Champions League Final: 18-19 (4)
After the ceremony, Camila’s face was flushed red as she handed me an apology.
Camila’s face turning this red was something to see. Actually, Camila’s skin was a healthy brown tone, so blushing didn’t show much on her, but the assist in the Champions League must have been so exciting.
And the person who received that assist was me…
Ever since we were kids, when anyone asked Camila what her dream was, she always answered that she would assist me in the Champions League final. But she actually achieved that dream in her debut season, so it was only natural that Camila was this happy about it.
“Even though it’s 2-0, you know it’s not over yet, Camila. Let’s stay focused.”
“Okay.”
But since the match wasn’t over, after soothing Camila, we headed back to our half.
Well, with only thirty minutes left and a 2-0 lead, it was practically over, but Camila played as a defensive midfielder, so she could ruin the game in an instant. It was important for her to stay tense.
Fortunately, my worries ended up being for nothing.
Even after scoring the second goal, Camila didn’t let her guard down and kept leading the game from the back, and whenever she was in danger, I helped her out and took possession of the ball.
Already two goals ahead, there was no need to rush forward, so Camila and I led the game as safely as possible. By the time the first half was about to end, the rough breathing of the Manchester City players could be felt.
Normally you don’t get this tired just from the first half, but the special situation of the Champions League final must have pushed the Manchester City players to their absolute limit.
And the effect of that exhaustion showed up elsewhere.
“Got it!”
“Nice!”
It was the precise passer Alehandra who started making more pass mistakes. Of course, from my perspective, Alehandra’s passes were accurate. But the problem was the receivers’ stamina. The Manchester City players, who were already more tired than usual from pressing us, couldn’t keep up with Alehandra’s passes.
Did Alehandra not expect the players to tire out like this?
At twenty-three or twenty-four years old, her lack of experience was showing at this moment.
“If I do this just a little more, it looks like I’ll score another goal.”
At the moment when I thought it was time to make it a bit threatening,
peeeik! peeeik! pee—ik!
The whistle blew, and the first half ended.
“Sir Ryu. Why such a face? You scored two goals.”
And Lucia, wearing the vest, approached me and tossed out a joke. Lucia’s face was smiling, and the other players all had the same expression as Lucia, but I was the only one with a stiff face.
“It’s a shame. Honestly, if we had just five more minutes, I think I could have scored another goal.”
“…Oh. You’re not managing your image?”
“Me? Why would I manage my image in front of Lucia?”
Hearing my words, Lucia walked toward the locker room where she was laughing and shouted loudly to the players.
“Haha, got it. Focus! Our genius young master wants to score a hat-trick. Let’s work even harder in the second half.”
…This guy is really something. On the stage of the Champions League final, just sitting on the bench, he seemed to have energy left.
“If Sir Ryu says so, then that’s it.”
“Since the maknae is asking like that, I can’t refuse. Yeah, let’s try the second half too.”
The players answered with laughter to Lucia’s words.
“Haa…”
“Then I’ll ask for a hat-trick.”
“Since Lucia is saying it like this, I have no choice. I’ll do it. Hat-trick.”
After talking with Lucia, I cooled my body lightly in the shower room prepared for me and entered the locker room. To my surprise, it was Lucia, not Angela, standing in front of the tactical board. And behind her, Angela sent me a look to sit down quickly.
Following Angela’s gaze, I quickly went to my seat and sat down. Angela opened her mouth.
“Here, here. Pay attention. Some of you might know, but the probability that today’s match is Lucia’s last game is high.”
I had expected it to some extent, but even after expecting it, Angela’s words were shocking. Looking around, some veteran players nodded as if they knew the fact, and the other players, excluding those veterans, had shocked faces.
“While preparing for the Champions League final, we had many discussions, and Lucia suggested that retiring with this conclusion would be the best.”
“There’s a saying that you leave when the number is divisible by three, right?”
Lucia added a joke to Angela’s words, but unlike usual, there were no players laughing at Lucia’s joke.
“Actually, if this match had flowed evenly, it would probably have been my last match against Sociedad last time. But right now, Lucia has the opportunity to say goodbye to the fans on the field. Let’s make a clear difference for Lucia, who has devoted herself to the team all this time. Can you do it?”
“Yes!”
“Of course!”
“If the score becomes 3-0, we will substitute Lucia at the 85th minute. Please show a good game until then.”
After Angela’s words, the players’ eyes lit up with smiles when the first half ended. At this point, I thought that Lucia’s fake retirement was to boost the team’s morale and discipline.
“Haha, you all have suffered following the incompetent claims. If you want to give the Champions League championship as a last gift to this incompetent claim, isn’t that too greedy?”
Well, looking at Lucia’s unusually serious expression, it didn’t seem so.
“Uu! Don’t pretend to be humble!”
“It doesn’t suit you! Lucia!”
“Yeah, kids. I ask for the fifth Champions League championship too.”
The players’ faces broke into smiles again to Lucia’s words. But the eyes full of determination remained the same.
After spending time preparing for the second half after Lucia’s words, it was time for the second half to start.
“Why did you ask me to score a hat-trick?”
After tying my shoelaces, I approached Lucia and asked, and Lucia smiled faintly and answered my words.
“Yeah, 4 is me playing in the final, but if I win the final without stepping on the final stage, it would look weird, right? Please. Sir Ryu.”
“Then I’m not a knight.”
“Then I’ll ask, Ha-neul.”
“…Yeah.”
Well, since she was asking so seriously, I couldn’t refuse.
Lucia was one of the few football players who made me sigh in admiration when she came to this world, and one of the football players who made me think that if there were many such players, football in this world would be fun.
Since Lucia was asking with such a serious expression, it was right to fulfill this request to this extent.
Well, personally, if I remove the ‘ajusshi’ vibe, Lucia was a fine person.
“Then let’s go. Ah, since Lucia can’t play, I’ll go alone.”
“Yeah, please.”
Lucia patted my back, and I received the momentum and ran to the center line.
peee—ik!
And the second half began. The second half, which started with our possession, was not much different from the first half.
The Manchester City players, having rested enough, showed better movement than when the first half ended, so we started by slowly circulating the ball and probing.
“Hoo. It would be good to score one more goal, but first, winning the game is the most important.”
It would look like we’ve recovered after resting, but after about twenty minutes, weaknesses would appear.
So, as we exchanged possession with Manchester City, time passed. And as twenty-five minutes approached, the Manchester City players’ strength began to wane.
“Ryu!”
Feeling the same mood as me, Lorenza, who was dribbling the ball forward, passed it accurately to me between two players.
If the second half had just started, Alehandra and one more would have pressed strongly, but while dribbling four or five meters, no one stuck to me. But when I took one more step, Alehandra, judging it as a dangerous area, stuck to me.
Alehandra is a player who shows decent defense, enough to defend in the national team.
But it was just decent. Just enough to play as a defensive midfielder?
That wouldn’t be enough to block me.
tuk, tuk.
Alehandra’s foot grazed my rapid two-footed dribble. Alehandra lifted her foot to block my breakthrough as much as possible, but I, anticipating her last desperate move, immediately passed the ball to Yelena with a heel pass.
And running forward, leaving the off-balance Alehandra behind, Yelena’s return pass came back at the perfect timing.
Now in front of me were the center backs and Arnal.
Giving a slight wink at Arnal, Arnal caught my intention and immediately spread out to create space. And at the same time, Albari and Eloya came in from the side into the penalty box.
For a moment, the Manchester City players were surprised by the coordinated movement that had been matched throughout the season. I pretended to shoot with Pazli in front, lifting my foot.
If it was the usual state, I wouldn’t have reacted even from that distance, but Pazli had already broken his mental state from the start of the game today.
Since I had been carefully observing Pazli’s condition while playing the match today, I believed that Pazli would react to this fake.
“Hup!”
And as expected, with a shout, Pazli stretched his foot. And as expected, his foot slashed through the air at my shot fake.
tuk.
After giving the fake and moving the ball, the guy’s body collapsed, creating space to break through. Sophia ran towards me after thinking, and I passed the ball to Arnal, who was freely placed. And while Sophia reacted to that pass, Arnal passed it back to me.
A perfect no-mark 1:1 chance was created with just a few simple fakes and passes. If their stamina and concentration were intact, it would have been a bit difficult, but the Manchester defenders, both body and mind exhausted, opened the precious space to me too easily.
Maddy came running towards me as if to save the second ball’s mistake. Looking at her posture, she seemed ready to handle a rolling shot. But one of the advantages I was highly rated for was staying calm even in such situations.
The space between the guy’s legs was clearly visible to me.
tuk.
As if lightly touching the ball as if taking a rolling shot, the guy reflexively stretched his hand up. But unfortunately for him, my foot touched the middle part of the ball, not the bottom. The ball hit by the toes was laid low and passed through the guy’s legs.
-Waaaaaaaah!!!!!
I ran towards the bench, leaving the fans’ cheers behind. And approaching Lucia, who was doing a victory pose, I said.
“Lucia! Are you ready to play?”
“Of course. Wait. Soon, I’ll go.”
After that, what.
Alberta’s long-range shot came out, conceding one point, but instead of Camila, Valentina came in, strengthening the defense, and we operated the game even more slowly. And as promised, around the 85th minute, Lucia entered the stadium to the applause of the spectators.
-Lucia! Lucia! Lucia!
The fans who came to cheer for Barcelona all the way to Madrid shouted Lucia’s name and cheered, and it seemed like there were a few tears in Lucia’s eyes as she greeted those fans.
But unfortunately, Lucia didn’t get the chance to show off her skills in her last match as a player. We entered a solid defense operation, circulating the ball as much as possible, and in the last 2-3 minutes, there were dangerous situations where the ball was taken away, but Maximilena blocked the shot, and the game ended 3-1.
“Is this the first championship? Then it’s the beginning from now on.”
Actually, it was a bit anticlimactic for the first Champions League final to end with a counterattack using the opponents’ complacency. But it didn’t mean the value of the championship was low, so I was able to enjoy the joy of victory with the players, and when Lucia held the big ear and cheered, paper flowers and fireworks fell from the sky to celebrate our championship.
“Lucia! You’re not too excited after just five minutes, are you?”
“Kids, it’s the last one, so let’s get excited a bit!”
The surrounding teammates’ laughter burst out to Lucia’s words. Of course, even in that, the ceremony continued, and finally my turn came.
“It’s warm.”
The big ear passed around by many people was quite warm and quite familiar.
Touching the handle of the familiar big ear brought back memories from my previous life.
But I had no intention of being satisfied here.
In this life, I was going to touch the dream trophy that I had never touched beyond the familiar big ear.
“So, this is just the first step.”
I solemnly vowed not to be lazy and lifted the big ear high.