The Sporting de Gijón players had not appeared, which made the Real Madrid players who were waiting in the players' tunnel begin to get impatient.
They walked out of the locker room at the usual time and lined up in the tunnel, waiting to appear on the field.
They waited until the referee and two assistant referees arrived, but they still did not see the Sporting de Gijón players appear.
The Real Madrid players began to talk about it. The team captain, Raúl, had to negotiate with the referee and ask him to send someone to urge the Sporting de Gijón players.
"They must be doing it on purpose," Guti said angrily. He was holding back his anger for revenge, but he did not expect to wait in the players' tunnel.
The fourth official ran to the door of the away team's locker room and knocked on the door. He did not expect that after knocking for two minutes, there would be no response, which made the fourth official a little annoyed. However, the locker room was a very sacred place. Even the fourth official did not have the right to barge in. He had no choice but to return to appease the somewhat anxious Real Madrid players, hoping that they would wait patiently.
A member of the coaching staff next to Luxemburgo muttered after hearing the news, "What are the Sporting de Gijón players doing … How arrogant."
Although the other Real Madrid players were appeased by the referee, they were also very angry in their hearts. However, it was useless. What else could they do other than wait?
*****
About two minutes later, Raúl went to the referee again. They could not just wait like this.
At this time, the Sporting de Gijón players rushed out with murderous looks on their faces. The murderous look on their faces made the Real Madrid stars, who were originally unhappy and wanted to find fault with them, stunned. Hey, hey, hey. They had been waiting here for a long time, okay? These people looked even angrier than them.
"Okay, get ready to play," Raúl said, stopping his teammates from finding fault with the Sporting de Gijón players.
"Hmph, the Chinese can only use such little tricks," Luxemburgo's assistant manager said angrily.
Luxemburgo's face was also gloomy and he did not say anything.
They waited for the team to line up in the tunnel. Only then did Li Ang slowly come out from behind. He was secretly delighted when he saw the anger and anxiety on the faces of the Real Madrid players.
And as if to add fuel to the fire, he even made a very proud gesture in front of his opponent. He swayed in front of the Real Madrid players and walked over unhurriedly.
The Real Madrid players responded to him with unhappy looks. Even the good-tempered David Beckham and Figo felt that the Sporting de Gijón manager had gone too far. He deserved a beating!
Li Ang walked out of the players' tunnel and walked to the technical area. He did not take his seat immediately. Instead, he stood there and looked at the Bernabéu stands. His white shirt fluttered in the wind. It was a spectacular sight.
"Hello, Bernabeu. We meet again." Li Ang muttered to himself.
*****
"The competition is about to begin! Sporting de Gijón snatched the Copa del Rey trophy from Real Madrid at the Bernabéu last season. The Real Madrid people are ashamed of it. In this game, the whole of Real Madrid is talking about revenge, "Dagestino said.
"Real Madrid's form is not good this season. They have not had a good start. However, they defeated the defending champion Valencia 1-0 in the last round of the league tournament. The team's morale has been restored, and it is clear that they are eager to continue to regain their form against Sporting de Gijón, a newly promoted team that has a grudge against them."
"Sporting de Gijón lost two games in a row at the start. However, they began to make people look at them in a different light. They slaughtered Zaragoza 8-0 in the away game. In addition, they defeated Athletic Bilbao by a large margin and defeated Deportivo La Coruña 4-1 in the away game. This newly promoted team has shown great strength … In this game, Real Madrid will face the newly promoted team, Sporting de Gijón. Perhaps there will be an unexpected exciting game."
The commentator was excitedly introducing the two sides of the game to the television audience. The old grudge between Real Madrid and Sporting de Gijón alone was enough to pique people's interest.
"You must know that Sporting de Gijón is currently suppressing Real Madrid in the league standings. Before the game, Sporting de Gijón's manager, Li Ang, even talked about the standings, which angered the Real Madrid people even more," González said.
"Manager Li Ang angered the Real Madrid people. Doesn't he know that doing this will make things worse for Sporting de Gijón?" Dagestino added.
"Ha, if everyone hasn't forgotten the story between Manager Li Ang and Real Madrid, you will know why he did that," González said with a smile. González said with a smile, "In the heart of this unruly manager, being kicked out of the Chamadine base was a great humiliation. Obviously, taking away Real Madrid's Copa del Rey title last season was not enough to satisfy him. "
In front of the television, many fans listened to the commentator's words and began to discuss animatedly. That man took away Real Madrid's Copa del Rey title, and he was still not satisfied? Who did he think he was? A manager of a newly promoted team. Did he think he could beat Real Madrid again? Come on, miracles and upsets were called miracles because they could not be replicated.
Obviously, no one was optimistic that Sporting de Gijón would be able to pull off an upset at the Bernabéu today.
In fact, the bookmakers' odds also indicated all of this. The odds for Sporting de Gijón's away win were as high as 1: 8.9, which showed how much they favored the home team, Real Madrid.
*****
Hierro looked at Real Madrid's captain, Raúl, who was his junior in the past and was now the captain of Real Madrid. He was wearing Real Madrid's jersey and holding the Real Madrid flag in his hand. Hierro, on the other hand, was wearing the red and white Sporting de Gijón's jersey and holding the Sporting de Gijón's team flag.
Such a meeting made many people in the stands sigh.
Raúl looked at the old captain opposite him. He did not expect to meet Hierro like this one day. Originally, Hierro had gone to Qatar to retire, so the scene of the old captain returning to Bernabéu as an opponent would not happen. Now, Li Ang had invited Hierro to Sporting de Gijón. Now, the two sides were facing off at the Bernabéu.
Raúl looked at the old captain and did not know what to say. He was a little embarrassed.
"I did not expect to return to Bernabéu under such circumstances." Hierro was the first to break the silence.
"Fernando …" Raúl nodded. "I did not expect it either."
"… Real Madrid's recent situation is not good," Hierro said.
"It will get better. We will catch up. This season, the title belongs to Real Madrid!" Raúl said. His words were more like a statement to the old captain.
"Yes." Hierro looked up at the stands with fluttering white clothes, then smiled and said, "Let's talk about it after we get through this."
Raúl was stunned for a moment. It seemed that he did not expect Hierro to say that. Then he saw the Sporting de Gijón jersey on Hierro's body and the team flag of Sporting de Gijón in his hand. Yes, of course he should say that. He was now a Sporting de Gijón player and the captain of Sporting de Gijón.
The two captains were talking. It was reasonable to say that this was not allowed. The game should start as soon as possible. However, the referee and the two assistant referees watched all of this in silence. They did not urge or disturb. Real Madrid's respected old captain had returned to Bernabéu. A certain amount of courtesy should be given. They believed that the fans would not object.
*****
The two captains exchanged team flags.
Hierro and Raúl stretched out their hands at the same time and shook hands.
Suddenly, there was a huge burst of applause in the stands. The fans of both sides, who had been hurling abuse at each other, stopped fighting at this time and stood up to applaud.
"I will do my best in this game," Hierro said.
"Me too. Victory belongs to Real Madrid," Hierro said.
Then the two men hugged. Hierro patted Raúl on the shoulder and said, "Do your best."
Raúl did not speak. He only felt that his throat was uncomfortable and could not speak.
Then, the 36-year-old Fernando Hierro ran back to his own half of the field.
In the stands, cheers were overwhelming. This was the courtesy that Real Madrid fans should give to their old captain.
Amid the cheers, Hierro's expression was serious. For him, in this game, he was Real Madrid's opponent. The ninety-minute game was not over yet. They were opponents.
He looked up at the stands of Bernabéu. Everything was so familiar.
Hierro muttered to himself in his heart, "Come on, my … Real Madrid!"
PS: Second update. Looking for genuine subscription support. Calling for monthly tickets.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
