Allianz Arena (2)
If we could win the U20 World Cup, couldn't we beat Bayern Munich too?
That was what I thought as Bayern Munich took the kickoff, right up until the attack began. We had already rewritten so many futures — what was one more?
But that hope was a delusion.
Backed by seventy thousand roaring fans at the Allianz Arena, Bayern Munich felt like an entirely different side. The flow of the match bore no resemblance to the first leg. Where Arsenal managed only a handful of attacks, Munich produced more shots on target than that total several times over.
Another Munich attack. Franz whipped in a cross, and Valiet won the aerial duel against the defender — only for Adrian to pull off a miraculous save. Wright booted it long, and the build-up started all over again from Bayern's keeper, Lee Juwon.
Jamal dropped deep into the defensive third to receive the ball. When Baek Yujin charged in to press, Jamal peeled away in the opposite direction as if he had eyes in the back of his head.
While Valiet held the ball up in midfield, Munich's fullback overlapped. A return pass, then a through ball down the flank. Jamal's perfectly timed killer ball was about to drop into space — but Davis stepped in a half-beat earlier and cut it out.
Arsenal counterattack. But before the ball could travel from Hong Seoin to Baek Yujin, Jamal — already everywhere since the opening whistle — snuffed it out again.
Jamal scanned the pitch ahead and locked eyes with fullback Villa. Baek Yujin and Hong Seoin closed in at once. After a one-two with Villa, Jamal shrugged free with three simple touches and fed Valiet.
The pass threaded through Arsenal's compact lines. Valiet took it with a soft touch, sold a shooting fake, cut inside, and laid it back to Jamal, who had surged up in support. Then, as Valiet made his run, the ball arced over Wright's head.
One brilliant pass, and the entire defense was split open.
Thud—!
Valiet finished it the way a Bundesliga top scorer finishes things — a shot that looked more like a pass, guided into the net. Four defenders and four midfielders on the pitch, and Arsenal still conceded.
"Insane…"
"He's gotten even stronger?"
"…Is this real?"
"…Shit."
The combination play between Jamal and Valiet was on another level from the first leg, and the defenders could only spit out hollow curses.
Aggregate score: 2–2. All square.
Bayern Munich carried that momentum straight into the next wave of attacks. Jamal, shuttling box to box over and over, still looked fresh as he drove the play forward. From a defensive midfield position he formed a triangle with the center-backs, recycling possession until the press eased — then he turned and pointed the attack at Arsenal's goal.
A single pass found Franz. Playing something close to a free role, I closed him down immediately, and with Davis doubling up we stripped the ball clean.
Confirming that Munich's defensive line was rock solid, Arsenal switched play to the far side, where Padric collected. With a strong delivery he threaded a pass into the path of Simon, who was making a run in behind. Kim Minjun lost him for a split second, then recovered just in time — Simon got a shot away, but Kim Minjun's foot blocked it.
Arsenal had conceded early, but the will to win hadn't left them. Attacking or defending, every thought was still about victory.
And in that state of mind, Bayern Munich attacked again. A long ball knifed into the space behind Kim Minjun. Valiet brought it down cleanly and struck — Adrian saved it. Using his height, Adrian claimed the high ball, then hurled it out to Hong Seoin in midfield, who found Padric. A cross measured as if with a protractor, Simon's header denied by Lee Juwon — and then Valiet, from over thirty meters out, hammered a long-range effort that forced a Munich corner.
Jamal took it. Wright won the duel with Valiet and cleared, only for Franz to catch everyone off guard with a curling strike that Adrian fingertipped away.
Adrian gathered the ball in his hands, and for a moment the players caught their breath.
Five straight minutes of nothing but Bayern Munich attacking. Arsenal hadn't crossed the halfway line. Gradually, Munich's body language grew more relaxed. They circulated the ball as if a goal could come whenever they wanted. Arsenal's players, pressing and defending without rest, felt their stamina drain as they were dragged into Bayern's tempo.
We need to change something…
It felt like we were being completely swallowed. The momentum had shifted, and with nothing but Allianz Arena fans roaring for Bayern Munich, escaping this spiral was nearly impossible.
Valiet, Jamal, and Franz kept hammering at Arsenal's goal. When the fullbacks joined the overlap, the number of passing options ballooned, and they recycled possession with almost leisurely ease. Arsenal's midfielders were left sprinting themselves into the ground, never knowing when a shot might come — and then Valiet drifted outside the box. The defenders couldn't follow without abandoning their shape, so they held their ground, and Valiet received the ball in comfort.
I stepped up in place of the players holding position. Valiet sold a simple body feint, rolled it onto his left, and struck.
A sudden left-footed shot only a two-footed player could produce. The ball flew toward the far post with no spin, tracing a bizarre trajectory — and the instant it reached Adrian's eyes, it dipped violently and slammed into the side netting.
A wonder goal so spectacular that all seventy thousand fans rose as one and roared.
"…"
"…"
Arsenal had been overturned on aggregate in just twenty minutes. Valiet's brace. The way he celebrated, for a moment, looked like a man declaring himself king of the Bundesliga — king of the Allianz Arena.
I turned the other way and looked at the Arsenal players. Every one of them was staring blankly at the goal. A shot and a finish that absurd had left them speechless. Some looked openly despairing. Others had their heads buried toward the ground.
…This is way too bleak.
No matter how brilliant the goal, if the atmosphere stayed this dark, even a winnable match would fall apart. We needed to break free of this mood.
Preeeep—!
Arsenal's kickoff restarted without a word spoken. Manager Alexandro kept calling for communication and adjusting positions, but flipping a mood like this in one stroke was never going to be easy.
Maybe the endless defending had dulled our concentration. Padric lost the ball to Jamal. In the same motion Jamal drove inside, beating one player after another. Just before he could switch it to the far side—
Shhhhk!
I appeared from behind him out of nowhere and produced a monstrous clean tackle.
One.
I counted the successful tackles since going behind, then looked across at the Arsenal players with a dead-serious expression.
Arsenal immediately transitioned into attack, but it ended with a shot on target from Simon. Lee Juwon threw out to Franz, and Davis kept a measured distance. One-on-one. I closed them down at full speed. In that gap Franz sold a feint, Davis bought it, and Franz accelerated away. Before he could fully open up his stride I was already there, sliding in and sending the ball out of play.
Two.
Again I looked at the Arsenal players with that same serious face.
Franz took the throw-in quickly. Jamal collected and fed Valiet. Just as they began to drive the attack forward, I — the same player who had just tackled Franz — appeared again and stripped the ball clean with another tackle.
"Hyung! Run!"
I caught my breath for a beat and shouted in Korean to Hong Seoin, who was ahead of me. Watching him take off, I shaped an outstep pass into the space behind Kim Minjun. The ball looked certain to be lost — until Hong Seoin pulled off a beautiful Marseille turn. He struck immediately with his left foot, but it was blocked just short, and an Arsenal corner was awarded.
As the Arsenal players pushed up for the set piece, Hong Seoin dropped back for a moment and bellowed at the top of his lungs.
"Oi—! Run like you mean it—!"
He shouted it in Korean, but not a single Arsenal player failed to understand what it meant.
So he knew.
From that moment, the Arsenal side that had been smothered by Bayern Munich began to wake up.