The next day, Cao Baming arrived at the training ground as usual to join his teammates for the day's practice.
That day, Arsenal had a small friendly match. Their opponent was just a youth team, and in terms of strength, there was a vast difference between them.
Therefore, this match was, in essence, about maintaining goodwill. After all, the opposing players were still young children, and their confidence should not be too severely damaged.
As for the outcome, there was no need to consider it at all. Winning such a match would be easier than drinking water; they could even manipulate the score if they wished.
Cao Baming naturally didn't pay too much attention. Instead, he was more focused on another match scheduled for the afternoon at the same time – an English Premier League game.
Manchester City versus Manchester United, the Manchester Derby!
This match, besides Cao Baming, also attracted the attention of countless fans. Whether they were City fans or United fans, or even neutral observers, everyone had been eagerly anticipating this game.
Manchester City was a super-strong team that had battled their way through and had only lost one match in the Premier League so far. Manchester United, on the other hand, was in great form recently, bolstered by the emergence of Max, who had set the football world ablaze. This match could be described as a clash of titans!
A significant reason for Cao Baming's keen interest was naturally Max. He already knew that Max had watched the previous match from the stands. Such attention deserved reciprocation.
During this period, Max was the only one who had truly captured Cao Baming's interest.
Shortly after the afternoon training match began, Cao Baming was substituted to rest. Such opportunities should naturally be given more to newcomers to gain experience and make full use of resources.
As Cao Baming left the field, the score of the friendly match was already two-nil. Both goals were related to Cao Baming: one was an assist, and the other was an individual goal.
Upon reaching the resting area, Cao Baming quickly turned on the live broadcast to watch the real-time updates of the match. When he saw that thirty minutes of game time had passed, Cao Baming felt a pang of regret.
Then, upon seeing the score, his eyes lit up. The score had already widened to two-one!
Had this really happened within thirty minutes? What a spectacular process he had missed!
At this moment, he felt even more tiếc nuối.
Upon closer inspection, this wasn't the most surprising thing. Manchester City, as the home team, was actually trailing at this moment, with Manchester United temporarily in the lead!
No matter how strong Manchester United was, they couldn't be stronger than the current Manchester City, could they!
Many fans genuinely thought this way. They had all been following the respective matches of both teams. Manchester City's strength was clearly superior to Manchester United's at present.
Perhaps three or four years ago, Manchester United was an unstoppable force, but now, Manchester City was truly the dominant power. Past encounters had rarely seen major upsets; the Manchester sky had always been blue!
Facing the current score, Cao Baming quickly found the answer in his heart.
Because he saw Max on the field, he had actually started today, relegating Cristiano Ronaldo to the bench!
As expected, the two goals just now were both scored by Max. One was a quick attack just forty seconds into the game, with Max scoring a rebound in the penalty area. The other was in the fifteenth minute, a solo run and an outside-the-box shot!
The match was still ongoing, and another friendly match was being played not far away. However, Cao Baming's interest had already completely shifted to the small screen.
Soon, the first half ended. Before it concluded, Manchester United almost scored again, but the attack was disallowed due to Antony's offside call by a hair's breadth.
The second half began, and Cao Baming again focused on the match. At the fifty-first minute, Manchester City made two substitutions to adjust their tactics.
Pep Guardiola, with his brow furrowed on the sidelines, contemplated a counter-strategy, and one could feel he still had some confidence.
Cao Baming looked at the old bald man and thought that perhaps soon, he would be his subordinate.
Sixtieth minute, Foden's shot was blocked, and De Bruyne was offside for the rebound.
Sixty-first minute, Manchester United launched a rapid counter-attack. With Max's visible, unstoppable speed leaving defenders in his wake, Manchester City's defense was completely broken through.
He calmly slotted the ball into the net, and the score changed again, three-one!
Upon seeing this, many fans became uncontrollably excited. What was most thrilling was the completely unexpected turn of events, and this was clearly it.
Who would have thought before the match that Manchester United would lead Manchester City three-one? It would have been more plausible the other way around!
Amidst the cheers of the fans, Manchester United played with even more excitement and aggression!
Manchester City still had De Bruyne, Foden, and Haaland on the field, and the interplay between these three remained a significant threat.
When the clock reached the eighty-fifth minute, Manchester City pulled one goal back, finally offering some comfort to the home fans.
The scorer was Haaland, who was in red-hot form this season.
However, despite this, the outcome could no longer be changed!
"The full-time whistle has blown! The final score is four-two, and we congratulate Manchester United on winning this match!!!"
"The Manchester sky is red!"
News media began to publicize the result extensively. Such an outcome carried considerable weight, considered a bombshell piece of news. Major news outlets vied to report it, quickly dominating the headlines!
Cao Baming took a deep breath, looked at the field not far away, and closed the screen.
The friendly match had also ended. The score was unclear, and it didn't matter.
Max was so strong. He seemed to have improved even more since they last met a few days ago!
Could he have been hiding his strength? Was that a possibility?
With this thought, Cao Baming immediately activated the time bubble, intending to search for Max within it.
Compared to painstakingly searching for his identity in the real world, this was more direct and efficient.
However, each use of the system skill consumed a significant amount of stamina. After playing over half an hour of the match, the recovery time was not enough, and he could only sustain it for a short while.
Meanwhile, the outside world was buzzing with discussions, naturally revolving around the emergent Max.
In an instant, he became the hero of Manchester United!