Chapter 420: Awards, draws, winning cups
Just became a father, Wang Feng immersed himself in happiness, spending all his time with his wife and daughter. To the point where he requested leave from the club and coaching staff again, not attending the Real Madrid Spanish Super Cup match.
"Is this okay?" Lu Yao asked with a worried expression as she looked at Wang Feng, who was playing with their baby, "Of course, it's fine. The Spanish Super Cup is a relatively trivial match, and besides, Real Madrid won the first leg away."
"I've been with Real Madrid for only two years, and my attendance rate is consistently at the top among club players in history. Occasionally wanting to take a break is very normal, so don't worry."
"Besides, I won't be able to accompany you for a few days again. At the end of the month, I have to go to Monaco, sigh." Wang Feng sighed and said, these days of running around would probably continue as long as he didn't retire from the top five leagues.
Lu Yao walked up and touched Wang Feng's head, putting his face on her chest, "It's okay, Feng ge. Both I and the child are your strong support."
In the second leg of the Spanish Super Cup, Real Madrid hosted Valencia at home. Sneijder opened the scoring for the Galacticos, and although Valencia equalized in the second half, due to the victory in the first leg, the Galacticos ultimately lifted the first trophy of the new season with a total score of 3:2.
After the match, head coach Schuster answered the media's questions about Wang Feng's absence, "Wang just received a little angel, and family companionship is crucial at this time."
"Injury? I'm sorry, we've conducted a detailed examination of his body, and Wang Feng is very healthy, in excellent condition. And you'll be able to see him again very soon."
Returning to the familiar Real Madrid Sports City and greeting his teammates one by one, Wang Feng quickly immersed himself in training. Soon, they headed to Monaco to compete for the UEFA Super Cup against last season's UEFA Champions League winners, Zenit Saint Petersburg from the Russian Premier League.
This is a football club located in Saint Petersburg. Originally just a mid-table team in the league, with Gazprom's acquisition of the club's controlling rights, a steady stream of funds has been injected into the team.
They finished as runners-up in the Russian Premier League in 2002, won the Russian Cup in 2003, and by 2007, the team reached its peak. The lineup built by Dutch coach Advocaat was invincible in the UEFA Cup, defeating strong opponents such as Marseille, Villarreal, and Bayer Leverkusen.
Even in the semi-finals, they thrashed Bayern Munich 5:1 over two legs. At that time, Dong Fangzhuo had complained to Wang Feng over the phone. Despite Bayern being somewhat complacent, Zenit's formidable strength was equally formidable.
Their eventual victory over Glasgow Rangers in the final was a matter of course. Now the entire team is regarded as national heroes, and with such momentum, they naturally want to create history again and win the first UEFA Super Cup for the Russian Premier League.
Head coach Schuster dared not be careless. After winning the Spanish Super Cup, he only gave the players a day off before gathering for training again, until Wang Feng returned to the team and they went to Monaco together.
Of course, there was an important event before the match, which was the UEFA Annual Awards Ceremony and the UEFA Champions League group stage draw. Wang Feng, dressed in a suit, sat relaxedly in the audience. Stars like Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, and Fernando Torres also attended the ceremony.
The result was not unexpected. Wang Feng successfully won his fifth UEFA Club Footballer of the Year award. Originally, the European Championship year would consider players' performances in cup matches, but the biggest winners were from Spain.
At the same time, the only players to win both the Champions League and the European Championship were Real Madrid's Casillas and Ramos. Other players with outstanding cup performances, such as Torres at Liverpool, Villa at Valencia, and Xavi at Barcelona, all had mediocre club results.
So the media speculated that this year's annual award was most likely to belong to the Chinese superstar, and the UEFA Club Footballer of the Year award, which UEFA presented first, was just the prelude. Of course, everything still depends on Wang Feng's performance in the second half of the year.
As for the draw for the Champions League group stage. The teams in the same group as Real Madrid were BATE Borisov from the Belarusian Premier League, Zenit Saint Petersburg from the Russian Premier League, and Juventus from Serie A. The situation for advancing was very optimistic.
BATE finally secured a place in the group stage after several qualification rounds, Zenit Saint Petersburg could test the waters through the UEFA Super Cup match. And Juventus, after the Phonegate scandal, finally eased back into the top European competition, but they probably couldn't maintain their past dominance.
As for the other three Spanish teams, Barcelona was grouped with Lisbon's Sporting, Shakhtar Donetsk, and Basel, which was overall considered a decent draw.
Villarreal was grouped with Manchester United, Aalborg, and Celtic, apart from the mountain that is Manchester United, the other two opponents were relatively easy to deal with, and securing second place in the group was the Yellow Submarine's main goal.
Sevilla was in a rather miserable situation, grouped with Liverpool, Marseille, and Eintracht Frankfurt, their chances seemed slim.
The night after the awards ceremony, the UEFA Super Cup officially kicked off at the Louis II Stadium in Monaco. The two teams were Real Madrid and Zenit Saint Petersburg.
Real Madrid's lineup remained largely unchanged from last season, with Casillas in goal.
The defense consisted of Marcelo, Ashley Cole, Pepe, and Ramos.
The midfield comprised Sneijder, Gago, Diarra, and Robben.
The forwards were Raul and Wang Feng.
Due to his poor performance, Heinze gradually faded out of the starting lineup, and Guti was gradually replaced by the younger Gago, but he himself was very open-minded, "I want to retire at Real Madrid, even if I eventually lose my place in the starting lineup, it doesn't matter."
On the other side, Zenit Saint Petersburg had their core players from last season, Arshavin, Timoshyuk, and Bugaevnyak, all of whom were favored by top European clubs, but for various reasons, they didn't leave in the summer transfer window.
After the start of the match, Zenit immediately launched an attack against the Galacticos. Arshavin suddenly shot from outside the penalty area, almost piercing Casillas' fingers.
In the following ten minutes, the Russian Premier League newcomers continued to launch attacks, pressing high up the field, which made Wang Feng unable to help but feel angry. Did they really not take Real Madrid seriously and openly started attacking?
In the 17th minute, after Cole stole the ball in the backcourt and passed it to Sneijder, the latter immediately lofted a ball to the front court. Wang Feng instantly accelerated to shake off the defensive entanglement and arrived near the dropping point. He raised his right foot to flick the ball, which flew over the head of Aniukov, who was rushing to intercept.
Subsequently, the Chinese superstar dribbled the ball straight into the opponent's penalty area, swerving past the last defender, and facing the onrushing goalkeeper, he calmly chipped the ball into the net, 1:0!
Just 7 minutes later, Real Madrid won the ball in the backcourt again. Robben quickly brought the ball past the midfield line and passed it to the Chinese superstar once more. He then powerfully dribbled past the opposing defender, entered the penalty area, and shot to the far corner, 2:0!
It's too easy compared to playing for the national team! Because Real Madrid's midfield and defense are not weak, Wang Feng can often stay in the frontcourt waiting for opportunities, and his teammates can pass the ball to him.
Plus, Zenit's lineup was pressing high, so as long as he ran, he would inevitably create one-on-one opportunities, and scoring goals would be a breeze.
Seeing the unfavorable situation, Zenit immediately adjusted their strategy, withdrawing widely to stabilize their defense while waiting for a counterattack. This was their ace in the hole that led to success last season.
Head coach Advocaat slapped his head in frustration. It seemed he shouldn't have believed too much in the exaggerated reports. Just moments before the match, he actually thought his team could compete with the Galacticos, which was simply too arrogant. It's better to play honestly like a weaker team.
This adjustment worked well. Although Real Madrid regained control of the ball and had the upper hand on the field, they failed to score again. Instead, Zenit managed to pull one back through a counterattack by Malafeev, reigniting hopes of a comeback.
However, in the 56th minute of the second half, Wang Feng unleashed a long-range shot from outside the penalty area once again, blasting open the gate of the Russian powerhouse, and extending the score to 3:1. The Chinese superstar returned with a hat-trick in his first game back, his fiery form visibly evident.
Subsequently, Robben and Timoshyuk each scored a goal, locking the final score at 4:2, and the Galacticos successfully defended their UEFA Super Cup title, clinching their second trophy of the season!
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