Chapter 1 Chen Yingxiong Receives an Invitation

Chen Yingxiong received an invitation from FIFA to attend the FIFA Ballon d'Or awards ceremony on January 11th of next year.

This was the first time FIFA had sent him an invitation since his falling out with them.

He didn't know if he would win, but at least it showed that his performance had made it impossible for them to pretend he didn't exist.

In fact, he knew very well why FIFA had sent him the invitation. Because he was in the final shortlist of three.

Although it was still a secret, this "secret" was only for the benefit of outsiders. The media already knew who the final three would be on stage.

Barcelona took two spots, and Liverpool one. That Liverpool player was Chen Yingxiong.

As for Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo, he ranked fourth and failed to make it onto the stage. It was said that he didn't even plan to attend the awards ceremony this time. With two enemies on stage, expecting him to stand up and applaud them from his seat? Impossible!

The FIFA Ballon d'Or selection process was slightly different from the UEFA Ballon d'Or. The final results were already in before the awards ceremony. Who was first, second, and third—they would just announce the results then.

The UEFA Ballon d'Or, on the other hand, would first select three people, who would then compete on the spot. The journalists present would score and vote, ultimately determining the winner.

Regardless of whether Chen Yingxiong, Messi, or Neymar won, Cristiano Ronaldo disliked all three of them.

Chen Yingxiong and Messi aside, his displeasure with Neymar stemmed from the fact that Neymar had repeatedly made statements like "Barcelona is the number one team in the world, Real Madrid is inferior to them," "Messi is the king of football, my idol," and "My dream is to join Barcelona" in order to go to Barcelona.

This made Ronaldo very unhappy, so he didn't want to see any of the three win, and simply didn't go.

Chen Yingxiong didn't have these concerns, so he didn't consider refusing the invitation.

Anyway, as long as Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo didn't win, anyone else winning would be fine.

He didn't have any special opinions about Neymar either. Although he had joined Barcelona, Chen Yingxiong wasn't going to oppose every Barcelona player. It still depended on the person.

Neymar indeed had no grievances with Chen Yingxiong. He used to be in Brazil, far from European football, and had no contact with Chen Yingxiong.

Now that he had come to Europe, he had been thinking about his future prospects for the past half-season and had no intention of fighting with others. Moreover, Barcelona had not faced Liverpool, so it was naturally even more impossible for him to have any relationship with Chen Yingxiong.

So, in Chen Yingxiong's mind, Neymar was just an ordinary player.

He wouldn't pay too much attention to him.

Of course, he actually forgot that Neymar was, after all, in the Barcelona environment, and his reputation within the Barcelona team was terrible, so some people would definitely try their best to smear him when talking about him.

Even if Neymar had only been in that team for half a season, how could he not be affected?

※※※

The draw for the Champions League Round of 16 was held before the end of 2014.

As the group winner, everyone thought that Liverpool would draw a weak opponent, at least ensuring their entry into the quarter-finals.

But the result surprised many people.

The strongest team among the eight group runners-up was the defending champion, Bayern Munich.

Bayern Munich's performance this season had plummeted, as if after finally winning the championship, they had lost their motivation to fight. So they performed poorly in the Champions League group stage, and barely managed to get second place in the group, with only ten points, two points more than the third place... It could be described as very difficult.

But a lean camel is still bigger than a horse. No matter what, they were still the defending champions! They still had the aura they should have. Moreover, many people believed that Bayern Munich was a bit slow to warm up. They would either be eliminated in the group stage, or if they broke through from the group stage, they would be very likely to enter the final.

No one knew where they got their theory from.

However, Bayern Munich was indeed the most dangerous of the group runners-up.

And coincidentally, Liverpool, the group winner, drew such a group runner-up...

The opponents in last season's Champions League semi-final met again.

As soon as the draw results came out, everyone was saying "This is a good opportunity for Liverpool to take revenge" because Bayern Munich's strength and momentum were not as good as last season.

And Liverpool's momentum this season was so strong that the whole of Europe could feel it—they were currently the only team that had not lost a game since the start of the new season!

Whether it was the domestic league, League Cup, FA Cup, or Champions League, they hadn't lost a single game!

Only two draws, all other games won!

Such an awesome record couldn't help but attract attention.

At the draw ceremony, after drawing Liverpool, the host said: "This is a team that no one wants to face."

Many people laughed on the spot.

However, the Liverpool fans who were watching the draw ceremony in front of the TV did not laugh.

Not only did they not laugh, but many people even cried.

From a joke in the whole of Europe, to a powerful opponent that the whole of Europe did not want to face... The joys and sorrows during this change were only deeply felt by these Liverpool fans, who had followed Liverpool for a lifetime, for decades!

Even after Liverpool won the European Champions Cup in 2005, they were not able to enjoy this treatment.

To be feared by the whole of Europe... This feeling seemed a little distant?

When was the last time they had this treatment?

The seventies and eighties?

That's right, at that time, we won four European Champions Cups in eight years! At that time, we were the most powerful team in the whole of Europe, the best team, no one could stop our edge!

That Liverpool at that time... It's been a long time!

Although the revival of this Liverpool team had only just begun, many people were full of confidence in the team's prospects, believing that under the leadership of Martin O'Neill, Gerrard, and Chen Yingxiong, this team could truly reproduce the glory of the past.

※※※

After the draw ceremony, reporters interviewed everywhere, wanting to hear the views of relevant people on these results.

O'Neill was relatively low-key and did not talk about revenge. Some people saw this as taking the initiative to show weakness. After all, Bayern Munich was the defending champion, and their strength should not be underestimated. Moreover, the tenacious Germans were best at fighting tough battles and seemed to be the nemesis of English and Spanish teams. Just like the Champions League semi-final last season.

Some media were complaining for Liverpool because they had encountered the strongest group runner-up. Such a draw result was really strange.

Why was it Liverpool? Why was it a rematch of last season's Champions League semi-final?

Did UEFA really not do anything?

However, Chen Yingxiong was more open-minded. In an interview, he said: "We Liverpool are not afraid of any opponent. Bayern Munich is very good because we now have the opportunity to take revenge."

He had not forgotten the pain of being eliminated by Bayern Munich last season and still remembered it firmly in his heart.

So he was indeed very happy with this result. He had been worried that he would not be able to meet Bayern Munich in the Champions League this season.

Now that's good, he had a chance to take revenge.

Those teams that had defeated him were like knots in his heart, and he had to defeat them to untie these knots. Only then would he feel at peace.

Chen Yingxiong was such a vindictive person.

Bayern Munich also showed a very tough attitude, even though their performance this season was not very good.

But they firmly believed that if they were given a winter break to adjust, they would recover. They shared the same view as those media outlets, also feeling that as long as they did not die in the group stage, it would be like a dragon entering the sea, and no one would be able to stop them.

Moreover, they felt that their poor performance in the group stage had a lot to do with their tactical style.

Bayern Munich's current tactics are very pragmatic, emphasizing defense very much. This is also why they were able to defeat Barcelona in last season's final, using Neuer as the core to build Bayern Munich's penalty area into an impregnable fortress.

But this defensive tactic was useless in the group stage because there were draws in the group stage. In addition, Gomez was injured at the beginning of the season, and the team's offensive power was greatly reduced, which was also unavoidable.

When it comes to the knockout stage, we can rely on defense to drag the game to a penalty shootout! At that time, we can decide the outcome with penalties.

In last season's Champions League final, Bayern Munich dragged the game into a penalty shootout and then relied on Neuer's god-like performance to win the Champions League.

This season, they plan to repeat the same trick.

So what if you, Chen Yingxiong, can score goals? We will defend across the board, plus a Neuer, and you can forget about scoring goals!

Now that Casillas is old, Neuer has begun to replace Casillas and become the world's number one goalkeeper. Neuer has also won the nickname "Saint Neuer" among German fans.

So Bayern Munich still has the confidence to challenge Liverpool.

Even the German media described the game like this after the draw results came out.

"A collision between the sharpest spear and the strongest shield!"

Chen Yingxiong is the sharpest spear, and Neuer, in their view, is the strongest shield in the world.

As long as this shield can withstand the attack of Chen Yingxiong's spear, taking down Liverpool will not be a problem!

And they are very confident in their strongest shield in the world.