Napoli's appeal to UEFA was rejected, upholding the original verdict, which is the final ruling.

Of course, Barcelona's appeal was also rejected.

None of this was unexpected; it was the result many had foreseen.

In fact, everyone could see that Chen Hero and Napoli had been tricked by UEFA. But UEFA did a great job this time; they also punished Alves's dive in the penalty, which meant that all the responsibility was attributed to a momentary misjudgment by the referee on duty. Moreover, the referee, Adeler, said in an interview with the media that he did not actually see clearly whether Chen Hero had elbowed Alves, because he was too far away and there was no linesman near the sideline, so he could only judge that Chen Hero had elbowed his opponent based on Alves falling to the ground.

From this point of view, the referee was also a victim of Alves's dive.

Misjudgments are normal in football matches.

When the matter became a misjudgment, it successfully silenced many people—yes, the referee misjudged, Alves was indeed diving, and UEFA punished Alves for diving, daring to admit their mistake, and absolutely not shirking responsibility. But we severely punished Chen Hero because of a series of impulsive behaviors after encountering the misjudgment.

Misjudgments often happen on the field. Why can other people accept misjudgments calmly, while you, Chen Hero, have to be special and create chaos? After the misjudgment, you angrily scolded Alves, causing a dispute between the two sides, then elbowed the innocent Butzkes, then provoked the referee's authority, and after the game was over, he was sent off and rushed to the sidelines to attack the referee's bench, and had a conflict with Barcelona's assistant coach, Vilanova…

Aren't these behaviors worthy of severe punishment?

Therefore, our severe punishment of Chen Hero has nothing to do with whether he elbowed Alves, but entirely because of a series of actions after receiving the red card…

See, doesn't that sound reasonable and impeccable?

Platini fully learned from the lessons of the previous match against Lyon. In the face of media questions in that game, he insisted that the referee was right, but was sprayed badly by the media, and could only use the pressure of the UEFA president to forcefully suppress the matter.

This time he generously admitted that the referee did make a mistake.

But what does a mistake mean to a referee? Misjudgments are simply commonplace for referees.

If the issue is limited to the level of misjudgment, the media will not be able to make waves. But if they think this is a conspiracy, there are too many things to discuss…

So UEFA's response this time was quite perfect.

After the penalty was issued, apart from a few media outlets discussing what impact UEFA's heavy penalty on Chen Hero would have on Napoli's preparations and signings for next season, no one paid attention to it anymore.

There are too many things in football now that can divert everyone's attention.

For example, Barcelona defeated Real Madrid 2:0 in the national derby on the weekend and regained the top spot in the league.

For example, Hero scored twice in the game against Parma, and with twenty-four goals in the league, he widened the gap with Dinatale, who ranked second, by two goals, basically securing the top spot in the scorer list.

These things are worth everyone's attention…

※※※

Eliminated from the Champions League, and the league championship is too far away in terms of points—after thirty-three rounds, the current leader in the league is actually Roma, who surpassed Inter Milan with sixty-eight points over sixty-seven points.

Napoli now has fifty-nine points, ranking fourth in the league. Palermo in fifth place has fifty-four points, a difference of five points between the two sides. And how far is Napoli from AC Milan, who is third in the league? It is also five points. It is nine points away from Roma, who is first in the league.

This gap is a bit big, even if Napoli goes all out, they may not get a good result.

Not to mention that it never rains but it pours—

On April 18, in the thirty-fourth round of the league, Napoli defeated Bari 2:1 away. But the main center back, Ranocchia, injured his knee in that game. After a more detailed examination after the game, a bad result was obtained—Ranocchia's injury was a tear in the anterior cruciate ligament of his right knee. For football players, this is an injury that is enough to change their career prospects…

People who play football know what it means to be injured in this area.

The media immediately lamented that Napoli seemed to be cursed. First, Cassano inexplicably developed heart disease, then Chen Hero would be banned for eight games in next season's Champions League, and then Ranocchia tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee… Mazzarri's team was simply having the worst luck.

Cassano just had surgery and it is not yet known when he will recover. What about Ranocchia? This injury will definitely require surgery, and you can't think about getting better without six months for surgery in this area.

In other words…if Napoli plays in the Champions League next season, they may face a lack of three main players for the entire half season…

If Cassano is not there, Sanchez can replace him. But who will replace Ranocchia if he is not there? What about Chen Hero? He can play in the league, but he can't play in the Champions League. The team either adjusts its tactics and formulates a set of tactics specifically for the Champions League, or buys another striker for the Champions League…

Mazzarri felt that his head was getting bigger—how could he be so unlucky!

The main center back is out for six months, so Napoli can forget about competing for the league title. Their defense is not very good in the first place, and the league title almost entirely depends on defense.

In this way, Napoli's only goal this season is to maintain fourth place in the league.

In fact, they can also climb up one more position. After all, after the thirty-fourth round of the league, Napoli has sixty-two points, while AC Milan has slowed down, they have sixty-four points, and the two teams are only two points apart.

But Mazzarri calculated with his fingers and can't really surpass AC Milan to get third place in the league.

According to the Champions League rules, the top three in Serie A can directly participate in the main competition, and the fourth place has to play two qualifying matches.

So if Napoli really participates directly in the main competition…Chen Hero will have to wait until the quarter-finals to play.

Napoli, without Chen Hero, may still be able to qualify from the group stage, provided that they are not drawn into a group of death…but if they enter the knockout stage, I am afraid it will be more ominous.

What if Napoli is eliminated after Hero's ban is over, then what is the point?

So now it seems that the best option for Napoli is to play in the qualifying round, only in this way can they use two qualifying matches to offset two bans, and the remaining six matches will all be left in the group stage.

Mazzarri had the idea for the first time of "why isn't Italy a second-rate European league". In that case, Napoli could play a few more qualifying matches, and it would be best if they could serve out their sentence in the qualifying round.

Now Mazzarri is really facing the most complicated situation in his coaching career. On the one hand, he can't let the Palermo, Sampdoria and other teams behind him catch up, on the other hand, he can't accidentally surpass AC Milan…It's really not good to win or lose.

※※※

Mazzarri's entanglement belongs to him, and Chen Hero's goal is very clear.

This season, Napoli is almost destined to have no chance with team honors.

And Chen Hero can still pursue some personal honors.

The Serie A Golden Boot award is waiting for him to lift it for the second time.

After the thirty-fourth round, Chen Hero did not score a goal, but Dinatale only scored one, so the Udinese shooter is still one goal behind Chen Hero.

There are still four rounds left in the league, and a one-goal gap cannot make Chen Hero feel safe. Last year, he staged a big reversal in the last round, defeating Zlatan Ibrahimović and winning the league's Golden Boot. This season, he doesn't want to become a tragedy that is reversed by others.

He wants to win the Golden Boot this season, he wants to win the Golden Boot in a row.

What he said at the Serie A Oscar awards ceremony was not a joke.

After failing to score in the thirty-fourth round, Chen Hero and Dinatale started competing with each other.

Now he has twenty-four goals, Dinatale has twenty-three goals, and Inter Milan shooter Diego Milito, who ranks third, has nine goals, and Miccoli, who ranks fourth, has sixteen goals. They are a bit far behind the top two.

Therefore, if nothing unexpected happens, the battle for the Golden Boot this season will only occur between Chen Hero and Dinatale.

In fact, Dinatale is quite tragic. Since his debut in Empoli, he has always been a semi-popular player. In Italy, he is always considered a second-rate striker. His annual salary was only 350,000 euros during his time in Empoli. After transferring to Udinese, his current annual salary is only 650,000 euros, which is not even enough for the change of superstars such as Zlatan Ibrahimović and Kaka.

This season is the closest he has been to the Serie A Golden Boot.

But he met Chen Hero.

A late bloomer over the age of thirty and a young player who is not yet twenty-two years old launched a fierce competition in the Serie A scorer list.

There are still four rounds left in the league, and the competition for the championship, relegation, and European qualification…has entered a white-hot stage.

The league scorer is the same.

The two shooters began to accelerate and sprint.

From the thirty-fifth round of the league, the onlookers have been able to easily smell the gunpowder in the air.

In the thirty-fifth round, Napoli was forced to a 1:1 draw by Cagliari at home, and Chen Hero scored Napoli's only goal. And when Cagliari finally scored to equalize the score, Mazzarri breathed a sigh of relief, because…in the earlier game, AC Milan lost to Palermo 1:3 away…Napoli's draw in this game prevented them from surpassing AC Milan to rank third in the league, and now the two teams are only one point apart…

In the simultaneous match, Udinese won 4:1 against Siena at home, and Dinatale also scored a goal.

The two sides are still only one goal apart.