Soccer: I became Bruno Fernandes.

Chapter 296: The Sole Survivor in European Competitions

On March 13, Udinese continued to play at the Friuli Stadium, this time against Roma. Roma had just been eliminated from the Champions League by Real Madrid, losing both legs 0-2, with very poor performances. However, in Serie A, Roma was on a seven-game winning streak, making them the best-performing team in the league recently and placing them fourth in the standings.

In this match, Salah returned to the Friuli Stadium to face his former team. In just the second minute, Roma nearly broke the deadlock. El Shaarawy delivered a high-quality cross from the left, and Dzeko headed towards the goal, but Karnezis made a flying save.

Since joining Roma during the winter break, El Shaarawy had gradually found his form, performing brilliantly.

In the 15th minute, Roma opened the scoring. Perotti made a diagonal pass to Salah from midfield, and the Egyptian star controlled the ball and pushed it into the box. Dzeko arrived just in time and, with a slight adjustment, shot the ball into the net. 1-0, Roma took the lead away against Udinese.

In the 47th minute, Udinese launched an attack down the right. Bruno dribbled down the right flank and crossed, and Théréau's powerful shot was barely blocked by Szczesny. After the corner kick, Zapata's header hit the post, and Roma narrowly escaped conceding.

In the 74th minute, Pjanić delivered a clever through ball to Florenzi, who controlled the ball, went past the goalkeeper, and gently flicked it into the net with the outside of his foot. 2-0, Roma extended their lead.

In the 84th minute, Udinese pulled one back. Ertô crossed from the right, and Zapata, holding off a defender, laid the ball back for Bruno to strike it into the net. The score was now 2-1. This was Bruno's 30th Serie A goal of the season, continuing to lead the scoring charts and making him the second player since 1956 to reach 30 goals in a single Serie A season, just behind Toni's 31 goals in the 2005-06 season. He was also just five goals away from Nordahl's record of 35 goals in a single Serie A season set 66 years ago.

After that, Udinese continued to press Roma's goal but couldn't score more. Ultimately, Udinese lost 2-1 at home to Roma, ending their six-game winning streak, while Roma secured their eighth consecutive league victory.

During the midweek, European competitions continued, but it was a heartbreaking week for Italian fans. First, Juventus was eliminated by Bayern Munich in extra time. Then Lazio suffered a 0-3 home defeat to Sparta Prague in the Europa League round of 16, being eliminated with a total score of 1-4.

As a result, Udinese remained the sole Italian team in the European competitions' quarterfinals. Compared to the previous two seasons, Italian teams' performances in Europe were lackluster this season, dashing Serie A's hopes of challenging for Europe's second-best league.

Among the 16 teams in the Champions League and Europa League quarterfinals, Spain had six spots, Germany, England, and Portugal had two each, and France, the Czech Republic, and Ukraine had one each.

On March 18, 2016, the Champions League quarterfinal draw was held at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland. The eight quarterfinal teams came from six different leagues, with Spain having three representatives: Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Atlético Madrid. The remaining five teams were from five different leagues: Udinese from Serie A, Bayern Munich from the Bundesliga, Manchester City from the Premier League, Paris Saint-Germain from Ligue 1, and Benfica from the Primeira Liga.

The draw was random, with no seeding and no restrictions on teams from the same league facing each other. Udinese drew Atlético Madrid, a draw that was neither too good nor too bad. At this stage, there were no weak teams left.

The other quarterfinal matchups were Barcelona vs. Real Madrid, Bayern Munich vs. Benfica, and Paris Saint-Germain vs. Manchester City. These matchups were intriguing: Barcelona vs. Real Madrid was a classic battle of titans, PSG vs. Manchester City was a clash of oil-rich clubs, and Udinese vs. Atlético Madrid was a duel of low-budget teams.

On March 20, Udinese played away at the Mapei Stadium against Sassuolo. Sassuolo had performed very well this season, ranking eighth in Serie A and closely trailing the teams ahead, making them a potential contender for a European spot.

After a week of rest, Udinese regained their energy. In the match, Bruno initiated an attack in the eighth minute, leading to Théréau assisting Duván Zapata, who scored to give Udinese the lead.

Then, in the 64th minute, after Sassuolo equalized through a header from Politano, Bruno stepped up again in the 81st minute with a long-range shot, reclaiming the lead. Udinese held on to win 2-1, maintaining a six-point lead over Juventus in the standings.

After being held to a draw by Bologna, ending their 15-game winning streak, Juventus quietly went on a four-game winning streak in Serie A, extending their unbeaten run to 20 games. Napoli also kept up the pressure, beating Genoa 3-1 at home, increasing their points to 64, 12 points behind Udinese. Higuaín scored again in this round, bringing his season total to 29 goals, keeping up the pressure on Bruno in the top scorers' race.

Next, European football entered the first international break of 2016, and Bruno returned to Portugal for national team duty. During this international break, Portugal had two matches against Bulgaria and Belgium. With the European Championship approaching, the Portuguese national team began their preparations.

In the European Championship group stage draw held on December 12 last year, Portugal, as a seed team, was drawn into Group F with Iceland, Austria, and Hungary. Many considered this a favorable draw. Despite Austria's world ranking of tenth and Hungary's nineteenth, the group also included Iceland, seen as the tournament's weakest team with the lowest world ranking of 38th, even below Albania.

In this group, Portugal was significantly stronger than the other three teams. With Bruno and Ronaldo, two of the top three players in the last Ballon d'Or voting, Portugal was one of the favorites for the European Championship title, according to European media and betting companies. The latest odds had host France as the favorite, followed by World Cup champions Germany, and then Portugal, even ahead of defending champions Spain.

Portugal's preparations did not start well. Bulgaria, ranked 70th in the world, finished fourth in Group H of the qualifiers, not even securing a playoff spot. Such an opponent should have been an easy win for Portugal, but the match didn't go as expected.

Despite dominating the game and launching wave after wave of attacks, Portugal conceded first. In the 19th minute, Bulgaria's right-wing cross reached the box, Marcelinho dribbled past Vieirinha and nutmegged Pepe before stumbling the ball into the net. 1-0, Bulgaria unexpectedly took the lead.

Portugal launched a frenzied counterattack but seemed to have forgotten their shooting boots, with Ronaldo, Nani, and Raphael missing several chances. By halftime, they still hadn't equalized.

In the 65th minute, both teams made substitutions. Portugal brought on Quaresma for Raphael and Éder for Nani, moving Ronaldo to the left wing. This change had an immediate impact, with Ronaldo winning a penalty soon after.

In the Portuguese national team, Ronaldo was the first-choice penalty taker. Despite Bruno's status as the new Ballon d'Or winner and the primary penalty taker for Udinese, he didn't have the same privilege in the national team. Ronaldo's penalty was saved by Bulgaria's goalkeeper Stoyanov, but Bruno pounced on the rebound and slotted it into the empty net. 1-1, Portugal equalized.

In the 80th minute, Renato Sanches made a wide pass to Eliseu, who crossed into the box, where an unmarked Bruno easily scored again. 2-1, Portugal took the lead. The Estádio da Luz in Lisbon erupted in cheers.

Portugal won their first match of 2016 thanks to Bruno's brace. Four days later, in the small town of Leiria, Portugal faced FIFA's top-ranked team, Belgium. With Bruno rested, Nani scored the opener, and Ronaldo added a header. Substitute Romelu Lukaku set up his brother to pull one back, but Portugal held on to win 2-1 against Belgium.

(End of Chapter)

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