Sporting de Gijón won the La Liga title in advance, which immediately became the focus of the European media.
The miracle of a newly promoted team winning the title in the Iberian Peninsula became a major event that shook the entire European football world.
Sporting de Gijón, at a betting voting station.
Photos of several Sporting de Gijón fans holding prize cheques also made the headlines.
These were several loyal Sporting de Gijón fans who had bet on Sporting de Gijón to win the title before the start of the season.
These fans also admitted that they did not expect the team to win the title. They thought that by the end of the season, Sporting de Gijón would be very satisfied if they could successfully avoid relegation.
BWIN gave Sporting de Gijón, a newly promoted team, the odds of winning the title was one to three hundred and ninety-eight. These fans had bet on Sporting de Gijón to win the title purely for fun.
But now, a miracle had happened. Sporting de Gijón had won the title, and these fans had received a generous return on their investment.
"A miracle of three hundred and ninety-eight times!" This was the headline on the front page of L 'Equipe.
UEFA's official website also congratulated and praised Sporting de Gijón for winning the La Liga title, saying that it was an unbelievable miracle. This was the charm of football.
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Although there was still one more round of the league, the whole of Sporting de Gijón was already a day of celebration after winning the title. The whole city was enjoying the joy and happiness of winning the title.
Sporting de Gijón had performed a great miracle and played a great season. Now, the most direct reaction was that Sporting de Gijón's players had attracted the attention of many powerhouses.
After the British newspaper The Guardian used a special feature on Sporting de Gijón's title, it broke the news that the Manchester United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, had his eyes on Sporting de Gijón's French midfielder, Franck Ribéry.
On the other hand, The Sun reported that the upstart Premier League team, Chelsea, was also targeting Sporting de Gijón's players. Chelsea's manager, José Mourinho, was targeting Sporting de Gijón's Serbia and Montenegro defender, Branović.
The Daily Mirror stated that Mourinho's target was not only Ivanovic. The UEFA Champions League manager's target list also included the Portuguese defender, Pepe, and Sporting de Gijón's young player, Juan Carlos.
The newspaper specifically pointed out that Mourinho was very appreciative of the young player Carlos and believed that the player was the type of player his Chelsea needed most at the moment. It indicated that Chelsea intended to get Carlos at all costs this summer.
AS stated that Real Madrid was interested in buying back the youth player Juan Mata. It also revealed that the Real Madrid president, Florentino, was very fond of the local player, who was produced by Real Madrid's youth academy.
Marca stated that Real Madrid intended to package Ribéry and Mata. In the newspaper's words, Real Madrid was determined to clean up the old Figo and intended to bring in Mata and Ribéry to let Real Madrid insert young wings on the two flanks.
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The Italian newspaper, Milan Sport, broke the news that the AC Milan manager, Carlo Ancelotti, was very appreciative of Sporting de Gijón's Croatian youngster, Luka Modric. Ancelotti intended to persuade the team's owner, Berlusconi, to open the checkbook and bring in the young Croatian midfielder.
Turin Sport stated that the Juventus manager, Fabio Grosso, wanted to add to the team's left flank. Their target was Sporting de Gijón's Italian domestic left back, Fabio Grosso. They intended to recruit the Italian national team's rookie international player.
Corriere dello Sport also revealed Lazio's target. The Azzurri wanted to bring in Sporting de Gijón's Italian fringe international player, Antonio Di Natale. In a very positive tone, they said that Lazio's boss, Lotito, was even willing to spend 15 million euros to bring in the Italian striker. Of course, this required Sporting de Gijón to be willing to accept the payment in installments.
La Repubblica also broke the news that the Serie A giants, Inter Milan, were targeting Sporting de Gijón's Argentinian striker, Diego Milito. They revealed that Inter Milan's captain, the Argentinian international player, Javier Zanetti, also welcomed Milito and had already sent an invitation to Milito.
Britain's Daily Mail reported that the English Premier League giants, Arsenal, were also interested in many of Sporting de Gijón's players. In particular, they pointed out that the French manager, Arsène Wenger, liked his fellow Frenchman, Karim Benzema.
France Football, which had always been famous for its Yan Jin reports, said that the Lyon team intended to spend money to buy back Benzema …
For the Sporting de Gijón fans, this feeling was so sour and so f * cked up. They were still enjoying the joy of their team winning the La Liga title and cheering for their team winning the Double. Almost overnight, the media was overwhelming with reports about these giants coveting their players.
According to these media reports, if these reports were true, the current Sporting de Gijón would be almost unrecognizable.
This also made the excited Sporting de Gijón fans worried. Although Sporting de Gijón was now the La Liga champion and the UEFA Europa League champion, they were still a small club. With so many of their players being targeted by the giants, this really made the fans a little worried. They were really worried that one day in the future, they might see the team's star players being poached by the giants one by one in the newspapers.
In this regard, Sporting de Gijón's manager, Li Ang, remained silent and did not immediately come out to respond.
Instead, Sporting de Gijón's chairman, Manuel Arango, came out to express his opinion. The old Arango said that Sporting de Gijón was the La Liga champion and the UEFA Europa League champion. They were a team with plans and ambitions … In other words, the fans did not have to worry.
"Not a single player will leave!" Sporting de Gijón's chairman, Manuel Arango, said as he faced the microphone.
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Milan, Italy.
Inter Milan's chairman, Facchetti, and general manager, Oriari, were in the midst of a tense fifth meeting with Sporting de Gijón's manager, Li Ang's manager, Miss Betti.
Li Ang led Sporting de Gijón to the La Liga championship and achieved the Double, which stimulated Inter Milan's nerves. The Italian giants accelerated the speed of their negotiations with Miss Betti. After many rounds of probing, the two sides finally entered the final substantive stage.
29 May 2005, the 38th round of the 20042005 La Liga season.
Sporting de Gijón drew 1-1 with Atlético Madrid in an away game.
When the whistle blew at the end of the game at Madrid's Vicente Calderón stadium, and Sporting de Gijón's journey in the league season ended, in the city of Milan, the negotiations between Inter Milan and Li Ang's manager finally came to a conclusion.
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