Chapter 1 When Fiorentina Trained in Switzerland

While Fiorentina was training in Switzerland, the Chinese team played their last World Cup qualifier in South Korea. Since the Chinese team had already qualified, Qiu Suhui didn't call up any overseas players. He relied entirely on domestic players to play against the South Korean team. The World Cup is a competition with a very dense schedule. In addition to the strength of the main players, the ability of the substitutes is also very important. This game was the best opportunity to test the depth of the bench.

As a result, the Chinese second-string team, carefully selected by Qiu Suhui from domestic players, held the South Korean team to a 1-1 draw in Seoul (formerly known as Hancheng), the capital of South Korea. If the South Korean team hadn't lost twice to Australia before, they might not have been able to go to South Africa at all.

The Chinese national team qualified for the World Cup with an undefeated record, becoming the focus of world attention. Many professional football media outlets regarded the Chinese team as a force to be reckoned with in the World Cup. Finally, someone acknowledged the strength of the Chinese team. This was Qiu Suhui's first goal after taking charge of the Chinese team.

※※※

During the training camp, Fiorentina also played international friendlies. They narrowly defeated English Premier League powerhouse Manchester United 1-0, drew 2-2 with Schalke 04, lost 2-4 to Chelsea, and thrashed a local Swiss amateur team 10-0.

Except for the last game, which was meant to build the players' confidence, the opponents in the first three games were not weak. Moreover, none of them were Serie A teams. Sabato had clearly set his sights on Europe. Fiorentina's most important task this season was the European Champions League.

As champions, Fiorentina didn't have to play in the Italian Cup before the league started. Their first appearance in the Italian Cup would be in December, after four rounds of the competition. Before the start of the season, the most important competition was the Italian Super Cup.

It pitted the league champion against the cup champion.

Last season's league champion was Fiorentina, while the cup champion was Inter Milan, so this game could be considered a clash of titans.

But in reality, this game was far from exciting. Due to the long break, many players hadn't yet gotten into game shape. The game was very dull, with both sides prioritizing avoiding mistakes. Even after playing four friendlies, the intensity of friendly matches couldn't compare to official matches. Because this was the first title of the season, both sides took it very seriously.

Li Yongle was still responsible for guarding Zhang Jun. Ever since Zhang Jun became famous, Li Yongle had become Inter Milan's expert at marking him. However, this time, Li Yongle found himself struggling to keep up with Zhang Jun's pace. Zhang Jun's movement in the frontcourt was becoming more and more unpredictable, almost reaching a state of doing whatever he wanted. And no matter where he appeared, Kru's passes could always reach him in time. Then, he would make a decision to shoot or pass in the shortest amount of time.

Because Zhang Jun's time on the ball was reduced, it made Li Yongle's marking even more difficult. A player without the ball is always more agile and free than a player with the ball.

He wouldn't know that this was the result of Zhang Jun and Kru's extra training in the summer, which greatly improved their understanding. In the past, the two of them needed to communicate through eye contact, but now they could initially do it without eye contact, actions, or words, but through their hearts. Kru knew what Zhang Jun would do, where he would appear. He knew when to pass and where to pass, and Zhang Jun would definitely be there.

This kind of free-flowing cooperation left Li Yongle and Inter Milan's defense somewhat at a loss. Because when you put all your attention on Kru and Zhang Jun's passing, they wouldn't do it, and would pass to someone else instead.

Therefore, when Mascherano passed the ball to Kru, and Zhang Jun immediately ran to the left, Li Yongle actually hesitated for a rare moment, unsure whether to defend the center or follow Zhang Jun to the wing. When he finally made up his mind to chase Zhang Jun, Kru immediately backheeled the ball from the center into the penalty area. There shouldn't have been any Fiorentina players in that position, but somehow, Zhang Jun, who was supposed to be on the wing, suddenly appeared there. He received the ball, dribbled past the last Inter Milan defender, and then, facing Brazilian goalkeeper Cesar, he unleashed a shot! The ball flew past Cesar and into the net!

This goal was clean and decisive, sending Fiorentina fans into cheers.

Li Yongle looked at Zhang Jun's back in astonishment: When did he appear there?!

His movement was like a ghost, his sprint like lightning.

Zhang Jun's growth had completely exceeded Li Yongle's expectations.

On the defensive end, Xiang Tao also gained something from training with Zhang Jun and Kru. Being able to go one-on-one every day with the current top scorer in Serie A meant that his defensive skills improved significantly. Adriano could clearly feel the pressure when facing Xiang Tao. He could only rejoice that Xiang Tao was a left-back, so he didn't have to face him often.

Xiang Tao's body was very strong, although he was inferior to Adriano in this aspect. In addition, his speed wasn't bad, and he was good at positioning, running actively, and jumping well. He possessed almost all the qualities that an excellent defender must have. The only thing he lacked was fame. He wasn't famous enough, unlike Nesta, Cannavaro, Rio Ferdinand, Ramos, and others who had considerable notoriety.

But if any striker underestimated Xiang Tao because he wasn't famous, the striker would be the one who suffered in the end. At best, the ball would be intercepted; at worst, he would be taken off the field directly…

Martins, confident that his speed was second to none, planned to force his way past Xiang Tao. But Xiang Tao didn't intend to compete with him in speed at all. He simply made a flying tackle from the side, sending Martins and the ball out of bounds. The referee whistled, indicating a foul by Fiorentina, but didn't show Xiang Tao a card. Although the tackle was fierce, it wasn't intended to hurt anyone.

Martins was somewhat unconvinced and wanted to argue with the referee, but Li Yongle stopped him. "It's useless. Xiang's subtle moves and timing are very tricky. He can make you feel a lot of pain, but he won't be punished by the rules…" Although he greatly admired Xiang Tao's ability when they played together in the national team, as an opponent in the club, Li Yongle hated this kind of behavior of exploiting loopholes in the rules.

Even Zhang Jun had suffered a lot from Xiang Tao's subtle moves, let alone Martins. Perhaps the only person who could escape Xiang Tao's subtle moves unscathed was Kru Li, who was even better at using them.

Fiorentina's 1-0 lead forced Inter Milan to attack with all their might.

Inter Milan in recent years had been much better than in the past. Since Mancini established Li Yongle as the core, Inter Milan's results in each season had been better than the same period in history. But since they won the league title once, they were very unlucky to encounter Fiorentina, whose rise was as fast as Shenzhen in the early days of reform and opening up. There was also AC Milan, coached by Basten, who took attacking as their mission and had a lot of money to spend. In addition to the ever-calculating Juventus, Mancini had been claiming that Inter Milan would be the ultimate champion for the past two years, but the first year it was AC Milan, and the second year it was Fiorentina.

After Moratti retired, Facchetti didn't spend money as freely as before. Inter Milan's lineup was basically fixed. Mancini knew that if he wanted to gain an advantage over Fiorentina, who were constantly strengthening their own strength, then this Super Cup at the beginning of the season was the best opportunity. He wanted to blunt Fiorentina's momentum.

The two figures who could give Mancini this confidence now were none other than Adriano, the second-highest scorer in Serie A for two consecutive seasons, and Li Yongle, the best midfielder in Serie A. Whether it was AC Milan's Pirlo, Juventus' Emerson, or even Roma's De Rossi and Fiorentina's Mascherano, they couldn't compare to Inter Milan's Li Yongle.

He was a truly talented player who excelled in both offense and defense. Whether defending, organizing attacks, or scoring goals himself, Li Yongle was a master of all. It was precisely because of his orchestration that Inter Milan had no worries about Champions League qualification every year, and they could look forward to winning the league title again.

He didn't expect Fiorentina and Zhang Jun to suddenly appear, their rise in the last two years was frightening even to Europe, let alone him?

What Mancini didn't expect was that although Li Yongle was an Inter Milan player, he was more excited than anyone else to have such an excellent opponent as Zhang Jun. While other Inter Milan players sighed at Fiorentina's rise, he felt excitement and drive.

Seeing that Zhang Jun was even more formidable than last season, Li Yongle quickly found a sense of excitement after his initial surprise.

The stronger the opponent, the more meaningful one's own existence becomes.

This was Li Yongle's philosophy of life.

Therefore, under Inter Milan's persistent bombardment, Fiorentina's defense still showed cracks. Li Yongle seized this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, executed a one-two with Adriano, and then broke into the penalty area himself and scored!

Inter Milan successfully tied the score 1-1 just before the end of the first half.

The second half of the game saw both sides get into the groove, and the exciting scenes gradually increased. This was all thanks to the two goals in the final stages of the first half. Without those two goals, the second half definitely wouldn't have started so quickly.

Mancini kept shouting from the sidelines in the second half, placing great importance on winning this game. Although the team's results were better than the same period in history, they always failed to win the championship, and he couldn't explain it to the board of directors.

This was the first title of the 0910 season, and Inter Milan was determined to win it!

However, Sabato had the same idea as Mancini. For this rogue, although Fiorentina's goals this season were the league title and the Champions League title, it would also be a very good thing to add another trophy to his team's trophy room.

Moreover, this was a great opportunity to promote Fiorentina's strength and fame. He, Sabato, wanted everyone to know that there was a team called "Fiorentina" in the world of football. They were invincible and unstoppable. They were like locusts, sweeping away all the championship trophies they could get their hands on.

So Sabato was also jumping up and down on the sidelines, shouting loudly to remind his team to maintain their formation and pay attention to the attack.

Both sides fought back and forth for every inch of space on the field. This stalemate wasn't broken by Fiorentina until the second half.

The goal wasn't scored by Zhang Jun, but it was inseparable from Zhang Jun's ghostly movement. Before that, Zhang Jun had constantly used his movement to disrupt Inter Milan's defense, so every time Zhang Jun sprinted, Inter Milan put all their attention on him. But this time, Kru didn't pass the ball to Zhang Jun. Instead, he used the outside of his foot to pass it to Morientes, who had replaced Pazzini in the second half.

It was a lob pass. The ball soared over the heads of Inter Milan's defenders and flew to the far post.

Whether it was at Real Madrid, Monaco, or Liverpool, Morientes had relied on his strong body and excellent aerial header technique to become a top striker. Kru knew Morientes' habits well, so he didn't pass a ground ball, but a difficult aerial ball. He wanted Morientes to show his best side.

And Ren Yudi, who was watching the game in the presidential box, knew Morientes' strengths even better. He knew when he played Championship Manager that Morientes' heading and jumping stats were all 20, and they didn't decline for a long time, which was terrifying. Championship Manager was always known for its realistic and reliable data. Ren Yudi believed in Morientes, just as Kru believed in Morientes.

Morientes didn't disappoint these people. He inserted from the back and then jumped high, making a powerful header in the air!

Because Kru's pass was so sudden, there weren't any Inter Milan players around Morientes for a moment. He could concentrate on heading the ball!

Morientes' header was very tricky, worthy of being a center forward known for his heading ability. Although Cesar tried his best to save it, he still couldn't stop the header that went straight to the far post!

"GoooooooooooAL!!! Morientes!!! He scored his first goal after joining Fiorentina! That's beautiful! Fiorentina took the lead again!"

Morientes looked very excited after scoring. He excitedly took off his shirt and threw it out, roaring at the stands with his bare chest.

From Real Madrid to Monaco, then to Liverpool, and now Fiorentina, he should have been a great Real Madrid No. 9, but it was because his gentle personality wasn't favored by Florentino that his career had been so bumpy, and he had rarely achieved anything to be proud of. Even in the Spanish national team, he was an insignificant figure. Now, at the end of his career, the Spanish national team had completely closed the door on him.

He wanted to prove himself, but no one gave him the opportunity.

After coming to Fiorentina, Sabato's training plans were almost all made with the majority of young players in the team in mind. Morientes was a little uncomfortable at first. Some training programs were too intense, making it difficult for him to bear. After all, he was thirty-three years old, not the vigorous age he used to be.

But the obsession in his heart to prove himself still made him grit his teeth and persevere. He didn't relax his demands because of his age. He did the same amount of training as the younger players who were ten years younger than him, and he didn't do any worse than anyone else.

Sabato had seen all of this, otherwise, why would he have let Morientes play in this game?

Zhang Jun had also seen it all. So when Morientes scored, he excitedly hugged him and shouted, "Haha! Momo, I knew you could do it! You can do it! You can do it!!"

Momo—Zhang Jun insisted on calling Morientes that, instead of "Fernando", because as a Real Madrid fan, that's how he felt closest to him. And hearing Zhang Jun's call at this moment, Morientes had a feeling of returning to Real Madrid. At that time, he and Raul fought side by side, celebrating victory and celebrating the championship together. They wore white shirts, Raul was like a handsome young man, and he was always the best friend by this white-clothed youth’s side... But now they were separated, and meeting again was only as enemies and opponents.

Morientes felt wet on his face. He cried.

※※※

In this game, Fiorentina finally relied on two goals from Zhang Jun and Morientes to defeat again—uh, why say again? To defeat Inter Milan once again and lift their first championship trophy of the new season: the Italian Super Cup.

For Ren Yudi, this was a good omen. He didn't care about the nonsense that winning the Super Cup meant not winning the league title. He was very pragmatic. Now that there was a championship in front of him, there was no reason to let the easy meat slip away.

Since then, Fiorentina's trophy room had one more 0910 season Italian League Super Cup. When the team held the trophy and took a group photo on the field, the scene of them holding the league championship trophy seemed to be still yesterday.

Ren Yudi stood on the podium, clapping and smiling with all the guests. He was already a very qualified club chairman. This championship was also the cornerstone for him to consolidate his rule.

If he wanted to sit in this position for a longer time, he had to keep winning championships. Football, although it was fun, Ren Yudi, as the chairman of a club, knew deeply that professional football only recognized championship trophies.

※※※

The joy of winning the Italian Super Cup was quickly thrown to the back of their minds. Fiorentina continued to prepare for the new season. There were still eight days before the season started, and Sabato had to hurry up and improve the tactics in his mind.

And the time for Zhang Jun and Sophie to be intimate wasn't long either.

That day at dinner, Sophie told Zhang Jun her thoughts that she had been considering in Luoyang for more than a month.

"Zhang Jun, I've decided to quit my current job as a reporter."

Zhang Jun was a little surprised. He remembered that Sophie had mentioned this to him before, but he had persuaded her to go back. "What's wrong? Is your job not going well?"

Sophie shook her head: "Everyone is very nice to me, and Brother Li takes good care of me. But I don't think being a simple sports photographer is my ideal."

Zhang Jun put down his chopsticks and looked at Sophie across from him, signaling her to continue.

"Since I learned photography skills from my uncle, he has always been my goal. I hope to travel around the world like my uncle, and record my journey with my camera. I think that's my ideal. When I went back, I talked a few words with Teacher Liang and realized what I want to do now. I'm twenty-seven years old this year, and so is Zhang Jun. You've won so many championship trophies and Golden Boots, but I haven't achieved anything yet. So I think this is my last chance, maybe I should go out and see."

After Sophie finished speaking, she fell silent, waiting for Zhang Jun's answer.

Zhang Jun looked at the face opposite him. If Sophie hadn't said it, he wouldn't have realized that they were already almost twenty-seven years old. Time passed so fast! Thinking back to when he first arrived in Volendam, it seemed like it was still yesterday. And thinking back to his first meeting with Sophie, it seemed like it was the day before yesterday. Everything was not so far away, but how could more than ten years have passed in a flash?

Zhang Jun shook his head, and Sophie thought that Zhang Jun didn't agree.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Jun smiled and said: "If this is your ideal, then you should go. I have no objection, although I love you, I can't hold you back."

Although they were an old married couple, Sophie was still very moved. "After I leave, you have to take care of yourself..."

Zhang Jun smiled again: "Don't worry, I can still take care of myself. Don't forget that I taught you your cooking skills, haha! I'm in Florence, it's nothing. Don't worry about me, but you, you have to be careful when you're alone outside. Call me if you run out of money, I'll wire it to you. Call me, write me letters, and send the photos together when you miss me, so I can see where you've been. Although I know you're definitely not going anywhere near here, come back and stay for a few days when you have time..."

Sophie wiped her eyes with her hand: "You're so annoying, when did you become so long-winded..." Her voice was trembling slightly.

※※※

Since this matter was decided, then she would do it immediately. Sophie quickly went to Li Yan and asked Li Yan to help her with the resignation formalities. Although the domestic headquarters was very reluctant, leaving Sophie meant that there would be one less source of news near Zhang Jun, but Sophie was determined to leave, and she couldn't be persuaded to stay. Then, she packed her luggage, purchased some necessary items, and enjoyed her last moments of intimacy.

Sophie joked that Zhang Jun was making it sound like a matter of life and death, as if she wasn't coming back. But Zhang Jun quickly blocked Sophie's mouth with his lips, these things shouldn't be said casually.

Sophie's plan was to start from Western Europe. She decided to go to the place where Zhang Jun's career started - Volendam, Netherlands. Then she would go south to France. As for the rest of the journey, she would decide on the road.

On the way to Milan to send Sophie off, Zhang Jun drove, and Sophie sat in the passenger seat.

The car stereo was playing Coldplay's "Yellow". Watching the green trees and grass outside the window receding quickly, Zhang Jun and Sophie were both silent. Zhang Jun's eyes were always staring straight ahead at the road, not daring to be distracted, while Sophie was supporting her chin with one hand, turning her head to look out the window.

Originally, since they were about to separate, they should have had a lot to say, but now they couldn't say a single word.

People say that you should go out and see the world more when you're young. He didn't expect Sophie to be almost twenty-seven years old before she was going to travel around the world. Zhang Jun felt that he had tied Sophie up too tightly. After she graduated from university, he arranged the road ahead for her, and then immediately took her to Florence after she wanted to come to Italy, and kept her by his side to take care of him. He never felt Sophie's mood. Sophie was never the kind of girl who planned to depend on anyone. She was very strong, very independent, and had her own ideas and ideals. But for his own selfish reasons, Zhang Jun had tied Sophie to his side for more than two years, without giving her any freedom.

So Zhang Jun agreed to Sophie's request this time. He also felt that he had been a little unfair to Sophie in the past two years, making her feel wronged.

"Sophie..."

"Hmm?" Sophie retracted her gaze from the window and turned her head to look at Zhang Jun.

"Be careful when you're out there alone..."

Zhang Jun had said this almost every day for the past few days, more than ten times a day. Sophie laughed: "You've really become long-winded, Zhang Jun."

Zhang Jun smiled wryly. Of course he knew that he had become very long-winded recently, but it was all for Sophie's sake. After all, he was still a little worried.

"Don't worry, I have a sense of propriety. Besides, it's a world of law now, it's not as chaotic as those novels and movies describe." Sophie comforted him, but she didn't realize that she would later run to a dangerous place like Iraq. If Zhang Jun knew now, he probably wouldn't let Sophie go no matter what.

When the car pulled into the parking lot of Milan Malpensa Airport, there was still an hour before boarding. Sophie, accompanied by Zhang Jun, went to the cafe to rest after checking in.

Sophie was checking her camera bag, the large backpack and suitcase had already been checked in. She wasn't carrying a small Gucci bag, but a sturdy camera bag with her treasured camera, lens, and film inside. Her dressing style was also that of a traveling photographer, a vest, jeans, a shirt, a sun hat, and a ponytail. She was full of youthful vitality, and it was impossible to tell that she was almost twenty-seven years old.

In Zhang Jun's heart, he always wanted to call Sophie a "girl" instead of a "woman".

When he heard the announcement that the flight Sophie was taking was starting to board, Zhang Jun picked up Sophie's shoulder bag and the two of them walked towards the boarding gate.

When he arrived at the boarding gate, Zhang Jun handed the shoulder bag to Sophie. The bag was quite heavy, and Sophie was going to carry this bag around the world.

"Call me every day, and if you can, write a letter every week. Call me when you get to Volendam, go see Uncle Wang, and say hello to him for me. Add clothes when the weather gets cold, and don't go to dangerous places..." Zhang Jun was about to say more, but Sophie had already leaned in and sealed Zhang Jun's chattering mouth with her red lips.

After staying in Italy for a long time, the two of them could now kiss passionately in public without anyone else's business.

"We're not old yet, and you're already acting like an old man." Sophie smiled and left Zhang Jun's arms. "Goodbye, if there are no accidents, I will definitely be back for Christmas. It's soon, only half a season."

Sophie waved to Zhang Jun, who was standing outside the boarding gate, then turned around and walked forward without looking back, disappearing into the crowd of people boarding the plane.

Zhang Jun stood outside the boarding gate until he heard the final reminder on the radio that the flight was about to take off, and then he saw a Boeing airliner soaring into the sky from the runway through the huge floor-to-ceiling window. He then turned around and left, returning to Florence.

※※※

Back in Florence, Zhang Jun was a little unprepared when he faced the suddenly empty house. He just stood in the living room, stunned.

He had dinner with her last night, his beloved was still sleeping next to him, they were still playing around in the living room yesterday, and now it was all gone.

Zhang Jun regretted agreeing to Sophie. He wanted to put on wings and chase Sophie back.

Although he had experienced separations before, at that time he was in the Netherlands and Sophie was in college. But now they had been together for more than two years, and seeing each other every day had long become a part of his life. Now, suddenly, there was one less person by his side, and he really wasn't used to it.

He thought of Xiang Tao again. He guessed that Xiang Tao must have been in this mood the day Youyou left. No wonder he was always listless during training.

Since he thought of Xiang Tao, Zhang Jun thought that they should be finished training at this time - Sabato gave him a day off because he had to send Sophie off. Zhang Jun took out his mobile phone and called Xiang Tao and Kru respectively.

"You two get out here! I'm a bachelor now too! Come on, let's three bachelors go out for dinner!"

※※※

Time flew by, and when Sophie felt a hint of autumn, she had been living in Volendam for more than half a month. Zhang Jun had already played three league games, and Fiorentina had a record of two wins and one draw. This start could only be considered average for them. Not maintaining a perfect record meant that the team's ranking was only in fourth place. Fiorentina didn't start grabbing points as soon as the new season started. Sabato had to consider the overall situation.

Sophie lived in Uncle Wang's house, and it was the room that Zhang Jun used to live in. Uncle Wang made a special arrangement for her to live there, and told her that the furnishings inside were arranged according to Zhang Jun's time there, and no one had moved them. After cleaning, they had to put those things back in their original places. Because of Uncle Wang's meticulous care, Sophie could feel the situation when Zhang Jun first arrived in the Netherlands.

In Volendam for the past half month, Sophie personally felt how good the people here were. More than four years after Zhang Jun left Volendam, the people here always remembered him. As long as there was a Fiorentina game, they would definitely watch it. And the local newspaper would publish any news about Zhang Jun in a prominent position, even if he shot a commercial, they could get the news here as soon as possible.

And when those fans knew that Sophie was Zhang Jun's fiancée, they were extremely enthusiastic to her. Some even introduced her to the famous wedding photography spots in Volendam. People often waved to her with newspapers of Zhang Jun scoring a goal again, shouting: "Zhang! Zhang!" Sophie naturally smiled and waved to the other party.

Of course, Sophie came here this time not to take wedding photos. She just wanted to see where Zhang Jun and Yang Pan played football, record the current Volendam with her camera, and then bring it back for Zhang Jun to see. Because she was taught by Zhang Jun's father, her specialty wasn't taking simple landscape photos, but portrait photography. Even when taking landscape photos, people in the photos were in a very important position.

The portraits taken by Sophie were often very vivid, because she could capture the things deep in the heart of the subject through the changes of light and shadow. The photos she took of Zhang Jun were often used by many sports media at home and abroad, because no one but her could capture Zhang Jun's truest side.

When the date came to September 20, Sophie decided to say goodbye to this lovely town.

When she walked out of Uncle Wang's house with her suitcase, backpack, and camera bag, many residents of the town came to see her off.

Sophie nodded and waved to the others: "Go back, go back!" Then she lowered her head and got into Uncle Wang's car. She waved goodbye to the simple people in the town again, and the car slowly drove out of the town.

Looking back at the people still standing on the side of the road waving, until they completely disappeared from her sight, Sophie retracted her gaze and looked ahead, muttering: "Uncle Wang, I know why Zhang Jun was so happy in the Netherlands for three years. You are all good people..."

Uncle Wang smiled, "This place is different because of Zhang Jun. He is a big star who walked out of our place. He is our child, he is our pride."

Sophie was silent, carefully savoring Uncle Wang's words.

※※※

"Goooooooooooal!! gooooooooooal!!! This is Fiorentina's second goal! They are now leading Lecce 2:1! This is Zhang Jun's fourth goal of the season! Four goals in four league games, he is now tied for first place in the scorer list with Adriano!"

Zhang Jun punched his fist, and then hugged Joaquin, who assisted him. After three rounds this season, the top-ranked team was not AC Milan, nor was it Juventus, which was second last season, let alone defending champion Fiorentina, but Inter Milan. They had three wins in three games, which was inseparable from Adriano's goal in every game. Zhang Jun clearly felt the pressure from Adriano, who wanted to challenge him as the league's top scorer for two consecutive seasons.

But he couldn't easily give up either. If Adriano scored one, he would score one, and the two of them would hold on tightly, neither of them willing to relax.

It was a good thing that the striker could score, because scoring was the guarantee of the team's victory.

Which of the top four teams didn't have an extremely excellent striker? Zhang Jun of Fiorentina, Adriano of Inter Milan, Gilardino of AC Milan, and Ibrahimovic of Juventus. If Zhang Jun wanted to complete the three-peat of the top scorer, he had to defeat these high-spirited opponents this season.

Currently, he and Adriano were both four goals, ranked first in the scorer list, while Gilardino and Ibrahimovic were three and two goals respectively.

Li Yan was watching the game in the press box. Sophie's departure didn't affect Zhang Jun - at least there was nothing abnormal about him in public, in games, or in training, which showed that Zhang Jun was completely mature. He was now able to handle emotions and career separately, without letting them affect each other.

In this game, Fiorentina finally defeated Lecce 3:1 away from home, surpassing Juventus, who lost unexpectedly, and became third in the league. Inter Milan still maintained their winning streak, ranked first, and AC Milan and Fiorentina had the same points, but AC Milan ranked second with two more net goals.

※※※

When Sophie sent back photos of the harbor scenery from Marseille, France to Zhang Jun, Fiorentina had already achieved an undefeated record of five wins and one draw in the league, and had successfully surpassed Inter Milan, who lost one game, and became the first in the league.

After six rounds of the league, everyone could see that Fiorentina was starting to exert their strength, like a sports car, driving faster and faster. Even in the competition for the top scorer list, Zhang Jun was now leading everyone with seven goals.

Li Yan was very excited and wrote in his manuscript: "Fiorentina is in good condition, and Zhang Jun is in good condition! The current Italy is talking about a topic: Who can stop Fiorentina, who can stop Zhang Jun? Although these six undefeated games haven't met Juventus, AC Milan and Inter Milan, many people believe that even if they meet the Northern Three, Fiorentina will definitely not be at a disadvantage. Sabato said that he would make all the teams in Italy tremble in Fiorentina's roar, at that time people only regarded it as a lunatic's dream, now everyone is starting to feel afraid. With a strong financial base, a group of excellent players, and an excellent coaching staff, as well as fans who wholeheartedly support them, what can't Fiorentina do?"

※※※

This day, when Zhang Jun opened the calendar, he realized that Sophie's birthday was in a few days. Sophie definitely couldn't come back, and he couldn't chase after her to Spain to celebrate her birthday. He realized that Sophie had already walked from the Netherlands to Spain, and he heard that she was going to go to England next, and then Sweden...

Since he couldn't rush to Sophie's side to celebrate her birthday for her, then there was only one way to give Sophie the best birthday gift.

When the two were talking on the phone in the evening, expressing their mutual love, Zhang Jun also talked about how Sophie had just come to Florence that year, and he had invited all his teammates to his home, and the lively scene.

"It's a pity, we can't spend it together this year." Sophie said, and she had forgotten when it started, Sophie and Zhang Jun's birthdays had always been celebrated on the same day.

"It's okay, I'll give you a birthday gift."

"What is it?" Sophie was interested in this.

"Hehe, I won't tell you, you'll know when the time comes. Oh, by the way, Sophie, can you watch Italian football league broadcasts where you are now?"

"Yes. The cable TV network of Sky TV is very developed."

Zhang Jun breathed a sigh of relief, "That's good, that's good."

"Hee hee, Zhang Jun, although it's a bit early to say it now, I still want to say to you: Happy birthday!"

"Ah! I was originally planning to say it first..."

"Hehe, I said it first, I said it first!" Sophie said happily with a smile.

Listening to Sophie's laughter, it was as if this lovely girl was by his side. "Sophie, happy birthday." Zhang Jun said softly.

※※※

On October 17, the seventh round of Serie A, Fiorentina narrowly beat Lazio 1:0 away from home, Zhang Jun didn't score, and he stopped the record of scoring in every round. His stoppage made many people think that Adriano had a chance to surpass him, because Adriano scored twice in this round and had already tied Zhang Jun's goal count.

Adriano also thought so, he was very satisfied with his own state this season, the start was very smooth, so he also wanted to pull Zhang Jun down from the top of the scorer list this time.

"Hey, Li, do you think I have a chance to surpass Zhang in the next round?" Adriano, who had finished training, asked his friend Li Yongle.

Li Yongle knew how good Adriano's recent state was, so he had also seriously considered this issue in his heart. Zhang Jun was his opponent, and only he could defeat him. However, he also knew that there were many ways to defeat him. If he wanted to beat Zhang Jun in terms of goal count, that was definitely impossible. So he had been working hard to help Adriano catch up with Zhang Jun in this regard, which was also considered an indirect way to defeat Zhang Jun.

"Well, Zhang Jun didn't score in the last game, and he performed a little tired..." Li Yongle carefully recalled the video of the last round of the league he watched. In the game between Fiorentina and Lazio, although Fiorentina won, they won very hard, and the commentators mentioned several times that Zhang Jun was not in form. Although he didn't understand why Zhang Jun was not in form, this was a fact, and it was also Adriano's opportunity. "I think if you can still maintain the momentum of the last round of the league in the next round, then it shouldn't be a problem to surpass him. Fiorentina's opponent in the next round is not weak, it is Sampdoria, who has recovered its strong team status. Fiorentina and Zhang Jun will be met with very strong resistance, and it won't be easy for him to continue scoring."

Adriano grinned and laughed after listening: "I knew it, haha! I feel like I have inexhaustible