Chapter 140 The Final Game

Many Napoli fans were actually very nervous about the final game against Chievo.

They had seen and heard of too many instances of things falling apart at the last minute in the world of football.

But thirteen minutes into this game, Chen Hero gave them a reassurance.

“GoooooooooooooooooL——Hero!!!”

“His twenty-fourth goal of the season! It’s incredible! Three-quarters of these twenty-four goals were scored after the second half of the season—an incredibly terrifying scoring efficiency!”

“A powerful long shot! Chievo’s defense was a little distracted, and they paid a heavy price for it!”

The competition between Napoli and Genoa entered a fever pitch in the last round. Both teams had weak opponents in the last round. Napoli’s opponent, Chievo, had already secured their spot in Serie A and were too far from qualifying for European competitions, making this game a game with no desires.

And Genoa? Their opponents were even more disinterested, because Lecce, ranked nineteenth, had already been relegated…

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The two teams were competing on different fields.

In the fourth minute, Genoa opened the scoring, breaking through Lecce’s goal.

At that time, there was a huge boo at the Stadio San Paolo, which made people think that Chen Hero had the ball again. But in fact, Hamsik was controlling the ball at that time.

The boo told the Napoli players on the field—their opponent Genoa had scored!

Stimulated, Napoli stepped up their attack, and successfully took the lead nine minutes later with a powerful shot from Chen Hero.

At this moment, those restless hearts finally found peace—as long as Napoli could win the game, no matter what the result was for Genoa, even if Genoa beat Lecce 50-0, they could only play in the UEFA Cup, and the Champions League qualification belonged to Napoli!

After Chen Hero scored, more people cheered for him, and the cheers once again drowned out the boos from the extreme fans.

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Genoa could obviously also know the situation on Napoli’s side, so five minutes after Chen Hero scored, Genoa scored again. They were leading Lecce 2-0 at their home stadium, which seemed more stable than Napoli’s 1-0 lead over Chievo.

However, before Napoli could respond with a goal, Genoa encountered a minor interference—even though they had already been relegated, Lecce did not intend to be a complete failure. They were not fighting for survival in this game, but for dignity.

In the thirty-first minute, Lecce pulled back a goal, reducing the score difference between the two sides to one goal. The atmosphere in Genoa’s home stadium suddenly became tense.

Compared to Lecce, who was full of energy, Napoli’s opponent Chievo was much more gentle. Having already secured their spot in Serie A, they didn’t need to fight for dignity, because they could continue to stay in Serie A next season. This season was already considered a mission accomplished for their team, with no regrets. They were truly disinterested.

So even if Napoli bombarded their goal, Chievo didn’t react much.

In the forty-first minute, Arshavin broke into the penalty area and was brought down by a Chievo player. The referee decisively awarded a penalty. Huge cheers rang out at the Stadio San Paolo.

A penalty!

This was almost a guaranteed opportunity to score!

If this goal went in, it would basically mean that the suspense of this game was over, and Napoli would enter the Champions League qualifying round next season!

Hamsik, who took the penalty, scored with one shot, kicking in the penalty created by Arshavin.

“2-0! Napoli leads Chievo by two goals at home! Judging from Chievo’s own performance, they seem to be completely lacking fighting spirit and unable to threaten Napoli’s goal at all…”

After the goal, Napoli’s players celebrated for a particularly long time and were particularly crazy.

Because everyone knew that they were almost certain to enter the Champions League qualifying round next season!

The fans in the stands also shouted: “Champions League! Here we come—!!!”

Excited fans lit flares, and blue smoke filled the stands. In addition, hundreds of white streamers were thrown from the stands where the extreme fans and hardcore fans gathered, all the way to the field, especially near the two goals, which were even covered with white streamers.

This was a unique landscape of the Stadio San Paolo. At the San Siro Stadium, fireworks were set off, but here, it was the world of streamers. It looked quite like a South American stadium. Considering that Maradona had left a very deep mark here, this characteristic may have been learned by Napoli fans from Argentine fans at that time…

“In the first half of this season, no one would have thought that Napoli could get a Champions League spot for next season, even if it was just the qualifying round… Their ranking in the league continued to decline, they were eliminated from the UEFA Cup group stage, there was infighting in the team, and the meritorious coach was dismissed… But now, their fans and players are celebrating their entry into the Champions League next season! It’s unbelievable!”

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Before the end of the first half, Genoa finally widened the score difference back to two goals. They originally thought they could continue to put pressure on Napoli, after all, Napoli was only one goal ahead, which was more dangerous than them… Who knew that during the intermission, everyone heard bad news.

Napoli scored again!

The score of 2-0 became a huge stone pressing on the hearts of everyone in Genoa, making it difficult for them to breathe—this season was already Genoa’s best season, and no one thought they would have the opportunity to compete for a Champions League spot before.

But they were about to fall short! In the last round of the league, they were about to lose this qualification. Who could feel good about it?

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Unlike the somewhat depressing locker room in Genoa, on the Napoli side, as soon as the players entered the locker room, they couldn’t wait to cheer. Many people had even started celebrating their entry into the Champions League in advance.

“Champions League! Champions League! Oh Lay Oh Lay Oh Lay—” Some people even sang songs they had made up themselves.

When Mazzarri came in, he was originally wearing a stern face, wanting to remind everyone not to be too happy too early, but seeing the players so excited, he temporarily changed his mind. He thought that leading by two goals should not be a big problem. The outcome of this game was basically without suspense. Everyone had worked hard for a season… no, half a season, and it was really not easy to have such a result. It was okay for them to vent their emotions in the last half. If he reprimanded them with a stern face, it might dampen their morale and pour cold water on them, which would instead make them perform poorly in the second half.

So he smiled and congratulated everyone: “You deserve it, guys! Let’s completely lock in the victory in the second half! Then we’ll celebrate properly!”

The head coach allowed them to celebrate, which made the players very happy, and they cheered. Mazzarri’s position in their hearts rose another level.

Looking at his teammates’ excited appearance, Lavezzi curled his lips. Napoli was only participating in the Champions League qualifying round, but Juventus, where he was going, was third in the league and could directly participate in the Champions League group stage!

What’s so happy about participating in the qualifying round? If they were eliminated in the qualifying round, they still wouldn’t be able to participate in the Champions League!

In this half-season, Mazzarri had completely excluded him from the starting lineup. Apart from occasionally playing as a substitute, he basically had no chance to play. Arshavin was in good shape, not injured, and had no problem with his physical fitness, so he couldn’t get any playing time at all.

Being marginalized in the lineup, he was gradually marginalized in the locker room as well. Now Chen Hero was the popular figure in the locker room. He was enthusiastic, cheerful, lively, and liked by everyone. He was completely different from Lavezzi, who had a somewhat arrogant personality.

Chen Hero did not show any sympathy for the loser. In this half-season, he had almost forgotten about Lavezzi.

Now he had to celebrate with his teammates.

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In the second half, the result was no longer in suspense.

Now there was still one suspense.

Chen Hero scored a goal, and his total goals this season had reached twenty-four, surpassing Bologna’s forward Di Vaio and rising to second place in the scorer list. Could he win the league’s top scorer award?

However, Ibrahimović also scored in the first half, and now his goal count was twenty-six, not twenty-five. The gap between him and Chen Hero was still two goals.

But for Ibrahimović, Chen Hero still brought him tremendous pressure.

On the Inter Milan side, although they had already won the league title, some people were still concerned about Napoli’s game, because the competition between Chen Hero and Ibrahimović was still continuing. Even on Inter Milan’s coaching bench, some coaches were wearing headphones, concerned about whether Chen Hero had scored.

The first thing Ibrahimović did during the intermission was to find the staff, ask about Napoli’s news, and ask if Chen Hero had scored. Although Mourinho was outwardly dismissive of this person, Ibrahimović was still very concerned. After all, the two people’s goal count was only one or two goals apart…

He had never imagined that a striker who had only scored six goals in the first half of the season would chase to second place in the scorer list and be so close to him. He had even begun to worry that he might lose the top scorer award. So in this last round of the league, even though Inter Milan had already won the league title in advance, he was still full of fighting spirit. He wanted to score goals, he wanted to score more goals to ensure that he could win the league’s top scorer award.

In this situation, looking back on Mourinho’s evaluation of Chen Hero, it was really a different feeling…

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