Chapter 335: Chapter 334: Red and Blue Invasion, Turning the Tables
A stronger Barça rotated players for the sake of the game.
A weaker Sporting Lisbon, however, continued to fight on two, even three fronts.
This display of lack of respect for Barça greatly agitated the Barça fans.
During a media interview, Deng Kai expressed "arrogant" remarks:
"We didn’t do much targeted research or training for Barça, because this season Barça has tried too many starting line-ups and tactics, too messy, and we didn’t know where to start."
"Petit even said when he fled Barça in the winter window that it was the worst time of his professional career."
"To some extent, it reminds me of Inter Milan."
"So I believe, as long as we put up a good performance during the game, we can get past Barcelona."
"What they have, we have too. For example, superstars, excellent youth training, and quality fans."
"But what we have, they lack. For instance, a top-notch coaching staff, and... unity!"
The word "unity" was particularly provocative to Barça.
They began to express their dissatisfaction with Deng Kai through various channels.
However, just the same, fans of other La Liga teams suddenly recalled Deng Kai’s predictions at the start of the season when Barça and Deng Kai were trash-talking each other.
Last summer, when Valencia lost two starting midfielders, their fans were nearly in despair.
Yet Deng Kai confirmed the possibility of the team making it to the Champions League semi-finals for two consecutive years.
As one of the robbers (Barça took Gerard Lopez), Barça mocked Deng Kai crazily, accusing him of not understanding football.
Now... Valencia has really made it to the Champions League semi-finals again.
Similarly, earlier when Inter Milan faced Sporting Lisbon, Deng Kai commented on Inter Milan’s chaotic line-up.
He highly rated Robbie Keane, who, despite his high-price summer transfer to Inter Milan, did not get much playing time and performed poorly, strongly demanded a loan in the winter, and eventually went to Leeds United.
And he believed that Leeds United, with Robbie Keane, had a chance to make it to the Champions League semi-finals.
Inter Milan fans ridiculed Deng Kai terribly at that time.
However, now... Inter Milan has announced in advance that they won’t win any of the four major titles this season, while Leeds United, truly the only team from the Premier League, has made it to the Champions League semi-finals.
On the other hand, the other two Champions League powerhouses, Bayern and Real Madrid, were both teams that Deng Kai expressed confidence in from the beginning.
His predictions in this area are so accurate they’re infuriating.
But his forecasts in the early stages often seemed like sheer nonsense.
Therefore, many media have noticed that whenever Deng Kai makes a prediction, he would be criticized, but as the competition progresses, he would be praised.
The same happened when Manchester United won the Champions League the year before last.
It was the same when Real Madrid won the Champions League last year.
This year... Bayern fans have been criticising Deng Kai for two years in a row.
This year, they really dared not to criticize.
Many Bayern fans even publicly stated on social media that they hope Deng Kai would favor Bayern to win the championship this year.
Three years! It’s been three years since Bayern Munich made it to the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League.
If they don’t win the Champions League this year, they’ll truly start to lose faith in football itself.
People like that, do you dare to say they don’t understand the game?
Therefore, when Barcelona fans were attacking Deng Kai, it was not Sporting Lisbon fans who were the most forceful in fiercely defending Deng Kai and criticizing Barcelona, but the Bayern Munich fans.
They still remembered how they used to slander Deng Kai, but under the pressure of reality, they had become what they once despised the most.
The young Deng Kai, ultimately becoming the notorious Deng Kai.
It brings tears to talk about it!
...
April 5th, the first leg of the UEFA Cup semi-finals officially kicked off.
Estádio Alvalade witnessed its most crowded match of the year.
Because today, the number of Barcelona fans following their team exceeded ten thousand!
They showcased the Barcelona fans’ strong financial foundation, turning half of Estádio Alvalade into a red and blue sea.
The commercial development department of Sporting Lisbon must take responsibility for the excessive number of visiting supporters.
Attempting to increase revenue, they set the ticket prices very high, which led many Sporting Lisbon fans to sell their allegiance under the burden of expensive resales.
You can’t fault the fans for not being steadfast and devout; everyone has to consider their own and their family’s livelihood while chasing their dreams.
It’s only that the Barcelona fans offered too much.
"Hello to all the listeners tuning in through the radio, what you’re watching now... Barcelona’s lineup today has undergone some changes compared to the league, as today all the players who have been in good form recently are taking the field."
"On the left wing is Overmars, who was Barcelona’s transfer king last summer!"
"As for the central forward, Cruyff, some call him K9, others call him the hunting dog. He is the undoubted first choice on the forward line of the Netherlands national team and also Barcelona’s Dutch striker king! However, more remarkable than his goal-scoring record is his contribution to the team as a whole, his ability to hold play up and make passes has greatly elevated Barcelona’s level."
"In the templates of Drogba and Ibrahimovic inside Sporting Lisbon, there is Cruyff!"
"On the right wing for Barcelona is Sporting Lisbon’s former prodigy, Simon! For the past two seasons, Quaresma, who has been touted as the top talent from Sporting Lisbon’s academy, has been referred to as the next Simon."
"And players like Viana and Ronaldo were also once called the next-next Simon."
"However, Simon’s stint at Barcelona has not been great, as he struggled to find his form during the last season. And with Figo’s defection last summer, Simon was implicated and at one point boycotted by the fans in the Catalonia region."
"In the past two months, Simon’s form has improved, regaining the edge in competition with Boudewijn Zenden and Luis Enrique, which has earned him a starting spot."
"Barcelona’s midfield trio consists of Golden Ball winner Rivaldo, Gerard Lopez, who returned in glory from Valencia to his roots at Barcelona’s academy, and Barcelona captain Guardiola."
"Guardiola is deployed as the defensive midfielder, Rivaldo as the offensive fulcrum, and Gerard as the versatile midfielder who is responsible for both attacking and defending."
"On the backline, from left to right are Sergi Barjuan, Abelardo, Frank de Boer, and Michael Reiziger."
"The goalkeeper is Barcelona’s talented academy graduate, Pepe Reina! He has consistently had the edge in the competition with Valdes, which has sparked thoughts of departure in the latter. Despite this, Reina’s youth still leaves some fans a bit doubtful."
"Reports suggest that Barcelona is in contact with other prime-age, top-class goalkeepers. If Barcelona succeeds in signing a new goalkeeper, would Reina be able to accept being benched again?"
"I think that’s unlikely, for Reina, having had a taste of playing time and then losing it, will be far more painful and harder to accept than it is for Valdes, who has never really had that chance."
