"Arsenal's pyers are still very tenacious, and their fighting spirit is endable!"

  Napoli's general manager, Pierpaolo Marino, said with a cheerful smile as he sat o Arsenal's chief executive, Ivan Gazidis, in the President's Stand at the Emirates Stadium.

  Gazidis's expression, oher hand, was gloomy.

  It was utterly humiliating!

  When the draw was announced, Gazidis had fidently cimed that Arsenal had the advantage in strength and luck, even discussing how they would defeat Napoli. But now, in the first leg of the quarterfinals, they were trailing 0–3 at home.

  Gazidis could already imagihe barrage of ridicule and mockery that the British media would unleash tomorrow. His earlier remarks would e back to haunt him, and all of it was thanks to Gao Shen and his Napoli team.

  Meanwhile, this insufferable bald-headed Italian beside him couldn't wait to rub salt in the wound.

  "endable fighting spirit"?

  Seriously!

  Gazidis g the pitch. It was already the 80th minute, and the score was still 0–3.

  Even so, Arsenal's pyers tio press forward, ung wave after wave of attacks against Napoli in a desperate attempt to score at least one goal and salvage some pride.

  But that was all they could do, there was no hope of overturning the result.

  The match had long been decided.

  In the sed half, Napoli maintaiheir posure and pyed with incredible patience.

  At halftime, Wenger had made his first substitution, repg Walcott with Bendtner.

  Walcott had been chosen for his speed, but the tactic failed spectacurly.

  Every time Walcott got the ball, he seemed pelled to charge straight into a crowd of defenders, refusing to explore spaces with fewer obstacles. Predictably, he lost possession time and time again.

  Whener came on, he ced on the right rather than in his usual role as a ter-forward. While Bendtner had strength and skill, he cked the speed necessary to operate effectively on the fnk. It was hard to uand Wenger's thought process in making this substitution, perhaps he was simply out of options and trying anything.

  Later, Wenger made two more substitutions. He repced Adebayor with Denilson and switched to a 4-2-3-1 formation, but it had little impact.

  His final substitution saw Nasri repced by Gervinho in an attempt to bolster Arsenal's attack, but that too fell ft.

  Gazidis, sitting iands, found the situation thhly embarrassing. Yet, from the perspective of a club executive, Arsenal's season hadn't been a failure. Reag the Champions League quarterfinals was already beyond the club's expectations.

  In the league, Arsenal's performance was slightly worse than st season, but staying iop four was good enough.

  After all, the current focus wasn't on chasier rankings, let alohe championship.

  The only real blemish was tonight's match against Napoli.

  What a catastrophic loss!

  This was undoubtedly the worst defeat sihe Emirates Stadium opened.

  ---

  "I heard Gao Shen won't be renewing his tract after this season?" Gazidis asked with a smile.

  Marino stared at him for a moment before nodding, secretly impressed by his posure.

  Even after being so thhly humiliated by Gao Shen, Gazidis could still smile. That was something you couldn't help but admire.

  "His tract has always been on a one-year basis. Right now, we're at a critical point in the season, so renewing it isn't a priority. We'll address it ter," Marino replied diplomatically.

  "That makes sense," Gazidis said, nodding. He uood the subtext and didn't press further.

  "With the way your team has performed this season, it's going to be difficult to keep all your pyers this summer, don't you think?"

  Marino froze for a moment. Was that a subtle attempt to poach?

  The Napoli general manager smiled but said nothing, waiting fazidis to eborate.

  "What's your valuation of David Luiz? How much would you sell him fazidis asked directly, cursing the wily old fox in his heart.

  "Last summer, before Inter Min signed Lucio, they sidered bringing in David Luiz. They privately offered us €20 million and hihey were open to iation," Marino said, seemingly ging the subject.

  Gazidis was momentarily stunned but quickly uood the implication. When he looked at Marino again, his expression ged.

  "Isn't that a bit unrealistic?"

  Marino's message was clear. Last summer, Napoli rejected Inter Min's €20 million offer. With David Luiz's outstanding performahis season, his value had undoubtedly skyrocketed.

  Gazidis couldn't help but think about the iate of the transfer market.

  Marino, however, suppressed a ugh. Did Gazidis think he was a fool?

  Wasn't it obvious how much a top-level tral defender was worth in today's market?

  Ba 2007, Real Madrid paid €30 million for Pepe, a figure that had seemed absurd at the time. But was it really?

  And now, Maer City had offered Arsenal ￡20 million for Kolo Touré during the wiransfer window.

  Was that not equally eous?

  pared to Pepe and Kolo Touré, David Luiz was younger, more skilled, aer suited to modern football.

  Was it still unreasoo value him highly?

  Marino smiled faintly and turned his attention back to the game, leaving Gazidis to his thoughts.

  Napoli's position was clear: if you want to poach, be prepared to pay.

  If you don't have the mohen just sit bad enjoy the show.

  ---

  Och, the pyers remained oblivious to the exge betweewo executives.

  All eyes were on the game.

  In the 83rd minute, Arsenal unched atack. They tried to loft the ball into Napoli's penalty area, but David Luiz outjumped Adebayor and headed the ball clear.

  The ball nded he 30-meter mark, where Kolo Touré, fag away from goal, attempted an acrobatic bicycle kick to return the ball to the danger zone.

  But i got there first. Using his body to shield the ball, he caused Touré to lose band miss his kitirely.

  i then headed the ball to his right, where Sanchez was waiting.

  Sanchez surged forward, accelerating past the halfway lih Chrissy chasing after him.

  Gals, the st defender, rushed over to intercept Sanchez.

  However, just as Sanchez crossed the ter line and approached Arsenal's 30-meter zone, he sent a diagonal pass behind Arsenal's defense for i to chase.

  i sprinted after the ball but couldn't quite catch up. As he angled left to retrieve it, he heard a familiar voice behind him.

  "I'll take it!"

  Without hesitation, i moved toward the penalty spot, weaviween Sagna and Song, who had hurried back.

  Di Maria arrived, stopped the ball, adjusted his footing, and before Sagna could close in, curled a left-footed pass into the six-yard box.

  i met the ball perfectly, heading it toward the left side of the goal.

  Almunia, moving right, could only watch helplessly as the ball sailed into the .

  "GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!"

  "Four to zero!"

  "This is an absolute massacre!"

  "Napoli has destroyed Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium!"

  ---

  On the sideline, Gao Shen had been sipping water when the terattack began. As i scored, he threw the bottle aside, rushing to the toue, fists pumping in celebration.

  "Brilliant! Fantastic!"

  "Oh my god, I love you guys!"

  Gao Sheion was audible to the Arsenal fans iands, but at this point, no one cared.

  The cameras panned across the stadium, capturing the frustration of Arsenal fans as they began to leave early.

  It was a plete colpse.

  Gao Shen had promised to demonstrate how to beat Arsenal and he had delivered.

  Arsenal's weaknesses were id bare. Napoli's foals had e from quick, effit terattacks, each executed to perfe.

  Arsenal had been utterly outcssed.

  This was a crushi, a total humiliation.