When the referee blew the whistle to signal the end of the game, the Girona players did not want to stay on the field for a moment longer. This humiliating defeat would be written into the team's history, and it had dealt a heavy blow to their psyche.
Their opponents' matches had not ended yet, and some had not even started yet. Even so, Girona was still ranked third from the bottom. After this round, they would undoubtedly fall into the relegation zone. Although there were still three rounds left, the possibility of them struggling to get out of the relegation zone was very low.
Especially in this round where they lost 0-8, it was a blow to the confidence of the players. They did not know how the next three rounds would turn out.
Teams that wanted to avoid relegation sometimes relied on their morale to hold on. Once this morale was gone, coupled with the fact that they had so many points to get out of the relegation zone, there was really nothing they could do.
Although in theory, Girona still had hope of avoiding relegation, anyone who understood football could see that if they wanted to watch Girona play next season, they would have to go to Segunda División.
As soon as the referee blew the whistle to signal the end of the game, Xia Ruofei stood up and said, "Director Zhou, let's go to the locker room together! Let's give the players another boost! "
"Give out some bonuses?" Zhou Leiyun asked.
"Of course!" Xia Ruofei laughed and said, "Of course, it's enough to add 20% to the winning prize this time. Just take it as an early encouragement! Also, we have to promise that if we make it to Europe, everyone will get a generous bonus! Sometimes money is the best way to stimulate enthusiasm! "
"No problem!" Zhou Leiyun said.
Xia Ruofei turned his head to Song Wei and Ling Qingxue and said, "Let Director Zhou send the two of you back to the hotel first?"
It was naturally not suitable for the two girls to enter the locker room. Xia Ruofei did not want them to wait for him, so he wanted them to go back to the hotel first.
Ling Qingxue nodded and said, "Sure! But don't forget your promise to treat us to a big meal! "
Xia Ruofei laughed and said, "Don't worry! I won't forget! It will be done tonight! Director Zhou, please arrange for someone to pick the best place! I'll pay the bill! "
Zhou Leiyun laughed and said, "Then I won't stand on ceremony …"
The four of them left the box together. Zhou Leiyun's assistant came over to take Ling Qingxue and Song Wei back to the hotel first, while Xia Ruofei and Zhou Leiyun walked down the steps to the locker room.
This time Xia Ruofei, and the fans................. Xia Xia Ruofei............................ a...... com.............................. a.............
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When the two men came to the locker room, RCD Espanyol's players had just come back. The fans were too enthusiastic.
Ruby was also in a very happy mood. He went to the post-match press conference. The player he led this time was Wu Lei, who had scored two goals and assisted three goals. His performance was the most eye-catching other than Xia Ruofei.
Although Xia Ruofei only played half of the game, he still won the man of the match award without any suspense.
Mark Roca received the trophy for the best player of the game for him. He happened to see Xia Ruofei and Zhou Leiyun at the door of the locker room.
Mark Roca was holding a game ball in one hand and the trophy in the other. When he saw Xia Ruofei and Zhou Leiyun, his face suddenly lit up. He quickly walked over and greeted Zhou Leiyun first. Then he said to Xia Ruofei, "Mr. Xia, this is your best player trophy. And this ball, Wu specially left it for you. He went to the press conference and told me to hand it to you personally!"
Xia Ruofei took the two things with a smile and said, "Thank you, Roca!"
Then he said to the players, "Everyone, go take a shower and change your clothes first! The season has entered a critical stage. You can't get sick at this time! In a while, General Manager Zhou and I have good news to announce to everyone. "
The players agreed loudly and filed into the locker room.
The two bosses, Xia Ruofei and Zhou Leiyun, did not put on any airs. They sat in the locker room and chatted while waiting for everyone to come out. The players knew that the big boss was waiting outside, so they all took a shower as quickly as possible, changed into dry sportswear, and hurried out.
Wu Lei and Ruby had just finished attending the press conference and returned to the locker room together.
As soon as Ruby saw Xia Ruofei and Zhou Leiyun, he quickly quickened his pace and came forward to greet them.
After politely saying hello to Zhou Leiyun, he turned to Xia Ruofei — mainly because Xia Ruofei could communicate with him directly in Spanish. Moreover, Xia Ruofei was not only the boss, but also a key player in the RCD Espanyol team. In comparison, he naturally felt closer to Xia Ruofei.
"Mr. Xia, your performance today was completely phenomenal!" Ruby said excitedly. "During the press conference just now, most of the questions were about you!"
Xia Ruofei said with a smile, "The Girona team is not very strong. There is nothing to be proud of even if we beat them!"
Ruby could not help but show an unnatural expression. Although the RCD Espanyol team was not as miserable as Girona this season and had established the advantage of avoiding relegation early, on paper, RCD Espanyol and Girona were considered to be relatively close in strength. Xia Ruofei so casually categorized Girona as a weakling team made Ruby feel as if he was not showing his face.
Even after Xia Ruofei left the field, RCD Espanyol relied on their regular main players and still scored three goals in the forty-five minutes of the second half. It seemed that the gap between the two teams was relatively large, but this had to be looked at separately. If they did not have a five-goal lead in the first half, the RCD Espanyol players would not have played so casually, and the Girona players would not have been distracted, leading to frequent mistakes in the rear defensive line. Under these circumstances, it was normal to lose three goals.
Ruby thought about it and decided not to discuss the issue of Girona. He said sincerely, "Mr. Xia! Thank you very much for everything you have done for the team! The six points from these two games are worth a lot of money to the club. Maybe when we look back at the end of the season, we will realize that these six points will be the key for us to enter the European competition! Especially against Barça, those three points were completely unplanned! "
Xia Ruofei smiled and nodded. "If it is possible, I would even be willing to play for the team in the last three games. But I am really sorry, I am also very busy in the country. I am afraid that the last three games will depend on all of you!"
Ruby quickly said, "Mr. Xia, please rest assured! We will definitely do our best and strive to get a place in the European competition! "
Xia Ruofei had already "overfulfilled his mission." He had originally come to play for the team in the game against Barça before leaving. Now, he had played one more game and helped the team to an 8-0 victory. Not only did he score three points, but he also added eight goals to the team. Five of them were directly related to him. For the club, if there was a need to calculate the points at the end of the season, these eight goals might play a decisive role.
Xia Ruofei had helped the team through the most difficult game, successfully taking down Barça in the away game, and then conveniently making Girona cry. It was like in a game, the most difficult level had been cleared, and they had also taken care of a small fry. If they still could not deal with the remaining opponents and could not hold on to their victory in the final stage, they would be too ashamed to face their elders.
Xia Ruofei smiled and nodded. He said, "I heard that Sevilla is still behind. If this score is maintained until the end of the game, then we will be in the top seven and basically guarantee a place in the European competition. Then … in the remaining three games, as long as we don't make any mistakes, no one can take the fruits of victory away from us! "
Ruby nodded excitedly and said, "Yes! Our staff has been watching the game from the front. The score is still 1-0, Sevilla is behind! "
Xia Ruofei said, "Then let's just turn on the TV and watch the game together! So that we don't have to keep thinking about it! "
The home team's locker room was naturally very well-equipped. As soon as Xia Ruofei finished speaking, a player immediately ran over to turn on the TV and quickly found the channel that was broadcasting the game.
Everyone watched the live broadcast. Sure enough, Sevilla was still behind 0-1. At this time, the second half of the game had just begun, so Xia Ruofei and Zhou Leiyun simply accompanied everyone to watch the game.
The forty-five-minute game was fast, but for the RCD Espanyol players, it was actually quite torturous, especially now that Sevilla was behind. They could not wait for the time to pass so that the score would not change.
Xia Ruofei and Zhou Leiyun sat in the middle of the front row, with Ruby sitting next to Zhou Leiyun. Xia Ruofei also called Wu Lei, who had just come out of the shower, to sit next to him. The three of them watched the game while whispering in Chinese.
The strength of the Sevilla team was still quite strong, especially when they were behind by a goal. Their offense was even more fierce.
Throughout the entire second half, Sevilla's opponent, Mallorca, was jittery in front of the goal. There was almost no decent counterattack. The three lines were almost pressed together, so the RCD Espanyol players watched with trepidation.
Fortunately, although Mallorca looked like they would lose the ball at any time, luck was always on their side. In the second half alone, Sevilla had already had two shots hit the post. There was also a powerful header that looked like it was about to go in, but it was cleared by the Mallorca defender on the goal line.
This feeling of losing the ball at any time made the RCD Espanyol players extremely nervous. They were even more nervous than the Mallorca fans, who knew how many times more nervous than when they were playing football themselves …
Time passed minute by minute. Mallorca miraculously kept the goal in the midst of the wind and rain.
The RCD Espanyol players really felt like every second was a year. Finally, the game entered the injury stoppage time. The fourth official raised the sign. When everyone saw that the stoppage time was actually five minutes long, they could not help but curse.
Although the RCD Espanyol players knew that cursing in front of the television had no effect, they still subconsciously cursed. The broadcast also showed that the Mallorca manager was also very dissatisfied with the stoppage time and constantly protested to the fourth official.
In fact, from an objective point of view, Mallorca more or less used some "lying on the grass tactics" in the second half. With the slightest bit of physical contact, the players would fall to the ground very exaggeratedly. Especially after 70 or 80 minutes, there were constantly people who "cramped" and fell to the ground. The referee had to stop the game time and time again.
When Xia Ruofei watched the game, he was much more relaxed than the other RCD Espanyol players. The game had just entered injury stoppage time when another Mallorca player fell to the ground in pain holding his thigh. The Sevilla player next to him also had a helpless look on his face — the two did not have any physical contact at all.
After the referee blew the whistle to stop the game, the Mallorca player indicated that he had cramped. Many of the Sevilla players showed dissatisfaction, and the Mallorca players nervously went over to the player to press his leg. The referee could only signal for the team doctor to enter the field.
Xia Ruofei said with a smile, "I think the most tired person in the second half of the game should be the Mallorca team doctor … I'm worried that their team doctor will have cramps …"
The RCD Espanyol players roared with laughter.
In fact, although the RCD Espanyol team was not very strong, their work ethic in the game was still good. They rarely deliberately lied on the grass to delay the game.
However, when they watched the game, none of them expressed contempt for Mallorca. They even faintly hoped that Mallorca would be more shameless and delay the game a little longer.
Under the referee's constant requests and the Sevilla player's protests, the team doctor helped the Mallorca player out of the field. They had originally wanted to go out from the sidelines, but the referee stopped them in time and let them leave the field from the end line.
After the Mallorca player left the field, he jumped on the spot and was full of energy again. He quickly ran to the sidelines and raised his hand to the referee to signal that he wanted to re-enter the game.
The referee was probably a little uncomfortable with Mallorca's behavior, so he turned a blind eye to it. Instead, he dropped the ball first and let Sevilla start the game first. The Sevilla player did not commit a foul just now. The game was stopped because of an injury, so when the game resumed, the ball was still in Sevilla's hands.
Sevilla immediately took the ball and launched an attack. The Mallorca player waited anxiously on the sidelines, his hand almost sore from holding it up. The referee finally turned his head to look at him, then waved his hand to indicate that he could enter the field.
In the end, the actual injury stoppage time of the game reached more than six minutes. This was also the referee's compensation for Mallorca's delay in the injury stoppage time to the Sevilla team.
However, Sevilla did lack some luck in this game. The bombardment in the final stage was still unable to penetrate Mallorca's goal. In the end, they could only pay for their low-level mistake in the first half and suffer a grievance in the away game with a score of 0: 1.
When the referee finally blew the whistle to end the game, there was a huge burst of cheers in the locker room at El Prat Stadium. The RCD Espanyol players hugged each other to celebrate. They were happier than when their team won the game.
Xia Ruofei also hugged Wu Lei, Zhou Leiyun, and Ruby to celebrate. Once the result of this game was out, regardless of the results of the other teams, the RCD Espanyol team was guaranteed to be at least seventh place at the end of this round.
In other words, the RCD Espanyol team was already half a step into the European competition!
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