The ball arrives before the man.
Itoshi Rin ran with the ball and, before he knew it, had found himself in an excellent position.
The next second.
A giant python coiled up from under his feet.
This was the signature move of the U-20 team's Oliver Aiku.
"A knock-off!"
Itoshi Rin knew who was coming. It was Mikage Reo, a player with an extremely good copying ability.
"Then why don't you try to get past me, genius little brother!"
Reo didn't give an inch, holding his ground in front of the Man City penalty area, while also using Itoshi Sae to provoke his opponent.
This "eyelash" younger brother in front of him possessed a refined shooting technique second only to Tendou's. He would not, under any circumstances, give Rin a chance to shoot.
But immediately.
The giant python coiling around Itoshi Rin dissipated into a cloud of blood-red mist.
"If you want to die, I'll grant your wish, you rich kid who only knows how to imitate others!"
Itoshi Rin said coldly, feinting a shot but in reality, using the ball to execute a turn and shake off Mikage Reo.
It was a classic Cruyff Turn.
Swoosh!
Reo was completely beaten. By the time he reacted, Rin had already appeared behind him.
Without any hesitation, after getting past Reo, Rin went for a chipped shot.
The ball traced a beautiful arc towards the far corner.
Thwack~
At the critical moment, the ever-present Agi tracked back to his position.
This ace of the Man City youth academy, known as the team's brain, was the team's strategist.
Manchester City had escaped disaster once again.
However, the fans in the live stream could all see that Man City's situation was not looking good.
If they kept playing like this, conceding a goal was only a matter of time.
Prince smiled and asked Tendou, "Want to give it a try?"
Tendou, however, said, "I'm a player, not a head coach."
But he still got up and walked to the technical area.
The audience watching the live stream was dumbfounded.
So Man City really does have two master strikers?
In the technical area.
Tendou took his hands out of his pockets. He could see Man City's problem.
They were being outmatched in the midfield.
PSG's midfield, in addition to the brilliant Charles, also had Karasu Tabito lurking behind him.
And in modern football, the battle for the midfield is increasingly important.
It is the core hub of the transition from offense to defense.
The Real Madrid of the 2025 season was a typical example.
They had excellent attackers like Mbappé, Vinícius, Bellingham, and Rodrygo.
But every time they faced Barça, they would get beaten black and blue.
Faced with Barça's high press, Real Madrid looked very flustered. The forwards couldn't get the ball and could only be pinned down.
Every time the Merengues saw this, they couldn't help but say, "If my Ceremony Trio were still here, would I be bullied by you like this?"
There was no lie in that.
Everyone should know about Klopp's Miracle of Anfield.
And Klopp himself is a famous manager who excels at the high press.
The Liverpool he led was in the top three in Europe for forcing opponent errors after pressing them in their own half, with an average of 12.3 times per game.
But in the 2018 Champions League final, Liverpool was beaten 3:1 by Real Madrid.
Why?
Real Madrid's three midfielders: Modrić, Kroos, and Casemiro, were arguably the strongest midfield in the entire world that year.
Plus, behind them were defenders with extremely strong ball-playing abilities like Ramos, Marcelo, and Carvajal.
If Liverpool's workhorse midfielders dared to press, Real Madrid dared to slice through their entire defensive line with a single pass.
Moreover, the high press is a very physically demanding tactic. You have to keep running and keep applying pressure.
If the opponent doesn't make a mistake under high pressure and even makes you run all over the place, the longer the game goes on, the lower your chances of winning become.
Getting sidetracked.
Tendou stood in the technical area and told his teammates to speed up the ball circulation.
The goal was to avoid being compressed into a small space by the opponent.
On offense, they were to look for Chigiri on the wings to speed up the counter-attack, and if there was an opportunity, not to hesitate and go for a long pass to the wing.
The players on both sides were a bit taken aback when they saw and heard this.
Are we seeing things?
When did Prince dye his hair white?
Reo couldn't help but complain in his heart. Tendou really is an all-around warrior. He's even fucking doing the coach's job now.
However, out of trust for Tendou, the Man City players carried out his instructions unconditionally.
And wouldn't you know it, it actually had a pretty good effect.
Karasu's diagonal pass was intercepted by Reo, and the PSG players immediately started pressing.
Seeing this, Reo immediately booted the ball to Chigiri on the wing.
In an instant, the PSG players could only quickly retreat to their own half.
Chigiri sprinted down the wing, got past a defender, cut inside, feinted a shot, and then passed the ball horizontally to the center.
The advancing Nagi Seishiro met it with a shot, but was once again ruthlessly blocked by Itoshi Rin.
Although they didn't score, Man City had finally managed their first shot on target and had found a way to attack.
"What's wrong? You're not planning to play anymore? Thinking of switching careers to be a professional coach?"
Loki saw that Tendou was actually coaching with some flair and couldn't help but tease him.
At the same time, he was impressed.
No wonder Tendou could play as a full-field free man. With this kind of precise control over the situation, Loki knew he couldn't do it himself.
But he wasn't discouraged, because he and Tendou were different types of players.
Beckenbauer was strong, known as the Football Emperor.
But the two football kings in history, Pelé and Maradona, were not full-field free men.
"We didn't settle the score last time; it was a draw. Let's use this match to decide a winner."
"If by 'draw' you mean one side had 4 professional players and the other had 4 amateur players, and both sides scored 3 goals each, then I have nothing to say."
Tendou shot Loki a look.
Since crossing over, he, Young Master Tendou, had never lost.
Not in the world of Kuroko's Basketball, and not in the world of Blue Lock.
The only match he had lost was against the World All-Star team.
Although the strength of the two lineups was vastly different, Tendou was still very unhappy about losing.
Loki's expression immediately became awkward.
He hadn't expected this guy Tendou to be so serious about the result of such an entertainment-style match.
But that was fine.
Who asked the "Son of France" to idolize Cristiano Ronaldo?
He was just as serious about winning and losing.
"If that's what you think, then let's use this match to decide a winner. Don't make any more excuses if you lose this time."
"Beat me?" Tendou mocked ruthlessly. "With your three minutes that don't even last as long as Ultraman?"
Damn it.
Those words were too infuriating.
He knew he was talking about the 3-minute superstar entry system, but Tendou's expression just made it easy for people to think in another direction.
He.
Julian Loki, the Son of France, the prodigy of Europe.
Was definitely not a three-minute man!
An enraged Loki immediately took out his phone and called Ego Jinpachi.
"I demand to have the same amount of playing time as that guy Tendou in this match."
"KOTOWARU (I refuse)," Ego rejected without a second thought. "According to the rules, the master striker can only play for three minutes."
"This is not fair! Listen to me, four-eyes! That bastard number 7 from Man City, his skill level has seriously disrupted the field. In a match with him, whether it's his teammates or his opponents, they will all be overshadowed."
"And, I'm not like that guy Noa. He's old, I'm still very young. Both me and that bastard Tendou are only 17. I have every reason to demand the same amount of playing time as him."
"Also, open your eyes and look at where that bastard is standing right now! That's the technical area, not the players' bench!"
Loki argued forcefully, vowing to teach Tendou a lesson.
In the control room, Ego was speechless.
This disciple of CR7 was unusually difficult to deal with when he got serious.
...
Get 20+ chapters ahead on - P.a.t.r.e.o.n "RoseWhisky"