An Airbus flying from Madrid, the capital of Spain, slowly landed at Henri Coanda Airport in Bucharest, the capital of Romania.
Not long after, the Atletico Madrid team, led by head coach Diego Simeone and the team leader, walked out of the airport gate.
Since their itinerary was kept secret, there wasn't much movement at the airport.
Only a few Spanish newspaper reporters were waiting here, but they all took pictures of them from a distance.
Just kidding, walking in front of me is Diego Simeone, who looks like a gangster brother.
Who dares to offend easily?
A group of people walked out of the airport fiercely and got directly into a bus dyed with the Atletico Madrid team logo.
"Count the number of people.
If you have enough, leave quickly."
As soon as Diego Simeone sat down, he ordered Boggs to do something.
The front national gate of Argentina immediately walked all the way from the carriage to the national highway, counting people along the way.
When he came back, he nodded to Diego Simeone and said, "Well, we're all here."
Diego Simeone immediately looked at the driver in the driver's seat in front of the car and said, "You can go now."
That's Atletico Madrid's driver.
This is also the usual way for European teams to play away games.
The team bus is a mobile fortress for the team.
The coaching staff will discuss game tactics on the bus, and the players may also chat about some private topics on the bus, so the bus drivers must be trusted by the club.
Talent works.
Therefore, when playing away games, the bus is usually rented temporarily, but the driver and auxiliary driver are both their own.
Some wealthy teams even have their own buses.
There was no way, they were very wealthy, so before the team set off for the game, they asked the driver to drive the bus to the away game and wait there.
For a poor team like Atletico Madrid, there is definitely nothing that can be done.
As soon as Simone finished shouting, he leaned back in the back row, closed his eyes, and planned to squint comfortably.
But strangely, after waiting for a while, there was no movement on the bus.
"What's going on?"
Simone opened his eyes again and looked at the driver in front of the car, "Why don't you leave?"
The Spanish driver turned around with an apology on his face, "Oh, okay, right now, I'll check the navigation."
Simone curled his lips, somewhat dissatisfied, but helpless.
Drivers of other wealthy football teams can drive around the city where the away stadium is located two or three days in advance to familiarize themselves with the city's traffic, as well as the locations of hotels, training grounds, and stadiums.
But Atletico Madrid can't do it, at least they don't have the funds.
So, I have no choice but to rely on navigation again and again.
After finally finding the place, I turned on the navigation, started the bus, and drove forward slowly.
After all, it was a rented car, so it was never that comfortable, and the team was stingy with funds.
The buses were all cheap to rent, and the air conditioning was not powerful enough.
Think about it, on a hot day, dozens of people are huddled in the car, but the air conditioner is not very cold.
What kind of experience is that?
The players also complained a little in the carriage, but they still wanted to endure it, since it was coming soon anyway.
"Diego" Assistant coach Boggs, who was sitting next to Diego Simeone, leaned over.
"We haven't given an answer yet on the team's winning bonus.
Can we give it a try?"
Diego Simeone's closed eyes opened and he looked ahead, flashing with anger.
He urged, but the management did not answer directly.
Instead, they used the tactic of dragging their feet, saying that they were discussing and a bonus plan would be given before the game.
In the Europa League final, the prize money for winning the championship alone is as high as over 6 million.
It doesn’t need to be more, but more than 1 million is divided into bonuses.
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Is it excessive?
Is it outrageous?
Is it really hard to give up?
Seeing Diego Simeone's face, Boggs also knew that it was not easy for the head coach to handle either.
"I was on the plane just now and I heard some players discussing this.
You know, it's better to explain this kind of thing clearly before the game."
Diego Simeone himself is a professional player and of course knows this.
These days, if you talk about honor, sense of mission, and feelings with professional players, it’s all bullshit.
Why are professional players called professionals?
That's because football is the source of life for them and their families that's money Nothing is more important than money "Don't worry, I'll ask again when we get to the hotel."
When Simeone manages the team, he still takes care of the interests of the players, which is one of the reasons why he wins the respect of the players.
After all, no one wants to play for a head coach who doesn't care about their own interests at all.
But as soon as Simone finished speaking, he heard the driver in front of him shout "Oops."
"What's going on?"
Simone raised his head and looked in front and around.
All are cars The driver turned around and said, "There seems to be a traffic jam."
It's not like it's true, it's exactly Simone looked at the time.
During rush hour, the road he was taking was not a major road, so no wonder it was blocked.
"Sorry, I just took a shortcut and didn't pay that much attention," the driver said apologetically.
It’s all because I’m not familiar with the place.
If I were in Madrid or some major cities in Europe, why would there be traffic jams?
"Forget it, forget it, quickly find an intersection and turn around."
Simone noticed a phenomenon.
On the two-way road, there was traffic jam in the direction he was in, but it was clear on the other side.
The driver agreed and said he would turn at the next intersection.
But as I waited, the traffic in front moved slowly like a snail.
Time passed by, the temperature inside the car was hot, and the air conditioner was not working well.
You can imagine the experience.
The most terrible thing is that at this moment, some sharp-eyed bastard saw a bus on the opposite side from a distance.
"Wow, there are even buses coming from Southampton" “real or fake” "Nonsense, see for yourselves, isn't that a Southampton bus?"
"Yeah, there are players up there."
"How did they come from that direction?"
"I think they probably already had a good look at the road conditions."
Fortunately, the Southampton bus seemed to have also seen the Atletico Madrid bus.
No wonder, the bus is so tall and the team emblem is so conspicuous, you can see it from a distance.
"Hey, you guys are stuck in traffic" "Oops, unlucky, there's still a long way ahead."
"There are road construction projects in the past few days.
This direction is blocked every day.
Only fools would go there."
"There are still several kilometers, I'm afraid I have to wait for a long time."
"You guys wait a minute, we're leaving first."
Just passing by each other across the safety island, the Southampton bus headed towards Juechen behind, not to mention how chic it was.
The most painful thing in life is when I am stuck in traffic, only to see the person I hate the most walking away unimpeded.
“Bloody Southampton” “Too outrageous” “We checked out the road conditions, but they didn’t notify us in advance.”
"Damn it, let's kill them tomorrow night" "Yes, take a big breath."
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In the bus, there was a sudden howl of Atletico Madrid players.
Finally, more than an hour later, this group of players who couldn't shout, shout, or even walk appeared in front of the hotel reserved by the team.
"This is the hotel we booked."
Simone looked at the hotel in front of him, dumbfounded.
This is too crude, right?
There are four stars Oh no, is there a Samsung?
It's already nightfall, and the whole hotel is pitch dark, with no lights on.
Is that ridiculous?
"It seems so."
The leader smiled bitterly, he didn't know either.
"Hurry up and call and ask."
Simone felt like there was a ball of fire in his heart.
This question is really about this hotel.
The reason is simple.
Southampton has booked the best five-star hotel near the National Stadium in Bucharest, the Marriott, in advance, and other hotels have also been booked out by fans from the UK.
According to information released by UEFA, Southampton reached the Europa League final, attracting a total of more than 30,000 fans to Bucharest, the vast majority of whom were British fans.
Once these 30,000 people pour into the city, it will be a big test for Bucharest's reception capacity.
And Southampton also showed excellent operational capabilities this time.
After the team defeated Sporting Lisbon in the second round of the semi-finals, the team immediately pushed messages on the official website, a and WeChat to collect fans who were willing to go to Bucharest to watch the game.
In addition to giving away tickets, they also helped contact the hotel for free.
As a result, Southampton's move immediately received a positive response from fan organizations and fans.
The 25,000 fans were filled within a few days.
Many fans even contacted the team and expressed their willingness to come to the site to buy tickets on their own.
Therefore, Southampton specially sent people to Bucharest to contact some hotels near the National Stadium and obtained a very favorable group purchase ticket price for these more than 30,000 fans.
Atletico Madrid contacted the hotel relatively late.
By the time they started practicing at the hotel, the four- and five-star hotels in the surrounding area, and even some well-rated three-star hotels, had already been booked.
As a last resort, they could only choose this one.
Otherwise, you have to choose a hotel further away and travel back and forth.
After Simeone heard the whole story clearly, he was helpless.
Who makes Atletico Madrid poor and unprofessional?
Look at the operation of Southampton's management, it almost blew up Atletico Madrid's management.
Not only is Simeone depressed, the players are also in a bad mood.
Who wants to stay in such a bad hotel "Okay, everyone, go in.
We still have the rooms we usually arrange.
Let's get ready quickly.
Let's get familiar with the venue later.
Hurry" With Simeone's order, no matter how reluctant this group of Atletico Madrid players were, they knew that the matter was irreversible.
Ten thousand fur and mud horses roared past in my heart, but the cruel reality had to continue.
When Simeone greeted the players into the hotel, Southampton had just concluded its last training session at the National Stadium in the west end of Bucharest.
Bielsa is determined to continue the suspense to the end.
In this training session, Toni Kroos only participated in some relaxation training of the team.
When the team was conducting some tactical drills, the German midfielder was training alone on the sidelines. .
This also made all the reporters who came to the scene to inspect Southampton feel very confused.
Will Toni Kroos participate in the game?
When reporters posed this question to Bielsa at a press conference organized by UEFA, the Argentine lunatic smiled and did not give a positive answer, but said a rather witty remark.
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"you guess" At this moment, everyone immediately understood that Bielsa was throwing smoke bombs.
But the problem is, no one knows whether Toni Kroos can play.
Everyone's feeling is that the German midfielder was included in the squad, more likely because he has recovered well, but Bielsa wants to include him on the substitute list, and Matic is the real main player.
After all, the Serbian played too well and too steadily against Liverpool.
One is recovering from a new injury, and the other is in excellent condition.
Everyone knows how to choose.
Besides, if Toni Kroos is really recovered, why not participate in the team's tactical training?
Although what should be practiced has been practiced before, one more practice together is equivalent to a better understanding.
Therefore, basically everyone still feels that Matic will start "But why do I always feel that this matter is not that simple?"
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