 442 formation."
"Goalkeeper: Szczęsny."
"Defenders: Sagna, Varane, Koscielny, Clichy."
"Midfielders: Alexandre Song, Wilshere, Nasri, Fabregas."
"Forwards: Fly, Van Persie."
"The away team, the Blue Moon Manchester City, is also fielding the same 442 formation."
"Goalkeeper: Joe Hart."
"Defenders: Pablo Zabaleta, Richards, Kompany, Kolo Touré."
"Midfielders: Yaya Touré, Milner, Barry, Nigel de Jong."
"Forwards: Tevez, Jo."
"We can see that the Golden Boy Award favorite before Fly's sudden emergence, the Italian genius Mario Balotelli, is still sitting on the bench."
"Mario Balotelli's development at Manchester City this season has not been satisfactory."
"Many people originally thought that after Mario Balotelli came to Manchester City, he would only need less than a season to become a starter."
"But the reality is that Mario Balotelli can only serve as a substitute forward at Manchester City now, and he is the kind of substitute player who is quite far from the starting players."
"Mario Balotelli has scored a total of two goals as a substitute player this season, which is very disappointing."
"This loss of the Golden Boy Award has further raised concerns about the future of the Italian genius."
"larry, what do you think of Mario Balotelli?"