Chapter Eighty-Six: The Exciting Arena

"There are only three days to go until this season's Champions League final and I am in my training base at Atletico Madrid. After this afternoon's training session, the Atletico squad will head to Lisbon, where they await the Champions League final at the Stadium of Light! Coach Simeone has been training in a closed environment for more than a week, and he only allowed us to shoot for 15 minutes every day at the door of the training base after the morning training at Atletico....."

In order to cover the Champions League final, CCTV sent an unprecedented film crew of more than 10 people to Madrid a week in advance to report on the preparations of the two teams for Chinese fans.

Of course, their main focus is on Atletico Madrid. However, Simeone did not allow the media to enter the training base to shoot, so the CCTV team could only make some reports at the gate of the training base, and the photographer waited at the door every day to take pictures of Li Qingshan entering and leaving the training base and send them back to China.....

Failed to film the team's training, CCTV is naturally regretful, they once discussed with Atletico Madrid whether they could enter Atletico Madrid's locker room to shoot, but Simeone refused, at this critical juncture, Simeone absolutely forbade the media to disturb his players.

However, Atletico Madrid President Cerezo said that CCTV reporters could be allowed to enter the filming when the players were not in the locker room, and Cerezo, as the president of Atletico Madrid, also accepted an exclusive interview with CCTV. In this way, CCTV is not completely without gains.

With the Champions League final approaching, the atmosphere of the decisive battle is getting stronger and stronger. More and more media outlets are starting to produce special programmes for the Champions League final.

Of course, in addition to CCTV, other media are of course more concerned about Real Madrid. Who makes Real Madrid one of the most fanfed teams in the world?

Fans also began to count the days of the final on their fingers.

After the final round of La Liga, except for Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid, the other La Liga teams have already taken a holiday. So in Spain, this game has also been hyped by the media.

"The Champions League final is only two days away, and now both teams from Madrid have arrived in Lisbon, Portugal last night, and interestingly, the hotel where they are staying is only one block away.....

"Due to their good relationship with Sporting Lisbon, Real Madrid borrowed the training base of Sporting Lisbon. Real Madrid's number one star, Cristiano Ronaldo, made his debut at Sporting Lisbon. Former Real Madrid star Figo also debuted in the academy of Sporting Lisbon. Atletico Madrid, on the other hand, borrowed the training facilities of Sporting Lisbon's rival Benfica club. This Champions League final is being played at the Stadium of Light, the home of Benfica Football Club! ”

"Looking at the record of the all-time head-to-head, Real Madrid have the upper hand. Judging from the comparison of the strength of the two sides, Real Madrid also has an advantage. However, that doesn't mean Real Madrid will be able to easily win against their city rivals. Atletico Madrid won the La Liga title this season ahead of Real Madrid and Barcelona, and I don't think Real Madrid will treat Atletico Madrid as a soft persimmon. ”

"Atletico Madrid have drawn one and lost one in the last two rounds of La Liga, but that doesn't mean they're in bad form – Atletico Madrid won the title two rounds in advance, so they sent their second-tier squad in the last two rounds of the league, and they seem a little absent-minded about these two league games. Probably all their energy is focused on this Champions League final! ”

The news of the two teams began to appear more and more intensively in front of the fans as the game time approached. Overall, though, Real Madrid's exposure is much higher than that of Atletico Madrid.

First up are the star-studded stars of the Real Madrid squad.

Needless to say, Cristiano Ronaldo is currently the top footballer in the world, and his every move will attract the attention of countless people.

In addition, Real Madrid's squad also includes Benzema, Bale, Di Maria, Modric, Ramos, Casillas and other thunderous names.

How much are these Real Madrid stars worth combined? This TV station has specially calculated that the value of the entire Real Madrid team is about 600 million euros.

And what about Atletico's side? The total value of Atletico Madrid's players is 250 million euros, which is not low, but their lineup is compared with Real Madrid, and it can't be too dick. Combined, their entire squad is worth less than half that of Real Madrid. Real Madrid's front-court attacking combination BBC - Bale plus Ronaldo plus Benzema is equal to the sum of the value of the entire Atletico Madrid team!

Judging from the value situation, Atletico Madrid seems to be incomparable with Real Madrid. Therefore, most people are still generally optimistic about Real Madrid. After all, where is the value of these stars?

Of course, just comparing the level of value is not something that professional sports magazines, newspapers and TV stations do. The most important reason why the media is optimistic about Real Madrid is, of course, the factor that sounds so professional - experience.

That's right, Real Madrid have far more experience in the Champions League final than Atletico Madrid – they have won nine Champions League trophies alone. Although not many of the current batch of Real Madrid players have represented Real Madrid in the Champions League final. Prior to this season, Jose Mourinho's Real Madrid had reached the semi-finals of the Champions League for three consecutive seasons. Before Mourinho accepted Real Madrid, Real Madrid experienced a decade-long dark period of the Champions League, especially the six-year experience of "Champions League Sixteen" was regarded as a shame for Real Madrid. In the 2004-05 season, Real Madrid was eliminated by Juventus 1-2 in the 1/8 finals, and started the Champions League 16 Lang journey. In the following five years, Arsenal, Bayern, Roma, Liverpool and Lyon all eliminated Real Madrid in the round of 16. At that time, Real Madrid's lineup was not luxurious, but the mental cohesion, ability to fight tough battles, and ability to resist pressure were too poor.

But that doesn't mean that the players in Real Madrid's current squad lack the ability to play hard, most of them are members of the system Mourinho has built for Real Madrid. Sergio Ramos and Iker Casillas have represented Spain in World Cup finals, while Cristiano Ronaldo reached the top of Europe for Manchester United in 2008 and won the Ballon d'Or that year. Therefore, this group of Real Madrid players has considerable experience in the final.

And what about Atletico's side? Almost none of them have played at the level of the Champions League final......

Experience is a valuable asset, and sometimes when it comes to the crucial final, it can be a big factor in the pressure.

The media is always very accurate before the game, but the final result of the game will not be known until after the game.

With two days to go before the Champions League final, Atletico Madrid travelled from Madrid to Lisbon last evening. The hotel where they were staying was not far from the Stadium of Light. Looking through the window of Li Qingshan's room, you can also see four red arched bridges at the top of the Stadium of Light.

Fans have also gathered in Lisbon, and the Champions League final has caused the Portuguese city to suddenly rush to more than 100,000 tourists.

With Spain and Portugal so close to each other geographically, it's no surprise that fans of both teams are enthusiastic and flock to Lisbon.

In addition to the fans of these two teams, there are also many tour groups from China - many businesses saw the opportunity of this Champions League final and organized many tour groups to Portugal, in addition to visiting and traveling around Portugal, the highlight is to watch this Champions League final live!

Due to the presence of Li Qingshan, many Chinese fans are very interested in such travel plans. Now there are quite a lot of rich people in China, and merchants don't worry about not being able to sell tickets....

Li Qingshan stood by the hotel window and could see many Chinese fans in station wagons holding national flags slowly driving through the streets of Lisbon.

Champions League final!

At this time two years ago, he was still preparing for the college entrance examination in China. At that time, how could he have imagined that he was about to appear on the stage of the Champions League final now? Li Qingshan looked at the Guangming Stadium in the distance, full of yearning.........

"Lee, what are you looking at?"

In the same room as Li Qingshan, Cork saw Li Qingshan standing by the window for a long time, so he asked out loud.

"I'm watching...... What an exciting arena! ”