February 12th.
The twenty-seventh round of the Premier League kicked off. Arsenal defeated Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-0, thanks to Fly's goal and assist.
Manchester United narrowly defeated their city rivals, the Blue Moon Manchester City, 2-1, maintaining a 20-point gap with Arsenal.
After this match, Arsenal will travel to San Siro to challenge Serie A giants AC Milan.
At the post-match press conference, Arsène Wenger stated bluntly:
"The victory in this match has restored our confidence. I believe we will achieve a decent result in Milan this Wednesday evening."
"Our opponent is a very great club, but I am full of confidence that we can achieve victory..."
When asked about Fly's disrespectful remarks towards Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsène Wenger shrugged, with a matter-of-fact expression.
"I don't think anything Fly said was wrong..."
"Alex always relies on his past success to make wild claims in the Premier League. I've long hoped someone would come out and confront him."
"Fly said that Manchester United relied on begging for a draw and are not qualified to clamor for a comeback. I think he's absolutely right!"
"Alex has been putting pressure on Arsenal online recently, constantly talking about a comeback."
"Those who don't know would even think that the gap between Manchester United and Arsenal is getting smaller..."
"But in reality, the gap between Manchester United and Arsenal has not only not narrowed, but has been increasing."
"In this situation, Alex is still clamoring online every day about making a comeback against us. It's absolutely ridiculous!"
The Fleet Street journalists didn't expect Arsène Wenger to show Sir Alex Ferguson no face at all and directly start a feud.
However, considering Sir Alex Ferguson's active provocations during this period, it was normal for the French old man to lose his temper...
When Fly was interviewed, he just said a few words calmly:
"I know that even if I don't say anything, just by being a starting player for Arsenal, Manchester United fans will never like me."
"Since that's the case... why should I try to win over a group that I can't possibly win over?"
"I don't want to do such a thankless and ineffective thing."
"People who like me won't dislike me because I spoke the truth to an old man..."
"People who hate me will at most dislike me even more, which doesn't affect me at all."
"As for the Champions League, I am ready. Let AC Milan bring it on!"
"I won't predict victory in advance like a certain Swede. I will only speak after I've killed my opponent."
As soon as Fly made these remarks, they immediately sparked a lot of discussion among fans and the media.
At the same time, after a Serie A match that had just ended, Ibrahimović was asked about this hot topic during an interview. The Swede showed no intention of backing down; instead, he went head-to-head and continued to speak out:
"Predicting victory? NO, NO, NO, this is not predicting, but merely stating an objective fact in advance..."
"I have absolute confidence that we will undoubtedly defeat Arsenal."
"Fly doesn't dare to say this because he knows they will be defeated at San Siro next week. We'll see."
When Fly learned that Ibrahimović had made wild claims again through his phone, he couldn't help but murmur to himself:
"Ibrahimović? This time I must beat you into a little brother!"
Fly had always scoffed at Ibrahimović's remarks, considering him a softie in the Champions League.
Perhaps in other competitions, Ibrahimović had the right to show off.
But in the Champions League, excuse me... Ibrahimović is a cancer.
Although he scored many goals throughout his career, he had very few truly crucial goals, and knockout stage goals were even rarer.
"Tottenham could eliminate you 1-0 in my previous life. I don't believe that if it's Arsenal, the score can be lower than Tottenham's?"
....
February 15th.
Fly landed in Milan with the team's flight.
He and his club teammates had to arrive a day early for the pitch inspection and warm-up.
During this process, the Arsenal players were subjected to numerous 'attacks' from AC Milan fans.
Especially in the early hours of the match day, there was non-stop noise outside the street where Arsenal's temporary hotel was located.
Fly had seen this kind of harassment of the away team many times in TV news in his previous life.
But this was the first time he experienced this situation as a victim.
"Damn it, these people are making so much noise here, how are we supposed to rest?"
Wilshere, who was sharing a room with Fly, looked through the floor-to-ceiling window at the scattered lights in the distance and said angrily.
Fly comforted him:
"Relax, relax... I estimate this situation will be very common in future matches. After all, the further the Champions League knockout stage progresses, the more likely teams playing away are to be harassed and attacked by local fans."
"The public security in Europe... well, those who know, know. I'm too lazy to complain."
"I estimate that the police in these away cities might even be happy to see fans doing this. After all, many of these police officers are fans of the home team themselves, and they can't wait for the away team to be affected."
Hearing this, Wilshere thought about it and realized that it was indeed the case.
Putting everything else aside, just talking about the second leg of the knockout stage when AC Milan goes to London to play, he believed that Arsenal fans would not make things easy for the AC Milan players either.
"Fly, good luck tomorrow. We must crush them, otherwise, we won't be able to vent this frustration and will feel uncomfortable all over!"
Fly nodded, with a matter-of-fact expression:
"Of course, we must crush them. Even without these annoying fans, just Ibrahimović, that arrogant guy who dared to predict qualification, gives me no reason not to severely punish them."
"Hahaha, then I'm relieved. I know too well that once you play with anger, you are simply the opponent's nightmare..."
Remembering Fly's performance every time he was provoked in the past, Wilshere couldn't help but shiver.
He was already silently mourning for the poor AC Milan fans in advance.
Although he couldn't guarantee that Arsenal would definitely escape San Siro unscathed, an angry Fly would definitely become AC Milan's nightmare.
....
February 16th, 4 PM.
After boarding the team bus with his teammates and club staff, Fly headed to San Siro.
San Siro, also known as the Giuseppe Meazza Stadium.
It is located in the San Siro district of Milan, Italy, 6 kilometers from the city center.
Owned by the Municipality of Milan, it is a UEFA five-star stadium and the shared home ground of Serie A teams AC Milan and Inter Milan.
AC Milan fans call it San Siro, while Inter Milan fans call it Meazza.
Two European giants sharing the same stadium is in itself a very incredible thing.
Fly heard that the two clubs wanted to move out of San Siro and build their own stadium as their home ground.
But the Milan government has never agreed, and the reason is simple: profit.
It is important to note that the ownership of San Siro belongs to the Milan government.
Every year, the Milan government collects approximately 12 million euros in rent from San Siro, which is a considerable income for the not-so-wealthy Milan government!
If AC Milan and Inter Milan moved out, who would they collect rent from?
This is the fundamental reason why the Milan government has always disagreed with the two clubs building their own stadiums.
On the way to San Siro, the Arsenal bus was frantically chased by surrounding AC Milan fans.
Fly pulled open the curtain and peeked outside. What caught his eye were various insulting gestures and mouths spewing obscenities.
Fly could guess from the general mouth shapes that the 'Fxxk' content in these people's words was extremely high.
Putting down the curtain, Fly gradually began to feel the importance and intensity of the Champions League knockout stage.
Ordinary matches don't have such passionate scenes.
Even in the North London Derby between Arsenal and Tottenham, Fly didn't feel the fans were this crazy.
But thinking about it, no matter how much a match is called a "derby," it cannot change its essence as just a "League" match.
How can an ordinary League match be compared to a life-and-death battle like the Champions League knockout stage, where it's "either you die or I live"?
No matter how important a derby is, it's only worth 3 points...
Three points, in a 38-round League, are negligible.
But in the Champions League knockout stage, excuse me, a slight oversight in 180 minutes can lead to immediate elimination.
A year's effort goes directly to waste!
"Phew - must stay calm. Today's match is no big deal, just play like usual. The opponent is not strong. Come on!"
Encouraging himself inwardly, Fly calmed his mind, preparing to face this "big test" with a peaceful attitude.