Fox in the Penalty Area

After returning home with the European Super Cup trophy, Parrotti gave the team three days off.

Then regroup on August 15th to start preparing for the new season.

At the same time, they ushered in their last warm-up match on August 18, and played a warm-up match with the Phoenicians who were relegated from La Liga to La Liga last season.

Parotti used a completely different lineup and staffing in the first and second half of the game, and he was clearly still experimenting with tactics.

But the effect is not good.

Hu Lai came off the bench in the second half of the game and failed to score.

The Madrid Pirates were drawn 1:1 away by the Phoenicians.

After the last warm-up match before the start of the new season, it was time for the official game.

In the first round of the league this season, the Madrid Pirates, as the defending champions, will face the newly-promoted Canary at home.

This game is not what everyone cares about the most, or to put it more rigorously, it is not what the Chinese fans care about the most.

What they care about is what happens after this game - on August 28, UEFA will hold the award ceremony for the honors of the 2028-2029 season, as well as the draw ceremonies for the new season's Champions League and Europa League group stage.

This time, Hu Lai has to go to Frankfurt, Germany, which is the place where the Champions League award ceremony and draw ceremony will be held.

Whether he can win the European Ballon d'Or will also be revealed here.

However, judging from the public opinion reaction before the game, most people are optimistic that he will win.

The odds offered by European bookmakers for Hulay to win the Ballon d'Or illustrate this.

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"Of course I'm also optimistic about Hu winning the Ballon d'Or. But if you want to win a big one, of course you can only bet on Merry's side, after all, his odds are not good, if you win, it will be unpopular. But ... it's more likely to lose it all."

In the rest area of ​​the Truckers' House, Neil Mullin analyzed it for his colleagues.

He has become a "legend" among truck drivers since he made a fortune by betting on Hu Lai and Leeds City himself, and helped Andy Warman win a lot of money.

"So if you don't want to lose money, bet on Hu and win. It means you win less. If you want to gamble, bet on Merry."

"What about you, Neil, who are you betting on?" someone asked loudly.

"Me? I'm not betting on anyone. Whether it's Hu or Merry, it has nothing to do with me." Mullin said.

"I remember, you only care about Leeds, ha!"

"Yes, I only care about Leeds."

Someone suddenly remembered and asked: "Hey, Neil. When everyone was talking about Hu might return to Leeds in the past two months, did you buy it?"

"I bought it." Mullin nodded. "I bought him back to Leeds."

"But you know he's not going back to Leeds, right?"

"Yes. I know."

"Then you still buy it?"

"Express one of my attitudes. Of course he won't come back."

There was a sigh in the crowd: "Ah..."

Andy Warman stood up and said: "As a Tramed fan, I have to say something for the other 18 teams - Hu will stay in Spain and never come back!"

There was laughter in the house.

Neil Mullin also laughed, and he didn't care about Warman's remarks.

Even if Hu Lai doesn't come back, that memory will not disappear with it.

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On Saturday, August 25th, the 2029-2030 La Liga season finally kicked off.

Madrid Pirates host the newly-promoted Canary.

This team was promoted through the play-offs as the fourth place in the La Liga.

It should be easy for the defending champion to play the newly-promoted horse, or at home.

There is no suspense about the outcome, the only suspense is to win a few goals.

However, the performance of the Madrid Pirates was very general, as if to continue the unstable state of the pre-season warm-up game.

In the end, the suspense was revealed, and the Madrid Pirates were only a small victory over their opponents.

To the relief of the Chinese fans, Hu Lai did not lose the chain even if the overall performance of the team was poor.

The only goal in the game was his. This is already his 35 consecutive league goals across the season.

Every goal counts at a crucial time when the European Ballon d'Or is about to be revealed.

But in fact, the Chinese fans worry too much.

The voting process for the European Ballon d'Or has ended.

Strictly speaking, the results have already come out at this time, but they have not been announced.

So Hu Lai doesn't talk about scoring a goal now, even if he scores ten goals, I'm afraid it won't affect the final result.

In addition, theoretically speaking, the European Ballon d'Or is a reward for the performance of the players last season, and now it is a new season, so no matter how good the performance of the new season is, it cannot affect the results of the Ballon d'Or.

This is different from the selection of world footballer.

The European Ballon d'Or measures a player's performance in the previous season, while the World Player of the Year looks at the performance of players in a calendar year.

Only the World Player of the Year selection will take into account the performance of the candidates in the new season.

Unlike the struggling performance of the Madrid Pirates, the other two direct competitors not only won the first round of the league, but also won relatively easily.

Catalan United beat the tough Athletic Biscay 3:0 away.

The King of Madrid beat last season's La Liga runner-up Atletico Orvieto 4-0 away.

After the first round, the King of Madrid with four goal difference ranked first, and the Catalan United with three goal difference ranked second.

Defending champion?

ranked sixth.

Even Saria is ranked higher than them - Zhang Qinghuan led Saria to beat Getafe 1:0 at home in the first round of the league 1326, the same points as the Madrid Pirates, the same number of goals, the same goal difference, but the ranking is One place higher than the Madrid Pirates.

Eh, are you angry?

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"I used to say that you left the Madrid Pirates, and you can't even participate in the World Cup. Now look at the performance of the Pirates. Can you say that they can't play without you? So who is inseparable from whom?"

In a restaurant, agent Jim Castian raised a glass to Carey and smiled.

Kyrie shook his head: "But unfortunately, it's not like that, Jim. Without me, of course their strength will be lost. But I don't think it's much worse. At most, they won easy games before, and now they won not so much. It's easy. And what does the performance at the beginning of the season mean? We were drawn by Valero in the first round of the league last season."

"Uh..." Castian remembered the "Triple Crown" that the Madrid Pirates finally won last season.

The performance in the first round of the league has nothing to do with the final result of the season.

At the start of the league, the crisis faced by the Madrid Pirates was more serious, and the top and bottom were questioned and under greater pressure.

But the end result is still good.

After the Madrid Pirates won the "Triple Crown", no one mentioned the poor performance of the team at the beginning of last season.

"I have more important things to do now than caring about the Pirates. The league has already started three rounds, and I haven't made a decisive performance yet. The Premier League is really not what I thought at first."

While the Madrid Pirates struggle, Maxi Carey is struggling to adapt to the Premier League.

He started all three rounds of the league, but only contributed one assist.

Castian comforted him: "It's not your fault, Maxi. Leeds City's strikers are still a little less able to seize opportunities. It's better than Hu..."

Carey shook his head: "Doesn't that mean that if I leave Hu, I can't do anything?"

Castian was speechless.

"And it's not just bad stats." Carey continued, "From the perspective of the scene, I'm not as good as when I was in the Madrid Pirates. The Premier League and La Liga, from the rhythm of the game to the physical confrontation, are different. But sooner or later I will I'll find a rhythm. I'm a 'max' and if I can conquer La Liga, I can conquer the Premier League. Tony still trusts me and I can't live up to his trust."

"Yes, you can." Castian agreed.

But he still has some regrets in his heart - it would be nice if Maxi hadn't left the pirates...

Just with Maxi's character, how could he not leave?

No solution.

It's almost like a couple who broke up, trying to adapt to a new life without each other...

In the end, whether they will be okay, or whether someone will become a resentful party, it is hard to say.

※※※

"Have you brought everything? Did you forget anything?"

Hu Lai stood at the door and turned to ask Li Qingqing who was beside the car outside.

"You asked three times." Li Qingqing was helpless.

"Oops, I always feel like I forget something every time I go out..."

"It's all brought. We are just going to stay for one night, and we don't need to bring too many things."

"Okay, let's go!"

Hu Lai closed the door and turned to leave.

In the camera lens facing the door in the entrance, the door that was closed was opened again. Hu Lai waved to the camera: "I know what I forgot. Photographer! We forgot the photographer!"

There was a burst of laughter behind him.

The lens wobbled, apparently lifted by the photographer, along with the tripod, and taken out from the inside.

After the photographer came out of the house, Hu Lai locked the door again.

"This time it's really going!"

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