Chapter 80 You Are Already on Your Own Path

Li Ang's obvious joke did not cause any public opinion storm after the game.

After all, Real Madrid had already entered the Champions League semi-finals last season, and they did so without Li Ang.

If they only made it through one round of knockout matches and entered the quarter-finals this season, it would be an absolute failure for Real Madrid.

And fans all over the world know that since the new generation of Real Madrid's galactic battleship set sail, Real Madrid has only one goal in the Champions League.

That is to win their tenth Champions League title.

After the old man came to power, he spent a lot of money to introduce stars and hired Mourinho, but it was not to continue to watch Barcelona dominate Europe.

So Li Ang's answer was still "modest" to some extent.

Many Real Madrid fans even encouraged Li Ang on the Internet to be bolder and directly say that the goal is to win the championship next time he is interviewed.

Real Madrid has the confidence, and Real Madrid fans have even more confidence.

Li Ang did not comment on this.

His real idea is indeed to help the team enter the Champions League semi-finals again.

Otherwise, he won't be able to enter the semi-finals if he has more. What kind of reinforcement is he returning?

As for whether to win the championship, he thinks that it is more convincing to show his determination with actions than to talk.

At that point, just go all out and do it one game at a time.

From the semi-finals to the championship, it's just three games.

If you win, you are right and everything you say is right.

If you lose, what's the difference between the semi-finals and the round of 16?

At that time, you will all lie down and be ridiculed. Among a group of losers, is it possible to distinguish who is more "successful"?

Mourinho has almost the same idea.

Real Madrid's goal is well known to everyone. All he can do is to go all out, and the rest is to believe in his players.

The so-called slogan of winning the championship is meaningless to Real Madrid.

Because in Real Madrid, not winning the final championship of the event is a failure in itself.

At least in the past three seasons, only the "Mourinho Year" last season can be slightly less disliked by Real Madrid fans.

After all, they have won a Copa del Rey and reached the semi-finals of the Champions League.

For other teams, being able to enter the Champions League every season and being able to reach the knockout stage of the Champions League is a pretty good result.

In the eyes of Real Madrid executives and Real Madrid fans, it is not an honor worth mentioning at all.

It is a scar of Real Madrid!

The same is true in La Liga.

In the past three years, they have been second in the league, which is not considered a good result by Real Madrid fans.

Such a ranking makes them feel irritated and frustrated.

Because Barcelona has won three consecutive La Liga titles over them.

This feeling of frustration was not alleviated until this season because of Real Madrid's stable and strong performance in the league.

So as soon as the group stage of this round of the Champions League ended, Real Madrid fans eagerly looked forward to the La Liga game on the evening of October 2.

They want to win six consecutive games at the beginning of the league and not give Barcelona any chance to get close on the standings!

The entire Real Madrid team, which was burdened with the pressure of expectation and gained great motivation from the game, arrived in Barcelona on the morning of October 2.

Callejon returned to Barcelona again, and his mood was still a little excited. Along the way, he kept chatting with Li Ang, who was sitting next to him, about the attractions in Barcelona.

After all, he had been in Espanyol for three seasons before, and he had played well. After retiring, he can be called a Spaniard.

Other Real Madrid stars are not very interested in this city.

Even if they are not playing against Barcelona this time, they will instinctively feel a little uncomfortable when they see the Barcelona logo everywhere in the city of Barcelona.

The same is true for Barcelona players to go to Madrid.

However, Real Madrid has no hostile views on the opponent Espanyol to be encountered in this round of the league.

On the contrary, because of the identity of Espanyol and Barcelona's mortal enemy, Real Madrid has always been quite "friendly" to Espanyol.

Mourinho led the team to fight here last season and got a small victory with one goal in a very restrained manner.

Real Madrid can easily win 5-0 or even 6-0 against other mid- and lower-level La Liga teams.

But Real Madrid has always won a small victory of about 2-0 against Espanyol.

In terms of favors and face, Real Madrid has given Espanyol enough, and there have never been any major twists and turns in the games between the two teams.

The same is true for tonight's game.

Even though Pochettino, who led Espanyol to the eighth place in the league last season, has resigned, Espanyol's start in the new season is not very good.

But Real Madrid finally gave face and only scored two goals against Espanyol before calling it a day.

At the beginning of the second half, Ronaldo seized the opportunity of Real Madrid's attack and scored a header.

After that, Real Madrid played a defensive counterattack, and Higuain, who came on as a substitute, received Kaka's through pass and scored a single goal.

In addition, Real Madrid basically controlled the field and defended steadily, but Li Ang did not feel that the attack of Espanyol was threatening.

At the end of the game, Li Ang heard the system prompt sound that the bonus points were credited, and he couldn't help but sigh that it was easier to earn points now.

After an unremarkable victory, Real Madrid successfully increased their winning streak at the start of the new season to six games.

After they returned to the locker room with laughter, they received the good news from assistant coach Karanka that Barcelona had tied with Sporting Gijon again!

Instantly, Real Madrid cheered happily in the away team's locker room!

Mourinho originally wanted to keep a straight face to tell the players not to be so excited, or to stay calm first.

But in the end, he couldn't help the joy in his heart, and smiled a few words with the corners of his mouth raised.

There is really no way not to laugh. Only six rounds of the league have been played, and Barcelona has already fallen behind Real Madrid by as many as six points. What is the concept?

Last season, when Real Madrid and Barcelona played in the tenth round of the league, Real Madrid was one point behind Barcelona. At the end of the nineteenth round of the halfway point of the league, Real Madrid was three points behind Barcelona.

And at the end of the whole season, Real Madrid was only three points behind Barcelona!

This is the intensity of the entanglement between Real Madrid and Barcelona in the league last season.

In the last season, the most points Real Madrid fell behind Barcelona was only six points.

And that was already the 30th round of the league, the final sprint for the championship!

So looking at the current points difference between Barcelona and Real Madrid, Real Madrid players and Mourinho are so sincerely happy.

Barcelona was able to crush Real Madrid to death after gaining a points advantage over Real Madrid last season.

Why can't Real Madrid do it this season?

The unexpected lead in the league makes every Real Madrid first-team player in a good mood.

Mourinho, who was a little worried about the upcoming international match day, is also relieved.

With enough tolerance, even if the first-team is greatly affected by the international match day, he can bear it after returning to draw a league game.

After exhorting the players who are going to report to the national team to pay attention to the protection of their bodies, Mourinho turned his eyes to Li Ang.

"What are your plans for the two weeks of the international match day?"

Mourinho was ready, and planned to wait for Li Ang to say the word "training" before stating his supervision requirements.

But he didn't expect Li Ang to say that he wanted to rest and run commercial activities.

"I'm not a real machine. Although I can still endure this period, it's time to take a good rest for a few days. I'll take a four-day rest, maybe shoot one or two commercials, and then go back to the base for more training."

Li Ang recalled the schedule email Mendes sent him a few days ago, and told Psy his plan directly.

"That's good, you should take a good rest for a while. I felt sorry that you couldn't participate before. Well, it's good now. They are playing games, and you can take a holiday to recover your physical fitness. Remember to call me if you have something during the holiday. If you want to come back for training in advance, remember to call me!"

Listening to Mourinho's final detailed instructions, Li Ang also nodded patiently.

If it were other young players around 20 years old, they might have been a little impatient with Mourinho's management style.

But Li Ang thought it was pretty good. After all, from an oriental perspective, Mourinho is a very qualified "strict teacher".

In essence, he is still responsible for his players, hoping that the players can go further in their careers and gain more growth.

Sometimes he was a little too controlling, but this was a way of getting along that Leon could get used to.

After entering the holiday mode, Leon did not rush to go to the Mediterranean region of Spain for vacation.

Instead, he sorted out and reviewed all the videotapes of Belleron's games that he had watched before at home.

On the morning of October 5, he drove directly to La Coruña with his assistant.

In this port city along the Atlantic Ocean, outside the Riazor Stadium, the home stadium of Super La Coruña, which had long lost its glory, he saw Belleron, who was looking at him with a smile on his face.

Due to the relationship between Tocassi and Raul, Leon successfully got the opportunity to meet and talk with Belleron.

This was not an appointment without a purpose, nor was it a sudden impulse of Leon.

Instead, he wanted to take this opportunity to get some answers from Belleron that could solve his recent doubts.

The more he collected relevant information and understood Belleron, the more he knew that only Belleron himself could give him the answer.

However, he did not throw out countless questions right away for Belleron to solve his doubts.

Sitting in an old coffee shop with Belleron, Li Ang had some simple communication with Belleron, and then listened to the "Spanish Zidane" calmly talking about his past career.

Starting from the early days of his career when he was not optimistic.

From Las Palmas to Mallorca, to Atletico Madrid, and then to Deportivo La Coruña, which is closely linked to him like fate.

Belleron spoke very calmly, even when talking about the great period of Super Deportivo that shocked Europe, Belleron's expression did not have too many complex emotional fluctuations.

Just like his current style of play and his personality all along.

Calm, restrained, and peaceful.

Li Ang listened very patiently, because he heard more than a story of going from ordinary to great, and finally returning to ordinary.

Instead, he heard the calm attitude of a true midfield master who experienced a magnificent career and finally returned to "ordinary" without any dissatisfaction.

Belleron said that this was his choice after trying his best, naturally, and now he has successfully returned to football itself.

There was no trace of reluctance or regret in his words, and he was so calm that even Li Ang was a little surprised.

After all, if we look at it from a later perspective, Belleron's career is not considered "successful", and it can even be said that there are many regrets.

Because he did not receive enough heavyweight honors.

No matter how he was praised by Bosque and Iniesta, how he was praised by his former opponents, and how he was loved by Laco fans.

In the wider fan group, he is not well-known and not very strong. Perhaps as time goes by, one day in the future, he will be questioned by younger fans as a midfield master.

Li Ang tried to put himself in Belleron's perspective to look at such things.

He found that no matter how he calmed down, he would feel lost and uncomfortable in his heart.

But from Belleron's eyes, who was sitting opposite him, he saw real peace.

"Don't you care about these things at all? Even if you are forgotten and questioned by the new generation of fans one day in the future, can you accept such an ending?"

At the end of the topic about Belleron's career, Li Ang couldn't help asking such a question.

Belleron, who had previously answered Leon implicitly in his expression of his attitude towards football, still smiled and shook his head.

"I don't mind. The fans of Deportivo La Coruña should still leave a place for me in their hearts. It is enough for me to be loved and supported by so many fans. Leon, do you still remember why you wanted to embark on the road of professional football?"

Facing Belleron's question, many thoughts suddenly flashed through Leon's mind.

Make up for the regrets of his youth?

Go with the flow after having the golden finger?

Earn more money and harvest more honors after becoming famous?

After these thoughts flashed through one after another, Leon finally blurted out.

"Because of my love for football"

"Yes, because of my love for football, I have also pursued honors and seemingly greater career resumes, but in the end I chose to stay here when Deportivo La Coruna was sinking, because at that time I found the most suitable career path for myself.

From this point of view, I am actually not as good as many professional players. I don't have the huge ambitions like them, I don't have the decisiveness to go to the giants to seize opportunities, and I may lack the courage to step out of my comfort zone.

But I have nothing to regret, because this is my path, a career path that I personally chose and have never regretted until now."

Looking at Leon who was thinking silently, Belleron finally made another joke.

"But don't learn from me, an old player who has reached the end of his career. At your age, it is time to bravely compete with your opponents on the career path for the championship."

Leon touched the back of his head and smiled, and Belleron also put his hand on his shoulder at this time and suddenly asked again.

"Are you ready to muster up the courage to start all over again no matter whether you win or lose on this road?"

"I am ready."

"If you still lose the last chance to compete for the championship you desire most, will you choose to escape and give up football?"

"No! Absolutely not!"

Belleon finally laughed after listening to Leon's resolute answer to the last question.

"Then you are already on your own path."

I was very nervous when I wrote this chapter before, but the protagonist's mental journey gradually changed, and the foreshadowing of his real learning of Belleron's organizational methods made me have to write this chapter.

This is also the third revision. I think I have tried my best to make it to this point. The quality still depends on the readers.

In addition, I looked at the word count of today's two chapters, and there is a distance of one thousand words from ten thousand words.

So I will make up this thousand words in tomorrow's update chapter, please rest assured.

That's all.