"Rules are rules."
Ego Jinpachi stood his ground.
If he made an exception now, what would he do if every superstar followed suit later?
The purpose of this Neo Egoist League was to cultivate his strikers.
But.
"I'm not asking for your permission."
The threat in Loki's words was already obvious.
Geniuses have their pride.
If it weren't for cultivating Charles, Loki would never have appeared in this place.
He could have gone anywhere in the world to enjoy his vacation.
And.
Even at PSG, he was a player with special privileges.
Blue Lock?
To be frank, their presence was basically a form of technical assistance; they were doing him a favor.
If Ego didn't agree, Loki would turn around and leave immediately.
Of course.
He didn't want to make the relationship so tense either. They had signed a contract, after all.
It's just that Japan's penny-pinching meant the appearance fee was low, so the penalty for breach of contract was naturally small. He could absolutely afford it.
Hearing this, Ego was out of options.
He could only contact Noa, Lavinho, and the others to discuss it.
"That kid Loki wants to play the whole match?"
"No problem, let him play. I agree!"
Lavinho agreed without a second thought.
"I also want to see who is better, the European prodigy or the Asian prodigy."
As for Noa.
His answer was even simpler, just one word.
"Okay."
If Loki came to Blue Lock to cultivate his teammate and find a midfield support for himself, then Noa's purpose in coming to Blue Lock was to cultivate an opponent for himself.
At first, Kaiser was his target.
He hoped that Kaiser could threaten his position at Bayern and push him to keep improving.
And now?
After the last match, he had set his sights on that kid from Man City.
With four of the five master strikers having agreed, the last one, Snuffy from Juventus, also did not cast a dissenting vote.
"No problem. I happen to want to see the level of those two geniuses as well."
And so.
The three-minute superstar entry system for Loki in this match was canceled.
"Temporary announcement: In this match, the playing time restriction for Paris Saint-Germain's master striker, Julian Loki, will be lifted!"
"Temporary announcement: In this match, the playing time restriction for Paris Saint-Germain's master striker, Julian Loki, will be lifted."
"..."
The broadcast announcement was made three times, ensuring that everyone present heard it.
"Loki's playing time restriction has been lifted?"
At this moment, no one, whether on or off the field, had expected this.
"Is it because of Tendou?"
Chigiri Hyoma and the others looked at the two players of their own age standing in the technical area, and their hearts grew heavy.
Tendou had already proven it in the last match.
Once he started to play, the light of everyone else on the field would be overshadowed by him.
However.
At least for now, it seemed that neither Tendou nor Loki had any intention of entering the field immediately.
"In other words, this is our last chance!"
Not just Chigiri, but Itoshi Rin and the others also realized it.
There wasn't much time left for them to showcase themselves.
In an instant.
The already lively stadium became even more boisterous.
The players were all trying every means possible to display their abilities.
In the first twenty minutes, neither side managed to score a goal.
However, compared to PSG, Manchester City's offensive threat was greater.
Especially their pressing in the attacking third, which was slightly chaotic and disorganized.
Neither Reo nor Agi could function as the offensive and defensive hub.
But the Man City players' advantage was their physical strength. Whenever the team was in crisis, they would use brute force to resolve it.
In the 26th minute.
Man City won the ball in their own half. After Reo received it, before the opponent could press, he launched a long ball to find Agi.
The Man City strategist used his body to hold off Karasu one-on-one and gave the ball to Chigiri on the left.
Tsurugi Zantetsu stuck close, forcing Chigiri to cut inside and take a high-quality shot from the center.
Unfortunately.
The angle of this shot was not sharp enough and was collected by the PSG goalkeeper.
"Hmm? Didn't they say Loki's playing time restriction was lifted?"
"He's probably giving the other kids a chance to express themselves."
"You know, if Loki and that number 7 from Man City—no, it should be our number 7—were to play, it would be the end of the show for everyone else."
In the Manchester United office.
Mourinho continued to watch the game in front of the TV.
He wanted this kid Tendou so badly.
Next year would be his third year coaching Manchester United.
The final year of the so-called "Mou's third year."
In the first year of his tenure, he was the new manager. The players in the team, for the sake of playing time, would work hard to impress the new coach.
In the second year, Mourinho's transformation of the team was complete, and the team was united. At this time, Mourinho's team would win some championships, even some major ones.
In the third year, locker room problems would erupt, players and the manager would be at odds, and results would plummet.
Take Pogba, for example. In the beginning, he and Mourinho were like father and son, at least in front of the public.
But in the third year, which was next year, Pogba would publicly reveal his relationship with Mourinho. He would claim that "I was not happy playing at Manchester United, Mourinho gave me depression."
In the end, the fault still lay with Mourinho's methods.
The Magic Bird was a world-class manager.
His problem was that he had too much desire for control and didn't really know how to handle relationships with players.
So his teams often had situations where he was at odds with his players.
To put it bluntly, he was not Ferguson, nor was he Wenger.
If he had the power that Ferguson had at Manchester United, with the club fully supporting him, then not every player would dare to challenge him, and Pogba would not need to be at Manchester United for a second time.
However.
There was only one Ferguson.
So now Mourinho desperately coveted Tendou. He believed that this kid could bring the changes he wanted to see at Manchester United.
There is no conflict that victory cannot solve.
Mourinho believed that Tendou could bring victory to Manchester United.
He was in no way inferior to that "Son of France."
Back to the match.
Manchester City's attack was neutralized again, and PSG immediately launched a fast counter-attack led by Tsurugi Zantetsu.
The four-eyed player used his amazing explosive power to run past his man in one go, and then, under pressure from the Man City defenders, still managed to deliver a precise cross.
In the ensuing chaos.
The "fox in the box," Shidou Ryusei, emerged from the crowd, leaped into the air, and scored a high-difficulty acrobatic side-volley.
1:0!
After nearly 30 minutes of heated play, Shidou Ryusei finally broke the deadlock.
PSG's morale soared. When Man City kicked off, they still maintained a high press, launching a wave of offensive frenzy. For a moment, Manchester City was in a precarious situation.
...
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