Fox in the Penalty Area

The trophy she received has been packed and sent back to China in person by Song Jiajia.

If you look at Hu Lai and Li Qingqing at home in Madrid, nothing has changed.

There is not even a trophy to prove that they have won the honor.

It's as if they didn't receive any honors at the past FIFA annual ceremony.

Life must go on, and so must the game.

January 1, the first day of 2028, Madrid Pirates challenged Atlético Málaga away. This was the eighteenth round of the league.

In this game, Jule failed to score. The Madrid Pirates scored with Toni's free kick and finally defeated Atletico Malaga 1:0.

The following midweek, the Copa del Rey ushered in the second round.

Madrid Pirates drew their La Liga opponent Amilians in this round of the Copa del Rey.

Because considering the Sunday after the Copa del Rey, it will be a battle between Leeds City and Catalonia.

Therefore, Parotti carried out a large-scale personnel rotation in this game, almost completely changing the lineup.

Hu Lai, who hasn't played a single game since joining the team, finally got a chance to rest. This time he didn't even make the squad.

In fact, even if the impact of the game against Catalonia United is not considered, Hulay should rest.

After all, the league schedule is not even halfway through, and we don’t know how long it will take for Maxi Carey to truly return from injury. What’s even more uncertain is whether he will be able to achieve the "immediate battle" that Parotti expected even if he returns from injury. force".

Therefore, in order to prevent the Madrid Pirates from collapsing in the second half of the season, many main players including Hulay should be rested in such inconsequential games as the Copa del Rey against third-tier teams.

The schedule in January is very intensive.

The second, third and fourth rounds of the Copa del Rey are all concentrated in January because starting from February, the Champions League and Europa League have entered the knockout stages. In March, two new national team games were added to the league and Champions League.

At that time, the schedule will become more intensive, and there will be no way to arrange the King's Cup games at every opportunity.

Therefore, all the Copa del Rey games except the final must be played before the start of the European competition in February.

Make way for more important games later.

In addition, there is the Spanish Super Cup in January.

The main players of Madrid Pirates, who were well rested, regrouped for Sunday's league match.

They welcomed Catalonia United, their strongest opponent this season, at home.

Catalonia currently has one game less than Madrid Pirates, with 16 wins, one draw and one loss in 18 league games, with a total of 49 points. If they can defeat Madrid Pirates away from home in this round, they can reduce the points gap to three points. In the 20th round of the league, after they make up for the game in less games, they may be able to tie the Madrid Pirates in points.

Therefore, Madrid Pirates cannot afford to lose anything in this round of the league.

They are still playing at home.

La Liga and the Premier League have different same-point comparison rules, so Madrid Pirates must defeat Catalonia United at home in order to take the lead in future league battles.

Defeating Catalonia United will not only allow Madrid Pirates to score more points than their opponents, but also have an advantage in the relationship between victory and defeat.

But Madrid Pirates did not defeat Catalonia United in the game.

This game, in which both sides tried their best and played their main players, ended in a draw.

Neither team scored a goal between the two teams that ranked first and second in the league in goals scored this season.

The ninety-minute fierce battle could only end with a score of 0:0.

※※※

"The game is over and the result is disappointing... Parotti's team failed to defeat Catalonia at home. Catalonia uncharacteristically did not attack in this game, but chose to use their best ability to control the ball. Defense... Parotti couldn't hide the disappointed look on his face when shaking hands with Bernal...

"Hu worked very hard in this game, but he was not able to break through the goal guarded by Carlos Cordero. He once scored a hat trick away from Catalonia in the Champions League group stage last season. But now it seems , he seems to have lost his way at home..."

Hu Lai's performance in this game is actually not very bad, but not scoring a goal itself is disappointing enough.

After all, he is now the scoring leader for Madrid Pirates.

The Pirates have scored a total of 52 goals in the league this season, ranking second in La Liga's scoring list, second only to Catalonia United with 53 goals.

Hu Lai scored nineteen goals alone, which was more than one-third of the team's goals.

If Hulay cannot score, the Madrid Pirates will have a great chance of encountering an offensive misfire.

After the start of the Hu Lai League, the miraculous performance of scoring goals in eleven consecutive rounds of leagues and fourteen consecutive rounds of various competitions gave some people the illusion that this man would continue to score goals and that he would be the one who scores goals in every game. normal performance.

But how can anyone actually score a goal every game?

In fact, after scoring 75 goals in a year, Hulay has shown some fatigue. Entering 2028, he has not scored a goal.

In the last round against Atlético Malaga, Hulay did not score a goal.

This time against Catalonia, he still didn't score.

Hulay has never missed a scoring opportunity in two consecutive games this season. He once failed to score in the twelfth and thirteenth rounds of the league, but in the Champions League group stage between these two rounds, he scored. For the second time, he helped Madrid Pirates defeat Kiev 4-0 at home.

In fact, if he could participate in the King's Cup game, such a thing would not exist.

Facing the Spanish Third Division team, he can score goals no matter what.

But Parotti did not let Hulay participate in today's league.

So he just missed the chance to score.

In Madrid, Pirates perfectly achieved the achievement of "not scoring in two consecutive games".

A close-up of Hu Lai appeared on the television broadcast.

He also seemed helpless after doing nothing in a game.

He wanted to score against Catalonia more than anyone else.

After all, he once had very wonderful memories with this opponent.

But unfortunately, the football world is not as simple as the protagonist winning all the way.

This time he failed to help the team win against its main league rival at home.

"Look what I said before?" In the box of the Pirates Park stadium where he was sighing, Maxi Carey covered his hands and whispered in Dutch to his wife beside him.

His wife Sofia had nothing to say.

Her husband predicted that the Madrid Pirates, who had a single offensive method, could only rely too much on Hulay's goals.

If Hu Lai is in good condition, then the Madrid Pirates, who are themselves a wealthy team, can of course rely on their own strong strength to block the gods and kill the Buddhas.

But if Hu Lai's condition is not good, then the Pirates, who lack her husband, will no longer have the help of Hu Lai's goals, and they will still be able to fight against a team that is not as strong as them. When you face an opponent of the level of Catalonia United, it will be difficult...

It can only be said that fortunately when the Madrid Pirates met the King in the league, it was when Hulay was in good form. If it is delayed to the end of the first half of the season, they might lose to the Kings on the road.

"Then what's next for the team..." Sophia was worried.

She has been in this city for so many years that she has long regarded the team her husband plays for as her home team.

She certainly doesn't want to see the Madrid Pirates fail.

She wants this team to win the league, even if it's not her husband's fault.

Kaili interrupted his wife and stood up: "Let's go, Sophia. It's time for us to take the children home..."

He ruffled the hair of his two sons and daughters next to him who were disappointed and sad that the Pirates didn't win the game.

Sophia stood up, but when she left, she turned and looked under the box.

There, on the pitch, the Madrid Pirates players were hurrying off with their heads down.

The players of the visiting team Catalonia United seemed to be celebrating, celebrating a draw.

Yes, a draw.

But they know in their hearts that this draw is crucial to the battle for the league championship.

Perhaps it will play a key role in the 38th round of the league in the future. :.

Although the draw only resulted in one point, just like a top shooter, it only takes one kick to score a goal that changes the ownership of the league championship.

"1" is the smallest natural number after "0".

Many times, "1" doesn't play much of a role.

But the accumulation of countless "1"s will eventually trigger a storm of qualitative change.

All the Catalan United players celebrating at Pirates Park today thought they had started the storm with this point.

Catalonia's counterattack against the Pirates begins with this game!

※※※

Li Qingqing saw Hu Lai, who had just returned from the stadium, going to the backyard with a football in his arms. She chased him out: "What are you going to do, Hu Lai?"

Hu Lai turned around and asked her: "I want to be able to solve the battle alone like you. Please teach me."

Li Qingqing was stunned for a moment and realized that Hu Lai was irritated because he failed to help the team win the Catalan United at home today.

But she still shook her head and rejected Hu Lai's request: "I can't teach you, Hu Lai. Your body is not suitable for the way I play..."

"Are you talking about my coordination?" Hu Lai interrupted her, "My coordination is much better than before, and you can see it."

Li Qingqing nodded: "Yes, it's much better, but it's still far from enough. What dribbling the ball requires is continuous high control of the body, which you can't do yet."

"It's okay, I can practice, every day." Hu Lai said firmly.

He even wanted to tell Li Qingqing: I'm in trouble!

But Li Qingqing still shook his head: "How long will it take to practice? What is the output ratio between investment and harvest? Your advantage is not in this aspect. You have never been a person who can solve problems by relying on single-handed blasting. You really need your teammates to help you. Supporting you is your characteristic, but it is not a weakness."

Li Qingqing said a lot and was very sincere, because she realized that what Hu Lai just wanted her to teach him was not a joke.

So she knew Hu Lai was really anxious.

She also tried to persuade Hu Lai to give up unnecessary thoughts from the bottom of her heart.

Not everyone should or can be the kind of player who can dribble past several people and then put the ball into the goal.

The reason why Hu Lai is Hu Lai is because he is a player who focuses on scoring goals.

Li Qingqing never thought there was anything wrong with this. Even when Hu Lai couldn't score and the team couldn't win the game, or even lost the game, she didn't think Hu Lai needed to become a player like her.

She knows very well that it is difficult for her to play at her peak for a long time.

Because her style of kicking is very demanding on the body.

Now that she is young and her physical fitness is at its peak, there will naturally be no problems. But in the future, as she gets older and suffers more injuries, her performance will definitely deteriorate year by year. If she doesn't transform by then and continues to stick to her current one-stop style of playing, I'm afraid she will have to retire soon.

But Hu Lai's style of play is not very demanding on the body, but it allows him to maintain a high level of performance for a longer period of time.

Now Hu Lai wants to be her, but she may envy Hu Lai even more in the future...

Hu Lai is actually not stupid. He also knows the difference between himself and Li Qingqing, as well as their respective advantages and disadvantages, but he is a little anxious.

Although he has not scored in two consecutive games, it is not a big deal for a forward. Some forwards go on without scoring for several years. He just failed to score in two consecutive games, which is too pretentious.

But after experiencing the wonderful feeling of scoring 75 goals a year, how can you be willing to watch your excellent state leave you like this?

Besides, he and Li Qingqing made an agreement to win the highest personal honor in world football. In his opinion, it is obviously much easier for Li Qingqing to become Miss World Football than to become World Player of the Year.

In order to become the World Footballer of the Year, he must maintain a good condition in the future and be able to keep scoring goals like he did last year.

So not scoring in two consecutive games was enough to make him feel in crisis.

"Then what should I do now?" he asked while holding the football in the yard. "Teach my left foot again? I feel that my left foot is still not good enough. I tried three left-footed shots in the game today. But no goals were scored..."

Li Qingqing walked up to him and hugged him: "What you need now is to rest, Hu Lai."

※※※

Maxi Carey, who was lying on the bed with his hands on the back of his head and his eyes wide open in the bedroom where the lights had been turned off, suddenly asked: "Sofia, you said that if Hu does not perform well in the second half of the season, the team will After losing the league championship in the end, did the team realize my importance and need me more?"

After saying this, all the movement next to him disappeared instantly.

After a few seconds, the wife said: "They already know your importance and need you very much. Isn't Parotti always concerned about when you can train with the team?"

"But I don't know how long it will take to really come back. Do you see what the media said after today's game? 'If the Pirates have a healthy Kyrie, they can beat Catalonia at home in this game.' ...Oh, thank God, they finally remembered me and knew that I was still with the Madrid Pirates and hadn't gone anywhere..."

At this point, Kaili sneered.

During the period when Hu Lai was at his craziest, he still remembered what the same media said:

“Who needs ‘MAX’ anymore?”

There was another rustling sound around him, and soon Kaili saw his wife's face in the darkness. She half raised her upper body and was looking at him.

"What for?" he asked.

"If the team ends up losing the league championship because of Hu's poor performance in the second half of the season, will you be happy, Maxi?"

Kaili looked at his wife. Her face was unclear in the darkness, but the eyes that reflected the dim light outside were very bright, like morning stars in the night sky.

Those two "stars" are looking at me.

He snorted softly: "I'm not that kind of person."

After hearing his answer, the wife lay down again, and after another burst of rustling sounds, she became quiet, with only one soft whisper:

"Yes, you are not that kind of person..." To provide you with the fastest update of Fox in the Forbidden Zone, Chapter 139 You are not that kind of person to read for free. :.