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Is Chapter 249 a little tense?
Accompanied by the rousing Champions League theme song, the referee for this match was the first to emerge from the tunnel.

Each player from both sides held the hand of a caddie and followed behind them in single file.

As they walked out of the tunnel, the fans from both sides in the stands stopped hurling insults at each other and cheered loudly for their respective teams.

Photojournalists surrounding the exit of the players' tunnel kept pressing the shutter of their cameras to capture the moment.

Commentator Luo Jin was very excited:
"After three years, Wang Lie has returned to the Champions League! It's unbelievable! Just half a year ago, even the most optimistic Wang Lie fans probably couldn't imagine that he would ever be able to return to the Champions League! And today, he not only returned to the Champions League, but he also personally led this relegation-threatened team to the Champions League!"

Commentator Zhao Chuanfeng was also very excited: "This is a historic moment, for both Tyne and Wang Lie."

The official Champions League broadcast clearly shows who the main characters of this match are, and why so many media reporters flocked to the scene to report on what was originally an ordinary Champions League group stage match.

Therefore, for most of the time that both teams' players were on the field, the camera basically followed Wang Lie.

There are close-up shots, as well as wide shots and medium shots.

Meanwhile, the official Champions League commentators are leading viewers through a recap of Wang Lie's achievements in the Champions League:
"...Although this 38-year-old Chinese player has missed three seasons of the Champions League, he still ranks first on the all-time Champions League top scorers list. He has scored a total of 90 goals in the Champions League group stage, five goals ahead of second-placed Arthur Eloun."

"In addition, he holds the record for most goals in a single Champions League season – he scored a total of fifteen goals in the 2029-2030 season, setting a record that remains unbroken to this day."

"This man is the most dangerous guy on the Champions League stage! Now he's back! China Wang is back!"

Holding the caddie's hand, Wang Lie led the team onto the field, where they lined up next to the referee team.

The cameraman stood right in front of him, holding the camera and shooting him right in the face.

In the shot, Wang Lie looked around and then, unsurprisingly, saw the TIFO displayed by Lille Atlético fans.

When he saw it, he stopped and fixed his gaze on the painting.

Then, in a close-up shot, the corners of his mouth slowly turned up.

He then looked away and turned to look ahead, where he saw the photographers on the two tiers of the stands, the coaching bench and substitutes, and the home team fans in the stands behind.

After the Champions League theme song finished playing, Wang Lie gently patted the ball boy in front of him, signaling that he could leave the field.

After seeing the caddie off, he turned to greet the Lille Atlético players who came up to shake his hand.

He smiled as he shook hands with each Lille player who came up, appearing very polite and friendly.

So much so that one commentator, upon witnessing this scene, remarked as follows:
"It seems that returning to the Champions League after three years has put Wang in a very good mood..."

When Wang Lie shook hands with Fu Xiaofeng, he didn't do anything extra. After a brief handshake, they parted ways.

Fu Xiaofeng breathed a sigh of relief—he was afraid that Wang Lie would squeeze his hand tightly in public and embarrass him...

After the handshake ceremony, Wang Lie, as captain, went to exchange team flags with Laurent Vinier, captain of Atlético Lille.

This is the first time that Tyne's team flag has been exchanged in European competition.

The Lille Atlético flag that was returned will certainly appear in the Tyne club's exhibition room after the match, as a memento and token of Tyne's first participation in the Champions League in 165 years.

After exchanging team flags, it's time for the coin toss ceremony.

Lille ultimately won the right to choose sides, while Tyne won the right to kick off.

After doing all that, Wang Lie shook hands with Laurent Vinier and the referee team in turn before running back to his own half of the field to take a group photo with his teammates as the starting lineup before the match.

The other teammates were already in position, waiting for him to arrive.

There were noticeably more reporters on Tyne's side.

The coaching bench and bench are basically full.

So many media reporters wanted to personally record this historic moment:
Wang Lie's first starting photo after returning to the Champions League.

The numerous dazzling flashes of light were several times brighter than the spotlights at the top of the stadium; even Vitini looked different under the flashes…

However, Vitini didn't mind. He grinned widely, his bright white teeth completely overexposed under the flash.

Amidst the rapid clicking of camera shutters, a group photo of Tyne's starting lineup for this match was captured.

Wang Lie, Miguel Ribeiro, Lenny Isara, Maje Katic, Luca Heric, Elliott Goetz
Vitini, Sergi Cabella, Renzo Pisano, Anderson Nova, Jacob Barnabas
This group photo will likely be placed in the Tyne Club's museum, thus ensuring that the names of these eleven people are forever etched in the history of Tyne Club.

Years from now, when people look back on the history of Tyne Club, this photo will surely be shown and mentioned repeatedly.

Whether you can recite all eleven names might be one of the criteria for judging whether you are a loyal Tyne fan.

After the group photo, both teams returned to their positions. Wang Lie walked into the center circle, where the football had already been placed.

He walked up to the football, put his hands on his hips, and looked up at the stands.

Lille's home stadium, Aske City Stadium, has switched to Champions League mode.

The Champions League logo is everywhere.

On the grandstand railings, on billboards, and on the on-site screens.

After three years, he has finally returned to this stage.

Three years may not seem like a long time, but for a player who was 35 years old at the time, missing out on the Champions League for three years basically meant that he could say goodbye to the Champions League for good.

Despite his time at Sofia, he aimed to return to the Champions League every season.

Unexpectedly, it was achieved against a relegation-threatened team...

Good luck tricks people.

Wang Lie did not allow his mind to wander in memories of the past and reflections on fate.

He quickly lowered his head, leveled his gaze, and looked directly at the Lille Atlético players opposite him.

You can also see TIFO in the opposite stands.

When Lille's captain Laurent Vinier was choosing his half during the coin toss, whether intentionally or by coincidence, he chose the side with TIFO.

So now when Tyne is on offense, he has to face that TIFO, and not just him, all of Tyne's players have seen it.

Lille fans are now gradually putting away their TIFOs, as the match is about to start and the TIFOs are still hanging up, which will obstruct the view of the fans in the stands and create a very bad viewing experience.

The process is reversed when hanging up a TIFO. When taking down a TIFO, the canvas is slowly lowered using steel cables and pulleys.

So Lille's Athletic Warriors disappeared first, while Tyne's Warriors, who were lying on the ground barely breathing, remained in everyone's sight.

If someone were to turn on their TV and watch the live broadcast now, upon seeing this scene, they might mistake Lille's home TIFO stadium for a bloodied and battered Tyne warrior.

Coupled with the bloody words on the banner below, the threat is very strong.

Before the match started, TIFO finally finished taking down the banner, but the banner was left hanging at the bottom of the stands.

White cloth strips, large red characters.

This is the welcome ceremony that Lille Atlético prepared for Taine, and it is also the welcome ceremony that the Champions League prepared for them.

It was at this moment that the referee blew the whistle to start the match.

As soon as the whistle blew, Wang Lie turned around and kicked the football back.

At the same time, Vitini and Ribeiro shot like arrows from the center line into Lille's half.

Wang Lie, who had just completed the pass, also turned and ran forward.

Tyne fires three arrows at once!

"The match begins! The first Champions League match in Tyne's 165-year history kicks off!"

※※※

Before the match, most people analyzing and predicting Tyne's first-ever Champions League game believed that Tyne's players would be unable to perform at their normal level due to nervousness.

The difference lies in the fact that relatively optimistic people believe this adjustment period won't be too long—it could be the first ten or twenty minutes, or it could be the entire first half. If Tyne can get through this adjustment period, they can still put up a good fight against Atlético Lille away from home.

Those who don't think Tain will be nervous and uncomfortable, allowing Lille to seize the opportunity, quickly concede the ball, and then become even more nervous, performing worse, creating a vicious cycle that will lead to a complete collapse and loss of the game.

So from the start of the game, whether they supported Tyne or were pessimistic about him, they were all looking for any signs of tension or discomfort among Tyne's players.

In his first attack after the kickoff, Tyne didn't pass the ball back and forth in his own half, but instead quickly made a long pass forward to find Wang Lie.

However, it is not easy to accurately find the target with such a long pass, so naturally, the ball was lost.

Therefore, everyone came to the same conclusion:

"Tain seemed too hasty... He could have passed the ball around a bit more further back; there was no need for him to launch a long pass directly to Wang..."

"They were probably worried about losing possession in their own half... This really shows how nervous the Tyne players were at the start of the game!"

"Giving up control of the ball so easily is not a good thing for Tyne..."

"Although he didn't receive the ball, Wang Lie still gave a thumbs up to Luka Hlic, who passed it to him. That's right; in matches like this, the most experienced player should step up and lead the team..."

However, Lille's head coach Youssef Chapchet on the sidelines doesn't think so.

Before the match, he believed that Tyne might not perform poorly due to nervousness, as some had suggested.

Therefore, he devised a strategy for the team to cope with the difficulties.

He certainly didn't want his strategies to come in handy—because that would mean the team was really in trouble. But he also didn't simply assume Tyne would be easy to deal with.

From the start of the match, he stood on the sidelines, closely observing every move on the field, capturing every detail with his eyes, and then analyzing the opponent's condition from it.

After Tyne relinquished possession, it was Lille's turn to attack.

As the team's midfield playmaker, Fu Xiaofeng was naturally a key target for Tyne's defense.

So when he received the ball in midfield, he was immediately marked by Tyne midfielder Pisano.

The latter rammed into him, causing Fu Xiaofeng to stumble.

However, Fu Xiaofeng did not lose the ball; he still managed to move it to the other side and use his body to separate Pisano.

After failing to push Fu Xiaofeng away with his first attempt, Pisano continued to press him with both hands and feet.

Under immense pressure, Fu Xiaofeng was still pretending to pass the ball directly to the right wing, but suddenly stomped the ball behind him with his right foot and turned around at the same time!
Although Pisano quickly turned back, Fu Xiaofeng still managed to find half a body length of space to pass the ball.

He passed the ball to the left wing.

There, Lille's left-back Amadou Tutu had already moved to the wing to receive the pass.

After making the pass, Fu Xiaofeng didn't rush forward directly, but instead ran diagonally to the left flank to receive the pass from Tutu.

Instead of passing the ball back immediately, Tutu tried to dribble forward.

However, he didn't have many good opportunities against his former teammate Jacob Barnabas.

Only then did he pass the ball back to Fu Xiaofeng, who had come up to receive it.

Before receiving the ball, Fu Xiaofeng observed the situation behind him and in the middle, noticing that Tyne's defensive midfielder, who was also his friend Isara, was closing in on him.

He immediately cut to the side, blocking Isara's path and shielding the ball with his body as he received it.

Then, the ball was sent forward with a long pass over the top, into the space on the left flank.

Amadou Tutu made a high-speed forward run, already half a body length ahead of Jacob Barnabas.

"Fu! Beautiful through ball!"

Tutu received the ball first and, while receiving it, pushed towards the inside, successfully pushing Barnabas behind him.

A huge cheer erupted from the stands of Asker City Stadium.

Amid cheers, Tutu dribbles the ball toward the penalty area.

Tyne's center-back Luca Helic rushed up to defend him.

Tutu crossed the ball, which hit Helic's leg and bounced out of bounds, giving Lille their first corner kick of the match.

The cheers from the stands continued.

Just three minutes into the game, Tyne conceded a corner to Atlético Lille in defense, further solidifying the belief among those who had thought Tyne would falter under pressure.

The Tyne fans in the stands were also very nervous, fearing that their team might make a mistake during this corner kick and allow the opponent to score...

Fortunately, after the corner kick was taken, the ball was headed away by Tyne's center-back, Maje Katic.

Moreover, the second ball was also controlled by Tyne – Vitini received the ball outside the penalty area, and as he turned and tried to dribble forward, Lille Atlético's right-back Noah Scarpinati grabbed his shirt tightly.

The referee blew his whistle and called a foul on Scarpinati, but did not issue a card.

This was a tactical foul, and the intent was not malicious, so the referee turned a blind eye.

However, Vitini was somewhat dissatisfied, and he kept complaining to the referee, seemingly hoping that the referee would pay special attention to Scarpinati.

Lawrence Dadomo, who was watching the live broadcast at home, laughed when he saw this.

In his view, this was a sign of Vitini's impatience.

It's also a microcosm of the tense performance of the entire Tyne team.

Let it continue like this until it completely collapses...

Lawrence Dadomor sneered inwardly.

※※※

After the kickoff, a long pass was sent to Wang Lie but the ball was lost; a corner kick was conceded due to a defensive lapse on the wing; Vitini was unhappy with the referee's decision...

All of the above seem to gradually piece together the tense performance of Tyne's team in their first Champions League match in the club's history.

However, Lille's head coach, Youssef Chapchet, did not simply draw such a conclusion.

Although he hoped that the entire Tyne team would indeed be nervous and underperform because of their first Champions League match, he believed that objective laws must be followed, and what is not true is not true.

He also turned his gaze to Wang Lie.

Wang Lie hasn't actually had the ball since the start of the match.

He dared not underestimate this man who had returned to the Champions League after three years.

He found it even more unbelievable that Wang Lie, who had been performing brilliantly in the league, would suddenly go silent in the Champions League.

He made many defensive arrangements against Wang Lie before the game, hoping that these measures would be effective.

※※※

"...The match has been going on for almost twenty minutes. Apart from a corner kick won by Atlético Lille through a combination play on the wing at the very beginning, the game has been uneventful. Tyne hasn't been able to threaten Atlético Lille's goal—which is quite normal, given that this is their first time participating in the Champions League, they're bound to be a bit unaccustomed to it. But Atlético Lille hasn't been able to threaten Tyne's goal either, and the two sides are stuck in a stalemate..."

As an English commentator, Conor Cowley's emotions naturally lean towards the English team in a match like the Champions League.

Judging from these twenty minutes of the game, he was generally satisfied with Tyne's performance.

In his mind, as long as Tyne could keep a clean sheet in the first half, it would be considered a very good performance.

If they can keep a clean sheet in the first half, it means that Tyne has gradually gotten through the adaptation period, and we can have higher expectations for their upcoming matches.

Although the outside world has been saying that Wang Lie's goal this season is to lead Tyne to win the Champions League title.

Connor Cowley himself scoffed at this claim, feeling that believing such nonsense would be an insult to the professional knowledge he had accumulated over his many years of commentary.

In his view, it would be a great success if Tyne could finish third after being placed in the group of death and qualify for the Europa League knockout stage.

If that's the goal, then Tyne's ability to draw with Atlético Lille away from home would be a perfectly acceptable result.

So when he saw Tyne's starting lineup before the game, he had some reservations about McNeil's arrangement - he thought McNeil shouldn't have started Anderson Nova, because Nova is a full-back whose attacking attributes are stronger than his defensive abilities, and Tyne needs defense in an away game, so Charlie Cohen should have started instead.

Just then, Tyne launched an attack, and the player with the ball on the field was Anderson Nova, whom Connor Cauley believed should not start.

Nova received the ball from Cabella near the 30-meter line.

He then passed the ball to Wang Lie, who had retreated to the edge of the penalty area.

After passing the ball, he immediately accelerated forward.

Wang Lie, while sandwiched between two Lille players, passed the ball to Nova as he accelerated forward.

After passing the ball, he immediately turned and made a run into the penalty area.

Vitini, who was originally on the left flank, ran towards the goal as soon as Wang Lie passed the ball, filling the gap left by Wang Lie pulling out of the penalty area. At the same time, like Ribeiro, he pushed Lille's defense further towards the goal.

After receiving the ball, Anderson Nova made a gesture as if he was about to cross it, which prompted Lille Atlético's right-back Scarpinati, who was coming up to defend him, to raise his foot to block it.

However, he was careful when intercepting the cross, and didn't jump fully, so the Brazilian full-back couldn't take advantage of him losing his balance to dribble into the penalty area.

Sure enough, Nova saw that Scarpinati had only lifted his foot without losing his position, and he was unable to continue dribbling the ball.

He crossed the ball again, and this time it wasn't a feint.

Instead of passing to Vitini in front of the goal, he flicked the ball directly into the penalty area with his left foot, making a cutback pass!
The football sped forward along the grass, heading straight for the penalty spot, where there was an opening due to Vitini and Ribeiro pressing forward.

Wang Lie, who had moved forward, appeared there!
However, he was accompanied by Lille's defensive midfielder Samuel Adrani.

As Wang Lie ran toward the ball, the Nigerian national team's defensive midfielder used both his hands and feet to interfere with Wang Lie's ability to receive and control the ball.

It seems Wang Lie will have a hard time getting rid of him...

Wang Lie ran towards the football while engaging in physical contact with Adrani.

Then, facing the rolling ball, he swung his left leg, seemingly intending to shoot directly at the goal, even though the angle wasn't very large!

Adrani wasn't worried about Wang Lie's feint; he charged straight at him, trying to disrupt Wang Lie's shot!
He did indeed collide with Wang Lie, and at the same time Wang Lie shot the ball toward the goal!

Instead of heading straight for the near post, the ball spun across the grass, carving a path towards the far post!
Lille goalkeeper Laurent Vinier also thought Wang Lie would shoot towards the near post, so he moved towards the near post when Wang Lie shot.

But the ball flew towards the far corner...

At this point, he was unable to shift his center of gravity and could only turn his head and watch the ball roll toward the far post.

Midway through the play, center-back Yassin Meyer risked scoring an own goal by making a sliding tackle to try and clear the ball.

But he didn't touch it!

The football went straight into the far corner of the goal!
The first-ever Champions League goal in Tyne's history came without any warning!
(End of this chapter)