Chapter 1 The Conspiracy

As soon as the draw results were announced, the Catalan media began to mock Real Madrid, "We'll avenge you, Real Madrid!"

The implication was that they could beat the teams Real Madrid couldn't, so they were stronger.

They had already sentenced Napoli to death in advance, as if Napoli would definitely lose against Barcelona.

In fact, this was the consensus throughout Europe—the current Barcelona was at its peak, and if nothing unexpected happened, they would definitely reach the final.

Although Napoli defeated Real Madrid, in the eyes of analysts, Real Madrid lost because of their own problems, not because they lost to Napoli, and Napoli's strength was not strong.

Even the Neapolitan media felt that Napoli's Champions League journey had come to an end.

And... Napoli's players seemed to think so too.

"Barcelona is the strongest team in world football today. We were very unlucky to draw Barcelona, really unlucky... but we will do our best..." When the team captain, Paolo Cannavaro, faced the cameras and microphones, his eyes were a little erratic, obviously he didn't have the confidence to say these words himself.

All the media believed that the match between Napoli and Barcelona had lost its suspense. Barcelona had really drawn a good opponent this time, and their advancement to the semi-finals was no problem.

However…

"Hey, I say, Hero, was that okay?" Paolo Cannavaro returned to the team and asked Chen Hero.

Chen Hero gave him a thumbs up: "You can completely compete for an Oscar, Captain... and I'm not talking about the Italian Serie A!"

"By the way, can this really deceive our opponents?" Maggio asked curiously.

The idea of actively showing weakness was proposed by Chen Hero and Cassano, and after everyone discussed it, they felt it could be done.

However, whether it would really work, no one knew.

"Of course, it's no problem. Barcelona has been at its peak for the past two seasons, and they are at their most complacent. Opponents basically act like this, so it won't arouse suspicion," Chen Hero explained to everyone. "When they underestimate us, we'll give them a surprise!"

Cannavaro's answer had been discussed by everyone, and they had to speak with one voice to the outside world, saying that we were afraid of Barcelona, extremely afraid. Of course, if they said it so directly, it would be too fake, so they had to conceal it.

While saying "We're not afraid of Barcelona or anything," their eyes would wander and they would lack confidence. This way the media would firmly believe—Napoli was really afraid of Barcelona.

As the team captain, Cannavaro's words were more credible and could represent the voice of the Napoli team.

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However, Cannavaro's words first fooled not Barcelona, but their coach, Mazzarri.

Mazzarri ran to Cannavaro to ask him about his answer to the reporters—after hearing the team's reaction outside the locker room that day, he didn't think his team would respond so weakly.

Then Cannavaro told the truth and also exposed Chen Hero and Cassano.

After hearing the answer, Mazzarri laughed and patted Cannavaro on the shoulder, praising them for doing a good job.

Then the next day, when he was interviewed by reporters, he also changed his attitude: "Yes, how to deal with Barcelona, this question is difficult to answer, I have a headache for it day and night. But we are Napoli, we will not give up easily!"

Okay, now even the coach is playing along...

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Afterwards, the Catalan media really believed it.

A photo of Paolo Cannavaro being interviewed was on the Catalan newspapers, with the headline: "We were very unlucky to draw Barca."

It quoted Paolo Cannavaro's original words, which made Barcelona fans feel really good, from the outside to the inside, and then to the bone marrow. In short, Barcelona fans were really happy to see the opposing captain say this.

The opponent was already timid before the battle, and it was estimated that they would surrender without a fight during the match.

Then Barcelona could advance to the semi-finals without any effort, and wait for their opponents at their leisure—Barcelona fans hoped to meet Mourinho's Inter Milan, because they would have the opportunity to publicly humiliate that man who was not welcome at the Camp Nou, that "ungrateful" "traitor"!

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The topic about the Champions League opponents was hyped up here, after all, there were still half a month before the Champions League quarter-finals.

It was too early to start endless discussions about the Champions League quarter-finals now.

Napoli challenged AC Milan away from home on the weekend. At the San Siro, they fought fiercely with Milan for ninety minutes and the match ended in a draw. Chen Hero assisted a goal in the score, helping the team to equalize, but failed to help the team win. The two teams ended the game with a score of 1:1, and Napoli had not won in the league for four rounds.

They drew Barcelona in the Champions League, and it was estimated that their Champions League journey would end in the quarter-finals. They had not won in the league for four rounds, and their fourth place in the league was in jeopardy.

Napoli had reached a very dangerous moment.

It was at such a time that they welcomed Juventus to their home stadium.

Napoli and Juventus were bitter rivals. This was based on the opposition between southern and northern Italy, so Napoli had always been bitter rivals with the northern three teams.

One thing was very representative. On August 27, 2006, in the third round of the Italian Cup, Napoli and Juventus met, with Juventus playing as guests at the Stadio San Paolo. The game was full of ups and downs. The two teams drew 2:2 in ninety minutes, and then each scored a goal in the final moments of extra time to make it 3:3. In the final penalty shootout, Juventus's Buffon, Marchionni, and Balzaretti missed penalties one after another. In the end, Juventus lost to Napoli 4:5 and was eliminated.

After winning that game, Napoli felt like they had been promoted to Serie A. The entire Stadio San Paolo erupted with tremendous energy like a volcanic eruption, and everyone was cheering and celebrating.

It was this victory that filled Napoli with hope for their revival and strengthened their belief. From that game on, Napoli entered the fast lane, their rise began to accelerate, and they achieved the current Napoli.

Just defeating Juventus in the Italian Cup could affect Napoli's future, which showed the hatred between the two teams.

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Napoli, who had not won for four consecutive rounds, seemed to be dragged down by the Champions League, while Juventus? They had been eliminated in the group stage. The second half of the season was completely unaffected by the Champions League. It stood to reason that they should be able to take Napoli away from home and break Napoli's unbeaten home record so far this season.

But…

"De Jong passed to Hamsik, Hamsik took the ball forward, he passed it to Sanchez on the wing… Sanchez is really fast, he forcibly broke through Juventus's full-back Grosso, crossed to the bottom! Here it comes—"

As the commentator lengthened his voice and howled "Here it comes," Chen Hero quickly changed direction in front of the goal and sprinted to the near post, catching the landing point, then leaping high and heading for the goal!

A beautiful lion shake!

Goalkeeper Buffon had been defending the middle all the time, but he didn't expect Chen Hero to run to the front to head the goal, so when he pounced forward, it was too late!

The football flew into the goal between his hand and the goalpost!

"gooooooooooooooooL!! herogoooooooooooL!!" The Napoli radio commentator shouted with his arms raised.

Florence once had "BAtigoL", and now Napoli also had their own "herogoL".

"In the seventeenth minute of the first half, Napoli took the lead at home! Chen Hero scored for them! Yes, the first goal! A goal scored with his head!"

"Napoli has a good start, they are leading at home!"

After scoring, Chen Hero patted his forehead and ran towards the camera, meaning to tell the audience: "Look at my golden head!"

The Italian Sky TV commentator shouted: "The Bear-style Bomber has once again appeared in the enemy's sky! How many headers is this this season? I don't know, but a lot! A lot! A lot! Heading is his biggest scoring weapon. Everyone knows he is good at heading, but he can still score headers, which shows his heading level!"

The origin of "Bear-style Bomber" actually came from Russia. When Chen Hero played for Zenit Saint Petersburg, he scored in the UEFA Cup match, and the Russian commentator shouted that he was a "Tu-95 heavy strategic bomber".

The Tu-95 strategic bomber was a long-range strategic bomber developed by the former Soviet Union's Tupolev Aircraft Design Bureau. It had a long range but slow speed and was not suitable for flying at altitudes below 3,000 meters. It was once the most important air strike force of the Soviet Empire and also a deterrent force. During the Cold War, it had considerable long-range strategic strike capabilities.

Yuri Petrov called him "Tu-95 strategic bomber" also because Chen Hero was good at heading, was tall and looked very "heavy". In addition, he was always given red cards for taking off his shirt to celebrate, so coach Advocaat strictly prohibited him from taking off his shirt to celebrate. Therefore, he changed to opening his arms and diving to land, and sliding on the turf. This movement was quite similar to a bomber.

This nickname spread to Europe, because other European countries called "Tu-95" "Bear-style", and Chen Hero's nickname happened to be "Northern Bear", so European media used "Bear-style Bomber" to describe Chen Hero, which was quite appropriate...

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Playing Juventus at their home stadium, Napoli didn't need any mobilization at all. The whole team was like they had been injected with chicken blood.

Although Juventus pulled back a goal in the first half, the second half completely turned into a Napoli performance.

Chen Hero scored again for the team in the seventy-first minute, scoring twice in this game.

Finally, in the eighty-third minute, Arshavin broke into the penalty area and was tripped by Juventus's center-back Chiellini. Chiellini received his second yellow card of the game and was sent off, while also giving Napoli a penalty.

Hamsik took the penalty and scored it in one go.

In the end, Napoli defeated Juventus 3:1 at their home stadium, ending the embarrassment of four consecutive rounds without a win, and also getting three points at the most critical moment, regaining their fourth place in the league.