2018-19 Champions League Final (Part 1)
Manchester City Advances to Champions League Final!
... Manchester City defeated Juventus to advance to the Champions League final. With Manchester City reaching the final, the Champions League has become a matchup between Barcelona and Manchester City, and Manchester City is making its first-ever Champions League final appearance ...
Real Madrid Wins 2018-2019 La Liga!
... Real Madrid recorded 32 wins, 3 draws, and 3 losses, securing the La Liga title with 99 points. Barcelona finished with 31 wins, 3 draws, and 4 losses, taking second place with 96 points ...
Meanwhile, in the fierce top scorer competition, Marisol, who scored 25 goals in the second half over 17 games, took the La Liga top scorer title with a total of 31 goals (33 games). Hichardo of Atletico Madrid was second with 28 goals (35 games), and Ryu Ha-neul of Barcelona was third with 26 goals (24 games) ...
Meanwhile, in the assists ranking, Ryu Ha-neul recorded 20 assists, taking the top spot ...
Barcelona Wins Copa del Rey!
... Barcelona defeated Valencia 2-1 in the Copa del Rey final and claimed the glory of victory. Barcelona, who started ahead with Ryu Ha-neul's opening goal in the 22nd minute of the first half, ...
17-Year-Old Ryu Ha-neul Wins La Liga MVP!
Ryu Ha-neul, Barcelona's starting attacking midfielder, was selected as the La Liga best player for the 2018-19 season. Ryu Ha-neul played 24 games this season, scoring 26 goals and recording 20 assists for a total of 46 attacking points, and achieved a season rating of 8.76 ...
With this award, Ryu Ha-neul became the youngest MVP ever, saying, "It is an honor to receive this award. But I am sorry to the fans because our team could not win the championship. Next season, I really want to win the championship and make the fans happy." ...
Meanwhile, some criticized that a player who only played 24 games should not receive the league MVP, claiming that the league office was creating stars, ...
Additionally, he was named to the La Liga Best XI, adding various personal awards such as La Liga assists champion, La Liga MVP, and Best XI ...
Preview: Can Manchester City Bring the Throne to England?
... Manchester City, under the management of Floren, who led Spain's national team to three consecutive major tournament wins in 2008 Euro, 2010 World Cup, and 2012 Euro, rose as a strong team in the EPL. This season, they won the league and cup titles, leaving only the Champions League as the last piece of the treble.
After Floren took over in 2015, Manchester City used Spanish-style passing football to establish themselves as a top team in the EPL and won the league twice, including this season ...
Looking at the players, the starting striker, Albertha, who is Spain's main striker, scored 26 goals in the league and 9 goals in the Champions League this season ...
After Real Madrid won the Champions League in 2014, Barcelona in 2015, and Real Madrid from 2016 to 2018, it was no exaggeration to say that Spain's La Liga had a monopoly on world football.
Whether the first-time Champions League finalist Manchester City can defeat Barcelona and claim the European throne was a topic of great interest to many football fans ...
“Hah, we're facing Floren as the coach.”
“With Floren as coach, we have to be careful.”
A tense atmosphere hung over the players ahead of the Champions League final against Manchester City. The reason was not only the pressure of the final on such a big stage as the Champions League, but also the fact that Manchester City's coach was the legendary Floren.
Floren, who served as coach of the Spanish national team, won the major tournaments in 2008 Euro, 2010 World Cup, and 2012 Euro, leading Spain to three consecutive major tournament wins. He was also praised for completing tiki-taka tactically and was the highest-paid coach among current coaches.
After failing to advance from the 2014 World Cup qualifiers, Floren stepped down as Spain coach and moved to Manchester City. With Floren taking over, Manchester City firmly established themselves as a top team in the EPL.
Most of our core players, excluding me and my friends, were players who were with Floren, the coach of the Spanish national team at the time. Because of the memories from that time, they seemed quite worried.
... Well, from my perspective, it wasn't that worried.
Frankly, as long as the coach is at a certain level, the game is played by the players. And Angela was a good enough coach. No, actually, if we look at tactics alone, Angela was better than the coaches I met in my previous life.
Moreover, since Manchester City is also a team that plays similar passing football, the outcome of this final would depend on how well the players show their skills. And on top of that, not being tense on such a big stage as the Champions League final is important.
And in that regard, we had the advantage.
Our core players were mostly those who had experienced winning the Champions League in 2015. Although the names were similar between our team and Manchester City, having experienced big games was really important, and we were a little ahead in that aspect.
“Ha-neul, what should I do? I'm really nervous because it's my first time.”
... Camila, who has no experience, was a bit anxious, but ...
After training, in the lounge, watching Man City match video, Camila came over.
Man City match is likely to be a fast-paced passing game, so Camila was the one who was selected as the starter during training.
Lucia had big game experience and good passing, but recently she couldn't handle the pressure or follow the tempo. Valentina is good at defense, but her passing ability is a bit lacking compared to the two, and she doesn't handle pressure as well as Lucia.
But Camila is trembling like this ...
“Are you nervous?”
“... Yeah. Since it's my first time, probably.”
Camila is also 17 years old, same as me. Her birthday is a few months after mine, so she'll be 18 soon, but at this age, enduring the pressure of the Champions League final is quite difficult. No, even adult players in their mid-20s often can't show their full form in the Champions League final because they can't handle the tension.
So, it's natural that Camila is trembling before the game starts.
“Camila.”
Since Camila relieved my worries in the away game against Liverpool, now it's my turn to relieve hers.
“Yeah?”
As I stroked her hair and called her name, Camila looked up at me.
“Trust me. Just watch me. I'll take care of everything.”
“Ha-neul...”
“The Champions League final? It's nothing. It's just like any other game. Honestly, Manchester City guys are probably more nervous?”
“Y-yeah?”
“Of course. We have me on our team.”
“Pfft...”
With my sincere joke, Camila let out a small laugh.
“We are a team that can always advance, but they are a team that may not advance again this year or ever.”
“... Manchester City isn't that weak a team, right? They have Floren as coach. They have Albertha too.”
“Floren? You don't trust Angela? Honestly, if I were the coach then, Spain would have won the title? And Albertha? After all, she's just a striker for the World Cup 16th place. We have an attacking midfielder who led the World Cup best 11 and La Liga MVP to the World Cup quarterfinals.”
“Haha. Ha-neul, your self-praise has gotten too much, hasn't it?”
Now, the tension in Camila seems to be easing a bit. Whether it's really eased or not will be known when the game starts, but removing fear like this is better than just being tense a few days before the final.
Well, even if tense, as long as we don't give a penalty in the first 5 minutes, Angela was planning to substitute Lucia or Valentina, so there was no need to worry about that.
After soothing Camila, I wondered about Valentina's condition. Bruna was crazy about football from the start, so she was probably excited rather than nervous. Moreover, since Alvara and Eloya, who have rich experience, were in Bruna's place, the chance of them playing was low.
But since Valentina might start if Camila's condition wasn't good, I thought I should check on Valentina's condition.
“But, what about Tina?”
“Tina? Who knows? She's not in the room.”
If she's not in the room, the places Valentina could go are at most a couple. As I wandered looking for places Camila and Valentina might go, we easily spotted Valentina.
“Hey? What are you doing?”
“Eh? Power analysis.”
Valentina's location was in front of the game console. Seeing her playing with good posture, she didn't seem as tense as Camila.
“What, you're playing a game for power analysis?”
I glanced at the screen. Under the pretext of power analysis, the team Valentina was playing was Barcelona, and the opponent was Manchester City. Of course, the team Valentina was controlling was Barcelona.
Valentina, as always? Even before the big stage of the Champions League final, she didn't seem tense at all.
“Computer?”
“Yeah. One game?”
“You're not tense at all? The final is coming up soon, and you're playing a game.”
“Aw, what would I do if I was tense. After all, I'll be a substitute. Why? Are you tense?”
“What tension.”
Naturally, I sat next to Valentina, and Camila also sat down. Seeing Camila's appearance, Valentina let out a small laugh.
“She seems to have been too tense.”
“Hey. Am I the same as the substitute?”
“What? You want to lose?”
“The bench saying that isn't scary, right? Hey, come out. Let's just play one game.”
“Where? Laundry room? Or the field?”
“... Not that. Come out to the lobby. Let's play one game.”
And Camila and Valentina teased each other and laughed. Seeing them joking, Camila's tension was clearly gone. No, rather than my words, the banter with Valentina seemed more effective.
Since they are same gender, the banter with Valentina seemed more effective in relieving tension than my words, so I felt a bit jealous.
So, the two of them were messing around, and both chose Barcelona and entered the game. The only difference was that Camila was put in the lineup as Camila, and Valentina as Valentina?
Even though until last year Lucia's form was good, so this version was better with Lucia, but seeing them forcing their own characters into the lineup, it made me smile a little.
'Yeah, even like this, if it relieves tension, it's good.'
Seeing that the tension problem of Camila, the biggest risk factor, seemed to be resolved to some extent, I felt relieved too.
Now, the only thing left was to show our skills in the final.
So, the first Champions League final of this life was approaching.