Patrick took off his jersey and handed it to Phil, who took Phil's jersey from Phil. The two of them hugged casually and staggered.

Patrick looked up at the big screen and the score on the big screen that had stopped the timer, the rain blinded him a little, and he wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, thinking that this was not an unacceptable score for Barca. There was still singing in the stadium, and there were still many home fans who did not leave, celebrating the victory in the first leg of this important knockout round.

Not far from him, QPR players, substitutes and members of the coaching staff were shaking hands and hugging each other, as well as thanking the fans in attendance. And beside him, his Barcelona teammates all showed frustration on their faces, just like him. In fact, most of the people wearing the Barça crest have already returned to the dressing room.

Barcelona's assistant coach walked up to Patrick and comforted him, and Patrick nodded twice, but he didn't really understand what the assistant was saying.

Patrick walked to the locker room with the assistant coach and suddenly asked, "That goal Ian scored was actually offside, right?"

The TA said, "I can't see it clearly, I need to go back and watch the video." ”

They were almost at the entrance of the players' tunnel, and there were fans with their heads hooked and shouting Patrick's name, and there seemed to be a little bit of ridicule, Patrick was not sure, he didn't look up, his brain was as tired as his body, he could neither think nor have energy.

After the game, the only thing he knew he was doing was looking for her, except for hugging his old buddies, but he only saw her shaking hands with Guardiola on the sidelines after the whistle blew, and he never caught a glimpse of her since.

When did she go back to the locker room? Was it when he undressed Phil?

Patrick thought as he put on Phil's jersey. The blue-and-white No. 7 was draped over him again, only the name had changed to "Phil".

The camera grabs this back.

Just before he walked into the players' tunnel, he heard a familiar voice.

"Phil, wait a minute—"

He turned his head and saw her from a distance, it turned out that she didn't know when she had put on another thin cotton suit from the official qpr coat over the black trench coat. Dressed like so many of the coaching staff and players behind her, mixed in, no wonder he didn't see her.

The surprise on her face flashed, and then she smiled at him and walked over quickly.

Patrick's mouth was dry and he suddenly tensed. He walked both sides of her, too, and before she could reach him, he opened his arms—

The hug was captured by the mobile phone lenses of numerous photographers, videographers, and fans on the sidelines. Cheers followed.

It seems that, for many, with this hug, the game is really over.

****

The rain didn't stop until the Barcelona players' bus arrived at the airport.

Patrick got out of the car, wearing headphones with the deafening sound of music in them. The rhythm is strong, restless as if in a nightclub, and his heart rises and falls. If he closes his eyes, it seems that he can still see a girl dancing like a penguin in the middle of the dance floor. She looks so clumsy, but she's so attractive.

Suddenly, he received a message on his phone, and he read it as he walked, it was from Amber.

Two things were said, one was that they would see him tomorrow in Barcelona and the other was to tell him that the photo of him hugging the QPR boss had become a trending news image.

He replied briefly and exited the hatsapp program. He didn't feel like he wanted to talk much, either with his mouth or with his hands.

In front of him, Pep Guardiola's back also showed a similar mood to him.

The Catalans mentioned Ian's offside goal in both the post-match interview and the post-match press conference.

It was an offside goal, but it was less than half a leg and the referee didn't see it. However, in the words of the Barcelona boss, he said: "They have better luck but I don't think they played better than us, obviously we created a lot more chances than them. I'm looking forward to seeing each other again at Camp Nou next week. ”

The QPR boss said: "Ian's late goal was the result of our team effort and we deserved it. We won today but Barcelona also got an away goal, which was a bit disappointing for me, but we beat Barcelona in the end. The players' performance, I think was perfect, and I would like to thank the fans for creating a fantastic atmosphere today. I hope we still have that perfect performance at Camp Nou. Oh, aren't there two more press conferences about Patrick? maybe wait until then. Now, I just want to say I'm happy to see him come back, he's a very professional world-class player. ”

The plane is about to take off, everyone on the plane is tired, and there is still La Liga to play on the weekend.

Patrick took off his headphones and put on his blindfold, hoping for some sleep. However, it is always difficult to fall asleep. If you fall asleep and don't want to wake up.

The final realization was what he said in his post-match interview with BT Sport:

"It's a memorable course for me and I'm happy to be back here...... Honestly, it's tough, it's tougher than I thought. We got an away goal, which was good and I'm looking forward to beating them at Camp Nou.' Oh yes, of course I'm happy to see my former teammates and coaches, we're still good friends. Good luck to them in the league and I'm a qpr fan anyway. ”

****

The rain seemed to have stopped, but through the window, Nicholas could still feel the wetness.

It was a good night for Everton, and the same was true for another Premier League side who beat one of the strongest teams in all of Europe, Barcelona, at home. She must be in a good mood, he thought.

After the game, they simply passed the phone. She knew he wasn't going to stay in London and there was a league weekend, and despite all the talk they said they missed each other – in reality, there wasn't much time to miss someone.

Before ending the call, he half-jokingly asked what she said to Patrick as she hugged her.

She chuckled twice, "I said I'm glad I didn't let you score on this pitch, as I promised." I couldn't stop him from scoring at Camp Nou," he said. I said wait and see. That's it for trash talk...... It's like writing a war against each other. ”

Nicholas turned on his phone and glanced at the news pictures after the two games......

Such a big battle is over for the time being, and the real decisive battle is next week.

The Spaniard recalls a few chances Everton missed and remains frustrated, hoping only that those missed chances won't lead to tragedy in the second leg.

A lot of times, you miss out on opportunities, but you probably don't know what that will turn out for the rest of the story.

****

Lu Ling looked at a photo frame on the table with some confusion.

It was in May 2017 when QPR was pictured at Wembley when they won the FA Cup. Pat's arm was on her shoulder, and she held the unlidded silver cup in her hand.

There were extremely bright smiling Ian and Zixiang around them...... And some of them, like Vargas and Raymond, are no longer at this club. And guys like Hans and Phil hadn't arrived at that time.

After that, Lu Ling looked at the training ground outside the floor-to-ceiling window. The players have gone home from training and the stadium caretaker is working on the turf.

Twilight at Harrington hadn't quite fallen yet—it was getting darker and darker at this time.

The mobile phone on the table kept popping up some media pushes. She didn't watch, but she knew that the news of Queens Park Rangers' defeat of Barcelona had swept the world in less than 24 hours.

□□ company lowered their odds to win the title, and the media and fans also showed optimism about the QPR.

She read today's Guardian with the headline "Brave Ranger Sank Barca" (Brave Ranger Sunk Barca), and she heard Tim say that even tabloids like The Sun, which has always been hostile to QPR, gave the word "Rangers!" arriors!” (Rangers!Warriors!).

She also heard that many fans had started buying tickets to Barcelona, and even though the team's away tickets were already sold out, they still wanted to be able to follow the team to the away stadium and cheer on the home team outside the stadium.

Although, there are also many who have pointed out that assists similar to Patrick Amber will be repeated at Camp Nou a week later. The outlook for QPR is not encouraging.

No one will forget that Barcelona are a team that can do miracles at Camp Nou, they have done it in the past, and the 2-1 deficit in front of them is far from the point where a miracle is needed.

Her head hurt a little.

After last night's victory, after all the excitement, she felt a lot of pressure and anxiety.

It's a two-legged match.

Moreover, there is not much actual preparation time left for the team. She already had a prototype of an away game against Barcelona in her head, but she was worried about the short training time. The pressure of fighting on both fronts came – in today's training session, she just arranged simple recovery training for the players, which was also something that could not be helped.

She'd asked Tim to come up with a specific training session schedule as she had in mind. Tim was working nervously in the office next door. She wanted to call him over to talk, but she didn't.

Lu Ling shook her head vigorously, took a sip of coffee, looked at the computer in front of her, the latest email in the mailbox was an email from the club official, and she knew that she would usher in her 100th Premier League game at home against Middlesbrough this weekend.

Previously, she was not in a good mood after 100 games on the QPR (a 1-0 defeat to West Brom at the start of the season, which was all the games in the statistics, and this time it was the Premier League).

There is another milestone game coming up and she will have to focus on the Premier League in the next few days. Currently in the standings, Everton has 74 points, QPR is 72 points, followed by Manchester City with 71 points and Arsenal with 70 points.

QPR In this game against Middlesbrough, you must take three points, and there must be no injuries to any players.

Nick's Everton are heading to Newcastle to play away...... They should also be tired, after a fierce battle with Arsenal. However, this is not something for her to consider for the time being.

She wants him to get a draw or even a loss...... But those are meaningless if she can't win, and besides, she hopes that Arsenal and Manchester City will have problems, but how likely is that?

The first thing she needs to think about must be her own side of the game.

Going around and around......

Now is the dream moment for a professional football coach.

However, it is also a stressful and torturous time.

Thinking so, Lu Ling threw his phone aside and brought up a video of Middlesbrough's latest game.

****

It was completely dark, and Lu Ling left Harrington's office. Tim left a little before she did, and the entire training base was now empty.

She drove out of the car park and in the direction of Surrey. The results of tonight's Champions League were broadcast on the radio. It was the other two quarter-finals, and Lu Ling had been watching the footage of Middlesbrough and had no time to watch the live broadcast of the game.

Of course she would love to see both of these games – but she really didn't have time. If she can get past Barcelona, then she will definitely come back to see their future opponents.

In the first leg of Real Madrid's match against Bayern Munich, Real Madrid won 1-0 at the Bernabeu thanks to a powerful header from the 34-year-old Ronaldo.

Lu Ling was a little amazed when he heard this. Cristiano Ronaldo debuted at the age of seventeen or eighteen to his current age, and when his long career came to an end, he was still in good physical condition.

She has watched a few Real Madrid games this season, and although the veteran is no longer as brave as he used to be, and it is true that he cannot defy the laws of nature in terms of speed and some physical qualities - but it can be seen that he still maintains a strong fighting spirit and **, and must be very strict with his body.

Will Pat still maintain such a figure and state at his age? Lu Ling has always known that Pat has always been full of desire to win and has always been very professional, but he is a completely different character from the Portuguese after all. If one day Pat gets all the accolades, will he still do his best in every game and continue to maintain his form?

She didn't know.

She also didn't know if it was easy or difficult to keep **.

It may be possible for Sir Alex Ferguson to continue his desire for a title after more than 20 years of coaching thousands of games, but if one day he has achieved so much, it will be ......

Thinking of this, Lu Ling couldn't help but smile, he had only played a hundred Premier League games, and there were about one hundred and fifty games in various games, but there was no need to worry about this.

Then she heard another message.

"Manchester City beat Borussia Dortmund 2-0 at home. Gabriel Jesus and Bernardo Silva scored for City......

Oh, Sampaoli is undoubtedly the happiest man after all four games. If City have a two-goal advantage at home and haven't conceded an away goal yet, then the chances of promotion are very high – and Manchester City are already better than Borussia Dortmund.

It sounded like Gabriel Jesus had scored another brilliant goal, a shot on goal after beating two opposing players inside the box. Lu Ling clearly remembers every time he played against this Brazilian boy, QPR would be teased even if he made a tight defensive arrangement.

Just like last night, Pat did.

There is always a type of person in this world who can think carefully about how to deal with it in advance, but when they are inspired, it is the moment when God smiles.

She took the wheel and a bush swept through the window, as if she saw the QPR defenders who had fallen to the ground at New Queen's Park last night.

She found that when she thought about football for a long time, she always thought of Pat. Perhaps, as discussed with Tim earlier, the reason why QPR is not the top team is because there is no super talent like Pat...... Leon is strong enough and may become a famous striker in the history of world football in the future, but QPR still misses Pat, and everyone misses him.

And the reality is that this team may be starting to fear him again.

It's almost home. She glanced at the row of tall houses behind Lyliber, and she knew it was an empty house.

Before the fire was extinguished, Lu Ling thought, I'm not afraid of him, I will beat him, at Camp Nou.

After that, her mind immediately jumped to the game against Middlesbrough.

She sent a message to Lu Yungui before falling asleep, she has been too busy lately, and she doesn't know how he is doing, and she facetime with Nicholas for a few minutes, and the simple ** made her feel a little more relaxed for a while, judging from his face, it must be the same.

Finally, she drank half a glass of red wine and closed her eyes peacefully. It is better not to have strange dreams, she prays.

****

On the afternoon of April 6, fans dressed in blue and white left the stadium from the New Queen's Park.

It was an easy game.

In the first half, Sorin Mitulescu scored from a direct free-kick, and at the start of the second half, Jacob Harding scrambled to score from the spot.

QPR beat Middlesbrough who are currently in relegation crisis 2:0.

In the previous game, Everton also won 1-0 away at Newcastle, which means that the difference between the two teams is still two points.

The QPR had a lot of rotation today, with Leon Ferreira, Yu Zixiang, John, Genk and Mensah all out of action. Due to Jacob's suspension for the next Champions League game, Jacob played the full game today.

Christine Lue, who has completed 100 Premier League appearances, applauded from the sidelines to greet the fans.

The home fans still brought banners with her face on them, and the blue and white team still shouted for the queen in the stadium.

Today, the "Queen's Blue and White Army" is a buzzword on social media.

Someone quipped:

Nathaniel Lawrence tweeted:

Soon there were fans who laughed:

The American boss retweeted and replied:

****

Phil laughed and cursed in the locker room, tidying up his locker closet.

Lu Ling came back from the press conference and thought he was talking to Hans beside him, and he felt weird, when did he become so close to Hans...... When she got a little closer, she realized that Phil was just talking to himself, and Hans didn't pay any attention to him.

After that, Phil zipped up his bag and rushed out, as if he didn't see her at all.

Lu Ling grabbed Phil's arm, "What's so anxious?"

Phil looked left and right for a moment, and then whispered to the head coach: "Sarah has a prenatal checkup today, I have to go to ......"

Lu Ling found it amusing, she could almost imagine him standing next to the girl named Sarah and being pointed out by the doctor.

"Oh so...... Hurry up and hope you won't be late. She almost said that she remembered to tell me the result, but she quickly shut up, and Phil had been "estranged" from her recently......

Phil stared at her, looking a little preoccupied for a moment. Lu Ling patted him on the shoulder and walked past him. Phil then ran out of the locker room.

Tim walked over and whispered to her, which read: "I just watched Barcelona's game against Eibar this week, and it just ended, Barcelona 4:0, and, with a lot of rotation, Neymar and Messi were replaced at half time, and Patrick was replaced at half time......"

Lu Ling shrugged: "There's nothing wrong with that, everyone has the same mentality." ”

After that, the two of them walked out of the locker room together.

When she opened the car door, her cell phone rang, it was Simon, the club's CEO.

She answered the phone.

An American accent with a somewhat eager accent rang on the phone: "Christine, we have just received an offer from Barcelona for our player......"

"Is it for Leon?" Lu Ling calmly interrupted Simon.

"Yes, they want to bring in Leon in the summer, I know they were interested, but at this time, there must be an attempt...... They offered 60 million euros. ”

"Tell them fuck off, that the price won't buy Leon's leg. Of course, I know what their offer means at this time, and they must have approached Leon's agent privately. Damn, it won't be long before we can see this news in the media, and there is no doubt that they will leak it to the media. However, I have confidence in León and he has expressed his attitude when he celebrated the goal before. It's just that I had to face the indiscriminate bombardment of the media at the press conference. Lu Ling finished speaking, and at the same time thought in his heart, he still needed to talk to Leon tomorrow.

This is the busiest time, and this kind of thing happens......

"Kristen, Nate and Tony know about it, but I think they'll respect what you mean. ”

"Don't worry, Simon, we're not a club that needs to sell people to make ends meet. Nate and Tony understand this too. And this kind of psychological warfare, as long as Leon himself does not waver, it will be fine. ”

****

In the 31st round of the Premier League, the top four teams have all finished their matches. Everton and QPR won and still lead the table, while a tired Manchester City and Arsenal drew with Chelsea and Liverpool respectively, so the gap between the bottom two sides has widened, which is undoubtedly good news for the top two.

What made the league a topic of conversation was that both Allegri and Sampaoli threw tantrums at their post-match press conferences.

The former said: "The schedule is more favourable for Everton and QPR......

The latter said: "We were awarded at least two penalties ......"

It looks like the Italians and Argentines are learning to put moderate pressure on the FA.

The current top-four position in the Premier League remains very solid, with Manchester City just three points less than QPR (but one game less than Manchester City), while Arsenal are four points below QPR and six points below Everton. Overall, the media is still optimistic about Everton and QPR winning the title, but no one can rule out the opportunity for Manchester City and Arsenal, as these four teams still have to fight each other in the final rounds of the Premier League.

In fact, after playing Barcelona away, QPR had to challenge Manchester City away - Lu Ling hopes that he will be in a good mood at that time.

She doesn't mind more pressure.

Of course, in the 37th round, which is the penultimate round, Everton vs. QPR, which will be staged, has undoubtedly been hyped by the media and fans as a decisive battle that may be the championship.

But right now, the only thing the QPR players care about is the game to the Camp Nou.

For Everton, Arsenal and Manchester City, the second leg of the Champions League quarter-finals is now the only focus.

****

In Harrington on Sunday, everything was calm.

"Leon, you saw what was written in the newspaper. Lu Ling stood on the edge of the training ground and talked to Leon who was drinking water. "They did give us an offer. ”

"Oh, boss, I know, my agent told me. I'm not leaving, though, don't worry. Leon looked up, his eyes looking at the manager through his wet hair.

The Uruguayan squinted and smiled. He remembered the first time he had seen the man in front of him, on a cold, wet winter day, when he had flown from the warm southern hemisphere to London.

She had a confident smile and a bold spirit, and he was a shy little boy who barely spoke English......

She greeted him in far less fluent Spanish than she is now, telling him that the club he was joining was a rising super club and that together they would make history.

That passage didn't move Leon, what really moved him was her charisma and her courage.

Sometimes, all people need is the courage they lack.

However, later, every time Leon remembered her words, he really felt his blood boiling.

He wants to be the greatest goalscorer in the history of this club!

Make history.

She continued: "I know that clubs like Barcelona and Real Madrid are attractive to players who speak Spanish and Portuguese...... Maybe it's not just that, it's attractive to players all over the world. But at this time, Barcelona made this tentative offer, and I think you know exactly what it means. I hope we can be honest with each other and tell me what you really think, Leon. ”

"I'm honest, boss, I'm not lying. Leon opened his eyes, "I haven't scored enough goals in the QPR yet." We're going to make history together, do you remember?"

The surprise in Lu Ling's eyes flashed, and then she smiled and nodded.

How can you not remember?

Make a promise together, time flies, and remember each other, that's the best.

****

On Monday afternoon, in the bright sunshine, the QPR plane landed at Barcelona's El Prat International Airport.

Journalists and photographers were already waiting here.

Yu Zixiang said excitedly: "I think the world's sports media are coming. ”

Ian whispered, "Maybe it is." ”

Coach Kristen Lue was the last to come out, wearing a training uniform and sunglasses, waving to the camera and looking in a good mood.

In Catalonia in April, everywhere transpires warmth and softness.

Really a great place for a vacation.

But this trip is by no means a vacation.

This beautiful place, full of dangers.

In 48 hours, it will be a battle that will determine whether the blue and white can go further in the Champions League.

The battlefield is the largest stadium in Europe.

Lu Ling longed for it, and she looked in that direction through the car window.

Pat, I'm coming, I'm here to defeat you. 166 Reading Network