After signing with AC Milan, I will be the king of football!

”Who knows, last time they turned on the sprinklers.”

”It would be nice if the Barca players could line up to welcome us.”

Guti said with a smile.

”Don’t think about it, you’ll know when we get on the field.”

Salgado said, patting Guti on the shoulder.

Huang Kaiwen quietly put away the first prize lottery ticket.

Barça’s luck isn’t great today.

It’s been a long time since Yellow Ball King won a first prize.

He used his 100 excitement points to draw a prize.

[Ding, you’ve obtained the 1997-1998 UEFA Champions League final: Juventus VS Real Madrid, Zinedine Zidane single-match experience card]

Damn, Xian Zong!

Earlier, Huang Kaiwen was wondering if he’d draw Vieri.

Just like the last time we played Barça, using his strength to the max.

Who would’ve thought he’d draw [Zidane]?

As a midfielder, aside from lacking speed, [Zidane] has almost no weaknesses.

He prefers using his body more than the average attacking midfielder, often seen shielding his opponents before outdribbling them—something rarely seen in other midfielders’ play back then.

Though he didn’t draw Vieri, Barça players won’t have an easy time either.

Huang Kaiwen couldn’t help but smile.

”Kevin, you’re starting today, but you won’t play the entire match.”

Capello said.

”Understood, coach.”

Huang Kaiwen nodded.

”Good to hear.”

Capello then addressed the other players: ”Although we’ve already secured the championship, matches against Barça always hold deeper significance. I don’t want any of you to take this game lightly.”

”Don’t worry, coach!”

Raul stood up and said: ”We’ll give our all. Even though we’ve secured the championship, we won’t stop pushing forward.”

”Good, now go warm up.”

Capello nodded.

During the warm-up.

The Meringue’s joy was uncontrollable as they held up various banners and handwritten signs, encouraging Real Madrid players while also mocking Barcelona.

The antagonism between the two sets of fans was even fiercer than among the players.

Every touch from a Real Madrid player was met with cheers from the Meringue.

While the Barça players were greeted with nothing but boos.

In the stands, Real Madrid legends and celebrity fans were dressed to impress; Di Stefano and Calderon were chatting together.

”Did you know, Real Madrid now has a huge influence in Asia.”

Calderon said, smiling.

”That’s really good news.”

Stefano nodded.

”Since I became the president, Real Madrid’s influence worldwide has been skyrocketing.”

Stefano nodded without expression: ”That’s true.”

As honorary president, Stefano was delighted to attend such events.

He wanted Real Madrid to win every championship.

However, sitting with Calderon was annoying; the guy always bragged about how successful he was as Real Madrid’s president.

In Stefano’s eyes, Calderon was just a lucky guy who happened to sign Huang Kaiwen.

Nadal was in the stands, constantly looking for Inzaghi.

Not finding him, Nadal felt a bit disappointed.

Last time Inzaghi’s inability to speak Spanish hampered their communication, so Nadal had even learned Italian, just to converse with him.

Who knew Inzaghi wouldn’t show up today.

Well, after all, he’s still a player and it’s mid-season.

The stadium’s PA system started playing music. Nadal promptly joined the die-hards in the south stand, waving his Real Madrid scarf, singing proudly: ”Forward, Madrid, forward, Madrid...”

”The players are back in the tunnel; the match is about to begin. Although it’s not a championship decider, the El Clasico is always intense. The Bernabeu atmosphere remains electric.”

”Indeed, let’s take a look at the starting lineups.”

Real Madrid’s 4-3-3 double pivot setup:

Goalkeeper: Casillas,

Defenders: Marcelo, Heinze, Pepe, Ramos,

Midfielders: Gago, Guti, De Jong,

Forwards: Huang Kaiwen, Raul, Robben.

Barça’s 4-3-3 single pivot setup:

Goalkeeper: Valdes,

Defenders: Abidal, Puyol, Max, Zambrotta,

Midfielders: Good Johnson, Toure, Xavi,

Forwards: Henry, Bojan, Messi.

”In their previous two games, Barcelona had many injured players. The absence of Puyol and Zambrotta on defense was significant, but fortunately, they have recovered.”

”Yes, Puyol is the most crucial player in Barça’s defense. However, Barça still suffers from a lack of players today. Xavi’s injury in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final after tackling Huang Kaiwen surprisingly healed enough to play, but Deco’s injury during training means he’ll miss this match – his absence is a big blow to Barça’s midfield.”

”Indeed, but there’s another issue – where is Cassano for Real Madrid? Even if he doesn’t start, he usually sits on the bench. But today, he’s not in the squad. Is he injured?”

”Without Cassano, Real Madrid plays a different style. Robben’s breakthroughs are more direct. He’s currently among the top dribblers and fouls earned in La Liga.”

”Barça players are coming out now, haha. Are they ready to form a guard of honor for Real Madrid? Having clinched the title three rounds early, the tradition dictates the next opponent should honor the new champions. The boos at the Bernabeu, haha, Xavi is getting the loudest boos.”

”Ronaldo didn’t make the squad again. Looks like he’s headed to a new team this summer.”

[Huang Kaiwen this guy] is it.

”Damn, Barça is burning bridges. Ronaldo was the core of the Dream Team.”

”You can’t entirely blame them though, Ronaldo has been partying too much. Coaches don’t like that.”

”I don’t think Guardiola is any good, not just because he sidelined Ronaldo.”

”He’s definitely not good. Since he took over, Barça hasn’t been winning much. If he could at least drag out the title race a bit longer, they wouldn’t have to honor Real Madrid at the Bernabeu.”

”Barça is showing some class this time.”

”What else could they do? They can’t turn on the Bernabeu’s sprinklers!”

”Real Madrid fans would love to throw a punch at Xavi. You could make a several-minute compilation of his fouls on Huang Kaiwen.”

Puyol led his teammates to line up on either side of the players’ tunnel.

The referees stood near the center circle, also looking toward the players’ tunnel, out of respect for the new La Liga champions.

The Barça players’ expressions were not pleasant.

Forming a guard of honor for your arch-rival in their stadium is a bitter pill for any professional player.

Max bent down to touch the Bernabeu grass, hoping for a good result today.

Puyol shook his long hair, as if to fling off all worries.

Unfortunately, the constant boos at the Bernabeu followed him everywhere.

As the white jerseys emerged from the tunnel, the boos turned into applause.

Wearing the captain’s armband, Raul was the first to appear, bringing cheers from the Bernabeu Stadium.

Raul went over to shake hands with Guardiola and then led his team onto the field.

Slightly unwillingly, the Barça players applauded as well.

As more Real Madrid players came out of the tunnel, the fans began to lose patience.

Because they still hadn’t seen their most valuable player.

Even Casillas, in his pink kit, was on the pitch.

Casillas was followed by Robben.

And then, the Real Madrid fans finally saw the player they longed to see.

Roar—

”Saint Kevin!!!”

”Saint Kevin!!!”

”Saint Kevin!!!”

The Bernabeu Stadium erupted with maximum enthusiasm.

Elevating the atmosphere of a 9 PM Madrid night.

That man in the white number ten jersey, despite missing half the season, was still the most crucial member of the team. With or without him, Real Madrid seemed like two different teams.