"Hi, Luo Kai. Did you know that our game is said on the Internet to be the 'Dongchuan Middle School Derby'?"
In the tunnel of Pirates Park, Hulay covered his mouth and chatted with Luo Kai, who was standing in Tramed's team.
Luo Kai twitched his lips: "What the hell..."
"But I think it's quite touching. I just don't know if our school will hang banners on the school gate again..."
"Principal Zhai has retired."
"Ah?" Hu Lai was a little surprised.
"You don't know?" Luo Kai looked at him strangely.
"I know that Principal Zhai has retired."
"Then you are so surprised."
"Tsk, I didn't expect you to care about our school's affairs. I thought you had forgotten that you are a student of Dongchuan Middle School."
"I went back to school to see it," Luo Kai said angrily.
"It's like I haven't gone back to my alma mater to visit you..." Hu Lai snorted coldly. "Although the old principal has retired, it does not prevent the fine traditions he left behind from being inherited by the school."
Luo Kai didn't answer.
Suddenly there was a chill between the two of them.
In the final analysis, the two of them are really not friends, and their relationship is definitely not on good terms.
It's not easy to forcefully have an awkward conversation for so long.
If there hadn't been more and more speculations on the Internet about why the relationship between the two was not good, Hu Lai was afraid of dragging Li Qingqing into it, so he wouldn't have used the opportunity before the game to do something in the highly anticipated game.
Cover it up.
He just hopes that after the game, the media will report that he and Luo Kai had a happy chat before the game. It's nothing. All the rumors about their discord on the Internet are false! Don't spread rumors if you don't believe them. Don't spread them again.
Let’s continue discussing this issue and let all questions stop here…
Sure enough, when He Feng and Yan Kang, who were commentating on the game, saw this scene, they said: "Before the game started, Hu Lai and Luo Kai had been chatting. Although they covered their mouths, they didn't know what they were talking about.
But looking at their lively expressions, it's obvious that they are not doing anything casually..."
Yan Kang smiled and said: "Who said the relationship between the two of them is not good? Maybe their relationship is not as good as the relationship between teammates who once played together in Flash Star, but it is definitely not bad."
Hu Lai couldn't hear what the commentators said, but he estimated that it was just a joke.
So he patted Luo Kai on the shoulder and prepared to complete the last step: "Okay. We'll see you on the field later."
Luo Kai nodded and said seriously: "See you on the field."
Hu Lai, who had just turned to leave, looked back at Luo Kai strangely, because he heard Luo Kai's voice change just now, and the tone of his tone suddenly dropped, becoming deeper...
Seeing that Hu Lai suddenly stopped leaving, Luo Kai asked strangely: "What's wrong?"
"It's nothing, I just feel... you were perfunctory the whole time, except for this sentence."
Luo Kai smiled slightly but said nothing.
Hu Lai shook his head and turned to leave.
Looking at his back, Luo Kai said silently in his heart:
Because you don’t know how long I have been waiting for this moment and how much I have paid!
In order to be able to start in this game, Luo Kai tried his best in every previous game.
Starting from his goal against the Turin Bulls in the second leg of the Champions League quarter-finals, he has scored in four consecutive games in all competitions.
After returning to the club after playing for the national team, he worked very hard. He started two of the three league games, came on the bench once, and provided an assist.
Although his performance after returning from the national team game was not as good as before, he still won the opportunity to start in this Champions League with his attitude of giving his best every time he played.
He will not regard this game as the end of all previous efforts, but as the starting point to a higher level.
If he wants to completely conquer the head coach, he needs more than just a few outbursts in a few games, but also sustained, long-term and stable performance.
Look at Hu Lai, why is he able to quickly win the trust of the head coach every time he joins a team? It's not because he can guarantee battery life and make those wonderful performances no longer a flash of inspiration.
Although Luo Kai didn't like Hu Lai, he had to admit that Hu Lai did better than him in this regard.
※※※
"They are indeed defending against Balia..."
In front of the visiting team's coaching bench, Tramed's assistant coach Cohen Melburni said to the head coach Kevin Locke next to him.
Twenty minutes into the game, Madrid Pirates, playing at home, have the upper hand and are the dominant side.
Tramed is basically on the defensive and can only play defensive counterattacks.
During the counterattack, Tramed also used the left wing because the Portuguese super genius Ricardo Barea was here.
It's just that Tramed's advancement on the left side was not smooth.
The Madrid Pirates obviously made a defensive arrangement for Ricardo Barea, and when defending, the focus was basically tilted to the right.
Especially Kamala.
He used his speed to frequently retreat to defend Barea, and the two fought together. Although Barea was not necessarily at a disadvantage, it greatly consumed his energy and reduced his offensive threat a lot.
In addition, Madrid Pirates' right back Irazusta does not like to attack frequently like left back Ion Martinez, which is beneficial to the defense.
Although Ricardo Barea is the top scorer in both the Tramed team and the Premier League this season, his position on the field is still that of a left winger. He still prefers to move on the wing instead of running to the front.
Play as a center midfielder.
Defending is relatively easy.
Before Ballea enters the 30-meter zone, he only needs to block the wing. Before that, Ballea was active on the wing, and only after entering the 30-meter zone will he move closer to the center.
"It's not surprising. With Barria's current popularity, it's impossible not to be targeted by them." Head coach Kevin Locke said with a calm expression and an unhurried tone.
"Let's see how excited Luo is after reuniting with his middle school classmates."
Contrary to what everyone guessed, everyone thought that Tramed would make full use of Ricardo Barea's personal ability in this game to threaten the Madrid Pirates' goal.
But in fact, both Luo Kai and Tramed's tactics on the right are equally important. There is absolutely no intention of sacrificing the right and focusing on the left with all the team's strength.
Although it seemed that after the game started, Tramed was indeed playing on the left...
That was just a test.
If the Madrid Pirates do not make defensive arrangements for Ricardo Barea, they can launch a fierce attack on the left wing.
But if the Madrid Pirates target Ricardo Barea, as they are doing now, then Tramed can also turn the attack to the other side.
This kind of steering is set up, not improvised, so there is no need to worry about poor results.
Of course, the fact that Tramed's coaching staff is willing to trust Luo Kai in such an important game of the Champions League is also inseparable from his own performance.
※※※
The Madrid Pirates, who were more dominant on the field, blocked an attack by Tramed on the right wing and launched a counterattack.
Through the operation of the midfield, they quickly delivered the football to the frontcourt.
Then Vukovich handed the football to Kyrie.
In the transition from midfield to frontcourt, the person who sends the final pass is Maxi Carey most of the time.
Because of his excellent skills and genius imagination, he can always pass some incredible balls.
Just like now, when Vukovich passed the football to him, he didn't stop the ball but directly knocked the football behind him with his heel.
The football jumped past Tramed captain Connor Kirk.
Hulay took the initiative to retreat and received the ball before Tramed center back Scott Wilson.
However, he also turned his back to the attacking direction.
This was not difficult for Hu Lai, who passed the football back to Kyrie who advanced forward.
After passing the ball, he quickly turned around and inserted into the penalty area, making a response.
Carey did not choose to pass the football back to him, but took advantage of the opportunity he took away Wilson to shoot!
The football flew against the turf and flew towards the goal, bypassing goalkeeper Tom Walker's fingers... and the goal post, and finally flew out of the baseline!
"Oh! Kairi! It's just a hair's breadth! What a pity!"
Amid the exclamations of the commentator and the fans at the scene, Maxi Carey just raised his head slightly.
The boss always pays attention to the expression management. Even if the goal is regrettable, he does not act particularly exaggeratedly, just like a child with a sensory disorder.
However, the teammates next to him seemed more excited than him - Hu Lai directly put his head in his hands, then looked up to the sky and sighed.
If you just looked at his actions, you would think he shot the ball...
※※※
The Madrid Pirates' attack failed to score, and Tramed got a goal kick opportunity.
Luo Kai played as a right winger in this game, but he did not stand on the right sideline.
Because Tramed's formation position is further to the left, he also moved to the left, and his current position is almost to the center circle.
He turned around to pay close attention to goalkeeper Walker's movements.
If the opponent wants to pass the ball, he must be ready to receive the ball. At the same time, he must also observe the surrounding situation and confirm the positions of the Madrid Pirates players and his teammates.
In this way, when the football flies over, he can handle the ball more efficiently, instead of finding himself trapped in a circle and dead end after stopping the ball.
After Tom Walker placed the football, he looked up and saw Ricardo Barea raising his hand to him for the ball.
Tramed's formation obviously tilted to the left, so the Madrid Pirates players also moved further to the right. As a result, there was a lot of space on their left and Tramed's right.
So Walker made a long pass after a run-up and kicked the football to the right.
Luo Kai looked at the football flying towards him, judged the landing point of the football, and retreated with his back to the direction of attack.
He then jumped up and competed with Madrid Pirates left back Ion Martinez.
He hit the ball first!
The football was thrown towards the center by him, and was given to his forward Pap Bonnet in the center.
The latter stopped the ball to take control.
After Luo Kai landed, he immediately turned around and rushed forward, and at the same time made a gesture to ask Bonnet to pass the ball to him.
The French striker immediately passed the football diagonally.
"Tramed's counterattack! Rokai!"
He Feng shouted excitedly.
For him, this game is "neutral" in the true sense.
The palms and backs of the hands are full of flesh. Whoever wins is happy, but whoever loses is... unhappy.
Luo Kai pushed the ball forward from Bonnet and accelerated to catch up.
Ion followed him, stuck on the inside line, chasing after him.
As the main left back of the Spanish national team, Ion Martinez is strong in offense and defense, and is also very fast.
He won't be completely at a disadvantage when it comes to speed.
Taking advantage of Luo Kai's opportunity to catch up with the football again and slow down to control the ball, he decisively put his foot down and shoveled!
Luo Kai wanted to put the football into the penalty area, but the ball he kicked out was shoveled out of the baseline by Ion.
Luo Kai himself was also brought to the ground by Ion.
The Madrid Pirates fans in the stands couldn't wait to boo Roquet when he lost his balance - they thought he was trying to get a card.
But after Luo Kai fell to the ground, he rolled forward and stood up directly from the ground!
The booing stopped suddenly, and the scene was a little embarrassing...
When Luo Kai saw the football flying out of the baseline, he pointed to the corner flag area and signaled to the referee that the ball was touched by the opponent and should be given a corner kick.
"Luo Kai created a corner kick for Tramed. It can be seen that his condition in this game is really outstanding! Although there are not many opportunities on the right wing, as long as he gets the ball, he can create a threat!"
In front of Tramed's coaching bench on the sidelines, Kevin Locke said to assistant coach Mel Burnie: "Available!"