After the third round of the League Cup, forty teams that advanced in the third round were divided into eight groups, each with five teams, and a single round-robin match was played. The top three teams were allowed to participate in the next stage of the game. From October 18 to December 13, there were less than two months to play all the group stages. There were many teams participating and there were many start time, so it was impossible to have a high home and away double round-robin group stage like the Champions League, and only a single round-robin group stage.

The top three in the group advanced to the next round of knockout stage, with a total of 24 teams, plus the third place in each group in the UEFA Champions League group stage, a total of 32 teams, forming the top 32, and drawing lots respectively. The specific draw rules are to draw lots for the top 3 groups and draw lots for the third place in each group, and draw lots for the third place in the UEFA Champions League group stage and the second place in the League Cup group stage. The thirty-two teams compete against each other, performing home and away elimination system, and finally decide the championship.

Most of the players in Metz have experienced two-line battles at home and abroad for the first time, so they lack experience in how to deal with this situation. So after qualifying for the group stage of the League Cup, they then lost to Lorient away in the eighth round of the league. 0:1, losing without temper, the whole team is not in shape, and there are some physical problems. Especially Ribery, this physical strongman who has never had physical problems, has not had a good rest since last season, and the sequelae of the World Cup are still intermittently affecting him.

Ribery only played for 67 minutes in this game, but was replaced because of poor physical fitness and poor condition.

His comrade Chu Zhongtian played the whole game, but his condition was a little unstable, but he could still maintain a normal level in front of him. The whole team was not in shape, and he had no choice. He was the midfield organizer, not the terminator. He could only deliver shells to his teammates, but if everyone squandered the opportunities he created, he had no good idea.

After the match against Lorient, it was an international match day. Of course, the Chinese team had a game, in the Asian Cup qualifiers, and played Palestine away in Jordan. Chu Zhongtian was also called up, but it was no different from the previous games. Chu Zhongtian, who went to Jordan to meet with the national team, continued to sit on the bench. This time he simply did not get a one-minute chance to play because the team won.

After the game, a netizen commented on Sina's news about the national team defeating Palestine: "Chu Zhongtian flew all the way to Jordan and was sweating all the time, but not because he participated in a 90-minute game, but because he was steamed by the local high temperature in Jordan on the bench..."

After the game, some media also interviewed Chu Zhongtian and wanted to hear what he thought about the bench that sat on the whole game. Chu Zhongtian didn't talk much. He just said that coach Zhu Suishin did this, and maybe he had his considerations. After the game, he returned to Mets directly from Jordan to prepare for the league.

On October 14, two days after the national team match day, Metz tied with Lille at home. In this game, Chu Zhongtian's condition rebounded and the team's overall condition also rebounded, so he had no choice but to win and lose against Lille in the third game last season.

Some people were worried before that Chu Zhongtian would be running around like this, and would not stop, causing problems in his physical fitness and affecting his game status. But actually proved that Chu Zhongtian had no physical concern at all. It was not that he was physically good, but that a trip to Jordan was equivalent to a vacation - he didn't play for a minute, so where did he consume physical fitness?

After nine rounds of the league, Metz won four wins, two draws and three losses, scored fourteen goals, conceded ten goals, and accumulated fourteen points, ranking sixth in the league. And this is the "worst result" after nine rounds of this season. He has been hovering between the first and fourth places before. This result is pretty good. You should know that one season ago, Metz was still a relegation team, but now he can rank stably in the top six of the league, surpassing the third Lille last season, as well as strong teams like Bordeaux and Ausselle.

This season, Fernandez sets the goal for the team to make a breakthrough in the European arena, and at the same time, in the league, the team can still participate in European competitions next season, and can finally reach the top three to get the qualification to participate in the Champions League. If not, the League Cup will be fine.

After nine rounds of the league, Metz began preparing for the League Cup group stage.

In their first game, they will challenge Bucharest Rapid Bucuresti away. This team is the runner-up in the Romanian League last season, and the champion is of course the famous Eastern European powerhouse Bucharest Star Team.

Although it was only October and although Chu Zhongtian had just returned from the high temperatures in Jordan, the first snow of the year had already started in Bucharest, the capital of Romania.

Romanian media thinks the snow is a good thing because "it can hinder the French from playing in the game".

These Romanian journalists obviously did not investigate Metz's geographical location. When they think of France, it is the warm Mediterranean port of Marseille. In fact, Metz is not much warmer than Eastern Europe every winter. Chu Zhongtian played three snow football games in Metz for two seasons. Therefore, the snow over Bucharest did not affect the mood of the whole team of Metz at all.

Besides, this snow is not very heavy, it is almost the same as it is called a light snow.

On the evening of October 19th, just in the snow, Metz defeated the tenacious Bucharest Express 3:2 away.

A good start for their group stage.

Because the group stage of the League Cup is a single round and only plays one game with each opponent, losing to Metz, the Romanians have no chance of revenge and can only target the other three opponents.

※※※Returning to the Metz, which is still a little bit autumn from Bucharest, the team has no time to rest, and the league is waiting for them again.

On October 21, Metz defeated the newly promoted Valencienna 3:1 away. He scored three points and his ranking rose from sixth to fifth.

In a blink of an eye, the new season has played ten rounds, and almost three months have passed.

When everyone came to train and put on thin plush mountain and jackets, Chu Zhongtian still felt that summer seemed to be just a week ago. Time flies very quickly.

"Ahhhhh--" Ribery suddenly started screaming in the car, "Time flies so fast..."

He was not the only one who seemed to have the same feeling. Chu Zhongtian, who was sitting next to the driver's seat, smiled.

"I suddenly felt a little bored, Chu." Ribery said after he finished shouting.

"Why?" Chu Zhongtian asked.

"The League Cup has disappointed me so much... I thought I could meet some powerful opponents, but I didn't expect that they were all Irish teams and Romanian teams... I know where they were before the game with us... I have never heard of their players. I feel that this League Cup is not as good as the Ligue 1..." Ribery began to complain endlessly.

"Did we work hard for a season just to compete like this?"

Chu Zhongtian couldn't answer Ribery's question.

The excitement of the team winning the Cup and qualifying for the League Cup has long passed. Now, calmly think about it, the League Cup and the Champions League are indeed far behind, although they are both European battles.

He thought for a while and said, "Maybe it'll be great if we enter the knockout stage. At that time, there should be many powerful opponents, and teams that were eliminated from the Champions League group stage..."

Ribery yawned.

"I don't care what you think, Chu. I won't stay here again next season." Ribery said to Chu Zhongtian while driving.

Chu Zhongtian did not respond to his words.

"I've never been on a team for three seasons, I'm a little tired of everything about Metz... I think maybe it's time to change places and start over again."

"Where to go? Lyon or Marseille?"

"If you don't live in France, you will have no future and no money if you continue to play in France." He made a gesture of counting money.

"You go with me, Chu." Ribery turned his head and looked at Chu Zhongtian. His tone felt like he was elopement.

Chu Zhongtian pointed to the front: "Look at the front. I don't know... I will wait until the end of this season."

"Do you still want to stay in this team for the rest of your life?"

"Of course not." Chu Zhongtian shook his head.

"I think we cooperate well. As long as we can go to a team that can participate in the Champions League and have the ability to win the championship, we can definitely join forces to win many championships!" He excitedly described the wonderful future to Chu Zhongtian, and said in his happy place. He even let go of the steering wheel and danced.

"But it is unlikely that we will join a team at the same time. I don't think we are willing to force ourselves, right?" Chu Zhongtian poured cold water on him. "Can you guarantee that you like your team and you also like me? Or are you interested in you?"

Ribery didn't say anything, and he knew that his idea was a bit wishful thinking.

After a while, he said, "Will we become opponents in the future?"

"It's good to be an opponent, ha!" Chu Zhongtian laughed. "Let you taste the power of my scissors' feet!"

"Go, be careful I can't find you in the north."

The two of them quarreled and threw some worries about the future behind them. It was hard to say whether they deliberately did not talk or did not intend to expose it.

But later Ribery no longer mentioned Chu Zhongtian the idea of ​​transferring to a team together. Of course, he did not mention the fact that everyone knew about staying for only one season.

※※※ Chu Zhongtian’s life is like Ribery’s complaints, ordinary and ordinary, but he himself enjoys this kind of peaceful life.

Although the national team always calls him to play games, he doesn't give him much chance to play, and he is not the core of the team, but he is just a foil. However, he doesn't care so much. Anyway, the national team finally won the Asian Cup quota, but the domestic criticism of Zhu Suishin has never stopped since the last game of 1:1 home draw with Iraq.

He did not participate in such things, which was what his father reminded him many times. No matter how he said it in China, he should not participate, so as not to be used by those who are interested.

The national team has obtained the right to qualify, and there will be no national team competitions until January next year. He can enjoy his life in Metz with peace of mind.

Every day, she only trains to talk to Emily on the phone. In the past, Emily called Chu Zhongtian and had to sneak out of her mother to not let her mother know. Now that her relationship with Chu Zhongtian was revealed, she always said those love words in front of her mother, and she was not shy at all. Later, Miranda hid herself and came to hide her daughter - she was still dissatisfied with Chu Zhongtian's heart that just stole her daughter.

In addition to talking with Emily, Chu Zhongtian has few hobbies. He occasionally goes online, but rarely appears on the forum to speak. Because he is famous, there are many people who are naturally staring at him. If he says something and is caught and exploited by others, he will lose a lot.

He dives for a long time, just occasionally telling those who really care about him that everything is fine. If someone asks him on the forum why he can't play the main player in the national team for a long time, he pretends not to see it.

Since he came that time, he has often come to see him. Sometimes when Chu Zhongtian goes to the youth team to visit Wang Hao and several young Chinese players, he will come over.

This Bosnian would talk to Chu Zhongtian about any troubles, and would also talk to Chu Zhongtian if he had any questions that he couldn't understand in football. Chu Zhongtian also learned something from him - how to improve his skills.

In addition, regarding Yayiovi, Chu Zhongtian and Yayiovi often communicate with each other during training. Chu Zhongtian told Yayiovi about his understanding of football. Yayiovi also worked hard to learn, but he found that there was one thing he couldn't learn no matter how much he learned it. That was Chu Zhongtian's "intuition" on his lips. Chu Zhongtian could pass a good ball without much observation now. Yayiovi could not do it. He had to observe and kept looking up.

He could only attribute this to Chu Zhongtian's talent, and talent was something that no one could learn and could not steal.

Chu Zhongtian could only tell him how to do multiple-choice questions in the game, and to play football with his brain, not just with his heart.

During his time as Teacher Yayiovi, Chu Zhongtian also felt the challenge - he found that playing football is much simpler than teaching people to play football. He can understand it by himself, and it will be difficult to let others understand it. What he wants to teach is not technology, something that can be demonstrated many times, but consciousness... So at this time, he admired Russell back then, and he trained his rough Chinese brother with rough footing... Russell, you really have the talent to be a coach, and you don't know what you are doing now? Although you can't play games, do you still play football occasionally?

※※Time passes quickly in Chu Zhongtian's peaceful but fulfilling life.

He spent his 23rd birthday. On his birthday, he was on the plane. The day before, he just followed the team away to play the group stage of the League Cup and Poleslav. He scored a long shot in the game, helping the team win 2:1. With the last round of the group stage, Metz won two wins and one draw, and has already advanced. For him, this is the best birthday gift.

After returning to Metz, he also got a birthday gift from Emily - a new mobile phone. Chu Zhongtian bought the mobile phone now in the summer of 2004. It has been almost three years now. The style has passed long ago, and there are no more practical and latest features.

After the training class the next day, his teammates brought him a specially customized birthday cake. The cake was filled with twenty-three candles like a prank. Later, according to his teammates, this was Ribery's idea, and Chu Zhongtian was not surprised at all.

After eating the cake, time changed, the League Cup group stages were all over. The Metz team still beat Panathinaikos in Athens 4-0 at home, but they advanced to the team 4-0. They squeezed Panathinaikos, who had two wins and one draw with seven points as they had before, and they won the first place in the group and had an advantage in the next stage of the knockout draw - according to the rules, the first place in each group is to fight against the third place in each group.

The Metz team, which appeared in the League Cup for the first time, has remained unbeaten so far, which has made Metz local media excited and are looking forward to the knockout stage to arrive quickly.

Metz's players are also looking forward to it. The group stage opponents are too weak, which makes them unable to get any interest. But everyone knows that once they enter the knockout round, they will be strong. This feeling made Chu Zhongtian think of the first FA Cup trip to Wimbledon, and everyone's mentality is the same... During the Christmas holiday, Chu Zhongtian flew to Los Angeles to find Emily. Emily took him frequently in front of the media's cameras, and even the premiere of the movie was brought with him. This is the first step after Emily's transformation. Whether the audience recognizes her acting skills and whether the transformation is successful depends on this game. At this time, Emily is under a lot of pressure, so Chu Zhongtian has to be with her.

Judging from the reaction after the premiere, it was not as sensational as it was, but most people expressed affirmation of Emily's efforts. The media, who have always been sarcastic, also encouraged and praised Emily's brave attempts, believing that Emily's decisive appearance was correct. Now she is on a promising road. After all, the vase cannot be played for the rest of her life, and she always has to grow old. Only acting is the weapon that can accompany her for life.

Emily showed a sincere smile, and her agent's mother Miranda also breathed a sigh of relief. In order to reward her daughter, she gave Emily a few days off and allowed her to go out and have fun with Chu Zhongtian. Emily's New Year wish is to have fun with Chu Zhongtian at Disneyland in Los Angeles.

Now it's implemented.

At Disneyland, she was as happy as a little girl. Later she told Chu Zhongtian that this was her first time to play in Disneyland.

After spending a wonderful Christmas holiday with Emily, Chu Zhongtian returned to France. On January 6, the French Cup started, and Metz defeated Troyes, who was relegated to the second division last season, 2-0 away.

Then the league rekindled, and the national team's European training also called him. Unfortunately, the national team's first game in Europe conflicted with the first league after the winter break. If both sides of Chu Zhongtian wanted to participate, he would have to finish the league on the evening of the 13th and rush to Spain overnight to meet with the national team, and then play the next day's game.

This is obviously unrealistic, and the club will not let people go.

The final result of the discussion was that Chu Zhongtian would go to the national team to report after the match against Le Mans. Anyway, the national team's matches were on the 16th and 18th, and from the 13th to the 24th, there was no league, only one French Cup game, and Chu Zhongtian didn't have to play.

So in the past two weeks, Chu Zhongtian seemed to be playing for the national team, after playing against Borussia Mönchengladbach and Vilva, he flew back to France and returned to Metz to play the league with Nantes.

This time the national team trained in Europe, Zhu Suishin gave Chu Zhongtian the opportunity to start in the game with Borussia Mönchengladbach, but Chu Zhongtian's performance was still not as good as he was at Metz. He knew Metz well but was unfamiliar with the national team.

There were some comments in the media that questioned Chu Zhongtian's work or not. Chu Zhongtian left all these negative reports behind - it was not that he was unwilling to defend himself, but he had no time to do these things at all. The Ligue 1 has entered the second half of the season, the League Cup entered the knockout round, the French Cup reached the quarter-finals, and ranked third in the league.

For him and for Metz, the season has entered a critical stage. He has no time to talk to the Chinese media.
Chapter completed!