[Text Version] Vol.19: Bigger and Stronger, Yet Still Playing the Old-School Role: Beaten Without Dribbling at 40! Not Watching the Champions League at 20! Boarding a Plane With a Gun at 95! | Offside Line

Gist highlights of this episode: Rapture Arena

3v3 street football, random teams, conceding within 20 seconds, no wins in a single game, but extremely happy — another way to experience football

The pain of Champions League reform

The league phase replaces the group stage; “no groups of death, no fun in calculating points,” expansion and pandering are diluting elite football

The misconception of getting bigger and stronger

World Cup expansion, Champions League expansion, F1 Americanization — all events are pursuing being “bigger,” but quality is being diluted

The Americanization of F1

95-year-old Ecclestone was stopped for boarding with a gun, leading to discussion of how Netflix shows pushed F1 worldwide — a typical example of American capital reshaping sports

Tennis and flow

Zheng Qinwen fell from world No. 4 to over No. 100 and then rebounded; Nadal’s autobiography reveals the essence of individual sports — the simpler the movement, the more complex the mind

I. Rapture Arena: Beaten without dribbling at 40

Ma Kexin

On Saturday we played “Rapture Arena” — 3v3 street football with random teams and mixed ages and genders.

Yan Qiang

I played about six or seven games and won none. The longest game ended 3-3, with one half ending 0-0. Twenty seconds after going on, the opponents scored with a long shot. This was not the 8-a-side, 9-a-side, or 11-a-side football we used to play — even 5-a-side was rare. 3v3 is completely different, with huge anaerobic demands. Those who kept winning could barely run by the third round.

The next day I watched the women’s final, and Jingyuantang won the championship. They recycled the ball in attack and suddenly made runs forward from the back line, with very sophisticated tactical coordination. This was completely different from our “talking about draws while kicking randomly.”

Yan Qiang

This is completely different from traditional pickup football. Before, you formed teams, arranged opponents, and picked a venue. Rapture uses random draws and calls; three people per game, three minutes per period, partnering with different people. It is a great social model.

Ma Kexin

The key is playing with children — those below fourth grade who have received regular training can still compete; those above fifth grade with long-term structured training are too difficult to beat. I suggest playing more with children below third grade; you can absolutely feel like Messi and Haaland.

Key point: Football does not have to be only about deciding winners and losers. Even without a win, partnering with different people and competing with children has value in expanding your life circle. II. Champions League reform: no expectations, only being “carried along”

Yan Qiang

I have no expectations for the Champions League league phase. Every round has standout matches — Dortmund vs Villarreal, Real Madrid vs Inter Milan, Liverpool vs Atletico Madrid — which would have been highly anticipated group-stage games before. But now, winning or losing these matches does not matter much.

Ma Kexin

The old group stage had the fun of calculating points: I had to win this match and take three points. Now, in an eight-game league phase, the top eight are not difficult for major clubs to reach, and playing a playoff is not a big issue. There are no groups of death anymore — after the draw determines opponents, the schedule is announced three days later, and by then people are no longer paying attention.

Yan Qiang

There are three reasons for the reform:

Moderate expansion

The field expanded from 32 teams to 36, and the five major leagues received more places; match quality will inevitably decline.

Pandering

Whether it is World Cup expansion or Champions League expansion, the core logic is making the pie bigger — whether it tastes good is less important than having more interests to distribute.

The influence of American capital

After F1 was acquired by American capital, it achieved geometric growth. This logic of “getting bigger and stronger” is spreading across all sports events.

Ma Kexin

Teams think, “I want to win championships,” while operators think, “I want matches to attract more attention and have more commercial value.” These two demands can sometimes conflict.

Yan Qiang

Constantly saying “get bigger, get stronger, develop” seems to have become mainstream. But everything in society has limits of growth and capacity. If you cannot expand in quantity, you should pursue deeper internal strength. The World Cup and Champions League are now being carried along by this trend — chasing sports industry GDP while ignoring the original meaning of the sport and whether users truly want to see it become bigger and bigger.

Key point: Champions League reform is a product of “sports populism” — making the pie bigger so more people can share it, while reputation and user satisfaction are no longer the most important factors. III. Three Champions League questions: champions, stars, newcomers

Yan Qiang

Three conventional questions — champions, stars, and newcomers — but every fan wants to know the answers.

Champions: Barcelona, Bayern, Arsenal

Ma Kexin

I give three options: Barcelona, Bayern, and Arsenal. Barcelona performed very well at the start of the season; the striker position is the only weakness, but not a fatal one. Flick’s structural transformation of Barcelona has been very successful.

Yan Qiang

I choose Arsenal and Bayern. In the past two seasons, Arsenal had the best league-phase performance in the Champions League (unbeaten with all wins last season, the first time in history), while Bayern were runners-up in the league phase in the first season after reform. Both teams continue improving — Arsenal returned to the Champions League after six years: quarterfinals to semifinals to the final, and their defense this season is the strongest in Europe. If they meet Paris again, it would be the best defense versus the best attack in Europe.

Ma Kexin

I do not favor Real Madrid because Mourinho is outdated.

Yan Qiang

I disagree. Mourinho is changing and growing. Like Conte, his seemingly emotional outbursts are actually calculated. Public expressions are purposeful, not genuine loss of control.

Star: Is Mbappe a superstar?

Ma Kexin

Mbappe is not a superstar. There is no longer that feeling of “watching him play is especially exciting.”

Yan Qiang

This is the “old-fan attitude” — saying this one is not good and that one is not good, with only the players you watched in your era being the best.

Ma Kexin

I am that old-school fan, I admit it. The player I truly like is Ronaldinho — able to dribble, fast, and exciting.

Yan Qiang

The star I look forward to is Bellingham. He is not a pure No. 10, more like an 8+9, with strong late runs and scoring ability. I truly like the Zidane type — someone who owns his team and is an architect of the system. But modern tactical systems no longer allow the pure No. 10 to exist.

Newcomer: Como and Nico Paz

Ma Kexin

Como deserves attention. Cesc leads the team well, and Nico Paz — 1.86 meters tall, left-footed, capable with his right foot and heading, with 12 goals and 7 assists in Serie A last season — can play attacking midfield, winger, and striker, making him very complete.

Yan Qiang

Fabregas is a future coach worth looking forward to. Nico Paz was born in the Canary Islands and raised in Spain, but chose to represent Argentina — he could become Argentina’s future No. 10.

IV. F1 and the 95-year-old man boarding with a gun

Ma Kexin

Former F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone, aged 95, was stopped while taking a shotgun to Portugal — he was also detained in Brazil in 2022 for illegal possession of a firearm. Going to a clay shooting event at 95 was news itself.

Yan Qiang

Ecclestone ran F1 for 40 years and eventually sold his shares for several hundred million dollars — not a high price given F1’s global reputation. But after Americans took over, Netflix’s Drive to Survive and Brad Pitt’s F1 film pushed the sport into geometric growth. American capital’s approach to reshaping sports is packaging and selling every detail — qualifying, speed events, and more than 20 races a year are not enough; they want almost every lap to become content.

Ma Kexin

After Americans entered, they penetrated all aspects of life. With more appearances, attention naturally increased.

Key point: F1 shows that “getting bigger and stronger” is not always bad. American capital used media methods to transform a European elite sport into a global entertainment product. The question is whether quality can still be maintained when this logic spreads into every field. V. Tennis and flow: the simpler the movement, the more complex the mind

Ma Kexin

Zheng Qinwen fell from world No. 4 to over No. 100 and is now recovering. Reading Nadal’s autobiography, the most interesting part is his pre-match “rituals” — how bottles are placed and how he greets Federer sitting nearby in the locker room. Nadal said he had to hit every ball to Federer’s backhand to make every shot uncomfortable. Even so, Federer remained ahead of him for more than three years.

Yan Qiang

Individual sports have a rule: the simpler the movement, the more complex the mind. Tennis basically has three movements — forehand, backhand, and serve. Professionals have hit 100,000 forehands, and each one is different. Golf basically has one movement. Archery also has one movement. The fewer the movements, the more the mind is tested.

Ma Kexin

That is how archery is — every time you release, the arrow flies upward on its own, and you can clearly see its path. It is not just aiming at a target, but a kind of “precise relaxation.”

Yan Qiang

Top Chinese table tennis players no longer do physical stretching after warm-ups before matches; they find a quiet place to meditate. Wang Liqin stayed in his room in the Asian Games Village for five or six hours without going out — no books, television, or games, only reviewing. Their minds repeatedly replay past matches and preview future opponents. This ability to focus inward is harder and more fascinating than team sports.

Quotes of the episode: “Always talking about getting bigger, stronger, and developing. But everything has limits of growth and capacity.” — Yan Qiang “Reputation and user satisfaction are no longer the most important factors.” — Yan Qiang “Mbappe is not a superstar — there is no longer that feeling of watching him play being especially exciting.” — Ma Kexin “The simpler the movement, the more complex the psychology.” — Yan Qiang “Individual sports ultimately point inward — not studying opponents, but studying oneself.” — Yan Qiang Discussion topic

Are you still watching after the Champions League reform? Who is the last “superstar” in your mind? Share in the comments.

Compiled from Offside Line Vol.19, a conversation between Yan Qiang and Ma Kexin