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Chapter 260 - Chapter 259

Fly and his teammates simply put their belongings in the away team's locker room, then entered the field together for warm-ups.

Meanwhile, in the VIP box at Bernabéu Stadium, a blonde beauty attracted everyone's attention; undoubtedly, she was Fly's girlfriend, Taylor Swift.

Since the couple had already agreed that Taylor would come to cheer on Fly during the Champions League semi-finals, and the media had previously revealed this, the American country pop star's appearance at the Bernabéu did not cause a stir among others.

Even so, with Taylor's increasingly popular music career, many Spanish fans present were also her admirers.

Taylor wore a stylish white dress tonight, paired with exquisite jewelry, looking exceptionally elegant and charming.

Beside her were Taylor's celebrity friends like Emma Stone and Selena...

Knowing that her man disliked Emma Watson, Taylor did not bother with the British woman this time, instead bringing her closest friends, who were also approved by Fly, to the Bernabéu.

Most of the other spectators around the box were Spanish business magnates and social elites, who cast curious and admiring glances at Taylor.

Evidently, even in Spain, where Latin languages predominate, these upper-class individuals had heard of Taylor's great name...

Some of them were Taylor's fans, while others held her in high regard due to her status as a big star.

More importantly, many were there because Taylor was the daughter-in-law approved by Fly's Father and Annie.

For these Spanish business magnates and social elites, climbing to the level of important figures like Fly's Father and Annie was something they were absolutely willing to do...

There was such an opportunity right now, so these people came forward to greet Taylor.

Taylor smiled and greeted the people around her, but her eyes never left the field.

Although she had no interest in English football, she was very interested in the matches her man participated in...

Love for the house extends to the crow, nothing more than this.

Under Fly's influence, Taylor has now initially shed the label of a "fake fan" and temporarily entered the realm of a "true fan."

"Taylor, the Bernabéu is quite spectacular, I heard this stadium can hold ninety thousand people?"

Selena looked at the sea of white waves outside and couldn't help but exclaim in awe.

"Hmm... actually, the Bernabéu is alright. Barcelona's home stadium, Camp Nou, is even more spectacular than this, a stadium that can hold a hundred thousand people. There's only one like it in all of Europe..."

Hearing this, Selena suddenly remembered something and asked her:

"Taylor, I heard Shakira apologized to you because her man offended your little man?"

Taylor nodded at the remark, shrugging helplessly: "Actually, I didn't take it seriously. Since Shakira wanted to apologize, I just accepted it..."

Emma Stone listened to Taylor and Selena's conversation from the side, but she had a different thought in mind.

If she remembered correctly, Shakira, the Colombian, seemed to have a difficult path in her music career in North America.

This time, using her man Piqué as an excuse to apologize to Taylor, she might very well be trying to seize this opportunity to break into the European and American music scene.

To put it bluntly, in today's European and American music scene, if a female singer gets along well with Taylor, her path forward will be much smoother...

Not only because of the Adams Family, but most crucially because Taylor herself is incredibly powerful.

As the current money-printing machine and sales queen of the music industry, any capitalist behaves very humbly in front of Taylor, wishing they could offer their knees, just for this rising music superstar to favor them.

In fact, if it weren't for Big Machine Records already being Taylor's own company, numerous record label giants would have loved to bring Taylor into their doors with grand ceremony...

Understanding this, Emma Stone could roughly grasp what Shakira was planning.

Looking at the blonde American girl with a smile at the corner of her mouth, Emma Stone couldn't help but feel a touch of envy...

As time passed, the start of the match drew nearer.

In the stands of Bernabéu Stadium, all the fans had taken their seats, and the entire stadium was packed.

Over eighty thousand fans gathered here, forming a sea of white and red.

Real Madrid fans occupied the vast majority of the stands, waving their white flags in unison and loudly singing Real Madrid's team anthem, "Hala Madrid," the song echoing through the sky.

While the area for Arsenal fans was relatively smaller, their enthusiasm was no less than that of Real Madrid fans.

They wore red jerseys and loudly shouted Arsenal's slogans, cheering for their team.

The songs and shouts of both sets of fans intertwined, creating a unique and stunning atmosphere.

On the pitch, both teams' players had begun their pre-match warm-ups.

Fly and his Arsenal teammates performed warm-up drills such as passing, shooting, and stretching.

He looked to be in excellent form, every touch of the ball appearing confident and composed.

Especially the desire for the game and the persistence for victory revealed in Fly's eyes, truly not something ordinary people can compare to...

Real Madrid's players were also warming up seriously. Cristiano Ronaldo freely displayed his skills on the pitch, his dribbling and shooting actions drawing cheers from Real Madrid fans.

Casillas, meanwhile, was in the goal area, focused on goalkeeping practice, every save of his appearing so agile and decisive.

As a short goalkeeper, Casillas's ability to be hailed as a "dual pride" alongside Buffon in this era signifies his exceptional goalkeeping technique!

Nothing else to say... at least his reaction time in front of the goal is definitely superior!

Otherwise, for a short goalkeeper to truly outperform a tall goalkeeper, it's definitely not a simple matter...

Ramos and Pepe, the "football villains" duo, stood together, whispering.

As they whispered, they cast their gaze towards the Arsenal players' warm-up area.

If one observed carefully, they would notice that the target of these two guys was precisely that super genius meticulously warming up before the match.

"Sergio (Ramos), that guy is the opponent we need to mark in this match, how about it... confident?"

The Portuguese warrior glanced at Fly, then asked his partner.

Ramos, upon hearing this, had a confident expression, shaking his still-long hair and saying:

"Of course, Pepe, you know, the two of us can defend against any player in the world."

"Even that short Argentine won't have an easy time against us..."

"Now it's just dealing with a fast runner... what's there to worry about?"

Noticing Ramos's eyes twinkling as he spoke, Pepe knew his partner's words were definitely insincere.

But thinking about it, when you know beforehand that you are about to face a monster who scored 80+ goals in a single season, how can you not panic?

Impossible...

Even a pitch villain like Pepe couldn't help but feel a chill rise within him at the thought of facing Fly next.

"It's nothing, it's nothing... he's just flesh and blood. I don't believe he can remain unaffected if I tackle him hard a few times?"

At the pre-match press conference.

Wenger, facing a group of reporters, simply said two sentences:

"Real Madrid is the team with the most Champions League titles in current football, which deserves our respect and vigilance, because it shows Real Madrid has very rich Champions League experience."

"In this regard, Arsenal is undoubtedly at a disadvantage, which puts even more emphasis on our pre-match preparation and in-game adjustments."

"José (José Mourinho) is my old rival... when he was at Chelsea, he caused me a lot of trouble."

"Now that we meet in the Champions League, I hope to defeat him this time."

On the other side, José Mourinho, in his interview, fully displayed his "Special One" demeanor, stating without reservation:

"Perhaps this sounds very presumptuous... but I still want to say that I am very grateful to Arsenal for helping us eliminate Barcelona."

"In my heart, I have always believed that the only obstacle for Real Madrid to win the Champions League is Barcelona; other teams are not worth mentioning..."

"Now that Barcelona has been eliminated, in my heart, Real Madrid has already won the Champions League; the remaining three matches are just a formality..."

"Arsenal? Sorry, I have beaten this team countless times when I was in the Premier League. You can look up the head-to-head record between Chelsea under my management and Arsenal, and you will know that I am not talking nonsense."

"Arsène? Sorry... in my opinion, the Frenchman is just a specialist in failure... Ever since I moved from Porto to the Premier League, Arsène has never helped Arsenal win a League title again."

"What does this show? It shows that he was able to win three League titles before not because he was great, but because the competitiveness of the Premier League at that time was too weak."

"I know Arsenal won the Premier League again this season, but that's only because the world's number one League is now La Liga, not the Premier League. The best players in the world are all in Spain; the Premier League is essentially just a bunch of weaklings pecking at each other..."

"A champion pecked out from a group of weaklings still cannot change its 'rookie' essence."

"I don't know how such a rookie eliminated Barcelona, but I only know that Real Madrid will definitely win against such a team without any suspense!"

"Fly? This child is indeed very excellent, but this time he faces the best central defensive duo in football, Ramos and Pepe. I believe these two will give Fly a good lesson."

"We will strive to end the suspense of this round of the knockout stage in one leg at the Bernabéu. Next, we also need to prepare for the Copa del Rey Final, after all, Barcelona is much harder to deal with than Arsenal..."

After the pre-match press conference, Wenger and José Mourinho gave their final motivational speeches in their respective team locker rooms.

Looking at the Arsenal players, Wenger simply clapped his hands and encouraged them:

"Children... we can defeat Barcelona, and naturally, we can also defeat Real Madrid."

"Today's match is at the Bernabéu. Even a small loss is acceptable for us; the children don't need to feel so much pressure."

"Let's work hard for a perfect result this season!"

In this situation, Fly naturally stepped forward and said to his teammates:

"Don't worry, at critical moments, give me the ball, and I'll solve the game..."

"Come on, let's screw Real Madrid!!!"

"Screw Real Madrid!!!"

On the other side, in the home team's locker room, José Mourinho looked serious as he addressed the Real Madrid players:

"We still have the possibility of competing for three titles this season. Whether we make history or end up empty-handed depends on the results of the next two weeks..."

"Answer me, can you defeat Arsenal and reach the Champions League Final?"

To this question, the proud Real Madrid players had no doubts and shouted: "Yes! Making history starts today..."

"Excellent, then in front of tens of thousands of Real Madrid fans, let's thoroughly crush the so-called invincible army that has traveled so far!"

"Go!!!"

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