Joao Valente, who had just finished taking a shower and changed clothes, came close to Xia Xiaoyu and invited him: "Xia! Come to my place tonight, I just bought "Black Myth: Wukong"! Let's come together
Play! Only with you here can I know the meaning of many things in the game. You know, this game is made in your country and it also tells Chinese mythology. You must understand your country's culture better than me, a Portuguese...
"
Unexpectedly, Xia Xiaoyu shook his head and rejected him: "Sorry, Joao. I have to watch the game tonight."
"What game?" Valente was stunned for a moment, and then he thought of it without waiting for Xia Xiaoyu to remind him: "Oh oh oh! Europa League!"
"Yes, our Europa League quarter-finals with Leeds City." Xia Xiaoyu said.
"Hu is coming too..." Valente understood why Xia Xiaoyu had to watch this game.
All the main players of Leeds City came to the away game. As the absolute core of the team, Hu Lai is naturally indispensable.
He knew very well Hu Lai's position in Xia Xiaoyu's heart, so he would definitely not let go of this opportunity tonight.
But Valente still wanted to try harder: "Hey, where can I watch it? Come to my house and let's watch the game together! We can play "Black Myth: Wukong" for a while before the game starts..."
However, Xia Xiaoyu still shook his head and refused: "But Ruao, I am going to watch the game live."
Valente was stunned, then frowned: "Scene?"
"Yes, I asked the club for tickets."
Xia Xiaoyu took out a match ticket from his backpack, obviously intending to go directly from the training base to Alvara's home stadium, the Lisbon Arena.
"Ah, hell..." Valente looked very disappointed.
Seeing this, Xia Xiaoyu patted his shoulder and comforted him: "Tomorrow, after the training is over tomorrow, I will definitely go and play with you. Goodbye Ruao, I have to go to eat first..."
He waved goodbye, put on his bag and walked out of the locker room.
But he soon met an excited-looking Valente in the club's players' restaurant.
"Xia, I went to the club just now. I didn't expect that they still had tickets left. I got one and we can go see it together!"
Xia Xiaoyu was a little surprised: "Don't you want to play a game?"
"Well, I thought about it. When our team plays in the Europa League, I should go to the scene to support it. It might not be good to play games at home..." Valente explained. "And you will be here tomorrow.
Play games with me, and I’ll watch football with you today, it’s reasonable!”
Xia Xiaoyu smiled: "Then finish the meal quickly and let's go."
※※※
When Julay took the bus with the team to the Lisbon Arena, Alvara's home stadium, the city was already lit up.
Heading towards the stadium, you will meet many Alvara fans along the road.
Some of them were walking on the street, and some were driving.
When you see a bus with the Leeds City crest painted on it, you will wave your Alvara scarf or flag and shout to them.
Of course, they were not cheering for Leeds City who had come all the way, but they were demonstrating against them.
Always remind them not to forget that this is Lisbon, Portugal, the base camp of Alvara!
Alvara fans hope to intimidate visiting teams in this way.
But when Hu Lai saw the jerseys worn by these Alvara fans, he couldn't help but think of Xia Xiaoyu.
There are a total of six Chinese players who have gone abroad. So far, only Xia Xiaoyu has not played in the first team at all. He has been training and playing in the reserve team.
Of course, this is also because Xia Xiaoyu is the youngest among the six.
But he's not that much younger either.
Xia Xiaoyu is twenty-two years old this year, which is actually only one year younger than Hu Lai.
Twenty-three-year-old Hu Lai has achieved unimaginable achievements in Europe, but Xia Xiaoyu has not even played in the first team.
But Hu Lai felt that Xia Xiaoyu should continue to persevere.
Brother Huan and the others have already seen the light of day. He believes that as long as Xia Xiaoyu can persevere, he will eventually live up to his efforts during this period. His performance in the Asian Cup has proven that even in the Alvara reserve team
He has also made progress in training and competition.
The important thing is to stick to it.
Of course, it's easy to say that.
It's really hard to do.
After all, no one is omniscient and omnipotent, and no one knows how the world will change or how things will develop in the future.
Therefore, he had no reason to support his views, and he could not impose his ideas on Xia Xiaoyu.
Xia Xiaoyu can only decide by himself whether he insists or not.
Everyone must be responsible for their own choices and cannot let others choose for them.
All he could do was give Xia Xiaoyu some confidence...
Or tell the Alvara Club: Chinese players are very powerful. As long as you trust him and give him a chance, he will definitely not let you down!
For example, I, Hu Lai, am the best proof!
※※※
When Xia Xiaoyu and Valente walked into the Lisbon Arena, this professional football stadium that can accommodate 50,000 people was almost full.
Fortunately, the tickets they had were obtained from the club.
For every home game, the club will have the right to allocate a batch of tickets. These tickets are usually given to the players' families, but they are also given to young players in the echelon, allowing them to watch their team's games on site, which is helpful.
To cultivate their sense of honor and increase their sense of belonging to this team.
In some important games, the echelon will even organize the entire team to come to the stands to cheer for the first team.
This is how Xia Xiaoyu and Valente obtained their tickets.
Especially the latter, he just decided to watch the game on an impromptu basis.
If he decided to watch the game on the spur of the moment like an ordinary fan, he would not be able to enter the stadium because he would not get a ticket at all.
Alvara, as the top club in Portugal, has a huge number of fans in this capital city.
Today's game is another European match, and the fans are very enthusiastic.
So when the two came to the stands, the Alvara fans were singing together, creating a breathtaking home atmosphere.
"Oh! It's really fascinating!" Valente exclaimed to the packed stands after entering the stands. "I'm sorry, Xia. But I have to say, this must be a great success for Hu and his Leeds City."
It's going to be a scary night!"
Xia Xiaoyu looked at Valente who had entered Alvara fan mode and smiled, but did not refute.
※※※
In the dressing room, Leeds City head coach Tony Clark was mobilizing his players before the game.
"Guys, this is our first Europa League game. It's really sad to say that in the first half of the season we were in the higher-level Champions League, but now we have reached the point where we can only play in the Europa League...
…”
When Clark said these words with an exaggerated expression of frustration, the players burst into laughter in the locker room.
"Well, despite this, the fact that we can still stay in the European competition is amazing enough. After all, think about North London Wanderers, who were already knocked out of the Europa League in the group stage!"
The players laughed again.
"This is very important for us. Being able to stay in the European arena allows us to fly to various places in Europe in the middle of the week and play against opponents we have never encountered before... It is like a trip. We
Coming to a strange country, meeting a beautiful woman in a strange street, and then we fell in love at first sight and spent a wonderful night together... It feels great!"
Everyone kept laughing.
After everyone was almost laughing, Clark became a little more serious and said: "I hope you know very well that even if the Europa League is not as good as the Champions League, it is still a European-level competition. A football that can reach the knockout stage in this competition
Teams are not good at it. Otherwise, if you think about it, even the Rangers would not be able to enter the knockout stage... This is definitely not a game that can be won by just kicking as some people think.
"
The players' smiles disappeared and they looked at their coach intently.
"But at the same time, I still want to tell you, don't think that just because we are a new team participating in the Europa League for the first time, you should think that we are rookies that others can bully... If anyone still has questions about this, you can think about it.
How we beat Catalonia at the Sagrada Familia!"
Clark's volume increased, and the faces of Leeds City players also showed proud looks.
That game was indeed Leeds City's masterpiece in the European competition this season.
And precisely because of losing to Leeds City at home, Catalonia lost the first place in the group in the Champions League. In the last round of the group match, they lost to Vesuvius away from home. In the end, they could only enter the group second.
Knockout round.
Then he was drawn together with Bundesliga giants Blue and White Munich in the knockout draw.
That is a very, very difficult opponent to deal with.
Although the knockout rounds of the Champions League have not yet begun, if Catalonia are ultimately eliminated by Blue and White Munich, then it can be said that their tragic fate stems from their loss to Leeds City at home.
So this is really a great honor for the entire Leeds City team.
"So, guys, don't underestimate your opponents, but don't underestimate yourself either. Play with a fearless mentality, even if it's away from home... Speaking of away games, which one do you think is scarier, Lisbon Arena or Bay Stadium?"
The players looked at each other and smiled.
They felt the enthusiasm of the Alvara fans during the warm-up, but to be honest, compared with the Turkish stadium that madly spat out all kinds of swear words at them for ninety minutes, the Lisbon Arena was too gentle...
Seeing the smiles of the team members, Clark punched the palm of his hand: