I AM the Football Star

Chapter 707 - 180: Europa League Semifinals, Return to Meazza!

"Barça’s two big stars scored, drawing 2-2 with Milan!"

"Moreira and Mateo exchange assists and goals, Izalelt scores twice to balance Barça!"

"Brazilian showdown! Football Elf Moreira VS Son of God Izalelt, this round ends in a draw!"

"Battle for the new king! Argentine king Mateo succeeds Moreira, matching the national team heir Izalelt with a goal and an assist!"

"Champions League semi-final first leg! AC Milan ties 2-2 with Barça, Bayern Munich wins big 3-1 over Manchester United!"

"Champions League preview! Serie A or La Liga, which is the world’s top league? Premier League’s next Champions League trophy expected in a few years!"

Story!

This year’s Champions League is full of stories.

The competition between the Premier League and La Liga for the title of the world’s top league is intense.

Yet, both are evenly matched in top honors.

Previously, La Liga’s Real Madrid seized the Champions League thanks to Zidane’s Celestial Flying Immortal, then Premier League Liverpool made a comeback to beat AC Milan and also lift the trophy.

Neither can be said to suppress the other.

Their rivalry is sure to continue for years.

Experts analyze that La Liga is likely to become the world’s top league sooner.

Because La Liga moves slightly ahead of the Premier League.

Currently, almost all of the world’s biggest stars are in La Liga, not the Premier League.

While Gutierrez is certainly at his peak, he’s only risen in recent years, and he’s the sole standout.

Other eras’ giants have been largely acquired by La Liga’s two titans.

Barça’s headliner Assis Moreira, known as the Football Elf.

Real Madrid’s headliner Nazario Lima, known as Alien.

This Champions League semi-final is splendid because of these stars.

Especially Assis Moreira.

Moreira is a Brazilian, one of Brazil National Team’s top leaders.

Izalelt is also Brazilian, a rising star in the Brazil National Team.

There’s a sense of inheritance between them.

Similarly, Moreira is Barça’s headliner, while Mateo is Barça’s homegrown top talent, a ruler of the Argentina National Team.

Though young, Mateo is already known as the Argentine king, destined to succeed Moreira at Barça.

A legacy exists between Mateo and Moreira.

Two heirs for one queen, how can a top stronghold have two successors?

Moreira’s popularity, fame, and fans can only be inherited by one person.

Will it be Mateo or Izalelt?

The media is buzzing because of this.

The battle between Barça and AC Milan is especially intense with this significance.

"Izalelt is simply absurd!" Morici commented on Barça and AC Milan’s semi-final first leg, "Both teams played at such high levels, it was like a divine match."

Lu Yang also watched the match and nodded, "There might be room for improvement in personnel setup and specific tactics. But in terms of tactical philosophy, this match will be considered classic and enlightening even in ten or fifteen years."

Gudiola, in just one season, instilled Barça with limitless rotations.

But unfortunately, it’s centered on Assis Moreira, not Mateo.

The same tactics with different cores result in different expressions, even essence.

Moreira’s imaginative mind, and the mechanical running concept of limitless rotations, actually contradict each other.

This is why Moreira’s performance in the league this year has fluctuated greatly.

Contrarily, Mateo thrives under these tactics, posting explosive data this year, perhaps outperforming the headliner Moreira.

On the other side, Izalelt’s aggressive playstyle and Praxedes’ perfect back-up defense curbed limitless rotations to some extent.

Players like Praxedes, who are super support defenders, might become rare.

But he provided the ideal template for limiting limitless rotations.

In the future, single center-backs or full-backs might struggle to match Praxedes’ impact. Can four defenders together achieve Praxedes’ defensive effectiveness?

The answer is likely yes.

Thus... this match might seem just exciting now.

But ten years later, this semi-final will be classic among classics.

Because the most popular and countering tactics from ten years later were already on display a decade ago!

This is a match that defeated time.

The final victor will surely become a king of this era!

...

After the Champions League semi-final, it’s the UEFA Europa League semi-final.

In the knockout stage, home and away games are decided by draw.

This round begins at Inter’s home, then moves to San Remo’s home.

Milan City, San Siro stadium!

San Remo’s bus drives in slowly.

It’s not the first time the players of San Remo have come to this stadium.

A year ago, they defeated the invincible AC Milan on this pitch.

Back then, this stadium was called San Siro.

But whether it’s called San Siro or Meazza, it doesn’t matter.

What’s important is that San Remo’s opponents are extremely strong.

They’re one of the rulers of the entire Serie A.

As everyone knows, Serie A teams and Serie A rulers are different.

To put it harshly, even if Florence and Rome rank higher than AC Milan and Inter this season, sometimes even higher than Juventus, but... their intimidating power isn’t as strong as Juventus, Milan, and Inter.