Check out advanced chapters on P@treon: [email protected]/CosmicKaminari
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"King Lance is here!"
"I'd like to see who dares to criticise him now. All that talk about conflict before was just media fabrication."
"It feels like Atlético Madrid and him have great chemistry."
"Lance's shooting is truly incredible!"
"So consistent! 6 shots, 4 on target, 3 goals! Who else can do that?"
"With Lance and Torres, Atlético Madrid has a real chance at the title!"
"Heh heh heh, he's far inferior to Messi."
"How many goals did Messi score on his debut, I ask?"
"...How many Champions League titles does Lance have? Does he have a Ballon d'Or?"
"Meaningless, truly meaningless. May I ask how many years Messi has played, and how many years Lance has played?"
On Twitter, similar arguments were everywhere.
Previously, when Lance was in the Bundesliga, fans were already clashing with Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo's fanbases from afar, with neither side willing to concede.
Now that he's arrived in La Liga, it's truly exploded.
The original Messi and Ronaldo fan squabbles directly evolved into a three-way free-for-all.
Messi and Ronaldo fans would sometimes gang up on Lance fans, whilst Lance fans would sometimes team up with Ronaldo fans to attack Messi, and occasionally, Lance fans and die-hard Messi fans could be seen ganging up on Ronaldo fans.
At first, it was just minor skirmishes, but later it escalated to passionately insulting each other's families.
Spanish fans, in the midst of their arguments, suddenly realised, something wasn't right.
How could they not win the argument?
Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have had many years in their careers, both with glorious periods, accumulating hundreds of millions of fans globally.
Yet, they couldn't compare to an 18-year-old rookie who debuted just two years ago?
Only later did they realise, after the online war of words began, a continuous stream of forces from the Chinese internet, using scientific methods to access Twitter, joined the battle.
In an instant, the number of supporters for Lance increased exponentially, slaughtering the Messi and Ronaldo fans, leaving them in disarray.
Eventually, unable to argue further, the foreign fans could only stubbornly retreat, leaving behind a few racist memes, or bringing up the topic of championships.
After all, strong as Lance was, having defeated Real Madrid and Barcelona for two consecutive years, he unfortunately had no Champions League titles and no Ballon d'Or.
Lance's world-class individual honour was currently only the 2014 Golden Boy award.
That year, he narrowly edged out Paul Pogba, winning by a slim margin.
According to predictions from media outlets like Marca and Kicker, Lance is highly likely to enter the top three for the 2015 European Ballon d'Or.
Messi currently ranks first with a 20% possibility, Cristiano Ronaldo, despite having no championship, surprisingly reached second place with a 15% possibility, and Lance is in third place with an 11% possibility.
Champions League winner Juventus, with key player Pirlo, ranked fourth.
Due to Juve's Champions League title being deemed by the media as "lacking in prestige."
They hadn't encountered any strong teams along the way, and narrowly defeated Bayern in a penalty shootout.
Strong teams like Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Atlético Madrid were all knocked out by Bayer Leverkusen.
In the Champions League final, Bayer Leverkusen was severely depleted, so Juve essentially got a free championship.
Therefore, from a comprehensive individual performance perspective, Pirlo indeed fell short of Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Lance.
On Twitter, Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo fans gloated about this, whilst Lance fans had nothing to say.
After all, without a Champions League title, his prestige and past honours truly couldn't compare to theirs.
However, in the La Liga top scorer list, Lance led by a significant margin with 3 goals!
After the first round concluded, Athletic Bilbao 0-1 Barcelona, Sporting Gijón 0-1 Real Madrid.
Suárez and Gareth Bale each scored one goal, Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi had 0 goals.
"It's 0, actually!"
"Lance's 3 goals > Messi + Cristiano Ronaldo!"
"Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are so strong, why didn't they score? Did they not want to?"
This left Messi and Ronaldo fans equally speechless.
Everyone knows, the new season is a long process, being too flashy at the start inevitably leads to a boomerang effect, so netizens also kept it brief, saving their energy for future arguments...
"Lance's Hat-Trick for a Perfect Debut, Atlético Madrid Comes From Behind to Beat Promoted Side, Temporarily Topping La Liga"
"Real Madrid and Barcelona Win Away by Narrow Margins, Atlético Madrid Wins by a Large Margin After Comeback, La Liga's Big Three Title Race Begins From Round One"
"The Hundred-Million-Euro Man Performs Excellently in His Debut, Simeone Praises Lance Extensively in Press Conference"
"I've known for a long time that Lance is a very promising superstar. His energy is no less than Messi and Ronaldo's, and his future achievements are limitless. The early concession of a goal was indeed an oversight by everyone. Perhaps we hadn't found our rhythm at the very beginning of the new season. Later, we gradually hit our stride, and our comeback was excellent. But this is not something to be proud of. Atlético Madrid's goal for the new season is the championship. Winning against a promoted team is just the beginning. We need to defeat strong opponents!"
In the press conference, Simeone's remarks exuded confidence.
Atlético Madrid is indeed a super strong team on the same level as Barcelona and Real Madrid.
Winning one game doesn't mean anything.
They must keep winning...
With the pressure from Atlético Madrid, Real Madrid and Barcelona couldn't sit still.
Both Barcelona President Bartomeu and Real Madrid President Florentino, simultaneously put pressure on their respective coaches.
"At all costs, we must defeat Atlético Madrid!"
"We've invested so much; this year, we absolutely must achieve results, or you're out!"
As a result, in the upcoming second round of La Liga, Real Madrid and Barcelona both stepped up their game.
Barcelona won 3-0 at home against Málaga, with Messi scoring 2 goals and Neymar 1 goal; Real Madrid won 5-0 against Real Betis, with Cristiano Ronaldo scoring 2 goals, Gareth Bale 2 goals, and Modrić 1 goal.
Real Madrid temporarily overtook to the top of the league on goal difference, leaving the challenge to Atlético Madrid...
"Our opponent this round is quite tough, and it's an away game, so I hope everyone doesn't underestimate them. That's right, the opponent is, after all, a traditional La Liga powerhouse. Koke, Godín... you need to lead the defence effectively. We'll play defensive counter-attacking in this match. Don't give the opponent any chances, understand?"
Seville, the capital of Seville province in Spain.
All Atlético Madrid players looked serious, listening intently in the hotel conference room.
Discipline has always been Atlético Madrid's most potent weapon, and even Lance felt the tension of impending battle.
Their opponent, Sevilla, is known as the "King of the Europa League," having won 4 Europa League titles to date.
Whether in European competitions or La Liga, they are considered a top-tier strong opponent in the second echelon, not to be underestimated.
In the past, before Atlético Madrid's rise, they were thrashed by Sevilla.
Even now, they dare not be complacent.
In the pre-match press conference, Simeone's remarks were very cautious.
"In this match, we need to give our all. As for predictions, it just depends on the players' performance. The opponent is strong, so a win or loss is normal. We just need to have no regrets."
Simeone's caution was interpreted by the local Sevilla media as "admitting defeat."
Major media outlets like Marca, AS, and Mundo Deportivo all joined in, mocking Atlético Madrid.
"Simeone is low-key and cautious before the match, Atlético Madrid fears suffering their first defeat away from home."
"A fan survey shows that over 60% of fans believe Sevilla will win at home."
"If Atlético Madrid drops points, they will miss the early opportunity to contend for the title. This is good news for Barcelona and Real Madrid..."
"Experts predict Sevilla to win 2-1."
"Whether the hundred-million-euro man Lance can adapt to La Liga still depends on his performance against strong teams. This newspaper's reporter predicts that Lance will face a test in this match, and Sevilla's solid defence might prevent Lance from scoring..."
Even though Lance had just led his team to victory with a hat-trick, the arrogant attitude of Spanish football did not highly regard an 18-year-old player's ability to lead his team to victory against a strong opponent away from home.
Lance was still adapting to La Liga, so it was hard to say how much of his combat power he could display.
Could he really crush Sevilla?
Atlético Madrid wasn't that strong...
The next day, after 90 minutes.
Looking at the clean 0-3 score on the scoreboard, Spanish football was in an uproar!
SFC (0-3) ATM
9' -- 10. Lance
38' -- 10. Lance
62' -- 10. Lance
Didn't they say Lance hadn't adapted to La Liga?
Didn't they say it was hard to break through Sevilla's defence?
What's with the back-to-back hat-tricks?!