Chapter 153: Flash vs. Batman
Beep!
"Ladies and gentlemen, the match has begun."
"Borussia Dortmund kick off…"
On the pitch,
Robert Lewandowski played the ball to Marco Reus, and Arsenal's players "return their own medicine," charging at the Dortmund players.
Reus, seeing Arsenal pressing fiercely, knocked the ball back; it rolled to the feet of Mats Hummels.
Hummels waited until Xia Qi was almost on top of him, then launched a long pass to the pre-targeted spot.
It was to Lewandowski's front.
If Lewandowski beat the offside trap, Arsenal would be in trouble.
That was their set tactic.
But all of this fell right into Arsène Wenger's calculation.
Wenger had watched Dortmund's matches this season and found Thomas Tuchel trying too hard to be Klopp's No.2 — his tactics had heavy imitative traces and felt overly mechanical.
When Dortmund surged forward, Tuchel demanded the whole team go all out to ensure a numerical advantage in attack.
But in reality some situations can't afford an all-or-nothing push — for example, when a fierce tiger crouches beside a seductive fox…
On the pitch,
Hummels saw Arsenal's three lines fall out of sync and judged the front line had an opening.
A cruise-missile pass flew precisely toward Lewandowski; the instant the pass was made it was also the signal for the whole team to press forward…
However… I anticipated your anticipation…
Per Mertesacker thundered toward Lewandowski as if by instinct, while Samuel Umtiti charged toward the ball…
Lewandowski was stunned.
Was Arsenal's defensive discipline so clear-cut because they were well-drilled or because they'd prepared for this? He didn't have time to think — he knew he couldn't be tied up by Mertesacker, so he accelerated, charging forward, preferring to force a foul rather than allow Arsenal a counter.
Mertesacker knew the success of the coach's plan would be decided on this moment. He threw everything into blocking Lewandowski's run. Although he only delayed Lewandowski by a second, it was enough.
A second on a football pitch can change the plot.
Umtiti flicked the ball back to Kevin De Bruyne, who had dropped deep to collect. De Bruyne glanced up at the front and his feet were tempted.
The ball flew into the green space behind Hummels.
Near the center circle on Dortmund's half,
Hummels caught, out of the corner of his eye, a red shadow pouncing like a famished tiger.
A gust swept past Hummels; the skin exposed outside his shirt prickled with goosebumps — a human instinct for danger.
"It's Xia Qi!"
"That's how you play the offside trap! Xia Qi taught Lewandowski a lesson!"
On the pitch,
a red streak,
razed past Hummels,
met the ball head-on with a chest trap that stopped the run ahead, then, after landing, sprinted forward at full speed!
Not a second wasted!
The cheers at the Emirates drowned out the earlier sharp boos!
The October wind was bleak, but it couldn't chill the burning hearts of Arsenal fans; their shouts grew louder, as if determined to shake the stadium to its foundations…
45 meters…
40 meters…
30 meters…
25 meters.
When Xia Qi hit what's considered the ideal distance for a long-range shot, the Arsenal fans fell quiet; only the Dortmund fans' jeers remained in the Emirates.
On the pitch,
as Xia Qi sprinted he lightly pulled the ball with his left foot; it rolled slightly ahead to his right.
He then decelerated, his right leg gathering power.
Xia Qi felt the AI channel all his strength into his right leg,
the next moment,
a sudden brake,
planting his foot,
leaning his body left,
swinging his right leg back as high as it would go,
then quickly bringing it down and driving it forward.
In a flash, the inside of his foot viciously struck the ball.
Boom!
That one enormous sound hit the fans like a meteor strike colliding with Earth; the ball turned into a white streak headed for the Dortmund goal.
Roman Weidenfeller was done for!
The old fox's tragedy!
In any profession there are always a few crafty veterans.
The same goes for football.
At kickoff, Arsenal's charging panicked Weidenfeller a little at first, but when he saw Hummels' cruise-missile primed for launch his inner tension eased.
In his mind, Arsenal were being taught a lesson.
When Hummels fired the missile, Weidenfeller, stretching in front of his goal, watched complacently to see how Arsenal would be schooled.
The result…
…
Hummels turned as a carrier ship trying to change course compared to Xia Qi — not only were the Dortmund fans disappointed, Hummels was disappointed in himself.
He watched Xia Qi's back recede and could only hope the goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller would bail him out.
Weidenfeller, seeing Xia Qi closing the gap, found himself in a dilemma.
But Xia Qi gave him no time to hesitate; in the blink of an eye he was within shooting range.
Weidenfeller actually breathed a sigh of relief and dove toward the incoming white streak.
As he extended his body mid-air imagining an eagle spreading wings, he realized his body felt stiff — what opened up was more like a bat than an eagle.
Neglect your warm-up,
an eagle becomes a bat.
His lunge left him stretched far from the ball; the bat could not become the hero and could not turn the tide.
The ball struck the net, raising a little tent!
"Goooooooaaaaallllllll! The Flash… Xia… Xia… Xia…"
With the DJ's hysterical scream, all the Arsenal fans used every lungful to shout: "Qi!"
"The scorer for us is…"
The DJ pointed the mic toward the south stand and a ground-shaking response came from all directions: "Xia Qi!"
"9.98 seconds!"
"Our ice-cream prince has broken the Champions League record for the fastest goal."
The giant LED screen above the stadium flashed the red digits: 9.98.
When the fans learned that number was the time of Xia Qi's goal, the Emirates erupted in another tsunami of noise and applause, including from some Dortmund fans.
It was a record worthy of respect!
Dortmund fans felt bitter but still applauded.
In the Penguin broadcast booth Zhan Jun went nuts:
"This is why you love football. Before the whistle blows, you never know the right answer."
"Dortmund had the ball, Lewandowski was on attack — but damn, the scorer was Xia Qi! Arsenal led Dortmund in just 9.98 seconds. This is football!! How can you not love it???"
Zhang Lu was calmer and informed viewers: "The fastest goal in the Champions League previously was on March 7, 2007, when Bayern's Dutch forward Roy Makaay scored in the round of 16 at the Allianz Arena against Real Madrid.
"Saša Ilić's cross from the right, Makaay's inside-right push — the goal time was 10.02 seconds. Xia Qi shaved 0.04 seconds off that record."
"That's an incredible record, akin to Usain Bolt's 100m speed — it will be hard to break for a long time. Some latecomers might not have even found their seats before Xia Qi had already scored."
After scoring, Xia Qi sprinted toward Kevin De Bruyne, who ran to meet him; the two collided in a passionate celebration in mid-air!
On the bench, Mario Balotelli wildly waved his coat overhead and made strange sounds.
On the sideline, Thomas Tuchel kicked a water bottle in frustration; conceding so early had disrupted his plan and the rest of the match would be increasingly difficult.
The match continued, and Dortmund, unwilling to trail, tried to bite back and repay Arsenal's "opening strike" in kind.
Lewandowski played to Reus, who again returned the ball to the back post.
İlkay Gündoğan, near his own penalty area edge, lofted a long pass.
Same recipe as before.
Only Arsenal were a bit lax after scoring.
Mertesacker failed to stop Lewandowski, who reached the ball's landing point and leapt to flick it on to Jakub Błaszczykowski.
Błaszczykowski held the ball with his back to goal, but Samuel Umtiti clung tight behind him and he couldn't turn.
He had to lay it back to Lewandowski,
who, standing on the edge of the box, met the rolling ball and struck it on the volley.
"Lewandowski!"
"Shot!"
The ball rocketed toward the Arsenal goal like a cannonball.
Emiliano Martínez produced a miraculous save in a flash, tipping the ball onto the crossbar.
"Close!"
"Lewandowski nearly pulled one back for Dortmund."
"Martínez was the hero there."
"Recently there's been online talk about Xia Qi's 'talisman' trait — comparing Xia Qi's and Lewandowski's long shots, I think Xia Qi indeed has a lucky charm aura. Weidenfeller's save on Xia Qi's shot was clearly imperfect, whereas Lewandowski met an almost superhuman Emiliano Martínez."
"Coach Zhang, we oppose feudal superstitions — don't believe or spread rumors…"
On the pitch,
Reus swung a corner,
Lewandowski, marked by Mertesacker, headed the ball up into the stands.
Dortmund failed to equalize quickly.
"From these two attacks you can see that despite a change of coach and losing a core player, Dortmund's attacking ability hasn't weakened."
"They are still the Yellow-and-Blacks who reached the Champions League final. Arsenal must be careful and not be complacent…"
The situation was indeed that way.
Three minutes later, Dortmund came again.
Błaszczykowski and Lewandowski played a wall near the edge of the box; Błaszczykowski turned into the Arsenal area.
The Polish striker Jakub Błaszczykowski — sharp in his drives and fine in his finishing — was no less dangerous inside the box than Lewandowski.
Umtiti rushed at Błaszczykowski.
Facing Umtiti's defense, Błaszczykowski suddenly stopped and changed direction, tempting Umtiti to tackle.
Umtiti bit; as he slid in,
the ball was flicked by Błaszczykowski into the left channel of the box.
There,
the previously invisible Henrikh Mkhitaryan appeared.
"Danger!"
"Mkhitaryan's been left unmarked."
Mkhitaryan didn't control — he pulled his foot back and shot!
A low driven strike!
The ball kissed the turf and flew toward goal at speed.
At such close range,
Martínez reacted almost instinctively, sliding in to block and extending his right foot.
The ball struck the heel of Martínez's right foot, deflected, and was cleared over the byline.
A collective breath of relief swept the Emirates.
"Martínez saved Arsenal again."
"After taking the lead Arsenal got a bit careless; their defense kept giving up dangerous moments. Fortunately, luck stayed with them…"
"But if Arsenal keep being absent-minded, their luck will eventually run out."
Dortmund's continuous waves of attack fired up their fans, who sang their team anthem in the away end while a huge Dortmund crest was unfurled.
"Fuck!"
"What do these Germans think this is?"
Arsenal fans were enraged and responded by belting out the Arsenal anthem in return…
The match went on.
Wenger, sweating from Dortmund's earlier attack, stood at the touchline with his hands in his pockets, watching quietly and putting pressure on his players.
Arsenal, leading, were not playing well.
Santi Cazorla and Kevin De Bruyne were not connecting smoothly under Dortmund's pressure.
Both missed Xia Qi — only with Xia Qi did they feel that telepathic understanding.
A weak midfield made the whole team look weak!
Arsenal could not produce fluent combinations down the right; when Serge Gnabry cut inside he rushed a shot and the attack fizzled.
Dortmund reorganized their attack.
After two or three passes, Gündoğan lofted a pass and the ball flew straight into Arsenal's box.
Umtiti shuffled Błaszczykowski off, and Aurier headed the ball away.
Gustavo received Aurier's clearance, only to hear Santi Cazorla shout: "Gus, watch your back."
"Gus" was the nickname Xia Qi had given Gustavo.
Behind Gustavo was his own penalty area, and besides Kuba (Błaszczykowski) there was…?
Gustavo pictured Lewandowski's double-standard face and hurriedly cleared the ball.
The ball had just left his foot when a yellow flash slid past him and attempted a sliding tackle on the ball.
Lewandowski had intended a sneak attack but was spotted by Cazorla.
Nevertheless, Lewandowski, a future world-class striker, actually made contact with the ball on the slide.
The ball changed direction, rolled past Cazorla and landed at Marco Reus' feet.
"Lewandowski's high press paid off — he won the ball back."
Reus, outside the penalty area, heel-flicked a pass.
Mkhitaryan surged forward, drove down the left and squared a low cross.
Błaszczykowski arrived at the near post to finish with a back-heeled "moon-glance," but managed only the back-heel before Emiliano Martínez rose and punched the "moon" away above his head.
"Martínez!"
"Another world-class save!"
Zhan Jun's conclusion came early,
but Martínez's luck ran out.
The ball flew toward Lewandowski.
Gustavo, two or three strides from Lewandowski, slid in to block, but Lewandowski was quicker; he swung his left foot in a volley.
Although Gustavo tumbled him afterward with a challenge, the strike itself was unaffected.
The ball traced a flat parabola and slotted into the unguarded net.
"After Xia Qi's lightning strike, Lewandowski's volley pulls one back."
"This is a duel between two great strikers. It's a showdown between Flash and Batman!"
(END CHAPTER)
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