Chapter 478: Chapter 477: Champions League Quarterfinals, Ascension or Fall?
"If anything happens to her, can you take responsibility?"
"If you can’t, you’d better let her come with me."
A hundred million in production costs, and your delay is costing us, it would only be fair to pay us several hundred thousand dollars, right?"
The stadium security flashed a sycophantic smile.
Selling him wouldn’t even cover the debts.
The thing is, he knew all too well the madness of these lunatics—oh no...these fans.
Seeing that the stadium security offered no objection, Deng Kai gestured for Keira to climb down.
Luckily, Keira was wearing trousers, or it would have been somewhat troublesome.
Keira was quite agile, not like regular girls who were pampered, and with a flip, she landed inside the stadium with Deng Kai’s help.
Ronaldo looked on, somewhat speechless.
I’m supporting you, and you’re supporting her?
Then why not let me go over there and carry her down?
Are you being a bit too selfish by doing this?
You... You’re enjoying the most reliable support from Ronaldo himself, while Keira only gets a token gesture from you, the injured one.
Tsk, tsk, Deng Kai, how did such a selfish guy like you find a girlfriend?
Deng Kai: Uh... could it be possible that she was the one who found me?
Whooosh!
The fans of Sporting Lisbon applauded Keira!
She is a heroine.
She defeated the Barcelona fans.
And she accomplished what the Barcelona fans couldn’t... entering the stadium outright!
At that moment, the Barcelona fans once again filled the air with boos.
The Barcelona coach came over to inquire about the situation, and when Deng Kai told him that Sporting Lisbon would escort the lady to the police station, he chose to believe him.
As a coach, he knew all too well the craziness of these die-hard fans.
Letting Sporting Lisbon handle it was indeed a better option.
That way, Barcelona wouldn’t have to take any responsibility if something happened.
Feeling the earth-shattering atmosphere around her, Keira turned somewhat pale, and that was even with makeup on.
Her true face color was hard to imagine.
She was a bit scared.
The acting environment for actors is relatively closed; most of them are timid in front of large crowds, performing nowhere near as well as singers and other such performers.
"Help me out, hold onto me," Deng Kai signaled the team doctor to leave, then had Keira hold onto him, "If you have something to do, you won’t be so nervous."
Keira nodded, and her condition indeed improved quite a bit.
The walk towards the players’ tunnel seemed less tormenting for her.
But Keira was curious about Deng Kai’s composure: "Aren’t you nervous at all? It seems like they are all booing you."
Deng Kai nodded, "I enjoy this cheering; why aren’t they booing someone else?"
Ronaldo, supporting Deng Kai on his right, chuckled as Deng Kai’s right leg was injured and the right side more strained, "Haha, they’re booing me! I knocked out that guy with the spiky hair!"
Keira was influenced by the atmosphere and finally showed a smile: "Then they are also booing me because I blew up their twelfth man on the field!"
The trio entered the players’ tunnel, talking and laughing.
Trigella and Maxa immediately spread their umbrellas over the three to protect them.
The sound of pattering rain filled the cloth of the umbrellas.
Maxa and Trigella exchanged smiles.
Elegant!
They knew that it was hard to come out of this match unscathed.
So they were prepared.
After entering the players’ tunnel, Keira was still amazed by the quality of the umbrella in Maxa’s hand and asked about the brand, planning to buy a "bulletproof umbrella" like this one.
Maxa proudly responded, "The brand doesn’t matter; what’s important is that it is... Made in China! There, you can buy the best products in the world."
...
The outcome of this conflict was severe.
Enrique, who had committed a malicious sliding tackle, and Puyol, who had tried and nearly succeeded in throwing a punch, were both sent off with red cards.
Ronaldo, who had intercepted Puyol, also received a red card.
However, Lisbon did not have a numerical advantage as Deng Kai had to retire injured after scoring, and the team had no substitutions left.
Both teams were down to nine players.
Yet, the score remained unchanged, ending at four to one.
Lisbon and Barcelona both accumulated ten points.
Moreover, since Lisbon had defeated Barcelona twice, they climbed to the top of the group!
On another field, the match was far less explosive.
In the last minute of regular time, the French frontline duo of Trezeguet and Henry finally settled their duel.
Henry, who had entered the match with more momentum, failed to score.
Instead, it was Juventus’ Trezeguet who scored the winning goal, helping his team to a one-nil victory over Juventus.
But in reality, both players were losers.
As both their teams were stopped at the round of sixteen in the Champions League with seven points.
Indeed, had Arsenal won, the outcome could have been different.
If Arsenal had won, they would have reached ten points, and based on win-loss records, Arsenal would have been ahead of Lisbon, Lisbon ahead of Barcelona, and Barcelona ahead of Arsenal, creating a dead circle.
Then it would have been down to goal difference, but the goal difference of all three teams was the same.
Then it would come down to goals scored, at which point Lisbon would have been first, with Arsenal in second, scoring four more goals than Barcelona.
Unfortunately for Arsenal, they couldn’t withstand Trezeguet’s strike despite attacking fiercely throughout the match.
With that, the quarter-finalists of this edition of the Champions League were decided.
Real Madrid, Bayern, Manchester United, Liverpool, Barcelona, Lisbon, Deportivo La Coruña, and Leverkusen!
Among them, La Liga secured three spots, while the Premier League and Bundesliga each secured two spots, and the Portuguese league one spot.
Both the Italian and French leagues were completely wiped out.
The French league could be excused, being the fifth league and on par with the Portuguese league.
But it’s a different story for the Italian league.
This is the world’s number one league!
The small World Cup!
If you said that last summer, Zidane’s transfer signaled the beginning of a shift in the center of football.
Then this year’s Champions League quarter-finals completely proved it from a competitive level.
In past years, this would have been a major point of discussion.
But this year is different.
People’s focus is no longer on this.
Right now, everyone wants to know just how serious Deng Kai’s injury is.
"Four to One! Lisbon Defeats Barcelona Twice, Becoming the Catalan Slayer!"
"From Words to Action! Deng Kai Leads Lisbon in Defeating Barcelona, Securing a Goal!"
"A King’s Celebration! Deng Kai furiously slaps the ground, igniting the entire stadium!"
"The Lisbon Miracle! Portugal’s Young Team Reaches Champions League Quarter-finals, Best Record in a Decade!"
"Portuguese League Revival? Lisbon Reaches Champions League Quarter-finals! Porto Advances to the Quarter-finals of the European League!"
"Barcelona Loses Again! Falls Under Lisbon in Group, Showing Desperation!"
"Group Results Announced! Real Madrid vs Liverpool, Barcelona vs Bayern, Manchester United vs Deportivo La Coruña, Lisbon vs Leverkusen!"
"Ronaldo’s Suspension Greatly Affects Lisbon! He Scored Eight Goals This Champions League Season, Tying With Henry, Van Nistelrooy, and Deng Kai for Top Scorer!"
"Henry Out, Deng Kai Injured, Ronaldo Suspended, Van Nistelrooy’s Chance to Retake the Lead in Champions League Scoring!"
"Puyol: Deng Kai’s Celebration after Scoring was Tasteless, Anyone Would Want to Hit Him!"
"Enrique: I don’t think my defense was excessive; I only had eyes for the football. If it were to happen again, I would still not hold back!"
"Ronaldo: Deng Kai was playing football, Puyol was fighting, Enrique was committing murder! The latter is unforgivable!"
"English Rose Keira Fights for Deng Kai? Barcelona Fans Devastated, Preparing to Sue!"
"Keira: The Lisbon staff ensured my safety to the police station, but I didn’t see any staff from Camp Nou bringing the involved fans there!"
"Victoria: Keira will sue that Barcelona fan, and I am willing to testify for her in court. The viewing environment at Camp Nou is terrible, a thousand times worse than Old Trafford Stadium!"
