I Am Scouted by Real Madrid

Chapter 615: Chapter 62: Battle for Number One (Part 2)

The reporter raised an eyebrow at Chen Zhong, then continued to ask, ”Alright! You’re right, before the match, some media said that Barcelona’s football holds an unshakeable position, whether in style or personnel combination, Real Madrid is unable to compete with them. Now that you have won this game, does it mean that you have seized leadership in La Liga?”

”Moreover, it’s worth mentioning that this game was watched by over 400 million fans in various ways. Do you think Real Madrid has now completely suppressed Barcelona?”

When Guardiola led Barcelona to win six trophies and captured the hearts of Spanish fans with possession football, many people believed Real Madrid needed to hibernate for a while, and that La Liga and even world football would be dominated by Barcelona.

Even last season, Real Madrid was the better-performing team, but after Mourinho’s appointment, many media outlets still believed that even with Chen Zhong, C. Ronaldo, and Kaka, Real Madrid still had a lot of work and preparation to do to compete against Barcelona.

Even before the match, Spain’s ”World Newspaper” commented that, although theoretically, this was the most evenly matched Real Madrid and Barcelona in years, Barcelona’s collectivism was certainly more in line with modern football than Real Madrid’s individualism.

A playing machine will defeat the killing machine Mourinho is trying to build.

In reality, during the match, Real Madrid was also able to cooperate with short passes, and Barcelona wasn’t exactly a ”killing machine,” as their fouls and yellow cards were not few.

”This is just one game, and if there isn’t a reasonably matched opponent, it’s not a good thing for the team. In some sense, we only gained three points. Although we are leading in the standings, the season isn’t over yet, and we need to remain vigilant and keep working hard.”

”Additionally, football has never been about simple calculations. A victory in one game doesn’t mean much; strong teams can also be defeated by weaker ones, and we still need to strive to improve ourselves.”

”I’ve also heard those comments, with some reporters saying this is the best Barcelona, even the best team they’ve seen since they started appreciating football matches.”

”In 30 years, that reporter said they’ve seen many legendary teams, such as the once magical AC Milan, Real Madrid with the ’Five Eagles’, Cruyff’s Dream Team, and the Real Madrid of Zidane and Figo, but none have reached the historical heights of Guardiola’s Barcelona.”

At this point, Chen Zhong paused for a moment, looked at the reporters below, and smiled, ”But even such a Barcelona was still defeated by us at home.”

Perhaps at the beginning of the season, many were still saying things like Guardiola’s Barcelona had become the best in history, but that night, when Barcelona was once again defeated by Chen Zhong-led Real Madrid, such voices undoubtedly diminished considerably.

Even after the match, some people specifically captured the bewildered expressions of Barcelona players at the moment when Chen Zhong scored the winning goal. Evidently, in that moment, Guardiola’s disciples felt despair about victory.

Their perfect football seemed to become less perfect in front of Real Madrid.

And before the match, there was a strong push, saying that if Xavi couldn’t win the Ballon d’Or and Iniesta couldn’t win the Ballon d’Or, it would be a disgrace to football, but now nobody talks about it anymore.

Even Spain’s ”El País” changed its stance after the match, admitting that if we’re talking about football, despite Barcelona’s excellent performances before, Real Madrid was obviously more authoritative.

And the ”Daily Sports” from Catalonia, which was previously in a ”climax,” also became silent.

In the end, the reporter also asked Chen Zhong about his view on Messi, pointing out for the first time the competition for the ”world’s best.”

”World’s best?” Chen Zhong looked at the reporter and smiled, ”Cristiano once said that we are not players in the same position; I should be discussed together with Xavi and Iniesta.”

Chen Zhong’s statement can actually be interpreted in many ways, but in reality, he just didn’t want to provoke Cristiano Ronaldo’s competitive spirit.

The two have practiced together at night countless times.

Sometimes, Cristiano Ronaldo always secretly competes with Chen Zhong, if Chen Zhong practices once, he would practice twice; if Chen Zhong practices twice, he would practice three times.

Even in things like playing table tennis or making dumplings, they would have a match with Chen Zhong.

In this season, although there is no apparent problem between the two, there is actually some understory tension and rift. If today Chen Zhong had agreed with the reporter’s words, it would have torn off that layer of pretense, and this way of answering was appropriate according to Chen Zhong.

Of course, Xavi and Iniesta certainly didn’t want to be placed in the same discussion as Chen Zhong, after all, Chen Zhong’s terrifying statistics don’t look like those of a midfielder.

It’s like if a test paper is only 100 points, but others use a 150-point paper to compare scores, the problem is both can get a perfect score, which is ridiculous.

However, Chen Zhong overestimated the journalists’ ethical issues; he didn’t know that after this interview, some tabloids even published headlines like ”Chen: Messi and Ronaldo don’t deserve to be compared with me; they are just in a different class.”

After this match ended, media around the world commented on this national derby.

Italy’s ”Milan Sports Newspaper” had the headline ”Real Madrid Like Divine Help, Guardiola Hard to Win.”

The article stated that Real Madrid defeated Barcelona at the Camp Nou, continuing to secure the top position in the league standings, and Chen Zhong’s outstanding performance was key to Real Madrid’s comeback victory. This player, who once played for Milan, has now demonstrated his leadership qualities at the Camp Nou, leading his team to a spectacular comeback.

Argentina’s ”Ole” described this match as a ”cheer-inducing strike,” praising Chen Zhong for foiling Barcelona’s historic victory over Real Madrid. Although Messi contributed with assists and goals, he couldn’t help Barcelona win. This newspaper even suggested that if Messi had the leadership qualities of Chen Zhong, perhaps Argentina could have gone further on the World Cup stage.

The UK’s ”The Sun” said that in the competition for the world’s best, Chen Zhong defeated Messi. People once thought that Messi and C. Ronaldo would contest the world’s best throne, but in this match, Chen Zhong not only eclipsed Ballon d’Or contenders Xavi and Iniesta but also demonstrated what a Ballon d’Or winner should embody, even comparing Chen Zhong to Cantona, suggesting he was a more modest version of Cantona.

Portugal’s ”Record” believed that Barcelona had shown a very high level, but Real Madrid possessed Guardiola’s most admired Chen Zhong. Perhaps Barcelona’s true historical peak was just short of a Chen Zhong.

Lastly, regarding domestic reports, Chen Zhong’s parents specifically called to inquire. Now, the football movement is booming domestically, but strangely, there’s no news about recruiting Chen Zhong into the national team.

The top is unsure how to handle it, while some at the bottom don’t want Chen Zhong to be affected by the back-and-forth travel.

In summary, it strangely maintains a delicate balance.