I AM the Football Star

This time, can he also...

”I’ll come back when you need me!” Lu Yang said to his teammates. ”But before that, you’ve got to help me protect San Remo!”

”Promise me, okay? Brothers!”

”Okay!” In the ward, the San Remo players all nodded.

After everyone left, Lu Yang finally told Sotu and Morici: ”I might have to wait until the second leg of the semi-final before I’m fully healed and able to play.”

Sotu froze, blurting out, ”That fast? Don’t push yourself. Reaching the Champions League last four is already great, it’s already a miracle. We can’t keep burdening your body just for the team’s results.”

”If these injuries aren’t handled properly, they’ll become chronic and affect your entire career.”

Lu Yang nodded. ”Relax, I know my body. When I say ’healed’, I mean completely healed, with no aftereffects at all.”

”As long as everyone can hold on in the first leg, we’ll have hope in the second!”

Sotu understood what Lu Yang meant.

Survive!

In the first leg of the Champions League semi-final, San Remo must survive!

”In that case, it’d be best if we get Chelsea,” Morici said.

Lu Yang nodded.

At Chelsea, the will of Portuguese Head Coach Felish overrides everything.

As long as San Remo makes some proper attacking attempts, the leading Chelsea will drop into a defensive state. They only pursue victory, not the number of goals.

So the scoreline won’t be too big.

Real Madrid and Bayern, though, are a different story.

If that bunch of superstars starts landing crits, scoring three or four is perfectly normal.

Don’t forget, Barça got stuffed with five goals by Real Madrid in the last round!

But unfortunately, heaven does not favor San Remo.

The semi-final draw was completed quickly.

San Remo vs Real Madrid.

Bayern Munich vs Chelsea!

As soon as the draw came out, Chelsea’s Head Coach Felish immediately expressed his dissatisfaction.

Felish: ”Why does Real Madrid always get the big gift pack in the draw?”

”San Remo fans, don’t think I’m being nasty. Regardless of whether this team’s players are injured or not, regardless of whether they knocked out Florence and Paris Saint-Germain, that still can’t change the fact that San Remo is a big gift pack.”

”Florence and Paris Saint-Germain failed to seize their chance, that’s their problem.”

”Back to the point: why is it always Real Madrid?”

”This inevitably reminds people of that previous botched draw—Real Madrid also drew San Remo.”

”If you ask me, why doesn’t UEFA just hand the Champions League trophy directly to Real Madrid?”

”I admit Real Madrid are strong, but I’m confident I can lead this Chelsea side to beat any team. On the condition that my opponent is a team! And right now, Real Madrid seems to be more than just a team.”

Once he said this, the whole world was in an uproar!

Felish was openly firing shots at UEFA and Real Madrid.

He was clearly questioning the fairness of the competition.

This absolutely broke a major taboo.

Many people couldn’t understand how Felish dared to do it.

Including Chelsea’s owner.

The Blue Army Boss immediately called Felish to discuss the matter: ”You were too impulsive, Felish. I hope you have your reasons. Of course, it’s not that I don’t trust you—I’ll keep supporting you and buy whoever you want—but I also need an explanation.”

Felish was completely unflustered. ”Boss, you still haven’t noticed? Every game has its own rules. We spent two years adapting to the rules of the Premier League.”

”But this is the Champions League. The rules here are completely different from the Premier League. UEFA are the ones who set the rules.”

”Under the rules of the cycle two editions ago, small clubs were the biggest beneficiaries.”

”Last edition, Serie A clubs benefited the most.”

”And this edition, it’s obviously La Liga clubs who gain more. Under their rules, we can never beat Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid and the like.”

”We need some flashpoints, some consequences, to let them know what happens if they offend us—so they’re forced to include us in their rules as well.”

The Blue Army Boss said, ”There’s some logic in what you’re saying. But in that case, we might be targeted by UEFA in the next round.”

Felish: ”That’s the price we must pay, and it’s also a kind of bait. Only if they move against us can we catch them out.”

”Otherwise, they can arrange the toughest opponents for us every single year. Other teams might meet two strong sides in a Champions League campaign; we can end up facing five or six strong sides in one campaign. The difficulty is completely different.”

”Moneyball clubs are the ones treated with the least fairness. You know how much difficulty we’re facing.”

In the end, the Blue Army Boss more or less agreed with Felish’s reasoning.

Chelsea now had the strength, but they indeed still needed a fairer environment.

Felish’s remarks caused a huge storm.

UEFA at one point wanted to punish Felish, but given that all eyes were on them, they couldn’t possibly suspend him.

If they did that, it would be far too beneficial to Bayern.

In the end, UEFA could only levy a financial penalty, fining Felish 100,000 Euros!

That’s not a small amount.

But the Blue Army Boss directly picked up the tab for Felish.

This also made the Blue Army players unite in anger. They were going to say no to unfairness.

Bayern suddenly found themselves a bit embarrassed.

We’re not some kind of invited guests of the Champions League either. We’ve suffered plenty of unfair calls too. If you’re pissed, take it out on Real Madrid. Why the hell are you dumping it on us Bayern?