I Am Scouted by Real Madrid

Chapter 492: Chapter 1: Building Momentum 2

There is a certain connection between Inter Milan and Real Madrid.

When Mourinho led Inter Milan to defeat Bayern Munich, winning the Triple Crown and reaching the pinnacle of Europe, this ”Special One” remained in Madrid.

In subsequent interviews, he expressed his sentiments: ”I have a deep affection for Inter Milan. I know if I go back, I won’t think about leaving again.”

Mourinho said in an interview: ”I need to escape my emotions. I don’t even dare to go to the locker room because I can’t control myself. I know if I return to Inter during the celebration ceremony, I will change my mind.”

”I truly love my players and the fans, including the president. They have always unconditionally supported me, always backing me.”

”But coaching Real Madrid is my dream. No one can refuse Real Madrid.”

Pellegrini eventually left the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, although it caused some controversy.

After all, he led the club to the highest league score last season, winning both the La Liga and King’s Cup titles.

However, when faced with the ”champion coach” Mourinho, with two Champions League titles to his name, it seemed all this wasn’t that hard to accept.

Pellegrini turned down offers from Manchester City. At that time, they were just a ”nouveau riche” club. After much hesitation, Pellegrini finally chose to stay in La Liga with Malaga.

He seemed to want to prove something.

During interviews, Pellegrini remained calm, facing the camera without showing anger. Instead, he said plainly: ”We all know what kind of team Real Madrid is.”

”Coaching such a team is stressful for anyone.”

”I know many teams wanted me to coach.”

”But I still want to stay in La Liga. Malaga is obviously a good choice.”

Some media interpreted these words as Pellegrini’s defiance towards Mourinho. Didn’t Mourinho create miracles with Porto back then?

I, Pellegrini, can also lead Malaga to create miracles.

Malaga is different now because, just before the start of the 2010-11 season, a member of the Qatar Royal Family, Abdullah Al-Thani, acquired shares of Malaga and became the club chairman.

Although it was a takeover, the past leadership team remained intact, with the previous chairman Sans being appointed as the team’s advisor.

When Mourinho led Inter Milan to win the Champions League, he then stayed at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.

After Pellegrini was sacked by Real Madrid, this royal member decisively invited Pellegrini to become the team’s head coach.

Pellegrini’s first goal was to take Real Madrid’s midfielder Baptista away.

He believed that although Baptista was weak in defense, he could entirely become Malaga’s Chen Zhong.

After leaving Real Madrid, Pellegrini promoted Chen Zhong. He praised Chen Zhong’s outstanding performance last season in front of the camera and mentioned his most criticized semifinal.

”We all know Chen is an exceptionally good player.”

”A player worthy of the Ballon d’Or.”

”But we also need to note, he’s only 18 years old.”

”We need to protect him; excessive matches could drain his potential.”

”Of course, the first leg against Bayern Munich made me realize his importance to the whole team.”

”But with three games a week, I had no choice.”

In the first leg of last season’s Champions League semifinal against Bayern Munich, perhaps the media’s hype inflated Pellegrini.

He didn’t even list Chen Zhong for the first leg and chose rotation instead.

His goal was not to win but to score one goal and resolve the battle at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.

But clearly, he misjudged Chen Zhong’s importance to the team, leading to a crushing defeat in the first leg.

In critical moments of lagging behind, his performance was starkly contrasted with Van Gaal’s.

...

Many fans responded positively to Mourinho’s signing, believing that the Mourinho who led Inter Milan to a Triple Crown could continue the ”Triple Crown” saga at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.

Countless fans discussed words like ”re-emergence” and ”domination” with similar meanings.

Naturally, Mourinho received the club’s request to promote Chen Zhong. But contrary to promoting other players or coaches, this ”Special One” was uncharacteristically silent. Regarding this, Real Madrid didn’t ”force” Mourinho too much but used its network to have others rally support.

Former Real Madrid coach Schuster also came without an invitation. He hadn’t found a job for some time, apparently due to his poor performance in his second season at Real Madrid and blasting the high-level management, which made other clubs wary.

He publicly expressed his surprise at Chen Zhong’s progress to the media and said, ”If back then, he had such ability, I too could have led the team to achieve better results. He could have already won the Ballon d’Or.”

Aside from Schuster, Ancelotti, who had collaborated with Chen Zhong before, also praised his performance. Other players who once played for Real Madrid or Milan stood up to speak for Chen Zhong.

Like Raul, Guti.

Like Inzaghi, Beckham.

While Barcelona hadn’t decided whom to support yet, Real Madrid was already going all out.

Anyone with keen eyes could feel it: Real Madrid was promoting Chen Zhong, hoping to award the first Ballon d’Or winner after its reform.

As a result, even domestically and across Asia, many people closely followed this event.

If Chen Zhong indeed wins the Ballon d’Or in 2010, he would be the first Asian to receive the European Golden Ball Award.

Real Madrid’s promotion was in full swing, and during this time, preparations for the first meeting with Mourinho were underway within the team.

Mourinho, also known as ”The Special One,” likes to have absolute control over the locker room.

But Real Madrid has always had a tradition of locker room leaders: previously, it was Yeluo, then Raul, and now it’s Chen Zhong.

Real Madrid’s locker room is considered relatively stable now. Chen Zhong can’t be called the boss, more like the main figure, with Casillas and Ramos also having a say.

It must be said this period marked one of the most stable times in Real Madrid’s locker room.

Hardly any disturbances occurred in Real Madrid’s locker room last season, and under Chen Zhong’s lead, situations like the ”overnight stays” from the first season during Schuster’s period almost disappeared.

The only negative report was the Benzema incident that surfaced during the Champions League semifinal.

Many external media were anticipating a ”clash” between Mourinho and the locker room. Everyone knew the type of character Mourinho was.

Some even started narrating Real Madrid’s situation based on last season’s Barcelona story.

They believed Mourinho and Chen Zhong were like Guardiola and Ibrahimovic.

There was a real possibility of the team falling into internal friction.

But regardless, Real Madrid had decided that Mourinho would be the head coach.

The first meeting between the coach and players was about to begin.

In the locker room, the players sat lined up, waiting for the coach to appear.

Soon, the door was pushed open, and the newly crowned champion coach appeared spiritedly before them.