On the last day of May, the weather was already very hot, the sun roasted on the bare arms with a scorching smell, and a few impatient cicadas in the Milanello grove began to sing the loudest and last song of their lives.

The famous round table conference room on the second floor of the sports center building was full of people at the moment, and the large room could hardly accommodate so many people sitting together. Never before has there been so many people here, but the badge on the main wall of the room is no stranger to everyone who is here today.

Three days ago, the dust settled on the Champions League final, marking the end of the 2008-09 season across Europe. The vigorous parade of floats the day before yesterday also drew an end to AC Milan's glorious campaign throughout the year. Since yesterday, Milanello has been on vacation, and everyone has scattered from all over the world, some have gone to the national team, some have started a long vacation, and some have returned to the rivers and lakes with football.

Today, however, the knights of the Round Table gathered around the room where they felt a sense of sacred belonging. It has been more than twenty years since the Round Table Holy Knights were founded, and the knights have met together in this room 364 times, and today is the 365th, like a full year.

But this gathering was completely different from the previous 364 times, because today it brought together all the knights in the history of the Holy Knights of the Round Table, and all twenty-seven people were absent.

Baresi, Maldini, Tasotti, Costacuta;

Carlo Ancelotti, Albertini, Donadoni, Lentini;

Sebastián Rossi, Filippo Galli, Evani, Elaño;

Massaro, Marco Simeone, DeNapoli, Stefano Nava;

Giovanni Stroppa, Francisco Coco, Valerio Fiori, Massimo Odoro;

Gattuso, Inzaghi, Pirlo, Ambrosini;

Nesta, Favali, Brockie.

All 27 of them were former knights of the Round Table, some of them because of retirement, some because of transfers, some for other reasons, and some of them had left the Round Table and were no longer gathered in this house. Today, only the last seven Milan players are left at the round table.

But today, all 27 knights are gathered together, and there is a huge difference in football generation between them, with the youngest Andrea Pirlo and the oldest Carlo Ancelotti a full 20 years apart, a gap of four generations in the world of football.

These 27 people have a common identity - the Knights of the Round Table, and they have a common blood - red and black. Each of them can call the wind and rain in the Apennines, they stomp their feet, and the whole Italian football world will tremble.

All the knights gathered together, it was a grand event that had never been held in the 20-year history of the Round Table, and today is also a landmark meeting of the Round Table.

Twenty-seven knights, but today there are twenty-eight in the round table room.

- Zhuo Yang!

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After a lively greeting, 28 people sat down one after another, and although it was a little crowded, they were still able to sit down. Everyone is shoulder to shoulder, not as loose and comfortable as before, but it also seems more intimate.

"Franco, it's up to you to host today." Maldini said to Baresi.

Baresi's deep-rooted Roundtable philosophy was shocked, causing him to fall into a strong conflict, quitting the Roundtable in August last year and self-isolating himself for more than half a year. Today he is back here and is once again chairing the meeting as a roundtable leader.

"That's good." Baresi nodded. "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the round table. I would like to invite you to express your views on the first topic of this meeting. ”

"At the suggestion of myself and Paolo Maldini, Zhuo Yang is invited to the Round Table and invited to become the twenty-eighth Knight of the Round Table Holy Knights. According to the Knight's Statute, there are dissenting or opposing opinions, now present your opinion. ”

No one objected!

The rules of the knight stipulate that the qualifications of new knights are subject to a one-vote veto system, and as long as an old knight objects, without any reason, the new knight cannot enter the round table, and the invitation is declared aborted.

In practice, this vote is actually just a formality, since it can be brought to the round table to talk about things, it means that everyone has been communicated in advance, and no one will oppose it at the table. So, the round table turned down many entrants, but never at the round table.

But this time, the meaning is completely different from before, because Zhuo Yang needs to be recognized by all knights in history, not the usual existing knights. So extraordinary, because he's not Italian.

The origin and composition of the round table group will not be repeated here, as it has already been explained above.

The idea of inviting Zhuo Yang, a non-Italian, to the Round Table to become a knight came from Maldini in August last year.

Zhuo Yang's refusal to return to China for the Italian national team, Odd Fielder's insistence on leaving AC Milan, and Milan star Gilardino fled angrily made Baresi, the leader of the round table, lose faith and doubt the glory of his life. In a conversation with his brother Maldini, a distraught Baresi suggested that the new signing Zambrotta, the returning Abbiati and Borriello, and Bonella and Antonini all enter the round table to maintain the influence of the round table by expanding the number of people, but his proposal was rejected by Maldini.

Maldini believes that this will inevitably divide Milanello, with Italian players and international players artificially divided into two groups, which is very detrimental to the unprecedented atmosphere of unity that he and Zhuo Yang have carefully created. This extreme move of making all the Italian players in the first team become Knights of the Round Table could even make Zhuo Yang and Kaka lose confidence in Milan and force them to start cliques again.

The team believes that this is a reversal of history, which is extremely wrong. The Round Table should keep pace with the times and re-examine its historical mission, because it is impossible for Italian players alone to restore Milan to its former glory, and Zhuo Yang has become the de facto standard-bearer of Milan.

On that day, Maldini not only vetoed the five-man assault into the Round Table, but also suggested that Zhuo Yang be made a knight.

But such a groundbreaking idea that went against the glorious course was too much for Baresi to accept at the time, and he was even more devastated by the subversive change. On that day, Baresi and Maldini had a heated argument, and neither of them would budge.

After the argument, Baresi withdrew from the round table and went into retreat at home. Maldini, who has the monopoly at the round table, announced that all new members would be suspended and the round table would maintain the status quo.

Maldini waited, while Baresi watched coldly, and over the course of a season, the two men had many deep exchanges, and Baresi also reflected.

Watching Milan and the Round Table from a distance gives one a better insight into what happened, and Baresi gradually saw the shortcomings of the Round Table 20 years later, and slowly understood the painstaking efforts of his old brother Maldini.