Southeastern France, capital of Provence.
As the location of the largest port in the Mediterranean, Marseille is the second largest city in France, with a unique geographical location.
In a country that loves football, the football atmosphere here goes without saying. The famous French football master Zidane came from this city.
Fans also affectionately call his spin-around dribbling move the Marseille turn.
At four o'clock in the afternoon on October 23rd, the third round of the Champions League group stage is about to kick off here, and the whole city is filled with excitement.
Under the faint sunlight, fans from both teams rushed to the Stade Vélodrome from all directions. Both teams will end the first round of the group stage in this largest club stadium in France.
Before this, Arsenal was ranked first in the group with two wins in two games, and Marseille was ranked second with one win and one draw.
"Football Express column, what score do you think the team will win by?"
"Wenger is French, and there are many French players in the Arsenal team. Will these two points allow you to accept any result?"
"Marseille has a chance to reach the top of the Champions League group stage this season. Are the fans confident about this?"
"There are rumors that the French Football Association has extended an invitation to Deschamps, but the coach himself wants to finish this season and take office after the European Cup. What do you think?"
Before the game, media reporters from all over the world blocked the fans of the two teams near the stadium to learn about their expectations for the game.
The Marseille fans were extremely excited. They smeared blue and white graffiti on their faces, showingzealotry expressions as soon as they were on camera, gesticulating and roaring at the camera.
"Three to zero!"
A Marseille fan grinned and came to the camera, holding up three fingers with each hand, "Listen! If you are a loyal Marseille fan, you will not have any filters for Wenger and Arsenal. We just want to crush them! "Of course, we like Wenger very much, and we like the rookies Maël, Koscielny, etc., but that's not a reason! "We want to defeat Arsenal to reach the top and then launch an attack on the quarter-finals!"
"."
"We are not the underdogs at all. We have the best coaches and players! They will lead us to victory! "Wenger? Maël? They seem to have been active in the media headlines recently, but we will not have any worries! "Marseille! Marseille!"
"."
"Deschamps is an excellent coach. He is one of the most outstanding players in France, and he has proven himself in the coaching position over the years.
"If he wants to leave us at the end of this season, we hope he can lead Marseille to the highest honor in the European arena. I don't think it's impossible. We won the Champions League in '93.
"I wish him a happy future in the National Football Team. We have been dissatisfied with Blanc for a long time."
At 4:30 in the afternoon, there was only half an hour left before the start of the game.
Inside the Stade Vélodrome, the pre-match press conference has already begun.
Deschamps looked in good spirits, answering questions from the media with a smile. He was very humble: "Arsenal seems to be the stronger side, and they have been in good form recently.
"You always have a lot of pressure when playing against this kind of team. Fortunately, the team's defense has always been very good, which is what I have been emphasizing in recent seasons.
"We will first focus on defense and then look for opportunities to counterattack, just like we drew with Dortmund in the last game."
"Do you have anything to say to Wenger?" A reporter picked up the microphone and shrugged slightly: "And we must mention that French player, Maël, you may have cooperation in the future."
"Haha..." Deschamps listened to the reporter's hint, smiled and lowered his head, then raised his head again and said: "Wenger is a coach I admire very much, and many people around the world have been influenced by him.
"In a sense, like Sacchi and Benitez, he has also promoted the development of football tactics and the promotion of professionalism."
Speaking of this, he put his arms on the table, "As for Maël, he is that kind of rare player, an incredible player.
"This is undoubtedly a good opportunity. I will meet this talented Aix youth in this game and get to know him.
"But I still have to say, I believe in the team's midfield and back defense, they are as precise as machines.
"Thank you."
After answering this question, he got up and walked out of the Media Room, ending the press conference.
In his answer to the last question, he said a lot of news points, such as 'rare player', 'a good opportunity to meet him', etc., which is enough for the media to create news.
"Didier."
Just after walking out of the press conference room, a shout came from behind and Wenger, with a smile on his face, came up and took his shoulder.
The two met very early. They both achieved important honors at Ligue 1 powerhouse 'Monaco' in the early stages of their coaching careers, and they are both French, so their relationship is naturally good.
After French team coach Santini left the team in '04, Wenger and Deschamps were once popular candidates for the French team's coach.
After Deschamps chose to stay with Monaco, he repeatedly published articles strongly recommending Wenger, but the latter also chose to stay with Arsenal.
"Hi." Deschamps recognized Wenger's voice, turned around and hugged him, "You're still in great shape, you must be working out."
"Just running." After Wenger hugged Deschamps, he took his hand and asked with a smile, "When are you taking over the French national team?"
Deschamps leaned back and chuckled, answering, "Are you recommending players to me? Don't worry, Maël won't get away.
"Barring injuries or other major incidents, he will definitely be a key member of the team in the future."
"Just a key member?" Wenger feigned disappointment and pouted, but his eyes still held a smile, "After this game, you might have a different opinion."
Deschamps shook hands with Wenger again, watching him walk into the Media Room, and headed towards his own team's locker room.
After walking a few steps, an assistant coach followed beside him. He waved his hand, signaling the other to not speak, and kept his eyes fixed on a figure in front of him.
It was Maël, who had just walked out of the stadium locker room and was preparing to warm up on the field.
His figure was very special. First of all, his body proportions were excellent. He had long, strong legs and a standard inverted triangle upper body, but not as abrupt as a bodybuilder. He looked like the type with good core Strength and explosiveness.
Deschamps couldn't help but feel a little envious, whether from the perspective of a former professional player appreciating a professional player, or from the perspective of a man appreciating a man.
He's handsome, has a good body, and plays well. What else does he lack? The assistant coach wondered what Deschamps was looking at, and only spoke after Maël walked out of the player tunnel, "The French Football Association just called."
"Calling at this time?"
Deschamps frowned slightly, remembering Wenger stopping him to talk just now, and guessed, "Is it to ask me to reconsider whether to end the Marseille contract as soon as possible and take over before the European Cup?"
"Yes."
"I guess Wenger just recommended me to them." Deschamps' frown slowly eased, and he shook his head with a faint smile, "It seems that Maël's prominence has made some people very expectant of the results of this European Cup."
"How should I reply?"
"Tell them that if they are hoping for a 43-year-old coach to lead an 18-year-old wonderkid striker to help France win the European Cup, then the pressure on this old and young pair would be too great.
"I won't make such a rash decision. Maël probably hasn't reached the level where he can change the outcome of continental matches yet.
"Did they think a new peak Zidane has appeared, or a peak Henry?"
"Okay." The assistant coach ran to the side to return the call, but there seemed to be some other thoughts in his eyes.
Deschamps walked into the stadium, watching the pre-match warm-ups of the two teams with his hands behind his back.
He was actually under a lot of pressure. Various forks in the road of life were laid out in front of him, each road with different gazes, different expectations, everyone seemed to be staring at him.
At 4:50, Maël finished his warm-up and walked into the player tunnel. He looked at a spot in the Marseille fan area and smiled in that direction.
His uncle, aunt, and their two children were sitting there. His little sister, Ava, had other arrangements and hadn't taken her seat in the fan area yet.
"Go for it." His uncle, Clermont, gave him a silent fist pump, not daring to be too loud.
"We believe in you." His aunt shielded her arm with her body and waved to him gently, the smile on her face very obvious.
Their residence was only about an hour's drive from Marseille. With their nephew playing in the Champions League, of course they had to come and see.
Speaking of which, the family hadn't seen each other for a long time. Maël didn't go home during the off-season because of his heavy training schedule, and he was even busier after going to London, so he didn't invite them to watch the games.
This was a rare opportunity, and the family cherished the chance for Maël to play near his hometown. They also invited many relatives and friends to come, but they didn't sit together.
And since the tickets for Arsenal's Champions League away game were sold out, and they had just purchased Marseille season tickets two months ago, preparing to learn about football through their hometown team, they could only sit in the Marseille fan area today.
This was bound to be a dangerous and exciting viewing experience. Although Marseille fans didn't hate Arsenal, they still had to be careful.
If Maël scored a goal, and the Marseille fans were looking gloomy while they jumped up to celebrate, that would probably cause problems.
Maël smiled as he walked into the player tunnel, went to the locker room to put on his shin guards and game uniform, and came out to see many players already standing in the player tunnel.
"I want to find my brother."
"I'm not standing with you."
"No!"
He saw Ava standing not far away, arguing with Marseille's fullback, Azpilicueta.
Before the game, he couldn't find good seats, so he contacted the organizers hoping to have Ava walk onto the field with him as a ball girl. The organizers gladly agreed to this request.
"Your brother is probably in the stands. The game is about to start, be good, you can go find him after the opening ceremony."
Azpilicueta thought it was just a child being mischievous, so he half-squatted down, held Ava's hand, and coaxed her, hoping she would be more settled.
"Waa..." Ava, unable to see Maël, anxiously teared up and began to sob.
Azpilicueta stood there helplessly. Many Marseille players watched him and chuckled, while others walked over to Ava to join him in comforting the adorable little girl.
"Ava."
Maël walked over with a smile, patted Azpilicueta on the shoulder, "Sorry, she's my little sister. I probably didn't make it clear. I'll stand with her."
"Ah?" Azpilicueta was dumbfounded as he stood up, blinking a few times. "Oh, oh... okay."
"Haha..." The Marseille players immediately laughed at him, a burst of laughter echoing from the players' tunnel.
Maël took Ava's hand and held his long-missed little sister in his arms. "Don't cry, Ava. Brother's here. I'll take you for pizza after the game."
As soon as she heard about food, Ava instantly stopped crying. While wiping her tears, she saw Azpilicueta on the opposite side looking at her again, and she pointed at him with her little finger, saying, "He's a bad guy. He didn't want me to find my brother."
"What should we do then?" Maël cast an apologetic glance at the future Stamford Bridge captain, then turned back to coax Ava.
It was normal for the little girl to be scared, possibly from suddenly encountering a stranger, especially with her parents not around.
"Brother, beat him up on the field!" Ava said fiercely, pointing at Azpilicueta.
The Marseille players pursed their lips, trying to stifle their laughter, practically turning themselves into memes.
Azpilicueta: "???"
He really was the defender marking Maël... The key point was that he hadn't done anything! Who could he even complain to about this? "Okay, okay." Maël hugged Ava and waved at Azpilicueta again.
They then entered Marseille's home stadium together. After the Champions League anthem finished playing, Ava came down from Maël's arms and ran towards the players' tunnel.
After running a few steps, she turned back, made a fist at Maël, "Beat him up."
Maël chuckled softly, winking at her to indicate that it was no problem, then his expression calmed down as he prepared to take the game seriously.
After arriving on his left wing, he turned his head and saw Deschamps watching him from the edge of the opponent's half, even smiling and greeting him.
Maël nodded slightly to him, then looked at Azpilicueta, who was marking him not far away... Today, he really was going to try to tear apart their entire left flank.
"Beep!"
The referee blew the whistle to start the match at exactly five o'clock. Arsenal kicked off from the center circle, pushing past midfield.
"The match begins! Viewers, this is CCTV. You are now watching the 11-12 season, Champions League match between Marseille and Arsenal!
"Let's take a look at the starting lineups for both sides. For the home team, Marseille, they are fielding a 4-4-2 formation today.
"Mandanda is in goal, the defense line from left to right is Nkoulou, Jérémy Morel, Diawara, and Azpilicueta.
"The midfield is a parallel formation, with Diarra and Valbuena in the center, and Lucho González and Benoît Cheyrou spread out on both sides. The forward line is Rémy partnering with André Ayew.
"However, as we get into the game, we can see that everyone except Rémy at the very front has retreated to the midfield and defense, organizing a deep defense.
"Marseille is a team that excels at defense, and their style of play is very physical, which comes from their coach Deschamps' philosophy.
"As for Arsenal..."
On the field, Maël dashed past the opponent's midfield line and arrived next to Azpilicueta, a slightly short full-back, but with very strong defensive abilities.
His reaction speed and explosiveness were both very high. Apart from being at a disadvantage in physical battles, he had almost no other weaknesses.
In fact, he was very good at using his short stature to evade challenges from attacking players, skillfully stealing the ball from their feet.
This was definitely not an easy opponent to deal with. He had to be careful and give it his all.
"Benoît!"
Not far away, Deschamps waved, signaling the nearby midfielder to come closer and block Maël's space to receive the ball.
Benoît ran over, made eye contact with Azpilicueta, and nodded. The two of them were going to coordinate their defense on the right-back position.
One marking and one assisting, this was the basic setup that all teams had been using recently when defending against Maël.
"Bang!"
Right at the start, Arsenal's midfielder Arteta sent a diagonal long pass towards this side. Azpilicueta and Benoît faced an opportunity to challenge Maël.
"Hey!" Benoît jumped high, trying to contest the header, but the football grazed his hair and fell behind him.
After landing, he didn't get discouraged, rushing back towards Maël's position, trying to intercept the ball through a pincer movement.
Maël, with his body sideways, braced against Azpilicueta, initially intending to stop the ball while holding off his opponent, then deciding on his next move.
But seeing Benoît's running route, he realized that doing so would increase the probability of being dispossessed.
In a flash of inspiration, he suddenly changed his strategy, forcefully bumping Azpilicueta behind him, then turning and taking a step back, extending one foot and touching the falling football with the outside of his foot.
"Pa!"
The football made contact with the outside of his foot, changing direction and bouncing once towards the center.
Just as Azpilicueta, having been pushed away, was exploding forward again, and Benoît was also chasing back, preparing to complete the close-down defense.
But with such a light and agile touch, the football passed through the gap between them before they could close in!
Benoît was left awkwardly behind, while Azpilicueta reacted quickly, wanting to turn around and catch up.
"Deng deng deng!"
But Maël had already pushed off the ground and started towards the center, stepping past the two of them, passing through the gap between them.
"Wow!" Exclamations of surprise rang out from all directions, whether from players or fans, or even the coaching staff on both sides of the field, some wore stunned expressions.
Maël perfectly escaped the two-man defense, heading towards the center! Completing a successful attempt, seeing the two of them flash past him, yet unable to do anything. Maël's confidence surged, dribbling quickly inside, preparing to unleash a thunderous shot.
There are often similar feelings, when you complete a brilliant breakthrough, a brilliant escape.
The adrenaline in your body will burn rapidly in a short period of time, giving you a feeling of omnipotence, prompting you to want to do more!
"Wonderful escape, this is the level of a genius! Valbuena chased back trying to intercept the ball, lunging too fiercely and being directly cut past, Maël has now escaped three players in a row!" Arriving in the central area, defender Diawara dared not retreat any further, Maël had just demonstrated his ability to shoot from a standing position in the previous match.
"He's coming!"
On the field, just as many people had not fully entered the game state, Maël, who had cut from the wing to the center, had already stretched out his body, swinging his left arm and right leg, ready to shoot.
"Pa."
At the moment of shooting, noticing that the opposing defender Diawara wanted to slide in to block, he took another small step to the right.
With his improved Ball Control and rhythm, this kind of feint shot was completely easy for him!
"Cha!" Diawara couldn't suppress his nervousness and fell to the ground, sliding in to block, a look of horror appearing on his face after realizing he had been tricked, quickly getting up to try and catch up.
"Boom!!"
But Maël wouldn't give him another chance, he repeated the shooting motion from just now, his body stretching out even faster, his leg swinging even wider.
This time, it was a real shot!
"whoosh!" The football, carrying Maël's power, quickly ascended, piercing the air and smashing towards the far corner of the goal.
Since the shooting angle wasn't very large, Maël didn't put too much curve on this Curved Shot, he was more focused on the power of the shot.
Goalkeeper Mandanda's explosiveness was very strong, from Maël's perspective, his jump and ascent were very fast, even one of the fastest lateral movements he had ever seen in a goalkeeper.
If he hit a curved ball, the opponent would most likely quickly cover the entire goal, punching the ball out of the net.
But a powerful Curved Shot was not so easy for him to defend, the speed of the ball was always going to be faster than the speed of a person.
"Swish!" The football smashed into the top corner, without any spin or sliding on the net, making solid contact with it.
Goal! One to zero!
"Ohhh!!" The Arsenal traveling fans quickly rose from their seats at the moment of the goal, raising their hands in amazement.
How long had the game started? And a goal already? Who could have imagined!
"Goal! The game has only been going on for 28 seconds, and Maël's goal has helped Arsenal take the lead!
"This goal was a bit too sudden! Marseille's strategy of focusing on defense was broken right from the start!
"Azpilicueta was stunned in place, Benoît slammed the ground, that position just now, he should have fouled. Even if it meant a yellow card, Maël shouldn't have been allowed to enter the center!" This is very likely to be the fastest goal in this Champions League season, and it is enough to rank in the top ten in Champions League history!
"Blitzkrieg! Maël blitzes the French team Marseille! This is his hometown team."
"Pa pa pa!"
On the sidelines, Wenger clapped his hands excitedly, the joy on his face seeming to reflect a dazzling light.
The photographer was very skilled, focusing on Deschamps in the distance after capturing Wenger's expression. Without cutting the shot, they recorded the contrasting reactions of the two coaches.
In the blurred foreground of Wenger clapping, Deschamps stood with his hands behind his back in the distance, silent and motionless, as if paralyzed by a field of disappointment.
"Haha!" Arsenal's players erupted in laughter and cheers. Some hadn't even warmed up or adjusted their shin guards before joining the celebration.
"Yes!"
After scoring, Maël sprinted towards the fan section. In this lavender-rich island city, he spread his arms and closed his eyes, as if surrounded by a sea of flowers.
His third Champions League goal! He is slowly making his way into the world, setting foot in the home stadiums of teams in more countries, leaving his mark in many places! "Wuhu!" Van Persie rushed over and jumped on his back, followed by Walcott.
When Arteta jumped on, Maël, overwhelmed, collapsed to the ground, laughing as he rolled over and stretched out his limbs, as if sunbathing on the beach.
In the stands not far in front of them, Marseille fans watched him with mixed feelings, both anticipating and disappointed that their team's defense had been breached so early.
"Ugh!"
In the front row of the stands, a family of five sat together. The eldest sister held Ava, covering her mouth to keep her quiet.
They had just met up with Ava and hadn't even had time to react when Maël cut inside diagonally in front of them, scoring a brilliant World Wave goal.
Even they couldn't help but feel a spasm throughout their bodies, trembling uncontrollably. How could Ava resist? Several Marseille fans noticed something amiss and leaned over to look.
Clermont gritted his teeth and turned away, feigning exaggerated grief, shaking his head bitterly, almost crying.
It didn't feel like conceding a goal, but more like a fire had just burned his livelihood to ashes. But he hadn't studied acting.
The others, seeing his devotion, said nothing and looked away.
Clermont sighed, turned back, and exchanged a glance with his wife before bursting into laughter. Luckily, he reacted quickly, squeezing his face and clenching his teeth to hide his smile, continuing to feign grief.
"Beep!"
After the restart, Marseille fell into a daze. They didn't know whether to maintain a deep defensive position and wait for counter-attacks, or rush out and attack.
Before coach Deschamps could figure it out, they were naturally unsure.
For a time, due to the lack of unified tactical thinking, the front and back lines became disjointed, which quickly devolved into chaos.
In the 4th minute, seeing the increasingly chaotic situation, Deschamps had to make a decision ahead of schedule.
He came to the sideline and waved his hand, signaling the players to retreat: "Keep falling back! Stabilize the situation first, don't rush! Think about the pre-match arrangements, think about how you defended and attacked before!"
He pointed to his brain, reminding the players to stay calm. Coaching in the real world is not like in a game.
Each player has their own ideas, and he can't reverse their state immediately. He still needs to give them time to think.
"Snap!" But Arsenal seemed to be taking advantage of their opponents' misfortune, launching fierce pressing in midfield while Marseille was still recovering.
In the 6th minute, Arteta's tackle created an excellent opportunity to switch from defense to offense.
"Scrape!" Valbuena was relatively clear-headed, rushing over and sliding in to bring down Rosický, who had received the second ball, intercepting the attack at the cost of a yellow card.
Just five minutes later, Alexandre Song's positioning forced André Ayew to pull him down from behind, earning Marseille another yellow card.
In the 14th minute, it was Maël's turn. He seized an opportunity when an opponent's midfielder took a heavy touch, chasing back and using his body to block the position, intercepting the ball and passing it to Arteta beside him.
"Bang!"
This time, Marseille didn't have a chance to foul. Arteta curled a shot directly into the far corner of the goal.
Van Persie had anticipated the landing point and arrived at the far post, leaping up to control the ball with his chest.
Before the ball could fall, he jumped up and volleyed the ball into the near corner of the goal with a side hook.
"Aahh!!" The stadium erupted again. Amidst the chaos, Arsenal felt like they were going crazy.
Two-nil! Maël raised his right hand and ran towards Van Persie, passing countless dazed Marseille players along the way.
In fact, their individual abilities were not bad, and their ability to organize attacks and defense was also very strong, but they had not gained the initiative after coming up.
Arsenal deliberately added fuel to the fire to create chaos, wanting to kill the suspense of the game while they were still unstable.
"First in the group!"
Van Persie held up one finger and tapped the corner flag after running a few steps.
"Assist for a Brace!"
Arteta also watched from the sidelines, smiling excitedly, wondering if he would have the chance to complete an assist hat-trick so early in the game.
Counting carefully, neither of the two goals came from absolute chances he created; one was from Maël's individual skill to break through, and the other was from Van Persie.
It's so great to rack up assists behind top strikers! "Let's pop the cork!"
Maël ran towards the two with a smile, making a gesture of opening a beer with a bottle opener, meaning they were going for a big win.
He couldn't be blamed for being too brutal to his hometown team; he mainly had to leave a deep impression on Deschamps, as it concerned his future position in the French national team.
ps: Adjustments will start in a few days, and this will be the number from now on.
Monthly update of 80,000 words, with a guaranteed target of 540,000 + bonus chapter for every 1,000 monthly tickets * 1 (increased to 7k per bonus chapter).
Total target of 547,000 words, asking for monthly tickets, almost at 2,000 monthly tickets!
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