The moment that "French Football" was waiting for came quickly.
Just two days later, San Remo flew to the Sevilla Olympic Stadium.
In fact, the end of San Remo’s "devil schedule" was not AC Milan, but Sevilla.
Due to adjustments in the global season timing, many teams had to play five or six more matches this season compared to the same period last season.
They almost gained a month’s worth of time.
This adjustment is actually beneficial for big teams.
Therefore, in various leagues, this year saw big teams crushing small teams with their results.
Because under the same intensive schedule, big teams have stronger substitute lineups and are more resilient.
San Remo is clearly not a big team; their starters are strong, but they have almost no substitutes.
Under such circumstances, San Remo’s Champions League match ended in a downfall.
Lu Yang was silent throughout the match.
Talista scored to save the team, forcing a draw away at Sevilla and reluctantly brought home one point.
Sevilla secured their second point in the Champions League, still sitting at the bottom of the group.
Their chances of advancing became very slim.
But miraculously, they still have a chance.
Because in another match in Group D, Arsenal didn’t score after leading by one goal in fifteen minutes.
In the 77th minute of the match, Sporting Lisbon’s young player Averro "dived" in the penalty area, successfully winning a penalty.
The reason for the quotation marks is that this penalty was, according to the rules, legitimate.
And based on the referee’s assessment of the situation, a penalty should indeed be awarded.
But Averro indeed exaggerated to a certain extent.
This left Arsenal fans very dissatisfied.
As a result, Arsenal fans themselves do not acknowledge this penalty.
After discussion, Sporting Lisbon decided to let Averro take the penalty, though he was not the team’s primary penalty taker.
This made many people worry for Averro.
However, when a Panenka penalty plummeted into Arsenal’s goal, even Arsenal’s players couldn’t deny that it was a beautifully executed penalty.
Panenka penalty!
Averro truly dared!
Mr. Winter stood by helplessly, knowing Averro was paying homage to his own football idol, Lu Yang, who scored three Panenka penalties in the past week!
Finally, with Averro’s goal, Sporting Lisbon and Arsenal settled for a draw.
The internal rankings of the four teams remained unchanged.
San Remo leads with seven points, Sporting Lisbon holds second with seven points, Arsenal third with five points, and Sevilla at the bottom with two points.
There are still two rounds left in the group stage, and Group D will undoubtedly see fierce competition.
However, in the next round of the Champions League, San Remo will host Sporting Lisbon.
The two teams will face off in a "qualification" battle!
The winner will reach ten points, and ten points in this group almost guarantees advancement.
Even if Arsenal wins their next match as well, reaching eight points, having ten points still secures the qualification initiative.
Of course, that’s all for speculation.
Currently, the biggest issue is no longer the next round of the Champions League.
It’s Lu Yang’s performance problem.
"French Football" fired directly!
"Many might be attracted by Lu Yang’s glamorous stats, but they overlook another important contributor in San Remo. That is... Talista!"
"San Remo may possess a certain combat power, but their ability to maintain a fourth or fifth position in Serie A is largely due to Talista’s presence."
"Talista was the silver boot in Serie A last season, he completely transformed San Remo’s forward line. Under such circumstances, other forwards in San Remo naturally have ample room to perform well."
"According to statistics, Talista has seven goals and four assists in eleven league matches, averaging one goal contribution per game, his level is far superior to last season’s San Remo central forward Sogel. I’m not saying Sogel isn’t excellent, but Talista is extraordinarily exceptional."
"Although Lu Yang’s data of thirteen goals and four assists in eleven matches seems more glamorous, it’s because he benefits from Talista acting as a pivot and cover in the front line."
"If there were equally willing teammates, Talista’s stats wouldn’t be worse than Lu Yang’s. But can Lu Yang play a role like Talista? He cannot; very few players can, and that is what makes Talista unique."
"Including Bai Zhami, whose stats improved significantly this season. Is this because Lu Yang became the right winger? Clearly not, it’s because Talista became the central forward."
"Without Talista, San Remo is just a mid-tier Serie A team. But Talista can instantly equip any Serie A team with the ability to contest for European competition qualification, even Champions League qualification!"
This report comes from "French Football" columnist Rick, who praised Talista and then criticized Lu Yang’s performance in the previous match.
Poor positioning.
Passes to Talista weren’t proactive enough.
Dribbled too much.
Assumed too much when passing.
Too selfish, too many shots without threat.
And so on.
Besides "French Football," many other media outlets also reported on Lu Yang’s lackluster performance in the match.
In no time, a saying became true.
This player scoring is not news, not scoring is the news.
This is indeed overly harsh.
Regarding such "treasonous" commentary, Talista almost wet his pants in fright when he saw it.
Are you kidding me?
You actually say I’m better than Brother Lu?