"SU——ANG——GE!!! It's in! It's in! Two-one! Atlético Madrid have two away goals! They have taken the lead again here at the Juventus Stadium!!"
Commentator He Wei shouted with excitement.
"Gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooal!!"
Spanish commentator Mario stretched out the roar in his trademark style, the Spanish rolled R sounding endless.
And when it ended,
Mario still didn't feel satisfied.
He kept going...
"Suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!!"
He threw both arms up and shouted.
In front of television sets around the world,
Atlético Madrid fans shouted along with him.
"Two-one! Two-one! This score has already put Atlético Madrid half a step into the semifinals!"
"Atlético Madrid now lead 2-1 on aggregate!"
....
After scoring, Shane turned and crashed straight into Koke.
Koke tackled him to the ground and piled on top of him.
Then Costa came roaring over as well.
Griezmann rushed in too, unable to contain his excitement.
For Atlético Madrid's players,
their careers did not give them many chances to win trophies.
But this season, under Shane's leadership,
they had a chance to win La Liga, reach the Champions League semifinals, and even... make it all the way to the final!
How could they not be excited?
"SU!"
"SU!"
"SU!"
In the away end,
the supporters' synchronized chanting rolled from the TV screen out to the whole world.
Atlético's fans were absolutely ecstatic.
"I think we all still remember Atlético Madrid's two-legged tie against AC Milan. Now Juventus are trailing Atlético 2-1 at home, and they may very well be about to suffer the same fate as Milan, eliminated by Atlético Madrid..."
"This season, Serie A fans may end up feeling very frustrated. The two Italian teams that reached the knockout stage could both be knocked out by Atlético Madrid..."
"Simeone once coached briefly in Italy. It is said that when AC Milan were looking for a coach, Juventus had also once weighed up the choice between Conte and Simeone—and in the end they chose Conte... And now Simeone is leading his team to a 2-1 away lead over Juventus. Of course, both Simeone and Conte are excellent coaches, and in their respective leagues their teams are both sitting first..."
The commentators took the opportunity to read out every bit of background information they could find from news reports.
After all, simply shouting "goal!" and "GOAL!" over and over again
was starting to feel a little thin.
And if they talked about tactics and analysis,
the fans might find that boring too...
....
After Shane's goal,
there were no more goals in the first half.
There was barely enough time left for anything else.
When the referee blew for halftime,
the players from both sides turned and headed into the tunnel.
From their expressions alone,
you could tell which team was happier with the situation.
Juventus' players looked serious.
Even Pirlo's face was filled with worry.
...
At halftime,
Simeone kept stressing what Juventus were like.
"Don't underestimate them. No matter how big our advantage looks, this team can score at any moment!"
Atlético Madrid were leading 2-1 now,
but it was hard to call that a huge advantage.
If Juventus equalized in the second half,
then once the tie returned to Atlético's home ground for the second leg,
Atlético still would not have complete confidence in knocking Juventus out.
In the other dressing room,
Conte also told his players not to rush.
"We're facing a team with terrifying counterattacking ability. No matter what, we cannot rush. If we get desperate trying to score, the likely result is that they score on us instead!"
Conte warned.
"We need patience. We need to look for the right chance."
"AC Milan are a warning sign!"
Conte brought up Milan's example.
Milan had also been desperate to equalize when they were trailing 2-1, and Atlético hit them on the counter...
With that warning not far away,
Juventus' players all nodded.
....
In the second half,
the teams switched ends and resumed play.
Both sides were extremely cautious.
The tempo of the match became very slow.
And Juventus really did show impressive composure.
At home and trailing 2-1,
most teams would already be panicking.
Juventus, however, stayed calm and unhurried.
They really lived up to their nickname: the Old Lady.
Only in the final moments of the match
did Conte finally throw on multiple attacking players,
planning a late surge.
But Simeone had already anticipated that move.
He brought on defensive reinforcements.
In the end,
when the referee blew the final whistle,
Atlético Madrid had beaten Juventus 2-1 away from home.
They had taken the upper hand in the two-legged tie.
"Full time! Atlético Madrid have beaten Juventus 2-1 away from home. That is an excellent result for Atlético Madrid—they not only won the match, they also scored two away goals..."
As the commentators spoke,
on the pitch,
Atlético Madrid's players erupted in celebration the moment the whistle went.
That scoreline had already given them a glimpse of a place in the semifinals.
.....
"This is a rather delicate scoreline. I won't say we have a huge advantage. The real final will be the match at the Calderón!"
Shane stood in front of the mixed zone backdrop and spoke into the reporters' microphones.
His shirtless upper body was draped with Pirlo's shirt over his shoulders.
By now, Shane was very used to dealing with the media.
His answers were becoming more and more watertight.
On the other side,
Pirlo was also wearing Shane's shirt while giving his interview.
"This is a bad result. We allowed the opponent to get two away goals, which means we will face enormous difficulty away from home. But this is a knockout tie, and anything can happen. We will prepare for the second leg at the Calderón as if we were preparing for the final."
After saying that, Pirlo turned and walked away.
Not far off, Pogba walked through the mixed zone.
"Paul, Paul, come talk about this match."
"Paul, what do you think of Shane Carter's performance?"
"Paul..."
The reporters called out to Pogba, hoping he would stop for an interview.
But the French midfield prodigy said nothing.
His face darkened.
Ignoring the reporters entirely, he walked straight into the dressing room.
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