Chapter 261 – Vs Barcelona (1)
261
On March 13 and 14, 2035, eight Champions League Round of 16 second leg matches were played over two days.
The result is a solo run in the top 5 leagues.
1st place 3 teams in the English Premier League, 2nd place 2 teams in the Spanish La Liga, 3rd place 1 team in the German Bundesliga, 4th place Team 1 in Italy’s Serie A and finally team 1 in Ligue 1, France, ranked 5th, advanced to the quarterfinals, proving why the 5 leagues are the 5 leagues.
The teams that succeeded in advancing to the quarterfinals in the EPL were Manchester City, Liverpool, and Newcastle in terms of league standings.
Real Madrid and Barcelona in La Liga, Bayern Munich in Bundesliga, Juventus in Serie A, and PSG in Ligue 1.
Each one of them are strong enough to advance to the quarterfinals.
… Except for Newcastle.
Maybe that’s why, before the lottery ceremony, the joke of ‘Newcastle being courted by 7 teams’ spread through social media and emerged as a meme.
Things like the 7 teams competing with the Newcastle logo in the middle, or the 7 team logos running towards the anthropomorphic Newcastle.
Considering the performance shown in practice, experts said that they were tougher opponents than most teams, but it is true that Newcastle has a relatively low weight since this is their first Champions League final, compared to the fact that the team advancing to the quarterfinals is very powerful.
In addition, it became a gag position with a meme followed by a meme that spread on social media.
At the lottery ceremony, Barcelona football director and CEO Rafael Yuste, when asked by an interviewer who he wanted to meet, replied, “A charming beauty that everyone wants!”
And the group lottery began.
The hosts of the draw, which will be broadcast live, were Barcelona and Real Madrid legends Busquets and Modric.
Executives with tense or relaxed expressions were mixed with each other as the lottery progressed.
People who have met a team they don’t want to meet—
“The opponents of Real Madrid are… PSG!!”
“…….”
With a goofy look.
Conversely, those who met the person they wanted—
“Man City’s opponent is Juventus!”
“Done. Advancing to the quarterfinals will be easy. With the current Juventus power, it is an easy opponent.”
Burst out laughing.
And the Barcelona attendees, who kept their seats with tense expressions,
“The team against Barcelona… Newcastle United!”
“This… All in all….”
A puzzled expression was evident.
Because Newcastle was not the hardest opponent, but it was the toughest opponent.
* * *
The 2000s were a brilliant golden age for Barcelona.
Starting with a squad full of famous stars such as Ronaldinho, Zlatan, Henry, Yaya Touré, and Puyol, to the golden generation that followed.
In particular, it would not be strange to dare to call the team the best at the time, with Messi, one of the best soccer players of all time, and Iniesta, Xavi, and Busquets from the club’s youth, also known as the ‘three idiots’ in Korea.
The late 2000s and early 2010s were worthy of being called ‘Barcelona’s stronghold’ with the addition of Pep Guardiola, a famous coach who shared Barcelona’s philosophy.
The unique Barcelona-style share soccer expressed as ‘tiki-taka’ and the holistic youth development policy based on the achievements of La Masia, etc., Are literally sweeping the football world around the world into a craze for imitating Barcelona.
The only team that could compete with Barcelona, which was evaluated as invincible, was the fateful rival, Real Madrid.
Real Madrid, who gathered only the best players and formed a dream team, ‘Los Galácticos’, was the only opponent.
As the saying goes, the occupation of Barcelona could not last forever.
The famous manager Pep Guardiola, who continued his heyday, left, and as time passed, the key players who achieved the golden age also aged.
Still, even if a rich man perishes, it lasts three years, and thanks to the legacy of the golden age supporting Barcelona through the rest of 2010, the decline has progressed slowly.
However, it became poison.
It was getting late, so it was too late to realize the seriousness of it… That’s why the 2020’s have been a harsh time for Barcelona.
Fans who were buried in past glory and the board of directors who were in a hurry to prevent immediate downfall and consistent with the wrong transfer policy.
The end came back to unmanageable debt and a deformed squad full of holes.
Eventually, after the mid-2020s, Barcelona, which has embarked on a massive fiscal austerity under the name of’efficiency’, has tightened its belt with the goal of reducing expenditure on player salaries and debt relief.
If it was a decent club, it would have gone bankrupt under the weight of its enormous debt, but Barcelona is not a decent club.
Enthusiastic home fans filling the ‘world’s largest football stadium’ with more than 100,000 seats, curés from all over the world, and the still shining brand ‘Barcelona’ brought huge commercial profits, and a competitive squad that is still lacking to reach the top. Kept the minimum record that Barcelona could endure.
5 years like that.
It was in 2030 that Barcelona began to stretch again after tightening their belts.
Barcelona, which jumped into the championship race again, achieved a double by winning the league and cup in 2032, but its performance in the European competition was shabby.
So in 2033, when Barcelona finally made a decision, it was Jose Matheus who appointed a new coach instead of the coach who led the team well despite the lack of support and achieved a double by winning the league and cup competition.
And that season, it was Hong Min-jun who caught the eye of Barcelona.
He was a player expected to make huge profits for Barcelona, which was still under financial burden, and a promising prospect with a promising future, so the recruitment, which was thought to be a resource that satisfies both finances and future, was a failure.
Hong Min-jun, who was suddenly tall and out of balance, was sluggish beyond imagination.
Although he was good in terms of commercial profit, Hong Min-jun, who had the option of ‘include the first team roster’ from the point of view of Barcelona, which is now actively aiming for the championship, was nothing short of a gimmick.
There was a lot of talk within the board, and despite the fierce opposition of Yoannes, head of scouting, who played a decisive role in the recruitment of Hong Min-jun, the manager insisted that not a single spot on the roster be wasted for the championship, and the new coach who brought in to win the European competition gave strength. In order to carry the board, the board made a decision to release.
And 3 years.
Barcelona are still thirsty for the Champions League title, and to make matters worse, even the league title is far away after Jorge Garcia, who will lead the next generation of football, was stolen by rival Real Madrid.
On the other hand, the player who was abandoned by Barcelona is resurrected splendidly, and is soaring as if laughing at the floundering Barcelona…
『2. Hong Min-joon, the Bundesliga’s top scorer!』
『From Part 2 to Part 1? Continuing to be the top scorer
『Hong Min-joon, who rose from the eagle corps, stands tall in Europe beyond Germany!』
『Bundesliga, Europa League, World Cup scorer! Hong Min-joon is a Wallcle!』
『From 3 million euros to 100 million euros! A promising player who went to the second division as if he was kicked out, on the Ballon d’Or podium in three years!”
『Conqueror of Germany, conquer England? Successive goal baptism from the beginning of the season』
『Hong Min-jun’s one-man show that led Newcastle to the Champions League final stage for the first time ever!!』
This is Minjun Hong.
The release of Hong Min-joon, considered the worst mistake in Barcelona in the 2030s.
Even when the team was in trouble, the passionate home fans who filled the Camp Nou were devastated that the promising player Barcelona had abandoned became a Ballon d’Or podium and FIFA Player of the Year.
I wonder if it would have taken a long time, but after being very active right after the release, isn’t it an achievement that was achieved in only 3 years?
The 3rd generation – ? : Hong Min-joon’s release is entirely based on his skills. Never racist
ㄴXeon haha
ㄴA ᅣ — Mouth
ㄴび – don’t know yet
There is a possibility
Lee Hong Min-jun returns
ㄴ Richmond – Excuse me, sir, don’t you know the meaning of three lines?
ㄴボ ボ – Three line poems
Drip every row
Poetry is difficult
ㄴ Master Chuck — You can change it to Fucking difficult.
ㄴMarnoi — as expected, Master Chuck ;;
Of course, the meeting between Hong Min-jun and Barcelona created a lot of buzz.
『Enemies I met on the single tree bridge』
『Hong Min-jun and Barcelona, the end of the bad relationship?』
『Who will have the last laugh!』
『I finally met the ugly duckling』
Like a superstar, the bad relationship between Hong Min-joon and Barcelona is widely known.
Then came Media Day, a day before April 10, the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals.