Fox in the Penalty Area

Joao Valente, who had just finished taking a shower and changed his clothes, came to Xia Xiaoyu's side and invited him: "Xia! Come to my place tonight, I just bought "Black Myth: Wukong"! Let's play together ! With you, I can understand the meaning of many things in the game. You know, this game is made by your country, and it also tells Chinese myths and stories. You must understand your country’s culture better than me, a Portuguese..."

Unexpectedly, Xia Xiaoyu shook his head and rejected him: "Sorry, Joao. I want to watch the game tonight."

"What game?" Valente was stunned for a moment, and then he remembered without waiting for Xia Xiaoyu's reminder: "Oh! Europa League!"

"Yes, our Europa League round of 16 against Leeds City," Xia Xiaoyu said.

"Hu is coming too..." Valente understood why Xia Xiaoyu had to watch this match.

All the main players of Leeds City have come to the away game. As the absolute core of the team, Hu Lai is naturally indispensable.

He is well aware of Hu Lai's position in Xia Xiaoyu's heart, so he will definitely not let go of this opportunity tonight.

But Valente still wants to work hard: "Hey, where can I watch it? You come to my house, let's watch the game together! Before the game starts, I can play "Black Myth: Wukong" for a while..."

Xia Xiaoyu still shook his head and refused: "But Ruoao, I'm going to watch the game live."

Valente was stunned, then frowned: "The scene?"

"Yes, I asked the club for a ticket."

Xia Xiaoyu took out a ticket from his backpack, apparently planning to go directly to Alvara's home stadium, the Lisbon Arena, from the training base.

"Ah, hell..." Valente looked very disappointed.

Xia Xiaoyu patted him on the shoulder when he saw this, and comforted him: "Tomorrow, after tomorrow's training, I will definitely go play with you. Goodbye Joao, I have to eat first..."

He waved goodbye and walked out of the locker room with his bag on his back.

But he soon met an excited Valente in the club's player cafeteria.

"Xia, I also went to the club just now. I didn't expect that they still have tickets left. I got one. We can go and see it together!"

Xia Xiaoyu was a little surprised: "Aren't you going to play a game?"

"Uh,

I thought about it, when our team is playing in the Europa League, I should go to the scene to support it. It might not be good to stay at home and play games..." Valente explained. "And you will play games with me tomorrow, and I will watch football with you today, which is reasonable! "

Xia Xiaoyu smiled: "Then hurry up and finish the meal, let's go."

※※※

When Hou Lai followed the team to the Lisbon Arena, Alvara's home stadium, by bus, the city was already in full bloom.

Heading towards the stadium, you will meet many Alvara fans along the road.

Some of them walk on the street, some drive a car.

When you see a bus with the Leeds City team logo on it, you wave your Alvara scarf or flag and shout to them.

Of course, they are not cheering for Leeds City, which came from afar, but demonstrating to them.

Always remind them not to forget - this is Lisbon, Portugal, the home of Alvara!

Alvara's fans hope to use this method to deter the visiting team.

But when Hu Lai saw the jerseys worn by these Alvara fans, he couldn't help but think of Xia Xiaoyu.

There are a total of six Chinese players who have studied abroad. So far, only Xia Xiaoyu has not played in the first team at all. He has been training and playing in the reserve team.

Of course, this is also because Xia Xiaoyu is the youngest of the six.

But not much younger.

Xia Xiaoyu is twenty-two years old this year, in fact, he is only one year younger than Hu Lai.

The 23-year-old Hu Lai has achieved unimaginable achievements in Europe, but Xia Xiaoyu didn't even play in the first team.

But Hu Lai felt that Xia Xiaoyu should continue to persevere.

Brother Huan and the others have already defended until the clouds bloom and the moon is bright. He believes that as long as Xia Xiaoyu can persevere, he will eventually live up to his hard work during this time-his performance in the Asian Cup has proved that even in Alvara He has also improved in reserve team training and competitions.

The important thing is to stick to it.

Of course, that's easy to say.

It's really hard to do.

After all, no one knows everything, and no one knows how the world will change next, or how things will develop.

So he has no reason to support his point of view, and he can't impose his thoughts on Xia Xiaoyu.

Whether to persist or not can only be decided by Xia Xiaoyu himself.

Everyone should be responsible for their own choices, and not let others choose for them.

All he can do is to give Xia Xiaoyu some confidence...

Or tell the Alvara club: Chinese players are very good, as long as you give him your trust and give him a chance, he will definitely not let you down!

For example, I, Hu Lai, is the best proof!

※※※

When Xia Xiaoyu and Valente walked into the Lisbon Arena, this professional football stadium that can accommodate 50,000 people was almost full.

Fortunately, the tickets in their hands were all obtained from the club.

For each home game, the club will have the right to distribute a batch of tickets. These tickets are usually given to the family members of the players, but they are also given to the young players in the echelon, allowing them to watch their team's games on the spot, which helps to cultivate their sense of honor and increase their belonging to the team feel.

In some important games, the echelon will even organize the entire team to come to the stands to cheer for the first team.

This is how Xia Xiaoyu and Valente got the tickets.

Especially the latter, he decided to watch the game on a whim.

If he decides to come to the game on the spur of the moment like an ordinary fan, then he won't be able to enter the stadium because he won't get a ticket at all.

As the top giants in Portugal, Alvara has a huge number of fans in this capital city.

Today's game is another European game, and the enthusiasm of the fans is very high.

So when the two came to the stands, Alvara's fans were singing together, creating a breathtaking home atmosphere.

"Oh! It's fascinating!" Valente exclaimed to the packed stands after he stepped onto the stands. "Sorry, Xia. But I have to say, this is bound to be a horrible night for Hu and his Leeds City!"

Xia Xiaoyu looked at Valente who had already entered the Alvara fan mode and smiled, but did not refute.

※※※

In the dressing room, Leeds City coach Tony Clarke is mobilizing his players before the game.

"Guys, it's our first Europa League game. It's sad to say - we were in the higher-level Champions League for the first half of the season and now we've gotten to the point where we can only play in the Europa League. It's..."

When Clarke said this with an exaggeratedly frustrated expression, the players in the locker room burst into laughter.

"Well, despite all that, the fact that we're here to stay in Europe is remarkable enough. After all, think about North London Wanderers, they've already been knocked out in the Europa League group stage!"

The players laughed again.

"This is very important for us. Being able to stay in the European competition allows us to fly to various places in Europe in the middle of the week and play against opponents that we have never faced before... It is like a trip. We Coming to a strange country, in a strange street, meeting a beautiful woman, and then we fell in love at first sight, and spent a wonderful night together... It's a great feeling!"

Everyone laughed.

After everyone had almost laughed, Clark said a little more seriously: "I hope you all know that even if the Europa League is not as good as the Champions League, it is still a European-level competition. Players who can reach the knockout stage in this competition Otherwise, if you think about it, even the Wanderers would not be able to enter the knockout stage... This is definitely not a game that can be won by kicking as some people think. "

The players' smiles faded away, looking intently at their manager.

"But at the same time, I still want to tell you, don't think that we are rookies who can be bullied by others just because we are newcomers to the Europa League for the first time... If anyone still has doubts about this, you can recall, How did we beat Catalina at the Sagrada Familia!"

Clark raised his voice, and the players of Leeds City also showed pride on their faces.

That game was indeed the masterpiece of Leeds City in the European war this season.

And it was precisely because of the loss to Leeds City at home that Catalan lost the first place in the group in the Champions League-they lost to Vesuvius away in the last round of the group stage. In the end, they could only enter the knockout round as the second place in the group.

He was then drawn with Bundesliga giants Blue and White Munich in the knockout draw.

That's a very, very tough opponent.

Although the Champions League knockout round has not yet started, if Catalan is finally eliminated by Blue and White Munich, it can be said that their tragic fate stemmed from their loss to Leeds City at home.

It is a great honor for the entire Leeds City team.

"So, guys, don't underestimate your opponents, but don't underestimate yourself either. Go out into the game with a fearless mentality, even away from home... Speaking of away games, which one do you think is scarier, the Arena Lisbon or the Gulf?"

The players looked at each other and smiled.

They felt the enthusiasm of the Albara fans during the warm-up, but to be honest, compared with the Turkish stadium that slammed all kinds of dirty words at them for 90 minutes, the Lisbon Arena is too gentle...

Seeing the smiles of the team members, Clark punched in the palm of his hand:

"So, we have seen big scenes!"