Football: Starting from the Ronaldinho template

Chapter 251: Champions League Quarter-Finals Revealed! Arsenal's Opponent is...! The League Continues to Advance! Changes in Domestic Football!
(Reminder: Daily updates including content on the Chinese national football team)
After Arsenal finished their Champions League Round of 16 match, only one game remains in March.

North London Derby.

And just two days later.

The schedule is quite tight, plus the World Cup qualifiers, so Qin Ming doesn't need to conserve his energy, since he probably won't be playing against the Maldives.

All we need to do is prepare for the match against Qatar at the end of March.

The next day.

The results of the Champions League Round of 16 are all in.

No surprises.

Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid, Barcelona, ​​Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester City, Bayern Munich, and Wolfsburg have advanced.

With Arsenal included, that makes a total of eight teams.

The teams that were eliminated were PSV Eindhoven, Roma, Gent, Chelsea, Dynamo Kyiv, Juventus, and Zenit.

The most noteworthy are Chelsea and Juventus.

Chelsea has indeed seen a visible improvement in the league since Mourinho was sacked and interim manager Guus Hiddink took over.

Just when Chelsea fans thought they might be able to replicate their Champions League miracle.

They were defeated by Paris Saint-Germain in both legs, ending their Champions League journey this season.

Juventus, as the team that reached the final in the previous season, has seen a significant decline in their competitive level since midfield maestro Pirlo joined MLS, leaving only players like Pogba and Marchisio in midfield.

Furthermore, Ancelotti is very familiar with Serie A teams, after all, he spent a long time in Serie A as both a player and a coach.

With two football giants eliminated, all that's left are strong teams.

Oh, except Wolfsburg.

However, Wolfsburg, the double champions last season, have made a big splash in recruiting players this season, so no one should underestimate them.

Marca: Real Madrid beat Roma 4-0 on aggregate, with Ronaldo scoring two goals and providing one assist, continuing to lead the Champions League top scorer chart!
Spanish sports newspaper: Barcelona's 7-1 aggregate victory over Gent shows the world that MSN (Messi, Suarez, Neymar) are aiming to defend their Champions League title! No team has achieved this since the Champions League's restructuring in 1992!
The Guardian: Arsenal's transformation continues. Having weathered honors, setbacks, and victories, they are completely different from before! Chinese player Qin Ming also stepped up during the team's difficult time, contributing two goals and an assist to help Arsenal advance!

Dongqiudi: The most exciting Champions League quarter-final draw in recent years, any draw seems to be a semi-final. Now, come to Dongqiudi to predict the quarter-final draw results. Fans who guess all the correct results will have a chance to win a signed jersey from Qin Ming!
[La Liga is getting increasingly competitive. When will Qin Ming go to play in La Liga?]
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[You can only go to three clubs in La Liga, but Real Madrid has Ronaldo, Barcelona has Messi, and if you go to Atletico Madrid, you'll just be a tool player. It's better to stay at Arsenal and become a big team.]
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Winning the Champions League with Arsenal would definitely earn them a statue outside, alongside Chapman, Adams, Henry, and Bergkamp. Wouldn't that be much more impressive?
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[Perhaps a statue will be erected while he is still serving.]
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That's a bit difficult.
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It wasn't difficult at all; when Henry's statue was erected in 2011, he was loaned back to Arsenal by the New York Red Bulls.
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[Anyway, my chances of winning the Champions League this year are slim.]
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[Given Arsenal's usual pattern, they'll either face Bayern Munich or Barcelona.]
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If I had to pick, I think Paris Saint-Germain and Wolfsburg are the weakest. Atletico Madrid plays too dirty a game; Arsenal probably wouldn't be able to handle it.
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【.】

Before the match against Tottenham, Qin Ming received a phone call.

"The Guangdong Provincial City Football League? They want me to make an appearance and boost the event's influence?"

"It should be fine according to the schedule. Let's coordinate with my assistant."

Qin Ming's achievements today are partly due to the support of domestic fans.

He naturally wanted to give back.

But some things are difficult to do, and his strength is limited. If he only spends money, it may have the opposite effect.

The development of football requires multifaceted efforts.

The city league is doing quite well.

First, we need to expand the fan base and get people familiar with the sport before promoting it from the bottom up.

“Other places can follow suit with the city league.”

Qin Ming played in Europe for so many years and knows the significance of community culture in football.

China has so many cities with even longer histories, and you can easily find grudges and conflicts among them.

Of course, this is not to encourage teams to fight each other.

Instead, the goal is to use this method to generate buzz.

Otherwise, if football is not given any other meaning, it is essentially just a sport.

Qin Ming searched online.

I don't know if it's because of my influence that has crossed over into other fields, but it has promoted the development of domestic city football leagues.

The Jiangsu Provincial City League is currently in full swing.

"Take it slow." After discussing with the operations team, Qin Ming asked them to contact the city league organizers and prepare to use his own account to help them promote the event.

Seeing the improvement in the domestic football environment, his mood also improved.

But the next day they will play Tottenham away.

Having just played Benfica two days prior, they had to field a partially rotated squad.

Moreover, Cech has not yet recovered from his injury.

Arsenal ultimately drew 1-1 with Tottenham, concluding their March schedule.

The 31st round of the Premier League has come to a close.

The standings remained largely unchanged, with Manchester City losing 0-1 to Manchester United and Leicester City beating Crystal Palace 1-0, allowing the latter to continue closing the gap with Arsenal.

There are seven rounds left in the Premier League.

Leicester City fans went from disbelief to ecstasy.

They even made a championship scarf.

They believed that with Arsenal competing on three fronts and Cazorla and Cech both injured in March, their performance would become increasingly poor as the season progressed.

They can create miracles for newly promoted teams.

"Leicester City fans are quite confident."

Before leaving London, Qin Ming sat in the cafeteria, eating lemon roasted chicken.

"I didn't even realize it until they told me that there are only seven rounds left in the league. Let me check our schedule!"

Giroud muttered as he opened his phone, “Watford, West Ham, Crystal Palace, West Bromwich Albion, Sunderland, Norwich City, Manchester City, and Aston Villa.”

"Except for Manchester City, everything is fine." Arteta's tone was tinged with a hint of melancholy.

Because the countdown to the season also marks the countdown to his departure from Arsenal.

Flamini, Rosicky, and others were the same.

"Come on, guys! Let's end this 13-year league title drought!"

Qin Ming wiped the grease from the corner of his mouth.

His goal in coming to Arsenal was very clear: not for cup competitions like the EFL Cup, but for titles like the league and the Champions League.

He also knows Arsenal's current situation this season.

With multiple players injured and limited player quality, winning the prestigious Champions League will be very difficult.

But he is determined to win the league.

Chelsea and Manchester United have underperformed, while Liverpool and Manchester City pose a threat, but with two newly appointed managers, some minor issues are inevitable.

Why miss such a golden opportunity?

It will only get harder in the future. Just imagine, when Liverpool has fully integrated, Manchester City is waving its money around, and Chelsea is also recruiting players, the Premier League will be more than just a three-way battle.

"Keep it up! Don't get hurt when you get back, otherwise it will be very difficult for us."

Pat Rice walked in and said.

Two days later, Qin Ming landed at Pudong Airport and then got into the organizer's car to go to Suzhou, which is next door.

There was no other way; Suzhou didn't have an airport, so he had to transfer there again.

The purpose of this trip was to promote the Jiangsu Provincial City League.

Then I'll go back to Shenzhen.

The schedule is packed.

As the current number one player in Chinese football, he carries not only the spotlight but also inescapable responsibilities.

Of course, Qin Ming didn't want to escape either.

Since he is a Chinese player, he is very willing to do what he can.

However, he still overlooked his own popularity.

Before the era of short videos arrived, even though the Jiangsu Provincial City League was very popular, the attendance rate was only a few thousand people.

He stood at the Suzhou Sports Center.

Looking up, there was a sea of ​​people. Fortunately, the organizers had experience with large-scale events and had deployed an exceptional level of security today.

Wow! The outburst of more than 30,000 fans was a bit weaker compared to Emirates Stadium and Wembley.

But Qin Ming had a different feeling.

He kicked off the game as a special guest, and the match started quickly.

The fans were more enthusiastic than Qin Ming had imagined.

Especially after Nanchuan City scored, the away fans in the stands chanted in unison, "Call him Brother Nan! Call him Brother Nan! Call him Brother Nan!"

The shouts of thousands of fans were deafening.

Moreover, the intensity of the competition was beyond his expectations.

Ji Xiang, sitting in the guest seats, whispered, "This competition is full of sworn enemies."

As a native of Jiangsu, he also came to the game today.

"Who told us to have such a long history? Just flip through the history books and you can find all sorts of grudges and feuds." Qin Ming shrugged.

Actually, he used to play football often before he traveled through time, and his skill level was quite good.

He was at least a member of the school team.

However, back then, when I played for the school, there were very few spectators.

If more people fall in love with football in the future.

Perhaps in the future, the attendance rates for city leagues, grassroots leagues, and university leagues will become increasingly higher.

This can also indirectly increase the number of players.

After all, in this kind of atmosphere, there will definitely be children who like to play football and eventually go on to pursue a professional career.

finally.

Nanchuan City 3-0 Gusu City.

"Call me Brother Nan!"

The Nanchuan fans left satisfied, having not only won the away game today but also seen Qin Ming.

It was definitely worth the trip.

After the interlude in the Jiangsu Provincial City League, Qin Ming immediately headed to Shenzhen.

After all, it's his hometown, so he definitely has to do more, otherwise his parents won't forgive him.

After a few days, I was exhausted.

Fortunately, I had time to have a meal with my parents and booked their plane tickets for the league match on May 8th, the day they play Manchester City.

The penultimate round of the Premier League should be enough to determine the champion.

The Champions League quarter-final draw results are in!

Qin Zhihong called out to the kitchen.

"Oh! Here it comes!" Qin Ming put down the kitchen knife, wiped it on his apron, and strode out.

I finally got to come back, so I cooked a few meals for my parents.

It's because he's never home.

Except for two months in the summer, I'm basically traveling all over the world all year round, and I have no time to spend with my family.

Wolfsburg and Manchester City!

"Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid!"

Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid!

"Barcelona and Arsenal!"

"."

After reading it, Qin Zhihong remained silent for a long time, recalling the article he had seen a few days ago.

When Qin Ming was interviewed and asked by a reporter which team he would like to face, he casually said Barcelona.

Little did I know that my words would come true.

At the same time, Qin Ming's phone was ringing incessantly, bombarded with messages from countless people.

"I was just saying it offhand."

Qin Ming helplessly shrugged.

He felt that any team in the Champions League quarterfinals would be a strong team, unless he encountered his former club.

But the probability is too low.

As for whether facing Barcelona would be good or bad?
On the surface, it does look bad, but Barcelona are the Champions League winners last season and have performed very well overall this season.

Before being held to a draw by Villarreal on March 20, they were unbeaten in 36 games across all competitions, 19 games away from home, and 11 consecutive league wins.

They are seven points behind Atletico Madrid, who are second in the league.

In a post-match interview, Enrique said, "The team is constantly getting better, not losing its competitive spirit. When the players are in good form, it's hard to stop them, and we are confident in defending our Champions League title."

From this perspective, Barcelona really does have a chance to achieve the treble again.

But Qin Ming saw Barcelona's decline in that draw.

Moreover, Barcelona and Bayern Munich are Arsenal's nightmares. If they keep thinking about escaping, can they win the title even if they advance?
A true strong person should have the courage to face what they once feared.

Face the difficulties head on.

Also, how many times have they transformed since the beginning of this season?
What is the meaning of becoming stronger?
Isn't it just about facing a formidable enemy you've defeated before and showcasing their progress and achievements?

Actually, his teammates were just expressing their amazement.

In fact, after going through so much together, they were looking forward to today.

Facing Barcelona head-on!

Take them down! Francis, Messi is in your hands now!

【I? 】

【If it wasn't you, who else could it be but me?】

【.】

The group chat quickly became lively.

Following the Champions League quarter-final draw, China's World Cup qualifiers have also begun.

The seventh match of the second round of the Asian qualifiers.

China easily won 5-0 against the Maldives.

Qatar also defeated Hong Kong.

The two teams have 21 and 18 points respectively.

In the final round of head-to-head matches, if Qatar wins and achieves a goal difference of +3, they will become the group winners.

3 month 28 day.

The day before the game.

Qin Ming and his teammates arrived in the ancient capital of Chang'an.

How about in the Bundesliga?

Qin Ming, Wu Lei, Zhang Linpeng, Zhang Xizhe and other players who have played abroad gathered together.

"To be honest, the competition is quite fierce, especially since shooting is my weakness, but I have improved very quickly over there."

Wu Lei had just scored a goal a few days ago, and he had a clear smile on his face.

"I watched your game, and your positioning skills have improved a lot."

Qin Ming joked.

"You're one to talk. You've played too well in the Bundesliga, which has raised the fans' expectations of me too high. Now I'm being put on a pedestal."

Wu Lei was quite helpless.

Some of his pressure came from Qin Ming.

There's nothing we can do about it; Qin Ming delivered a phenomenal performance while playing for Wolfsburg.

But there's only one person like that in the world.

"And you?" Qin Ming then looked at Zhang Linpeng.

"We have a chance to win the league title this year." Zhang Linpeng's team, PSV Eindhoven, is currently the only team in the Dutch Eredivisie that leads Ajax by nine points.

"Remember to put in extra effort when you see Ten Hah."

Qin Ming smiled.

Zheng Zhi watched the group chatting and laughing, feeling a little envious, and also reminiscing about his own time playing abroad.

(End of this chapter)