Chapter 42: Rise to Fame

August 31.

The first round of La Liga is over.

Espanyol, who won by five goal difference, are currently top of the La Liga table.

Atletico Madrid, who beat Malaga 4-0 at home, followed.

The other two giants of La Liga, Real Madrid and Barcelona, became difficult brothers in the first round.

Real Madrid lost 2-1 away to Deportivo La Coruna, with Ruud van Nistelrooy scoring the only goal and finishing in 13th place.

The Blancos have not taken a single victory from the Stadio Riasol for eighteen years in a row.

Barcelona played 83 minutes away and were beaten by Mario Martinez, losing 0-1 to Numancia and finishing 15th.

Pep Guardiola, who lost the first game, was immediately slammed by the media and many famous veterans.

Without any controversy, Levi was elected MVP in the first round of La Liga.

At the same time, he temporarily ranked first in the scorer list with four goals.

...

September 13th.

Pep Guardiola stood on the edge of the pitch with a terrible whistle in his ears.

The score was fixed at 1-1.

The Barcelona players in the red and blue jerseys all hung their heads, while rivals Racing Santander hugged and celebrated wildly.

Barcelona are unbeaten in the last nine meetings between the two sides, with seven wins and two draws, and Santander's last league win was in 1983.

In this game, Barcelona faced the opponent's iron bucket defense and had few shooting opportunities.

In the 59th minute, Messi came on as a substitute.

The deadlock was broken in the 70th minute, Alves crossed from the right, the Santander player was fouled for handball in the box, and Messi took the penalty.

But then he equalized in the 77th minute and kept the balance until the end.

Pep Guardiola looked around at the towering stands, where the red and blue flags fluttered weakly and tens of thousands of fans let out shrill boos.

The implication is, of course, the questioning of him as a manager.

His first time in charge of the first team seemed to have hit Waterloo.

...

September 14th.

Espanyol travels to Andalusia to play Huelva at the Stadio Nuevo-Clambino.

'We took note of the brilliant performance of Espanyol new signing Levi in the opening game of the first round, scoring four goals in a single game, which was a truly remarkable performance. But I think there's also a reason why Valladolid didn't know much about him, they gave Levi too much space, and we looked at the on-pitch characteristics of the Spaniard's number of new signings before the game and worked out the tactics accordingly. ”

'I'm sure our players can do a good job of limiting him to the wings.

Huelva coach Manolo Zambrano said in his pre-match press conference.

The game begins.

"I'm sure a lot of people have been watching this young player who made history in the first round, and we can see that he is very active on the court and very skilled with his dribbling skills. Today, Huelva is like a big enemy, the team has discharged the overall 442 formation, and the whole team is going all out to defend the Spaniards' attack, can Levi continue the wonderful performance in the last game? ”

Andrés Montes, a commentator on the Spanish television channel Canal+, is extremely good at mobilizing the emotions of the audience.

He is known in Spanish interpretive circles for his blistering speed and uninhibited and ornate slang of all kinds.

It was he who coined the term "Tiki-taka" in popular football circles.

But on October 16, 2009, he was found dead at home from a heart attack.

"Levi's form in this game continues to be hot in the first round, so far he has tried three breakthroughs, two successes, and all 16 passes have been successful, creating a threatening chance!"

"Oh my God, he's really a new talent in La Liga!"

27th minute of the game.

"Espanyol centre-back Torrejón cut off possession and then launched a very quick counter-attack, with new signing Gabi holding the ball and transitioning to Luis Garcia!"

"Garcia finds Levy! Oh my God, he was so fast that he passed Xavi Fuego straight away, and it seemed like no one could stop his advance! ”

On the field, Levi is galloping like the wind, his leg frequency is not as fast as Messi's, but his height and long legs make him shake and pull the ball more, plus the delicate foot feel and fast speed.

The dribble was wide open and the Huelva midfielder made wild noises before the game, saying that he would lock him up on the flank.

But at this moment, he was shaking his head and sweating profusely.

Levi strode into the left side of the penalty area, only to be dragged by Xavi Fuego, who had just passed him, but could not restrain him.

"Levi! Levi! Levi! He dribbled directly to the two defenders on the opposite side, made large feints, and continuously teased the opponent's center of gravity, and he was looking for gaps. ”

"Levi passed Cesar Azo, will he hit the door directly!"

Several of the Spaniard's attacking points up front were in place at the moment.

"Goalkeeper Asir Lesgow is giving his full attention! An inverted triangle pass, the ball passed under Iago Busson's crotch and left unmarked at the back post, what a disaster! ”

"Luis Garcia outflanked in place!"

“Gol!!!”

Luis Garcia was so emotional after scoring his first goal of the season that he ran straight over to scoop the ball out of the opposition goal and kicked it into the away stand.

Then he high-fived Levi and hugged the rest of his teammates in celebration.

42nd minute of the game.

'Thiago Silva played a long ball directly from the back, and he tried two long balls in the half-time in total. The Spaniard's luck this year has been surprisingly good, where did they get so many young talents! ”

Andrés Montes shouted excitedly.

"The long pass found Levi on the wing, he is clearly already the tactical heart of the Spaniards, and all attacks tend to be initiated or transferred from him!"

The soccer ball streaked across half of the pitch and fell from the sky in a streamlined trajectory.

Under the watchful eyes of the whole stadium, Levi was surrounded by wolves of the opposing midfielders, and stepped on the football that directly touched the ground at the right time, and stopped steadily in an instant.

Then he flicked to the side, and Xavi Fuego, who had suffered a loss, did not dare to rush forward and rush, so he could only try his best to drive Levi to the side.

"It's too easy, it's a work of art."

Without waiting for Andrés Montes to finish his praise, Levi looked up to observe the situation on the field.

Keenly aware that De La Pena was unmarked at the far end, he made a slight adjustment and made a long diagonal pass directly to De La Pena.

De la Pena stepped back to catch the ball with his chest and hoisted it into the box.

The plugged in Roman Martinez leaps high and heads the ball into the net.

78th minute of the game.

Riera, who came off the bench for the game, replaced Gabi, who had performed well, and after playing pool with Luis Garcia, burst down the right flank.

After checking the time, he crossed into the box and substitute Diego Costa headed it over.

"Levi made a smart back-and-forth run, got out of the defender's marking, received a pass from Diego Costa, and cleverly flicked the ball into the far corner with the outside of his right foot!"

“Gol!!!”

"What's going on this season? The Spaniard maintained a very sharp attack, beating their opponents out of breath for two consecutive games! ”

"In the fourth round they will play against Sevilla, who are known for their defensiveness, and that will be a really tough challenge!"

At this point, the referee blew the whistle and Diego Costa was too wide in the scramble, and the foul was the first to be disallowed.

Diego Costa spread his hands and threw an apologetic look at Levi.

The 85th minute of the game.

Goalkeeper Bravo was in the starting line-up and immediately put in an impressive debut for the Spaniard, who have been solid defensively and have a strong new signing such as Thiago Silva.

Huelva didn't have many chances to attack, but there was also a one-on-one chance that went straight through the defence, which was cleared by Bravo on the line of the penalty area.

The Chilean also showed great hand-tossing skills, twice using precise long-range hand-toss to find his own players in the half.

Towards the end of the game, Riera attempted a long-range shot from outside the box.

The ball touched the body of the Huelva defender and deflected off the left side of the baseline, and the Spaniard was awarded a third corner of the game.

Riera took a corner and the first point in the box was again won by Roman Martinez.

But the ball was off the back of the net.

In the scramble, there was a fierce physical confrontation with two opposing defenders, and Levi, who lost his center of gravity after being caught in the air, happened to fall on the spot where the ball landed.

Climb up and save the ball from the baseline with your left foot, pull your right foot past the defender who cleared the ball, and push the ball into the net.

The final match ended 3-0.

At the end of two rounds, Levi was re-elected MVP of the second round and continued to lead the scorer list with five goals.

The die-hard Espanyol fans who follow the home team away from home cheer!

Espanyol players cheering!

Chinese fans in front of the screen thousands of miles away are also cheering!

Once again, Levi made his signature celebration in Nuevo-Clambino.

This scene is frozen by the camera lens.

It was then featured on the front page of major newspapers in Spain.

At the same time, Italy's "Torino Sport" also published a report about Levi.

This can't help but make people speculate whether there are variables in the Golden Boy Award selected by this veteran media.

But Levi's selection as a shortlist of 40 is already a certainty.

September 15th.

Head coach Tinting Marquez gave the RCD Espanyol squad two days off.

And Levi took advantage of this gap to fly to Madrid, the capital of Spain.

Josep Pedrerol, a well-known Spanish television producer, has started a football-themed talk show called "Intereconnomia".

The show quickly became the most-watched football show in Spain two years later.

Levi's jaw-dropping performances in two rounds caught the TV producer's attention.

And invited him to be a guest on the show's debut.

After Levi saw the list of the rest of the guests, he was taken aback.

Thomas Roncello, reporter of the Ace Daily.

Ace reporter José Damian González.

Director of Telefónica Ciro López.

Former footballer Lobo Carrasco.

Spanish four beauties host beauty Sara Caponero.

and a breath-suffocating name: former Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez.

It's in Real Madrid's nest.