The bus was parked at the entrance of the special passage at Hampton Park Stadium. This is specially for players participating in the stadium and is not open to the public. Fans gather here not to enter the stadium, but to look at their favorite players before entering the stadium and cheer for them.

In addition, there are a lot of media waiting here. When Metz's bus stopped, the flash lights lit up.

The first person to jump out of the car was head coach Jean Fernandez. He didn't stop, but walked in the passage. From time to time, reporters would stretch out their microphones and ask him to lean over for interviews. Most people ignored them, and only stopped a little when they met a familiar reporter, saying a few words, and then left in a hurry.

In fact, the media's attention to the head coach is far less than that of the players.

When Ribery jumped out of the car, he was cheered by many fans, and the reporters rushed up even more wildly, squeaking the steel railings.

"Frank! Frank! I heard that after you end this season, you will definitely leave Metz. Is that true?"

"You said this before this season, so if the team successfully won the League Cup, do you still insist on thinking that?"

"Have you decided which team to go to next stop? Should you stay in Ligue 1? Or go to other leagues?"

"How is Germany? I heard that Bayern Munich has always been interested in you, and it has been since last summer..."

"Will you consider Barcelona or Real Madrid? I remember you once said you were a Barcelona fan?"

"No, Ribery clearly says he is eager to join Real Madrid!"

...What a large group of reporters is not concerned about the finals that will come later, but the rumors of Ribery's transfer this summer. Although neither party has admitted it, the media all claimed with confidence that Ribery's agent James Merry and Mess' club had a private agreement: after the end of this season, if any team is interested in Ribery, Mess will not stop it. In other words, Ribery will definitely leave the team in the summer of 2007.

Ribery did not answer these reporters' questions, and he was not so stupid. Before such an important competition, he said something that made his teammates feel unpleasant.

He did want to leave, and the others wanted Chu Zhongtian to go with him, but he never mentioned this before the final. After the final, they had time to discuss this issue slowly.

After Ribery came down, the people who appeared were Ibisevic and Menez, who jumped out of the car one after another. The fans applauded and cheered them, and the two waved to the fans. However, there were not many media interested in them, and the questions asked were normal.

After Menez, the person who appeared at the door of the car was Chu Zhongtian. When he was still getting off the car with his head down, the fan group gave a huge cheer. The volume of the decibels was far beyond Ribery. From this detail, it can be seen that Chu Zhongtian's position in the minds of Metz fans.

Because after winning the French Cup last summer, the first very straightforward promise to stay at Metz and won the hearts of all Metz fans. So Chu Zhongtian has surpassed Ribery and became the most popular player in the hearts of Metz fans.

"Chu is coming down...just look at his exit posture, there is no problem..." the reporters commented.

Amid the huge cheers, there were also Mets fans singing the song that they sang in the stands in advance: "You should know that I am Chu! Because I am as strong as a pillar! Didn't you see me crushing my opponent? After tonight's game, you will know that I am Chu! I am Chu! Chu! Chu! Chu! Chu!!" In the end, the song became a collective shout of all the fans.

Amid the singing, Chu Zhongtian waved to the fans.

Then carry your bag and walk in the passage. Of course, there will be many reporters pointing out the microphone and pointing at him along the way.

Their problems were not also placed on Chu Zhongtian's injury and his future.

Regarding injuries, Chu Zhongtian has been dry all his saliva these days, so he doesn't want to say anything more at this moment, just telling reporters: "It's about to be a game. What's going on? Please check it out later."

As for the question of whether he will leave Metz after the end of this season, he also refused to answer: "That's after the end of the season, and I won't consider it until then."

After dealing with the reporter like this, he lowered his head and walked over quickly, ignoring any reporter's questions.

The players who came to the locker room were not immediately asked to change their clothes and went out to warm up. Now there are nearly two hours before the game starts. The result of going out to warm up is that when the game is already hot, the body is cold again.

Before any game, players are resting in the locker room, everyone can do what they like, go take a bath, shape their hairstyle in front of the mirror, listen to music, play on their handheld game consoles, send text messages on their mobile phones, maintain their skin, wear mascots, murmuring and praying...etc.

Chu Zhongtian didn't have so many messy pre-match habits. He changed his clothes, put the laces of his sneakers on, put them aside, stepped on the slippers he brought with him barefoot, and then took out the apple ipod to listen to music.

Just waiting for the assistant coach to stir up their warm-up.

※※※Sevilla's bus arrived at Hapton Park stadium fifteen minutes after Metz. They got off at another entrance and watched a large number of Sevilla fans and media. As defending champions, they received more attention than Metz.

In terms of strength, many people believe that Sevilla will defeat Metz in the game and successfully defend the title.

After getting off the car, Daniel Alves was interviewed by reporters. When talking about this issue, he also believed that the possibility of successful defending the title was very high: "We are better than them. As long as we don't make mistakes, we should win."

Maresca once challenged Turin fans in the Turin derby, but now he doesn't forget to challenge his opponent in the finals: "I know their Chu is a little injured. If he will play, we will not show mercy. I wouldn't be surprised if he was replaced in the first half."

Danish midfielder Paulson has a fierce defense and is the team's main midfielder. He said about the same as Maresca: "I will guard against Chu strictly and will not give him any chance. It is good news for me to be injured before the game, but I think even if he is not injured, I can still defend him." The implication is that he feels that Chu Zhongtian is still a little unsatisfied with his injury.

Sevilla head coach Juander Ramos is much more cautious, saying that he will not predict the score before the game.

"The victory of the game belongs to the side who performs well and has good luck. I hope we are lucky."

When they got out of the car, were interviewed by reporters, and then entered the stadium one after another, Sevilla's fans gathered around and shouted: "Champion! Defend! Champion! Defend!!"

※※A little over an hour before the start of the game, more and more fans were waiting in line at the entrance of the stadium. Emily, Mathilde and Belmont broke up at the entrance. The two had to line up to check tickets and enter the venue from the entrance. Emily bought tickets for VIP private rooms, and she had a dedicated passage.

"Celebrities are different..." After watching Emily disappear into the crowd, Belmont smacked his lips. "Don't have to line up here like us. I wonder what it feels like to watch football in the private room..."

"It feels like it is through the glass," said Mathilde.

Belmont looked back at her and laughed. Of course he knew what Mathilde and Emily had a relationship.

The seats of the two people are not next to each other, but they are in the same stands because they are both fans from France. Located in the prevention stands, fans from both sides from different countries belong to different stands. They look at each other across the stadium, and there are a large number of neutral fan areas on both sides to serve as buffering.

"Call me after watching the game, we go to find a hotel to stay and go back tomorrow morning," Belmont said to Mathilde.

Mathilde nodded: "Okay."

Then the two of them said goodbye, one went left and the other went straight forward.

"Wow, there are so many people! There are more people than when I went to see the FA Cup against Chelsea that time!"

Not far from Belmont, a group of people wearing blue T-shirts were expressing their opinions on what they saw.

At first glance, there were endless people. This was the most crowded game they saw when they went to the scene. According to official statistics before the game, all tickets for the Hampton Park Stadium, which can accommodate 52,000 people, have been sold, of which 25,000 people came from Spain, 20,000 people came from Metz, and 7,000 people were neutral fans. In fact, most of them were fans of both sides. Because both teams had far more than 20,000 people, but the share was gone, so I could only buy tickets from neutral fans.

Until now, we can still see many people wearing Sevilla jerseys or Metz jerseys outside the stadium holding "I need tickets" signs and trying their luck, hoping that someone will change their minds temporarily and not plan to watch this game, so as to transfer the tickets to them.

But how many people miss such a game?

"Don't act like you've never seen the world! You'll be looked down upon by the Scots!"

"Thank Chu's blessing, we finally saw a League Cup final."

"I wonder when we can watch a Champions League final?"

"Let Chu reach the final of the Champions League."

"Haha! I believe that by then, Chu will be happy to pay for us to watch the game again!"

※※※With forty-five minutes left before the start of the game, assistant coach David Carre walked in and clapped his hands to signal everyone to go out for a warm-up.

While Chu Zhongtian was warming up on the court, he kept watching his left thigh muscles closely. The team doctor and coach Carre were also nervous, fearing that after a few minutes, Chu Zhongtian came over and said to them: "I'm afraid I can't participate..."

That's really bad!

Fortunately, after ten minutes of warm-up, everything was normal for Chu Zhongtian.

He kicked his left leg and exerted force, feeling that the pain he had was negligible. Although it was not very thorough, it was not enough to affect the game. He raised his head and gave a thumbs up to the team doctor and assistant coach.

It is not just team doctor Tang Ji and assistant coach Carre who are paying attention to him.

Standing in the VIP box, Emily Stan, was surrounded by people who planned to come up to chat with her because she met a beautiful woman here. In addition to dealing with them politely, she always stared at Chu Zhongtian who was warming up in the venue. Of course, she believed in her lover, but she didn't worry at all that it was fake. She hoped that Chu Zhongtian was healthy and had no problems at all.

When she saw Chu Zhongtian raise his head and give him a thumbs up, a smile finally appeared on her face.

She clapped in the private room.

Similarly, in the stands below the left side of the box, Mathilde was also paying attention to Chu Zhongtian's every move. She still didn't understand what was unexpected to Chu Zhongtian in this final, but she knew one thing - if Chu Zhongtian wanted to participate in the game, then participating in the game would be a good thing for him. So when she saw Chu Zhongtian giving the coach and the team doctor a thumbs up, she also breathed a sigh of relief.

In this way, he can finish a game smoothly, which means a lot of games for him, right?

※※※There was no problem after the warm-up. Despite this, the team doctor Tang Ji still checked Chu Zhongtian's injured part in the locker room, and then he said to the head coach Jean Fernandez with satisfaction: "There is no problem, you can play the game."

Fernandez also breathed a sigh of relief.

There are also many Metz players who were relieved. Chu Zhongtian was able to play, which would definitely improve their combat effectiveness. The players were also confident that they would defeat Sevilla. Because their brains, their commanders, their commander towers, their engines... are back.

Obetan also breathed a sigh of relief. At least now he didn't have to worry about being held revenge. Of course, if you want to breathe completely, it depends on the result after the game is over.

After seeing Chu Zhongtian sure he could appear, Ribery's face only showed a little smile.

After communicating with Tangkey, Jean Fernandez turned around and looked at the players.

The locker room gradually became quiet.

Jean Fernandez did not speak immediately. He was waiting for everyone to change the jerseys.

When the last player who was about to start changed his jerseys, he said, "This is a League Cup final. I don't need to elaborate on the importance. You must know more than me. Look at Chu." He pointed at Chu Zhongtian and everyone followed him.

"What is he fighting against injuries these days? It's just to miss this important game. I'm glad he recovered before the game. What does this game mean to you? This is the first League Cup final in your career. As for whether it will be the only one, I can't make a rash statement. But I hope you remember that this is the first game, so everyone has to do their best."

"Sevilla is very strong, from every position, they are very strong. And they are the defending champions, more experienced than us. Many of them have experienced the League Cup final last season. They won Middlesbrough 4-0, and in the final, such a clean score is not common. I believe no one will underestimate them."

"You have watched a lot of videos of their game about the players in various positions in Seville over the past week, and I even believe that you dream about them when you sleep at night. So I'm not wasting time here to explain what to pay attention to the players in Seville, and you know how to do it."

Then he turned around and looked at Chu Zhongtian.

"They must know what you were injured before the game and think your injury has not recovered yet. They will play a very tight defense against you."

Chu Zhongtian nodded.

"You know your body best and do what you can." Fernandez pressed down. "Anyway, we have prepared two plans. When you are stared to death, give the football to Jeremy." He pointed to Menez.

Chu Zhongtian looked at Menez, and Menez happened to see him. The two looked at each other, and then Chu Zhongtian nodded: "Okay, sir, I understand."

"The decision is up to you, Chu." Fernandez was very satisfied with Chu Zhongtian's attitude. "You make your decision based on the situation on the field and change at any time. Remember, don't fight them head-on. I don't want you to be substituted after only thirty minutes."

"No, sir." Chu Zhongtian laughed. How could he be that fragile?

※※※ Juander Ramos told his players in the locker room: "There are only two players with Metz - Chu and Ribery. Ribery mainly acts on the right side. He also plays on the left front guard in the French national team, both sides can be used. He is a assaulter. Your mission is to cut off his connection with Chu so that he cannot easily get the ball, or he cannot get the ball at all. So, the key to Metz is not Ribery, but their midfield core Chu."

He drew a circle on the icon of Metz Eight.

"He was injured before the game. It is said to be a muscle strain. This is not a injury that can be healed in a few days. So I judged that he must have been on the game with injuries in this game, and his performance will be greatly reduced. This is something we can use. Perform close-fitting presses on him, and don't let him get the ball easily. Because of the injury, his running will definitely be affected and will not be transferred as wide as before. Therefore, don't worry about our own formation being messed up after close-fitting control."
To be continued...