I Am Scouted by Real Madrid

Chapter 416: Chapter 59: Semifinals, Taunts, Derby

”This is unfair.”

”No player is unfairly smeared like Chen!”

After the match against Athletic Bilbao, Real Madrid and Barcelona returned to the same level on the league standings.

At the post-match press conference, Pellegrini faced the cameras indignantly: ”Athletic Bilbao didn’t even want to play football in this match, they were just making tackles all the time.”

”It was a barbaric act.”

”If they were playing against Barcelona, they certainly wouldn’t have done this!”

Pellegrini’s remarks also caused dissatisfaction among some fans. Fernando Llorente of Athletic Bilbao directly retorted in front of the cameras: ”We defended our home ground’s dignity with courage.”

The Catalonia Region media sarcastically commented: ”The hunter was almost defeated by the lion.”

In response, the Madrid media directly displayed charts showing Chen Zhong ranking at the top of the league, Champions League, and King’s Cup scoring lists, which sparked heated discussions among netizens and dissatisfaction among Barcelona fans.

At the same time, the criticism was also directed at Chen Zhong, with people starting to discuss Chen Zhong’s age, goals, and performance.

”His goals are unethical.”

”Chen achieved these goals at the expense of the team.”

”This is not a reflection of his ability; he achieved such results by exploiting his teammates.”

Such comments quickly exploded online, and some Messi fans even directly compared the two players’ stats, accusing Chen Zhong of hogging too much of the ball and calling him a ”tumor” and a ”ball bully.”

More neutral or star-loving fans also chimed in, arguing that Real Madrid was on the wrong path and needed to focus on ”stars” with C. Ronaldo, Kaka, Pirlo, and Alonso as the core.

In response to these comments, Chen Zhong didn’t give a direct reply but answered with a brace in the King’s Cup quarterfinals at home.

Real Madrid smoothly concluded the match against Osasuna at home with a 3-0 victory.

However, despite winning the match, a certain species known as ”Chen Hei” was not satisfied.

”Only three goals?”

”Don’t you like racking up goals?”

”Why not score five?”

Even in post-match interviews, some stir-creating journalists asked Chen Zhong what he thought of the online comments.

But Chen Zhong just smiled calmly, not responding to the issue. Perhaps Chen Zhong believes the best response to haters is to ignore them and respond with one goal after another!

On January 25th, in the 19th round of La Liga, Barcelona defeated Valladolid with three goals, while Real Madrid narrowly won 1-0 against Malaga. In this match, Malaga heavily fortified their defense inside the penalty area.

Real Madrid only managed to score through Cristiano Ronaldo in the stoppage time.

After this match, the Chen Hei got even more excited.

”You still have to rely on C. Ronaldo.”

”Why didn’t he step up this time?”

”If C. Ronaldo had been the core from the start, he might have scored 30 goals by now!”

The Chen Hei debated vigorously, even forgetting to ”take care” of Messi, whom they used to criticize Chen Zhong against. After all, Messi hasn’t even reached 20 goals in the league, with only 18 goals. Among them, a batch of people praises Messi while belittling Chen Zhong and C. Ronaldo. If C. Ronaldo as the core can score 30 goals and Messi as the core only 18, doesn’t this mean Messi is inferior to C. Ronaldo?

Soon, Messi fans among the Chen Hei realized this, causing the previously unified Chen Hei group to start splitting.

In such a public opinion environment, Real Madrid steadily defeated Osasuna 0-2 on the road, successfully advancing to the King’s Cup semi-finals.

In this match, Negredo and Callejon each scored a goal, and Chen Zhong provided an assist.

During this match, Pellegrini carried out some tactical drilling to prevent Real Madrid from being targeted in subsequent matches, but in the eyes of the Chen Hei, this was a complete exposure of their true colors.

”The semi-final opponent seems to be Atletico Madrid!”

”If Real Madrid doesn’t change.”

”Losing is their only outcome.”

The Chen Hei were confident, as if they had already witnessed Real Madrid being eliminated in the semi-finals.

When Real Madrid entered the semi-finals, from the top management and coach to the players, they began to take the King’s Cup seriously.

In the early stages, we could take it casually, but if we’re already in the finals, why not see if we can win the championship?

At the post-match press conference, Pellegrini was also full of spring breeze, facing the reporters’ questions, he uncharacteristically spoke boldly and straightforwardly: ”Yes, just as you see it.”

”We have reached the semi-finals. Win three more matches, and we can win the King’s Cup.”

”Yes, our goal is the King’s Cup championship.”

These remarks also caused dissatisfaction among Atletico Madrid fans because Pellegrini’s words seemed to suggest that Real Madrid had already eliminated Atletico Madrid.