Chapter 72 Su Luo Is Hotly Searched, Stick Netizens Want To Compete For The First Brother In Asia?
As for the fifth star, Su Luo didn't expect to unlock it anytime soon. In a match like the one against Bayern, the progress only increased by about 10%. The phantom remained faint and unclear.
Su Luo calmed himself and rested in the illusion, joining Da Luo and the others in a ring-grabbing game. After playing with the stars for a while, he exited the illusion. Once he recovered, Su Luo felt energized, much to Josephine's astonishment.
Su Luo closed his eyes on the dance floor for a few seconds, transforming from exhausted to radiant almost instantly.
"Is the electronic music here really that magical?" Josephine wondered.
Feeling Josephine's embrace, Su Luo felt a surge of energy. He immediately took her hand and led her out.
"Eh? Luo, don't you want to dance?"
"No, let's go home. We can dance alone—in the living room, in the swimming pool, or in the bedroom upstairs..."
"Huh? You mean a different kind of dance?" Josephine blushed.
After the draw with Bayern at home, the entire Bundesliga had to re-evaluate Union Berlin. Beating Schalke 04 might have been considered an upset, and defeating Hamburger SV could be seen as easy, but forcing Bayern Munich to struggle and still not win was a different story. If it weren't for Gotze's controversial dive and the referee's biases, Bayern might have been defeated!
This game proved Union Berlin's true fighting strength. Their defense, although initially problematic, was evolving with each game. After Richards came off the bench, he completely neutralized the active Ribery. Alex remained solid, and his vast experience was invaluable for the defense. Full-backs Trippier and Laxalt showed both defensive solidity and offensive capability. Trippier's crossing abilities were steadily improving, making him an essential part of the team's tactics. Laxalt also controlled the left flank well against Bayern, creating significant trouble with his assists.
Forsberg, a regular starter, could seamlessly transition inside to utilize his organizational skills. The double defensive midfielders, Sabitzer and Naby Keita, combined excellent ball-playing abilities with defensive toughness. In the game against Bayern, they, along with Matuschka, provided enough midfield strength to prevent Bayern from dominating.
Quinin on the right performed admirably, supporting the defense and helping to restrict Bayern's flank attacks. He also pushed forward to aid the attack, showing much more value than Manchester United's overly expensive and ineffective players.
Goalkeeper Fabianski, aside from occasional nervous moments, had the overall ability to rank among the league's best. Glarish, an excellent dribbler and versatile front player, could confuse opponents and perfectly assist Su Luo in scoring.
Union Berlin's lineup might not be luxurious, and their performance was sometimes imperfect. With an average striker, they could only match teams like Leverkusen and Schalke 04. But with Su Luo leading the front line, Union Berlin's fighting power experienced a qualitative leap, making them capable of challenging Bayern Munich!
Union Berlin's second-half performance against Bayern was clear for all to see. Their next opponents—Hannover, Cologne, Borussia, Leverkusen—were already feeling uneasy. Originally, these teams considered Union Berlin an easy win. Now, they feared being the ones defeated!
Looking at the scorer list after three rounds, Su Luo's 9 goals were astonishing. The second place, Robben, had only 2 goals, as did Frankfurt's striker Meyer in third place. Su Luo's three consecutive hat-tricks made him a serious concern for all Bundesliga coaches. Analysts had to dissect Su Luo's game frame by frame, yet the more they analyzed, the more baffled they became. Su Luo's timing and movements were unpredictable!
As a result of being promoted to the Bundesliga, Union Berlin received an additional €30 million in TV dividends. Without major spending on signings, the club decided to raise the players' salaries. Raiola, Su Luo's agent, was negotiating a new contract for him. With Su Luo's record of 9 goals in 3 games, his weekly salary doubled from €15,000 to €43,000, making him the team's top earner. The average salary of other players increased from €8,000 to around €15,000. Though Su Luo's salary was still far from Robben's €105,000, he didn't care much about the money. He didn't want to burden the club, where fans even sold their blood to support the team.
After the match against Bayern, the media occasionally reported that top clubs were eyeing Su Luo. Headlines like "Guardiola Advises Rummenigge to Sign Su Luo at All Costs" and "Florentino: The Bernabeu Welcomes Su Luo" circulated, causing unease among Union fans. Banners pleading for Su Luo to stay appeared outside the training base.
"Sue, please don't go! We need you!" read one banner, leaving Su Luo puzzled. "When did I say I was leaving?"
In the bar at the Iron League Fans Association base, fans discussed the rumors.
"Is he really going to leave next season?"
"It's too early to say! The season has just started."
"But with so many teams after him, can we really keep him?"
Uncle Hans stood up to calm everyone. "Don't worry, Su is a reliable young man. He won't abandon the team until he leads us to achieve our goal."
"What's the goal, relegation?"
"Maybe it's the championship," Uncle Hans joked.
The next day, two days before Union Berlin's match against Hannover, the club announced Su Luo's successful contract renewal, easing fans' worries.
Two days later, at the old forest management office stadium, Su Luo's giant tifo holding a sickle and hammer reappeared in the South Stand. The Hannover players were intimidated by the intense atmosphere and struggled to play.
"Hannover made a mistake in midfield! Union Berlin launches an attack!" the commentator exclaimed.
"Laxalt on the left assists and moves forward, combining with Forsberg!"
"A cross from the bottom! The ball sweeps low into the penalty area!"
"Su Luo charges forward! He breaks past the defender!"
"Beautiful!!! It's a goal!"
"Union Berlin takes the lead 1-0!"
"Su Luo cleverly tapped the ball with his heel, leaving the goalkeeper no chance to react!"
"He has now scored in 4 consecutive games, with 10 goals! He's in incredible form!"
After scoring, Su Luo felt the pressure lift. He had activated his possession at the moment of acceleration, and used Inzaghi's passive movement for the rest of the time. In less than 20 minutes of the first half, he found an opportunity and scored!
Playing against Bayern felt like training with weights; playing against Hannover felt much easier. Union Berlin felt the same way. Facing Hannover, a mid-tier Bundesliga team, shouldn't have been this easy. Yet Union Berlin, leveraging their home advantage, managed to suppress Hannover!
Before the end of the first half, Su Luo made another significant contribution!
"Beautiful! That goal was incredible!!"
"Union Berlin took advantage of a corner kick, driving the ball to the top of the penalty area!"
"Su Luo leaned against the defender, volleyed sideways, and scored a spectacular goal!"
"Union Berlin leads 2-0!"
"The corner was the result of their continuous attacking pressure."
Duan Xuan and the Chinese fans were ecstatic, while Hannover's coach Slomka was despondent.
Was their small goal of earning a point away already out of reach?
No!
They needed to completely neutralize Su Luo, pulling out the sharpest teeth of Union Berlin.
Without him, they would lose their threat, and Hannover might still have a chance to equalize!
During halftime, Hannover made emergency tactical adjustments.
No matter where Su Luo was, he had to be surrounded by at least two players!
If they couldn't tackle him cleanly, they would foul him!
In the second half, the fans could clearly see the game becoming fragmented.
The Hannover players turned savage,
Throwing themselves into tackles and sending players sprawling across the field!
Su Luo was often caught in a double-team,
With specific players sticking to him like glue, never letting go.
Faced with this level of intense marking,
It was difficult for Su Luo to shake off his opponents for a while,
Even with Ronaldo's explosiveness and Haaland's physicality,
He would soon be swarmed again.
But when Su Luo was heavily marked, it opened up more space for his teammates!
He then changed his approach, using his off-the-ball movement to create opportunities.
Hannover's defense was immediately in disarray!
"Union Berlin has the ball in front of the penalty area, Su Luo makes a sudden forward run to the left!"
"There's space on the right! Forsberg sends a direct pass!"
"Quinine!! Unmarked in the penalty area!!"
"There's the goal!!"
"Union Berlin leads by 3 goals!"
Hannover was completely broken.
Slomka slumped on the coach's bench, dazed.
Weren't newly promoted teams supposed to be easy to beat?
Wasn't it said that no Chinese player could play football?
In the fourth round of the Bundesliga, Union Berlin thrashed Hannover 5-0.
Thanks to Hannover's intense marking of Su Luo,
His teammates finally got their chance to shine.
Quinin, Naby Keita, and Grealish, who came off the bench, each scored a goal.
Su Luo's unpredictable movement created many opportunities,
Giving the Hannover defenders a headache!
But Su Luo, despite being heavily marked, could have probably scored 5 goals!
11 goals in 4 rounds,
No one had ever seen such an outrageous striker!
After a 5-goal victory over Hannover, Union Berlin once again shocked the Bundesliga.
3 wins and 1 draw in 4 rounds with 10 points, temporarily ranking first in the Bundesliga!
Bayern Munich also had 3 wins, 1 draw, and 10 points.
But their goal difference was less than Union Berlin, so they could only come in second!
All other teams had lost games!
Borussia Dortmund, Leverkusen, Schalke 04, Wolfsburg, these Bundesliga powerhouses,
Were being crushed by the newly promoted Union Berlin!
This reminded the German media of Hoffenheim in 2008!
Hoffenheim had turned the Bundesliga upside down back then.
Now with Union Berlin, was the Bundesliga about to change again?
Facing this challenge,
After Bayern Munich beat Hamburg 1-0,
Guardiola said solemnly at the press conference:
"Our goal this season remains the treble! Other teams may have their moments, but our depth and quality will show them the real gap!"
"You mentioned Hoffenheim not winning the championship in the 2008-09 season, right?"
"In today's highly capitalized football world, the myth of Kaiserslautern is no longer possible."
Guardiola's tone was firm and unquestionable.
When Su Luo saw him say this on TV, he couldn't help but laugh.
Because just next season, Leicester City would accidentally win the Premier League title,
Creating the "Leicester City Miracle"!
But before that, Su Luo planned to steal their thunder.
He aimed to build his own "Miracle of Union Berlin" before Leicester City's triumph!
As Su Luo shined in the Bundesliga and made waves in Europe,
His popularity in China soared!
Initially, only Bundesliga enthusiasts and dedicated fans noticed him,
Now casual fans, pseudo-fans, and even outsiders began to pay attention to Su Luo!
Right after Union Berlin's match,
#SuLuoHatTrickAgainstBayern
This hashtag rose to third place on the hot search!
The first two were #YaoChengDivorce and the Scottish referendum.
#AlibabaIPO and #LiNaRetirement couldn't surpass Su Luo's popularity!
Su Luo's consistent brilliant performance made him a hot topic,
Until later when #WangFeiThanksFansOutnumbered it.
For avid fans who had seen Su Luo's games,
His comeback against Schalke 04, hat-trick against Bayern, and domination over Hamburg and Hannover!
Su Luo was undoubtedly the best player in every game,
Receiving top ratings post-match!
Su Luo became widely known as "Asia's No. 1 Player" and "Asia's Light"!
For the "Light of Chinese Football," just starting in a top league was an achievement.
Before Su Luo, after the "golden generation," no one had managed this!
Hao Junmin almost made it but lacked a bit of luck and strength.
Su Luo's emergence finally filled the gap of having no Chinese players in top European leagues!
Regarding the "Light of Asia," he had the credentials to challenge the top Asian stars!
The most popular players at the time included Shinji Kagawa, Son Heung-min, Keisuke Honda, Ki Sung-yueng, and Shinji Okazaki;
AC Milan's Keisuke Honda was declining and losing competitiveness.
Shinji Kagawa was Asia's top player two years ago,
But his move to Manchester United saw his form drop.
Currently, the most competitive player was Son Heung-min at Leverkusen.
However, last season, Union Berlin defeated Leverkusen in the second division.
Su Luo shone throughout, while Son Heung-min was mediocre.
It was clear who was better!
Su Luo had become the front-runner for "Asia's No. 1 Player"!
Originally, this was just a topic among fans,
But as Su Luo gained broader attention, more netizens began to hype his status.
Soon it spread to South Korean netizens.
The Koreans were incensed.
"Our Sun Heung-min is the top player, Su Luo is just lucky!"
"Maybe he's on drugs and hasn't been caught yet."
"What good can come from partying every day? Son Heung-min will definitely outperform him this season!"
"Leverkusen will crush them in two rounds!"
Faced with Su Luo's 11 goals in 4 rounds,
South Korean netizens still believed Son Heung-min, who had scored 0 goals, was stronger!
They thought Leverkusen would beat Union Berlin and avenge last season's cup defeat.
That Son Heung-min would outshine Su Luo and reclaim his position as Asia's top player.
Chinese netizens laughed and eagerly awaited the first round of the Bundesliga showdown.
It remained to be seen who would crush whom!
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