After returning to the hotel, the players were told that they would fly back to Rome at noon the next day. What was waiting for them was not a vacation or going home, but something that had been prepared long ago and more than 100,000 people were waiting for them - the championship parade.
The Roma Club issued a notice that at 4:30 pm local time on May 26, the entire Roma team will take a bus and depart from the famous Baths of Caracalla in Rome, passing through the city center, the Colosseum, and finally arriving at the Circus Maximus.
Although the team members were very tired, they were still looking forward to this activity.
The reason is simple: most of them have never experienced this feeling.
The players rushed back to the club as soon as they got off the plane. Everyone changed into commemorative jerseys and wore three championship medals. Chen Xiaoliang, Mancini and Pellegrini each walked onto the bus holding a trophy and began their parade.
The club's key staff, such as the team doctor, were on two other double-decker buses behind the convoy.
This honor also belongs to them.
When we first drove out of the Trigoria base, there were not many people celebrating on the road, so the city government specially dispatched eight police motorcycles and three police minibuses to clear the way and maintain order.
There were media reporters' cars in front and behind the convoy.
Gradually, many cyclists on small motorcycles and electric vehicles, wearing helmets, followed the convoy, and many cars also joined in and trailed behind, constantly honking their horns in response to the team members' waving.
When the vehicle was still 2 kilometers away from the Baths of Caracalla, Chen Xiaoliang saw a scene that he would never forget:
Just like the zombies in zombie movies that rush over in hordes like waves in the sea, after learning that the bus had arrived on the nearby road, the fans who had been waiting for a long time ran straight towards the bus!
After all, it is the capital of Italy, and the World Cup and European Cup championship tours have been held here many times. Upon seeing this scene, the police motorcycles immediately moved back, and 16 fully armed policemen got off the police minibus in the middle of the convoy, lined up in two rows and stood at the front of the bus, allowing the bus surrounded by heavy crowds to keep moving forward at a speed slower than walking.
Chen Xiaoliang looked down and was deeply shocked.
Needless to say, the majority of the crowd were young men and women. Many of the guys were shirtless, revealing tattoos embroidered with the Roma team logo or championship trophies, or paintings of their idolized players that had obviously been recently applied.
There were also many people holding jerseys or T-shirts with the portraits of Mourinho, Chen Xiaoliang or other players, and paying tribute to the heroes in their hearts as they slowly moved along with the bus.
There were also many children, who looked only five or six years old, riding on their fathers' necks and shouting slogans towards the team they had perhaps followed since birth.
More and more people followed the bus, regardless of whether the lane was forward or reverse. The surrounding traffic was completely paralyzed, especially the vehicles in the reverse lane on the opposite side, which were also surrounded by the crowd outside. They might have something to do or work and could not take part in this grand parade, but this beautiful passing by still made them express their congratulations by rolling down the windows, cheering, and raising their mobile phones to record and take pictures.
On the roofless double-decker bus, Mancini, El Shaarawy and Pellegrini took off their shirts and sat at the front of the bus with Abraham. They held the trophy in their hands and raised it to the crowd from time to time, triggering cheers.
Other players waved to the crowd from either side of the car.
However, what was somewhat "unusual" was that Mourinho and Chen Xiaoliang, who were shouted at the most by the fans, sat quietly in seats on the same side, one in front of the other, smiling and waving in response to the fans.
Mourinho turned to Chen Xiaoliang and asked, "Aren't you going to join them?" He shook his jersey, meaning to celebrate with the other players.
Chen Xiaoliang shook his head: "Let them have this kind of occasion."
Mourinho: "You can be shy sometimes? That's not like our championship captain."
Chen Xiaoliang laughed: "Haha, I'm not shy. This is everyone's celebration, not just my celebration. So coach, aren't you sitting down too?"
Mourinho's eyes widened to show his momentary surprise, then turned into a very satisfied and relieved smile, and he put his arms around Chen Xiaoliang's neck.
Not simple, this kid is really not simple. He is only 18 years old, which is incredible.
Mourinho turned around, looked at the fans happily and sighed in his heart.
That's right, if he or Chen Xiaoliang stood up at this moment, then walked to the front of the car and raised his hands, he would immediately become the focus of everyone's attention and be worshipped by everyone.
It’s not that other players are not important, but any die-hard Roma fan knows who is the one who truly transformed this team.
The Roma players certainly know this in their hearts, especially those who have been in the team for a certain period of time. They all know that the team could still fight for the runner-up in previous years, but in recent years it has not even been able to enter the Europa League.
But they have received enough attention in the game and in the past, more than anyone else in the club. It would obviously not be appropriate to steal their limelight at this time.
What's more, he is an old man, what championships have he not won? When he led Inter Milan to win the treble, he received far more praise than now, but Chen Xiaoliang was able to do the same thing as him and think of the same place, which really surprised him and made him love him even more.
How many young people don’t like to show off?
A person who only knows how to move forward courageously may not necessarily be a hero, he may also be a reckless man. A person who can advance and retreat, and do so in moderation, is a true hero.
Football is a team sport after all. When a star player attracts too much attention from the outside world, to the point that he overshadows his teammates, the balance of the team and the psychology of his teammates will definitely change.
Some fans will also add fuel to the flames, and even say that if the team wins, it is because the star has turned the tide and carried the team, and if the team loses, it is because his teammates are not strong enough and the star cannot carry the team alone.
Mourinho used to run wildly on the sidelines after winning a game, celebrate all over the stadium after winning a championship, be the only one who could do it at a press conference, and be the only one in the locker room. There was even a time when reporters and the media didn't care about his players at all, they only cared about what Mourinho said or was going to say.
Over time, the players felt that winning or losing was just Mourinho's business. If he won, it was because of his reasonable tactical arrangements and proper personnel deployment. If he lost, it was because the players did not faithfully implement the tactics and the opponent relied on the referee to win.
It was as if it was Mourinho, not the players, who were playing.
But he is not like that now. He leaves quietly after winning the championship and sits low-key during the parade.
The spotlight and praise are left to the players, allowing them to fully savor the taste of winning the championship and making them realize that they are the masters of the team's fate.
As the convoy moved along, its speed became slower and slower. Tens of thousands of fans followed the bus, taking photos, waving red and yellow flags, and even lighting yellow smoke bombs.
The parade reached its climax when it arrived at the ancient Roman Colosseum.
Tens of thousands of people were waiting here, and the bus stopped completely.
They sang the team song, took turns holding up the trophy, and many teammates simply sat on the railings around the car.
Chen Xiaoliang just sat there and waved to the fans until someone kept shouting his name, and then more and more people joined in. Finally, Chen Xiaoliang had no choice but to stand up, pick up the Serie A trophy, and celebrate with all the fans from all directions before they stopped shouting.
After staying for a long time, the convoy resumed its movement with the police clearing the way, and finally ended the parade at the Circus Maximus, the first and largest stadium in ancient Roman history, which could accommodate 150,000 people.
At this time, the night was already dark.
After returning to the Trigoria base, the team was disbanded immediately, everyone said goodbye one by one, and officially entered the off-season vacation.
When Chen Xiaoliang woke up early the next morning, he opened his eyes and looked at the familiar room and the unchanging streets outside the window. He thought about yesterday's dreamlike championship parade and seemed to have not yet realized that the season had really ended.
However, when he opened the system as usual, the golden flashing season tasks and achievements finally made him realize that everything had come to an end.
The first thing that popped up was the cup match mission. In the final of the European Cup, he received a basic reward of 12 skill points. Counting Feyenoord's 1.5 times reputation reward and the BUFF that doubled the European war reward this season, he finally obtained a total of 36 skill points.
Skill value 89 → 125
Then he clicked on the season mission.
[Season Mission: Win the European Cup this season]
[Task progress: Successfully won the championship]
[Mission Reward (Choose One, 1/2): Double Reward for New Season European Mission]
[Task Reward (Choose one of two, 2/2): When you gain skill points in the new season, you can get the same amount of training points]
Um?!
Chen Xiaoliang, who was still a little sleepy because he had just woken up, suddenly became sober. This reward was a bit unconventional.
The rewards are not regular items like points, attributes and star cards, but BUFF for next season?
The double European war BUFF has been used for a year this season , and it has indeed significantly accelerated the acquisition of skill values, and the effect of the skills is indeed very powerful, especially after the steal attribute reaches the full 20.
[Good at Ground Tackle] This skill can help you to improve your actual tackling ability to a level exceeding 20.
It's simply amazing, and it has become the foundation for his survival and his place in the football world.
But training value is equally important. After all, attributes are the basis of ability. Many of my attributes are not even 15, let alone 18. In addition, the high fatigue level in the late season has severely limited my way of obtaining training value through repeated training. It is also a good idea to use the second reward to get an additional source of training value.
After all, it was a reward that was hard to obtain after playing for a year, and it could only be opened once. After hesitating for a while, Chen Xiaoliang still did not make a decision. He put it aside and opened other task rewards first.
【Selected in the best team of this season's Serie A】
[Task progress: successfully selected]
[Task Reward: Any 1-17 attribute +1, any hidden attribute +1, left and right foot ability +1]
Good! Serie A's bonus is one more attribute than the Scottish Premier League, which is left-footed.
There is no need to hesitate about this.
Passing 17→18, Injury 3→2, Left foot 15→16
In order to solve the problem of high fatigue in the late season leading to easy injuries and inability to increase training, the best way is of course to minimize the injuries in the hidden attributes!
【Selected in this season's UEFA Europa League best team】
[Task progress: successfully selected]
[Task Reward: 50 Skill Points]
Skill value 125 → 175
Um?!
Chen Xiaoliang made this sound again.
He suddenly thought of something and opened the card package in the system.
Training package: Specializes in high-difficulty shooting skills, value 33 points
Let’s take another look at the skill value of 175.
"System? Is a long-distance shot, the kind from a long way away, considered a high-difficulty shot?"
Chen Xiaoliang himself didn't know how long it had been since he had asked questions to the system.
【Calculate】
The system was still as simple as ever, so simple that it seemed as if it didn't want to bother with him.
Chen Xiaoliang's heart brightened!
Isn’t this interesting?!
[Unlocked Skills: Good at long-distance shooting]
Skill value 175 → 75
This is his favorite skill. When playing against Lazio, he unlocked it using Gerrard's long-range shot attribute card. Combined with Batistuta's powerful shooting skill, he kicked a 40-meter super shot.
But he also knew that although he now had this skill, his long-range shooting attribute was only 15, which was far from Gerrard's peak long-range shooting attribute of 20, and his strength was far from Batistuta's level.
But he wasn’t done yet.
[Unlocked Skills: Good at Difficult Shooting]
[Training package used: Skilled in high-difficulty shooting, value 33 points]
Skill value 75 → 8
Deduct the 33 points that can only be used for this skill, and then deduct your own 67 skill points, and you will unlock another skill!
Although his strength is not enough and his footwork has not yet reached the pinnacle, he can still use high-difficulty shooting skills to enhance his long-range shots at an appropriate distance, which can also increase the power.
Thinking of this, Chen Xiaoliang wanted to go downstairs and try it out immediately.
However, the system obviously did not let him go. After completing the season mission, [Achievements] popped up again.
[Serie A Best Player Achievement has been achieved]
[Pressure Resistance +2]
Stress resistance 17→19
What? The Serie A season awards are out?
Chen Xiaoliang immediately opened his phone to check.
Sure enough, last night while the entire Roma team was parading, Serie A announced the awards for this season.
Best Player: Chen Xiaoliang (Roma)
Best Forward (Golden Boot): Ciro Immobile (Lazio)
Best Midfielder: Chen Xiaoliang (Roma)
Best defender: Bremer (Torino)
Best goalkeeper: Maignan (AC Milan)
Best U23 Player: Cesco (Roma)
Best manager: Mourinho
Best 11:
Goalkeeper: Maignan (AC Milan)
Defenders: Theo (AC Milan), Bremer (Turin), Di Lorenzo (Napoli)
Midfielders: Brozovic (Inter Milan), Milinkovic (Lazio), Chen Xiaoliang (Roma), Barella (Inter Milan)
Forwards: Immobile (Lazio), Vlahovic (Juventus), Cesco (Roma)
To be honest, Chen Xiaoliang was not surprised that he was selected into the best team, but he was still a little surprised by the best player.
Of course, the team’s trifecta of wins this year is the biggest factor influencing the final award.
But...why does such an awesome achievement only give such a reward?
He was a little puzzled.
Although pressure resistance is indeed useful, allowing him to be significantly less affected by psychological pressure and harassment from opposing fans than other players in many important games and finals, it always seems to be less direct than other attributes.
[The best midfielder achievement in Serie A has been achieved]
[Unlock a midfield position]
Ouch!
This is... too exciting!
Now in the midfield, he can play as a central midfielder and defensive midfielder. The positions he is not good at are wing midfielder and attacking midfielder on the left and right flanks.
The problem is... these two positions are tending to disappear in today's football world, especially among the top clubs.
In today's world where comprehensive abilities are emphasized and defense is launched immediately after losing the ball, the traditional classical attacking midfielder who is good at dribbling and organizing is long gone. Today's attacking midfielders are all like B Silva, B Fee, and Odegaard, who are modern attacking midfielders who can fight, pass, make advances, run, rob, and retreat.
Although this style of play is in line with my style, being too far forward will greatly reduce my chances of participating in defense.
In the opponent's half, the opponent has more space and more players. It is undoubtedly a very difficult task to grab the ball by running alone.
After all, in the Champions League, which is the highest platform, there are a few defenders who will easily make mistakes in passing, and a few goalkeepers who will pass the ball directly to the opponent's players under pressure...
This is not the Scottish Premier League where the ground was full of rough players, central defenders rarely dribbled the ball, and kicked the ball at every turn.
Karius's huge, huge mistake is impossible to happen again in a team like Liverpool, right?
Right?
Compared to attacking midfielders, wingers are even rarer.
As the traditional 4-4-2 formation has been eliminated from the mainstream tactics, top clubs are basically using 4-2-3-1 or 4-1-4-1 or 4-3-3 formations with a single defensive midfielder.
There are only two roles on the wing: full-back and wingers.
With the increase in the number of three-center-back systems, there are more wing-backs who are required to provide assists and return to defense in time.
Traditional wingers like Beckham and Giggs are rarely seen anymore.
Although he can better utilize his speed and crossing ability on the wing, this position is obviously not in Mourinho's tactical options.
After considering both factors, Chen Xiaoliang finally chose the attacking midfielder.
【Attacking midfielder position proficiency is full】
Chen Xiaoliang opened his own position and saw that the attacking midfielder's proficiency had indeed turned bright green, indicating that he was like a fish in water.
[Serie A Assist King Achievement has been achieved]
[Achievement Reward: Gain 50 skill points for the skill "Good at long-distance passing", gain 50 skill points for the skill "Good at through balls"]
Very practical, I accepted them all.
[The UEFA Europa League Best Player achievement has been achieved]
[Achievement Reward: Obtain 3 Legendary Star Cards]
Chen Xiaoliang pressed [Get Reward]
[Obtain a Peak Pirlo Free Kick Attribute Card (Five Minutes)]
[Obtain a peak Van der Sar goalkeeping attribute card (five minutes)]
[Obtain a peak Klose header attribute card (five minutes)]
These three cards...except for Van der Sar's, are all quite useful...
Looking at the 12 cards in the card bag, Chen Xiaoliang thought of something.
[Fusing 10 star cards can increase any attribute by 1 (limited to attributes above 18)]
Messi's attribute card must be kept. It is not only a super trump card at the bottom of the box, but also a goal that motivates me to keep working hard every time I see it.
Of the remaining 11 cards, he put the Barrera Collector's Card into the conversion pool without a second thought, and then threw the Skill Card (One Game) in as well.
Then, Roberto Baggio's dribbling card, Scholes' long pass card, Samuel's marking card, Van der Sar's goalkeeping card, Adriano's shooting card, Inzaghi's shot card, Eto'o's speed card and Klose's header card were also thrown in.
[Card 10/10, please select the attribute to be increased]
Speed ​​19 → 20
This is the second 20 attribute he has obtained after the steal, and he has become a fast boy!
After a series of operations, the achievement is not over yet, and something is still flashing.
[Hidden Achievement: Recognition from a Madman]
[Achievement Reward: Stress Resistance +1]
Another stress-resistant one?!
Stress resistance 19→20
The last time I achieved this was after my first match against AC Milan, when I received praise from Ibrahimovic, which triggered [Recognition from the King of Force]...
But at least it proves that Mourinho completely trusts and recognizes himself.
What? Another achievement?
[Hidden achievement achieved: Stress resistance attribute reaches full value]
[Achievement Reward: Obtain the passive skill Big Heart. When the team is 2 goals behind, the random attribute increases by 2 points.]
Ha ha!
Chen Xiaoliang couldn't help laughing.
After the game, he often reads fans' comments online.
There was one comment that he remembered very clearly.
“Why do we always fall behind when playing against strong teams?”
In fact, Chen Xiaoliang also knew it.
But with this passive skill, even if you fall behind at the beginning, you will be more confident to catch up.
Back to the first reward, after comprehensive consideration, the reputation of the teams in the Champions League next season will generally be very high, and most of them can achieve a reputation coefficient of 1.5 times or 2 times. However, there is still a lot of basic abilities that need to be improved. Without the support of attributes, skills alone cannot exert their power.
So he chose [Gain equal training points when gaining skill points in the new season]
He got up and washed, but did not run today. Instead, he put on a hat, sunglasses and a mask. David drove him, accompanied Helena, Mrs. Wu Lei, and took Cesco into the city to buy food.
When it’s time to say goodbye, we have to prepare a big meal so that we can get together again.
However, with two female chefs here, Chen Xiaoliang only needs to help out.
In the afternoon, Wu Lei and his three children, as well as Reese and David's son, also came.
At night, a long-awaited and exciting ringtone rang, and a white-haired man appeared outside the yard with a smile and a bottle of red wine in his hand.
"This bottle of wine was given to me by Sir Alex Ferguson, and he gave it to me secretly. At that time, I won the Premier League title for the second time as Chelsea coach. After the season, he invited me to a party and gave me this bottle of wine. He is an expert in red wine."
Having said that, he did not forget to add one more sentence.
"But he wasn't very happy that Manchester United only finished fourth that year."
"Hahaha! Welcome, coach!" Chen Xiaoliang hugged Mourinho, whom he invited to the party, and welcomed him into the house.
Unlike when he lived and ate with Gerrard in Glasgow, Chen Xiaoliang's second head coach in his career did not visit his house for the first time until the end of the season.
Chen Xiaoliang introduced them one by one, especially Mrs. Wu and Helena, who were the strongest support in life.
Wu Lei was a little shy. After all, at this moment, his loan had ended and he would return to Barcelona to terminate his contract with Espanyol, and then move his family back to Donghai to continue his career.
Mourinho encouraged him: "Well done, you all know, I was a bad player when I played football, but I didn't give up, I knew what I wanted to be."
"You too, as a professional footballer, have been to Europe, played for big clubs, and scored crucial goals. That alone is more successful than most people."
"There are too many players in this world who are still wholeheartedly playing in some small leagues that we can't see. In the Middle East, Africa, Central America, Southeast Asia, and even in small places like the Faroe Islands and Tahiti, there are still professional leagues and people who love football. With your experience, you are enough to be a role model for people in those places."
"We all know that those at the top of the pyramid are easily respected and admired by everyone, but without the foundation of football, without so many people who are not outstanding but are fighting for it, its charm will no longer exist."
"I have been to your place and I know that football is not developing well there. Although I don't know where the problem lies, I know that these problems are not caused by you and you can't change them."
"But, Wu, go back to the Red Country, continue your football career, stick to what you want to do, and when you retire one day, become a coach if you have the chance. I believe that one day if 100 people like you come to Europe, Red Country football will surely succeed."
After saying that, Mourinho took the initiative to hug him.
These words not only moved Wu Lei deeply, but even Mrs. Wu beside him had tears in her eyes, and other people present were also deeply touched.
Of course, in front of a master of rhetoric like Mourinho, the slightly sad atmosphere was quickly broken by his two or three jokes.
Everyone ate and chatted, sharing plans for the next month.
Helena is going home to visit her parents and grandfather Hitzfeld.
Riise stayed in Europe to help the club handle transfer matters. After all, now is the critical moment to win over Enzo Fernandes.
Wu Lei returned to Barcelona alone to deal with the termination of the contract, while Mrs. Wu took the children back to Donghai first.
Cesco also wants to go to Slovenia to visit his family, and he has found a fellow countryman who is "much more famous than him", and the two will train physically together.
Everyone is curious about who the fellow countryman Cesco is talking about. After all, in Slovenia, he is now one of the most famous football players, second only to Atletico Madrid goalkeeper Oblak.
If there is anyone who is more famous than them in the football world , it is probably the current UEFA President Ceferin, who is also a Slovenian.
With a little pride, Cesco said a name that made everyone drop their jaws: Luka Doncic.
The Mavericks' star player, a superstar who was selected to the NBA First Team three times!
"Cao!"
"You kid, why didn't you say so earlier?"
"If you had told me earlier, I would have... gone for a walk with you before returning to the East China Sea."
Chen Xiaoliang took a sip of red wine in frustration.
Considering that he hasn't been home for two years, Chen Xiaoliang really wants to go back to Donghai to see his parents.
But before that, he has to go to Glasgow first, where the children from his Red Country Youth Training Camp are waiting for him.