The Midfield Master

Beijing, in the evening, two capable hosts appeared in front of the TV cameras.

"Everyone, good evening. Today is April 13th, Sunday, the fourteenth day of the third lunar month. Welcome to the "News Network" program..."

The national news network, broadcast on time at 19 o'clock every day, began to appear in front of every TV in mainland China. After signing for 20 minutes to tell the story that the leaders are very busy, the Chinese people are very happy, and foreign disasters are frequent, the program is about to end, but before the end of the program, the anchor broadcast a short message:

"The following is a newsletter. The Chinese football players Xia Ze and Zhang Wei who moved to Portugal's Maritimo Club last summer helped the team defeat the Portuguese Super League giants Benfica in yesterday's Portuguese League Cup final and won the League Cup. , This is the first championship won by a Chinese player as a main player in a top foreign league."

Along with the anchor's introduction, yesterday's match between Benfica and Maritimo appeared on TV. Although the screen was only a few tens of seconds long, this move still shocked the whole country.

Last year, the news network broadcast news about the national football team many times. It is the first time that news broadcasts about overseas players playing football in Europe.

This broadcast also made Xia Ze and Zhang Wei's popularity across the country instantly expanded several times. Although the two are already well-known figures among Chinese fans, ordinary people who don't care about football still don't know their existence.

And with the broadcast of the news broadcast this time, more and more Chinese people know their names, and it may also make more people pay attention to Chinese football.

...

In April, the major European leagues began to enter the final stage.

In La Liga, Barcelona led the way in the first half of the season, but after the winter break, they were greeted by injuries and were caught up by Real Madrid.

In the second national derby, Real Madrid defeated Barcelona with the goals of Ronaldo and Bale. They also competed with Barcelona and Atletico Madrid in the league standings. The three teams competed fiercely for the league championship. There was no winner in the final round.

In Serie A, Roma's 10-game winning streak at the beginning of the season did not last until the second half of the season, with Juventus and Naples catching up respectively.

Juventus ended April with a five-point lead at the top of the standings and need only one victory from their remaining two rounds to defend their title.

In the Bundesliga, Bayern Munich and Dortmund were neck and neck in the first half of the season. However, after the winter break, Bayern relied on a stronger lineup. After a wave of winning streak, they took the lead. After winning the league at the end of April, they won the league two rounds ahead champion.

In the Ligue 1, Paris Saint-Germain has a huge advantage of 17 points ahead of the second place and won the championship 5 rounds ahead of schedule.

In the most competitive Premier League, there are many heroes, and the strong teams take the lead alternately. After 14 years of New Year, with Suarez's outstanding performance, Liverpool has emerged suddenly. After defeating Manchester City, they have almost touched the league championship trophy.

And their mortal enemy Manchester United, under the leadership of the genius Moyes, suffered repeated defeats and missed the Champions League ahead of schedule, and Moyes was also fired by Manchester United.

In the battle in April, Gerrard's slide against Chelsea became a turning point. In the end, Manchester City came from behind and overtook Liverpool to occupy the top of the standings.

In the UEFA Champions League, the top four teams have already competed in April. Chelsea, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, and Atletico Madrid have joined the top four. In the top four, Chelsea will play against Atletico Madrid, and Real Madrid will play against Bayern. Another round of peak matchups will be staged .

Because it is necessary to make time for the Brazilian World Cup teams to prepare, all European leagues must end before May 11, and the Champions League final will also be held on May 17 at the Stadium of Light in Portugal, home of Benfica.

Without the pressure of the league, Bayern and Chelsea can prepare for the semi-finals of the Champions League with peace of mind; while Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid have serious internal friction, and the fierce competition in the league makes them not favored by the outside world in the semi-finals.

It's just that all of this will be revealed after the two semi-finals.

West London, inside Chelsea's training base, the team owner Roman Abramovich is sitting on the sofa, tasting fine wine and enjoying the vision brought to him by the promotion of the Champions League.

"Jose, thank you, you brought us to the semi-finals of the Champions League again." Abramovich looked at Mourinho in front of him and thanked him.

"Boss, this is what I should do. I came to you today mainly to talk about one thing." Mourinho, who was sitting on the opposite sofa, was surprisingly modest.

"What's the matter?" Abramovich looked at Mourinho with interest.

"I want Xia Ze." Mourinho said simply.

"Oh? It's very simple. As soon as the season is over, I will bring him to you from Maritimo." Abramovich said lightly.

"thank you boss."

In North London, at Tottenham Hotspur's training base, Villas-Boas and Levi stood on the sidelines of the training ground, watching the team practice while talking.

"Daniel, we have to start as soon as possible, the team needs to continue to strengthen the lineup." Boas said with narrowed eyes.

"I understand, but we need to secure a place in the Champions League in order to win the competition with Chelsea." Levi said with some concern.

Boas is also a little worried. Currently, Tottenham is ranked fifth in the league, and the situation is not optimistic.

"I have investigated Xia Ze's case. His contract break fee is 8 million euros, so the transfer value is not a problem. The most important thing is to make him willing to come to our team instead of going to Chelsea."

The league is not over yet, and the battle between the two Premier League teams for Xia Ze has quietly started.

In the Portuguese Super League, Maritimo led Benfica by two points in the standings with the momentum of winning the championship, ending the journey in April.

And Porto also defeated their opponents on the last day of April and won the championship one round ahead of schedule. This is their 8th league championship in the past 10 years, almost monopolizing the Portuguese Super League.

The last round of the Portuguese Super League will be held on May 10th. The most critical game is the third place in the league. Benfica sits at home and faces Maritimo.

On May 4, 2014, in the suburbs of Funchal, Portugal, Xia Ze and Monica visited the children in the orphanage again.

"Brother Xia Ze, we must win the game on Saturday! We will be able to play against Real Madrid next season!" A skinny kid looked at Xia Ze and said expectantly. He was still very confident in Maritimo's entry into the Champions League.

"Don't worry, we will beat Benfica at the Stadium of Light." Xia Ze assured the child.

"Then can you give me the jersey for that game?" There was a strange look in the skinny boy's eyes.

"Don't you have one of my jerseys? Why are you so greedy?" Xia Ze said while pinching his almost fleshless cheek.

"Uh... this competition is more meaningful, I'll trade you the current one." The skinny boy rolled his big eyes and said coquettishly.

"I really admire you." Looking at his ghostly appearance, Xia Ze couldn't help laughing, stroked his head with his hand, and agreed to his request.

"Brother Xia Ze, I want it too!"

"I also want!"

"Me too!"

"And I!"

...

After the skinny kid got Xia Ze's promise to give him the jersey, the other kids booed one after another, which made him feel dizzy.

In the afternoon, before the sun set, Xia Ze and Monica walked out of the courtyard, under the reluctant eyes of the children, they left the orphanage and walked to the nearby bus station.

After the car accident more than half a month ago, Monica no longer dared to drive Xia Ze, and Xia Ze had no time to test his driver's license, so the two of them took the bus to visit the children in the orphanage during this time.

After the photos of Xia Ze and Wang Xiaolin attending the celebration banquet hand in hand appeared in the newspaper, the atmosphere between him and Monica became a little weird again.

Monica seemed to be avoiding him intentionally or unintentionally. During this period of time, he had less and less contact with Monica. Except for the appointment to visit the orphanage once a week, Xia Ze hardly met her.

This made Xia Ze very strange, the two walked on the road and had nothing to say.

"Hey, pretty guy, would you like to take a ride?" Along with the sound of the car's engine, a middle-aged man's voice came from behind.

The two turned around and saw a familiar face appearing in front of them.

"Joao, why are you here?" Xia Ze was a little surprised, how could Tenonio appear in the suburbs by such a coincidence?

"I'll go to your house to find you. Zhang Wei said you're here, so I'll come over and let's talk in the car." Tenonio said bluntly.

"Joao, do you have anything to do with me?" Xia Ze asked after getting into the car.

"It's like this. People from Chelsea and Tottenham have contacted me. They want to see your wishes." Tenonio didn't mind Monica's presence at all, and said directly.

"Let's reject them first, there is still a league game, let's talk about it after the league is over." Xia Ze just wanted to focus on the last round of the league, and didn't think too much about it.

"Then I'll hold them back first, and you should think about it." Seeing this, Tenonio was not surprised: "In addition, I have already resigned from Mr. Felipe, and I will work as an agent after the season is over." Work."

"Really?" Xia Ze was a little surprised, but also a little bit happy.

"That's right, I like the job of an agent more and more now." Tenonio said with a smile: "There is one more thing today, that is, the award ceremony of the Portuguese Super League will be held on the 12th, when you Also attend, get your dresses ready."