Chapter 86

**Preface: Thank you to the book friend Ziyang for the reward.**

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At the Camp Nou Stadium, there are two names that are absolutely taboo.

One is Figo, whose name still evokes the vivid memory of a pig's head being thrown from the stands. The other is Mourinho. The personal grudges between Mourinho and Barcelona need no further elaboration, as they fundamentally represent two opposing football philosophies. Therefore, it was clear that imitating Mourinho's gestures at the Camp Nou was not a smart move.

But Lin Sen did it anyway.

Was it a provocation?

Guardiola didn't think so, at least not in such a simple way. He had no intention of speculating about others' thoughts, but he was certain that it wasn't Lin Sen's goal. After all, the match was over, and it was meaningless. So, Guardiola was more inclined to believe that this was a way for Lin Sen to boost his team's morale, even though he didn't approve of the method. However, he had to admit that it was very effective.

After Lin Sen made that gesture, the Malaga players, who had been hanging their heads, suddenly looked up at their coach with eyes that were not much calmer than the others. Unconsciously, they straightened their backs, especially when they heard the crowd's abuse directed at their coach. The disappointment in their eyes diminished, replaced by anger.

No way! At this moment, letting their coach face the crowd's abuse alone, while they hung their heads, would be unmanly!

Seeing the players quickly shake off their disappointment and even glare at the stands, Lin Sen quickly put his hand down. He secretly sighed at the effectiveness of Mourinho's simple and brutal tactics and realized that this was not something an ordinary person could do. Guardiola was right; Lin Sen's gesture was not meant to provoke Barcelona's fans. It was partly to boost morale, but more importantly, to draw everyone's attention to himself, just like Mourinho.

However, the pressure was immense. After all, he was under the watchful eyes of tens of thousands of fans. People often say that a person can be drowned by the spittle of many, but at this moment, even spittle was impossible. If each of the tens of thousands of fans threw a small object, he would be crushed to death.

But there was no other way. Lin Sen had to do it.

A seven-game winning streak was a beautiful start, and an eight-game unbeaten run was a fine record. Losing one game in the Copa del Rey was not a big deal, and losing away to Barcelona seemed insignificant. However, who would have thought that the once-shiny underdog, Malaga, had quietly lost some of its luster? With today's match, Malaga had gone three games without a win, and had lost the last two in a row!

Just as death is inevitable, no matter how strong a team is, it cannot win forever, especially an underdog like Malaga. Lin Sen knew that Malaga would eventually face a defeat, whether by chance or by fate. He had to face this fact and deal with it.

Failure is not scary; getting used to it is. The death of a frog boiled in gradually warming water is not a pretty sight, but it is a common way for underdogs to fail. The frog named Malaga, which had swum a few laps in safety, had already felt the heat. It was not easy to make the frog jump out of the pot, so Lin Sen had to throw a big rock into it.

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At the post-match press conference, it seemed that all the Catalan media were unhappy with Lin Sen's gesture after the match, and they directed all their questions to Guardiola. A new seven-game winning streak, a new eight-game unbeaten run, and a new league leader—yes, due to Valencia's draw in the previous round, Barcelona, with seven wins, one draw, and one loss, accumulated 22 points and surpassed Valencia and Malaga to become the new leader of La Liga.

"This was not an easy win. Malaga is a tenacious team, and I am very pleased that we ultimately overcame the difficulties," Guardiola began with a simple evaluation of the match, similar to what he said in the mixed zone, with a calm attitude. However, when answering the media's questions, he frowned slightly. The Catalan media clearly did not want to let Malaga off, even though they intentionally ignored Lin Sen.

This was Barcelona's home ground, and Lin Sen was not surprised by the local media's deliberate cold shoulder and repeated attempts to cut off other media trying to ask him questions. If they thought they could provoke him with such tactics, they were mistaken. Compared to what he had faced while coaching at Atletico Madrid, this was nothing. So, he calmly crossed his arms and watched coldly.

"I think La Liga is not equal to Spanish football. La Liga needs the existence of various styles of play, which is beneficial to the development of Spanish football. So, my opinion on Malaga's style of play is not important. What matters to me is that we won the match," Guardiola responded, perhaps because Lin Sen was sitting next to him, avoiding the heavy questions. However, the journalist was clearly not willing to let it go.

"Then, what do you think of Lin's gesture after the match? Many people believe it was a provocation to all of Barcelona. Do you agree?"

This time, the question came from a journalist from the *Mundo Deportivo*, who even deliberately glanced at Lin Sen with a provocative look.

Guardiola's expression did not change, but he was already somewhat impatient. As he had thought, he did not believe it was a provocation. The media's focus on this gesture was mainly because it was associated with a certain person. Guardiola himself had no particular feelings about Mourinho, but he believed that both the fans and the Catalan media were overly sensitive about this person, to the point where even a casual comment could cause a huge stir.

In a sense, the Catalan media's sensitivity only served to amplify Mourinho's influence.

"I don't think it needs much interpretation. Our fans should be more confident. That gesture doesn't mean anything. In my view, it was just a way to boost morale, nothing more," Guardiola's response was light and casual, surprising even Lin Sen.

In Lin Sen's eyes, Mourinho's current influence was far greater than his own, but just a few words at the press conference seemed to be spreading that influence. Lin Sen found this somewhat amusing. Was there really no fixed standard for "immunity"? Thinking of this, he suddenly remembered the college student he met during his last trip back to China.

Was that just a coincidence?

At this moment, listening to the Catalan journalists one after another asking Guardiola questions, Lin Sen felt a bit bored and stood up to leave.

This action not only surprised the journalists present but also caught Guardiola off guard. Was he really planning to leave? The press conference wasn't over yet...

"Mr. Lin, are you planning to leave?" A Catalan journalist immediately asked as Lin Sen turned to leave the press room.

"Is this my first question?" Lin Sen looked at the journalist and said with a cold smile.

"Of course, if you really want to answer questions, you can consider it that way," the journalist replied with a cold laugh.

"I refuse to answer your question," Lin Sen smiled slightly, then ignored everyone else and left the press conference, leaving everyone in the room staring at each other.

Guardiola couldn't help but laugh bitterly.

Whose fault was this? But it seemed he would have to answer one more question...

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Describing the scene after a match as the fireworks fading and the feathers settling was undoubtedly fitting. After the heated discussions about the match, the college students returned to their daily lives and studies.

"Forget it. Barcelona is invincible this season. Real Madrid probably can't stop them. Let's go to bed."

"Go to bed? I can already hear the roosters crowing."

"What can we do? It's still too early for breakfast."

"Shall we go for a run? In an hour or so, the school cafeteria should be open."

"Run my ass. I just want to sleep."

"Take care of your health, young man. You're already this exhausted after one night. What will your girlfriend think?"

"Go to hell! If you want to go, let's run ten laps. One less and you're a coward! Dare you?"

"Who's afraid of who?"

"Let's go together! The loser buys breakfast."

...

Watching his classmates call out to each other and head downstairs, Tang Hua followed with a helpless smile, but his mind was still on the match that had just ended.

Although he was an amateur fan, Tang Hua could see that the turning point of the match was when Gabi was substituted. In statistical terms, this was an error, and it was not a methodological error but more likely a human error. Statistics is a widely applied discipline, and in Tang Hua's view, football is no different. Gabi's substitution could not have been due to Lin Sen's incorrect approach to the match, as before Gabi's substitution, Barcelona's attacks, though numerous, did not create many genuine scoring opportunities. Tang Hua believed it was a human error, purely based on his personal opinion, meaning that the mistake was that Gabi had strayed from Lin Sen's control.

Perhaps a model could be built?

Tang Hua's mind suddenly lit up, as if a door was slowly opening before him.

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**End of Chapter**