CHAPTER 141: CHAPTER 46: CHEN’S PRESENCE IS THE BEST PROOF!!!

Messi is Barcelona’s top scorer, having scored 12 goals in various competitions, 8 in the league tied for second with Raul, and 4 in the Champions League.

This is Messi’s second injury this season, the last one occurred after participating in the Argentina National Team’s match in September, affecting his right leg slightly but not significantly, recovering completely in just 5 days.

As the darling of Barcelona, Messi’s serious injury once per season seems to have become routine.

During matches, malicious fouls against him have become a key method to hinder his performance. Only this season in the league, Messi has faced 43 malicious fouls from opponents over 16 rounds.

Barcelona and Rijkaard, in their anxiety, have repeatedly shouted slogans like "Protect Messi" in front of the media.

However, the effect is not great.

When the news of Messi’s injury and absence from the national derby came out, the news of the black referee week faded in importance. While people were still discussing Messi’s situation, the Champions Cup’s round of 16 knockout draw was held at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.

The drawing follows these principles: the first place in the group faces the second place from other groups, avoiding teams from the same league.

Originally, first versus second was considered a "benefit round," the issue is, this time among the group seconds, there are strong teams like Arsenal, Liverpool, Lyon, and Rome mixed in.

The draw results are as follows:

Celtic vs Barcelona

Lyon vs Manchester United

Schalke vs Porto

Liverpool vs Inter Milan

Rome vs Real Madrid

Arsenal vs AC Milan

Olympiacos vs Chelsea

Fenerbahce vs Sevilla

The first leg of the Champions League round of 16 will be held on February 19/20, 2008, with the second leg on March 4/5, 2008.

The final will be held on May 21, 2008, in Moscow.

Before the national derby against Barcelona, Real Madrid still has a Spanish King’s Cup match, facing Aligeni.

In this match, the team employed massive rotations and ultimately drew 1:1 against Aligeni on away ground, with Schuster aiming to resolve the opponent at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in the second leg.

In the restaurant, Chen Zhong and his teammates were having a meal, discussing various topics such as Raul, Messi, and Zidane attending an Adidas event together, and they talked about the outcome of the national derby. Messi seemed to walk without any problems.

Zidane revealed at this event that he plans to return to the Santiago Bernabeu after retiring.

Of course, the most important topic wasn’t these but the criticism from Diario AS against Real Madrid’s so-called "Golden Child" plan.

This time the criticism came not from Marca, which traditionally has conflicts with Real Madrid’s management, but from Diario AS, which is known as the "Real Madrid Team Report."

Among them, Diario AS reporter Matia took the lead in launching a campaign.

He scolded Calderon and Mijatovic for their so-called "finding the new Messi" journey.

Simultaneously criticizing Calderon for burning through 221 million Euros over three transfer windows without bringing any groundbreaking changes to the club, the key players, Raul, Guti, Chen Zhong, Casillas are all players from Castilla.

And those "straying" outside from Castilla, Mata, Negredo, Granero also demonstrated impressive talent, yet Calderon plans to spend heavily, claiming to imitate clubs like Arsenal, Sevilla, Juventus, and Lyon, spreading a net globally to bring in young talents just emerging.

Other Madrid media dubbed this package plan the "Finding the new Messi" journey.

What does it mean?

After failing to bring in the proclaimed stars and unable to deceive people with the claim to rely on youth training, are they now drawing empty promises that are obviously unrealizable?

To ensure the smooth execution of the "finding the new Messi" plan, Mijatovic and his assistant Carlos Buselo formed a star-studded scouting team, including former Santander Athletic coach Miguel Angel and two heroic scouts Ropetek and Monfort, further strengthening the club’s scouting strength in Germany, Eastern Europe, Argentina, and Latin America.

However, many people didn’t buy it, and Diario AS reporter Matia even voiced: "This operation supposedly follows world soccer’s development trend, but has the president forgotten his own proclamation, has Mijatovic overlooked some matters?"

"When he is seated on flights to different corners of the world, has he considered that in Valdebebas Sports City, there are also some of the world’s top young talents training hard?"

As a journalist, Matia knows that the media tends to hype various transfer rumors. It’s the simplest and most direct way to boost sales.

He understands the logic here, but when seeing daily news about Mijatovic’s interest in some prodigy, as a white-ist, a Madrid-ist, a Merengue.

He could no longer stand idly by.

And the trigger that finally ignited Matia’s anger was news about New York Red Bulls Team center forward Altidore, while some were considering finding Van Nistelrooy’s successor.

This 18-year-old emerging American international mysteriously attracted Real Madrid’s interest, with his only praiseworthy achievement being his thousand goals scored at the American Soccer School.

Upon hearing that Mijatovic has commissioned Buselo to fly to New York to watch Altidore’s live performance and Real Madrid’s official plans to negotiate with New York Red Bulls Team next summer about Altidore’s acquisition.

Matia couldn’t stand it and publicly commented: "Have we come to the point where we must bring players from Major League Soccer? And also an 18-year-old center forward?"

"I wish the club would pay some attention to Castilla’s Callejon and Bueno, and also those outside like Negredo, Mata..."

"Watching them would be better than looking at our own promising youth talents."

In Castilla, Callejon scored 7 goals. Since coming to Valdebebas Sports City in 2001, he has undergone immersion and training within Real Madrid’s youth teams at all levels, proving his capability at every tier. Major League Soccer and La Liga are not on the same playing field level. Why not carry on the tradition and bring Callejon to the first team without spending a cent?

Or perhaps spend some money reacquiring Negredo, Granero, Mata, and other players?

Matia’s remarks sparked a wave, with Real Madrid’s captain and vice-captain Raul, Guti, and numerous distinguished figures and veterans voicing support, opposing the so-called "Golden Child" plan, or "Finding the new Messi" adventure.

They hoped the club could focus more on the players from Castilla, where countless extraordinarily talented kids reside.

After former Castilla genius player Mata moved to Valencia in the summer, followed by Granero, Negredo, Garcia, and Adrian also leaving in succession, the clamor reached considerable levels. Only because the new season’s league was about to start at that time did the white-ists unconsciously shift their focus.

But now?

With 13 million Euros spent, the dual successor to Davis and Carlos, Drenthe, performing poorly at the Santiago Bernabeu, while 16-year-old Castilla monster Chen Zhong showing remarkably exceptional performance after promoting to the first team, no doubt affirming Matia’s perspective indirectly.

Some are even shouting "Chen’s existence is proof!" as a slogan.

This wave upon wave of pressure certainly mounted pressure on Calderon, and at the critical juncture before the national derby, Calderon stepped forward to announce a piece of news publicly.

"The team is negotiating the reacquisition of Negredo."

"At the same time, evaluating the feasibility of bringing Mata in."