Chapter 173
Chapter 173
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 173
Chapter Title: vs Barcelona -7
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***
“The second half is underway!”
With halftime over, the second half kicked off once more.
“Barcelona, who are way behind early in the second half, are coming out aggressively.”
“Yes. To draw level, they need to score three goals in 45 minutes.”
“Union Berlin held firm through a one-sided barrage in the first half. Let’s see how the second half unfolds.”
Neither Barcelona nor Union Berlin had changed their team tactics.
There might be slight differences in the finer details, but the overall framework was identical to the first half.
“Messi has the ball and cuts inside.”
And with tactics so similar to the first half, the flow of the game still favored Barcelona.
Barcelona’s players, led by Lionel Messi, kept pushing to break through Union Berlin’s defensive wall.
But Union Berlin’s wall refused to crumble.
Of course, it wasn’t as if Union Berlin’s defense hadn’t conceded any shots.
They had allowed Barcelona countless attempts.
Yet Barcelona’s aggregate score remained stuck at zero.
“Thomas Mayer blocks Lionel Messi’s shot!”
“Yes. Great defending, throwing his body on the line.”
Just like in the first half, Union Berlin’s players were sacrificing everything to repel Barcelona’s attacks.
“Barcelona with another corner kick. It’s floated in, and Zlatan Ibrahimović goes for the overhead kick!”
“Oh! Yannick Foight gets his head to it as the shot comes in!”
“Ah! He’s bleeding from the head! Play’s stopped for a moment.”
Throwing themselves in front of shots was routine for them. Union Berlin players didn’t hesitate to stick their heads in the path of an oncoming striker’s studs.
“Puta madre, why the hell are they going that far?”
A Barcelona player watching this spat out a curse in disbelief. He couldn’t comprehend risking injury like that.
‘Seriously, why are they pushing it this much…?’
Of course, giving your all for victory was par for the course as a pro.
But there were limits. No pro threw themselves into the fray like their tomorrow didn’t exist, the way Union Berlin’s players were doing.
It wasn’t unheard of for pros to disregard their bodies and risk injury like Union Berlin was now—but it was damn rare. For professionals, injury equaled loss.
“I was a failed player before I met our boss. Didn’t even have what it takes for the fourth division. But the first day he saw me, he said I could play in the top flight. If I couldn’t believe in myself, I should believe in the guy who believed in me. And that’s how I got here. Facing Barcelona in the Champions League semis.”
Yannick Foight smiled faintly as he replied to the Barcelona player’s mutterings.
He was on the pitch getting treatment after his forehead got sliced open putting his head where the studs were.
“A guy like that says we can win? No way I’m giving up first.”
Yannick Foight’s autobiographical tale, starting with his admission of being a washout, instantly drew the attention of those around him.
To the Barcelona player, it sounded idiotic. But at the same time, hopelessly romantic.
‘Damn…’
The Barcelona player, who’d been listening raptly, glanced around and let out a groan. It wasn’t just him who’d heard Yannick Foight.
Union Berlin’s players had too.
Yannick’s words reignited the fire in Union Berlin’s defense, which had been starting to flag.
“We’re almost there, guys! Let’s hold on!”
“Jaaaaaaaa!!!!”
The captain’s relentless spirit was already infectious enough without holding back. Yannick’s words were enough to cloud the judgment even of the league’s ice-cold pros.
Union Berlin’s players threw themselves in even harder.
Union Berlin’s chants echoed through the Camp Nou once more.
The Barcelona player stared blankly as the ball rolled out of play.
Their desperation bordered on the tragic, yet it was profoundly noble.
‘Can we really win this?’
It was the moment he sensed defeat at the Camp Nou.
***
Time flew in the Union Berlin vs. Barcelona match.
“Union Berlin! Not much time left! Just a bit longer! Hang in there!”
“The players are battling like gladiators! Absolutely brutal! Not a single clean jersey in sight!”
“Even the subs are getting filthy in no time. But this is the stuff sports fans live for!”
Lionel Messi finally found the net, but by then, the tie was already Union Berlin’s.
Barcelona kept hammering away without quitting.
Lionel Messi picked up the ball near the penalty area again and unleashed a shot.
This time, Thomas Mayer flung himself at it and barely kept it out.
From the ensuing Barcelona corner, the clearance sparked a counter.
The moment Thiago Silva hoofed the ball up to the halfway line, Yannick Foight bolted toward the Barcelona end.
‘Hoo…’
Yannick Foight ran toward the ball with his mind blank.
He was too exhausted for stray thoughts.
His legs wouldn’t obey, his breathing ragged.
His mind foggy, his legs barely holding him up.
But he charged into Barcelona’s half without hesitation.
He planned to hold the ball as long as possible.
His teammates needed time to reset the ragged defensive line.
- Oh! Gerard Piqué’s got cramp in his leg? He’s down!
Somehow, even as he ran, no Barcelona players appeared to stop him.
‘What? Offside?’
In a flash.
Offside crossed Yannick Foight’s mind.
‘Don’t stop till the whistle.’
But he kept dribbling.
Delaying was the goal, not scoring.
He rounded Barcelona’s onrushing keeper, who’d vacated the goal.
The moment Yannick Foight’s shot rippled the net.
“Yannick Foight, what a goal!!!!!!”
Union Berlin fans erupted.
***
“That’s it! Union Berlin beats FC Barcelona 4-1 on aggregate and advances to the Champions League final!!”
“Union Berlin, writing a new chapter in European football history! And the manager of this club is South Korean!!”
The Union Berlin vs. Barcelona match was over.
Union Berlin’s bench exploded onto the pitch the instant the whistle blew, rushing to their collapsed starters to share the victory joy.
“Madrid! Madrid! Wir fahren nach Madrid!”
Union Berlin’s players adapted their DFB-Pokal triumph chant. They were shouting out the home of the Santiago Bernabéu, site of the Champions League final.
The fans were swept up in the madness too.
It was the club’s first-ever final appearance.
Naturally, Union Berlin’s Madrid cries provoked Barcelona.
Sprinklers started dousing the celebrating Union Berlin players.
Maybe Madrid was just an excuse.
Barcelona had done the same to Inter in our timeline.
But not even the sprinklers could dampen Union Berlin’s celebrations.
The players reveled in the cold spray even more.
The icy water confirmed it wasn’t a dream.
“No water back home, and they pull this off! I can’t let them down!”
Barcelona’s sprinklers ended up firing up Park Chan-hyuk instead.
“Hooooowwwww!!!!”
***
The day after Union Berlin toppled Barcelona to reach the Champions League final.
[Mourinho taunts Union Berlin...? “Union Berlin’s manager clearly has mental issues.”]
In the opposite bracket, Mourinho’s FC Internazionale Milano (Inter) had beaten Olympique Lyon to the final.