The Legendary Chairman Novel - Chapter 382
382 Enter the Quarter-Finals of the UEFA Cup
“Hua Jin?” Iputa asked, slightly startled.
Zhong Cheng nodded slightly and said, “Yes, it’s Hua Jin!”
Iputa frowned and said, “Joaquin is not for sale at our Royal Betis. We have no intention of selling him.”
Zhong Cheng chuckled and said, “Since your club doesn’t have such an intention now, we’ll talk about it later. I admire Hua Jin very much!”
After saying that, Zhong Cheng shook hands with Iputa and turned around to leave.
Seeing Zhong Cheng turn around and leave, Iputa was slightly stunned. Where did he know that Watkin wanted to leave Royal Betis now? Joaquin didn’t have the slightest intention of leaving Royal Betis, did he?
Iputa shook his head and thought to himself, “You won’t be able to take Joaquin with you for the rest of your life. He will stay at our club until he retires!”
Just as the thought flashed through his mind, Iputa smiled bitterly.
To tell the truth, even he himself did not believe that Watkin would stay at Royal Betis for the rest of his life. This was a completely idealized state.
However, Iputa knows one thing. If Real Betis can’t do better in the UEFA Cup this season, then Real Betis will be in danger. It’s hard to say, but in the future, Real Betis will really have to sell out their stars in order to survive.
Right now, Real Betis is in a very awkward situation. If they return to their main talent in a week and they can’t win against United, then their season will be over.
Iputa was also in a very bad situation, so she might be fired early!
The second leg of the match between the two sides is very important for Iputa!
Ipeta is now determined to return to the home ground and bring this disadvantage back to the top eight of the UEFA Cup.
Real Betis left England and flew back to Spain.
Meanwhile, Zhong Cheng is leading his players to train well and participate in the 30th Premier League match of the season. In this match, Leeds United played at home against Portsmouth.
The day before Leeds United’s game against Portsmouth, Chelsea were away to Fulham.
Zhong Cheng and Leeds United were paying close attention to Chelsea’s match. Zhong Cheng watched the match on TV. To Chelsea’s excitement, the Chelsea man flipped over in the game, and Fulham midfielder Horse Blanc checked out a leak in the small box and beat Chelsea 1-0 to stop them from moving forward.
This was a chance for Leeds United. The next day, all Leeds fans came to the Ellen Road Stadium in high spirits. They firmly believed that the team could catch up to or even surpass Chelsea in this round of matches.
Zhong Cheng was full of confidence in this match. He firmly believed that the opportunity had come.
Zhong Cheng, who was wearing a white suit, was very serious. He kept directing the Leeds United team on the sidelines, giving them detailed instructions and commanding them in a comprehensive manner.
But in this match, Leeds United lost 2-4 to Portsmouth.
In this match, the Leeds United had their own problems. With a 2-0 lead in the first half, both Gourcuff and Maniche were angered by the Portsmouth players in the second half. They received a red card and were sent off.
After the two were sent off, the situation changed drastically. Portsmouth scored two penalty kicks in succession, and in the end, the Leeds United team lost 2-4 miserably.
Zhong Cheng was very depressed, speechless, and his face was ashen.
In the dressing room after the game, Zhong Cheng scolded the Leeds United players, especially Gourcuff and Maniche, who were too reckless on the pitch. If it weren’t for these two guys, Leeds United would have won this match.
Leeds United had a great chance of catching up to Chelsea, but they lost.
Zhong Cheng was very annoyed and in a very bad mood. When the reporters were interviewing him face-to-face. Zhong Cheng said: “This is entirely my problem. During the break, my players and I were too excited and excited. We seemed to have forgotten that we still need half a game to ensure victory. The responsibility for this game rests with me!”
Yes, Zhong Cheng had defended himself from all the blame.
Zhong Cheng did not want his players to be affected by these criticisms and discussions, because at this time the Premier League game was really too important. Zhong Cheng did not want his players to be affected by these problems in the upcoming matches, which would affect his performance and Leeds United’s performance.
Zhong Cheng blamed all the questions on him, so the media reporters naturally poured dirty water on Zhong Cheng’s body crazily. Zhong Cheng had been under a lot of pressure lately, and he had received a lot of criticism.
Zhong Cheng ignored it. He put more thought into the competition.
The Chelsea man breathed a sigh of relief as Zhong Cheng prepared for the second leg of the UEFA Cup knockout round. Fortunately, the Leeds United did not seize the opportunity to close the gap with them. If that’s the case, the Chelsea man will definitely hate himself.
This reminds the Chelsea men that they will not be able to give Leeds United another chance in the upcoming game, otherwise they will not be able to keep their place at the top of the Premier League.
Chelsea coach Jos é Mourinho said: “Right now, the race for the Premier League title has only just begun. At this time we need stability. Only by steadily winning will we be able to win the Premier League. Leeds United are good, they are our biggest threat!”
Jose Mourinho raised Zhong Cheng and Leeds United very high, I wonder if this is a bit of a hilarious question ah?
Zhong Cheng ignored Jose Mourinho’s thoughts as he flew to Spain.
Here, Zhong Cheng is leading his players to the second leg of the UEFA Cup knockout round against Real Betis. In the first leg, Leeds United beat Real Betis 3-0 with a hat-trick from Huntelaar, almost one foot into the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup.
Now, although away from home, Leeds United have an enormous advantage and Real Betis has little chance of winning the game.
Although the Real Betis did not give up, they were frantically attacking, striving for goals and reversals.
However, in the 18th minute of the first half of the game, Leeds United striker Huntelaar received a pass and scored a 1-0 goal with a straight backhook from midfield.
The goal has almost proclaimed the death penalty for the Real Betis. Because the overall score was 4-0 and Leeds United had a goal away, Real Betis had to score at least five goals in the next game to win, which was absolutely impossible.
After obtaining a goal away from home, Zhong Cheng signaled for the Leeds United players to defend the entire line, as if they didn’t even need to retaliate. However, Zhong Cheng still hadn’t removed the Leeds United strikers and left them in the front court. This way, he could restrain the Real Betis defenders and prevent them from devoting themselves to offense.
In this match, Leeds United relied on Huntelaar’s goal to defeat Real Betis 4-0 to reach the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup this season.
Zhong Cheng was truly amazing!
Zhong Cheng led Leeds United from the Champions League to the Premier League last season, and this season they have been promoted to second place in the Premier League and to the UEFA Cup quarter-finals.
At this time, the media across England were singing praises for Leeds United and loyalty, especially for Zhong Cheng.
Zhong Cheng was praised to the heavens by many media, and he was simply comparable to being called the number one person in the entire millennium.
Countless media praised Zhong Cheng. Zhong Cheng thought that this was a kind of support. This was because they wanted him to be arrogant and defeated, so Zhong Cheng would not be tricked by these damned media reporters.
After this match, Zhong Cheng flew directly to UEFA headquarters in Switzerland because this was the final draw for the UEFA Cup quarter-finals this season. At this time, the draw will be divided into the upper and lower half. The two winning teams in the upper half will go straight to the semi-finals. The last two semi-finals will each win a team to participate in the final of the UEFA Cup this season.
Now, the last eight of this season’s UEFA Cup have all been born: Leeds United, Schalke 04, Basel, Sofia Levski, Zenit St Petersburg, Sevilla, Middlesbrough and Hamburg.
The last eight teams will be divided into two and a half divisions for the quarter-finals.
Zhong Cheng saw Middlesbrough’s head coach Steve McClaren at the drawing ceremony. McClaren was very impressive now. They were one of the strong contenders for the UEFA Cup this season, and their chances of winning the title were even at the top.
It could be seen that everyone was very optimistic about Middlesbrough now, which was why McClaren was so arrogant at this moment. None of the birds were as sincere as Bird Zhong Cheng.
Zhong Cheng completely ignored this person in front of him. The two of them didn’t like each other.
At this moment, the drawing of lots officially began. This was the last drawing of lots this season.
The first to be pulled out was Sofia Levski, who was pulled to C2, because the partition was last, with A1 versus A2, B1 versus B2, and AB in the upper half, while the CD group was the same as the AB group.
Sofia Levsky was the first to be pulled out, and the second to be pulled out was Leeds United. They were pulled to the B1 position. This time, it was a team from the upper and lower half of the region. Everyone was waiting to see.
Zhong Cheng’s gaze was fixed on the rostrum, watching the drawing of lots this time.
The third one to be pulled out is Basel. Their position is A2, which belongs to the upper half. The fourth person to be pulled out was Zenit of St. Petersburg. Their position was D1, which was in the lower half of the district.
This drawing of lots was actually one up and one down, and it was very consistent with the rules. Moreover, it was a team for each match, and any team that came next would have to be paired.
The fifth to be pulled out was Sevilla, who were in D2, meaning Zenit St Petersburg versus Sevilla. The sixth team to be pulled out was the Hamburg team. The position they pulled out was B2. Their opponent was Zhong Cheng’s Leeds United team. Leeds United’s opponent was picked, and the result was not bad.
The sixth to be drawn was Schalke 04, who took the position of C1, and their opponent was the first team to be drawn, Sofia Levski. The remaining Middlesbrough automatically entered the A1 position, their opponent was Basel.
In this way, Middlesbrough and Leeds United entered the same semi-finals. If both teams won and entered the semi-finals, the two teams would clash heavily.
The final quarter-final of the UEFA Cup this season will be like this: Middlesbrough against Basel and Leeds against Hamburg in the first half; Lower half: schalke 04 against sofia levski, st petersburg zenit against sevilla.