Chapter 1 The Call

The day after the match against Real Madrid, Hua Fang, as Zhang Jun's agent, received a call directly from Real Madrid President Florentino.

Florentino presented her with a very tempting plan—to bring Zhang Jun to Real Madrid.

Businessmen pursue profit, and Hua Fang was no exception. She knew how much profit Zhang Jun's transfer to Real Madrid would bring to her and Zhang Jun himself. In addition to the high transfer fee and signing bonus, the prestige of joining a century-old giant was an endless asset.

But this was on the premise that she did not know the relationship between Zhang Jun and Ren Yudi. If she hadn't known that Ren Yudi and Zhang Jun were childhood friends, she would have pushed for the transfer no matter what. But now… she knew that Ren Yudi would definitely not let Zhang Jun go, and Zhang Jun would certainly not leave Ren Yudi. She knew Zhang Jun's personality well; he wasn't the kind of person who would do anything for money. So, even if Real Madrid raised his annual salary to 20 million euros, it would be useless to Zhang Jun.

But Hua Fang didn't want to reject Florentino so bluntly. She told him that she needed to relay the offer to Zhang Jun and would contact him later.

In her heart, Hua Fang still wanted to leave a way out. Even if it wasn't possible now, it might be in the future. Who could say for sure what the future held?

When Hua Fang told Zhang Jun the news, Zhang Jun held the phone, staring at Sophie opposite him with his mouth wide open. After a moment, he started laughing uncontrollably, making Sophie feel uneasy.

"Hey, Zhang Jun, what's wrong?" Sophie waved her hand in front of Zhang Jun's eyes.

Zhang Jun grabbed Sophie's hand. "Hua-jie, I think this is hilarious. Although my favorite team is Real Madrid and many of my idols are there, that doesn't mean I have to go to Real Madrid. I'm doing well in Florence, why should I leave? Help me decline them. Are they trying to distract me before the second leg of the Champions League?"

Hua Fang sighed inwardly. She knew this would be the result. It was pointless to call Zhang Jun. "Alright, I'll help you turn down that old man." Although she had many arguments in her mind, she couldn't say a word in front of Zhang Jun.

What about you'd be a true superstar if you went to Real Madrid, or you'd earn a lot more, or you'd win more honors… All of that was bullshit to Zhang Jun.

"Well, thanks, Hua-jie. Haha!" Zhang Jun was still laughing after hanging up the phone.

Sophie looked at him, "Real Madrid wants you to go?"

"Yeah. According to Hua-jie, as long as I agree, the treatment, transfer fee, and image rights are no problem." Zhang Jun put his arms around Sophie and gently stroked her smooth hair.

Currently, all of Zhang Jun's image rights belong to Fiorentina, which is a testament to Zhang Jun's loyalty to Florence and a support to Florence's finances. But Florentino promised Hua Fang that if Zhang Jun was willing to go, Real Madrid wouldn't take a single cent of his image rights. This meant that Zhang Jun would earn a lot more every year if he went to Real Madrid.

Moreover, Florentino also promised that Zhang Jun's starting annual salary would be six million euros (after tax). This was the same level as Ronaldo, Beckham, Raul, and others, which meant that Zhang Jun was recognized as being in the same league as these three superstars.

As for future renewals, the annual salary would only increase, not decrease.

Florentino had dominated the world of football and rarely met his match. His philosophy was that as long as he had money, there was nothing that he, Pérez, couldn't buy. Unfortunately, this time, he was going to hit a brick wall.

"You definitely won't go, right?" Sophie stared at Zhang Jun with her bright eyes.

Zhang Jun smiled, "Of course not. I'm doing great in Florence. I'm the captain, the core player, and I have a great relationship with my teammates and coaches. And most importantly, Ren Yudi is here. How could I possibly go anywhere else? Not to mention Real Madrid, I wouldn't go to any club in the world."

Sophie seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, "That's good. I really like the city of Florence."

Zhang Jun affectionately lowered his head and pressed his forehead against Sophie's cheek, "I know, that's why I chose this place. I knew you would fall in love with Florence..."

※※※

Hua Fang bluntly rejected Florentino's suggestion. She told him that Zhang Jun was very happy in Florence and satisfied with the current situation, and didn't want to go anywhere.

"That's a pity, but I still won't give up. Zhang is a great player, and he can only become a true superstar by coming to Real Madrid."

Florentino indeed did not give up.

The next day, on the day Fiorentina played in the domestic league, the Spanish newspaper *Marca* broke a piece of news:

Real Madrid intends to acquire Fiorentina's popular forward Zhang Jun! After losing to Fiorentina in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16, Florentino praised Zhang Jun's performance. He said Zhang Jun could become the next Ronaldo, and that Zhang Jun was a player who could change the outcome of a match on his own. Raul also praised Zhang Jun, saying that it would be great to partner with Zhang Jun. Robinho also believed that Zhang Jun's arrival would greatly enhance their combat effectiveness, so that they could completely crush Barcelona in the country...

The entire news report didn't explicitly say that Real Madrid wanted to acquire Zhang Jun, nor did it mention any contact between Real Madrid officials and Zhang Jun's agent, but the strong sense of "I want you" was something everyone could feel between the lines.

Originally, Zhang Jun didn't know about it. Li Yan had known about it for a long time, but considering that the league was about to start, every league match was very important for Fiorentina, who was determined to win the championship.

But before the match, when Fiorentina's bus arrived at the Stadio Artemio Franchi, an Italian reporter eagerly asked Zhang Jun, "Excuse me... have you had any private contact with Real Madrid? There are rumors in Spain that you are going to Real Madrid."

Zhang Jun stopped in his tracks and stared at the Italian reporter who asked the question. "Where did you get this information?"

"The original article in the Spanish newspaper *Marca*. Many Italian media outlets have quoted it."

Zhang Jun thought for a moment, then said to the reporter, "I can't tell you anything about this matter right now. But you must believe that I will not go to Real Madrid, never."

Then, he left the stunned reporter behind and strode into the locker room.

Zhang Jun knew that all of this was the work of that businessman Florentino. He wanted to create public opinion, make the false seem true, so that he and Fiorentina's management would misunderstand each other, then break off the relationship, and finally join his team… A very good plan. He had always done this. But this time, Florentino miscalculated his relationship with Fiorentina's "management."

His relationship with Ren Yudi couldn't be ruined by just the media; that would be a ghost story.

Zhang Jun entered the locker room with a heavy heart. He didn't even hear Xiang Tao greet him, and walked straight past Xiang Tao, leaving Xiang Tao very embarrassed.

"What's wrong with that kid?" Xiang Tao asked Krøldrup.

Krøldrup shrugged and said nothing.

Zhang Jun put down his backpack and took out his phone. He had to call Li Yan to confirm. If this matter wasn't resolved now, he would definitely be distracted during the match later.

Li Yan answered Zhang Jun's call in the noisy stands. "Hello? Zhang Jun? What's the matter?"

"Do you know about the reports in Spain?" Zhang Jun asked.

"Huh? What are you saying? I can't hear you clearly!" Li Yan shouted, he really couldn't hear. The Fiorentina fans were singing right now, there was no way he could hear what Zhang Jun was saying.

"I said, do you know about the things in Spain?!" Zhang Jun also shouted, startling the teammates next to him.

"What are you saying? Louder! I can't hear you!"

"Damn..." Zhang Jun took a deep breath and held the phone up to his mouth, "Go find a quiet place!!!"

This time, the teammates all covered their ears and looked at Zhang Jun in confusion.

Zhang Jun smiled apologetically at them. He spoke in Chinese, so his teammates basically didn't understand. They must have thought he was angry with someone. Realizing that this was a bad influence, he quickly moved to the bathroom inside.

This time, Li Yan heard clearly. He quickly ran down the press box and entered the lobby.

"It's much quieter now, what's the matter?"

"Well, do you know about the things in Spain?"

"What things?" Li Yan certainly knew, but he was playing dumb. He didn't want to affect Zhang Jun's mood for the match at this time.

"Damn! Stop pretending, I know everything. Tell me everything, what's going on?"

"..." Li Yan was silent for a while before saying, "Well, it's like this. After you rejected Real Madrid, *Marca* immediately published a news story on the front page, saying that Real Madrid was interested in you, and you might be going to the Bernabéu. Because they connected the facts, their statements were reasonable and well-founded, so many Italian and Chinese media outlets believed it and reposted it everywhere. I didn't want to disturb your match, so I didn't tell you. Where did you hear it from?"

"An Italian reporter told me before coming here. He asked me if I was going to Real Madrid, and that's how I found out about the things in Spain. Like this… you take on the identity of a reporter who has the closest relationship with me, and send out an article… just say that I definitely won't go to Real Madrid, not just Real Madrid, I won't consider offers from other clubs, I'm very happy and satisfied in Florence, everything here is great… In short, you can make up anything about my happy life here. After writing, send it to Corvino, let him publish it in *La Gazzetta dello Sport*, anyway, we can't let public opinion think I'm leaving."

"Okay, okay. Is that all?"

"Well, let me think… that's about it, hehe." After taking care of this matter, Zhang Jun smiled. He wasn't angry just now. Actually, from another perspective, being favored by a giant like Real Madrid was proof of his ability, right? "Want me to go to Real Madrid? Unless Florentino grew up with me since childhood (special thanks to book friend 'Jiaojun,' this sentence is his original creation, I took it here to use, because it really deeply touched my heart)..." he murmured.

Li Yan also smiled. He thought Zhang Jun was just joking with that last sentence.

Back in the locker room, Zhang Jun found that everyone was looking at him strangely. It must be because of his performance just now.

"Okay, stop looking at me like that..." Zhang Jun smiled, "I just made a phone call to a friend. We must win the away game against Real Madrid next week, everyone! If we win, we can get into the quarterfinals!" Zhang Jun suddenly shouted, while in reality, they were about to face their league opponent.

※※※

In this league match, Zhang Jun didn't show any of the maladjustment or distraction that Li Yan had initially expected.

Fiorentina's morale was greatly boosted after defeating Real Madrid at home. In this league match, they also fought quickly and decisively, easily defeating Palermo, who were ranked in the middle of the table, 3-0 in their own stadium. Zhang Jun scored another goal, bringing his goal count to twenty, and he had been in first place on the scorer's list for four rounds now, getting closer and closer to his vow to surpass thirty goals again.

Many media outlets said that if there were no accidents, the top scorer of this season would still be Zhang Jun. The only suspense was whether he could surpass thirty goals again.

Fiorentina, who won four consecutive league matches, were now ranked third, having squeezed out Inter Milan, who were ranked fourth. Their goal was to surpass Juventus, who were ranked second, and compete with AC Milan for the top spot.

The next day after the match, alongside the reports of Fiorentina achieving a four-game winning streak in the league was Zhang Jun's acceptance of an interview with "the reporter who has the closest relationship with him," stating that he was very grateful to Real Madrid for thinking highly of him, but he didn't want to go anywhere now, he just wanted to stay in Florence.

But some media outlets saw it this way: Zhang Jun was playing hard to get. On the surface, he was giving everyone the attitude that he didn't want to leave, but in reality, he was secretly contacting Real Madrid. Moreover, Real Madrid's consistent method of poaching players was like this. Before the person they wanted to buy officially wore the white jersey, they never said they wanted to buy anyone.

On the other hand, the wealthy Chelsea also got involved. They had almost gotten Zhang Jun a long time ago. Seeing that Real Madrid had made a move, how could they be content to lag behind? Naturally, they came with piles and piles of pounds to seek to buy Zhang Jun from Florence.

In addition to these two clubs, the media seemed to think it wasn't chaotic enough, and successively revealed that Manchester United, Arsenal, Barcelona, Juventus... and other giant teams were vying to buy Zhang Jun, as if Fiorentina and Zhang Jun's fate was already over.

Ren Yudi laughed loudly with Zhang Jun on the phone: "What you said is very interesting, Zhang Jun. 'If you want me to go to Real Madrid, Mr. Florentino might need to have grown up with me since childhood,' that was really well said, haha!"

"Ah? That guy Li Yan wrote all that in... haha, but it's nothing, anyway, he just thought I was joking."

"Well, although we all know that you won't leave, but in order to appease those fans, and to give those troublemaking media outlets a bit of color, I'm going to give you a title. As the saying goes, 'If the name is not correct, the words will not ring true.' If the club doesn't express its position, it will only let those idiots talk nonsense."

"What title?"

"Hehe, you'll find out in a while." Ren Yudi said mysteriously, unwilling to let Zhang Jun know in advance. "Don't refuse when the time comes, haha!"

The next day, Fiorentina officially released an announcement, stating that Zhang Jun was a "non-selling item" of the club, and they wouldn't sell him no matter how much money was offered.

Then, Ren Yudi notified Hua Fang to discuss a contract renewal. In this new contract, Zhang Jun's relationship with Fiorentina was extended to 2015. Zhang Jun would be thirty-three years old at that time, which was equivalent to a lifetime contract. The annual salary after tax was the highest in Fiorentina, seven million euros—just one million euros higher than what Florentino offered. In addition, there was an annual loyalty bonus of four million. Not counting those non-fixed appearance bonuses and goal bonuses, Zhang Jun could earn at least fifteen million euros every year. He became the player with the highest salary and bonus in the entire world of football. And the penalty for breach of contract was as high as 280 million euros! Ren Yudi really went all out.

When this contract was announced, public opinion was in an uproar. They finally saw Fiorentina's determination to keep Zhang Jun. Corvino wrote in the report: "Fiorentina is simply sparing no expense and using any means to keep their new standard-bearer. This lifetime contract allows Zhang Jun to dedicate almost his entire career to Fiorentina. And Fiorentina's fans are cheering for the club's decision."

Faced with this unique contract in the world, Hua Fang basically had no room for bargaining. Ren Yudi completely "killed" her as soon as he came up, shutting her up. Hua Fang felt a deep sense of frustration when facing this young man—her role as an agent was just for show.

But she couldn't refuse, because in pursuit of profit, no contract in the world had such great benefits. In pursuit of emotions, Zhang Jun would definitely sign it without saying a word.

Zhang Jun held the Parker gold pen, looked at the contract in front of him, and then looked up at Jarolim, who had a smiling face, and thought of Ren Yudi, who controlled everything in his villa.

Is this the title you were talking about? Yudi… can I refuse?

He smiled and shook his head, then signed his name on the contract with the pen.

This gold pen was given to him by Mr. Li, who was their temporary agent and translator when he just became a professional player. Now, all the way here, signing so many contracts, Zhang Jun himself didn't expect it. It can be said that this pen witnessed his career from another perspective.

But… this should be the last time I use this pen to sign this kind of contract, right? Thirty-three years old, 2015, I should be retiring by then, such a distant future.

Just hand over his future to Ren Yudi and Fiorentina, no matter what happens.

※※※

Zhang Jun, who signed a huge contract, said for the first time in an interview with reporters that he hoped to retire in Florence, which made the Fiorentina fans very excited. They already considered Zhang Jun to be another iconic figure of Florence after Batistuta, and planned to erect a life-size bronze statue of Zhang Jun outside the Artemio Franchi Stadium, as usual.

And when this news spread around the world, all the rumors about his transfer disappeared without a trace, and even Florentino had no choice. If he insisted on buying Zhang Jun, then he would have to pay a penalty of 280 million euros first, a price that Real Madrid couldn't afford and didn't want to afford.

After finishing the league match, Zhang Jun, who had signed a new contract, was about to face an important Champions League match. They would go to Madrid, Spain, to challenge Real Madrid on their home field. This match was related to whether they could go further in the Champions League.

"We must defeat Real Madrid! Defeat them on their home field!" This was not the madman Sabato's nonsense, but what Zhang Jun said to the reporters before boarding the plane, and what the entire Fiorentina team wanted to say.

Sabato, on the other hand, was uncharacteristically silent about the upcoming match. Because this match was too important, he didn't have the leisure to engage in verbal battles with the people of Real Madrid.

Fiorentina only won Real Madrid by one goal at home, which made their away match very dangerous. He thought about how to play this match all the way from Florence to Madrid. Should they use the defensive counterattack that was representative of Italy, or play the Spanish style of offense?

Defensive counterattack was safer, but who could guarantee that they could defend against Real Madrid's attack for ninety minutes without losing a goal?

Sabato shook his head, thinking. He couldn't guarantee it, and the players certainly couldn't guarantee it either.

Attack? Counterattack against Real Madrid? Hmm... counterattacking against Real Madrid on Real Madrid's home field, that was a crazy idea.

Sabato touched his chin, seemingly a little tempted. His heart was originally filled with all kinds of crazy ideas.

He turned his head to look at the players on the surrounding seats, each doing their own thing, and suddenly grinned. He knew what to do.

※※※

Fiorentina arrived in Madrid one day in advance. After putting their luggage in the hotel, the entire team hurried to adapt to the venue.

Zhang Jun was no stranger to the Bernabéu, and neither were the other two Chinese players. And Joaquin was even more familiar with it. He even knew where the public restroom was in the Bernabéu.

Compared to the Bernabéu, a giant stadium that could accommodate more than 80,000 people, the Artemio Franchi Stadium, which could only accommodate more than 30,000 people, was just a small dot.

Gamberini stood in the center of the stadium, looked up at the high stands, and smacked his lips: "Can the people sitting on the top see us playing?"

The training to adapt to the venue was very simple. It was just warming up, doing a set of set-piece drills, and then playing a twenty-minute practice match. After doing these things, Sabato let the entire team go to get used to the locker room.

The Fiorentina players were even more amazed by Real Madrid's giant-level locker room after entering the locker room.

Even the bathroom had a circular artificial "fountain." Sitting on the edge of the pool, one could feel the bubbles spraying from below.

Sabato had to interrupt the players' interest in visiting in a loud voice. He was going to arrange the tactics for tomorrow's match.

"I don't think I need to introduce it again. The media has been hyping it up these days, and you must all know what the current situation is. Tomorrow's match is very important to us. We only lead Real Madrid by one goal." Sabato stretched out the index finger of his right hand and shook it. "This advantage can be ignored. You treat this match as if it's 0:0, oh... no! Treat it as if we are one goal behind."

Hearing him say this, the players below looked at each other, not knowing what Sabato was up to.

Sabato was very satisfied with the players' performance. He smiled slyly: "Because... we are going to counterattack against Real Madrid tomorrow."

Everyone was stunned!

Counterattacking against Real Madrid at the Bernabéu? There weren't many teams in the world that had the guts to do that!

※※※

The next day, it was still this locker room. Sabato was shouting madly at his men like a madman: "You must remember! We are now one goal behind! One goal behind! If we don't attack with all our strength, we are doomed! Only attack, attack, and attack again! Only by breaking through Real Madrid's goal can we have hope of advancing! You must think like this! We can't defend to the death, we only have one way: to attack! Anyone who dares to block our attack... will be killed!"

Sabato was now like a witch doctor from Africa and South America, using mental suggestion on his players, hypnotizing his team, so that they truly believed in their hearts that they were now one goal behind, and then had to attack to win.

Zhang Jun thought that it was no wonder that the locker rooms of professional teams were a restricted area for the outside world. Fiorentina's was probably even more so. Otherwise, if outsiders saw this scene, they would probably be scared to death, and would think that Fiorentina had hired a mental patient to coach them.

Xiang Tao was very used to Sabato's mental-illness-like performance. He jumped up and howled like Sabato: "Yes! Use the attack to beat Real Madrid down! Beat them so hard that they will have to go around us when they see us in the future! Isn't it just comparing the number of goals? What a big deal! Florence has never been afraid of anyone!!"

Sabato applauded Xiang Tao like an enthusiastic audience: "That's great! You should learn from Xiang Tao, show some momentum! Krøldrup! Why are you covering your face?"

Zhang Jun, who was sitting next to Krøldrup, heard Krøldrup mutter while covering his face: "Too embarrassing..."

He couldn't help but laugh. The tense atmosphere had been disrupted by Sabato and Xiang Tao.

※※※

The atmosphere at the Bernabéu was warm and enthusiastic. For the away team, such high stands coupled with the deafening roar, it felt like the high stands would crush you at any time, creating a lot of pressure.

But today's Fiorentina didn't feel too much pressure. Their pressure had been resolved by Sabato and Xiang Tao's clownish performances. They only wanted to laugh when they thought of the two people's expressions. They would never think of pressure or tension.

During the pre-match handshake and exchange of team flags, Zhang Jun saw Raul's smile again, but he understood that as soon as the whistle sounded, this smile would turn into endless fighting spirit and become his enemy. He couldn't be careless in the slightest.

In this match, Luxemburgo made a change, allowing striker Ronaldo, who was a substitute in the previous match, to start, obviously wanting to score more goals. Because Ronaldo's finishing was more accurate and efficient than Robinho's, and he was more experienced in such a life-and-death battle.

Actually, Sabato's words should be put in Real Madrid's locker room, because they were the ones who were really one goal behind, and had no choice but to attack. So, when the referee blew the whistle to start the match, Real Madrid relied on the advantage of the kickoff to launch a blitz-like attack on Fiorentina's goal.

Everyone thought that Fiorentina would choose to defend to the death at the start, and then look for opportunities.

But unexpectedly, Fiorentina had no intention of defending to the death. Even when Real Madrid was attacking in their half, Zhang Jun, Krøldrup, and Van Persie were still staying in the frontcourt.

After Real Madrid's first wave of attacks passed, it was Fiorentina's turn to attack.

Frey kicked the ball forward to the frontcourt. Krøldrup in the center was tall, but he was not good at heading the ball. So he didn't run to the landing point. This ball was Zhang Jun's responsibility to head back.

Zhang Jun and Pablo Garcia of the opponent jumped at the same time, but he was a little higher than Garcia, winning the header, and at the same time flicking the ball to Krøldrup.

The rest of the work was left to Krøldrup. He turned and ran forward.

Garcia pounced on Krøldrup, who protected the ball in front of him and continued to dribble. Garcia pushed and pulled from behind, trying to stop Krøldrup from breaking through. But no matter how hard he tried, Krøldrup wouldn't fall, just like a tumbler. He pushed forward, Krøldrup's body lunged forward, and the ball was still at his feet; he pulled backward hard, Krøldrup's body leaned on Garcia himself, and the ball was still at his feet.

Getting anxious, Garcia simply tackled him, but Krøldrup gently touched the ball to the side, and he missed again.

After getting rid of Garcia, Krøldrup continued to dribble the ball. This time it was Guti who came up to defend him. Guti was not so polite, and crashed directly into him. He hoped to knock Krøldrup away and intercept the ball.

But the moment Guti crashed into him, Krøldrup jumped to the side, dodging him, and the ball continued to roll forward. Krøldrup jumped away and immediately cut across again, blocking Guti behind him again. Guti couldn't do anything to him.

This time it was Ramos who came up. He tackled quickly, but Krøldrup just gently picked up the ball, and it crossed over Ramos. But this time his footsteps were messed up. He had been hit by three people in a row, so it would be strange if he wasn't messed up.

"This is a good opportunity! Intercept him!" Guti shouted. Garcia chased up again, and he grabbed Krøldrup from behind, preventing him from continuing to break through.

Krøldrup staggered and poked the ball forward...

Everyone's attention had been firmly attracted by Krøldrup just now, and no one noticed Joaquin's high-speed follow-up, so when Krøldrup unexpectedly poked the ball to Joaquin, there was an exclamation at the Bernabéu.

Joaquin was an old acquaintance of the Bernabéu. He had been very close to Real Madrid for a while. So the Bernabéu fans knew how powerful this No. 7 from Fiorentina was.

Krøldrup's pass was very clever, because he didn't pass it directly to Joaquin's feet, but to his front, so that he could take the ball directly without slowing down. For a very fast winger, there was no more comfortable pass than this.

Raúl Bravo turned to force Joaquin back. He just needed to force the fast Joaquin, who couldn't slow down, out of the baseline, and he would be victorious.

But Joaquin didn't intend to continue breaking through. He directly passed the ball to the inside of the penalty area, the gap behind Raúl Bravo!

Van Persie suddenly appeared there, Woodgate hurriedly pounced on him, and Casillas quickly moved to the near corner, preparing to block Van Persie's shooting angle.

They seemed to have forgotten someone...

Van Persie didn't shoot, but suddenly flicked the ball horizontally to the center with his right foot, and a purple figure flashed by.

"Zhang Jun shoots!"

Casillas wanted to pounce back, but it was already impossible. He watched helplessly as the ball hit the inside of the far post and then bounced into the goal...

Cicinho fell behind Zhang Jun. He had wanted to stretch his foot out to tackle in advance, but he was still one step late. He looked painfully at the ball on the ground. Why didn't he think of Zhang Jun earlier?

The coach had clearly said before the match that he should pay special attention to Zhang Jun... It was all that Krøldrup's fault. Everyone's attention was attracted by him. A person's staggering breakthrough actually disrupted Real Madrid's entire defense!

Zhang Jun excitedly rushed to the corner flag. He actually learned Batistuta's signature move, holding the corner flag and standing there, surveying the entire Bernabéu.

"goooooooooooooAL!! The ball went in!! Real Madrid has widened the score to 3:1! And more importantly, they also have an away goal! Scoring so quickly, the match has only started for seven minutes. This is probably something that many people didn't expect before the match! Fiorentina has shown their powerful offensive firepower on Real Madrid's home field! Instantly changing the direction of this match!"

The entire Bernabéu was silent. This blow was too heavy. For Real Madrid, who were already one goal behind, it was not just a simple widening of the score gap. Fiorentina's away goal meant that if they wanted to eliminate Fiorentina, even if the opponent didn't score any more goals in the subsequent matches, they would still have to score at least three goals.

Although it was not uncommon for one side to score three or even more goals in a match, it was a completely different matter from thinking "We must score three or more goals, and we can't let the opponent score another goal."

Sabato jumped up from his seat at the same time that Zhang Jun shot the ball into Real Madrid's goal, as if there were nails on the leather chair.

He raised his arms high, cheering loudly like a fanatical fan, without the calm demeanor of a head coach.

"That's right! That's it! Attack! Score goals! Beat them down!! Oh yeah—!"

※※※

In Florence's big and small taverns, people gathered together to watch this match through pay-per-view TV. Because it was related to whether Florence could go further in the Champions League, every goal on the field would affect their nerves.

When they saw Zhang Jun score the leading goal after only seven minutes of the start, everyone jumped up.

"Cheers! To Zhang Jun! To Florence!"

This sound and the commentary sound coming from the TV were a perfect match: "Let us cheer for Zhang Jun! He is omnipotent!!"