Chapter 377: Qatar Consortium: 200 Million Euros is Too Little, Add More!
When Juventus fans saw Lin Quan bypass Buffon and push the ball into the empty net, they fell into despair. The game was already in stoppage time, and they were trailing by two goals. There was simply no time left to equalize.
Losing at home and conceding two away goals put Juventus at a massive disadvantage. Their Champions League journey seemed all but over at the quarter-final stage.
It was hard to accept. They had fought so hard in the Champions League, and it was painful to stop here.
Pirlo raised his head and looked at the blue figure near their penalty area with a bitter heart. This should be his last Champions League campaign, and he didn't expect it to end this way. It seemed his dream of helping Juventus win a Champions League title would never come true.
Behind Lin Quan, Buffon, who had lost the speed race, was filled with regret and unwillingness. If he had been a bit faster or more decisive, they might not have conceded that goal.
Unlike Pirlo, Buffon had never won a Champions League trophy. At 37 years old, his career was clearly nearing its end. Even though goalkeepers have longer careers, he could at most continue for another three or four years. Could Juventus win the Champions League in that time? Buffon was deeply skeptical.
While Juventus players were dejected and frustrated, the Manchester City side was ecstatic after Lin Quan's goal. The coaches and substitutes rushed onto the field, and Guardiola gave Lin Quan a bear hug.
Winning 1-0 had already met Guardiola's expectations, but Lin Quan's stoppage-time goal exceeded his hopes. With a two-goal lead from the first leg, Manchester City had a huge advantage for the return leg at home.
With the score at 1-0, City's chances of advancing to the semi-finals were about 70%. But now, their chances were over 80%.
With little time left, the referee soon blew the final whistle after City's celebration. Thanks to Lin Quan's two goals, Manchester City won 2-0 away against Juventus.
After the match, most Juventus players left the field quickly after thanking their fans, feeling very down. But some, like Morata, stayed behind.
"Lin, can we swap shirts?" Morata asked, already holding his own shirt.
Lin Quan nodded, handed over his Manchester City shirt, and patted Morata on the shoulder, encouraging him, "Keep it up and become Spain's top striker soon!"
With Torres and Villa out of the national team, Spain's main strikers were now Diego Costa and Morata. Morata mainly played when they used a two-striker formation. To secure a regular starting spot, he needed to prove himself and outperform Diego Costa.
"Don't worry, I'll beat Diego and become the starter!" Morata seemed confident, believing he would shine one day.
Lin Quan wanted to remind Morata to work on his shooting skills but decided against it seeing his confident demeanor.
After the match, Lin Quan took a half-day off to have a meal with Buffon and Pirlo. During the meal, Pirlo kept asking about Major League Soccer and New York City FC. Although Buffon had no immediate plans to leave the top European leagues, he listened intently to their conversation.
He didn't want to retire yet but thought he might after winning a Champions League title. However, he hadn't decided where to retire—maybe he would go overseas for a final payday or return to his first club.
"Manchester City's pretty clever, huh? With Lampard's low loan fee and you only covering half his salary, New York City FC is essentially footing a huge part of the bill," Pirlo remarked, catching onto the financial maneuvering.
"It's to circumvent UEFA's Financial Fair Play rules, right?" Pirlo asked.
"Not exactly. New York City gets a big-name player, enhancing their brand, while we get a ready-to-go player and save money. It's a win-win," Lin Quan explained.
Pirlo rolled his eyes, finding Lin Quan's explanation too simplistic, almost like he was covering up the real reasons.
"Why doesn't New York City do this with other clubs then?" Pirlo countered.
Lin Quan chuckled, "Other clubs do this too. For example, the Qatari consortium behind PSG is also looking to acquire several clubs to enhance their influence and facilitate future transfers."
Hearing about these grand plans, Buffon sighed, "It feels like football is becoming a toy for these consortia."
"Who can compete with these financial giants worth hundreds of billions of dollars?" Pirlo, a second-generation wealthy businessman, understood the power of money more deeply than others.
They all worried about the future of professional football, wondering how the sport would evolve under increasing capital influence.
This round of the Champions League had several high-profile clashes. Manchester City, a new powerhouse, faced off against Juventus, an established giant. There was also the Madrid derby between Atlético and Real, and the clash between Barça and PSG, all drawing immense attention.
However, none of these matches produced shocking results. The stronger teams prevailed as expected. Manchester City won 2-0 away at Juventus, and Barça, with their MSN trio, thrashed PSG 3-1 away. Atlético and Real Madrid fought to a draw.
The biggest upset came from a match expected to be the most lopsided. Bayern Munich, heavy favorites, were stunned 3-1 by Porto at the Estádio do Dragão. In that match, Quaresma, a friend of Ronaldo who had been discarded by Barça and Inter, exploded with two goals, leading Porto to a surprising victory over Bayern.
A 3-1 scoreline put even a team as strong as Bayern in a precarious position. Porto, holding a two-goal advantage, needed to avoid conceding twice in the return leg to reach the semi-finals.
Since Mourinho led Porto to a Champions League title, they had never reached the semi-finals again. If they managed it this time, it would significantly raise Porto's profile, drawing attention from across Europe and the world.
When the time comes, Porto will open their player market, and the players who performed well in the Champions League will attract attention from many top clubs, earning Porto a substantial profit.
"What's going on with Bayern? How did they get beaten by Porto? With Porto's lineup, how could they possibly beat Bayern?" "If I hadn't watched the live broadcast of this match, I wouldn't have believed this score!" "Yes, from the way the game looked, Bayern had absolute control!"
In this match, Bayern had over 65% possession and took 30 shots but scored only one goal. In contrast, Porto had less than 35% possession and only 11 shots, but they scored three goals from five shots on target.
Ignoring the goals, you might think Bayern was dominating Porto at the Estádio do Dragão. However, once you include the goals, it's clear Bayern was in an embarrassing situation.
Porto, despite their fewer shots and possession, had high efficiency and some luck. They used a few counter-attacks to not only create threats but also score goals.
This shows that Bayern's weakness was exploited perfectly by Porto. If they don't quickly address this issue, they might lose again in the next leg.
While Manchester City won, Bayern's loss prompted many Guardiola fans to criticize Bayern: "Ha! Guardiola's team won 2-0 against Juventus and is likely to reach the semi-finals, whereas Bayern's chances of making it to the semis are slim. And they still blame Guardiola?" "They say Guardiola ruined Bayern, yet he led them to a Bundesliga title, set a club record for the longest unbeaten streak, and reached the Champions League semi-finals. Even for Real Madrid, these achievements would be significant. Who does Bayern think they are? Must they win the Champions League every year to be considered successful?"
Bayern fans naturally defended their team: "Huh, being the defending champions and failing to beat Manchester City, getting shut out by Atletico in the semi-finals, isn't that disgraceful enough?" "By your logic, defending champions Chelsea didn't even make it out of the group stage, and nine-time Champions League winners Real Madrid are often eliminated in the round of 16. Isn't that more embarrassing?" "People just want more and more. Accepting success but not failure, does that mean other teams are all useless, and only Bayern is great?"
Due to Bayern's loss, their odds of winning the Champions League dropped significantly. Currently, betting companies favor neither Manchester City nor Bayern the most, but rather Barcelona.
This season, Barcelona's attacking power has been incredible. The perfect integration of Suárez has taken their strength to another level. In this round against a strong PSG, Barcelona delivered a dominant performance, controlling the match and leaving PSG with no chance.
After the game, PSG fans were disheartened. They felt their team was doomed. If they lost like this at home, how could they survive the away match?
In this match, Sheikh Jassim, the boss of the Qatari consortium, personally came to watch. He was confident in his team, believing that with the Qatari consortium's substantial investment, PSG had reached the level of Europe's top clubs.
However, the game did not go as he expected. His lavishly funded PSG was helpless against a truly elite team.
A few years ago, Zlatan Ibrahimović, considered the best after Messi and Ronaldo, failed to live up to his reputation. Instead, Barcelona's MSN trio showcased their immense individual skill and teamwork, leaving a deep impression on him.
Especially Messi and Neymar, watching them play made him drool. No wonder people say Manchester City, Barcelona, and Real Madrid are the top three clubs in the world. The impact of superstars on the pitch is evident!
This realization made Sheikh Jassim think that buying top players alone wasn't enough to advance PSG further. They needed true superstars.
Last summer, they spent 200 million euros trying to buy Lin Quan but failed. Initially, they were frustrated, but now they understood the true value of superstars. Clearly, 200 million euros was not enough—they needed to offer more!
Jassim then decided to increase the offer to 250 million euros and approach Manchester City for Lin Quan, Real Madrid for Ronaldo, and Barcelona for Messi again.
If none of these worked, they could try for Neymar, although his fame and skill were a notch below the superstars. Thus, his transfer fee should be lower, not exceeding 250 million euros. Otherwise, starting with such high prices would make future acquisitions of true superstars too costly.
With less than three months until the summer transfer window, the Qatari consortium began their plan. They started gathering recent match footage of the three superstars and hired professional analysts to evaluate their skills, form, and market value.
Soon, scouts from PSG appeared openly at the stands of Manchester City, Barcelona, and Real Madrid matches, collecting information. Their presence at Barcelona matches was understandable since they were opponents in the Champions League. However, their presence at Manchester City and Real Madrid matches, with no Champions League connection, sparked speculation.
Many believed that PSG was planning to make moves for Lin Quan and Ronaldo!