Chapter 492: Chapter 491: Who is the Arrogant Dragon, Who is the Flying Dragon?
"Farewell Ceremony? Lisbon Sporting Megastore Set to Open?"
"Deng Kai Bids Farewell to 80,000 Fans, Lisbon Sporting May Be Dismembered by All of Europe After Season’s End!"
"A Glorious Curtain Call! Lisbon Sporting Gathers 80,000 Fans to Celebrate the Successful End of the Season in Advance!"
"Wrong! Wrong Wrong Wrong! It’s Not Over! Lisbon Sporting Issues Championship Declaration!"
"The Alvarade Oath! Deng Kai Calls the Entire Team to Take a Solemn Oath, Making a Charge for the Champions League Trophy!"
"Champions League! Our Goal Is the Champions League! Deng Kai Leads Lisbon Sporting Toward Hampton Park Stadium!"
"The Endpoint of the Youthful Storm Is the Champions League! 100,000 Lisbon Fans Partake in the Alvarade Oath! Declaring War Against Anyone in the World Who Thinks This Is Impossible!"
"Following a 7-0 Massive Victory, the Entire Lisbon Sporting Team Goes Wild! The Semifinals No Longer Satisfy Deng Kai! What He Wants Is the St. Boletus Cup!"
"Sporting Portugal 7-0 Bayer Leverkusen Sacrifice to the Heavens! Deng Kai’s Return as King Is Outrageous!"
Crazy!
Everyone who saw these headlines for the first time had only one thought in their mind, that Lisbon Sporting had gone crazy.
Deng Kai had gone crazy!
But when they saw the live scenes played by the media, they hesitated.
The Alvarade Oath!
Earth-shaking!
That overwhelming aura actually made the viewers really start to consider whether this team could truly become the Champions League winners.
For a dark horse team, achieving this is already a success.
That night, countless people in Europe had a sleepless night.
...
Spain, Madrid.
Zidane sat in his study, flipping through "The Book of Changes," the book Deng Kai had sent back to him after he first sent Deng Kai a signed football.
"Nine at the top, a dragon overreached regrets."
"Things will turn around! For those in high places, beware of arrogance and impatience, know when to advance or retreat, and avoid the limelight for the moment."
Zidane frowned.
He turned the page.
"Nine in the fifth place, the flying dragon is in the sky, a good time to meet great men!"
Zidane closed the book slowly, pondering for a long time, "Lisbon Sporting, Manchester United, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid... So, who is the overreached dragon, and who is the flying dragon?"
...
England, Manchester.
Ferguson arrived home, where his family was watching the football news.
His wife came over, took his briefcase, and said, "Did you see the Alvarade Oath?"
"That boy’s spirit really resembles yours."
Ferguson appeared puzzled, "What?"
Ferguson’s wife said, "You always tell us how you wanted to kick Liverpool off that damn throne! Isn’t he doing the same thing?"
Ferguson looked at the TV, then after a few minutes, replied to his wife, "Yes, but among those he wants to kick off, there’s me."
Ferguson’s wife laughed, "Then he really isn’t that smart, is he?"
Ferguson laughed too, "That’s what they said about me at first..."
Ferguson looked out the window, "But I did it... now... what about you?"
...
Germany, Munich.
The then-executive Beckenbauer was questioned by reporters, "What does Bayern Munich think of Lisbon Sporting’s championship declaration? Will the Alvarade Oath affect Bayern’s mentality in the upcoming league and Champions League matches?"
Beckenbauer shook his head, "We are not Barcelona; we will not lose to the same team twice in the same season, especially in European competitions!"
"Congratulations to Lisbon Sporting for winning a beautiful victory, but..."
"Our biggest rivals are Manchester United and Real Madrid."
...
The next day.
The Champions League semifinal draw was announced.
Real Madrid vs Bayern Munich!
Manchester United vs Sporting Lisbon!
England, instantly boiled over!
"Perhaps a day before, I would have said this was a good draw. Even after Sporting Lisbon had just beaten Leverkusen seven-nil, I still dared to say that, but now..."
"If you’ve seen ’The Oath of Alvalade,’ you’d know this is a team like gold. Their determination can change everything, and I’m now very concerned about Manchester United!"
"In terms of momentum, I think Sporting Lisbon is not inferior to Manchester United. In terms of the schedule... if they maintain victory in the next two league matches, they will defend the Portuguese Superliga successfully before the first leg of the Euro-battle semi-finals!"
"That’s another huge boost for them!"
"And the only advantage Manchester United might have is that they no longer need to consider contesting for the league title, because this season belongs to Arsenal!"
"Actually, Manchester United does have a huge advantage. I favor them more. Sporting Lisbon has no experience with the Champions League semi-finals. And the Champions League semi-finals are utterly different from the previous matches."
"Honestly, I’m proud of Deng Kai and the Sporting Lisbon players. But at the same time, I think Manchester United will enter the finals without any suspense. They are simply not in the same league."
"Every Manchester United fan knows the relationship between Deng Kai and us. Now Manchester United is facing Manchester United B team — who do you think will win? Have you ever seen a reserve team beat the first team of a club?"
"When Sporting Lisbon arrives at Old Trafford Stadium, they’ll be welcomed by the fans but will also leave three points behind."
"Manchester United will end the match directly at Old Trafford Square. We will make the second leg’s trip to Alvalade a consolation performance. It’s better for everyone."
The English showed an unprecedented friendliness.
It’s hard to find such an attitude in the history of Champions League semi-final encounters.
In this, ’The Oath of Alvalade’ played a huge role.
A tough attitude, a firm resolution, and powerful strength are necessary conditions to earn respect.
Sporting Lisbon has all three.
With this side ablaze with excitement, the discourse heat of the adjacent super clash between Real Madrid and Bayern Munich didn’t live up to expectations.
Keep in mind, this is Bayern Munich and Real Madrid we’re talking about.
The former, last year’s Champions League champion.
The latter, the previous year’s Champions League champion.
The former has been in the Champions League semi-finals for four consecutive years!
The latter has made it to the semi-finals four times in the past five years, winning the Champions League twice!
The fans of the former say, "The Champions League semi-finals are our home!"
The fans of the latter declare, "’Even’ years Champions League is for Real Madrid, ’odd’ years it’s for the others!"
Both are top-tier rappers, ahem... top-tier teams!
However, there’s never been a Manchester United first team vs second team match.
It must be said that this is the first time since building the Galacticos that Real Madrid have fallen behind in popularity and heat.
Because of this, Florentino stated that he no longer wanted to play the semi-final against Bayern Munich.
A drag.
Their popularity is just too bad.
But Florentino isn’t worried.
He still has big moves.
This summer, he intends to make the whole world turn their gaze toward Bernabeu.
They will welcome the world’s number one superstar!
Ronaldo!
Apart from Florentino, there is another tycoon who is considering his team’s recruitment at this moment: the Prince of the UAE, Mansour.
Last year, he made a significant decision.
Almost proving the correctness of his decision now.
The Manchester City Football Club, acquired by the company where he’s the principal and Deng Kai is the secondary shareholder, currently sits atop the first division league table.
Even if there are some slips and they don’t win the championship, promotion to the Premier League seems nailed down.
In this, Mansour’s money incentive policy certainly played a role.
This strategy really works on players.
At least it’s very effective in the short term.
He achieved what he promised at the outset, even better than he promised to Deng Kai.
But what he didn’t expect was that he only completed the task by 123 percent, despite sitting on massive wealth and having countless strategists to plan for him.
