"We've got Ajax's starting lineup!"
Barcelona's Chief Assistant Coach, Aspiazu, hurried into the home team's dressing room and handed the Ajax starting lineup he had obtained to Head Coach Valverde.
He was Valverde's trusted aide. Back when Valverde took charge at Camp Nou, he brought only two people with him, and Aspiazu was one of them.
Valverde took the lineup, glanced over it, and furrowed his brows. "No Jović?"
This was a very unexpected piece of news.
Luka Jovic was Ajax's top scorer this season, as well as the representative of Ajax's new generation of center forwards.
Many people said that after Van Basten, Kluivert, Ibrahimovic, Suarez, Huntelaar, and the others, Luka Jovic was another outstanding center forward developed by Ajax, with limitless potential.
The Serbian center forward had played in every Champions League match Ajax had contested this season, including the qualifying rounds, yet he was not starting now. It was a very surprising development.
"Is Yang Yang trying another surprise move?" Valverde asked with a frown.
He could not help recalling Ajax's previous match against Juventus. Yang Yang had kept himself in reserve, then come on as a substitute in the second half and exploded into action, destroying Juventus in one fell swoop. Was he trying to repeat the same trick now?
"I don't know, but he's on the squad list," Aspiazu said.
Valverde gritted his teeth, unable to figure out what Yang Yang was thinking.
Yang Yang received Barcelona's starting lineup almost at the same time, and the result surprised him as well.
"Arthur isn't starting!"
Arthur had been Barcelona's biggest surprise in midfield this season and had basically secured a starting spot. His ball control and passing ability had filled people with anticipation, and many believed he would become Barcelona's midfield playmaker of the