Chapter 88 — Divine or Human? Manuel Neuer!
The penalty didn't go in — a huge blow to morale!
Bayern's players all looked crestfallen as they watched their playful opponents, and in an instant a deep sense of powerlessness filled their bodies. All fighting spirit and strength were stripped away, leaving only walking corpses...
In front of Arsenal was Xia Qi, behind them was Emiliano Martínez — could they still play this ball?
Manuel Neuer couldn't make sense of it: two years ago Bayern were kings of London; this season they'd recruited heavily, upgraded their arsenal, their strength had risen massively — so how were they two goals behind Arsenal?
Beep!
The match resumed,
Smack!
David Alaba threw the throw-in back into the defensive third; Bastian Schweinsteiger, not in the mood to attack, passed the ball to Manuel Neuer.
Neuer flared up!
Two goals down!
Nobody pressing — pass it to me?
What the hell???
We are kings!
We're the southern kings!
We're the kings of London!
Attack!
Attack!
Attack!
Neuer carried the ball out of his box.
Unlike before, coach Jupp Heynckes stood on the touchline applauding him.
Remember, Heynckes' tactics don't need an attacking goalkeeper.
Neuer had often been scolded by the old coach for his attacking instincts.
This time it was different.
The old coach needed someone to step up and lead the fight!
Although having the leader be a goalkeeper was risky and unconventional, it was better than having no leader.
Heynckes sent applause Neuer's way.
Seeing Neuer dribble out of the box, Mario Balotelli sprinted at him.
All the Bayern fans held chilled breaths for Neuer; Allianz Arena fell briefly silent.
Amid gasps, Neuer calmly dragged the ball out, did a Marseille turn, and slipped past the power-charging Balotelli.
In an instant,
applause thundered!
Having shrugged off Balotelli's challenge, Neuer didn't pass the ball to the outstretched Schweinsteiger — instead he pushed it forward and charged after it.
On the touchline Heynckes furrowed his brow.
In the old coach's mind, Neuer had overreached — he'd crossed a line!
This was an opportunity!
The AI quickly controlled Xia Qi's body to rush toward the "Neuer-as-forward."
Neuer's confidence came from real ability.
His reactions were sharp; as if he had already seen Xia Qi's move, he stuck his foot out and launched the ball far behind Xia Qi.
Then he curved around Xia Qi from outside the pitch boundary and accelerated after the ball.
His "take someone on and eat them alive" maneuver was silky-smooth like a chocolate truffle, and he even knew how to arc around so as not to give Xia Qi a chance to commit a tactical foul — clearly the product of much training.
If dribbling/overpowering has ranks, Bale and Robben are champions; Neuer's operation here was champion+10 points — the extra 10 because he's a goalkeeper.
Allianz Arena erupted; Bayern fans screamed their lungs out in support!
On the live-stream, the screen filled with "Holy shit!" — this phrase wasn't a profanity here but an exclamation: "the world is going mad, wolves everywhere!"
On the pitch, Xia Qi quickly turned and chased back.
Two strides in, Neuer could see Xia Qi out of the corner of his eye, which surprised him — even more, it made him anxious.
He tried to accelerate to get ahead of Xia Qi and reach the ball, but Xia Qi wouldn't give him the chance. In the next second Xia Qi was running alongside him. Instead of accelerating away to take the ball, Xia Qi held the inside line and toyed with Neuer.
"Fall back!"
"Quickly fall back!"
Heynckes grew anxious; he sensed Xia Qi's sinister intention...
But the one in the thick of it is always confused!
Neuer only saw this: if he could outsprint Xia Qi it would be a successful attack — and something he could brag about forever.
Under that temptation, Neuer wouldn't be the one to retreat!
No matter how he accelerated, he couldn't overtake Xia Qi. It wasn't completely hopeless — like a Pinduoduo cash red envelope, it was always "just a little bit short."
Pat Rice laughed and cursed: "This kid is vicious. Neuer might actually think he can do it?"
Wenger smiled; Xia Qi's football IQ was extraordinary, a high-dimensional crushing of a low-dimensional mind.
"Beautiful positioning!"
Zhang Lu in the broadcast room cheered; he'd also seen Xia Qi's intention.
Xia Qi wanted to neutralize the opponent's goalkeeper with himself so that the ball-handling decision would fall to Arsenal's teammates.
If you trade off the opponent's goalkeeper, Arsenal would certainly gain the advantage.
If a Bayern forward wins the ball he faces defenders and the keeper, but Arsenal on the counter only needed to beat defenders — sometimes just a long cross would do.
Xia Qi had unquestionably done the right thing.
Step, two steps... nearly everyone watching understood it... everyone except Neuer himself.
Bayern fans were no longer cheering Neuer on; their excitement and pride instantly turned to panic — they shouted: "Fall back!" "Quickly fall back!"
Arsenal fans were the opposite, erupting joyfully; the more Neuer strained, the louder Arsenal's fans got.
That excitement came from a sense of intellectual superiority.
Ha! Neuer isn't smarter than me!
On the pitch,
Mario Mandžukić, Santi Cazorla, and Kieran Gibbs sprinted toward the ball.
Mandžukić's face was feral; he put every last ounce of power he'd had in every life into the chase.
If he could win the ball, the story would instantly flip — the mockery would be on Neuer, not Xia Qi.
Mandžukić wasn't after the ball so much as Neuer's dignity.
But reality is cruel. Arsenal won the second ball, Gibbs flicked it toward the center circle to Jack Wilshere.
Wilshere received and, seeing the goal open, struck from halfway — a lofted, half-field strike!
The ball sped like a cruise missile toward Bayern's goal.
Bayern fans turned as white as the dead; that long ball looked destined to be in the frame.
This could be it.
Not only might they lose tonight's match, but they could be knocked out early — a three-goal deficit is no joke!
The ball flew through the air, Neuer chased on the turf. When Gibbs won it, Neuer knew he'd "screwed up" and started running back.
But the ball is faster than people!
Well, that's not always true!
At that moment, another red flash raced toward the goal.
Just as the ball was about to cross the line, someone did a bicycle-hook and hooked it out.
"Lahm!"
"Lahm saved Bayern — this clearance could very well prevent Bayern from being eliminated in the return leg. He destroyed what would have been a priceless away goal!"
In the slow-motion replay, Lahm, who'd supported Neuer's advance, heard Heynckes' shout and began sprinting back.
Chasing and catching up, he finally arrived.
Lahm's last-ditch clearance preserved Bayern's hopes of progressing.
At the moment Lahm cleared it, Allianz Arena shook — the chants of "Lahm! Lahm! Lahm!" swept through the stadium and every corner of Munich...
In that instant, Lahm was the city's "savior!"
[Holy shit! Stealing someone's wife isn't this thrilling.
Neuer eats Xia Qi, my heart races; Xia Qi toys with Neuer, discovering the truth my heart races;
Gibbs wins the ball, Wilshere hits the counter, my heart races; Lahm saves on the line, my heart races...]
[Football must be more thrilling than an affair — football is the world's number one sport. Pleasure... fine, I admit it's the world's top sport.]
[I just want to know: how large will Neuer's psychological shadow be? Will he dare to rush forward again?]
[On the other hand, Neuer eating Xia Qi like that makes many wingers ashamed.]
[Come on, it was because Xia Qi hadn't planted his feet; once Xia Qi is settled, let him try again? Xia Qi's defending is the real deal, and he contributes to attack — no one matches his football IQ...]
After the restart, Bayern, spared from disaster, rose in spirits.
But Arsenal, holding a two-goal advantage, weren't intimidated.
The two sides played fast, open attacking football; both had painful near-misses, each thwarted only by a bit of bad luck.
That kind of tempo made viewers regret not being at Allianz Arena in person.
[Arsenal can actually hold Bayern five-fifty?]
[Bayern weren't massively stronger than Arsenal to begin with. Arsenal strengthened a bit over the winter break; if it's fifty-fifty now, Arsenal's actually been unlucky.]
[Idiot. Know football? Real elite clubs are Arsenal, Man United, Liverpool, Atlético... to be fifty-fifty with Bayern, you should count yourself lucky! Unlucky? Please.]
The match tightened; neither side could extend the lead.
Players had to tackle more aggressively, and fouls gradually increased.
In the next five minutes, Schweinsteiger and Thomas Müller from Bayern and Jack Wilshere from Arsenal all picked up yellow cards.
Although Arsenal got one fewer yellows, they were slightly worse off.
They were used to the Premier League's lenient officiating; the tighter whistles in the Champions League made them uncomfortable.
In the 65th minute,
Cazorla and Mikel Arteta combined to win the ball in midfield and played it to Wilshere — Arsenal's frontline brain.
On the right side, Xia Qi made a forward run, Müller stuck tight behind him; ahead of Xia Qi was David Alaba.
Wilshere hesitated two seconds and passed left to Theo Walcott. The young tiger sprinted forward two quick steps and, before being stopped, played the ball to Mario Balotelli in the middle.
Balotelli wanted the finish without making the pass; he lofted a diagonal ball and it landed in front of Xia Qi.
Müller, trailing Xia Qi, was overjoyed!
He'd never been able to catch Xia Qi, and the reason he persevered was that Xia Qi often slowed when receiving the ball — common sense!
But... "variable-frequency first touch speed +5%..."
The moment Xia Qi received the ball, instead of slowing he accelerated and surged away.
Fuck!
This kid had been holding back all along, toying with me... absolutely asking for a beating!
Müller seethed.
The gap between them widened instantly — in the blink of an eye five or six meters were between them.
Alaba saw Xia Qi stride toward him; he counted Xia Qi's step frequency and calculated his stride length...
When Xia Qi's next touch scuffed forward, Alaba slid in like an arrow to intercept the ball.
Then, expecting to cleanly take the ball and the man, he ended up sliding by himself.
How could Xia Qi accelerate after that?
Had Xia Qi been holding back his full speed all along?
Alaba didn't realize that his interception created a "frequency shift" in Xia Qi, granting Xia Qi's first touch a 5% speed bonus.
"Double cover!"
"Double cover!"
Heynckes on the touchline expressed his anger with exaggerated body language and shouts.
Tonight he experienced the fear of being dominated by a super winger — in the past opponents had been analyzed and enjoyed. Karma!
Tonight it was his turn.
After beating Alaba, Xia Qi cut inside onto the right channel of the box.
Jerome Boateng and Dante both lunged at Xia Qi.
What should have been a burst-on-burst moment, Xia Qi suddenly trapped the ball!
That touch unsettled Boateng.
What is he planning?
He glanced back to see if a covering teammate had left Balotelli unmarked.
Xia Qi had kicked the link that dislodged Boateng's mental shield.
That trap was actually to create a variable-frequency boost — another touch and two consecutive moves of frequency acceleration would let him speed past the two center-backs.
Seeing Xia Qi charging with brute force, Boateng and Dante shoulder-to-shoulder hurried to close him down.
But they were deceived.
As the two hurriedly closed in shoulder-to-shoulder,
Xia Qi dragged the ball laterally. On the first pull the ball and body moved outside Boateng's right shoulder, then he pushed the ball into empty space and slipped past outside Boateng's shoulder.
Boateng cursed in his dialect; translated bluntly: "Fuck your father, you ghost!"
[Holy shit! What did I just see — Xia Qi floated then was suddenly on the left?]
[Space-dance steps — watching Xia Qi take someone on is a joy, full of artistry.]
[Clearly it's Lingbo Weibu (a nimble footwork reference), but you call it sliding — I'll reveal my hand: Xia Qi is the 32nd-generation heir of my school of freedom...]
...
By now Bayern's midfield destroyer Javi Martínez and right-back Philipp Lahm had both rushed into the box after Xia Qi.
In a flash, the AI chose to shoot at the near post before the two closed in.
A low-driven strike!
The ball skimmed the turf, a white streak toward the near corner.
Neuer darted across his line and then slid out to his side quickly.
The nervous Bayern fans shut their eyes, unable to watch.
They'd been cast in Xia Qi's shadow as well.
Neuer's dive wasn't the common "eagle wings" with both hands to swat the ball.
Instead it was like the save in the 2010 World Cup where Spain's Santiago Cañizares? (note: reference in original) used a foot-slide — quicker but only effective for low shots.
Perfect for Xia Qi's low drive!
The ball struck Neuer's foot and bounced out over the sideline.
The AI had judged Neuer couldn't get to the ball, but Neuer delivered an extraordinary performance.
Human resistance to AI isn't without hope.
"Neuer!"
"Another world-class save! Xia Qi's angle was extremely wicked — basically a blind spot — but Neuer produced an extreme save."
"This is iron-blooded Bayern! They always fight until the last second."
"First Lahm's last-ditch recovery and now Neuer has turned the impossible into possible."
"Football's iron law: miss and you'll be punished; Arsenal should be careful."
Allianz Arena trembled again; Bayern fans unleashed their passion...
(END CHAPTER)
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