Chapter 177 Battle At The BernabéU! The Life And Death Battle With Real Madrid

In April 2016, the temperature in Madrid gradually climbed. The whole city fell into an anxious atmosphere. Real Madrid was currently only 1 point behind Barcelona, with 6 rounds left in the league, making it still possible to win the championship. They were launching their final sprint toward the Triple Crown.

With a full bench, Real Madrid swept Eibar 4-0. The Bernabéu home game was indeed intimidating. When Union Berlin players arrived in Madrid, they saw the temple of world football fans from a distance on their way from the airport to the hotel by bus.

Many players dreamed of playing here. In his previous life, Su Luo had also dreamed of becoming a professional player and wearing Real Madrid's white jersey. But after becoming a professional player, he found out that a harmonious team locker room was the rarest thing. In a place full of factions like Real Madrid, besides playing football, he had to deal with complicated interpersonal relationships every day. The thought of it made him a little irritable. Especially being teammates with Ronaldo meant the limelight was all his, and the dirty work fell to others.

Su Luo couldn't do it. He didn't hate Ronaldo. In fact, Ronaldo's competitive spirit, top-level professionalism, and constant drive to become stronger were worth learning from for any professional player. But Su Luo was unwilling to be a subordinate. Especially now, the two had become direct rivals. Unless he retired or defeated the peerless twins with an absolutely crushing attitude, the competition between them would inevitably be endless.

"Let's start with this game!" Su Luo thought, looking at the Bernabéu in the distance. He was ready to conquer it!

In the first round, Bayern and Barcelona took the lead in the first half of their game. In the second round, it was Real Madrid and Paris's turn to play first. Currently, there was no obvious advantage among the eight teams. Even Benfica lost to Bayern by only one goal. Wolfsburg even beat Paris 1-0 at home! Since they lost to Manchester United at home in 2009, they had been strong in the Champions League at home!

In the second round, all teams had the possibility of advancing to the semi-finals. Suspense would be maintained until the end.

When the Real Madrid bus arrived at the Bernabéu, Ronaldo, the first to get off the bus, showed confidence in his interview with the media.

"This is the Bernabéu, is there any need to question the outcome? I hope to meet Barcelona in the final!"

Ronaldo hoped to fight Messi at the top of the Forbidden City because he knew that if he met Su Luo in the final, he would be in danger. That guy was a monster!

Sitting in the visiting dressing room at the Bernabéu, the Union Berlin players looked around in admiration. The locker rooms for visiting teams in most stadiums were intentionally rudimentary. Some didn't even have hot water, to disrupt the opponent's mentality and maximize home court advantage. However, the visiting team locker room at the Bernabéu was clean and tidy, even luxurious for Union Berlin players.

Perhaps for wealthy Real Madrid, this decoration was considered quite simple. But for Union Berlin, a team relying on fan support, it was not easy to have such an environment. This strengthened the players' desire to win. Breaking into the semi-finals of the Champions League would mean more bonuses and broadcast shares, helping the team overcome their recent deficit and secure a firm foothold in the Bundesliga.

Su Luo occasionally heard scout Daniel mention that in the summer, there would be a large rotation of buyers, and while the transfer fee was secondary, the main issue was the high salary costs. Coupled with Sane's 32 million and the team's second salary, the club's operations were stretched thin. Even Daniel didn't know how they would survive this summer.

Despite this, the club still took good care of the players, ensuring their travel and accommodation were of the highest standard to maintain their performance. It was said that Mr. Singler, the chief executive of the board of directors, often paid out of his own pocket to help players buy needed supplies and nutrition. Compared to Boss Xu's Yangcheng Hengtai, the club in a foreign country felt like home to Su Luo.

"Listen, the fans outside are quite loud," someone remarked in the locker room.

Even sitting in the locker room, they could clearly hear the noise from the Bernabéu stands. Real Madrid fans were all out today, determined to help their team win the game!

Uncle Hans and the others looked embarrassed as they set out.

"Hans, what do we do? There are too many of them!"

"Doesn't matter. Let's try to be as loud as possible. The rest depends on the boys' performance on the field."

"Anya is still watching the game in the ward. I believe Su Luo won't let her down."

At this time, Anya, far away in Berlin, was indeed lying on the hospital bed, dazed. Recently, her condition had worsened, requiring hospitalization. Chemotherapy made her feel nauseous, and she was quite weak and groggy. But Anya was still thinking about the team.

"Mom, has the game started yet?"

"It's about to start... How about you sleep a bit more? We can watch the replay when you feel better..."

"No, Su Luo said they could make the top four. I want to see this moment."

Anya struggled to sit up, and Mrs. Hans quickly adjusted the hospital bed.

"The Bernabéu isn't as comfortable as our home ground."

Despite her suffering, Anya forced a smile to avoid worrying her mother.

"If only I could score a goal like Su Luo."

Due to her physical condition, the little girl's football dream was shattered early, and she could only dream about it.

"Yes, you will."

Mrs. Hans secretly wiped her tears. Her daughter's strength was inspired by the fighting spirit of Union Berlin. Su Luo had led the team to the Bundesliga, and now they were aiming for the top 4 of the Champions League. This deeply motivated Anya to bravely fight her cancer, believing that there would be a day of victory.

"Come on, Eisern_Union!"

Looking at the Union Berlin players standing in a row, their solemn expressions under the melody of the Champions League, Mrs. Hans silently cheered for the team.

At the same time, tens of thousands of Berlin families and hundreds of millions of Chinese fans were watching this decisive battle!

"You are watching the highlight of the second round of the 2015/16 UEFA Champions League quarter-final brought to you by PP Juli Sports!"

"Real Madrid, the 10-time champions, are at the Bernabéu facing the biggest dark horse of this year's Champions League, Union Berlin!"

"In the first leg, Union Berlin beat Real Madrid 3-1 at home, with Fabianski's low-level mistakes allowing Real Madrid to score an away goal."

"So we see that Union Berlin has made significant adjustments to their lineup for this game!"

"The goalkeeper has been replaced by the more stable youngster, Pickford!"

"What's even more surprising is that Union Berlin has adopted a three-center defender system in this game! This formation has also appeared in previous games and performed very well in the Bundesliga. But today, can they match Real Madrid?"

"Young defender Lima is on the bench due to being targeted, Richards plays right center back, Rudiger is in the center, and Ake is on the left."

"Laxalt and Pavard are playing as wing-backs!"

"Kimmich is still partnered with Keita as a midfielder."

"High center forward Verhorst didn't make the lineup, so Sane, Mahrez, and Su Luo form an offensive trident!"

"Director Zhang, what do you think of Union Berlin's bold changes?"

Zhang Lu had been waiting to speak for a long time. However, the old man was relatively slow in organizing his thoughts, and he still spoke a bit gruffly. The game had already been on for 1 minute, and he was still slowly analyzing.

"Verhorst didn't have a good impact in the last game. His ability to fight and hold the ball is good, but against the world's top defenders, he isn't effective."

"Maybe the Berlin coach thought that if my high center forward can't stand in the penalty area, we might as well play without a striker."

"It seems that Su Luo is positioned behind, with Mahrez and Sane as the double strikers."

"In fact, the three players can appear in any position, making them more flexible in counterattacks."

"With Forsberg absent, the responsibility of making the final pass falls entirely on Su Luo. With his ability, he can indeed handle more tasks."

Zhang Lu's point was clear: Su Luo played well, and the whole team would shine. If Su Luo was off, the team's offense would stall.

"Neuhaus is really daring, willing to bet everything on Su Luo!"

"And Su Luo has the ability to earn that trust!"

"Look at this play!"

Real Madrid had just failed to score on an attack, and Bale's inside shot from the right was hugged by Pickford. Benzema tried to continue pressuring, but Pickford, in front of Benzema, swayed past him with a smooth move, passing the ball to Kimmich.

Union Berlin launched a quick counterattack!

"Hey! He really dares to play!"

Director Zhang was amazed.

"A young English goalkeeper, Pickford, showing no fear!"

Zhan Jun also enjoyed the moment.

Kimmich resisted Toni Kroos's pull and passed to Su Luo immediately. Casemiro originally wanted to intercept, but Su Luo retreated faster. The moment he caught the ball with his back, he swiftly turned around, completing the move fluidly and immediately passing Casemiro!

"Wow, Su Luo's turn! Modric came in just in time and fouled Su Luo!"

"In the second minute of the game, Union Berlin got a free kick in the frontcourt."

"This foul... is quite serious, but the referee has no intention of drawing a card," Zhan Jun remarked, feeling sorry for Su Luo. Although Modric had pulled back, he still kicked Su Luo's ankle firmly. Su Luo clutched his foot and fell to the ground in pain.

"Su..."

Taylor Swift, in the VIP box, did not expect to see such a heart-wrenching scene just after arriving.

"Su, are you alright?"

Modric looked embarrassed and quickly stepped forward to help Su Luo up.

"It's okay, just a bit sore..."

Su Luo could still feel the pain but refused to stop. He was helped up by Modric, and even the Real Madrid fans applauded him. Su Luo was a true fighter!

From this rough tackle by Modric, it was clear that the intensity of this game would be high. With the home crowd's support, Union Berlin might face a tough challenge!

Su Luo was ready to take the free kick from 28 meters out, at a good angle. He could score directly!

"Come on, no matter what, let's score a goal!"

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