Soon, teammates' calls came, and Cao Baiming gently raised his head. The scene before him was the familiar football field he saw every day, a sight he was incredibly familiar with.
"Wait a moment!"
Cao Baiming shouted loudly. He glanced at Nelson and the others in the distance, who seemed to have heard him, as they made an "okay" gesture.
Looking back at his phone screen, the game situation appeared unchanged. The score remained one-nil, with AC Milan's striker, Giroud, scoring the only goal.
However, as the game reached the ninth minute, De Bruyne received his first yellow card.
Cao Baiming's heart pounded. This was exactly what he had seen in the time bubble, and the timing was almost identical.
As expected, the outcome of this match wouldn't have any significant surprises.
If it were him, if it were Arsenal, perhaps they could have done something to change the ending and make it more acceptable.
But if it were another team, there would be nothing he could do to help!
Cao Baiming closed the screen and quickly ran towards the field. At this moment, many teammates were already on the field, warming up and preparing for the game, which seemed to be starting soon.
The team training jerseys were also the same. As Cao Baiming approached, Henry handed him a jacket of the same color as his own.
Cao Baiming's mind was still preoccupied with that match, and he paid no attention to this training game.
He didn't even know which teammates he would be on the same team with before the game started. Seeing the color of the jacket Henry handed him, he had a rough idea that he would at least be on Henry's side.
At this moment, Cao Baiming's mind still retained the last frame of the live broadcast, combined with what he had seen in the system simulation, making it easy to deduce.
The outcome of the match was likely to be Manchester City losing to AC Milan. Although the final details might differ slightly from his previous experience, the result was unlikely to change. The score might be one-three, or zero-two. However, looking at the state of the Manchester City players, it was clear they wouldn't win. The system's power wasn't just in predicting the future; its greatest strength was its seemingly omniscient perspective, allowing it to survey everything happening in every corner of the world at any given moment and understand everyone's condition.
Joining the training game, even with his mind elsewhere, Cao Baiming easily led his team to victory, scoring one goal after another. Unlike league or other official matches, Cao Baiming played with more power in training, especially when shooting, without any concern for the goalkeeper's safety. This was because, during training, the team's goalkeeper wore a specially invented, highly elastic, bulletproof sports vest. Regardless of injury, at least no lives would be lost, which was acceptable.
The training game reached halftime. At this moment, Cao Baiming returned to his screen and checked the real-time game status. The last time he saw the game, only about ten minutes had passed. Now, over forty minutes had elapsed, and the halftime break had even concluded. The game was likely just starting the second half, and remarkably, the score remained one-nil, unchanged. The only difference was that Manchester City now had three players on yellow cards, not just De Bruyne. These were the fouls that resulted in yellow cards, but one could only imagine how many more fouls had actually occurred on the field. In Cao Baiming's memory, the referee's calls seemed relatively lenient. However, recalling the simulation in the time bubble, Manchester City had appeared quite disheveled, committing fouls repeatedly. In the first half alone, they had over ten fouls, a surprisingly high number. Now, apart from minor discrepancies in the score compared to his prediction, everything else seemed to align perfectly. He remembered that Erling Haaland would eventually score a goal with his extraordinary predatory instincts, but at this point, the score was not yet at a level that would provide much clarity.
Seeing this, Cao Baiming lost all suspense. Whether it was one-nil or two-nil at halftime, it wouldn't significantly impact the final outcome. The state of the Manchester City players was already clear: they were in terrible form, and winning the match was likely unrealistic.
Cao Baiming wasn't the only one paying attention to the real-time results. Many people were quietly monitoring the game's progress. As Arsenal's head coach, Arteta was naturally very concerned about this match, as its outcome would determine who Arsenal would face in the finals. Although Bayern Munich hadn't officially been eliminated, in the eyes of everyone at Arsenal, they were already out. Even in the next match, nothing significant would change. To overcome a four-one deficit in an away game, they would need more than just a miracle. In anyone's eyes, facing AC Milan in the finals would be far better than facing Manchester City. However, from Cao Baiming's perspective, he saw Manchester City's current terrible form. If they were to somehow reach the finals and maintain such a state, then facing Manchester City would actually be easier and more enjoyable for Arsenal.
The training game resumed, and Cao Baiming returned to the field, having lost all anticipation for the outcome, as the suspense was minimal.