Champions League matches always kick off at 7:45 PM, but the pyers arrive at the stadium much earlier.

  When Napoli's team bus departed from their hotel and made its way toward the Emirates Stadium, the streets were already packed with Arsenal fans.

  Italian fans, particurly those from the south, are infamous for their fiery behavior when traveling to away games, fans from clubs like Roma are prime examples.

  Napoli's fans are even more fervent than Roma's.

  This time, the UK authorities imposed strict trols on the number of Napoli fans allowed into London, issuing fewer than a thousand tickets for them. Meanwhile, the Emirates Stadium was filled with 60,000 fans in total.

  It was clear Napoli would fa intense barrage of noise and hostility from the home crowd.

  But for Napoli, this was nothing new.

  As soon as the Gunners' supporters spotted the Napoli bus, they swarmed it, jeering and pounding on the sides. If it weren't for the police escort fnking the bus front and back, it might not have reached the stadium on time.

  Upon arriving at the Emirates Stadium, Napoli felt like they were at the ter of a storm, surrounded by enemies baring their teeth and eager to tear them apart.

  The Napoli squad was young, but they had grown aced to such hostile receptions at away games.

  From entering the locker room to heading out fame warm-ups and familiarizing themselves with the pitch, everything proceeded in an orderly manner. Gao Shen, however, waited quietly for the Arsenal lio be announced.

  Finally, the Gunners' starting XI was revealed:

  Goalkeeper: Almunia

  Defense: Clichy, Gals, Toure, and Sagna

  Midfield: Nasri, Song, Fabregas, and Walcott

  Forwards: Adebayor and Van Persie

  When Gao Shen saw the list, he couldn't help but ch his fist. He had guessed it correctly!

  "4-4-2. Wenger is stig to his typical strategy for home games," Gao Shen said, satisfied.

  It wasn't an impossible guess, but until the lineup was firmed, who could truly predict Wenger's pn?

  As Gao Shen had previously noted, Arsenal's ret good form was rgely due to their profi alternatiween the 4-2-3-1 and 4-4-2 formations.

  Now, with the first leg of the quarterfinals taking pce at home, Wenger would undoubtedly want to press for an advantage.

  "Prepare yourselves—we o tweak our tactics a little," Gao Shen instructed decisively.

  Now that the lineup was revealed, adjustments were necessary.

  ---

  At the same time, Wenger also received Napoli's starting lineup:

  Goalkeeper: Handanovic

  Defense: Vargas, David Luiz, Benatia, and Lichtsteiner

  Midfield: Thiago Motta as the deep-lying pymaker, with Biglia and Rakiti tral midfield

  Forwards: Di Maria, i, and Sanchez

  Wenger was slightly surprised by what he saw.

  Bonucci had been suspended for this match after pig up a yellow card against Drogba in the sed leg of the Round of 16. Wenger had assumed Gao Shen would likely use Paolo avaro to fill the gap, but instead, Gao Shen opted to take a gamble oia.

  This choice caught Wenger off guard.

  Benatia's rise mirrao Shen's oweorid almost too surreal to be believed.

  Before joining Napoli, Benatia had struggled to secure a starting spot iher Ligue 1 ue 2. But after joining Napoli, he became a erstone of their defense, with his performaeadily improving.

  Now, he was starting in the quarterfinals of the Champions League.

  It was as if Benatia's life were guided by some kind of cheat code!

  And Gao Shen was the one operating it.

  "This guy loves shaking things up," Wenger muttered with a smile.

  Despite their rivalry, Wenger genuinely admired Gao Shen. It wasn't about the oute of the match, it was a senior's heartfelt appreciation for the remarkable talent of a younger peer.

  While Gao Shen had been aggressive during the pre-match press ferences, he was always respectful in private.

  But och? Respect wouldn't matter.

  ---

  German referee Wolfgang Stark led both teams out onto the pitch at the Emirates Stadium.

  By now, the stands were packed with 60,000 Arsenal fans.

  As the Napoli pyers ehe field, they immediately felt the oppressive atmosphere of a decisive battle. Despite their prior experie imposing venues like the Bernabéu and Stamford Bridge, the tension of the moment still got to them.

  However, wheepped onto the field and saw Gao Shen walking out of the tunnel in his suit and tie, their nerves seemed to settle.

  His calm and fident demeanave them a sense of dire, as though his presence alone grouhem.

  Instead of heading straight to the visitors' teical area, Gao Shen approached Wenger.

  Arsène Wenger, with his lined face, gray hair, and visibly thinner frame siheir st meeting, greeted him.

  "Professor, have you been losing sleep retly?" Gao Shen joked lightly.

  As he spoke, his eyes sed Arsenal's bench. Substitutes like Fabianski, Djourou, Sylvestre, and Gibbs sat ready. Among them, Gao Shen immediately reized Gervinho.

  The Ivorian winger had joined Arsenal for €15 million in the same season Napoli had been promoted to Serie A. At the time, Gervinho had personally asked Gao Shen for a transfer.

  What had once seemed like a high price fervinho now seemed modest. Today, any random Napoli pyer would ore than that.

  Since moving to Arsenal, Gervinho had struggled to adapt. The petition withieam, particurly with the arrival of Nasri, had relegated him to the bench.

  When Gervinho noticed Gao Shen looking at him, he nodded politely.

  His hairstyle had only gotten stranger over the years.

  Gao Shen couldn't know what Gervinho was thinking in that moment, nor could he guess how he felt seeing his former Napoli teammate Di Maria now thriving as one of Europe's top wingers.

  Did Gervinhret his decision to leave?

  It didn't matter anymore.

  "Professor, I thought you might take a more servative approach," Gao Shen said with a rexed smile as he turned back to Wenger.

  Weudied Gao Shen closely, trying to dis whether he was truly at ease or just putting on a show.

  "This is our home," Wenger replied fidently. "We've pyed in the Champions League here for three years and have never lost."

  Gao Shen chuckled. "There's a first time for everything."

  After a pause, he tinued, "When we pyed Chelsea, they also cimed Stamford Bridge was a fortress. A..."

  Gao Shen trailed off, shaking his head slightly, leaving the rest of the sentenspoken.

  They turned out to be far weaker than expected.

  Wenger simply stared at him, uurbed.

  Keep pretending.

  "I uimated you back at Highbury," Wenger said, his tone serious. "That won't happen tonight."

  Gao Shen smiled. "To be ho, the Real Madrid team I coached back then couldn't execute my vision. Tonight is different. This Napoli squad reflects my ideas far better."

  Ba 2006, Real Madrid had been slow and aging. Though they defeated Arsenal, it was a scrappy win.

  Napoli, oher hand, was dynami both attad defense, with far greater stamina and cohesion.

  "Be careful, Professor. I won't hold back tonight," Gao Shen decred fidently before turning and heading toward the visitors' teical area.

  Wenger watched him go, frowning slightly.

  The bold statements Gao Shen had made before the match, bined with his calm demeanor now, left Wenger uled.

  Was he truly this fident? Had he found a way to exploit Arsenal? Or did he simply believe Napoli was that strong?

  Wenger couldn't shake his doubts.

  After all, Napoli had overturned Chelsea in both legs, proving their strength.

  If not for those results, Wenger might have dismissed Gao Shen's bravado as arrogance. But now, he had to wonder if Napoli truly had the ability to break Arsenal's ued record at the Emirates.

  ---

  The match kicked off with referee Stark's whistle. i immediately passed the ball to Di Maria, who sent it back to the midfield for Thiago Motta.

  Napoli's deep-lying pymaker trolled the ball, Arsenal's movements as their pyers began pressing high up the field.

  Clearly, Arsenal had doheir homework.

  The Gunners were determio exploit their strength in pressing and disrupt Napoli's rhythm early on.

  As Motta passed the ball back to his defenders, Arsenal's press gradually eased as they retreated into their own half.

  Biglia, positioned on the left he halfway line, received a pass and tried a long ball to switch py.

  The ball arced toward Di Maria on the right, but Clichy stu tightly, f an error. The ball sailed out of bounds.

  Arsenal's throw-in.

  The crowd erupted with cheers, their voices booming through the stadium.

  The Arsenal fans were clearly pleased with their team's defensive effort, which disrupted Napoli's attad forced a turnover.

  Di Maria quickly raised his hand, aowledging his mistake. He'd let Clichy lock him down too easily.

  Napoli's first attempt to pee Arsenal's defensive line ended with a mispced long ball, and possession ged hands.

  As the Gunners prepared to restart py, nearly a minute had passed since kickoff.

  In that minute, Arsenal hadn't rushed tain possession, while Napoli appeared cautious.

  This left many iands w:

  Is this the demonstration Gao Shen promised?

  ***

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