I Am Scouted by Real Madrid-Chapter 410 - 56: Almost the Grand Finale

When Real Madrid’s flight landed in Bilbao, everyone broke out in a cold sweat.

The San Mames Stadium of Athletic Bilbao has always been known as the "Hell Home Ground," and the weather here seemed to be setting the atmosphere for this epic battle in advance.

As the Real Madrid charter flight was about to land, a sudden storm gusted towards the plane, which was sliding onto the runway, causing severe turbulence and even tilting.

The entire process lasted nearly 30 seconds, and the players and staff in the cabin were terrified; quite a few players shouted for help.

Even Chen Zhong’s heartbeat couldn’t help but accelerate. After the plane landed safely, waves of applause filled the cabin, and some players even sobbed!

It’s known that air disasters are not uncommon in football clubs; even Serie A’s "God Team" Turin and Premier League giant "Red Devils" Manchester United have suffered "team extinction" level air disasters!

In the recent violent shaking, this newly built "Galaxy Battleship" almost met its fate prematurely.

Far away in Spain, Florentino broke out in a cold sweat upon receiving the news.

This incident inevitably affected the players’ mentality, to the point where some couldn’t sleep at night. Chen Zhong and Pellegrini went from room to room comforting them, but even so, there were players suffering from insomnia.

Time quickly came to match day.

Before the match between Real Madrid and Athletic Bilbao, Barcelona won overwhelmingly against Sevilla at home, avenging their elimination in the King’s Cup by the opponent.

At the post-match press conference, Guardiola obviously expressed satisfaction with the result. He said, "First I want to congratulate the team on an important victory."

"After being eliminated by Sevilla in the King’s Cup, I didn’t know in what state the players would face the opponent again, but the final result made me quite satisfied."

"Our performance in the first half wasn’t really remarkable; the teammates played a bit anxiously, possibly because we were eliminated from the King’s Cup whereas Real Madrid is currently leading."

"However, the situation improved significantly in the second half, especially after we scored the first goal. We found our rhythm again. The midfield performed exceptionally well today, and the forward line contributed greatly to the team."

Guardiola then talked about the differences and similarities between this match and the last one at Pizjuan: "We didn’t perform well in the first half at Pizjuan last time. But today, we continued the good performance from the last game’s second half and ultimately achieved victory. For us, we can never relax; otherwise, the opponents will create significant trouble for us."

After summarizing this match, Guardiola talked about the topic of the "mid-season championship": "We have been performing well, of course, if the team can get three points in the next game, our points will reach 46, which would be ideal."

"But the mid-season championship has no meaning whatsoever, as there are as many as 20 league matches remaining."

"Maybe at that time, we might be at the top of the league table!"

After summarizing his team, Guardiola talked about the news he just received, about Real Madrid’s charter flight almost crashing on the way to Bilbao, and someone crying in the team.

"That’s something none of us want to see happen; I won’t be happy about such a thing."

"Regarding who cried on the plane, I don’t care; under such circumstances, no matter what people do, it’s not surprising."

"Chen? As for whether Chen was the person crying, I think the answer is quite obvious. He’s not a weak person."

...

After the news of Real Madrid’s close air disaster came out, some people began to gloat, especially when some Spanish media revealed that someone cried on the plane.

Although, in media analysis, this person was likely Real Madrid’s general manager Valdano, as he once experienced a helicopter crash, causing him trauma and psychological shadow.

But still, a group of "haters" preferred to believe that the crying person was Chen Zhong, even if there’s no information or evidence indicating that Chen Zhong cried, and even quite a few reports indicated that Chen Zhong was very calm and comforted the frightened teammates.

Yet they still preferred to spread rumors online.

[The captain of Real Madrid should be Cristiano Ronaldo!]

[Just an 18-year-old kid, shouldn’t be given such high wages just because he’s from Real Madrid’s youth training.]

[Maybe he’s performing well now, but he is an Asian; I’m not prejudiced against Asians, but he shouldn’t have such high authority in a team like Real Madrid...]

...

Different directions, different opinions; many are slandering Chen Zhong, from character to ball skills, and when Chen Zhong found out about this, he didn’t respond directly, because he didn’t need to do anything; there were compatriots standing up for him.

All he needs to do is deliver better performance on the field, to prove what Asians can achieve in Europe’s top leagues!

Now Chen Zhong is no longer just a "Chinese representative."