Chapter 424: Darkness Under the Sun
Liu Yun immediately reported the incident to head coach Jose Mourinho.
Originally, Liu Yun thought that if this kind of thing happened, Mu Shuai would definitely be shocked. Unexpectedly, Mu Shuai had a surprised expression, and only ordered all the players to check the game equipment.
The other players have no problem with their equipment.
Mu Shuai talked to Liu Yun alone in the room: "Liu, don't tell anyone what happened tonight." β
Liu Yun was puzzled: "Boss, do you mean to let me keep quiet?" Why? This is considered a criminal case in the UK, right? In our Chinese martial arts, usually this needle must be stained with venom and the like. β
Mourinho smiled bitterly: "I guess it's not venom on that needle, it's muscle relaxant." β
When Mourinho said this, Liu Yun immediately had a feeling that his three views were ruined. He always felt that compared to the match-fixing black whistle of Chinese football, the European League should be a clean place. Now there is nothing but such a bad incident. The magic bird actually asked him to keep quiet?
Liu Yun asked Mourinho: "Boss, do you say you know that the needles are muscle relaxants?" How would you know? β
Jose Mourinho stood up, went to the window and looked at the night view of Manchester: "Because a certain team I used to lead, a certain player was so 'taken care of' by them before a certain crucial game. β
Liu Yun asked again: "Them?" Who are they? β
Mourinho turned his head, went to the wine cabinet and took out a bottle of whiskey, poured himself a glass, and said slowly: "Liu, do you know?" Football and betting are twin brothers. Where there's football, there's a bookmaker. In most countries in Europe, everything that those people do is legal. β
Liu Yun continued to ask the bottom line: "Boss, you mean that what happened tonight has something to do with the bookmaker?" β
Mourinho took a sip of whisky: "Liu, although you are a superstar in the Premier League now. But he only played for Manchester United for one season. There are some insider tips you don't know yet. I reckon if I don't make it clear to you tonight, you'll even suspect that I'm in league with them. Because you can't figure out why I wouldn't let you speak out, right? β
Liu Yun nodded.
Mourinho sat in his chair and said:
"I just said that. Football and betting are like twin brothers. In the gambling market in Europe and Southeast Asia, there are tens of billions of dollars in capital flow every day. Liu, do you know, how many people in the world make a living from the gambling industry? Millions! Bookmakers are not charities. While several of the biggest bookmakers in Europe are legitimate businesses. However, they won't want to see a game without suspense. Because there will be a lot of money pouring into the market for this kind of game. This can cost them huge bets. β
Liu Yun pulled a chair and sat opposite Mourinho: "Boss, you are confused about me." I understand the truth of nine out of ten bets. But aren't bookmakers open and legal, and the odds they offer are transparent? They have a number of actuaries with super high IQs who are able to prescribe the odds that are most favorable to the bookmaker. β
Mourinho shook his head: "Those who can survive in the sun are not necessarily vampires. There are connections between several of the major bookmakers in Europe. One loss and one loss, one glory. In a game like the Champions League semifinals, the amount involved in a single game often reaches hundreds of billions of euros. Moreover, there are many 'ways to play' from bookmakers. For example, in our match with Juventus, you can guess the score, guess the win or loss of a single game, guess the winner or lose of two legs, and guess the number of goals scored by the playersγγγγγγ I estimate that gamblers all over the world are now overwhelmingly beating Manchester United to eliminate Juventus and enter the Champions League final. β
Liu Yun thought thoughtfully: "Boss, our game should belong to the kind of 'game without suspense'." β
Mourinho nodded: "Yes." In a game without suspense, even if the bookmaker calculates the odds, the final result must be a big payout. β
Liu Yun said: "I don't understand this. Since they can't make a profit, why don't they just close the gambling game for this kind of time? β
Mourinho took another sip of whiskey: "If the bookmaker doesn't even dare to open a heavyweight match like the Champions League semi-finals, will there be gamblers coming to them to bet in the future?" β
Liu Yun said: "Mu Shuai, I have said so much. Actually, I can hear you suggesting to me that the bookmaker has something to do with tonight's events. But I still can't believe that in the much-anticipated Champions League semi-finals, they dared to do anything. β
Mourinho smiled bitterly: "Don't talk about the Champions League semi-finals. What about the World Cup final? Let me give you an example from 20 years ago. '98 World Cup final. The whole world believes that Brazil, which is a strong country, can lift the Hercules Cup. In Europe and Asia, all gamblers put their money on Brazil.
The day before the final, Ronaldo mysteriously fell ill. I didn't want to play the next day. The manager was under pressure and forced him to start, resulting in him doing nothing for 90 minutes.
Carlos and Cafu were lackluster in the final on the second day, and Brazil were on par with the previous match in terms of fighting spirit and scramble.
After the game, the entire Brazilian team fell silent. No one has revealed anything about why Ronaldo mysteriously fell ill the day before the final.
After the French team won the World Cup, the national team held a number of celebratory receptions. At a certain drinking party, the head coach of the French team, Kaiya, drank too much and said an intriguing sentence: Heh, they have helped us use all means to deal with Ronaldoγγγγγγ β
Liu Yun said: "Boss, you mean that the 98 World Cup final was a match-fixing? β
Mourinho played with the wine glass in his hand: "I don't dare say that. All I can say is that the game was weird, very strange. I've been coaching in Europe for almost 30 years and I've had things like tonight happen more than once. β
Liu Yun asked Mourinho: "Since you know that this matter is related to 'them', why don't you let me call the police directly?" Manchester City is our club's home and I think the Manchester Police Department will help us. β
Mourinho waved his hand: "Liu, I can tell you responsibly." Even if the police intervene, the end result will definitely be nothing. Who is behind the bookmaker? I can't tell. But I can tell you that bookmakers have inextricable relationships with clubs, with the FA, with UEFA, and even with UEFA. I'll give you one of the simplest chestnuts. β
Mourinho pointed to the chest advertisement on Liu Yun's jersey: "The advertisement on the chest of a club's jersey can often sell hundreds of millions of pounds for the big team, and tens of millions of pounds for the midstream team." Do you think it's really worth that much money? Is the propaganda effect really worth hundreds of millions of pounds? β
Liu Yun thought for a while and said, "Maybe it's not worth so much money?" If it's not worth it, why would sponsors spend a lot of money on it? β