I AM the Football Star

Chapter 688 177: Lu Yang's Football Utopia, Football Traitor! (Part 2)

The first time they reached the UEFA Europa League, they made it to the semifinals, truly a dark horse.

Moreover, they even faced off against top-tier teams from the Russian Super League, Belgian First Division A, Portuguese Super League, Bundesliga, and Eredivisie, and their influence began to radiate from these regions.

San Remo has officially risen to fame in Europe.

But the only concern for San Remo fans might be Morici's absence due to injury.

Can they hold on for almost a month?

This is different from Morici's absence in the first half of last season.

This is the most stressful month.

However, unlike last time when everyone was pessimistic about this matter, this time, San Remo fans have ample confidence to endure this tough period.

Because San Remo is no longer that lower-league team from before.

They are now the dominant team in Serie B, and they have started to develop their own strong mentality!

...

"Serie B Dark Horse Strikes Again! San Remo Crushes Amsterdam 5-0!"

"Serie A's Pay-raise Forward Scores Again! Inter Reaches Europa League Semifinals, Aiming for the Title!"

"No Competition! Premier League Giant Arsenal Charges into the Semifinals, Championship in the Bag!"

"La Liga Spotlight! Bat Corps Valencia Reaches the Semifinals, Shining Alongside Barça!"

The Europa League semifinalists are hot off the press.

Italian teams occupy two spots!

Suddenly, the four Champions League teams AC Milan, Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Manchester United, and the four Europa League teams San Remo, Inter Milan, Arsenal, Valencia became the eight most watched teams.

Because the two highest team honors of this year's European competition will be born among them.

Italy, Premier League, La Liga, all have the potential to sweep and win both the Champions League and Europa League!

If such a situation occurs, it will be a golden era for the leagues.

While it has happened before, in the century-long history of football, it's occurred only a dozen times.

Each time, it brought huge profits and long-lasting impacts of three to five years to the league.

"Ding! You've led the team into the UEFA Europa League semifinals! Player reward acquired: Free Winger, Fancy Shot, received 3 Essence Points, and 5 Basic Points."

"Free Winger: When active on the wing, your ability will slightly increase. Your fallback support will better match the timing, and you will prefer cutting inside, but your cut-ins will happen earlier."

"Fancy Shot: Your shooting will no longer be limited to both feet and the head. You can come up with bolder ideas. The goal rate in unconventional situations will improve."

While reading the news, I received the system rewards.

Lu Yang hadn't received a system reward for a while, partly because his level had surpassed the league's level.

His strength in ordinary Serie B matches could no longer earn him bonuses.

Perhaps a strong showdown would.

On the other hand, this also showed the system's assessment of the Europa League.

The last system reward was for advancing out of the group stage.

This time, it's for the semifinals.

From this, it is clear that the system does not place significant importance on advancing to the round of 32, 16, or 8 in European competition.

Especially the round of 16 and 8, the levels are not significantly different.

But the semifinals are often a turning point in a cup competition.

From the semifinals onward, the attention increases greatly.

This is also why England, after reaching the World Cup semifinals, managed to shed its nickname as the "European Chinese Team."

Because the quarterfinals are not considered strong, but the semifinals truly are!

The additions from the two skills were all added to Lu Yang's max-level attributes, converting into two Basic Points.

A total of seven Basic Points and three Essence Points.

Defensive Positioning 74-80

Set Pieces 76-80

Blocking 74-78

Foot Power 80-83

"Lu, we should go." Sofia came out of the dressing room, dressed and ready.

Today they are going to attend the Sanremo Music Festival.

Yes, the special guest Sofia invited was Lu Yang.

And Lu Yang indeed made time from his busy schedule to accompany Sofia.

Although many media outlets might criticize him for this, considering both he and Sofia have investments in the movie "Gone Girl," attending the event isn't too out of line.

After all, how much does playing football for a year really earn?

But how much did "The Invisible Guest" bring to Lu Yang?

Moreover, as one of the investors this time, as long as the movie's performance is not too poor, Lu Yang stands to earn possibly more than he did from "The Invisible Guest."

If the movie becomes a hit, Lu Yang's earnings may even reach eight figures—in Euros!

That's money many players can't earn even in a lifetime of playing football.

And it doesn't require Lu Yang to spend much time, just attending a few events a year.

Of course, Lu Yang isn't doing this just for the money.

On one hand, Sofia never misses Lu Yang's crucial matches, so Lu Yang doesn't want to miss Sofia's important moments either.

On the other hand, Lu Yang indeed needs some funds to enrich his football career.

The Football Foundation in China, which requires annual investments, though not a burden on Lu Yang, he does need to allocate a portion of his salary to bring new fields, shoes, balls, and even semi-professional training and education to football-loving children.

At the same time, Lu Yang is also starting to form his own personal team.

To move smoothly forward, one makes plenty of wrong decisions in a lifetime.