Chapter 13: Watching the Superclasico (Edited)

The game was being broadcasted when the commentator was speaking. Alex couldn't understand because he doesn't know Spanish, let alone Rioplatense Spanish.

The game happened at the Estadio Monumental, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

River Plate used the 4-3-3 formation while Boca Juniors used the 4-4-2 formation. Seeing the players for both teams, Alex found that he didn't know any of them, even from the future. He quickly lost interest in the game.

Only after 7 minutes into the game, River Plate won a penalty. What attracted Alex the most was River Plate's central midfielder Exequiel Palacios. Although he didn't have a highlight during those 7 minutes, who is Alex?

He is a player rated 95, one of the top three midfielders in the world. His game vision is naturally different from others. What he sees from Palacios is a player born for the number 6 position.

He can see that as a central midfielder, Palacios did an excellent job but from Alex's point of view, if this player were to play as a defensive midfielder, he would be a combination of technical skill and enough physical ability, a bit like Xavi Alonso and Rodri.

In fact, it's because Alex didn't pay much attention to other leagues apart from the Premier League. He knows the feat of Leverkusen's almost undefeated season but didn't know much about its players apart from the popular ones like Wirtz and Boniface. He didn't know about Exequiel Palacios, the player of that miracle team and, of course, a World Cup champion with Argentina.

After Rafael Santos Borré converted the spot-kick following a foul by Boca Juniors' Emmanuel Mas on River Plate's Matías Suárez in the box, Alex asked Maia: "It seems that you are likely to win today. Nevertheless, do you have some information about that No. 15?"

Maia didn't think much about it since she was happy after River Plate's goal: "Are you talking about Palacios? I heard that he has already signed with Leverkusen and would leave after the end of the season."

Alex was surprised. He didn't expect that he just took a fancy to a player who was already sold and to Bayer Leverkusen. He didn't seem to have heard of this player in Leverkusen in the future.

As the game continued, his vision was confirmed because Palacios did a good job for a midfielder although he wasn't decisive enough.

The River Plate tactic was high pressing, quick transitions, and exploiting the flanks. Their full-backs often joined the attack, creating overloads. For Boca, it was compact defense, relying on counterattacks and set pieces. Boca aimed to frustrate River Plate and capitalize on any mistakes.

It wasn't until the 70th minute that River Plate extended the score with Ignacio Fernández's clinical finish. A swift counterattack caught Boca off guard, and Fernández slotted the ball home.

Although the veteran Carlos Tévez tried to inspire his team with his experience and work rate, River Plate still won the game 2-0 with a precious victory in the first leg.

In fact, after taking a liking to the River Plate player but being told he was already signed by Leverkusen, Alex suddenly thought of something very serious.

He has the ability of the system, which means if he uses it well, he can create a player with an overall rating of at least 80.

The problem comes here: his goal is to make Sunderland AFC a top-tier club, but what if the club becomes another Southampton?

It's not an exaggeration to say that if Southampton had kept players like Dusan Tadić, Luke Shaw, Virgil van Dijk, Sadio Mané, Morgan Schneiderlin, and many more, they could have been at the level of Liverpool and Chelsea.

The cause of this is because the club isn't ambitious enough; they just want to introduce some players, maintain their place, and sell players to make more money.

The reason for Sunderland's relegation is because the ownership and leadership of the club have often been in turmoil. Under Ellis' tenure as owner, the club has been marked by financial difficulties and a lack of clear direction.

In Alex's plan, he has already obtained his coaching certificate. Despite the upcoming pandemic being very bad, he has plans to make some money. After ending his football career, he will join the management for three years before buying the team.

Now, Alex has only a fortune of about 15 million pounds, approximately €16.5M, which is far from the estimated €50M needed to buy the club. Additionally, he has to solve financial issues, including high wage bills and significant debt.

Alex couldn't help but sigh. In the morning, he thought everything was going well, but now he realizes it's much more complicated than he thought.

Alex definitely could not let the club remain in Ellis' hands, but the problem is that he doesn't have enough financial ability. As a singer in his past life, he could have plagiarized some songs to make money, but as an artist, one of the things they hate the most is plagiarism, so he didn't do it.

The best scenario is for the club to be acquired by wealthy owners, like when Inter Milan was acquired by BC Partners in 2021, AC Milan by billionaire Paul Singer's Elliott Management Corporation in 2022, and Newcastle United by a consortium led by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF) in 2021.

Alex shook his head. Anyway, these things seem far off for now. He needs to concentrate. As for the future, well, let the chips fall where they may. For now, all he can do is lead the team toward promotion.

Maia, who was in a good mood after the game, saw Alex lost in thought, sighing and shaking his head. She could see that he is worried about something.

She has noticed that generally speaking, Alex doesn't like to talk about work at home. Although she can't do much to help him with the team, she is confident she can help him relax at home.

Maia herself feels that she doesn't have that much ambition. She loves singing and her dream is to one day perform in front of a crowd of 10,000 people. She doesn't care much about becoming a big star, although she enjoys the feeling of being praised.

She seeks a stable emotional life and doesn't desire a flamboyant private life like Taylor Swift's. Normally, she never thought about having a relationship with a football player, as they are known for their chaotic lives, but she feels that Alex is on another level.

She first saw Alex at the Youth World Cup while following the Argentina national team. Although there wasn't a game between England and Argentina, anyone who watched the tournament would know about Alex Spencer. She was just a young girl at that time.

Now, Maia has found something she is looking forward to: a stable life. As someone whose parents separated and who only lived with her father, she knows that communication is the biggest problem for couples, much like in the series she watched.

Although she wants to communicate with Alex, now isn't the best time because she learned from her father that many men just want a paradise where they can forget about everything when they're at home and don't like talking about work. Those kinds of discussions are best had at special moments.