Rise of a Football God-Chapter 293: La Liga matchday 2

Ding!

(NEW! Unread message from Coach Hansi Flick!)

As soon as Sam opened his iPhone, he clicked on the message and it opened, revealing its content.

It was the La Liga fixture schedule for matchday 2 of the Spanish league.

(La Liga:)

(Matchday 2 of 38:)

(Real Betis – Leganes)

(Date: 23rd August, 2025)

…

(Mallorca – Villareal)

(Date: 24th August, 2025)

…

(Elche – Alaves)

(Date: 24th August, 2025)

…

(Sevilla – Getafe)

(Date: 24th August, 2025)

…

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(Real Soceidad – Real Madrid)

(Date: 24th August, 2025)

…

(Celta Vigo – Almeria)

(Date: 25th August, 2025)

…

(Girona – Barcelona)

(Date: 25th August, 2025)

…

(Levante – Athletic Club)

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(Date: 25th August, 2025)

…

(Athletico Madrid – Valencia)

(Date: 25th August, 2025)

…

(Rayo Vallecano – Osasuna)

(Date: 25th August, 2025)

Just like the English premier league, the Spanish La Liga employed the same league system of 20 teams competing in a 38-matchday season for the league title.

Last season, FC Barcelona had the last laugh, eclipsing challenges from both Athletico Madrid and Real Madrid to win the title. And this season again, they’ve started their season in strong form having won against Celta Vigo in matchday 1.

Last season, while Barcelona won the title, Real Madrid came 2nd, Atletico Madrid came 3rd, while Athletic Bilbao came 4th, completing the top 4 teams that were to compete in the UEFA champions league.

Villareal and Real Sociedad completed the top 6, making the Europa league and Europa conference leagues respectfully.

While the battle at the top for European places was exciting, the battle below to avoid relegation was also exciting.

And after a grueling 38-matchday season, despite trying their best, 3 clubs who plied their trade in the Spanish top flight last season were forced into relegation.

The 3 unlucky clubs are Las Palmas, Espanyol, and Real Valladolid who all finished at the bottom of the 2024/2025 La Liga table.

In their place for this new season, the top 3 clubs of La Liga 2, Elche, Almeria, and Levante made the promotion to the top flight league of Spain.

"It’s Girona huh?" Sam muttered as he stood up from his bed.

Girona was not exactly a powerhouse of the Spanish La Liga, but they were not to be scoffed at either. Afterall, just 2 seasons ago, they pushed both Real Madrid and FC Barcelona all the way in the title race.

Knowing his club’s next opponents in the league gave Sam some perspective on what he needed to do.

He didn’t think too much about it though. Waking up that morning, he quickly washed his face and brushed his teeth before hitting the streets of Barcelona again.

Thinking of something while he jogged, Sam suddenly picked up his phone.

He searched for his name on his contact list and messaged him on WhatsApp.

(Outgoing message to Lamine Yamal…)

A few days ago, he was added to the FC Barcelona WhatsApp group where he got the contact details of his superstar teammates.

At first, Sam wanted to contact Robert Lewandowski but realizing how far the Polish striker’s mansion was from his own and also the age restraints, Sam restrained himself, choosing to chat up Lamine Yamal instead.

His reason for chatting was simple, he wanted to make a friend in the FC Barcelona squad just like he did in Fulham with Emile Smith Rowe.

Austin’s advise still stuck with him till today.

He knew that to perform at his best, he needed to have a good relationship with his teammates and for that, he needed to start from somewhere.

He wanted to have a jogging partner here in Barcelona.

It didn’t take too long for Lamine Yamal to reply to his message.

(I’m in, but it can’t be today.)

(I’m occupied with something else. What do you think about tomorrow? If its ok with you, let’s start then.)

Seeing the reply, Sam grinned and quickly sent his reply.

(Tomorrow is fine with me.)

That morning, as soon as he completed his daily system quest, Sam quickly reported for training again and this time, he truly dazzled in training, showcasing his ability on a football pitch.

He was still new but his status in the team was already rising, buoyed by the close rapport that he was already building with Lamine Yamal and Robert Lewandowski, 2 big figures in the FC Barcelona squad.

For the next few days, Sam kept on giving his best having established a schedule here in Barcelona already.

Just like in Fulham, his schedule in Barcelona was simple; wake up, complete daily quest, go for team training, come back, train alone, sleep, call girlfriend, sleep, then rinse and repeat.

His life may seem boring but Sam loved his life like this.

That way, he was able to give narrowed focus on his career, focusing all his attention on improving his footballing skills.

It had been working for him for the past 3 seasons of his career and he had no intentions of backsliding now due to finally becoming big.

Sam was a big superstar now, but he didn’t let it get to his head, he kept on training and grinding like an upcoming player.

His teammates noticed this every day in training, his coach also noticed it.

Their respect for him increased with every training session, he had an elite mentality that was made for the very top.

This was why a few days later when Hansi Flick, FC Barcelona’s head coach finally released his starting XI for the FC Barcelona game, Sam’s name was included.

It was his debut game but the German coach trusted hm enough to push him into the deep end, starting him from the onset in his first game for the Catalan club.

Was it a clever decision or a rash one?

No one knew, the true answer would only be discovered by the end of the game when the outcome of the game was finalized.

Sam didn’t care about what others thought about him though.

He was not new to this, he just had to seize his moment.

Having fought for places in Enyimba FC and then Fulham already, Sam had no intentions of wasting this opportunity that was granted to him.

He was ready to ’Lose Himself’!