Dominating Football with Perfect Ball Control

Chapter 269: 269. A shocking blow!

Check out advanced Chapters on P@treon: [email protected]/CosmicKaminari

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”There’s a certain gap in overall strength in today’s match, but extreme individual heroism can bridge that gap!”

”Hehehe, it feels like the Three Heroes fighting Lu Bu.”

Bayer Leverkusen 1-2 Barcelona

Not long after the second half began, Lance’s miraculous performance pulled one back in a desperate situation.

The situation immediately became delicate.

Barcelona’s win probability was almost over 85%; their ultimate ball control and perfect performance left Bayer Leverkusen with no chance to turn the tide.

Just like most of Barcelona’s opponents, they were slowly ground down by endless possession and high pressing, unable to even touch the opponent’s ball.

Lance’s five-man dribble was like a flash of lightning in the darkness, tearing through the sky!

Even young people couldn’t help but feel their blood surge at such an astonishing goal, let alone Coach Zhang Lu, an elder.

He almost fainted; it was too exciting.

”That’s right, Lance almost single-handedly displayed the deterrent power of the MSN trident.”

”Of course, De Bruyne’s cooperation is also very important. This Belgian duo might be the key to turning the situation around! Bayer Leverkusen still has enough chances!”

The match resumed, and Barcelona played much more cautiously.

Sometimes they preferred to pass the ball back and forth in their own half rather than risk attacking.

Lance’s previous goal truly scared them.

”Messi, trying to break through in the front... a sudden stop and a back pass to Xavi, then to Busquets...”

”Neymar!! Opportunity on the left, but he chose not to break through, playing it safe with a back pass to Iniesta, who sends it directly to defender Mascherano, who passes it back to goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen to handle...”

”Messi, good, he takes it past Nathan Aké! Tries to cut into the penalty area! Facing Van Dijk, Messi passes back to Xavi, Barcelona returns to midfield to reorganise.”

In several consecutive attacks, Barcelona hesitated a lot, preferring to pass back if there wasn’t a clear opportunity.

After conceding the goal, Barcelona’s coach Enrique called his players to the sideline and gave them several instructions.

”Never give Lance a chance! Better not to score than to lose position!”

”Defend! Defend! Concentrate and mark him closely!”

Both sides were temporarily at a stalemate on the pitch.

As time ticked from 62 minutes, to 72 minutes, then to 82 minutes... Barcelona almost perfectly executed Enrique’s orders.

They truly managed to drag out Bayer Leverkusen’s most spirited period, without giving them any chances.

Lance had just used [Meteor Trajectory], which consumed a lot of his stamina.

Using the item [Ordinary Red Bull], he finally recovered some strength.

But time was already running out.

”If the match ends with this score, Barcelona will have a significant advantage. With two away goals, the second leg for Bayer Leverkusen at Camp Nou will be even tougher!”

Jian Jun was already starting to worry for Bayer Leverkusen.

Would they be knocked out in the Champions League semi-final for two consecutive seasons?

Actually, it wasn’t that bad.

German commentator Scholl even began to defend Bayer Leverkusen.

”After all, with Bayer Leverkusen’s performance, reaching this stage is already a pleasant surprise.”

”Two seasons ago, they were just a team that occasionally made it into the Champions League, and most of the time, it was difficult for them to get past the group stage.”

”Two consecutive seasons in the Champions League semi-final, for any other world-class club, wouldn’t be too bad a result. Let alone Bayer Leverkusen.”

”Regardless of whether they can reach the final, they have brought glory to German football, their brilliant record of eliminating the Madrid duo, is enough to earn the team praise! They are absolutely heroes!”

After Scholl spoke for a whilst, Kahn smiled and retorted,

”The first leg isn’t even over yet, why are you talking as if Bayer Leverkusen has already been eliminated...”

”Isn’t it?”

”I have a premonition that the magical King Lance might still create a miracle.”

”Oh?”

Kahn had so much confidence in Lance?

Another 5 minutes were dragged out, and as it reached the 87th minute, the score remained 1-2.

Including injury time, there were only about 7 minutes left at most.

What kind of miracle could there be?

”Last chance!”

Seeing that time was running out, the Bayer Leverkusen players on the pitch were also very anxious.

The defence, though exhausted, still ran with all their might, trying to win the ball from Barcelona’s feet.

De Bruyne also tried to make passes repeatedly in the limited counterattacks.

Unfortunately, the previous few times were wasted by Firmino and Son Heung-min, Lance, under tight marking, also touched the ball once or twice, but due to unrecovered stamina, he couldn’t create much threat.

”Lance!!! A long-range shot missed!”

The previous [Tiger Shot 3/4] was interrupted by a goal, Lance made several more attempts in the second half, and that recent long-range shot had already accumulated to [Tiger Shot 4/4]!

Taking advantage of the dead ball, he quickly called out to De Bruyne.

”Kevin, Kevin!!”

”What?”

”Over here!”

De Bruyne didn’t speak, just gave a thumbs-up from afar, indicating he understood.

Lance wasted two chances, but De Bruyne still unconditionally trusted Lance!

”Time reaches 90 minutes, with a regular 4 minutes of injury time.”

”Suárez’s shot just missed, and Bayer Leverkusen gets a goal kick.”

”Barcelona is still pressing very tightly, creating full-pitch pressure, Lars Bender can’t even turn...”

Jian Jun was about to say that Bayer Leverkusen would find it difficult to find an opportunity.

Suddenly, he saw a figure in black appear, dropping deep to the edge of the penalty area to receive the ball, helping Lars Bender out of an urgent situation!

”Lance!! Dropping very deep from the forward position!”

Those who want to win have no smiles on their faces.

The faint smile Lance usually wore had disappeared, which showed how strong his desire to win was!

The sudden drop also disrupted Barcelona’s formation.

Suárez and Iniesta came over to double-team him simultaneously, Lance flicked the ball to the right with the outside of his foot, and made a timely forward run!

”De Bruyne!! Dropping back at the same time! The chemistry of the Belgian duo!”

De Bruyne received the ball without hesitation, and the football, like a precision-guided missile, arced towards Son Heung-min on the left!

The Belgian duo had attracted the attention of everyone from Barcelona, leaving Son Heung-min open!

”Son Heung-min!! Receives the ball and dribbles past Valdes!”

Sun Ge made an explosive burst!

His powerful physique allowed him to instantly shake off Valdes, continuing to sprint with the ball.

However, as a top-tier team like Barcelona, Piqué, in his prime, was also fast, running sideways and retreating, constantly closing in on Son Heung-min’s position, trying to use his body to push him away, whilst also denying him a chance to pass.

Defenders generally don’t need to tackle; they just need to push the opponent to the sideline and compress space for a successful defence!

Son Heung-min, at the end of his strength, was slowed down by Piqué’s entanglement, not daring to dribble too deep, he quickly stopped, dribbling the ball to avoid Piqué’s press, just as he was at a loss, he looked up and saw a black figure transform into a black lightning bolt rushing towards him!

”It has to be you!”

Lance’s reliability lies in him always being there when needed!

”Son Heung-min!! Stops and passes horizontally!!”

”Beautiful!! Lance is very fast!! A Marseille turn past Busquets!”

At the moment of receiving and stopping the ball, he still had enough energy for a Marseille turn to get past a player!

The turn and breakthrough were seamless, without any deceleration!

[Flowing Trajectory] combined with [Wild Dribble], Lance moved gracefully through the crowd!

The entire BayArena was deeply shaken!

Mascherano came to meet him, Lance feigned a pass to Firmino, making a deceptive move to fake a shot, then dribbled left to get past another player!

However, his stamina was truly too depleted at the end, and the dribble wasn’t clean, the ball clipped Mascherano’s leg, deflecting and accelerating towards the byline!

”This ball!!!”

Oh no!!

It was the last-ditch effort, and Lance and his teammates had executed it perfectly, but unfortunately, luck was against them, and it all came to naught.

Bayer Leverkusen fans were almost in despair, whilst Barcelona supporters simultaneously breathed a sigh of relief.

Messi even stopped, leaning on his knees and panting heavily.

”Finally, it’s over... Wait!!”

Just as the last opportunity was about to vanish.

When everyone thought the ball was going to fly out of bounds!

Lance still hadn’t given up, he almost gritted his teeth and used his last ounce of strength to charge over!

In Mascherano’s eyes, Lance almost activated a nitro boost, suddenly exploding with speed!

His face was completely distorted!

”Is this man crazy?”

Lance’s eyes could no longer see anything around him; in the darkness, he seemed to only see the trajectory of the football.

Everything seemed to slow down!

”Faster! Even faster!!!”

At the very last moment, when half the football had almost flown out of bounds, Lance had thrown everything he had, launching his entire body forward!

Goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen, who was blocking near the post, was stunned!

How could there be such a reckless person!

Even if you save the ball, what then?

Piqué and Mascherano were both closing in, ready to clear the ball at any moment.

Unless... amongst countless possibilities, there was one most outrageous way, which was to shoot directly from a zero-degree angle at the first opportunity.

”No matter how crazy this kid is, he can’t possibly...”

”What?”

The next second, Marc-André ter Stegen was struck by lightning!

He was like a roc spreading its wings, hanging upside down at the byline!

Bang—

A flash of lightning, and a lingering shadow with a fierce gust of wind brushed past his face!

Swish—

He could only hear the sound of the net behind him!

Years later, when Barcelona’s goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen retired.

Of all the shots from world-class players he had faced in his lifetime, only this one remained unforgettable for him.