I Am Scouted by Real Madrid-Chapter 341 - 26: Boiling with Support

"Is he crazy?"

"Even if he wins a Champions League once in four years."

"Even if he’s still young and can play until he’s 38, that’s just 20 more years."

"At most, he could win 5 Champions League titles!"

...

This statement is actually quite partial to Chen Zhong, as the Champions League title is not so easily won.

The term "Four Major Leagues" is already outdated, but among the current Five Major Leagues, Ligue 1 has only one controversial Champions League title in total.

If Real Madrid wins the Champions League 15 times, it would mean that, apart from La Liga, other leagues in the Five Major Leagues can’t match Real Madrid’s titles.

Barcelona is now seen by many new fans as on par with Real Madrid, but Real Madrid currently has 9 Champions League titles, while Barcelona has only 3, including the 05-06 and 08-09 seasons.

Similarly, in the Premier League, which has a wide fan base with stars like Cantona, Beckham, and C. Ronaldo, Manchester United under Lord Ferguson’s reign established the Red Devils dynasty; excluding the 98-99 and 07-08 seasons, they have only one Champions League title.

And Wenger’s beautiful football "invincible" Arsenal has not won a single Champions League title.

As for others, such as the Bundesliga giant Bayern Munich, counting one title from the 20th century, they only have 4 Champions League titles, and Serie A’s Juventus has only won it twice throughout their long history.

In such comparison, Real Madrid’s 9 Champions League titles, Milan’s 7, and Liverpool’s 5, are enough to show their high value.

Chen Zhong’s boastful claim to bring 7 Champions League titles to his team in his career naturally drew dissatisfaction from other fans.

"Still too young, he dares to say anything!"

"Someone even said he could play for Real Madrid for 20 years, that’s laughable; he’ll be kicked out by the age of 30."

"It’s good for young people to have dreams, but when dreams are too exaggerated, they’re not dreams, they’re delusions."

"I’m gonna remember what he said today, and when he gets kicked out of Real Madrid, I’ll see how many Champions League titles he’s brought them."

This foreshadows that in the coming times, and even when Chen Zhong hasn’t yet brought 7 Champions League titles to Real Madrid, he’ll be constantly haunted by such comments.

This will be a long media war.

In the post-match interview, when reporters asked how he viewed Chen Zhong’s statement, Pellegrini and Leonardo were visibly speechless.

Leonardo opened his mouth, stayed silent for a moment, and finally said, "Young."

And then he sparingly offered no more words.

Pellegrini’s mind was revolving around the idea of ’7 Champions League titles.’

His focus was always on the league, and although he didn’t say it, he internally believed the prospect of winning the Champions League was unrealistic; now Chen Zhong blurts out 7 Champions League titles.

It’s as if his well-acquainted neighbor brags about earning a billion a day and becoming the world’s richest in a year, dumbfounded.

When faced with reporters’ questions, he pondered for a long time and finally came out with, "Um..."

...

In China, besides some professional fans, most people had little reaction to Chen Zhong’s boastful talk; after all, the Champions League takes place every year, winning 7 in 20 years of playing doesn’t seem too hard.

But abroad, where the football atmosphere is strong, it became entirely chaotic.

People debated incessantly, even bringing Chen Zhong’s birth into the discussion, while journalists were eagerly trying to discern the club’s executives’ views on the matter.

Facing such swirling public opinion, Florentino held an unprecedented press conference.

This action was interpreted as showing his "affectionate care" for Chen Zhong.

"Is he holding this to apologize or what?"

"Ah, Chen is evidently very pampered at Real Madrid, Florentino himself came out to back him."

"Such a huge wave of attention, is it just going to dissipate like this? Wonder what he’ll say, whether Chen Zhong will appear..."

...

The external turmoil didn’t much affect Real Madrid’s locker room; the young players at Sports City thought Chen Zhong’s words were too exaggerated but still chose to support him, with some younger ones even becoming fervent fans and expressing supportive statements.

In the locker room, apart from a few players, most of Real Madrid’s members thought the statement was unrealistic but still chose to support him.

Even Negredo and Granero wanted to make supportive statements in the media but were stopped by Chen Zhong.

He didn’t want the turmoil to affect his friends.

Moreover, for him, these controversies couldn’t sway his steadfast heart, and the more others opposed him, the more he TMD wanted to achieve it, and then smash those opinions hard.

Florentino’s involvement was unforeseen for everyone.

Chen Zhong and other players watched the press conference from the locker room, facing a crowd of reporters below, Florentino sat on the platform with composure.

I, Florentino, am old enough and have seen all kinds of big occasions.

This is just a minor ripple, no sweat!

Facing reporters’ questions on Chen Zhong’s "boast," Florentino squinted his eyes, said many words, but Chen Zhong only remembered one phrase: "We are a small club, you can’t compare us to those big clubs." 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Florentino clearly understands media buzz.

Initially, everyone wanted Florentino to explain Chen Zhong’s words, but he directly brought up another topic that fans were aware of but interested in discussing: whether Real Madrid is a small club!

The fans debated fiercely, some purely entertained, others pondering deeper meanings: "Does the old man’s statement imply that we can’t compare to those clubs because we’re the only super club?"

Seeing the shift in media attention, the focus of reports also changed.

Of course, they wouldn’t easily let Chen Zhong go.

They’re like snakes hiding in the grass, waiting each year for the Champions League to arrive, ready to bite Chen Zhong hard.

As long as Chen Zhong hasn’t helped the club win 7 Champions League titles, they can stir this topic every year.

Put another way:

Media: I’m feasting on this buzz for life!

Meanwhile, observing the media shift, Florentino tapped the table and began considering the club’s new manager.

Two candidates were Ancelotti and Mourinho.

Anyway, Pellegrini doesn’t have what it takes to lead Real Madrid.

If Pellegrini becomes Real Madrid’s long-term coach, everything Chen Zhong said would be a mere joke.

╭(╯^╰)╮

My dear, I won’t let what you said become a joke.

Champions League titles, right!

Just right, when you’re past your prime, I’ll retire too.

Let’s go wild together!

Let the entire football world scream for us, go crazy for us, and bang their heads against the wall for us!

Amid the chatter, Real Madrid faced their King’s Cup match, and the media zealously looked under a "magnifying glass" for points of attack.