Super Wingstorm

”What? You went for special training with Yang Yang this early in the morning?”

When Yang Yang and Ibrahimovic returned together carrying breakfast and newspapers, Maxwell and Vermaelen were so shocked their jaws dropped. They almost suspected they were bewitched.

”Zlatan, are you sick?” Maxwell reached out to check his forehead for a temperature.

SMACK! Ibrahimovic slapped the Brazilian’s hand away. ”Get away from me, you bunch of lazy bums.”

As he spoke, he placed the breakfast on the dining table, striking the pose of a big boss looking down on his two underlings.

”Look at you two, sleeping in ’til this hour. Do you even look like professional players? If you don’t train hard, how will you improve? How will you perform well on the pitch? Then look at Yang Yang. He trains every day, rain or shine. That’s the kind of diligent spirit we should all learn from.”

Maxwell and Vermaelen exchanged a glance and nodded in unison. He was really sick, and it was serious.

”Zlatan, I don’t mind you lecturing them, but leave me out of it,” Yang Yang said with a laugh, pointing at Ibrahimovic.

The Swedish Striker waved at Yang Yang, indicating he understood.

”So? Now that you’ve seen how hard we’re working, don’t you feel ashamed?”

”Nope,” Maxwell and Vermaelen said in unison, shaking their heads.

”Do you feel any remorse?”

”None.”

”Do you two really not have a single shred of ambition?” The Swedish Striker slammed his hand on the table, his face a mask of frustration at their wasted potential.

Hearing this, Maxwell’s eyes suddenly lit up. He sucked in a breath. ”Oh, Zlatan, has there been some progress with Raiola?”

Yang Yang choked back a laugh, nearly spitting out the food in his mouth.

He had already found out during their morning workout.

As expected, the one who understood Ibrahimovic best was still his best bud, Maxwell.

The macho, domineering facade Ibrahimovic had put on instantly crumbled. He nodded helplessly.

”Ha! I knew it! It had to be,” Maxwell said with a smug laugh. ”Only something like this could motivate you. Otherwise, with your personality, even a massive earthquake couldn’t shake you out of bed.”

”Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?”

”The truth,” Maxwell and Vermaelen said in unison.

”Am I that kind of person?”

”Yes.” The two nodded in unison.

The Swedish Striker was at a loss. He could only point angrily at the two across from him. ”Being friends with people like you is so frustrating!”

The other three all burst into laughter.

The four of them were close in age and got along well. There was never a shortage of laughter when they were together. But after the laughter died down, the conversation gradually turned to serious matters: Ibrahimovic’s next transfer destination.

”Raiola told me that the four giants of Serie A are all interested in me. They all contacted him one after another after last night’s match. You guys know I really want to go to Serie A. It’s the number one league in the World right now. I’m determined to become the world’s top striker; how can I do that if I’m not in Serie A?”

The four giants of Serie A were none other than Juventus, Milan’s Two Giants, and Rome, all of which were top European teams.

”How are the talks going?” Maxwell asked with concern.

”We’re just one step away, but we can’t take it just yet. You know the club is refusing to engage in any contact or negotiations with any team right now. Their goal is to focus on finishing all of this season’s matches. Everything will have to wait until after the season is over.”

Yang Yang and the other two nodded. This was the agreement Van Gaal had made with several players in the squad before the winter break.

”Can they guarantee you playing time?” Vermaelen asked, concerned.

”Of course. It not only has to be a promise, but it has to be written into the contract,” Ibrahimovic said with a laugh. ”I’d have to be an idiot to transfer somewhere I won’t get to play, right?”

Yang Yang nodded, feeling a little sad to see him go.

He knew before that Ibrahimovic was going to leave, but everything was still vague back then. Now, things were gradually becoming clear. Seeing how he was now, a summer transfer to Serie A was probably inevitable. Raiola was very well-connected in Serie A.

After coming to the Netherlands, Yang Yang hadn’t had any friends until he arrived in Amsterdam and met his three good friends: Vermaelen, Ibrahimovic, and Maxwell. He never expected that after less than a year, Ibrahimovic would be transferring away. It made him feel a little sentimental.

And if he felt this way, Maxwell and Vermaelen, of course, felt the same.

”Alright, once I get to Italy, you guys can come visit me when you’re free, and I’ll come visit you when I’m free. And you all need to work harder and try to leave Ajax soon too. Then we can meet again in Serie A. Whether we’re teammates or opponents, wouldn’t that be great?” Ibrahimovic said with a hearty laugh.

The other three all understood.

As the saying goes, the soldiers are transient, but the barracks are permanent. Ajax was always there, but the players were constantly coming and going.

Every transfer window, it was inevitable that some new players would arrive and some old players would leave.

”That’s right. No need to say more. Just for the fact that we’re all wearing the same jersey right now, we have to work hard together this year and fight to the very end. The Eredivisie title, the Dutch Cup, and even the UEFA Champions League—we have to fight for them all!” Yang Yang shouted with force.

”Yeah, well said!”

”That’s why I like you! So much fighting spirit.”

......

......

The morning after the match was scheduled for recovery training.

The training intensity was very low, even game-like in nature. But one should never underestimate this ninety-minute training session. In a packed schedule with two matches a week, it played a crucial role in bridging the gap.

This was a professional lesson Yang Yang had learned since joining Ajax. Through personal experience, he found recovery training to be far more effective than simply taking a day off. And besides, the team was about to get a one-day holiday.

This was a reward for the team’s hard-fought victory over Arsenal.

In other words, there was no training this afternoon or tomorrow morning. They would only regroup tomorrow afternoon.

This undoubtedly left the entire team overjoyed. Who doesn’t love a holiday?

Compared to the others, Yang Yang’s holiday would be shorter. When the team didn’t have training, he would choose to go to school for classes.

This was a promise he had made to his parents and his uncle, Shen Ming.

After finishing the morning recovery training session, the players didn’t go home right away. Most of them still chose to stay and eat lunch in the players’ canteen, and then one by one, they all dutifully returned to the players’ lounge.

At 12:30, the live broadcast of the Champions League quarter-final knockout draw began right on time.

The draw ceremony was held at the UEFA Headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland. Ajax was represented on-site by Technical Director Van Gaal, who was there to witness the entire process. However, all the players were very concerned about the team’s next opponent and were huddled in front of the TV to watch the live broadcast.

Unlike the Round of 16 knockout draw, which had rules to avoid teams from the same country or group, once you reached the quarter-finals, there was only one rule: there were no rules.

The eight teams would be placed in a small glass bowl. UEFA’s Director of Competitions, Friedrich, would randomly draw the small balls, pairing them up to face each other. In a way, every ball Friedrich drew would decide the fate of the eight teams.

According to the championship odds released by the British William Hill Gambling Company before the match, Real Madrid was undoubtedly the top favorite. Their odds of winning were 5-to-2. AC Milan followed closely behind at 3-to-1. Porto, last season’s UEFA Cup champion, was also performing quite well this season, with their odds reaching 15-to-2. Chelsea and Deportivo La Coruña were both 9-to-1, Ajax and Lyon were both 15-to-1, and Monaco was at the bottom with 25-to-1.

The odds certainly couldn’t decide the outcome of a match between two teams, but to some extent, they did reflect the difference in strength among the eight teams.

As the youngest team in this season’s UEFA Champions League, Ajax, despite having reached the quarter-finals for two consecutive seasons, was still not recognized for its overall strength. This was mainly because they had played poorly in the group stage, barely scraping through to qualify.

Although they caused an upset by defeating Arsenal in the knockout stage, the process was also incredibly tense, and they didn’t get much recognition for it. This was why Ajax’s championship odds were on par with Ligue 1 champions Lyon, only slightly better than Monaco’s.

On the other hand, Porto from the Portuguese Super League had been performing exceptionally well for the last two seasons. According to British media reports, it was said that their head coach, José Mourinho, was very likely to leave Porto this summer to join a top team in one of the Four Major Leagues.

Yang Yang had to go to school in the afternoon, but he stayed with everyone in the lounge to watch the live broadcast.

The first team to be drawn by Friedrich was Mourinho’s Porto, which made many of the Ajax players quite hopeful.

Porto, Lyon, Monaco, and even Deportivo La Coruña were among the few teams Ajax felt relatively confident about facing. Against powerhouses like AC Milan and Chelsea, Ajax really didn’t have much confidence. They had suffered greatly against the Red-Black Army in the group stage, to say nothing of the star-studded Galaxy Battleship, Real Madrid.

But things didn’t go as they wished. The team drawn right after Porto was Lyon.

A wave of sighs went through the lounge. The live broadcast, meanwhile, showed the representatives of both Porto and Lyon looking secretly pleased.

Yes, they both clearly felt they had the ability to defeat their opponent.

Next, Friedrich drew the other matchup in the upper bracket: AC Milan versus Deportivo La Coruña.

On the TV broadcast, Galliani was visibly pleased. They had a psychological advantage over Deportivo La Coruña. Last season, they had thrashed them 4-0 at the Riazor Stadium. Facing Super Laco again, AC Milan looked like victory was already in their grasp.

According to the draw rules, the winners of the two matchups in the upper bracket would automatically advance to the semi-finals to face each other.

In the lower bracket, the first team drawn was Chelsea. This Premier League team, coached by the ”Tinkerman” Ranieri, was quite strong and also a very difficult team to deal with. But compared to Real Madrid, Ajax was clearly more willing to face the Blue Army.

Of course, the best possible draw would be Monaco.

But unexpectedly, the small ball drawn right after Chelsea’s contained the name Monaco.

This sent the lounge at De Toekomst into a dead silence.

There was no need to say who the remaining two teams were. Ajax would face the top favorite to win the title, the star-studded Real Madrid.

And for the first leg of the tie, Ajax would be playing away at the Bernabéu Stadium.

This luck in the draw... was just the absolute worst!