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VfB Stuttgart 1-2 Bayern Munich
SV Werder Bremen 0-2 Bayer Leverkusen
Bayern Munich still secured the Bundesliga winter championship with a 4-point lead, with Bayer Leverkusen close behind.
Compared to the Premier League's packed schedule during the December Christmas season, Germany, at a higher latitude, has a slightly colder winter, and their winter break is a bit longer than Serie A and La Liga, allowing players at least three weeks of full rest.
After playing SV Werder Bremen, the team took a bus back to the small city of Leverkusen that evening.
They then disbanded directly at the club's training base; the next time they would meet was for training after the winter break.
"I'm going to be blunt here: if anyone dares to mess around during the holiday, and their physical test data isn't up to par, they can look forward to warming the bench for the second half of the season!"
Sascha threatened sternly.
As professional players, it's easy to overindulge a bit during the holidays, going to nightclubs, or not paying attention to healthy eating.
After the holiday, it's very easy for their body fat percentage to exceed limits, ultimately affecting their competitive state.
The guys at Bayer Leverkusen are all young, and they're most likely to let loose during the holidays.
It's infuriating for a coach to see them all come back a bit rounder.
The only person he could probably trust was Lance.
Everyone else tried to avoid training and wanted to slack off during formal training, like Julian Brandt.
Lance was the only player Sascha had ever seen who actively asked for extra training and strictly controlled his diet.
A 16-year-old who didn't even drink carbonated drinks or touch beer.
Such almost harsh self-discipline was simply terrifying!
Sascha wasn't worried about him at all.
Sure enough, after the team disbanded, Lance proactively sought out Sascha.
"Coach, can I also use the club's training ground during the winter break?"
"Wait? Aren't you going on holiday with your family?"
"It'll probably only be for a few days; we don't celebrate Christmas. After a few days with them, I still want to find a place to train seriously."
Lance certainly wasn't putting on an act; he genuinely wanted to become stronger.
The cheat system was, after all, an external force that appeared out of nowhere. If he relied entirely on the cheat and slacked off, he would truly be wasting the system's favor.
The Nagi Seishiro Template's effect was not only reflected on the field, but also influenced Lance's ball control during training.
Initially, during his time at KRC Genk and Bayern Munich, Lance had limited talent on the training ground, and his ball control was only average.
But after activating the template, Lance seemed to have a breakthrough.
Without using the system's power, relying solely on his own ball control training, he seemed to subtly feel his own inherent strength improving!
Suppose one day, the system, just as it suddenly appeared, suddenly disappeared.
Lance wouldn't fall from a top player to an ordinary one.
By training hard and becoming stronger, Lance still had hope of becoming a world-class football star!
Football, or rather, competitive sports, has never had winning championships as its ultimate goal.
Instead, it's about constantly challenging one's limits and becoming stronger!
After the team disbanded, Lance also discussed this with his parents.
"When are you coming back? We're not going back to China this year; we'll spend it in Munich. When your season ends and you have summer vacation, we'll go back to our hometown together to visit relatives."
"I'm driving back today, and I estimate I'll only stay for about a week. After that, I want to go back to Leverkusen to train hard."
"Ah? Can't you stay a few more days? Didn't you say the Bundesliga winter break is quite long?"
Zhao Ping thought she could spend more time with her son.
Recently, their restaurant's business was booming. They had hired two international students to work in the shop, but they were still too busy.
If it weren't for Leverkusen's small population, they would even consider opening a branch.
At least they had already planned to scout locations for a new shop in Cologne.
Many customers came because of Lance.
Chinese people working or studying in Germany learned about Lance's story, then found out about his family's restaurant, and traveled from all over Germany, and even from all over Europe, to show their support.
Everyone originally just wanted to support Lance, but they never expected the restaurant to be genuinely delicious. The head chef and partner had many years of experience in a famous Shunde restaurant, perfectly replicating Cantonese flavors.
These wanderers far away in Germany were almost moved to tears by the food, wishing they could visit every day.
As a result, more and more old customers came, and even more new customers came because of its reputation, with restaurant seats even booked up to a month in advance.
Lu Yongping and Zhao Ping had originally planned to make time to go to Leverkusen to watch their son's game, but they never had the time.
Even on the day of the Allianz Arena match, they could only watch their son's perfect performance on the field through the television.
Lu Yongping snatched the phone.
"Alright, you come back first. Don't mind what your mom said; now is a critical period for consolidating your foundation and improving your strength. Intensifying training is a good thing. Come back and gather for as many days as you can; anyway, we're not that far apart, and we can go see you when we have time."
"I think you just don't feel bad for your son."
"How am I not feeling bad?"
"Hmph!"
Well, they were at it again.
Lance hung up the phone directly.
They seemed to be arguing, but in reality, the old couple were incredibly doting on each other.
Lance didn't plan to bring much when he returned to his apartment; he just packed a bag and prepared to head to Munich.
At most, he would take a few Champions League and Bundesliga MVP trophies to use as decorations for the restaurant.
Before Lance could even finish packing, he received a call from his agent.
It wasn't his exclusive agent assistant Harry Kane, but Jorge Mendes himself!
When the old man called personally, it was probably something important.
Sure enough, when the call connected, Jorge Mendes's tone seemed very happy.
"Hey!! My favorite player, Lance!"
This had already become Jorge Mendes's standard opening line.
Perhaps Jorge Mendes's favorite player was indeed Cristiano Ronaldo before, but now, Lance was definitely a highly promising rising star, and Jorge Mendes might not just be joking.
"Mr. Mendes?"
"Here's the thing, the Armani custom suit has arrived. Harry will deliver it to you shortly, and see if any adjustments are needed."
"That fast?"
Lance remembered he had only recently signed with Armani, and a custom suit usually took at least a month to be made.
"That's right, because we have a formal event next week, and you'll need formal wear."
Jorge Mendes knew very well that Lance's wardrobe, apart from the standard suits issued by the Bayer Leverkusen club, contained no formal wear.
He usually wore training clothes the most, and his casual wear was always athletic-leisure style. He couldn't possibly go on stage wearing an athletic T-shirt, could he?
"Ah? A formal event?"
"Yes, next week is the Ballon d'Or award ceremony, and the Puskás Award will be presented during it. Since you are 100% confirmed to receive the award, you have to go up no matter what."
Only then did Lance remember that he seemed to have indeed swept the top three places for the Puskás Award.
This was the first time such a situation had occurred in the years since the Puskás Award was established.
Because it's not based on players, but on goals.
Outstanding candidate goals from official matches are uploaded to the official website, open for voting by netizens worldwide.
As a result, Lance's three goals were all of the highest caliber, making it difficult for other goals this year to surpass them.
Lance's three goals were far ahead, already taking away any suspense from this year's awards.
"Coincidentally, Cristiano Ronaldo will also be there, and I'll introduce you two. He's been wanting to chat with you face-to-face for a while."
Uh... Cristiano Ronaldo wants to meet him?
Lance was indeed quite surprised.
However, at that time, top world football stars would gather at the venue, and Lance could chat and interact with superstars like Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Neymar, Gareth Bale, and Xavi Hernández.
It sounded quite exciting.
It was just a pity that he had only been a professional player for less than a season, so he wasn't even among the top 30 for the Ballon d'Or.
"I wonder if there will be a chance to be one of the 30 candidates next year?"
Lance couldn't help but imagine the moment he stood on stage, holding up the Ballon d'Or trophy.