PS1: Continue to ask for recommendation votes here, free books don't need to spend money, and it should be okay to give more recommendation votes, right? Thank you here~

PS2: Let's talk about the book friend group here, the group number is three, seven, zero, five, four, nine, nine, one, nine, nine, verifies that the answer is NTR knight, well, that's it.

PS3: I would like to thank the book friend "zzllss" for the tip.

Although under the impact of the Boseman Act, Ajax has fallen out of the ranks of Europe's top giants, and even effectively become a satellite club of Fiorentina, relying on the support of the purple lily every year to barely maintain its dominance in the Netherlands, without being eyed Eindhoven and Feyenoord. But unlike clubs like Monaco and Vicenza, Ajax, with its illustrious past, is not willing to become Fiorentina.

The best evidence of this is that Van Praag, who is the chairman of Ajax, has built a global scouting system over the years by taking out large loans from banks, and has established several satellite clubs in Africa and South America to strengthen Ajax's selection of young talents. From these actions, it can be seen that Ajax did not accept Florence's aid while not being willing to tie himself completely to the Florentine chariot, and was constantly looking for an opportunity to break away from the control of the purple lily.

For a club like Ajax that seems to be obedient on the surface, but secretly has another small calculation, Fiorentina is naturally very dissatisfied. After all, in their eyes, if it weren't for Fiorentina's loan of Inzaghi Jr. and other players to the other party at a critical juncture, Ajax would have been wiped out in that wave of giant divisions.

Although Zhuang Mingge was also very dissatisfied with the tenacious attitude shown by Ajax and Van Praag, he actually had more of a feeling of surprise. You know, now more than seven years have passed since the Boseman Act came into effect, and it should be clear from Van Praag's vision that Ajax, which is in the Eredivisie, a second-rate league in Europe, is unlikely to survive this wave, and it is even more unattainable to recreate the glory of the Michels and Van Gaal era. In this situation, Ajax is still unwilling to tie himself to the Florentina chariot, and is still looking for opportunities to be independent, which has to be said to be a very incomprehensible thing.

Perhaps, these people at Ajax still can't let go of the glorious history they once made, and the pressure of reality forces them to make compromises in order to maintain their façade. That's why Van Praag is reluctant to let Ajax join the Florentina banner whose history and heritage are far inferior to it, but prefers to stand by our side as an ally. This was the answer given by Zhuang Mingge after Groz Jr. raised the same question, and he felt that this was the only way to explain the series of actions of Ajax and Van Praag that bordered on ingratitude.

What Zhuang Mingge didn't know was that his speculation was actually very close to Van Praag's thoughts, and the Ajax president really didn't want the club to fall in his hands and let the four-time Big Ears Cup winner become a vassal of Fiorentina. That's why he spared no effort to expand the club's selection, intending to get rid of Fiorentina influence and recreate the glory of the Ajax youth team in '95.

And this direct confrontation with Fiorentina is a litmus test for Van Praag's achievements over the years. If he can get a good result in these two rounds, then he will have enough confidence to say goodbye to Fiorentina. For this reason, Van Praag decided to go to the team's manager Koeman to light a fire in person, so that he could prepare for these two games more carefully.

"Ronald [Koeman], what do you think is our hope of reaching the semi-finals in this clash with Fiorentina?" The day before the Champions Cup, Van Praag came to Koeman's office and made a move to the manager: "You know, a lot of people out there are not looking forward to us right now, thinking that Fiorentina beat us to the next round is a no-brainer. ”

"Which bastard is this bullshit?" Koeman, who was a fiery player when he was a player, has not changed his temper since becoming a manager. Therefore, after hearing Van Praag's provocation, the former Dutch international immediately became furious and said sharply, "We Ajax will never lose to Fiorentina, an upstart with no background, and our players have the ability to be worthy of any top giants." So don't worry, Mr. President, I'm going to beat Fiorentina and show those who look down on us who are the real big clubs! ”

In the eyes of the stubborn Koeman, Fiorentina, who have risen to prominence with the help of a wealthy owner, are pure nouveau riche, even if they surpass Ajax in the number of Champions League titles.

Seeing Koeman's blood boiling, Van Praag nodded secretly. He knows that Koeman's fighting spirit has been successfully picked up by him, and there is no need to worry about the players not giving enough in the game. Having achieved his goal, Van Praag returned to his office with peace of mind and waited for the match.

And just like that, the time came on March 36, the day of the first leg between Fiorentina and Ajax.

At 7 p.m. on March 26, the Amsterdam Stadium was filled with nearly 50,000 Ajax fans and thousands of Fiorentina fans from afar.

"Needless to say, Ajax must have deliberately oversold tickets again this time." Noticing the scene of fans rubbing shoulders in the stands, Zhuang Mingge frowned and muttered dissatisfiedly, "It's been less than twenty years since the incident between Heisel and Hirzburg, why can't they have a long memory and have to sell so many thousands of tickets?" ”

"Tony, you're wrong." Karin corrected seriously, unlike Zhuang Mingge, who only focused on the general direction and didn't care much about the details, she obviously paid more attention to these details, "Maybe for us with a big family, the income from a few thousand tickets is nothing." But in a second-rate league like Ajax, tickets account for a large part of their revenue. Therefore, in a Champions Cup knockout match like this, which can guarantee attendance and high ticket prices at the same time, Ajax will certainly take the opportunity to take advantage of it. ”

"Tsk, what a bunch of guys who don't care about anything." Capitalists will take risks when they have 50 percent of their profits, and Mr. Marx's words are indeed very reasonable. After listening to Karin's explanation, Zhuang Mingge said as he thought in his heart.