Chapter 1 The Zenit Saint Petersburg versus Bayern Munich UEFA Cup semi-final matches were considered the most anticipated of the entire tournament.

One side was a rising star in European competition, the other a "fallen" powerhouse relegated to the UEFA Cup. The collision of these two teams was sure to spark and shine.

After the match against Saturn, Zenit returned to St. Petersburg to prepare for the two semi-final matches against Bayern Munich.

For Dick Advocaat, these were two crucial matches, even more important than the final itself—since it was still unknown if they could even reach the final. For now, the two matches against Bayern Munich would be treated as the final.

In fact, considering the opponent's strength, calling the match against Bayern Munich the final wasn't an exaggeration. The other semi-final was between Glasgow Rangers and Bayer Leverkusen, two teams that clearly couldn't compare to a behemoth like Bayern Munich.

Many European media outlets believed Bayern Munich's progression to the final was a foregone conclusion. Although Zenit Saint Petersburg was strong and the dark horse of the UEFA Cup, they just happened to run into Bayern Munich in the semi-finals…

"...It's such a pity! If it weren't for Bayern Munich, Zenit could have created the most glorious moment in the team's history. They could have reached the final, and with their strength, winning the cup wouldn't have been unthinkable. But now, their fate has been changed by Bayern Munich..."

"It's too difficult for Zenit to defeat Bayern Munich. The Bundesliga giant is currently ranked first in the league, far ahead of second-place Werder Bremen. They have a high chance of regaining the Bundesliga title this season and returning to the Champions League is almost certain. For them, the UEFA Cup is just a mistake. But since they're here, they'll naturally want to take home a trophy!"

"In the Champions League, Bayern Munich is always a favorite to win the title. In the UEFA Cup, they're probably the only team with a chance of winning..."

The German media praised Bayern Munich one after another.

Some higher-level journalists, while praising Bayern Munich, would also take the opportunity to commend Zenit's excellent performance. "If it weren't for Bayern Munich..." This made the people in St. Petersburg feel good—look, even the opponents are praising our performance!

Some less-skilled German media outlets blatantly scorned Zenit Saint Petersburg, endlessly elevating Bayern Munich. The consequence was that Bayern Munich didn't need this kind of endless boosting, and they successfully angered Zenit's fans.

In St. Petersburg and Moscow, the media believed that Zenit's only advantage was… their schedule. First away, then home, there was still a chance. Try to draw on the road, or lose by a small margin, then return home and fight Bayern Munich to the death.

Villarreal, Marseille, and Fiorentina had already witnessed the power of Zenit's home field.

Therefore, Zenit's coach, Dick Advocaat, set a plan for the team to secure a draw away from home.

Kerzhakov's absence due to injury would certainly affect the team's offensive strength, which further strengthened Advocaat's determination to have the whole team defend desperately. On the road, only Chen Hero would be left up front. Arshavin, or Dominguez, would have to defend. No defense? Then don't even think about playing!

As a result, Dominguez lost his starting spot…

He was very lazy in training when it came to defense and didn't participate much.

Chen Hero didn't participate in defense either, but when the whole team needed to defend, having him alone was enough. What if there was one more person who didn't come back to defend? Besides, Chen Hero not defending meant he wasn't coming back to defend, but he could still carry out some on-the-spot counter-attacks or pressing in the frontcourt, forcing the opponent not to be able to calmly organize their attack in the backfield…

Since Dominguez didn't cooperate, Advocaat decisively removed him from the starting lineup.

This made Dominguez a little unhappy, but what could he do about it? The coach was the boss of the team.

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While Zenit was actively preparing for this away game, Bayern Munich was also preparing for the UEFA Cup semi-final. But for the players, they didn't have the same sense of urgency as the Zenit players.

Wasn't defeating Zenit an easy task? This was the consensus of many Bayern Munich players.

Despite coach Hitzfeld repeatedly reminding them that Zenit was a strong team, the atmosphere during training was still very relaxed. Ribéry, who had just joined the team this season, was joking enthusiastically with everyone, filling the training ground with laughter.

Zenit Saint Petersburg?

They were indeed very powerful to be able to reach the semi-finals. But their good luck would end there. Because Bayern Munich was a team that was going to win the UEFA Cup!

Confidence is a double-edged sword. For a powerhouse, confidence can easily turn into arrogance.

And that degree is difficult for even the coach to grasp.

The team's captain, Oliver Kahn, had already announced that he would retire at the end of the season. This matter had been decided and announced long ago, so everyone had an entire half-season to gradually accept this reality. As his teammates, everyone naturally wanted to give Kahn a farewell gift for his retirement.

What better gift than Kahn's last European trophy?

Defeat Zenit, enter the final, and win the UEFA Cup for the "Lion King" Kahn. That was the whole story. And defeating Zenit was just the beginning of this story, a minor role destined to die within minutes of appearing.

No one would care about the fate of a minor character, nor would anyone shed tears for the death of a minor character who didn't even have a line after appearing for a few minutes.

In the hearts of Bayern Munich players and fans, Zenit, the minor character from St. Petersburg, was no different from a dead man.

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When the entire Zenit team arrived in Munich from St. Petersburg, they received a "warm welcome" from the local media at the airport.

The players were swarmed by the media for interviews, and the topics were naturally related to this match and their opponents.

"Are you feeling regretful about meeting Bayern Munich in the semi-finals? Your performance in this UEFA Cup has been excellent, and it wouldn't be surprising if you ultimately won the UEFA Cup…"

Tymoshchuk, as a Bayern Munich fan and the captain of Zenit Saint Petersburg, gave a relatively polite answer: "Actually, I would have preferred to meet Bayern Munich in the final. But we will also work hard to win. The charm of football is that you never know what the result will be."

When it came to Chen Hero, he didn't give Bayern Munich any face at all.

"Yes, I feel sorry for Bayern Munich, because they met us in the semi-finals ahead of time. Otherwise, they would have had the opportunity to reach the final. With their strength, um… winning the championship shouldn't be impossible either."

He stood in front of the reporters, pretentiously twisting their words, leaving a group of German reporters stunned after they understood…

After answering, Chen Hero shrugged and walked away.

This group of reporters was too cheap! Who asks questions like that? Isn't that clearly trying to get us to admit defeat? How can that be allowed! The match hasn't even started yet, and they're saying such discouraging things?

Tymoshchuk is the captain, he has to take into account his personal image and the team's image. I don't have to have such concerns, so I'll say what he doesn't dare to say!

The next day, his words were published in the local Munich media…

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The television news was broadcasting news of Zenit Saint Petersburg's arrival in Munich.

The scene showed Chen Hero standing in front of the camera lens, saying with an arrogant look: "I feel sorry for Bayern Munich, because they met us in the semi-finals ahead of time. Otherwise, they would have had the opportunity to reach the final. With their strength, um… winning the championship shouldn't be impossible either…"

When this TV station broadcast Chen Hero's words, they didn't provide the context, that is, they didn't mention the reporter's questions to Chen Hero at all. Perhaps they felt that the reporter's questions were normal and didn't need to be pointed out specifically. Perhaps they habitually distorted the meaning of the interviewee—this isn't a patent of the Chinese media, German media, British media, American media… media all over the world are good at doing such things.

But in short, they successfully shaped Chen Hero into an image of a clown who deliberately provokes wealthy clubs, disregards elders, and is arrogant and conceited.

After this news was broadcast, many Bayern Munich fans scolded Chen Hero as an idiot online.

And the local Munich print media also followed suit, adding fuel to the fire.

Chen Hero's words were indeed quite irritating… provided you didn't know the context. You didn't know how the Munich reporters were using a polite and praising attitude to despise Zenit—this kind of contempt was more infuriating than that kind of blatant contempt because it left you feeling slapped in the face with nowhere to vent. How enthusiastic and objectively fair they were! Fully praising Zenit's performance and acknowledging Zenit's strength. For example, look at how rare praise is in words like "Your performance in this UEFA Cup has been excellent, and it wouldn't be surprising if you ultimately won the UEFA Cup!"

It was as if after they did this, they could slander you with impunity.

And this approach had a market. Many people thought that this was fairness and objectivity, this was neutrality, this was skill. Even some people on the Zenit Saint Petersburg side would think so.

But Chen Hero felt uncomfortable no matter how he listened.

Our good performance has nothing to do with what you say next. Our good performance is our business, but since our performance is good, how can you conclude that we will definitely lose to Bayern Munich?

He just couldn't stand people putting on airs in front of him. Whenever he saw such people, he wanted to say or do something to disgust the other party.

It was just that this kind of personality often pushed him to the forefront. Just like this time, the local Munich media and fans were all cursing him, thinking that a kid from the Russian league dared to speak wildly against Bayern Munich. When the time came on the field, the Bayern Munich players would definitely give him a good beating!

"...This Chen Hero is the top scorer in the Russian Premier League and has also broken Vereteninkov's record. But what level is the Russian league? What's the point of being the top scorer in this kind of league? There are top scorers in the Russian league every year, has anyone heard of their names?"

"I simply can't imagine where this Chinese person got the courage and confidence to say such a thing? Okay, he successfully provoked the anger of Bayern Munich fans. I hope he can also successfully provoke the anger of Bayern Munich players, and then let all the suspense be ended in the first leg of the match!"

"This player has a name that looks very powerful—'hero', but giving yourself such a name is extremely ridiculous! Does he really think he is a hero!"

His name spread throughout Munich overnight, and all the fans knew that Zenit Saint Petersburg had such a very arrogant and annoying guy.

No wonder Chen Hero chose to play a warrior and become a MT when he was playing World of Warcraft. There was a reason for this—taunting the crowd!

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ps, When you see this chapter, I may still be on the way home, or I may have already arrived home. Anyway, this chapter is automatically updated.

I have been spending two consecutive weekends like this—my wife is watching movies and chatting with friends at a friend's house, having a great time, but I am miserably opening my laptop in their study to write. Last weekend, I was so miserable at my sister-in-law's house… wearing headphones, turning the music up as loud as possible, the noise and excitement outside have nothing to do with me, my world only has Chen Hero and his teammates and opponents, and of course, you who have been supporting me!

Although it is very miserable and tiring, I am still very happy to see the monthly tickets rising sharply, and to see everyone's messages, clicks, and recommendation votes.

Finally, let me say something very clichéd—thank you!