The strongest winger

Chapter 224 European Super Cup

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"As the current Liverpool coach Benitez who led Valencia on the right track in the new century, this European Super Cup is full of unusual significance. This is a European king of kings battle, and it is also a direct dialogue between the former and the current one. Is Benitez old and strong or the new coach Flores who makes people shine? Let us focus on the European king of kings in three days' time..."

"French Football" text said.

"According to our reporter's follow-up report, Valencia's hopeful star Ai did not participate in the team's training, but followed their team doctor Hernandez to resume training, and the team doctor's brows were still frowning from time to time, so I suspect that what Flores said after the second round of the third qualifying round of the Champions League was just posturing. If there is no accident, Valencia's winger Ai should not appear in the UEFA Super Cup..."

"And these are all well-founded. After all, the local newspapers in Valencia previously broke the news that the civil strife in Valencia was caused by Kluivert's flying shovel against Ai during training, so...we have every reason to believe that he must have suffered serious injuries..."

From the European football page of L'Equipe.

Rafael Benitez’s gaze finally stayed on the European football page of L’Equipe in his hand. His brows were tightly furrowed, as if he was thinking about whether the things reported in the newspaper were correct. If the facts were as they were said by L’Equipe, this would greatly increase Liverpool’s hope of being crowned the best of Europe, but if this is not the case, then…

Thinking of this, it is very difficult for him to deal with.

If the news is reliable, Benitez can remove Finnan, a player who specializes in defending Ai Luo, and replace him with a stronger attacking Pangler, but if the news is not reliable, he can only play steadily.

But obviously the previous choice is better, because Liverpool just finished a UEFA Champions League third-round qualifying match from Switzerland, and their physical condition is definitely not as good as Valencia, who is waiting for work.

So the offense made Benitez even more tempted. In addition to counting the European Super Cup, this is already Liverpool's fourth game in these ten days. The physical condition does not allow the team to play overtime, otherwise it will definitely become Valencia's big meal!
In the end, after Benitez considered it for a long time, he still decided to be dubious. After all, Ai Luo was indeed replaced due to physical reasons, and he did not train with the team in the past two days. From this, it can be seen... 80.00% of the opponent is really injured.

So, Benitez sent his assistant to the nearby training ground to investigate the enemy's situation.

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Valencia's players didn't seem to be very emotional in the training ground, as if the team's winger Ai Luo missed the UEFA Super Cup game due to injury, as the outside world spread.

Flores on the field is nervously arranging the tactics on the field, and the players are also rigorously completing the tactics assigned by the head coach under the tense atmosphere.

After the training that day, because Ai Luo did not appear on the training ground from the beginning to the end, this caused the reporters waiting outside the training ground to wonder for a while, so after the training, Flores was surrounded by a swarm of reporters.

If you look carefully, there are not a few Chinese journalists.

"Why didn't Ai Luo appear on the training ground? Could it be that he was really injured??"

The reporter with the "Big Football" reporter card asked anxiously.

Flores heard the sound, and saw a yellow-skinned, black-haired man with unusual facial features, so his attitude improved, and he pretended to smile and said, "Ai is really fine, it's just that he is in poor health, and it's not a serious problem."

boom!
For a moment, the media from China were all at a loss. Is this... not in good health?So they once again thought that Ai Luo was replaced. Could it be that he was really injured?

The other reporters present were not fools either, and then they also thought of the possibility of Ai Luo being injured, so they asked before the Chinese reporters.

"Excuse me, is the injury serious?"

Flores did not satisfy the curiosity of these reporters, but his face sank, "No comment!"

This... seems to be really hurt!

Then these reporters still felt a little strange, so they found another way, and they quickly interviewed Valencia's new aid David Villa.

"I believe there is nothing wrong with Ai. He will definitely be able to catch up in the game the day after tomorrow, um! He will definitely be able to!!"

The expression of David Villa's speech ranged from sadness to joy, and then to regret, and his whole performance was as if the movie king was reborn.

These reporters instantly went from believing 80% before to [-]% now.

At the same time, Aye Strong, the assistant sent by Benitez to scout the enemy, also confirmed that Valencia's main winger Aiello will miss the UEFA Super Cup two days later due to injury.

Because Benitez also learned through the Internet that the sensational civil strife in Valencia ten days ago also mentioned the conflict caused by Kluivert's shoveling behind Aiello.

Therefore, Benitez arranged for the last two days of training to mainly focus on attacking and playing, and strive to decide the winner within 10 minutes.

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It was not until before the game that the mainstream media in Europe focused on Benitez and Flores, the past and present coaches. They were overwhelmed with various questions, but fortunately, both of them answered tacitly and avoided the important ones.

So the topic went smoothly from the relationship between the two of them with Valencia to the European Super Cup in the evening.

……

……

It seemed that everything was as expected by Benitez. Even the pre-match warm-up Ai Luo did not enter the Louis II stadium, so he was more sure that Ai Luo did miss the game due to injury.

But at the same time.

Valencia dressing room

Ai Luo is actively doing various warm-up exercises, such as: thigh muscle exercises, tendon flexibility exercises, knee press exercises and other warm-up exercises.

In order to get more physical activity, he ran around the locker room for ten minutes.

……

……

"Haha, I have really wronged you these few days!"

After Flores entered the locker room with his assistant Paul, he smiled at Ai Luo.

Ai Luo grinned and waved his hand, indicating that it was nothing.

Subsequently, more and more teammates entered the locker room.

"I believe Rafael will be surprised when he receives the official starting lineup submitted to UEFA...haha"

Flores smiled at the thought.

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The fact is just as Flores expected, when Benitez took over the Valencia main lineup obtained by Ayestrom, his face changed suddenly, because Aiello's name is prominently listed in Valencia's starting list!

Only then did he realize that he had been fooled!
However, UEFA stipulates that the submitted starting lineup cannot be changed unless there are special circumstances, such as a sudden injury to the starting lineup and the ability to change personnel. However, in order to prevent individual clubs from exploiting loopholes in the rules, the replaced starting lineup cannot be included in the substitute list for the next game, which means that the replaced player will miss the game.

In order to avoid unnecessary losses, Benitez can only play according to the pre-match arrangement, but... In terms of the team's tactics, he specifically asked Harvey Alonso and Harman to be more responsible for supplementary defense on the side, because Ai Luo's ability to attack and cut inside is too strong, making it impossible to defend against!

At the same time, the commentators from various countries in the studio of the Louis II Stadium were also taken aback when they received the starting lineups of the two sides officially provided by UEFA.

"OH-MY-GOD! It turns out that all the news before the game is a smoke bomb released by Flores!!"

At this time, the narrator in the studio began to realize.

"Friends in the audience, now I have a good news to tell the fans sitting here. Judging from the starting lineup I got, Ai Luo, who lacked team training due to injury two days ago, is not a big problem, because his name is listed in this starting list in my hand!"

Huang Jianxiang, who is in charge of the Champions League commentary, said excitedly.

"I have to say that Valencia's new head coach Flores is not simple. Taking advantage of everyone's focus on the team's internal strife, and then taking advantage of Ai's false head replaced in the midfield in the second round of the third qualifying round of the Champions League, everyone once thought that Valencia's top scorer last season, Ai, would miss this European match.

Andy Gray, the ace commentator of Sky TV, explained, but from his tone, he could hear a little anger.

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Less than 3 minutes into the match between the two sides, Aiello was knocked down by Harman and Harvey Alonso consecutively, and the referee only whistled an ordinary foul without even receiving a warning.

This made Ai Luo very speechless.

Although Flores stood on the sidelines and protested loudly, he did not get actual results, and he also received a warning from the fourth official before quieting down.

Liverpool deserves to be the champion of the UEFA Champions League last season, and their style of play is very mature. Although this team is still the second year of taking over by Benitez, his ability to control is indeed unquestionable, and the team's big-name stars have obeyed his arrangements.

From this point of view, Benitez has blown Flores a few streets!

From the first few minutes, Ai Luo saw Liverpool's mentality of preventing him from killing him, and strengthened the connection with Aimar and Albelda in the midfield, and did not make a breakthrough blindly.

After strengthening the cooperation with teammates in the middle, Harvey Alonso and Harman seemed a little at a loss, because when they stepped forward, Aiello had already passed the ball. If they insisted on making a foul call, then the referee must not be a vegetarian. UEFA has strengthened the penalty for fouls by defensive players against players without a team this season.

So in the 8th minute, Aiello suddenly started when he was [-] yards away from the goal. Harvey Alonso took the initiative to step forward to defend, but unexpectedly, Aiello just swayed forward.

Instead of stopping the ball, Aimar pushed the ball with his arch and sent the ball to Aiello's forward path. At the same time, Ferrer and Aimar who had passed the ball suddenly started, and Liverpool's entire defense suddenly became tense.

Harman immediately rushed to Ai Luo who received the ball. The latter quickly sent his body forward and got stuck in Haman's forward route, but what he didn't expect was that Harman was not trying to grab the ball, but made a foul.

PS: Hand over your recommendation ticket!

(End of this chapter)