Chapter 646 - 122: Domain Skill: Blaster! The Unrivaled Duo? Easily Handled! The Man Wenger Would Bet Everything On
With that thought, Wenger let out a heavy sigh, feeling completely relaxed.
...
Dortmund arrived in London late at night.
The next morning, they headed to the Colney Training Base.
As the host, Wenger welcomed Dortmund on behalf of Arsenal.
The Arsenal manager only met and chatted with Klopp for a short while.
He maintained a polite distance from the Dortmund players.
Making private contact with an opponent’s players was a huge taboo!
Dortmund stuck to their original plan for match preparation, without making excessive adjustments.
Everything proceeded in an orderly fashion.
It’s worth mentioning that in Barça’s last two La Liga matches, a host of key players like Messi, Harvey, Iniesta, Pique, and Puyol hadn’t played for a single minute.
Guardiola clearly wanted them to be well-rested so they could be in peak condition for the Champions League final.
Dortmund, on the other hand, stuck to their one-match-per-week schedule, adjusting the players’ physical fitness and form in the hopes of peaking right before the final.
Despite their different approaches, both teams were singularly focused on their preparations.
Wang Shuo trained with the full squad as usual, but on the side, he put in extra work, even roping in teammates like Subotic and Sven Bender for additional practice sessions.
He was mainly focused on getting familiar with his [Domain Skill: Blasters].
Although he’d never used it in a real match, Wang Shuo was absolutely certain this Domain Skill was incredibly powerful!
Most importantly, it was different from other Domain Skills and Passive Skills.
So far, it was the only offensive skill that he could actively use!
Although it had its limitations, it was still far better than other Passive Skills!
This made Wang Shuo look forward to the upcoming Champions League final even more.
On the mornings of the 25th, 26th, and 27th, Dortmund held two-a-day training sessions at Arsenal’s Colney Training Base.
The sessions weren’t intense; the focus was mainly on recovery and conditioning.
They even scheduled an outing to tour London.
Unfortunately, it was during the daytime.
According to Foyelner, London was more captivating at night.
As was customary, the afternoon training session on the 27th was to get a feel for the stadium.
The entire Dortmund squad headed to Wembley Stadium for their final preparations.
By now, the Champions League final atmosphere was palpable.
All around Wembley Stadium, flags and advertising banners for the Champions League final were everywhere.
For this match, Dortmund would wear their home yellow and black kits, while Barça would wear their away green kits.
Both teams began to ramp up the hype.
The German and Spanish media outlets had been bickering for days, creating a massive uproar.
The fans from both countries were not to be outdone.
On the internet, however, Wang Shuo’s fans were easily overwhelming Messi’s.
It couldn’t be helped. Of the three of them, Messi had the smallest fanbase.
Besides, Wang Shuo’s record this past season had been just too good!
Numerous football legends also weighed in, offering strategies and advice for both teams ahead of the final.
One particularly interesting piece of advice came from Dortmund legend Lars Ricken. In an interview with the German media, he reminded the Dortmund players to stay patient and control their tempers during the match.
"They love using dirty little tricks to provoke their opponents. They’re very good at play-acting and using psychological tactics to pressure the referee. That means our players need to stay focused, calm, and patient at all times."
Lars Ricken stated that for Dortmund, just reaching the Champions League final was a victory in itself.
"I’m confident they are fully prepared!"
On the evening of May 28th, the team left their hotel and boarded the bus for Wembley Stadium.
Wang Shuo and his teammates dropped off their bags in the home team’s locker room, got changed, and walked out onto the pitch for their final warm-up. As they did, they saw Messi standing on the sidelines.
"Hey, Rio."
"Hello, Wang."
"Got the T-shirt ready?" Wang Shuo asked with a smile.
"Of course," Messi replied, raising an eyebrow. "You?"
"I... don’t need to. Because there’s no way I’m going to lose!"
Wang Shuo said, looking utterly confident, then couldn’t help but burst out laughing.
Realizing he’d been had, Messi felt a sudden urge to run over and throttle the bastard!
"Has Cristiano asked you for tickets?"
"Nope." Wang Shuo shook his head. "He didn’t ask you either?"
Messi shook his head too.
"You think he’s not coming?"
Wang Shuo just smiled, not giving it much thought.
"Don’t worry about it. Let’s ignore him for now. After I win this final, I’ll go and sort him out!"
Messi was exasperated.
’Win the final?’
’Why do you always steal my lines?’
"Bring it on, then!" Messi retorted, a rare show of fighting words from him.
The Champions League final was about to begin!