"The final whistle blows in the Eternal City! It finishes AS Roma 1, Manchester United 2. A crucial victory for the Red Devils on Italian soil!" Peter Drury announced, his voice echoing the magnitude of the result.
"Ling's performance was excellent; both of Man United's goals were directly related to his brilliance, an architect and an executioner in one."
"However," Jim Beglin cautioned, "it's too early to talk about the final outcome. In seven days at the Theatre of Dreams, Old Trafford, it will be decided who will advance to the Champions League final to compete for the trophy that represents the absolute pinnacle of European football."
"I believe neither team will give up easily, so the second leg will surely be unexpectedly exciting. The Romans have an away goal, but United have the advantage."
The Stadio Olimpico in Rome erupted in warm, respectful applause.
Fans from both sides were quite satisfied with the result.
After all, given the strength of both teams, it was already an achievement to have come this far.
Every step forward from here was an additional breakthrough in a long season.
The Roma players were not as dejected as one might expect after a home defeat.
Their mentality was similar to the fans'.
Moreover, looking at the Serie A schedule, Roma had already secured a top-three finish in the league and had no chance of competing for the title against Juventus.
Therefore, they didn't need to conserve energy for domestic duties and could focus all their remaining efforts on the Champions League second leg.
In contrast, Manchester United was being relentlessly pursued by Manchester City in the Premier League, having not yet opened up a sufficient point gap to be safe.
Their next match was a massive away game against Arsenal, which would certainly be a huge drain on their stamina.
So, Mourinho's earlier decision to give up on the English League Cup and the FA Cup was proving to be a very wise, pragmatic choice.
As Ling walked into the players' tunnel, wiping sweat from his brow, he was suddenly stopped by a hand on his shoulder.
He looked up and saw it was Daniele De Rossi.
The world-weary Roma captain looked at Ling seriously, his thoughts inadvertently drifting back to the 2006-07 season.
He had just won the World Cup with Italy and was at the peak of his life.
He recalled a match between Roma and AC Milan.
Carlo Ancelotti had fielded a Brazilian Trident of Kaka, Ronaldo Nazario, and Ricardo Oliveira.
At that time, Ronaldo had already become "Fat Ronaldo," struggling with his weight, but he left a deep impression on De Rossi with his skillful dribbling and consecutive breakthroughs that defied physics.
The young man standing in front of him now was extremely similar to Il Fenomeno in his technical characteristics—the power, the pace, the control.
De Rossi collected his scattered thoughts.
"Want to swap shirts, kid?"
"Of course, I have no reason to refuse." Ling replied with a smile, taking off his black away shirt and handing it over.
He had great respect for passionate and loyal veterans like De Rossi.
Even after being overshadowed by Francesco Totti for a decade and becoming the eternal second-in-command—Capitan Futuro who became captain so late—he still chose to stay loyal to Roma instead of leaving for trophies elsewhere.
De Rossi took the shirt, draped it over his shoulder, nodded lightly, and turned to leave down the corridor.
Half an hour later, the post-match press conference.
In the adjacent conference room.
Eusebio Di Francesco put his black-framed glasses back on and answered the reporters' questions with clear, almost scientific logic.
"We found our rhythm in the second half, suppressed Man United's attack, and scored a goal as we wished."
"I thought Mourinho would choose to attack to the end, but he opted for conservative defensive tactics. He parked the bus."
"To be honest, I'm very disappointed. When Mourinho coached Inter Milan, he had this same pragmatic tactical style. Now, almost ten years have passed, and he still hasn't changed at all."
"This is extremely fatal for a football coach. It shows that he has fallen behind the development of modern football."
"How do you rate Ling? He can create a huge threat on the wing, and most importantly, he is gradually developing his playmaking ability, helping his teammates create many opportunities."
"In short, he is an excellent young player. Of course, we have similar players. Cengiz Ünder's performance in this match was in no way inferior to Ling's. If he had played longer, perhaps he would have performed even better."
"I will give him more time in the next match. I believe we will win the ticket to the final!"
Meanwhile, Mourinho was holding court.
"Mr. Mourinho, in tomorrow's match between Real Madrid and Liverpool, who do you think will win?"
"Real Madrid. They are the team with the advantage. But there are always miracles on the road to a championship. I think both Liverpool and Real Madrid hold the belief that 'we can win,' so the final result is unpredictable."
"Mr. Mourinho, don't you think your adjustments in the latter part of the match were too conservative? If Man United ultimately fails to advance—"
The reporter from The Guardian was cut off before he could finish his sentence.
Mourinho stared at him coldly, his eyes narrowing.
"The second leg hasn't been played yet. How do you know we won't advance?"
"Besides, whether Man United advances or not is not up to you, but up to me."
The reporter was rendered speechless by the sheer force of Mourinho's personality and could only sit back down in his seat.
"We achieved all our tactical objectives in this match. Two away goals are enough for us. Our competitive state will be even better when we return to Old Trafford."
"So I believe the one who ultimately advances will be Manchester United!"
...
After the post-match press conference, the Man United players took a flight back to Manchester overnight.
Ling admired the night view of the Apennine Peninsula through the window, the city lights flickering below.
His thoughts turned to the elite clubs in football history that had won massive trebles or quintuples.
Barcelona in '09, Barcelona in '11, Bayern Munich in '13, Barcelona in '15, Real Madrid in '17.
Just competing on two fronts—League and Champions League—had kept them so busy.
If they added the other cup competitions, they probably would have collapsed long ago.
If Man United wanted to join the quintuple-winning club in the future, they would have to strengthen their bench depth next season. But with buying comes selling.
How many of his current teammates would still be around next year?
Ling's mind flashed back to the days of fighting alongside Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
He heard the guy was doing well at Arsenal, having won the Man of the Match award several times in a row.
He suddenly looked forward to the match in two days!
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