Fox in the Penalty Area

Yong Jun, who was staring at the La Liga schedule on his phone, suddenly sighed heavily.

This caught Zhang Qinghuan's attention: "What's the matter, Uncle Yong? Homesick? It's okay, we'll go back in two days, and you can also stay with me at home..."

Yong Jun interrupted Zhang Qinghuan's guess: "What are you thinking? I'm sorry for you!"

"I'm sorry? What's wrong with me?"

"On the 15th, the sixteenth round of La Liga, you could have gone to the Crown Stadium to challenge the King of Madrid."

Zhang Qinghuan suddenly realized that that round of the league was Sarria's away game against the King of Madrid.

So he laughed and teased his manager: "Uncle Yong, does your manager have an achievement system?"

"What nonsense are you talking about?"

"Then why are you so obsessed with 'checking in'? I can't go to the Crown Stadium this time, and there will be a next time. Do you think I won't be in Sarria next season?"

"The future is the future, and now is the present. How good your momentum is now, and you are going to play in the Asian Cup... When you come back, the position in the team will be gone again, and you will have to compete again and readjust..."

"That can't be helped, isn't it?" Zhang Qinghuan spread his arms, "Can I not go to the national team?"

Yong Jun sighed and said nothing.

Of course Zhang Qinghuan couldn't refuse the national team. So unless the national team does not recruit, Zhang Qinghuan must play in the Asian Cup when he is in good condition.

If he doesn't care so much about the Asian Cup four years later, he can just go. But now this is Zhang Qinghuan's first season in Europe, the most critical period of adaptation... Playing in the Asian Cup at this time makes Yong Jun feel that the Football Association's consideration is improper.

But he is just an agent, so don't interfere with the national team's affairs. So he sticks to the bottom line and doesn't talk about it.

On the contrary, Zhang Qing smiled and said: "It's a pity, that kid Hu Lai is a pity. He couldn't even play the last Champions League group match."

"What's the pity? Leeds City's Champions League group stage will not affect their performance in the Europa League in the second half of the season..."

Seeing that Uncle Yong didn't understand the point, Zhang Qinghuan explained: "But if Hu Lai misses one game, he will lose the chance to compete for the Champions League Golden Boot..."

"What the hell?" Yong Jun thought he had heard wrong,

"The Champions League Golden Boot? What are you thinking? How can anyone become the Golden Boot just by playing in the group stage?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhang Qinghuan said, "The World Cup Golden Boot!"

"Cough!" Yong Jun coughed, "That's different. After the World Cup, there are only seven games. If you can score five or six goals, you can compete for the Golden Boot. But how many games are there in the Champions League? There are six games in the group stage, and then Including the knockout rounds, if you go all the way to the final, you will have thirteen games. If you want to win the Golden Boot by scoring goals in six group matches in a total of thirteen games? You really underestimate all the heroes in the world!"

Zhang Qing smiled and waved his hands: "It's not me, Uncle Yong, it's Hu Lai!"

"Hu Lai said that?"

"No, we used this to make fun of Hu Lai..."

Yong Jun heaved a sigh of relief: "I don't think he's so inflated..."

Hu Lai, who scored five goals, was lucky to win the Golden Boot trophy in this summer's World Cup, but the same five goals are not outstanding enough in the Champions League.

The current top scorer in the Champions League is Paris Eger's striker Mendy Payet, who scored seven goals in five group matches.

Then there is "Prince" Alexandra Celados who played for the King of Madrid. He missed the first group match due to injury and scored six goals in just four games. Equally astonishing.

Also scoring six goals was Celius Caesar of Italian giants Torino Bulls. At the age of thirty-four, his state has not declined significantly, and he is still the "Caesar" who made his opponents fearful.

Behind the three of them is the camp that scored five goals-this camp has as many as four people, except for Hu Lai. There are also Athletic Manchester striker Marvin Stones, Madrid Pirates' Dutch midfielder Maxi Carey, and Blue and White Munich's Souza Espinola.

None of them are unknown people, all of them are top figures who have long been famous in world football.

This shows how fierce the competition in the Champions League is.

That's why Yong Jun said that they thought that Hu Lai could win the Golden Boot just by relying on the group stage, which is to underestimate the heroes of the world.

As the highest technical and tactical football event on the planet, the UEFA Champions League gathers the world's top players, and this is true in every position. Being able to become the Champions League Golden Boot means that you must be one of the top scoring players.

Therefore, the selection of the best team in the UEFA Champions League every season can be considered as representing the eleven people with the highest level on the planet in the current year:

There is no selection of the best player in the current Champions League. The best team of the season can be considered the best selection of the Champions League. Those who can occupy a place in this lineup are the best in European football that year.

At the same time, because of the status and level of European football in world football, it can also be roughly equivalent to being the best in world football.

Those players who can be selected to the best team of the Champions League for how many consecutive seasons are naturally the most outstanding players in their positions.

And such a person is an undisputed top superstar in world football.

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"In the 81st minute of the game, Leeds City used up the last substitution, and Clark replaced Kamara with Walsh. This means that Hu will continue to stay on the court and finish this game... …Because I don’t have to participate in the last group match of the Champions League in the middle of next week, I don’t need to worry that Hu’s physical fitness can’t keep up…”

The TV broadcast gave Hu Lai a close-up shot, and at the same time, subtitles were displayed at the bottom of the screen:

"Two goals in this game"

Leeds City is leading the newly promoted Sandwell with a score of 4:1 away.

With about ten minutes left in the game, this score almost meant that Leeds City scored three points ahead of schedule.

When Wales international Jack Walsh came on, the atmosphere of the game was already very relaxed.

There is nothing wrong with saying that this game entered garbage time early.

Leeds slowed down and stopped being aggressive. Sandwell at home also lost the will to resist in the face of such a huge point difference.

For his substitute appearance, Walsh did not have any expectations.

He was injured in the game in early October and has not returned until recently. Now coming off the bench is actually just to let him find the long-lost feeling of the game, and the head coach does not have high hopes for him.

This game doesn't require any outstanding performance from him.

So when Walsh sent a cross from the wing, it did pass a bit casually, crossing the front point and the middle high and rushing to the back point.

Just when Walsh himself didn't expect anything to happen, a figure came to the back point, flew up with a kick at a small angle, and padded the flying football towards the goal!

Sandwell's goalkeeper couldn't make a save and could only watch the football fly into his goal again in the middle!

"Wow! Huh!! Yes Huh!! Hat-trick! It's his first hat-trick in the league this season! It's finally here! Clarke was right to keep him on the pitch!"

Jack Walsh was in a daze. He didn't expect that he would complete an assist just after playing...

It was Hu Lai who came to him to celebrate and gave him a thumbs up: "Well done, Jack!"

Walsh froze for a moment, then nodded again and again: "Yes, yes, yes, I saw you running backwards, so I deliberately passed the ball backwards! Ha, Hu, you really didn't waste my pass. !"

"You can have such a level of crossing just after playing, Jack, you are recovering well!" Lorenzo, wearing the captain's armband, ran up, hugged Walsh, praised him, and was happy for him.

Other Leeds City players ran up to surround them, and everyone cheered for Hou Lai's hat-trick, and also cheered for Jack Walsh who had just returned from injury and had an assist, which meant that his comeback was successful. Also a good sign.

Clark turned to assistant coach Randyll and said: "I really didn't keep him on the court to let him complete a hat-trick..."

Randyll laughed loudly: "No matter what the reason is. Walsh had an assist just after he recovered from injury, which will greatly enhance his confidence. And if Walsh can play normally, I think it will be good for us in the future. This half of the season is definitely beneficial! Just treat it as a parting gift from Hu, ha!"

Clark shook his head: "He is like this, I am even more reluctant to let him go..."

Matthew Cox also said: "I don't know if the fans of Leeds City will miss him more after seeing Hu's hat-trick... He will be absent for at least a month. When he comes back, The Europa League may be about to rekindle the battle. But this is good news for other teams in the Premier League-seeing that Hu, who is in such a good state, will leave the Premier League for a while, they can breathe a sigh of relief!"

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On December 13, 2026, the day after Leeds City defeated Sandwell 5:1 in an away game, Hu Lai, the hero who helped the team win, packed his bags, left Leeds alone, and took a plane back to China.

Among all the overseas players, he was the last to start, because his game was played last.

Players like Wang Guangwei and Xia Xiaoyu who never played in the first team even bid farewell to the club a week ago and returned to the national team to train with everyone.

When Hu Lai was still at the London airport, Chinese journalists posted photos and videos on the domestic network.

As the last player to return from the Chinese team, his return means that the Chinese team, which has been training for half a month, can finally prepare for this much-anticipated Asian Cup in the most complete form.