Dominating Football with Perfect Ball Control

Chapter 455: 455. Antoine Progress! 4/6!

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Sevilla’s Sampaoli was panicking.

Lance had just moved up front and scored such a brilliant goal. What was he supposed to do if he let him keep being so arrogant?

So here was the question: who could stop Lance?

Sampaoli looked at the players on the bench; they were all mediocre nobodies in the football world, without a single star among them. Facing ordinary La Liga stars might not be too much pressure, but facing Lance?

No wonder the previous coach, Unai Emery, had left. From 2014 to 2016, Sevilla achieved a Europa League treble, and Emery deserved the most credit. He could have stayed as long as he wanted.

In fact, Emery had indeed considered staying at Sevilla to try and build a powerhouse. Unfortunately, last season’s matches against Atlético Madrid had left Sevilla utterly frustrated. For the first time, Emery found himself completely useless. His meticulously designed tactics were easily dismantled by an 18-year-old.

Why even bother coaching anymore?

Just then, Paris Saint-Germain extended an olive branch. Going to Paris meant he could not only coach Neymar but also stay away from people like Lance, Messi, and Cristiano Ronaldo. Let the new coach, Sampaoli, solve the difficult problems.

Sampaoli was currently like Louis XVI scratching his head, completely clueless.

”Sevilla’s counterattack! Oh oh oh!”

”Beautiful! Oblak saves this certain goal!”

”Alright, Oblak clears it with a long kick!”

”Lance wins the header at the drop point, turns, and charges forward!”

”Koke, Gabi, Gaitán... what a beautiful breakthrough; Gaitán is performing excellently on the left wing.”

”Gaitán! Passes to the center, Koke!”

”Beautiful!”

In the 70th minute of the second half, Atlético Madrid launched a fluid counterattack. With a few quick passes, the ball reached the front of the penalty area. The moment Koke surged from the back to receive the ball, he originally wanted to safely transition it to the right.

Most players in the world would have handled it that way.

But Koke caught a glimpse of someone moving in the penalty area.

Forget it. Believe in him.

Without a second thought, Koke feigned a body turn to pass to the right, tricking the Sevilla defensive midfielder into stepping forward to intercept. Unexpectedly, Koke suddenly sent a chipped pass, a bold line pointing straight into the box.

”Koke!”

Jian Jun saw it clearly, someone had already surged into position.

Sure enough, as the ball dropped toward the far post, the Sevilla defenders didn’t have time to intercept. Lance used his right foot to control the ball and beat the defender at a tight angle toward the left, then unleashed a sudden strike with his left.

”A volley!”

The football slammed into the grass, turned into an afterimage, and darted into the net. [Nagi Seishiro]’s Full Level Ball Control talent, combined with [Isagi Yoichi]’s Direct Strike Shoot, performed perfectly.

A brace!

”Goal! Lance scores a brace, leveling the score!”

”After being down by two goals, Lance has chased down two in a row for Atlético Madrid in the second half!”

2-2!

When this goal appeared, the Atlético Madrid fans felt completely secure. Not to mention the team’s soaring morale, no one could defeat Lance when he was in top form.

As expected, just 10 minutes later, Lance was tackled by a Sevilla player in the attacking third. A signature Crescent Blade sliced through the night and plunged straight into the net.

”Beautiful! Goal! A hat-trick!”

For other players, a hat-trick might only happen a few times in a lifetime. For Lance, it was his daily routine.

”Three goals in a row! Lance has single-handedly led Atlético Madrid to a comeback against Sevilla!”

”The Champions League winner is simply stronger than the Europa League winner!”

In the media section, the Catalonia reporter was completely stunned.

”Damn! Puta!”

He looked at his entire draft praising Sevilla and Griezmann while disparaging Lance. The large block of enthusiastic text he had just typed was now slapping him hard in the face.

The reporter slumped in his chair, losing all his strength. Just let it all be destroyed.

Beside him, the Marca reporter couldn’t hide his smirk seeing his colleague’s miserable expression. Why on earth did you have to question Lance? After last season, do you still not understand him?

At the thought that he would have to delete his draft and rewrite it later, the Marca reporter couldn’t help but laugh.

After 90 minutes, the score of the UEFA Super Cup between Atlético Madrid and Sevilla was finalized.

4-2!

In the 80th minute, Koke also scored a beautiful long-range shot, putting the finishing touch on this match.

After the game, the entire Atlético Madrid team excitedly hugged each other, celebrating the team’s fourth trophy of 2016! For the ultimate challenge of the sextuple winner, the progress was now 4/6! It was just a pity that Griezmann and Torres were missing from the celebration this time.

”Lance, I feel like you’re not that excited.”

After howling with his teammates, Koke noticed Lance standing nearby with a calm expression. They were about to lift the trophy at the award ceremony.

”Could it be that the UEFA Super Cup isn’t prestigious enough?”

After all, it was just one match, and conceptually, it was just an appetizer before the 2016-2017 season. Win or lose, it wouldn’t affect the overall situation of the new season. But Lance’s expression, calm as still water, was still a bit off.

”No, it’s just that my focus is already on the next match.”

”What?”

Koke instantly felt a surge of respect for Lance. He could finally understand why a player like Lance could always explode with combat power at critical moments.

Moreover, Lance had already achieved fame and success over these years; theoretically, it wouldn’t matter if he retired on the spot. Even if Lance’s form declined and he faded from the mainstream spotlight, he would still be an undisputed peak player in the football world. Yet, Lance always maintained his sense of honor and hunger for championships, without lowering his standards in the slightest.

During the pre-season preparations, the Atlético Madrid players were more or less a bit lazy. People like Saúl weren’t as hardworking as last season, becoming a bit of a slacker. Yet Lance, who deserved rest the most, was instead the most hardworking in the entire Atlético Madrid training, just like last season, always staying true to his original intentions.

”No wonder you’re successful.”

”What?”

The scene was too noisy, filled with the cheers of Atlético Madrid fans. Furthermore, UEFA President Infantino was preparing to hand the trophy to Captain Godín, and Lance was pulling his teammates onto the podium; he couldn’t hear what Koke was saying at all.

”Nothing, let’s celebrate the championship together!”

Queen’s classic track ”We Are the Champions” resounded throughout the stadium, and golden rain drifted down from the sky. Even if it was just a UEFA Super Cup, the whole Atlético Madrid team was still very happy.

”Let us shout together: Atlético Madrid is the champion!”

”This is the fourth trophy Atlético Madrid has lifted in the year 2016!”

”Lance has taken another step forward on the road to becoming a sextuple winner!”

”Wait, so soon?”

”Of course...”

Simeone smiled helplessly. After winning the UEFA Super Cup and resting for only half a day, the entire Atlético Madrid team had no extra free time the following afternoon. The whole team was packed and ready, boarding a plane together to head to China, tens of thousands of miles away. In just three and a half days, they would play the Spanish Super Cup final at the Bird’s Nest Stadium.

The opponent was none other than the familiar Barcelona.

”I didn’t expect to meet that guy Antoine so soon.”

Saúl said resentfully. He still couldn’t forgive Griezmann’s betrayal. It would have been fine if Griezmann went to the Premier League, Serie A, or any other team. But he just had to go to Barcelona.

”Saúl, don’t think about it. Let’s go, I’ll show you the capital.”

Lance also had a headache. He had just returned from the capital not long ago, and he didn’t expect to go back again. This time, he would be playing there again, in front of a massive crowd.

If playing against Sevilla was this difficult, could they really beat Barcelona?

Lance had always been extremely confident thanks to the system’s support. But now that the sextuple winner journey had reached 4/6 progress, it was hard to say if 5/6 could be achieved.

”If it really ends up being only a quintuple winner... it wouldn’t be embarrassing, right?”

Lance shook his head with a smile and boarded the plane.