Chapter 619: The Ultimate Showdown on the Pinnacle Stage
As La Liga slowly drew to a close, the final results were presented to everyone. Real Madrid finished first with 32 wins, 5 draws, 1 loss, and 101 points, while Barcelona secured second place with 33 wins, 2 draws, 3 losses, also with 101 points, but due to goal difference, they fell behind.
The competition between the two teams was brutal and tragic!
The Catalan team once again settled for the runner-up position by a mere goal, a bitter achievement indeed.
Messi's last-minute cry of despair was deeply etched in the minds of all Catalan fans, becoming their eternal scar. Fortunately, the Argentine's injury was not too severe, and with a month's rest, he would recover without affecting his participation in the next season.
But could they really make it next season? Every year, everyone would console themselves that next time they would surely succeed, and at the beginning of each season, they would lead with various winning streaks, yet all their efforts would turn to nothing in the end.
Barcelona's head coach, Roura, attributed the failure to win the title mainly to the two losses to Real Madrid in the El Clásico matches, stating, "The advantage and initiative were actually in our hands all along, until the opponent won the two matches, and the balance gradually tilted in their favor."
Except for the loss to Valencia in the first round of the league, the Galaxy Battleship set a record of 37 consecutive unbeaten matches, breaking new historical ground in La Liga, and winning the championship was the best reward for them.
Roura highly praised the players' spirit of fighting, taking all the blame for the losses himself, and announced his resignation as Barcelona's head coach on the spot. The club would once again embark on the annual task of finding a new head coach.
Atletico Madrid finished third in the league, with a record of 23 wins, 7 draws, 8 losses, and only 76 points. This made everyone sigh with emotion that the "Spanish Super" was indeed worthy of its name, with Real Madrid and Barcelona playing at a higher level, far ahead of the other 18 teams.
The last Champions League spot was snatched by Real Sociedad, with a record of 18 wins, 12 draws, 8 losses, and 66 points, just one point higher than Valencia, making the race for the top four equally exciting.
The relegated teams this season were Zaragoza, Deportivo La Coru?a, and Mallorca, while Celta Vigo narrowly avoided relegation by one point.
The three teams promoted from the Segunda División this season were Eibar, Almería, and Villarreal, after experiencing a season in the second division, the Yellow Submarine smoothly returned to the top league.
Messi won the La Liga Golden Boot and the European Golden Boot for the first time in his career with 46 goals, which was a somewhat comforting consolation prize.
Wang Feng scored 30 league goals and provided 39 assists, achieving the rare feat of scoring more than 30 goals and providing more than 30 assists, and his total number of passes was 3087, higher than Barcelona's Xavi with 2886 and Busquets with 2334.
The Spanish newspaper "El País" sighed that the Chinese superstar was the most important guarantee for the Galaxy Battleship to compete with the Catalan team and achieve victory this season.
"Wang Feng has shown a completely new style of play to the world. He is no longer just scoring goals prolifically but also displaying fierce defense and excellent attacking organization. The fact proves that he is capable of anything and has the absolute strength to dominate the football world!"
"Marca" detailed the hardships Real Madrid had gone through throughout the season. They suffered injuries one after another at the beginning of the season and even fell behind Barcelona by as much as 7 points at one point.
At this time, the Chinese superstar stepped forward to shoulder the defensive flag. With his efforts, the club only conceded 27 goals this season, which was incredible for a defense depleted by injuries.
For this, Wang Feng also paid the price of losing the European Golden Boot award that he had held for 11 consecutive years. "It's not that he doesn't have the ability, but he prioritizes tasks that the team needs more," said the report.
"El Mundo Deportivo" wrote an article titled "Tragic Barcelona, Tragic Messi", pointing out that this season was the closest Barcelona had been to the championship trophy.
"Whether it's head coach Roura or core player Messi, they have done their best. Perhaps at this moment, we shouldn't blame too much. Let's admit it, folks, Barcelona just can't beat Real Madrid led by Wang Feng now."
For a while, the trend of "surrender" was prevailing, but most people said that winning or losing didn't matter, and when a new showdown arrived, they would become passionate again.
As usual, the trophy for the La Liga champions, which was only decided in the final rounds, would have to wait until the beginning of the next season to be awarded. Real Madrid's journey was not over yet; they needed to go to Wembley Stadium in England to battle Bayern Munich.
Wang Feng vs. Dong Fangzhuo, the true pinnacle of Europe, the Chinese derby!
This was a sweet trouble for all domestic fans. Which team should they support?
The largest portal website held a large-scale voting activity, with nearly 200 million fans participating. The results showed a slight advantage for those supporting Dong Fangzhuo.
Their reason was simple: Dong Fangzhuo is currently the only Chinese player who can come close to Wang Feng, and Bayern had just defeated Dortmund to win the league title. If he helped the team win the double now, could he possibly contend for this year's Ballon d'Or?
Fans supporting Wang Feng believed that from a competitive perspective, his level was higher and more likely to lead the team to victory.
There was also a considerable number of onlookers who felt that winning or losing didn't matter; as long as they could witness a thrilling contest on the pinnacle stage, they would have no regrets in this lifetime!
Compared to Real Madrid rushing to London, Bayern had already been here for almost two weeks, which had some connotations of sitting back and waiting. There was no way around it; after all, who made the Bundesliga schedule so easy?
"Real Madrid has never been afraid of Bayern Munich!" On the eve of the final, Ancelotti said at the mobilization meeting, "We have met them twice in the semifinals before, and both times we crossed over them to lift the trophy!"
In the end, both teams' lineups and tactical arrangements were almost completely transparent. Momentum and strength played an important role, so to win the game, they had to concentrate their will to move forward and fully mobilize the individual abilities of the players.
Facing the coach's encouragement, everyone was itching to try. They had just won a tough battle and were in a period of high morale. Moreover, with the king of finals, Wang Feng, leading the charge, they inadvertently added a lot of confidence to their teammates.
When there was still an hour before the kickoff, Wembley Stadium was already packed with people. Tens of thousands of fans lined up to enter through various entrances, with Asian faces occupying a prominent position among them.
Most of them were international students who had come from all over Europe to support the event, and there were also some fans who had flown all the way from China. Their goal was only one: to witness the historic moment of the Chinese players' Champions League showdown!
"Ladies and gentlemen, we see the players from both sides entering the field to begin their final warm-up," said the reporter from the sidelines sports channel, pointing behind her to introduce.
To warm up, the sports channel started broadcasting comprehensively three hours in advance, inviting football commentators to analyze the situation of the match, connect with reporters on-site to report real-time conditions, and so on.
"The atmosphere between the two teams before the match seems relatively relaxed. Just now, Wang Feng found Dong Fangzhuo and Robben from Bayern and exchanged a few words."
"Although we couldn't hear what they were specifically talking about, all of them had smiles on their faces. They should be congratulating each other on winning their respective league titles."
"Since the semi-finals, the Champions League has completely turned into a collision between La Liga and the Bundesliga. Now that the champions of the two leagues meet at the pinnacle, it is bound to spark a brilliant clash."
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