"Beep!"
"CCTV!
"CCTV!! You are now watching the first round of the 2012-13 Season Champions League group stage, between Montpellier and Arsenal. The match has already begun.
"Montpellier kicks off in the first half. This team was the Ligue 1 champion last season, but their performance this season has been disappointing, with three consecutive winless games."
"…"
On the field, Arsenal players, back in a 4-4-2 formation, rushed across the halfway line, sprinting to put pressure on Montpellier's Ball Control in their backfield.
"Bang!"
"Scrape!"
Physical confrontations began in various areas, with players frequently sliding tackles and falling to the ground. Everyone was fighting fiercely.
Ligue 1 teams have quite distinct characteristics.
Because they like to find physically strong players, physical confrontation has always been their advantage. They also like to drag the game into this kind of physical entanglement, striving for victory through advantageous points.
But when they encounter a team as comprehensive and adept at transition play as Arsenal,
their advantage may not only disappear but may even turn into a bad habit that could lead to their defeat! "Bocali! Called Mbiwa! Trying to double-team Maël for the Football at his feet! The confrontation between the three is intense! "Maël's center of gravity is very stable! He controls the Football while spinning like a top. The two of them can't do much... but they still have to try! "We rarely see this in the Premier League, where players mostly avoid contact with Maël.
"It can only be said that Montpellier's defenders may be playing in the Champions League for the first time, facing such a player for the first time. A newborn calf is not afraid of a tiger!"
"…"
While Bocali and Mbiwa were entangled with Maël, the other defenders were clearly a bit careless.
They seemed to subconsciously believe that since the two had slowed down Maël's Speed and dragged him into an entanglement, taking the ball away shouldn't be a big problem.
After all, no matter how strong Maël is, he only has two legs. Without Speed or room to maneuver, it should be difficult for him to outplay four legs.
On the sideline, Maël turned another circle, then tightened his core and exerted force backward, pushing the two away slightly.
Taking advantage of this gap, he glanced back to determine the distance and direction of the two, then pulled the Football back with his right foot, and then used the outside of his foot to lift the ball with an outward flipping motion.
"Swish!"
The Football instantly soared into the air, causing Bocali and Mbiwa to be stunned. In aerial combat, the advantage of their four legs was difficult to use.
But it's okay, as long as Maël isn't allowed to pass, this attack will still be contained.
If all else fails, foul! The two felt that they had lowered their stance enough. They tacitly moved towards Maël, both hands reaching for the clothes behind Maël.
"Bang!"
Maël turned sideways, half-facing the direction of the attack in the middle, and headed the ball towards the space behind the two, cutting Inside.
He quickly felt the pressure from the two, but this time he was very determined to charge through! After playing so many fancy moves for so long, he couldn't forget how he originally played Football! "Thump, thump, thump!"
Maël's legs pushed off the ground forcefully to accelerate, and his waist and abdomen also exerted force to swing to both sides, trying to completely shake off the two.
Bocali and Mbiwa soon felt a sense of powerlessness coming. They not only quickly lost their balance, but even the hands grabbing Maël's jersey loosened.
"Pa!"
Mbiwa, with his higher center of gravity, was the first to fall to the ground in an undignified sprawl. His loss of strength on that side caused Bocali to bear all of Maël's forward momentum.
"Pa!"
Bocali quickly fell to the ground and slid forward for a short distance on his stomach.
"Too damn fast!" Frustration appeared on his face. He felt like he was only now realizing what a European champion and the Premier League's strongest player were, and what it meant to be Arsenal's and the French Team's captain.
"Indeed, too fierce." Mbiwa also complained. They could only watch Maël's back as he charged into the penalty area and stopped the football.
"Maël is in! The familiar Maël-style dribbling! A bit of flair, a bit of Speed and Strength, but most importantly, an unstoppable momentum!" Another acceleration towards the baseline to get past the chasing Sessegnon! A lofted Cross to the far post!
"Giroud!!
"One-nil! Too easy. Just 3 minutes into the game, Maël has already blown up Montpellier's defense!" This goal is mainly due to Montpellier's carelessness. When Maël slowed down on the wing, the others should have gone to double-team him. At least a defensive group of 3-4 players would have been more secure.
"But perhaps they accumulated too much positive feedback and confidence from their successful attempts in Ligue 1 last season. They were overconfident in themselves, thinking that two people could defend Maël!"
"."
On the field, Giroud put his hands on his chest and apologized to the fans at the stadium.
This was his former team, and he shouldn't be celebrating after scoring.
However, he still ran towards Maël, hugging and high-fiving him to thank him for the pass.
"It's blooming!"
Maël's face was filled with excitement as he happily said, "My first Champions League goal! I hope this goal will bring us good luck in this competition."
A smile appeared on Giroud's face as he nodded and said, "The most important thing is to bring you good luck. I know you definitely want the titles of Champions League Top Scorer and Assists Leader."
"Haha..."
Maël smiled and patted his arm, saying, "These two titles are certainly important, but what I want more is to lead this team to the championship."
Giroud's expression shifted upon hearing this, and his face slowly turned solemn. "I hope so too. If I have a Champions League title, then my career will be perfect."
Maël nodded and said nothing more. For him, a career with only one Champions League title wouldn't be perfect.
But it was definitely an indispensable piece of the Grand Slam puzzle, one of his biggest pursuits this season!
Hopefully, it will come true... The current hard work is all for the sake of reaping a good result at the end of the season in late May next year!
"Yahoo.!" Van Persie and others also ran over soon after, propping themselves up on their shoulders and jumping.
Arsenal always plays more easily in games where they score first. They are very afraid of the situation where the opponent steals a goal first and then parks the bus.
"Beep!"
After the whistle blew again, the Arsenal players' expressions became relaxed. Their passing and pressing also seemed effortless, showing an invincible aura from every angle.
Montpellier's resistance didn't last long before they were forced back to the edge of the penalty area to park the bus again.
The players lost their fighting spirit and only knew how to defend numbly, as if they were the ones in the lead.
On the sidelines, Mr. Wenger knew in his heart that this game was stable after seeing this scene.
Midway through the first half, he even returned to the player tunnel to use the restroom and refill his water bottle.
"Boom!!"
In the 41st minute, Maël, on the edge of the penalty area, met the ball cleared by the opponent and unleashed his signature long-shot skill, scoring again.
Two to zero! "Aaaahhhh!" The Arsenal expeditionary force, seeing Maël score his first goal of the new season, erupted, and many Montpellier home fans applauded in admiration.
"Vamos!!"
Maël's roar echoed throughout the right half of the stands, his arms trembling, his face revealing a desire and longing for the future.
The first Champions League goal of the new season! "Boom!"
In the 62nd minute of the second half, Van Persie received a pass from Cazorla and completed a One-on-One goal, also scoring his first Champions League goal of the new season.
Three to zero! 3 points in hand! "Boom!"
The 71st minute was the climax of the match. Cazorla broke through all the way to the baseline near the penalty area line and, for some reason, had the idea of showing off his skills, sending out a Cross with a rabona.
"Ohhhh!"
Although the Football was cleared at the first point by a Montpellier defender, the Arsenal fans became enthusiastic, all of them rising from their seats, roaring and cheering for the attack.
At the second point outside the penalty area, Arteta smashed the Football back into the Montpellier penalty area with a tough Header.
"Boom!"
As a result, the ball was cleared again, this time being kicked towards the midfield line further away.
"Push up! Push up!!" The Montpellier captain quickly waved his hand to signal the players to come out of the penalty area, otherwise they would be besieged by the opponent and lose a fourth goal sooner or later.
"Pa!"
At the midfield line, Thiago Silva, rushing up, volleyed the ball sideways, sending it towards the edge of the penalty area again.
This time, the Arsenal attacking players correctly predicted the landing point in advance.
"Pa!" Maël retreated in advance to the middle position on the edge of the penalty area, jumped high, and boldly chose to Ball Control with his chest in the crowd, and still directed the ball towards the direction of the attack.
After turning around, he saw that two people were about to approach him, so he did not hesitate and directly Volleyed.
"Boom!!"
Facing the Football landing in front of him, he bent his body and burst out all his Strength, pouring it into his right leg, and blasted the ball towards the goal with a movement that seemed to fold his body together.
Violent Volley!! The Football rotated and howled, passing through the hands of the Montpellier goalkeeper again.
"Clang...!"
When it hit the crossbar, many people's hearts tightened, fearing that such a wonderful shot would not result in a goal.
"Boom!"
But soon, the Football touched the lower edge of the crossbar and bounced into the goal, obviously crossing the goal line before bouncing out of the goal with reverse spin.
"Hey!" The Montpellier defenders and goalkeeper immediately looked at the linesman with horrified eyes, indicating that the ball definitely did not cross the goal line and should not be counted as a goal.
Many of them actually saw the Football cross the line, but in order not to appear on Maël's goal compilation, they still wanted to fight for it.
Maël also looked towards the assistant referee with some concern, worried that the goal wouldn't count.
But thankfully, the assistant referee performed his duty as a linesman well at this moment, signaling that the goal was valid and sprinting towards the center circle.
"Bip!!"
The referee, upon receiving the signal, also blew his whistle to confirm the goal and pointed towards the center circle.
"Yeahhhh!!!" Arsenal fans erupted into complete frenzy, in stark contrast to the disappointed faces of the Montpellier fans.
"Haha...!" Maël laughed twice, pointed towards the sideline, and strode off with a flourish.
His second Champions League goal of the new season! His total Champions League goal count reached 9! In the future, with year after year of battles, he would eventually take the throne as the top scorer in Champions League history, becoming the King of the Champions League! "Come on!"
Reaching the sideline, he vigorously pumped his fist, venting his emotions.
A good celebration can perfectly summarize a goal, so he always enjoyed it, putting in his full effort every time.
Shortly after this goal, Maël was substituted off, ending his trip to France.
Arsenal's other players didn't score again, and in the final moments of the match, Gervinho fouled a Montpellier player while tracking back, and the referee awarded a penalty kick.
Belhanda converted the penalty, scoring a consolation goal for the home team.
"Arsenal defeats Montpellier four to one, securing their first win of the new season, and are likely to advance as the top of their group without suspense!" - Manchester Evening News
"Maël Brace, blasting in his second Champions League goal of the new season, his form continues to be red hot, but due to Messi's four goals, he temporarily sits second on the Champions League top scorers list!" - Marca
"World Wave! Maël's Volley wins the best goal of the first round of the Champions League! The player's Long Shot goal count is already close to surpassing all of Messi's Long Shot goals to date!" - Zhibo8
"September is coming to an end, is it possible that Arsenal will win all their matches? Maël posts a photo on social media with his girlfriend drinking beverages from red cups, does this symbolize a completely red record of victories?" - The Sun
"Over-interpretation, The Sun is the most boring newspaper." - Isabella's social media
...
On September 27th, Arsenal welcomed their first EFL Cup match of the season.
In this third-round contest, their opponents were Coventry, who had been relegated from the EFL Championship to EFL League One last season.
Faced with such an opponent, Mr. Wenger wasn't even willing to send out the second team, directly sending out a lineup of third-team players + some second-team players to complete the match.
Yennaris, Djourou, André Santos, Angha, Mikel, and other players who usually wouldn't even be selected for the matchday squad played, earning valuable rest time for the starters.
Inside Maël's mansion, many members of the First Team sat on the sofa watching the match.
"Are we still going for the EFL Cup this season?" Giroud asked Maël with a smile, he felt that as the captain, Maël should be in sync with Mr. Wenger on some ideas.
"Actually, I'm not sure either."
Maël knew what Giroud meant, shaking his head and saying, "Mr. Wenger's idea should be to try and move forward, and if we see hope of winning the championship, then we'll fight for it.
"It was the same last season, I remember that the team still hadn't made a firm choice when we were in the quarter-finals, and only decided to go all out in the semi-finals."
Van Persie nodded in agreement, adding, "The focus this season should be on the FA Cup, the EFL Cup is the lowest priority of the 4 competitions we are still participating in."
"Okay." Giroud shrugged, he had just arrived at the team and experienced the feeling of being a player on a strong team, and was hoping for all the championships.
But he had to learn to make trade-offs like Arsenal players did last season in order to get the best possible result at the end of the season.
After everyone chatted for a while, Maël suddenly turned his head to one side, looking at Bale, who hadn't said a word.
Bale has joined the team's combined training since his official transfer, but so far, he has not had a chance to play and has been adapting.
Mr. Wenger often calls him to the office for private lessons, which should be a special arrangement.
I just don't know when he will be able to play, and when the MFJB combination will take shape? "Bale, did Mr. Wenger give you any news about playing?" Maël asked proactively.
"It should be soon." Bale smiled faintly, as if expressing that he didn't mind it. As long as he can integrate well, he can play whenever.
Maël nodded and didn't speak any more, turning his attention to the game.
In the end, with goals from Chamberlain, Walcott and others, Arsenal beat Coventry six to one in this game, winning the second-to-last game of the month.
So far, they have won all 8 games they have participated in since the start of the season!
Namely 1 Community Shield, 1 Champions League, 1 EFL Cup, and 5 Premier League games! "Cheers!!"
Maël raised his glass and clinked it with everyone after the game. He said hopefully: "There is only the last league game against Manchester City left in September, I hope we can enter October with a complete victory!"
"Come on.!"
After a group of people encouraged each other and chatted for a few words, they were ready to leave.
At this moment, Bale suddenly picked up his phone, his eyes lit up, and he smiled and whispered: "Mr. Wenger sent a message saying that he is considering letting me start the next game."
Maël glanced at him, squeezed his shoulder and congratulated him: "Great, with you here, we are more confident of winning!"
A brand new front line is about to set sail, and by then, they may have stronger combat capabilities!
After all, this is a front line with a combined value of nearly 300 million euros!
Giroud seemed to have thought of this, and joked with everyone: "In that case, if you divide the four of us equally, I am also a striker worth about 60 million euros."
"Hahahaha.!" Everyone laughed together, this was really too good at averaging.
Finally, after seeing off his teammates, Maël received an invitation from Puma to go to Puma's headquarters to sign a small additional contract.
After Isabella's company merged into his company, Mendes has been helping him negotiate with Puma on the matter of canceling the 'non-compete clause'.
If you want to have a personal brand like CR7 in the future, this is a must-have!
Perhaps as an individual, it is difficult to bargain with such a large company.
However, this Maël is no longer the Maël of the past. After several considerations, Puma used a longer contract and a new non-compete agreement to supersede the previous non-compete agreement.
The term of the new contract reaches 9 and a half years, that is, from now until the beginning of 22.
The new non-compete agreement only restricts some brands that compete with Puma, such as Nike and Adidas, and no longer restricts him from operating his own brand.
It can be seen from this contract that Puma still values Maël's personal demands and wants to keep him for a longer period of time, so as to seize more market share through him.
To this end, they did not hesitate to make concessions and sacrifices, even if they paid so much endorsement fee, they are still willing to give players a certain degree of freedom! "Buzzing"
Maël was driving a new Ferrari 458. On the way, he saw a Bugatti driving by, and his eyes showed a few traces of envy.
It is definitely impossible for him to drive a Bugatti in the short term, but when the LaFerrari comes out next year, he will most likely own one.
When he goes out on the street at that time, he will probably be more stylish, because that is a real top supercar!
Before long, he arrived at the Puma headquarters building and took the elevator all the way to Orto's office.
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