After Paris Saint-Germain was removed from the list, I led England to victory!

In the office at Paris Saint-Germain's training ground, sporting director Henrique was reviewing a scouting report that his assistant had just delivered.

Outside the window, the first team's training was in progress. Neymar and Mbappe were practicing new combinations, and their laughter occasionally drifted in through the glass.

"Director, did you watch Hoffenheim's 6-0 victory?" Assistant coach Lucas handed over a tablet, the screen showing a loop of highlights of Yan Yuan's four goals.

"It's that Chinese kid, he used to be in our youth training program."

Enrique took the tablet and quickly browsed the match highlights.

In the video, Yan Yuan broke through two defenders in succession and calmly pushed the ball into the goal, followed by a world-class shot from 25 meters out that went straight into the top corner.

Enrique's expression gradually changed from nonchalant to serious, but he quickly regained his composure.

"It's just a cup match," he said, handing the tablet back to Luis. "The opponent is just a third-division team; their defensive intensity is nowhere near that of a French Ligue 1 team."

He took a sip of coffee, not paying much attention to the news.

"But those four goals were truly beautiful," Lucas said, flipping through the statistics, "especially the one from 25 meters out..."

"Lucas, look out the window," Enrique interrupted him, pointing out the window.

On the training field, Mbappe had just completed a brilliant backheel pass when Neymar received the ball and deftly chipped it into the net, prompting applause from the coaching staff and personnel on the sidelines.

"See that? That's what you call football artistry," Enrique said with a satisfied smile.

"The star players we spend so much money on are meant to deliver this kind of dominant performance." He turned and pulled an old file from the filing cabinet.

"As for Yan Yuan? I remember him. The youth coach said he had good football IQ, but his physical strength was too poor, and..." He turned to the last page of the evaluation report.

"His technical skills assessment is 'B-', indicating insufficient potential for improvement."

Lucas shrugged after hearing this: "But it seems he's made considerable progress."

"It's just a flash in the pan; there are too many examples of this in the world of football," Enrique said, closing the file.

"Every year, dozens of kids leave the youth academy, and occasionally one or two shine in other leagues, which is normal, but only one in ten thousand can maintain a top-level performance."

Don't forget, our youth training camp currently has many other talents far more outstanding than Yan Yuan.

On the training field, Neymar and Mbappe finished a set of training exercises, chatting and laughing as they walked arm in arm.

Enrique's smile deepened as he watched this: "Look at those two, that's world-class level. Yan Yuan? Let's talk about him when he can perform like that in ten consecutive Bundesliga matches."

Remember, Lucas, the German Cup and the Champions League are two different things. Besides, we have a world-class attacking line; we don't need to gamble on a player rejected by our youth academy.

Enrique's assessment of Yan Yuan was always summed up in four words: a player abandoned by the youth academy.

At this moment, Mbappe on the training field seemed to notice the gazes from the office and waved in their direction. Enrique immediately put on a smile and waved back.

Enrique suddenly remembered something and said, "By the way, has the media department prepared the press releases for next week's match against Lyon? The focus should be on the chemistry between Neymar and Mbappe."

"It's already being arranged." Lucas quickly jotted down some notes. "Should we also keep an eye on Yan Yuan's subsequent performance?"

Enrique waved his hand: "Just follow up routinely, no need to put in too much effort."

His gaze returned to the training field, where Mbappe was demonstrating a dazzling series of stepover moves.

"We should focus our attention on more important things."

Yan Yuan's file was casually stuffed back into the bottom shelf of the cabinet, piled up with the files of other abandoned youth training players.

Outside the window, Neymar and Mbappe began another round of training together, each touch of the ball carrying the weight of a player worth hundreds of millions of euros.

Meanwhile, hundreds of kilometers away in Germany, a boy they had once given up on was quietly practicing extra.

When Enrique left the office, the scouting report on Yan Yuan had been buried under a stack of transfer budget documents.

The stars of Paris Saint-Germain still shine brightly, but no one cares about a star that once faded away here and then shone briefly, at least not now.

……

The atmosphere in Hoffenheim has been particularly tense in the last two days.

The training base was shrouded in the morning mist. Nagelsmann stood on the sidelines, his hands in the pockets of his sports jacket, watching the players warm up.

With the first leg of the Champions League qualifier against Liverpool just two days away, the entire Hoffenheim team is preparing diligently.

"See? That's the advantage of a rotation strategy," assistant coach Schroed said in a low voice, flipping through the data panel.

"We started the German Cup with a completely reserve team, but now the starters are like wild beasts that have been fully charged." He pointed to Kramaric, who was doing shuttle runs.

"Look at his explosiveness, it's even more intense than during preseason training."

Nagelsmann nodded slightly, his gaze sweeping across the training field.

Vogt and Gnabry were passing and cutting together on the other side, their rhythm so smooth it was like a mirror image.

Goalkeeper Baumann made three consecutive diving saves to deny tricky shots during a save drill, drawing cheers from the goalkeeping coach.

This situation of everyone being healthy and in high spirits is a direct reward for Nagelsmann's bold use of rotation in the German Cup.

Yan Yuan stood at the edge of the training team, diligently carrying out his own flank training.

Although his name was not on the Champions League roster, Nagelsmann made a point of having him participate in all tactical drills.

He still cared deeply about Yan Yuan. Passing by Yan Yuan, he said...

"Yan, pay attention to Kramaric's defensive positioning. See how he anticipates the opponent's passing lanes. You can learn a lot of useful things from that."

"Understood, Coach." Yan Yuan nodded, quietly wiping the sweat from his forehead.

He gradually understood Nagelsmann's intention: rather than rushing into the Champions League, it would be better to absorb tactical insights from top-level matches through team training first.

Even if it's just as a sparring partner, this is a Champions League-level sparring partner.

While the other players began to form teams for scrimmages, he was assigned to observe from the sidelines and record the defensive weaknesses of Liverpool's simulated lineup.

The group entered the tactics room, where Nagelsmann pointed with a laser pointer at the Liverpool formation diagram on the projection screen.

The laser pointer's red dot landed precisely where Arnold and Robertson were.

"When they press high, their full-backs will push forward significantly, so we need to use a three-center-back system to create local numerical advantages, which is a crucial point."

Next, Nagelsmann drew several arrows on the tablet.

"Gnabry, remember, after dropping back to receive the ball, immediately look for Uth to make a run into that space."

Gnabry was sitting in the front row, engrossed in taking notes.

During this tactics lesson, Yan Yuan voluntarily sat in the last row, leaving the front seats for his teammates from the first team. Although he was sitting in the back, his notebook was still filled with tactical details.

Although he wasn't assigned a specific task, he found that each of Nagelsmann's tactical designs was like a puzzle piece, with each element interconnected.

When the coach mentioned "exploiting the opponent's center-backs' slow turning speed," he subconsciously drew an asterisk in his notebook. What the coach was referring to was the key to his brace in the German Cup.

After the tactical meeting, Nagelsmann stopped him and handed him an invitation.

"Yan, for Saturday's game, you'll sit in the family section to the right of the stands. Bring your notebook and focus on observing the defensive habits of Liverpool's full-backs. Although you can't play, I've still given you a task: watch carefully and learn well."

Yan Yuan accepted the invitation, the gold-plated Champions League logo smoldering slightly in his palm.

"I will definitely watch it carefully, Coach."

"It's not over yet," Nagelsmann's voice suddenly turned stern.

"I've given you some homework. After the game, you need to analyze three points: First, their speed of positioning when they were countered; second, their communication style in defending the flanks; and third, Klopp's substitution strategy and reasons throughout the game. Bring your notes to me after the game."

Nagelsmann still cared about Yan Yuan; at this moment, he treated his students with more seriousness and responsibility than any school teacher would.

Yan Yuan returned to the dormitory in the evening.

The lights in the training field outside the window had been turned off. After washing up, he lay on the bed and brought up the virtual training field in the system space. A light blue, semi-transparent interface unfolded before his eyes.

"Remaining training time for today: 8 hours"

He selected the "High-Pressure Pressing Situation Passing" module, and holographic projections of Liverpool players immediately appeared before his eyes.

The virtual Arnold was pressing him, and Yan Yuan deftly flicked his right foot, drawing an arc along the passing route indicated by the system.

"Success rate 87%, please increase the power of your low passes."

Inside the system space, the sweat on his forehead hadn't even dried yet when he immediately started the "cold shot from the edge of the penalty area" training.

The virtual Matip pressed down like an iron tower, but Yan Yuan suddenly changed direction and flicked the ball to the side, unleashing a dipping shot from the optimal shooting spot marked by the system.

"Shot speed 94 km/h, angle deviation 1.2 degrees"

During a break in training, he also pulled up his tactical notes from the day and continuously simulated the counter-attack routines that Nagelsmann had designed for today's training session in the system.

As the virtual Gnabry ran according to the tactics board, Yan Yuan suddenly realized that if he took an extra half step before passing, he could better take advantage of the opponent's center-back's blind spot.

"New tactical understanding points detected, automatically saved"...

Training time flew by, and the clock struck around 6 a.m. again when the system popped up a message saying "Today's training time has been exhausted."

After exiting the space, Yan Yuan got out of bed and stretched comfortably. The training in the system only consumed mental energy and did not damage the physical body in reality, but the eight-hour limit always left him feeling unsatisfied.

As he lay in bed, the lingering image of the virtual training ground seemed to remain in his mind.

The night was well spent; Nagelsmann had a complete understanding of the entire tactical plan against Liverpool, and he also gained new insights into Liverpool's common tactics.

He was full of energy after getting up.

Two days later, on the night of the Champions League, he will sit in that stadium for the first time as both a professional player and a spectator.

Although he couldn't step onto the pitch in person, Yan Yuan understood that Nagelsmann's gift was not just an ordinary ticket, but a key to unlocking a higher level of understanding of football.

He could feel the coach's trust in him, and he also hoped to repay the coach with his excellent performance.