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Good news: Fusion Value 100%.
Theoretically, there should be a new template.
Bad news: The system is still the same; the system upgrade is late but inevitable.
"How long will this upgrade take?"
Lance had been staring at the words "System Upgrading... Please Wait!" for the past two days.
The system hadn't shown any activity for a long time.
It had been like this since the 1-1 draw against Atlético Madrid at the Vicente Calderón Stadium.
Normally, Lance wouldn't be in a hurry at all.
If the system upgrade was slow, he would just let it upgrade slowly.
But this period happened to be the most intense part of the schedule.
After consecutive matches against two strong teams, Wolfsburg and Atlético Madrid, four days later, on 22 February 2015, there would be Bundesliga Matchday 22: Bayer Leverkusen away vs Augsburg;
28 February, Bundesliga Matchday 23: Bayer Leverkusen vs Freiburg;
9 March, Bundesliga Matchday 24: Bayer Leverkusen away vs Paderborn;
12 March, Champions League Round of 16 second leg: Bayer Leverkusen vs Atlético Madrid!
It wasn't two matches a week, but all these games were very important.
In the league, there was no room for error; they needed to compete with Bayern for the title.
In the Champions League, there was even less room for error; the 1-1 score from the first leg gave them a slight advantage, but any mistake could lead to Bayer Leverkusen being eliminated by Atlético Madrid.
And precisely at this critical juncture, the system was still upgrading!
Lance couldn't even change templates, and during matches, he couldn't accumulate Rage Points or use the [Assist Mode] to summon another template.
Until the system update, Lance could only continue to play with the [Bachira Meguru] template and its 3 skills...
22 February, Bundesliga Matchday 22.
At the end of the first half, Augsburg were temporarily leading Bayer Leverkusen 2-0.
This match looked very '2,' and the game content was the same.
Lance had played the full Champions League match, so he was temporarily rested on the bench.
Also resting were key players like Maguire, Van Dijk, and De Bruyne.
Harry Maguire's low-level mistake of "single-handedly defending Kimmich" in the Champions League match was widely reported by the German media, making him one of the hottest defenders in Europe...
Even being 'black-hot' is still 'hot,' the question is whether he's famous or not!
Matthäus once publicly commented on Harry Maguire's "defensive comedy performance":
"This defender is not fit to be in the lineup of a top-tier Bundesliga team; he is only suitable for mid-to-lower Premier League teams. No big club will want him in the future. This is no longer the era of long ball hoofing; no one will attack with high balls from the front. Whether it's possession-based play or counter-attacking, through balls behind the defence are the key. Clearly, Maguire's slow turning speed is easily exploited. His weaknesses will be endlessly targeted by opponents..."
Bild even used more exaggerated language to describe the match against Atlético Madrid:
"Low-Level Mistakes Ruin a Good Game, Fans Call for the England Sinner to Go Back Across the Channel!"
The England centre-back, scouted from Sheffield United, was heavily criticised by numerous media outlets and fans, with jokes and memes flying around on social media platforms like Twitter, which severely affected the young centre-back, who had just turned 22.
He used to often have a simple, honest smile on his face, but now that smile was gone.
He also became quiet and withdrawn in the changing room.
Seeing Harry Maguire's poor form, Sascha and Hyypiä decided to let him cool off for a while.
Coincidentally, Rüdiger had recovered from his muscle strain and was back from injury.
In this match against Augsburg, Van Dijk was rested, and the centre-back pairing of Rüdiger and Spahić started...
The result was exactly this: two goals conceded in the first half.
Spahić, who had been out of action for a long time, performed even worse than Maguire.
Maguire could at least mark players, but the 34-year-old Bosnian centre-back Spahić was only good at letting players slip by him.
In the 12th minute of the match, the opponent's quick counter-attack easily penetrated Spahić's defence.
That would have been bad enough, but even more critically, Spahić was also a pressure monster.
Instead of reflecting on himself immediately after conceding a goal, he pressured his teammate Rüdiger for not marking his man.
The two almost had an internal conflict on the pitch.
This affected his teammates' morale, leading to another goal conceded before the end of the first half.
"WTF???"
Lance was dumbfounded watching this scene from the bench, exchanging bewildered glances with De Bruyne.
Back in the changing room, Rüdiger almost got into a fight with Spahić.
"Hey! Who are you calling an idiot?"
"Pig! You're a pig!"
Rüdiger was tall and muscular, with a fierce, 'black and tough' demeanour.
Spahić, as a veteran of Bayer Leverkusen, feared no one and confronted Rüdiger head-on.
The two were nose-to-nose, on the verge of fighting, and were pulled apart by Lance and Harry Maguire working together.
"Calm down!"
Lance's words carried a lot of weight; he was the team's third captain, the team's spiritual leader, and had good relationships with everyone—a true 'face-fruit' ability user.
Out of respect for Lance, Spahić finally separated from Rüdiger.
"It's all my fault, I'm sorry."
Harry Maguire, however, blamed himself.
"No?"
Lance was puzzled.
"What are you apologising for?"
"If I were stronger, things wouldn't be like this. I'm afraid... I'm simply not suited for top-tier league play."
Theoretically, this was indeed Harry Maguire's first top-tier league.
It was truly mad to travel across the sea to Germany to play football.
Mainly, faced with simultaneous invitations from Europa League team Hull City and Champions League semi-finalist Bayer Leverkusen, no one could refuse Bayer Leverkusen.
He hadn't expected the Bundesliga to be so difficult to navigate.
"Harry, whether you believe what I'm about to say or not, just remember it."
In extraordinary times, Lance could only resort to extraordinary measures; he looked at Maguire seriously.
Maguire didn't underestimate Lance because of his youth.
No one on the team underestimated Lance.
"Tell me."
"Harry, in the future, you will be a starting defender for the England team, possibly joining a powerhouse team like Manchester United as a starter, you will be one of the world-class centre-backs..."
"This..."
Harry Maguire couldn't believe it; Lance actually had such a high opinion of him?
England starter?
World-class centre-back?
Maguire couldn't even imagine it!
Playing in the Champions League had already fulfilled his lifelong wish, and if he could win the Bundesliga title with Bayer Leverkusen, achieving his championship dream, Maguire would have no regrets in this life.
Could his career really go even further?
"Believe me, what you can achieve is far more than just this. A mistake or two doesn't matter, being mocked by the entire internet doesn't matter. Public opinion is like this: if you play poorly, everyone will kick you into the abyss. But as long as you perform well enough, public opinion will also collectively pull you out of the abyss and place you on a pedestal. Remember, public opinion is always earned by your own performance."
Seeing Maguire's dazed expression, Lance knew he needed some time to process it, so he simply left him to it.
De Bruyne then quietly sidled over, looking at Lance with a smile.
"Why are you looking at me?"
"Do you say the same thing to everyone?"
De Bruyne remembered very clearly that Lance had told him since he was a child that he, De Bruyne, would be the world's number one midfielder (for a limited time) in the future.
He had said it more than once.
Lance, however, was very serious:
"I'm being serious, not bragging."
"Yes, yes, no matter what, I believe Harry will come to understand, and I'm also very grateful to you."
"You're being a stranger saying that."
Lance playfully punched De Bruyne.
De Bruyne simply took it as Lance comforting them.
It had to be said, even though he was only 18 this year, the way this lad spoke was too much like a team veteran in his 30s.
With Lance mediating, the Bayer Leverkusen changing room finally returned to calm.
In the second half, Sascha brought on Lance, and they finally managed to gain some ground.
"OHHHHH — — Laaance — —"
"What a goal!!!"
"A shot after dribbling past 3 defenders goes in, Lance helps Bayer Leverkusen pull one back!!"
"...It's him again!! It's His Majesty, the King of BayArena!"
"Lance's breakthrough is too deadly!! He creates a penalty in the box!"
"Lance takes the penalty himself..."
"Gooooooal!!! It's an equaliser!! Two goals for him alone!"
"Coming on as a substitute for only 10 minutes, Lance successfully saves the team!"
"From 2-0, the home team Augsburg are equalised! It's 2-2!"
German TV commentator Berenberg was very excited.
Sure enough, it had to be Lance!
Unfortunately, Lance's playing time was still too short.
Ultimately, the match ended 2-2.
22 February, Bundesliga Matchday 22: Augsburg 2-2 Bayer Leverkusen.
It was even more '2' than before.
The most critical thing was that Bayer Leverkusen dropped 2 points!
Bayern Munich won 2-0 away against Hannover, extending the 3-point gap between the two teams to 5 points!
Bayer Leverkusen's title challenge was in crisis!