The perfect center forward: Becoming a soccer king from the corner of Chuanu Chapter 257

While English fans were celebrating the fact that half of the Champions League quarter-final spots were occupied by Premier League teams, the FA decided to stir up some trouble and annoy the Manchester duo.

The Manchester Derby in the thirty-first round of the Premier League was postponed to early April due to the FA Cup schedule, conveniently falling on the weekend before the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals.

It felt like a déjà vu of the previous season when Real Madrid’s semi-final clash against Bayern was sandwiched between a Clásico.

Both sets of fans were strongly dissatisfied. On one hand, it was a direct clash between the top two teams in the league, and on the other, it was a crucial battle to advance to the Champions League semi-finals. How much better would it have been if it had been played in mid-March as originally scheduled? It was all the damn FA’s fault.

Online public opinion had no effect, just like the clubs in La Liga who protested against Messi.

The King Messi’s “chokehold” only resulted in a fine for violating the rule against touching an opponent with his hand.

Manchester United and Manchester City, with everything already set in stone, could only accept this result. As Manchester United was held to a draw by Arsenal in the thirtieth round of the Premier League, and Manchester City easily defeated Watford, the point difference between the two teams was narrowed to 13 points.

With eight rounds left in the league, it was not impossible for the Citizens to complete a grand comeback.

Time came to March 18th, and the Manchester duo each won their FA Cup matches by a single goal.

The Red Devils defeated Wolves to advance to the semi-finals, while the Citizens beat Swansea to reach the semi-finals.

Coincidentally, Lucia could once again enjoy the double bonus of “Clutch Player.” The Manchester Derby stacked with the FA Cup was definitely a good opportunity for upgrading.

Looking at his system interface, the two matches increased the progress of “Curved Moon Scythe” by another 1.1%.

Currently, training progress was 49%, and match progress was 45.1%, needing only 5.9% more to upgrade.

Lucia decided to seize the opportunities from set pieces in the upcoming league rounds, striving to unlock new traits before the Champions League quarter-finals to further strengthen his abilities.

Carefully calculating the upgradable traits he currently possessed, those that had reached 100% included: “Tuinu Corner,” “Three-Stripe Captain,” “World’s Best Left-Back,” “Henry’s Ball Control Like Mine,” and “Sole Superstar.”

Those currently upgrading included “Clutch Player,” which got stronger against stronger opponents [training progress 49% + match progress 29.2%], and “Curved Moon Scythe,” which improved free kicks and long passes.

The remaining Easter egg traits included “Disease Immunity,” “Variable Hairdo,” “Social Forward,” “Salary King,” and “Half-Step King.”

“Salary King” was in effect this season. If he transferred next season, he wouldn’t be able to enjoy the all-around 5% ability boost.

As for the “Half-Step King” trait with infinite possibilities, it had currently unlocked to 22.5%. As long as he won a few more major honors this season, the King’s playstyle wouldn’t be too far away.

Upon arriving for the international break, Lucia directly applied for full attendance from Mancini. In the match against Finland, the Manchester United striker scored directly from a free kick, helping the team open the scoring.

He then transformed into a B 2B forward, running back and forth, creating space and delivering several long passes to the two strikers, including Immobile, eventually securing another assist.

“Curved Moon Scythe” instantly increased by 2.6 percentage points, with match progress directly reaching 47.7%!

Three days later, facing Liechtenstein, Lucia once again scored a hat-trick, firmly securing the top spot in the European Championship qualifiers’ scoring chart. The huge gap left Lukaku and Cristiano Ronaldo behind him with a sense of desperate helplessness.

The absolute difference in strength led to the opponent being mercilessly slaughtered. The Manchester United striker’s free-kick statistics once again saw a significant improvement.

Curved Moon Scythe

[Training Progress 49% + Match Progress 50%]

Seeing the system prompt, Lucia was in a great mood. Immediately after the match, he made a bold statement to reporters.

Of course, it was only for national team matches.

“The team is in excellent form, and our perfect record in the Euro qualifiers is the best answer.”

“Chiellini handing me the captain’s armband is only because I am currently the team’s second captain. He is not yet at retirement age, and I believe he can still play for the Azzurri in one or two more major tournaments.”

“What kind of achievements do I want to achieve with the national team?”

“At least to rival Spain’s dynasty, and ideally to help Italy lift the World Cup three times, like Pelé!”

“Achieving this goal requires everyone to work together. At this stage, we are more hopeful of achieving something in the Nations League in June!”

At the Carrington training ground, Mourinho couldn’t help but feel a headache looking at the interview. This Mancini guy was really pushing someone else’s car to the limit!

He actually let his precious player play for over 180 minutes in national team matches!

Your opponents were just Finland and Liechtenstein, it was truly overkill!

After Lucia returned to the club, Mourinho quickly arranged for the logistics team to provide Lucia with physiotherapy and relaxation.

In the final stage of the league title race and the crucial Champions League quarter-finals, his beloved player could not afford any mistakes.

“Lucia, sometimes against those minnow teams in the Euro qualifiers, you need to know when to stop and save enough energy for more important matches.”

“Boss, I believe that when you play for your country, you also give your all. I cannot disappoint the Italian people who support me, so no matter who the opponent is, I will give my best on the field!”

“Just like in club matches, as long as I wear this red shirt, I will shed my last drop of blood for Manchester United!”

Lucia radiated a glow, which was entirely due to the Manchester United striker’s personal cultivation and had nothing to do with the documentary team filming Mourinho at the training ground.

There was no such thing as a secret, and sure enough, before the “Special One’s” documentary was officially released, Lucia’s remarks went viral.

Old Red Devils fans and Italian compatriots rushed to the LM Company’s direct stores, forming long queues to buy Lucia’s personal blind boxes.

Furthermore, fans even jointly pressured the club to urge the management to complete Lucia’s contract extension and salary increase as soon as possible.

However, this did not please Woodward and the Glazers. If he could win people’s hearts so easily as a player, he might even ride roughshod over them in the future.

And it wasn’t enough to just raise his salary; his younger teammates also needed to follow suit.

If all the money was spent on salaries, how could the Glazers suck blood and fatten their own pockets?

They couldn’t possibly close the Carrington training ground’s canteen to cut costs, could they?

It must be said that in this regard, the oil tycoons were more generous. Of course, the Barcelona president was also very generous, but Lucia had no habit of being someone’s subordinate and would not consider kissing the King Messi’s ass.

Time quickly came to March 30, 2019. Manchester United defeated Watford at home, easily securing three points.

Mourinho, who cherished his beloved player, only let Lucia come on as a substitute for over thirty minutes, which resulted in the “Curved Moon Scythe” progress only increasing by 0.3 percentage points, still 0.7 percentage points short of full progress.

Meanwhile, the two pursuers continued their chase: Liverpool defeated Tottenham 2- 1, and Manchester City beat Fulham 2- 0, delaying Manchester United’s early title win.

Four days later, in the thirty-third round of the Premier League, Lucia, starting the match, finally heard the beautiful prompt sound after scoring from a free kick.

Ding! Congratulations to the host! “Curved Moon Scythe” progress has reached 100%. Detecting that “Clutch Player” progress has exceeded 50%, the system is distributing new traits. Please confirm the information after the match!

In a great mood, the Italian charged around the field, creating numerous dangers, but his gains were modest, only getting one assist in addition to his goal.

However, after thirty-two rounds, his statistics of 47 goals and 19 assists were still unmatched in European football.

Unfortunately, there was no double celebration. While Manchester United won big against Wolves, Manchester City also defeated Cardiff City 2- 0, and Liverpool won big against Southampton 3- 1.

The bad news was that the Red Devils’ hope of winning the title early was shattered. The good news was that the postponed thirty-first round match between Manchester City and Manchester United would directly decide the fate of the three teams.

Currently, Liverpool had played 33 matches, with 24 wins, 6 draws, and 3 losses, accumulating 78 points, ranking second.

Manchester City, with one less match played, had 25 wins, 2 draws, and 5 losses, accumulating 77 points, ranking third.

And the runaway leader, Manchester United, although having played one less match, was far ahead with 29 wins, 3 draws, and 0 losses. Their current points had reached 90, surpassing Arsenal’s total points in their invincible title-winning season.

With 5 league rounds remaining, plus Manchester United having a goal difference advantage over Liverpool.

As long as Manchester United defeated Manchester City in this match, the Red Devils would directly open up a 15-point and 16-point gap with the two teams behind them.

This would allow Manchester United to directly secure the Premier League title five rounds early, leaving their old rival Liverpool helpless while also stepping on the heads of their city rivals to complete the title celebration at Old Trafford!

How refreshing!!

—————–

In the post-match mixed interview zone, Lucia, who was a doctor in his previous life, still had good mathematical skills. After a quick calculation, he went all-in with his bold statements during the interview.

Making bold statements and getting proven wrong would make him a joke, but making bold statements and succeeding would only make netizens think he was incredibly dominant.

“Thanks to the Premier League’s schedule adjustment, winning the title before the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals officially begins will definitely be a shot in the arm.”

“Of course, this might not be so pleasant for our neighbors. Sorry, the Manchester sky is red!”

Looking at the schedule, Lucia just felt a bit sorry for Pep. The timing of the adjustment was truly coincidental; after getting stronger, he was facing Manchester City again.

Man City, how old are you??

And the points in this match were truly dramatic; the point difference between the three teams was just enough for this one match to decide the ownership of the 2018- 19 Premier League title.

This was practically giving Pep a trolley problem: should he try to snipe the Red Devils, even knowing hope was slim, or should he conserve energy for the Champions League match against Tottenham, striving for a breakthrough in the Champions League?

It was a good thing his father-in-law was bald, otherwise Serra would have to fly from Barcelona to Manchester to clean up.

…

After finishing his verbal assault, Lucia returned to the locker room and immediately immersed his consciousness into the Perfect Striker System.

Seeing the image, Lucia regretted it a little; his bold statements had been too restrained.

What was there to talk about now?!

This cycle of football glory belonged only to Lucia!

On the Perfect Striker interface, a young Ronaldo was sprinting vigorously on the green field, and Lucia couldn’t help but already want to loan the future Ballon d’Or winner for the next ten years.

Drawing Ronaldo’s skill was already abnormal, but what was even more abnormal was that this trait had a resounding name.

Alien!!!

Looking closely at the trait’s enhancement content, it not only compensated for Lucia’s most lacking dribbling, feinting, and passing abilities but also further strengthened him in other aspects.

Alien [Training Progress 0% + Match Progress 0%]

Significantly enhances the host’s dribbling breakthroughs and instant change of direction abilities; significantly enhances the realism of feints; significantly enhances the precision of the first touch connection; slightly enhances the host’s extreme speed; slightly enhances the host’s shooting accuracy!

A total of five aspects of enhancement were enough to prove the value of this trait.

It’s worth noting that most dribbling experts were guys whose height did not exceed 175 cm, with only a few players over 180 cm, such as Cruyff, Ronaldinho, and Ronaldo.

Among them, the 183 cm tall Ronaldo was undoubtedly the most suitable for the 187 cm tall Lucia. With this short board of dribbling and passing compensated, the Manchester United striker was definitely a veritable alien on this planet.

All of the abilities were significantly enhanced, which was enough to demonstrate the power of this trait. More intuitively, the system’s judgment gave two side effects.

Side effect 1: Due to your sharp breakthroughs that can destroy defenses single-handedly, you are prone to attracting defenders to restrict your progress through pulling, tackling, or even malicious fouls.

Side effect 2: Affected by the “Alien” trait, your anti-fraud ability has sharply declined. Please be cautious when traveling to Myanmar, Thailand… and other regions.

Good heavens, even the “Golden Throat” had to be mocked by this system, but Lucia felt that he shouldn’t be tricked out of anything valuable.

As long as he didn’t participate in investments before the progress was full, at most, he would only be scammed out of a bag and a few hundred million resources by those ladies pretending to be virgins. The problem wasn’t big.

…

Impatiently, Lucia immediately went to his private training ground to experience the power of the “Alien.” Undoubtedly, a trait with two side effects took effect immediately.

Combining his current other abilities, the effects of the first three significant enhancements were all extremely abnormal.

The change of direction and step-overs during high-speed sprints were incredibly effective; the realistic feints of the pendulum dribble completely left defenders unable to cope; the precision of the first touch connection directly raised Lucia’s lethality to another level.

With the last short board compensated, Lucia now only wanted to quickly experience his strength in a match. After all, his hard-solution abilities, besides the guaranteed “Tuinu Corner,” header grabbing, and free-kick breaking, had gained another trick.

Moreover, they could echo each other. The side effect of being prone to malicious fouls was still an advantage for Lucia, who wasn’t worried about injuries. Penalties inside the box could be handled by “Sole Superstar” and 1v 1 against the goalkeeper, while free kicks outside the box could utilize the power of “Curved Moon Scythe.”

And even if the side effects disappeared after full progress, it would only mean fewer malicious fouls. As a breakthrough player, it was still easy to cause opponents to foul.

The benefit of having more and more traits was precisely this: not only did individual abilities improve, but when linked together, they could produce an effect greater than 1+ 1.

Returning to his villa from Old Trafford, Lucia found his father-in-law glaring at him from next door.

???

I didn’t run off with my sister-in-law like Boss Huang He, so why did it seem like I had done something outrageous?