Fox in the Penalty Area

After returning home with the UEFA Super Cup trophy, Parotti gave the team three days off.

Then regroup on August 15th to start preparing for the new season.

At the same time, they ushered in their last warm-up match on August 18, and played a warm-up match with the Phoenicians who were relegated from La Liga to West Second Division last season.

Parrotti used a completely different lineup and staffing in the first half and the second half of this game, and it is clear that he is still experimenting with tactics.

But the effect is not good.

Hou Lai came off the bench in the second half of the game and failed to score.

The Madrid Pirates were tied 1:1 by the Phoenicians in the away game.

After the last warm-up match before the start of the new season, it's time for the official match.

In the first round of the league this season, the Madrid Pirates, as the defending champion, will face the newly promoted Canary at home.

This game is not what everyone cares about most, or to be more precise, it is not what Chinese fans care about most.

What they care about is what happens after this game-on August 28, UEFA will hold an awards ceremony for the 2028-2029 season's various honors, and at the same time the new season's UEFA Champions League and Europa League group stage draw ceremony.

This time Hu Lai has to go to Frankfurt, Germany, which is the venue for the UEFA Champions League Awards Ceremony and Draw Ceremony.

Whether he can win the European Ballon d'Or will also be announced here.

However, judging from the public opinion reaction before the game, most people are optimistic about him winning.

The odds offered by European bookmakers for Hou Lai to win the Golden Globe all illustrate this point.

※※※

"Of course I am also optimistic about Hu winning the Ballon d'Or. But if you want to win a big sum, of course you can only bet on Meli. After all, his odds are not good. If he wins, he will be unpopular. But... it is more likely to lose it all."

In the lounge area of ​​the Truckers' House, Neil Mullin analyzed for his colleagues.

Since he himself became rich overnight by betting on Holly and Leeds City, and helped Andy Warman win a lot of money, he has become a "legendary figure" among truck drivers.

"So if you don't want to lose money,

Then bet on Hu and win for sure. Just win less. If you want to gamble, bet on Melly. "

"What about you, Neil, who are you betting on?" Someone asked loudly.

"Me? I don't bet on anyone. Whether it's Hu or Meli, it doesn't matter to me." Mullin said.

"I remember, you only care about Leeds, ha!"

"Yes, I only care about Leeds City."

Someone suddenly remembered and asked, "Hey, Neil. Did you buy it when everyone was rumoring that Hu might return to Leeds two months ago?"

"I bought it." Mullin nodded. "I'm buying him back to Leeds City."

"But you know he's not going back to Leeds, right?"

"Yes. I know."

"Then you still buy it?"

"Let's express my attitude. Of course he will definitely not come back."

There was a sigh from the crowd: "Ah..."

Andy Warman stood up and said: "As a Tramed fan, I have to say something for the other 18 teams - Hu should stay in Spain and never come back!"

There was a burst of laughter in the room.

Neil Mullin also laughed, and he didn't care about Warman's statement.

Even if Hu Lai never comes back, that memory will not disappear with it.

※※※

On Saturday, August 25th, the 2029-2030 La Liga season finally kicked off.

The Madrid Pirates host the newly promoted Canary.

This team was promoted through the play-offs as the fourth place in the La Liga.

It stands to reason that it should be easy for the defending champion to play a newly promoted team and still play at home.

There is no suspense about the outcome, the only suspense is to win a few goals.

But the performance of the Madrid Pirates is very average, as if continuing the unstable state of the pre-season warm-up match.

In the end, the suspense was revealed, and the Madrid Pirates only beat their opponents by one goal.

What makes Chinese fans feel gratified is that even if the overall performance of the team is not good, Hu Lai has not lost the chain.

The only goal in the game was scored by him. This is his 35 consecutive league rounds across the season and has scored.

At the critical moment when the European Ballon d'Or is about to be announced, every goal is crucial.

But in fact, Chinese fans worry too much.

The voting process for the European Ballon d'Or has ended.

Strictly speaking, the result has already come out at this time, but it has not been announced.

So let alone scoring one goal now, even if Hu Lai scores ten goals, it probably won't affect the final result.

In addition, theoretically speaking, the European Ballon d'Or is a reward for the performance of the players in the previous season, and now it is the new season, so no matter how good the performance in the new season is, it will not affect the result of the Ballon d'Or.

This is different from the selection of the World Footballer of the Year.

The European Ballon d'Or measures the performance of players in the previous season, while the World Footballer examines the performance of players in a natural year.

Only the selection of the World Footballer will take into account the performance of the candidate players in the new season.

Unlike the struggling performance of the Madrid Pirates, the other two direct competitors not only won the first round of the league, but also won relatively easily.

Catalan United defeated the tough Sporting Vizcaya 3:0 in the away game.

The King of Madrid beat last season's La Liga runner-up Oviedo Athletic 4:0 away.

After the first round, King Madrid ranked first with four goals difference, and Catalan United ranked second with three goals difference.

Defending champion?

ranked sixth.

Even Sarria is ranked higher than them - Zhang Qinghuan led Sarria to beat Getafe 1326 at home 1:0 in the first round of the league, with the same points as the Madrid Pirates, the same number of goals, the same goal difference, but the ranking is It is one higher than the Madrid Pirates.

Hey, are you angry?

※※※

"I used to say that if you leave the Madrid Pirates, you can't even participate in the World Cup. Now look at the performance of the Pirates, can you say that they can't play without you? So in fact, who can't do without whom?"

In a restaurant, manager Jim Castian toasted Carey and laughed.

Carey shook his head: "But it's a pity, that's not the case, Jim. Without me, of course their strength will be lost. But I don't think it will be too bad. At most, it is easy to win the game before, and it is not so easy to win now." It's easy. And what does the performance at the beginning of the season mean? We were tied by Valero in the first round of the league last season."

"Uh..." Castian remembered the "Triple Crown" that the Madrid Pirates finally won last season.

The performance in the first round of the league really has nothing to do with the final result of the season.

At the beginning of the league, the crisis encountered by the Madrid Pirates was more serious, and the upper and lower sides were questioned and pressured even more.

But the final result is still good.

After the Madrid Pirates won the "Triple Crown", no one mentioned the team's poor performance at the beginning of last season.

"Compared with caring about the pirates, I have more important things to do now. The league has started three rounds, but I haven't made a decisive performance yet. The Premier League is indeed different from what I originally thought."

While Pirates of Madrid are struggling, Maxi Carey is struggling to adapt to the Premier League.

He started all three rounds of the league, but only contributed one assist.

Castian comforted him: "It's not your fault, Maxi. Leeds City's forwards are still a little less able to seize opportunities, it's better than Hu..."

Carey shook his head: "Doesn't that mean that if I leave Hu, I can't do anything?"

Castian was speechless.

"And it's not just bad statistics." Carey continued, "From the point of view of the scene, I didn't play as well as I did when I was in the Madrid Pirates. The Premier League and La Liga are different from the rhythm of the game to the physical confrontation. But sooner or later I I'll find my rhythm. I'm 'max', if I can conquer La Liga, I can conquer the Premier League. Tony still trusts me and I can't live up to his trust."

"Yes, you can." Castian echoed.

But he still has some regrets in his heart—it would be great if Maxi didn't leave the pirates...

Just with Maxi's character, how could he not leave?

No solution.

It's like a couple who broke up, trying to adapt to a new life without each other...

It's hard to say whether they will be fine in the end, or someone will become the resentful party.

※※※

"Is everything packed? Is there nothing you forgot?"

Standing at the door, Hu Lai turned to ask Li Qingqing who was outside the car.

"You have asked three times." Li Qingqing was helpless.

"Oh, I always feel like I forget something every time I go out..."

"We've brought everything, we're just going to stay for one night, and we don't need to bring too much."

"Okay then, let's go!"

Hu Lai closed the door and turned around to leave.

In the lens of the camera facing the door in the porch, the door that was originally closed was opened again, and Hu Lai waved at the camera: "I know what I forgot. Photographer! We forgot the photographer!"

There was a burst of laughter behind him.

The lens shakes and is obviously lifted by the photographer, including the tripod, and taken out of it.

After the photographer came out of the house, Hu Lai locked the door again.

"It's really going this time!"

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