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"The ball is in!! Lance!!"
"Rising from the ashes and charging through despair. When the situation becomes hopeless, you still have to rely on God Lance!!!"
"We all thought this Champions League Final was over the moment Real Madrid took a 4-0 lead!"
"But don't forget the savior aura surrounding God Lance!"
"The more desperate the moment, the more terrifying the power he unleashes!"
"Seventy minutes into the match, even the tiniest sliver of hope can become reality in his hands!!"
Oddly enough, the people celebrating Lance's brilliant goal the hardest weren't the Atlético Madrid fans inside the Meazza.
It was the countless fans thousands of miles away staying up late to watch the Champions League Final online.
"Even if they lose today, this goal alone was worth staying awake for!"
"My heart hurts for God Lance. He's still fighting with everything he has."
"He can't carry them anymore. Atlético Madrid's starting lineup is too incomplete."
"I'm crying, man..."
Inside the LeTV livestream, the barrage comments filled completely with:
"Tears in my eyes."
Everyone had been moved by Lance.
Watching the replay of the goal in slow motion, it was obvious that Lance had already burned himself to exhaustion.
Many fans were genuinely on the verge of tears.
Everyone wanted him to win.
Wanted him to finally lift the Champions League trophy that had slipped away one year earlier.
It was just a shame...
That this hope might once again end in heartbreak.
After the celebration ended, the match resumed.
By the 72nd minute, Real Madrid had clearly become frightened by Lance.
Their formation was no longer aggressive, and their style of play turned noticeably conservative.
"No way. Is this really Real Madrid? I thought this was Barcelona."
"Why are they just passing around the back now too?"
"Real Madrid is playing scared!"
The moment Lance single-handedly tore apart Real Madrid's defense, Zinedine Zidane finally lost the calm smile that always rested on his face.
Former World Player of the Year.
Ballon d'Or winner.
Pride of France.
Real Madrid legend.
And now Real Madrid manager.
For the first time in years, Zidane's expression became incomparably serious.
Even during the 2006 World Cup Final, he had never looked this tense.
Lance's goal had completely overturned Zidane's understanding of football.
At that moment, he no longer dared take any risks.
Just drag the game out a little longer.
76 minutes.
Then another fifteen minutes.
At most twenty including stoppage time.
And Real Madrid would lift the tenth Champions League trophy in club history while simultaneously avenging their defeat in the previous Madrid Derby final.
The last time Real Madrid failed to follow the original path toward glory, it was because of Lance.
Back then, Bayer Leverkusen had battered Real Madrid so badly that they couldn't even perform properly in the final.
Today, Real Madrid could finally make Lance experience that same pain personally.
...
At first, Atlético Madrid's players and supporters had been overwhelmed with excitement after Lance scored.
For a brief moment, they saw hope.
But Real Madrid's ultra-conservative tactics quickly extinguished it again.
4-1.
There was still a three-goal gap.
And now Real Madrid controlled possession completely.
How could Atlético Madrid possibly turn this around?
The Atlético Madrid players no longer had the stamina to press aggressively.
All they could do was watch helplessly as Real Madrid slowly passed the ball around the midfield and defensive lines.
"Boooooooooooooo!!"
The Meazza erupted in thunderous boos from Atlético Madrid supporters and neutral fans alike.
Even the Real Madrid fans looked embarrassed.
But embarrassment didn't matter.
Winning the title mattered more than anything.
Ugly football was still football.
Who told Atlético Madrid to concede four goals in the first half?
Who told them to lose a player to a red card?
Lance scanned the field while quietly observing the expressions on his teammates' faces.
Every single one of them looked exhausted.
Desperate.
They were relying entirely on sheer willpower to continue fighting.
Ten men against eleven caused their stamina to drain far faster than normal.
Even after drinking [Ordinary Red Bull], Lance himself was struggling to endure.
His teammates were in an even worse condition.
"We can see Real Madrid making the first substitution! Karim Benzema comes off, replaced by... Nacho Fernández!"
Real Madrid had brought seven substitutes to the final.
Aside from backup goalkeeper Kiko Casilla, there was backup forward Jesé Rodríguez.
Three midfielders: James Rodríguez, Lucas Vázquez, and Isco.
And two defenders: Nacho and Danilo.
After removing Benzema, Zidane could've chosen Isco or the versatile Vázquez to maintain attacking pressure.
Instead...
He chose Nacho.
Whether deployed as a defensive midfielder or as part of a five-man defensive line, Real Madrid had completely abandoned attacking football.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale remained alone up front.
Once the match crossed the 80-minute mark, Zidane substituted Bale as well, bringing on Vázquez.
The ultimate defensive shell had formed.
5-4-1.
Even Real Madrid supporters started feeling the urge to boo.
Was the ending of the Champions League Final really going to become this ugly?
They were leading 4-1.
What exactly were they afraid of?
Even Cristiano Ronaldo looked confused.
"Why is everyone dropping back? Why am I the only one pushing forward? Is this really necessary?"
"The coach ordered it." Lucas Vázquez awkwardly relayed the instructions.
"Ronaldo, stay near the penalty area. We'll keep feeding you the ball and try to get you another goal."
At this point, Real Madrid's offense depended entirely on Cristiano Ronaldo.
Everyone else had only one responsibility.
Stop Lance.
"If we still can't win like this, I'll eat the football."
Cristiano Ronaldo shook his head, muttered angrily, waved his teammates away impatiently, and jogged back into position inside the box.
Zidane's substitutions made him extremely uncomfortable.
Wasn't this basically admitting that Cristiano Ronaldo wasn't as good as Lance?
But looking at it another way...
At least he could still win the title directly in front of Lance.
That thought balanced his emotions slightly.
...
"Lance... what do we do now?"
Antoine Griezmann was already close to despair.
"Pass me the ball."
Using [Spatial Perception], Lance had already identified the weak links within Real Madrid's defensive structure.
Even with Atlético Madrid down to ten men and Real Madrid sitting deep defensively, he still had a way.
This time...
He needed Griezmann's cooperation.
"Leave it to me."
Griezmann didn't ask any further questions.
He simply nodded and returned to position.
The match continued.
81 minutes.
82 minutes.
83 minutes.
With every passing second, Atlético Madrid's chances of a comeback shrank rapidly.
Inside the stands, celebrities and dignitaries had already begun celebrating with Florentino Pérez.
Even Felipe VI smiled and congratulated him.
"Mr. Florentino, this Real Madrid title is also a victory for Spanish football. Congratulations."
"It's still too early to say that, but thank you, Your Majesty."
Florentino spoke modestly, but the smile on his face had practically reached the clouds.
Inwardly, he had already made up his mind.
This summer, he would do everything possible to sign Lance.
Real Madrid had to steal him away.
Otherwise, the club would never know peace.
One Champions League title wasn't enough for Florentino.
He wanted consecutive championships.
Meanwhile, Atlético Madrid chairman Miguel Ángel Gil Marín forced out a bitter smile.
"Real Madrid played very well today. We..."
Before he could finish speaking, the stands suddenly exploded into deafening cheers!
Gil Marín's heart clenched instantly.
Had Real Madrid scored again?!
But when he looked up...
Atlético Madrid had completed a high interception!
Lance again!!
A perfect sliding tackle stripped the ball cleanly away from Lucas Vázquez.
While still lying on the ground, Lance swept the ball toward Griezmann on the left flank!
Because Lance was still on the turf, the Real Madrid players instinctively ignored him for a split second, immediately swarming Griezmann instead.
The passing lane to Torres was cut off instantly.
Two defenders also blocked Griezmann's dribbling route.
He had nowhere to go.
"I must be insane..."
Griezmann gritted his teeth, shielded the ball, dragged it backward to avoid pressure from Modrić, then suddenly stabbed a pass blindly into midfield space.
This was pure instinct.
Under normal circumstances, Griezmann would've never attempted such a reckless pass unless he had gone completely mad.
Sure enough, Toni Kroos immediately moved into position to intercept.
The attack should have ended there.
But—
Just as the Real Madrid fans prepared to relax...
A red-and-white figure suddenly appeared!
Lance stretched out his left leg and intercepted the ball with the outside of his foot!
In the same motion, he turned his back toward Kroos, absorbed the collision, and heel-flicked the ball through Kroos's legs before spinning past him cleanly in one seamless sequence!
"LANCE!!!"
"The magnificent dance is still continuing!!"
"He still refuses to give up!!"
The Spanish commentator had been completely conquered by Lance.
Interception.
Attack initiation.
Solo breakthrough.
Everywhere on the field, his shadow appeared.
Lance's existence alone had completely disrupted Real Madrid's structure.
Vázquez hadn't recovered into position yet.
Modrić reacted a fraction too slowly.
And Lance suddenly unleashed a shot from nearly forty meters away!!
[Thunder Beast Descends]!!
Under normal conditions, the [Hyuga Kojiro] template rarely triggered [Thunder Beast Descends] without full rage.
But now, in the 85th minute, trailing 4-1 and consumed by an overwhelming obsession with the championship, Lance no longer cared about limits.
Half a second.
That was all the shooting window he needed.
And he trusted himself completely.
Lance's instantaneous reaction unexpectedly resonated with the soul of the [Hyuga Kojiro] template itself!
BOOM!!!
The terrifying long-range strike exploded forward like the main cannon of a battleship firing at full power!
The entire Meazza trembled!
Swoooooosh!!!
The football screamed into the net with overwhelming force and momentum!!
At that moment...
The entire world fell silent.
Playing with ten men.
Trailing by three goals.
And yet Lance stood there like a god descended onto the field.