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Beep!
Beep!
Beep—
Three whistles signalled the end of the match. Cristiano Ronaldo, still controlling the ball in the attacking third, heard the whistle and, in frustration, kicked the ball into the stands.
He cursed under his breath, "Puta! Fuck!!" He looked up at the scoreboard, the cold numbers piercing his heart.
— — — —
B04 (3-2) RMD
3′ — 39. Lance
11′ — 11. Gareth Bale
19′ — 9. Karim Benzema
30′ — 39. Lance
86′ — 39. Lance
— — — —
What a failure! He had thought they could get their revenge, easily defeat their opponent away from home, kick off Real Madrid's legendary season, lift the treble, win the Ballon d'Or, and return to the peak of his career.
But Lance's hat-trick shattered his hopes. Real Madrid had tried hard enough, yet still couldn't break through Bayer Leverkusen's tough defence.
If Bayer Leverkusen's defenders hadn't made mistakes last season, Real Madrid wouldn't have even made it to the final… Cristiano Ronaldo glared at the young man celebrating with his teammates not far away, gritting his teeth.
He had even exchanged jerseys with him before, but this time he was in no mood for it, walking straight to the locker room in a huff.
"Cristiano!! Can you give an interview…?"
"Fuck off!!"
"???"
Reporters on the scene were about to approach Cristiano Ronaldo for an interview when he angrily yelled at them to back off. This made the reporters question reality a bit:
"Did he just say the F-word? You all heard it, right?"
"Yes, I think he did."
To push Cristiano Ronaldo to this extent, even Messi would find it difficult in today's football world. Only Lance could do it.
"That guy really seems to be Cristiano Ronaldo's nemesis."
"We'll see in the second leg. It's not certain they'll win when they go to the Bernabéu next time."
"Anyway, Bayer Leverkusen's qualification should be fine."
"Yes, two consecutive wins against the two strongest teams. As long as they don't lose to Roma next, qualification is pretty much secured."
The German reporters present were also delighted. After Group C, the 'Group of Death,' was announced, everyone was a bit worried about Bayer Leverkusen's situation.
One slight misstep and they could be eliminated. There are too many teams that perform well in their first Champions League season and then collapse the next.
Bayer Leverkusen seemed like such a team, appearing to lack any big club pedigree. However, they consecutively defeated Liverpool and Real Madrid in the new season, their combat power far exceeding everyone's expectations worldwide!
After the match, Real Madrid's coach, Ancelotti, also expressed his surprise at the press conference:
"Actually, I thought we could win away today. We had prepared enough tactics and thoroughly researched Bayer Leverkusen."
"We thought we understood the weaknesses of everyone on this team."
"However, Lance's performance was still brilliant; he is an X-factor."
Ancelotti leaned back in his chair, feeling helpless. Tactically, he absolutely outclassed Bayer Leverkusen's coaches. The combined skill of Hyypiä and Sascha was not as good as Ancelotti's.
But with Lance, a cheat-like player, even a tactical master was helpless. This led Ancelotti to even doubt himself: Was he really a world-class tactical master?
Ancelotti felt a bit disheartened. If they couldn't defeat Bayer Leverkusen in the second leg, he might as well retire for a while after this season…
Immediately after the match, the first to gloat were not the German media, but the Catalan media. Barcelona's mouthpiece, Sport, posted a post-match poster on Twitter with the caption:
"Bayer Leverkusen 3-2 Real Madrid! Cristiano Ronaldo misfires, Real Madrid can't win with two goals. What's wrong with this Madrid?"
From Barcelona's perspective, Real Madrid should have easily crushed Bayer Leverkusen. If they couldn't win, it meant Real Madrid was weak.
In fact, they didn't take Bayer Leverkusen seriously either. So what if they were Champions League semi-finalists last season?
Look at Bayer Leverkusen's lineup. The attacking third is decent, with the Belgian twin stars. But who are in the midfield and defence?
Harry Maguire, Van Dijk, and the like, minor players scouted from the English Championship and Scottish Premiership, unheard of! Maguire is slow to turn, Van Dijk is too aggressive in his challenges, Rüdiger is recovering from injury, Nathan Aké lacks experience… The defence looked even more problematic than last season.
How could Real Madrid lose to such a "Bundesliga weak team"?
"If it were Barcelona, they would have probably won by a large margin."
At the end of the tweet, Sport didn't forget to elevate Barcelona. With the MSN trio performing strongly in the new season, Barcelona also maintained a perfect record in La Liga, firing on all cylinders.
Both Barcelona fans and media were full of confidence in this season's results. The glory of the sextuple seemed to be within reach under the destructive power of the MSN trio, returning to its peak!
Real Madrid's media disagreed. Marca publicly retorted after the match.
"…This Bayer Leverkusen team showed astonishing tenacity to the whole world in the match."
"Key player Lance proved his worth last season and in the World Cup."
"The 17-year-old, in his second year in the Bundesliga, did not hit a sophomore slump; instead, he showed even more composed performances and dominance on the field."
"It's hard to imagine how terrifying a presence this prodigy will become if he continues to grow."
"Bayer Leverkusen is not a weak team, as some tabloid suggests."
"On the contrary, they will continue to be a force to be reckoned with in the Champions League this season!"
Real Madrid's mouthpiece, to make Real Madrid's loss less embarrassing, went all out to praise their opponent in this match. And it was true; Bayer Leverkusen's performance truly impressed fans worldwide.
Former Germany coach and German legend Klinsmann commented on Twitter:
"This is Bayer Leverkusen! They are no weaker than Real Madrid or Liverpool! I not only expect them to advance from the group, but I also expect them to reach the semi-finals, just like last season."
The final might be a bit of a stretch, but the semi-finals should be achievable with effort. Matthäus even praised Lance to the heavens:
"The Bundesliga top scorer last season, even though Lance was targeted everywhere in the new season, he still delivered a different kind of performance."
"In the new season, Lance seems to have grown significantly in terms of passing and playmaking."
"Many of his flashes of brilliance in passing can be considered master-class executions."
"In terms of shooting, despite being heavily marked by opponents, he still managed to score a hat-trick."
"Doesn't this further prove Lance's ability?"
"The rookie wall only restricts ordinary rookies."
"Lance is no ordinary person; he is a future legend…"
Matthäus gave a sufficiently high evaluation. Yet, German public opinion did not find the evaluation exaggerated; instead, they considered it reasonable.
"That's right, I said last season that Lance is really strong!"
"Lance is awesome!"
"He is our savior! A hat-trick against Real Madrid, what more proof do you need?!"
"Bayer Leverkusen's true god!"
From an unbeaten run in the first three rounds of the season to the current four consecutive wins, Bayer Leverkusen has indeed emerged from the gloom and started to race ahead.
In the first round of the German Cup, using a youth and reserve lineup, Bayer Leverkusen easily defeated third-tier team Waldhof Mannheim 2-0, achieving five consecutive wins across all competitions!
Just three days later, in Bundesliga Round 6, Bayer Leverkusen vs. Paderborn. Facing last season's 2. Bundesliga promoted team, Bayer Leverkusen showed no mercy, letting Paderborn experience the intensity of the Bundesliga.
"Son—a clean and decisive long-range shot!!!"
"Bayer Leverkusen takes a 1-0 lead, assisted by Lance with a calm cross-pass!"
In the 12th minute of the first half, Bayer Leverkusen 1-0 Paderborn.
"Another goal! This time it's Lance's shot!! He controlled the ball in the box, dribbled past an opponent, and poked it into the bottom corner!!"
In the 15th minute, Bayer Leverkusen 2-0 Paderborn. It was October 4th, and after scoring, Lance quickly ran to the camera, revealing the T-shirt underneath.
(T/N: Sorry for the awkward break, needed to remove the propoganda)