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Chapter 280 The Practitioner Who Leads by Example
After Ribeiro shook off Anelli and Del Caro, there were still many Milan City players in the penalty area, but they were mostly clustered around Wang Lie, and none of them stepped forward to defend Ribeiro.

Only goalkeeper Riva came up to block Ribeiro's shot, but he still couldn't help but glance at Wang Lie.

All the Milan City players, including him, believed that Ribeiro would eventually pass the ball to Wang Lie, so the focus of the defense had to be on Wang Lie.

No matter how Wang Lie moved, he was always surrounded by Milan City players.

They weren't unaware that Ribeiro was capable of scoring from that position; after all, they had been teammates for three seasons and knew Ribeiro's abilities very well.

But since Ribeiro joined Tyne, he hasn't scored a goal, and all his assists have been passes to Wang Lie.

He had two assists in this match, one of which was an assist to Vitini, but that was because Wang Lie missed the pass to Vitini – if Wang Lie hadn't missed it, the ball would have been passed to him anyway…

Therefore, the Milan players have accepted the premise that "Ribeiro will pass the ball to his idol Wang Lie no matter what."

Even though Ribeiro was already facing goalkeeper Riva.

It can't be said that the Milan players were too easily fooled—Wang Lie's goal in the first half was remarkably similar to his bicycle kick before and after the first half.
Isn't it Ribeiro who gets the ball in his current position and goes one-on-one with goalkeeper Riva?

The results of it?
Everyone thought he would shoot, but he passed the ball to Wang Lie instead!

Do you really expect the Milan players to stumble over the same stone twice after suffering a loss once?
They didn't expect that Ribeiro would change his ways this time and shoot directly!

They did not stumble over the same stone twice, but they stumbled over a new one!

Every one of Ribeiro's future opponents will probably have to think twice before defending against him:
Is Ribeiro going to shoot or pass the ball this time?

Some people might think that Ribeiro's pre-match comments to the media were just a smokescreen, and that he wasn't actually willing to go without scoring just to play with Wang Lie; he was just playing tactics.

He used controversial events to reinforce people's preconceived notions about him.

Then, at a crucial moment, they use this preconceived notion to catch their opponent off guard... That's incredibly dirty-minded!
After scoring, Ribeiro didn't run to the corner flag to celebrate, but instead ran straight to Wang Lie.

Just like when Vitini scored, he first went to celebrate with Wang Lie.

When he ran up to Wang Lie, Wang Lie was already waiting for him with open arms, and he threw himself into Wang Lie's arms.

"I told you I would hug you!"

Fortunately, Wang Lie's core strength was strong enough, otherwise he would have been knocked to the ground by Ribeiro's attack...

Wang Lie patted Ribeiro hard on the back to calm him down a bit.

But it's of no use.

Ribeiro seemed to enjoy being patted by Wang Lie like that.

Soon they were overwhelmed by their teammates who came to celebrate. Seeing this, Luo Jin said, "Although Wang Lie scored a very beautiful goal in this game, I think the best player of the game should be Miguel Ribeiro. With one goal and two assists, he is the biggest contributor to Tyne's victory over Milan at home!"

When he said these words, the match had only been going on for 67 minutes, with nearly half an hour left before the end of the match.

But that's exactly what Luo Jin asserted.

Zhao Chuanfeng, the commentator next to him, also did not express any objection.

Not just the two of them, but at this moment countless commentators are declaring that the outcome of the match is no longer in doubt.

England commentator Conor Cowley said:

"A three-goal lead! Tyne is about to achieve their second consecutive victory in the Champions League! How many people could have predicted such a score and the course of the game before the match? I think even the most optimistic Tyne fans couldn't have imagined that their team could score three goals against a defensively strong Milan City!"

Joe Wesley criticized Milan's strategy: "I can understand Papacioli's expectations for this game, but I don't think he should have done this – by adopting a 'I'm here to park the bus' attitude right from the start, he was essentially telling Tyne that his team couldn't threaten Tyne's goal in attack. This allowed Tyne to attack with complete confidence..."

He spoke from the heart, because he genuinely hoped that Milan could cause trouble for Tyne on the road.

He knew Wang Lie was in excellent form recently, but he still had high hopes for Milan City, this long-established powerhouse.

Unexpectedly, Milan City was beaten so badly that they couldn't even put up a fight...

It has to be said that even though Wesley knew that Tyne was in good form recently, he was still shocked by the poor performance of Milan City, a traditional powerhouse.

When Tyne secured Champions League qualification, everyone said that the Champions League would teach them a lesson and show these mercenaries why it is the most prestigious competition.

Because which team that can remain on this stage for a long time isn't a top powerhouse in its national league? Which one doesn't have a long history and Champions League DNA?
Tyne thought that by relying on Wang Lie and his temporary spending spree, he could cobble together a team that looked strong on paper and compete with these traditional powerhouses. He was probably underestimating the heroes of the world.

Even if Wang Lie has extensive Champions League experience, weren't his previous clubs, Atlético Barcelona and Sofia United, traditional powerhouses?
He relied on the prestige of his club to perform well in the Champions League. Did he really think it was all due to his own abilities?

He has absolutely no experience leading a non-elite team in the Champions League!

Therefore, no one is optimistic about Tyne's performance in this season's Champions League.

Logically speaking, for Tyne, who is participating in the Champions League for the first time, the main task this season is to maintain his league ranking. If he can also qualify for the Champions League, or even the Europa League or other European competitions, it would be a very successful season.

As for the Champions League, I'll just treat it as an opportunity to broaden my horizons and gain experience.

If Wang Lie were ten years younger, then Tyne Club would indeed have a "promising future".

But Wang Lie is already thirty-eight years old. Even if he signed a five-year contract with Tyne, it's hard to say whether he can actually fulfill the contract...

So actually, not many people are optimistic about Tyne's future, and even less optimistic about his present.

As a result, Tyne, who was generally not favored, is now ranked first in the league this season and is about to achieve two consecutive victories in the Champions League.

The home victory against Milan City, in particular, was a truly impressive match.

At the very least, after this game, those who previously looked down on Tyne's team had to adjust their opinions about him.

※※※

Ribeiro was substituted by McNeil shortly after scoring.

This time, Tyne only made one substitution, his aim being to let Ribeiro enjoy the applause from the fans alone.

Sure enough, when the substitution sign was raised and it was confirmed that the person being substituted was indeed Ribeiro, applause broke out in the stands.

The applause grew more frequent and louder.

When the television cameras panned across the stands, you could see Tyne's fans getting up from their seats and applauding Ribeiro.

"Before this match, Ribeiro faced a lot of attacks and criticism online, and many people were worried about his performance and form. But now it seems that those attacks didn't affect his form at all. Ribeiro played a crucial role in Tyne's 3-0 lead over Milan. Tyne's fans have seen all of this, and since Milan fans have been criticizing Ribeiro, Tyne fans naturally want to give him the best treatment, letting Ribeiro know that his choice, which defied public opinion, was the right one!"

Luo Jin said.

He's right. The Tayne fans were itching to show the Milan fans how much they love Ribeiro before the match.

Just as they would go to the airport to welcome every new signing to Tyne, they would also pay tribute to Ribeiro in the stands during this match!
For Milan fans, Ribeiro's strike may be a stain that will be difficult to erase for a long time.

But Tyne fans didn't care. They even felt that Ribeiro was willing to bear the stain to come to Tyne, which was a "turn from darkness to light" and the beginning of a legendary experience.

Yes, it's a legend.

The series of victories, along with the willingness of top players like Pisano and Ribeiro to join Tyne, have filled many Tyne fans with anticipation for the future blueprint envisioned by Wang Lie.

They will surely write a legendary story in the history of world football called "Taine"!

Those who don't understand Ribeiro's choice of Tyne will surely be proven wrong in the future.

Therefore, Tyne fans must let Ribeiro know that he can be wholeheartedly devoted to Tyne, because Tyne fans will certainly not let him down.

Amid thunderous applause, Ribeiro walked off the field.

With a happy smile on his face, he kept waving and clapping to the Tyne fans in the stands.

He seemed completely unconcerned about how badly he would be criticized by the Milan fans for doing this...

He genuinely didn't care; otherwise, he wouldn't have refused to train and left Milan, nor would he have said those things to that Italian journalist before the match.

He's a very pure person; he's willing to abandon all worldly principles, girlfriends, wealthy families, and reputation, all for the sake of what's in his heart...

None of them.

All he needs to do is be the right-hand man of the football god in his heart, and all he needs to do is truly elevate Wang Lie to the altar.

By then, he won't need to engage in online verbal battles with his haters; he will use his actions to completely bury them!
What's the point of arguing?
A bunch of keyboard warriors who can't even play football properly try to deny a god descended from Mount Olympus with just their hands.

Just because I watched a few live matches, I think I know everything about football and can criticize established stars...

Frogs at the bottom of a well believe that what they see is the truth of the world, and that the world operates in a way that their limited brain capacity can comprehend.

So I'm not going to argue or reason with these people anymore. I'll show you with my own two feet. No matter how much you pretend not to see it, or hide in some dark corner of the sewer, I will lay down the undeniable facts before you and let you know that I'm right and you're wrong!
※※※

Federico Papacioli felt a mix of emotions as he watched the entire stadium rise to applaud Ribeiro.

If he can make the decisions regarding the club's signings and contract renewals, then he will keep Ribeiro no matter the cost.

Because he knew very well how much Ribeiro helped his tactics and how important he was to the Milan team.

He had finally trained Ribeiro to be a capable leader, but the club disagreed with his salary demands, which caused a rift between them.

In Papacioli's view, even if Ribeiro's agent was a bit greedy and asked for a higher price, what was wrong with the club agreeing to it?
He has explained in detail to the club the importance of Ribeiro, hoping that the club will understand how important it is to keep Ribeiro.

But perhaps because there were still three years left on the contract at that time, the club was not afraid that Ribeiro would leave immediately if the contract renewal failed – after all, Milan City is also a well-known powerhouse in Italy, and unless they can't make it on their own, which main player would think of leaving?
On the other hand, Papacioli felt that the club might also have doubts about his judgment and wanted to use more time to test Ribeiro's potential.

Strictly speaking, Ribeiro's best season in Milan was last season.

The club might be worried that Ribeiro is only playing so hard and performing so well to secure a big contract. They fear that once he gets the big contract, he might become complacent, decline, and his performance will be far inferior, revealing his true colors…

Papacholi understands the club's concerns, given that there are numerous precedents in the football world.

He could only lament that the club didn't understand the real Miguel Ribeiro.

This kid is so innocent...

He's not the kind of person who gets a big contract and then goes on a party every night, thinking he can just relax and do nothing.

However, at the time, and at the beginning of this year, Papacholi didn't think that the club's rejection of Ribeiro's request was such a serious matter.

He also reassured Ribeiro that as long as he continued to perform well for the team, they could still continue to negotiate with the club.

The meat will always have to be cooked until it's done in the pot.

He is very confident that Ribeiro will stay in Milan.

Where did you think...

Who would have thought that Wang Lie would issue a wide call for heroes at the contract renewal press conference at the end of the season?

Who would have thought that Ribeiro in his team would actually fall for him!
Ribeiro was determined to leave, no matter what, even if it meant being promised the role of tactical core, even if it meant refusing to train and facing criticism. It was as if he was blinded by love...

Although he is the head coach of the Milan City team, he has no decision-making power in the team's transfer and recruitment matters, only the right to make suggestions.

He advised the club not to let Ribeiro go under any circumstances, but the club felt that players like Ribeiro were not rare, and since Tyne was willing to pay so much money, why couldn't they sell him?

He was also given the option to choose a suitable replacement.

Papacio knew he couldn't keep Ribeiro, so he chose Lionel Latanzio, a young man with a completely different playing style but equally talented, as Ribeiro's successor.

Ribeiro eventually left, and the club used the transfer fee earned from him to bring in three players, including Latanzio, to strengthen the team's roster—of course, all of these transfer targets had been approved by Papacholi.

Now that the matter was settled, Papacholi naturally stopped thinking about those other things and focused on playing his cards right, training and arranging the players according to the talent the club had given him.

Losing Ribeiro is certainly a regret for him, but now all he can do is try to train Latanzio to become the next Ribeiro.

He hoped that the next diamond he had painstakingly polished wouldn't leave him for some random, trivial reason...

As for Ribeiro, he hasn't paid much attention to him since he left the team.

It wasn't until the Champions League group stage results came out and I found that Tyne was in the same group that I started paying attention to this opponent, and at the same time, I also started paying attention to Ribeiro's performance.

When the statistics showed that Ribeiro hadn't scored a single goal but only had three assists, he felt quite sorry for him.

The offensive core who scored 17 goals and provided 7 assists in a single season under his own leadership went to Tyne, but became a mere supporting player for Wang Lie, using all his talent and ability as a stepping stone for Wang Lie.

He felt heartbroken not only for Ribeiro, but also for the effort he had put into Ribeiro over the past three seasons.

Seeing his former star pupil break his goal drought since joining his new team, Papacioli doesn't know whether to be happy for Ribeiro, resentful of the club's decision to let him go, or something else entirely...

He was certain of only one thing: when the two sides met again at Milan's home ground, he had to defend the honor and dignity of Italy's long-established powerhouse.

At that point, their team will have no way out.

I will never be this pathetic as I am today!

(End of this chapter)