Dominating Football with Perfect Ball Control

Chapter 125: 125. Messi exchanges jerseys

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Defeating the strong opponent FC Barcelona, Lance watched his fusion value increase significantly!

It was only 7% when he first appeared, but it soared to 12% after the game!

As Lance had guessed, every match had a hidden difficulty, and the higher the difficulty, the greater the extra reward after winning.

Ordinary Bundesliga matches barely increased it at all, at most a guaranteed 1-2% at the start.

When defeating teams like Arsenal and FC Barcelona, the more difficult the match and the better Lance performed, the more it increased.

If he worked harder, he might even reach 25% before the end of the season and unlock the second skill of the Bachira Meguru template!

Unfortunately, there weren’t many matches left this season.

If there were no other hidden rewards, it would probably be difficult to accumulate 100% fusion value and unlock a new template.

”Lance, want to swap jerseys?”

Lance was still immersed in the system when he was suddenly interrupted by a voice.

He looked down and saw it was Lionel Messi!

He actually took the initiative to swap jerseys with him?

Lance had thought that a player like Lionel Messi would be arrogant and would return to the locker room early after being upset and eliminated by Bayer Leverkusen.

Seeing Lionel Messi, in his prime and without a beard, was a bit unexpected.

”You played well. If there’s a chance next season, I still hope to play against you.”

”Thanks, same here.”

Since collecting a match-worn FC Barcelona number 10 jersey was like a trophy for him, Lance had no reason to refuse.

After swapping jerseys, Lionel Messi didn’t say much, just nodded with a straight face, draped Lance’s jersey over his shoulder, and silently walked back to the locker room.

Compared to Lionel Messi, whose emotions were unreadable, the Camp Nou staff seemed very unhappy with the result.

While the Bayer Leverkusen fans were still celebrating in front of the away stands, the Camp Nou pitch’s automatic sprinkler system had already turned on, with gushing water catching the Bayer Leverkusen players off guard, seemingly trying to clear the field in this way.

To be honest, it was a bit classless...

Unexpectedly, these young Bayer Leverkusen players weren’t annoyed at all; everyone was busy celebrating the victory!

They had eliminated FC Barcelona today!

Bayer Leverkusen, eliminated FC Barcelona!

Two legs, 6-3, a righteous victory over the mighty FC Barcelona!

Who would have believed it before the Champions League started?

Their teammates’ jerseys were already wet from the water, so they excitedly took them off, bathed in the water, and stood in front of the away stands, waving their jerseys, cheering and singing loudly.

The home FC Barcelona fans had already left one after another, and the entire Camp Nou was taken over by Bayer Leverkusen fans, the thousand-plus fans who traveled with the team were even more ecstatic, joining in the chorus, and powerful German singing echoed over the Camp Nou stadium!

”...One day dreams will come true

The championship trophy will be ours

Then we will sing even louder—Bayer, Bayer 04!

Until the last breath...”

This official team song, ”Bayer Bayer 04,” is one of the most widely sung songs by Bayer Leverkusen fans.

The obsession with the championship is fully reflected in this song.

Having defeated the strong opponent FC Barcelona, Real Madrid still stood in their way.

The difficulty for Bayer Leverkusen to covet the Champions League title was imaginable.

But at this moment, the fans and players no longer cared.

The championship was the driving force for everyone!

Since they had already fought their way to the Champions League semifinals, if they worked harder, they might even make it to the final!

What if?

Barcelona, the night at Camp Nou, the red and black song faintly echoed over the entire city.

...

The media exploded.

The upset elimination of FC Barcelona by Bayer Leverkusen was bound to cause an uproar.

Even being eliminated by Bayern Munich could be understood, but Bayer Leverkusen?

”Home Loss! What’s Wrong with FC Barcelona? On Gerardo Martino’s Tactical Errors!”

— Mundo Deportivo

”FC Barcelona Suffer Elimination! Madrid Teams Most Likely to Meet in Final!”

— AS

”Glory to Bayer Leverkusen! Oriental Magician Directs Camp Nou Miracle, 6-3 Eliminating FC Barcelona!”

— Kicker

”Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund Both Eliminated! Bundesliga’s Last Hope Rests with Bayer Leverkusen! Detailed Review of This Season’s Bundesliga Failures”

— Abendzeitung München

All along, Bayern Munich has considered itself the Bundesliga hegemon, the big brother of the Bundesliga.

In European competitions in previous years, except for last season when Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich met in the final, other times it was Bayern Munich vs. all of Europe.

It was difficult for other teams to stand out.

Unexpectedly, this year the situation was different; Bayern Munich was actually double-killed by Atlético Madrid over two legs!

Two 1-0s, two identical matches.

Pep Guardiola, who was highly anticipated, the treble-winning hegemon from last season, had an average of 78% possession but was consistently unable to break through Atlético Madrid’s solid defense.

One of the major favorites to win the title, Bayern Munich, had fallen!

Borussia Dortmund, of course, needed no mention.

Borussia Dortmund, without its key players, simply couldn’t contend with Real Madrid, who were in their prime.

They were eliminated by Real Madrid 4-2 over two legs.

Bayer Leverkusen, originally not favored, surprisingly made it into the Champions League semifinals.

The entire German football scene was stunned!

While the media and fans were hotly discussing online, Lance had already taken a flight back to Germany with the entire team.

The victory in the big battle was certainly joyful, but it was not yet time to relax.

Next up were the Bundesliga matches, the DFB-Pokal semifinals, and the two-legged Champions League semifinals.

April was packed with fixtures, and if Bayer Leverkusen wasn’t careful, they could still end up empty-handed, leading to false joy.

After a simple celebration, everyone returned to Leverkusen for a day off, then resumed intense training.

On his day off, just as Lance was about to go to the gym to work out, he suddenly received a call from Jorge Mendes.

”Lance, congratulations, your performance against FC Barcelona was spectacular! I feel signing you was the best decision I’ve ever made!”

Jorge Mendes’s voice was extremely excited.

Shouldn’t your best decision be signing Cristiano Ronaldo?

Of course, Lance just silently scoffed at that thought.

”Any instructions?”

”Nothing major, mainly that there are new endorsement contract invitations for you to participate in. We’ll discuss it when I come to Germany.”

”Today, I mainly wanted to talk to you about contract renewal.”

”Didn’t I just sign for three years? Why is it so early to renew?”

”No, no, no, Lance. With your current performance, the previous contract is no longer valid.”

”Do you know how many club managers are calling me, wanting to contact you privately!”

Jorge Mendes had lost his usual composure; he was even more excited than if he were high.

It was understandable.

After all, seeing Lance grow so rapidly in less than a season, the effect was comparable to winning 5 million in the lottery...

No, 5 million was still too little.

Lance’s commercial value and future potential transfer fee would definitely be in the hundreds of millions!

Gareth Bale could sign for Real Madrid for 100 million Euros.

As long as 16-year-old Lance maintained his current growth, his future value could reach 150 million, or even 200 million Euros!

In just one night, Lance’s market value on ”Transfermarkt” had soared for who knows how many times.

After defeating Manchester United, Lance was already worth 40 million Euros.

Now, after leading the team to consecutive victories against Arsenal and FC Barcelona, 16-year-old Lance was already valued at 75 million Euros, and his value could potentially increase to 90 million within the next month!

Neymar wasn’t even that expensive!

Luis Suárez, who was about to become the transfer king, was only 75 million pounds, or 81 million Euros, when he joined FC Barcelona from Liverpool!

Luis Suárez had proven himself to be an absolute key player for multiple seasons, leading Uruguay to the World Cup semifinals.

His strength was evident to all.

Lance’s market value was clearly catching up to Luis Suárez’s, so Jorge Mendes’s current ecstasy was perfectly normal.

”Previously, your weekly salary was 15,000 Euros, which clearly doesn’t match your current status.”

”This time, it’s not us who initiated the renewal; it’s the Bayer Leverkusen CEO who personally called me. They proposed it themselves.”

”They hope to chat with you and see how much to increase your weekly salary.”

”What do you think?”

Lance was only 16 years old, after all, playing football and attending high school!

A peer with a weekly salary of 15,000 Euros, earning nearly 70,000 Euros a month, nearly a million Euros annually, tens of millions of RMB!

Globally, Lance was definitely in the top 0.1%!

Even in football, 16-year-olds earning 15,000 Euros were extremely rare!

Lance himself was already very satisfied, but the Bayer Leverkusen CEO was afraid this treasure player would be snatched away.

Rich clubs like Manchester City, Chelsea, and Paris Saint-Germain were waving blank checks, waiting for Lance to fill them in!

If he were intercepted, Bayer Leverkusen would suffer a huge loss.

They quickly took the initiative, hoping to retain Lance with a high salary.

The club also knew that Lance certainly couldn’t stay with one club his whole career.

A potential superstar of this caliber, with the hope of surpassing Lionel Messi in the future, would inevitably soar high like a bird and swim wide like a fish.

The club only hoped that Lance could unleash his power as much as possible, and try to help Bayer Leverkusen win a few more championships before he left.

”Emmm... at least it should be similar to Mario G?tze, a weekly salary of 230,000 Euros.”

After careful consideration, Jorge Mendes stated a number.

Lance himself was stunned.

”Huh? Bundesliga’s top salary?”