Luton defeated Basel three-nil at home.
This result surprised many people; even the local English media were shocked. Before the match, the English media had thought Luton might win, but winning so easily was unexpected.
"...Luton defeated Basel three-nil at home, while in the other match in the same group, Roma defeated CSKA Sofia two-nil away. The situation in this group is becoming interesting. The two favorites for promotion in this group have both secured three points. Roma is in second place because they conceded one less goal, while in first place is Luton from the English League One!! Luton has won two consecutive group stage matches, putting them in a very favorable position to qualify. In the next round, they will face Roma at home. If they can secure three points, then Luton's qualification prospects will be very bright!" Sky Sports reported.
The English media were not at all surprised that Luton might qualify from the group. After all, Luton had defeated several Premier League teams last season, so qualifying from the Europa League group stage was not an unexpected situation.
"If Luton continues their magical form from the FA Cup last season in the Europa League, then this season's Europa League will be interesting..." the author of the article joked at the end.
After all, Luton is only a third-tier team. For the English, there's nothing shameful about Luton failing in the Europa League, but if they win... for the face-conscious English, that would be a huge boost to their reputation.
Many English fans don't have a bad impression of Luton. Firstly, of course, because most fans support Premier League or Championship teams, so Luton poses no direct threat to them. Secondly, everyone loves it when underdogs create some surprises...
And in Rome, Italy, fans were also discussing this team. Because the big team in Rome, Roma, would be facing this small English team next.
Winning a domestic cup as a fourth-tier team? This seemed incredible to Italian fans.
Moreover, Luton's Chinese head coach also became a selling point for news. Almost every media outlet reporting on Luton liked to mention this fact in their reports.
"Their head coach is Gao Bo from China."
"The situation in this group is very messy. Roma, who were previously favored, have only beaten CSKA Sofia and are now second in the group, while the team in first place is unexpectedly Luton from the English League One – it's worth noting that the English League One is England's third-tier league!" Corriere dello Sport wrote while reporting on the Europa League matches.
The Italian media is currently skeptical about Luton's chances of qualifying. After all, they are just a third-tier team; how strong can they really be?
"Luton is a very strong team!!" Ranieri said with a serious face when interviewed. For Ranieri, after Roma lost to Basel in the first group stage match, his pressure became immense, especially since Roma had recently suffered a three-match losing streak in Serie A, and Ranieri's position seemed precarious.
Is Luton strong or not?
This question had become a topic of discussion in Italian football circles; even Mourinho was asked about it.
"I haven't watched their matches. As for whether Luton is strong or not, we'll only know after playing them!" Mourinho said in his usual arrogant style.
...
Gao Bo didn't know that his team was causing discussion in Italy. For Luton, the schedule was still very busy.
Right after playing the match against Basel at home, the team immediately traveled away to play Southampton.
Gao Bo was very familiar with Southampton, because this team later climbed to the Premier League with their excellent youth academy system and eventually established themselves there.
Although Southampton is currently still struggling in League One, Gao Bo knew that this team would become a member of the Premier League in the future, and their players would continuously supply many Premier League teams, like Liverpool, over and over again.
This is the result of Southampton's focus on youth development tradition. Unconditional investment in youth training capital, a complete and scientific training system, advanced and free football philosophy, and the team's overall emphasis on young players have turned this place into a dream factory for young players. They not only have the chance to play at St Mary's Stadium but also become key players in the Premier League.
And speaking of Southampton's youth academy products, the most famous is Gareth Bale. The season before last, Tottenham Hotspur took advantage of Southampton's financial crisis and signed Bale for five million pounds, getting a great bargain.
Even for this match, when Gao Bo got Southampton's squad list, he found many familiar faces, players who would have the opportunity to play for Premier League giants in the future.
For example, Rickie Lambert, this inspirational player who rose from amateur football, would be signed by Liverpool in the future, and Adam Lallana, he would also appear in Liverpool's squad in the future. Besides these two players, there is also midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin, who would be transferred to Manchester United in the future. Their forward Nathan Redmond would also be a hot star in the Premier League in the future.
Although Gao Bo didn't know if the butterfly effect caused by his appearance would change the trajectories of these players, just by looking at Southampton's squad list, he knew how successful their youth development was.
Southampton's squad this season is also quite young; they are entirely relying on youth academy players to carry the team in the league. However, their performance at the start of the season was not very good. After nine league matches, Southampton had only secured one victory, but they had also only lost one match. Besides that, Southampton had drawn seven matches...
The team's weak offense was the biggest reason for the draws. Head coach Ted Bates was having a headache over this.
As for Southampton's opponent in this match, Luton, Southampton and Luton are the two youngest teams in League One – in fact, Southampton's squad is a few months younger than Luton's.
The match between two young teams had no suspense in the result.
Jamie Vardy was in explosive form in this match; he scored twice in the first half, helping the team take the lead.
In the second half, both sides became a bit anxious. Southampton pulled one back first, the goal scored by Redmond, but then Vardy quickly scored again, completing a hat-trick. In the eightieth minute, substitute Matt Schmidt also scored his first league goal of the season.
However, in injury time, from a corner kick, Lallana hit a shot from outside the box, scoring a world-class goal.
The final score was two to four! Luton won away from home!
After winning against Southampton, Gao Bo opened the Football Card System.
Level 3: 1
He had played more than ten matches this season, but the experience bar seemed not to have moved at all.
He sighed as he looked at the slowly growing experience. Despite being promoted to League One, the experience growth had slowed down instead.
He looked at the empty mission bar.
Why haven't the missions for this season appeared yet... Relying on this slow experience growth, who knows when I'll be able to level up to the third level...
Gao Bo looked eagerly at the mission bar. There was the Europa League this season! This mission system was too random, Gao Bo couldn't quite figure it out...