Becoming a football god from Arsenal

Chapter 142: A belated birthday surprise! Champions League match against Dortmund! The pressure of the Westfalenstadion!

September 9th, departure day.

In the afternoon, Maher packed his luggage in the villa and waited for the club's gathering message.

He will fly to the Ruhr area of ​​Germany today to make his first away trip to the UEFA Champions League.

This is actually the norm for top players every season, but for him, it is a fresh experience.

Dortmund's home stadium, Westfalen Stadium, is a famous devil's home stadium in Europe and he has long wanted to experience it.

It’s just that in my previous life I wanted to go as a fan, but in this life I can go as a player.

"Kick Barcelona"

With nothing to do, Maher hummed the Champions League theme song at home. Now when he closes his eyes, he can already imagine the excitement of tomorrow's Champions League opening match.

By the way, this song was edited like this by Chinese fans just to talk about Arsenal's situation in the Champions League in recent years.

Every time they qualified with excellent results in the group stage, the result was either a match against Bayern or the world's best team Barcelona. They were defeated every year, and the mentality of the whole club collapsed.

"Ding Dong." The doorbell rang. Mael looked up and saw Safina who was just at the door, so he went to open it.

He could feel that Safina was obviously stunned for a moment after opening the door, as if she was surprised by what she saw. She turned around with her lips slightly open.

"Ding Ding~Ding Ding~!" A brisk female voice sounded, the tone was joyful and graceful.

Isabella walked in briskly in black mid-calf high heels, her steps so cheerful as if she was doing a tap dance solo, instantly warming up the atmosphere in the home.

She was wearing a well-cut khaki silk shirt today. The peaked lapel design made her neck tall and slender. She was wearing black straight-leg cropped pants that just reached her graceful calves, making her beautiful legs look even more slender.

Looking up, she is wearing square sunglasses on her delicate upturned nose and has a black LV bag hanging on her shoulder. She looks very cool when she walks.

"Surprise?"

Isabella threw her bag onto the sofa in a familiar manner, walked towards Mahel and stretched out her right arm to hug him.

Mahel quickly jumped up from the sofa and asked in surprise: "Isabella?"

"And I."

A male voice sounded. It was Gilbert standing outside the door holding a box. He looked much darker after not seeing him for a long time.

"Gilbert?"

Maher was not only surprised, but also frightened. "Why are you two here together? Do you know each other?"

His first thought was that Gilbert had never mentioned his family background. Could it be that he was also very wealthy, and his joy over the salary increase was all fake?

It seems that he is the only one from an ordinary family, while everyone around him comes from a wealthy family.

"It's time to confront you."

Gilbert put the box at the door, feeling mysterious: "Actually, I am not, actually Isabella is the daughter of the owner of Sheffield United."

"Ah?" Mael turned to look at Isabella and was immediately even more frightened.

Seeing her shake her shiny chestnut hair and look up with a bright smile. Combining all the details from the past, she appeared here with Gilbert today.

He believed it immediately, without doubting the two's idea of ​​playing a prank, "Okay, okay, you kept it a secret from me for so long."

"I didn't mean to hide it from you." Isabella walked up to him, hugged him, and gave him a simple kiss on the cheek.

Maher didn't actually blame her. After all, he wasn't very curious before and didn't ask any further questions.

He turned and opened his arms toward Gilbert, wanting to give his old friend a big hug.

No matter what, there is more of a feeling of surprise at this time, as it is a reunion with good friends after a long separation.

As a result, Gilbert came up to hug him, then leaned towards his face with a gloomy face, wanting to kiss him on the cheek. He immediately waved his hand and said, "I don't think this is necessary."

"Hahaha" Gilbert and Isabella laughed together. They sat on the sofa and Safina quickly made coffee for them.

"Why are you here now?"

Maher sat on the sofa and looked at the two of them, feeling more worried: "I may leave for Germany at any time."

“Because we are leaving too.”

Gilbert hadn't seen Maher for a long time. With joy in his eyes and some emotion in his eyes, he patted him on the shoulder and said, "You don't know? Sheffield United won their first Premier League victory in the last round.

"I scored my first Premier League goal, a brace, and I smashed the Swansea goal with two headers."

"I certainly didn't notice."

Maher had some self-blame in his eyes, but he still chose to answer in a joking way. He exaggerated by using Mendes' words, "I can't help it. You must understand that I am a hot star in the Premier League now.

"Businesses who want to sign me are lining up from here to Southampton. I also have various interviews and parties, plus the tight schedule, so it's normal that I don't have time to pay attention to these things."

"Poor, poor." Gilbert smiled disdainfully and waved his hands, as if mocking that Mahel's jokes were still so poor after not seeing him for a long time.

"Mael."

Isabella turned her head to look at Safina inadvertently, then turned back and smiled: "You have really been all over the European football scene recently. Are you ready to go further in the Champions League?
"Do you remember? Actually, I promised to give you a birthday present, but I never found the chance."

"I forgot." Maher touched his hair. He had been busy recently and had indeed neglected his friends. He didn't spare even a bit of energy to pay attention to them.

"I don't hold grudges, and neither should you."

Isabella raised her eyebrows and pointed at him, implying that they were even, then smiled brightly and said, "Look at the gift I made up for you."

She opened her bag and took out a medal secured with glass. It had a very textured feel and looked quite old.

"Knight's Crest."

Isabella looked up and observed Mahel's expression, hoping to see the surprise on his face. "This is not a replica. It was handed down from the Hundred Years' War. I have three of them stored in my house."

Maher took the coat of arms and looked at it carefully. He was indeed surprised by the patterns and the crown on it, but he still asked first: "Do your family members agree to give something from your family to others?"

Isabella saw that Mahel's reaction was relatively calm and was a little disappointed, but she didn't show it. "I know, they agreed to give our best player last season a knight's emblem. Who would feel bad?"

Maher thought about it and it made sense. After all, Isabella was the daughter of his old acquaintance McCabe. He put away the knight's emblem and vowed to keep it well. No boy would not like this.

"Mine is simple."

Gilbert walked to the door, unpacked the box, and took out two signs and a box. "Guess what this is? Let me make it clear that this is not a gift for me alone.

"Mr. Jolson and Mr. Gary Speed ​​heard that I was coming, and they brought gifts too."

"Price card."

When Maher heard Jolson's name, he instantly guessed what he was holding. "Those two signs are both, one is 2000 million for the second increase, and the other is 3000 million for the third increase?"

Gilbert was stunned, and his face quickly turned red. "Hit? Impossible, I think this is very creative. I discussed it with Jolson for a long time before deciding to give it to you.

"We thought you have everything you need now, but you just don't have time to order these meaningful souvenirs, so we ordered them for you."

Maher smiled, took the sign and said, "I still remember the time when Jolson gave me the sign. I thought of him when I saw you mentioned him.

"Okay, I can definitely sense your feelings, and it has nothing to do with whether I can guess or not. What's in that box?"

"Mr. Gary Speed ​​gave it to you." Gilbert looked better and handed the box to Maher. "He said he promised to tell you something when you left. Now he can tell you half of it."

Maher immediately took the box, opened it and saw a small note inside. He opened it curiously.

The result is just half a sentence above - "In fact, I have always been"

Maher: “.”

When you said you would tell me half, did you really tell me half?

Why did Mr. Gary Speed ​​want to tease him from such a distance? But thinking that the other party should be in a good mood recently and had the leisure to tease others, he felt relieved.

"Now tell me, where are you going?"

"The Ruhr."

"Watching me play?"

"It's your first Champions League game, so I have to watch it. I told you that if you do well during the game, I will come back to see you in advance."

"Okay." Maher was a little moved. He took the two of them to visit his room of honors and put the two new value tags together with the original 800 million euro value tag.

Isabella watched with her mouth slightly opened. She didn't expect that the honors that Mahel had received since his debut were so astonishing when put together.

She also looked at the photo wall and saw Maher's wonderful moments in the Premier League, and ripples appeared in her beautiful eyes.

Finally, she came to the net worth plaques again, looked at the three neatly arranged plaques and said with longing: "This is the path you have walked along, you must keep them well, and look forward to the day when your net worth exceeds 1 million."

"1 million?" Gilbert widened his eyes, then burst into laughter: "Only Messi of Barcelona is worth 1 million. If Maher has 1 million, wouldn't he become the Ballon d'Or winner?" Maher and Isabella looked at each other and laughed, but they both saw an inexplicable confidence in each other's eyes.

At 9:18 pm on September th, Arsenal's opening match of the new Champions League season will begin at the Westfalen Stadium.

"Dortmund! Dortmund!! Ohhhh.!!"

Amid deafening cheers, players from both teams walked out of the player tunnel and headed towards the center of the court.

When Maher walked into the stadium, he suddenly felt that the entire sky seemed to have turned yellow and black. More than 70,000 Dortmund fans holding pieces of paper formed a banner that spanned the three home team stands.

It's not like he hadn't seen this scene on TV before. But when he stood in the stadium and looked at the banner formations formed by the human wall, he still felt a strong sense of oppression.

He felt so insignificant, and this club from Germany was so united and strong.

But he quickly took a deep breath and adjusted himself. Conquering such a team and such fans is the most challenging and fulfilling thing!

No matter who the stands belong to, the green field belongs to the players. This is his stage and he will not be affected by others!

"buzzing"

When the players from both teams walked to the circular flag with the Champions League logo, dozens of staff members quickly shook the flag, creating a surging feeling.

Maher's breathing became rapid. The first Champions League match of his life had finally arrived.

This is the stage for top players and the highest competitive level stage in the world. Many world-famous superstars come out of here every year, and countless people are crowned the Golden Ball here!
European Champions League!

A dream football stage!
"Thump, thump, thump, thump. thump, thump, thump, thump!"*2
The inspiring UEFA Champions League theme song suddenly began at this moment. The melody that is most familiar to fans all over the world shook the entire Westfalen Stadium.

Maher tilted his head back, closed his eyes, then quickly opened them again. His breathing became more rapid, his chest heaving, and his whole body shaking.

“Ce sont les meilleures equipes!

(France) They are the best team! ”

When the first powerful female voice reached his ears, the back of Maher's head trembled, and he seemed to have entered a completely new state.

“Sie sind die allerbesten Mannschaften!

(Germany) They are the best team! ”

After two more intense sounds from the orchestra, the second sound rang out. At this moment, no one in the entire stadium could remain calm anymore.

This is a song that mixes French, German and English. It was undoubtedly created for this competition and is the most exciting theme song in the world!
All the past honors and all the legendary teams make this song more powerful and more inspiring.

It will let everyone understand what kind of game is going on now!
“The main event!

(English) The most important event! "

The last foreshadowing sound sounded, and all the emotions accumulated to the highest point. The song also ushered in the climax, "Dengdengdeng. Dengdengdeng!"*2
"Die Meister (Germany) the victorious army.!!!"

When the chorus came, Maher's eye sockets and nose tip seemed to be strongly stimulated by something, and he couldn't help but feel hot.

"Die Besten (Germany) The King's Division.!!"

He raised his head to the highest point, put his hands behind his back, and forced himself to stay calm and stand still.

“Les grandes equipes (France) Great team!!”

Maher opened his mouth to breathe, sweat already rolling down the sides of his face, he felt like he was experiencing the most wonderful moment of his life.

A childhood dream, a stage of glory. In this life, he must make the Champions League his own!
"The champions (English) champions.!!"

As the last line of the first paragraph fell, the Dortmund fans and Arsenal fans in the stadium burst into a loud cheer, "Oh!!"

Maher and the Arsenal players all raised their hands and clapped excitedly.

Arteta was standing next to him. He turned around and saw that the veteran who had played in the Premier League for many years was already in tears.

"come on!!"

Maher patted his chest, and Arteta turned around and shouted, "Vamos!!"

The two did not communicate any more, but closed their eyes, enjoyed the remaining few songs, and then clapped their hands excitedly and ran to their seats.

"Beep!!"

At half past seven, under the still majestic giant banner, the referee blew the whistle to start the game, and the opening match of the 11-12 Champions League season officially kicked off.

Maher even had an illusion that he could not feel his own body. He just gritted his teeth and rushed to the opponent's half with all his strength.

He was eager to score his first Champions League goal.

"CCTV! CCTV!"

In the live broadcast room, the voice of CCTV 5 commentator He Wei sounded with a strong personal style, "The game between Dortmund and Arsenal has started, and Van Persie sent the ball from the center circle for Arsenal.

"Let's take a look at the starting lineups of both teams. Dortmund lined up a 5-4-1 formation today, with goalkeeper Weidenfeller. The back line from left to right is Schmelzer, Subotic, Hummels, Gross, and Piszczek.

"The midfield line is Kyle, Shinji Kagawa, Sven Bender and Gotze.

"The striker is Lewandowski from Poland, who is only 22 years old.

"Arsenal also made some changes today. They lined up in a 4-2-4 formation, with Van Persie and Walcott at the center, with superstar Maher on the left and Gervinho on the right.

"Arteta and Alexander Song partnered in the midfield, and the defense line."

After introducing the starting lineups of both teams, He Wei began to look at the Westfalenstadion. His voice was not very excited but had a different kind of poetry. "The dream-chasing stage is once again under the spotlight, and 32 teams will compete for the ultimate honor!

"Let's look at this attacking opportunity. Dortmund retreated across the board and their intention to counterattack was clear.

"Arsenal's control in the midfield, with the two wingers dropping back, with five defenders, they may not get many chances in the frontcourt."

On the football field, Maher kept testing the defenders with fake sprints forward. Today, he was facing Piszczek.

This is a very balanced full-back, who is strong and can contribute on both the defensive and offensive ends.

He initially played as a winger, but after changing to full-back, he was immediately hailed as the best full-back in the German league.

There is a certain amount of pressure when playing against him, but Maher is also happy to compete with these top-level full-backs. He thinks Piszczek will be a good opponent.

"Boom."

In the second minute of the game, Arteta passed the ball to him with a cross kick.

He rushed towards Piszczek with the ball, and the opponent lowered his center of gravity and stepped back, his eyes focused, waiting for the opportunity to steal the ball.

Maher used bicycle and stride techniques repeatedly, but failed to shake the opponent's center of gravity at all. Even when he quickly dribbled the ball to the middle, the opponent was able to turn around and catch up quickly.

"Bang!" With the purpose of giving it a try, he suddenly dribbled the ball to the baseline, hoping to try his speed.

"Pay attention to the middle!" Piszczek turned around quickly and chased back. His initial reaction was faster than Maher's. He should have predicted it.

In the first few steps, he was in the lead and was about to get the football.

Maher gritted his teeth and pushed off the ground to catch up, gradually closing the distance between them. After reaching a parallel line, he lowered his center of gravity and crashed into the other party.

"Bang!" After a sound of door slamming, Piszczek staggered, but still maintained the posture of rushing forward.

Of course, his condition was not good. With every step he took, his center of gravity became more unstable and he was at risk of falling at any time.

"suffer!!"

At the moment before falling to the ground, Piszczek shouted, exploded and kicked forward.

His tackle was very sharp. He touched the football that was about to slip to the end line and tackled it out of the sideline.

"Come on!" After standing up, he swung a rising dragon punch towards the fans in the south stand in front of him.

Maher failed to brake and rushed out of the baseline and fell towards the billboard. Although he had the advantage in the breakthrough, he looked quite embarrassed at the last moment.

He stood up, excitement rising in his heart. Only such an opponent could help him better test his strength!
He felt a bit aggressive and glanced at Piszczek, who happened to turn his head as well.

"Snapped!"

The two men touched their right hands together and clapped their hands lightly.

There is a sense of elegance similar to that scene when Ronaldinho stood up and high-fived his opponent after being tackled.

Both of them knew very well in their minds that they could not avoid this match, and a real battle was about to begin on the left!

"In the first confrontation, Piszczek didn't let Maher pass."

In the live broadcast room, He Wei's voice was full of anticipation, "Their competition on the left is also a highlight of this game.

"This is a clash between the Premier League's best explosive player and the Bundesliga's best full-back in the Champions League!"

　I didn't expect it to be so troublesome. I was very busy and couldn't sleep. The update was late. There are only 1.1. Sorry, maybe I can only guarantee more than 11 per day in the future. It will be fine after the funeral on November 2nd.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)