From the man behind the football king to the football king.

On May 5, the Ukrainian capital of Kiev officially entered the Champions League final mode.

Manchester United players were waiting in the hotel lobby. Some were chatting, some were listening to music with headphones, and some had serious expressions and said nothing.

Only Bruno, Kante, Cancelo, Maguire and Mata from Manchester United have played in the Champions League final, and they have only played in the Champions League final once, but compared to others, they have experience in the Champions League final.

Young people including Rashford and Mbappe gathered around Bruno, listening to him talk about and introduce his experience in the final.

"Don't be nervous, just treat it as a normal final."

"Psychological tension will affect your movements."

"Also, the most important point is, don't be anxious if you fall behind, and don't be proud if you are ahead." Bruno said seriously.

A group of little brothers nodded vigorously.

At this time, Mourinho came out of the elevator with the coaching staff. He looked around, raised his hand with great momentum, and shouted: "Let's go!"

Immediately, Mourinho and the players rushed out of the hotel, and the flash cameras started flashing.

Under the escort of the Kiev Mounted Police, Manchester United's bus arrived at the Kiev Olympic Stadium.

There were already crowds of people outside the stadium.

Manchester United's arrival caused a wave of enthusiasm, and Manchester United fans cheered and applauded the bus.

Bruno looked out the window and looked inside the car. All the players, including veterans like Kante and Mata who had experience in the Champions League final, had excitement in their eyes.

Bruno took a special look at Ibrahimovic. The 36-year-old Swedish veteran looked eagerly at the outside of the court, just looking, looking...

………………

Arriving at the exclusive parking lot, no one from the Manchester United team accepted media interviews. Mourinho took on all the trouble alone. He was surrounded by reporters and signaled his players to pass quickly and reach the locker room.

After the players from both sides arrived at the stadium, they rested for a while and then were sent out to warm up.

Mourinho was observing the players and found that although these players deliberately pretended to be indifferent, they were actually still a little nervous.

After all, many of them are participating in a competition like the Champions League final for the first time.

Although they have won the domestic league championship and the Europa League before, it is still incomparable to the Champions League.

He thought that instead of letting everyone stay here and daydream, creating a more tense atmosphere, it would be better to let them all warm up and use methods that consume their physical energy to make them forget the tension.

He breathed a sigh of relief after watching the players run out of the locker room one after another and there was no one else inside except him.

It wasn't just the players who were nervous. Wasn't he nervous too?

Although he did enough homework before the game, watching videos, analyzing opponents, writing records, and preparing countermeasures for various possible situations, this did not make him confident.

If he plays this game with the mentality of losing less is winning, maybe he won't feel pressured. But who can have such a mentality at this point?

Who comes to the finals to compete for the runner-up spot?

Who doesn’t want to hold the championship trophy and stand on the highest podium?

Therefore, he was destined to not be able to deal with this game with a calm mind. He believed that Zidane's heart would not be calm either.

In fact, everyone is nervous, it’s just a matter of degree.

He thought a lot about this game. What if we lose the ball in the first few minutes? What if we are ahead in the first few minutes? What if the game ends in a tie? What if we fall behind in the last few minutes? What if we are ahead in the last few minutes? What if we have to go to overtime? What if we have to go to penalty shootouts...

All kinds of thoughts were swirling in his head, and he shook his head hard, as if this could make his mind clearer.

………………

Both sides warmed up for thirty minutes. Because Real Madrid started warming up earlier, they left the field first, and Manchester United also left the field later.

The noise caused by the players warming up gradually died down. The fans also needed a break, and they had to rest their throats because they would have to keep shouting for 90 minutes, or even 120 minutes, or even longer.

In addition, you have to hurry to go to the toilet. Everyone drinks a lot of beer before the game. If you feel the urge to pee during the game, it will be inconvenient.

A major match like the Champions League final is bound to be intense, with exciting scenes happening at any time. It would be a big loss if you missed a great goal because of going to the toilet.

Everyone went to rest and the Kiev Olympic Stadium became a little quieter.

But this silence won't last long.

Everyone entered the locker room, and Mourinho was the last one to come in. After he came in, assistant coach Faria closed the door.

Everyone changed their clothes and looked at the head coach.

They all knew that the head coach had something to say.

………………

Mourinho looked at the players, took a deep breath, and then said solemnly: "For the past two years, including today, it all seems like a dream. We have won two Premier League titles, swept all the English championships in two years, won the Europa League, and now we have reached the Champions League final. To outsiders, we are lucky, but only we ourselves know how much effort we have put in for today!"

Having said that, Mourinho paused and looked at his players. He saw firm belief and strong self-confidence on their faces. The nervous and overly excited expressions were gone.

"Whether it's the starting players or the substitutes, everyone has played their part. We are a whole, and without any one of us we wouldn't be here today. I'm very happy to work with you, it's my honor."

"Jose, it's our honor to play under you!" Ibrahimovic shouted.

His feelings for Mourinho are very deep, which was established when the two worked together at Inter Milan. The only regret is that when Mourinho led Inter Milan to win the treble, Ibrahimovic chose to go to Barcelona.

If it weren't for Mourinho, he wouldn't have chosen to come to Manchester United, nor would he have the experience of participating in the Champions League final today.

This can be regarded as making up for the regrets at Inter Milan.

………………

Mourinho smiled and nodded to Ibrahimovic, then continued: "Real Madrid is a strong opponent. They have won the Champions League for two consecutive years and have participated in the Champions League final four times in the past five years. If we talk about the experience of participating in the Champions League final, no team on the planet can compare with them. It will be a huge challenge for us to beat them."

"But who would make it to the final just to be runner-up? Even if our opponent is the powerful Real Madrid, there is no reason for us to give up early."

"Besides, no matter how powerful they are, they are only eleven people, while we are twelve."

After saying that, he pointed at Bruno.

Everyone laughed.

We have heard this joke many times, but it is particularly effective today. Mourinho once said in an interview that as long as Bruno is on the field, his team will always have one more player than others. So some media said that Manchester United played with twelve players on the field.

When it comes to Bruno, everyone feels at ease.

With him, there are endless possibilities. Who has made the biggest contribution to the journey to the final? No one would choose anyone other than Bruno.

Without Bruno, it is hard to say whether they can win the Premier League or participate in the Champions League.

………………

In the eyes of most Manchester United players, Bruno's arrival has greatly helped the team in improving its strength, but football is, after all, a sport of eleven people. Even if Bruno can play the role of two players, there are still nine players short, so the improvement in strength is not dramatic.

The biggest improvement that Bruno's arrival brought to the team was in terms of spirit and temperament. It was he who gave this down-and-out giant team a "champion's heart". He told everyone not to surrender no matter how powerful the enemy was.

In his first season in the Premier League, when everyone was still satisfied with winning the half-time league championship, he had already declared that he would win the championship that season.

And when they had only played one season in the Champions League, he had already set his sights on the final.

When everyone thought that reaching the Champions League final was a mission accomplished, he said why not try to beat Real Madrid to win the championship?

It is because of such a captain who leads them forward without stopping that they can reach the top.

Seeing that everyone was looking at Bruno, Mourinho said, "Bruno, say a few words."

Bruno did not refuse. He stood up and said loudly: "Everyone knows the significance of this game. If we win, we will be the European champions. If we lose... it will prove that we are vulnerable in front of Real Madrid. We deserve to be looked down upon by the whole world. I feel angry when I think about the treatment we will have to endure if we lose the game!"

He clenched his fists.

"When I was a fan, if my favorite team won, I would go around the world to find news reports about the game the next day just to enjoy the joy. But if the team I supported lost, I would avoid reading the news for several days, because I could guess that the media would always praise the winner to heaven and trample the loser into the mud!"

"I can accept failure, but I can't accept being laughed at by the whole world. Before this game, the whole world thought Real Madrid would win, and the suspense was just a matter of a few goals. If we lose, can you imagine what they will say about us then? I just don't want to think about it!"