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"Damn it, I overslept!"
East 8th District time, May 14, 2015, 2:45 AM.
In the dorm, Li Xin was jolted awake by his alarm clock and groggily fumbled for his phone under his pillow.
Most fans set their Champions League alarms a few minutes early, waking up at 2:40 AM to turn on their computer or TV, just in time for the start of the match.
Because he was so tired, he half-asleep pressed snooze on his first alarm.
It was the second alarm that finally woke him.
The good news was that the game had just started, so nothing major would have happened.
Even if he took a few minutes to open the live stream, it would be hard to miss any exciting moments.
He had originally planned with his girlfriend, Xiao Yue, to book a hotel room in the city to watch the game and have some fun beforehand.
Unfortunately, the night before, they received news that their dorm supervisor was doing an impromptu room check.
So, they both had to stay in their dorms obediently.
Just as Li Xin was groggily about to pick up his tablet and enter the password to unlock it, his phone vibrated slightly, and a push notification popped up abruptly:
"Goal.com Match Report: Barcelona 0-1 Bayer Leverkusen, Lance scores a lightning-fast goal 7 seconds into the match."
???
Huh?
No... huh?
Li Xin was wide awake, frantically multitasking.
He unlocked his tablet, quickly switched to the CCTV app, and searched for the CCTV5 live broadcast.
At the same time, he used his left hand to log into Weibo on his phone.
The refreshed homepage was filled with shocked messages from sports Big Vs and netizens.
@BritishFootballFactsV: "#LanceScoresIn7Seconds 'Holy crap!!! God Lance!!!'"
@SinaSportsV: "'Too fast!' Player Lance scores a lightning goal against Barcelona just 7 seconds into the match, breaking the record for the fastest goal in Champions League history!"
@Goal.comOfficialV: "Lance!! Scores first at the start! Barcelona 0-1 Bayer Leverkusen, aggregate 2-3!"
The live stream on his tablet was still buffering.
Li Xin quickly clicked on the GIF on Weibo to see what had happened.
He saw Barcelona kick off first.
But Lance sprinted from the backfield, intercepted Rakitić's pass to De Bruyne.
De Bruyne made a beautiful chip pass, combining with Lance to chip the ball over Iniesta's head.
Then, a volley from long range into the goal!
The whole sequence was fluid and smoother than chocolate!
Just the GIF alone made his blood boil.
He couldn't imagine how excited he would have been to see that scene live!
"Damn it!! F*** f*** f***!!"
This was the first time Li Xin hated himself so much for oversleeping.
What he missed wasn't just 5 minutes, but a brilliant goal worthy of being recorded in Champions League history!
He knew without thinking that a match with God Lance playing would never be ordinary.
Duan Xuan's voice was already coming from the live stream.
Li Xin quickly lowered the volume, plugged in his earphones, and sat on his bed, watching intently with his tablet.
He didn't even bother to check his girlfriend Xiao Yue's WeChat messages.
What's a girlfriend compared to this?
This important match, God Lance's life-and-death battle against Barcelona, even the King of Heaven would have to wait!
Li Xin was just a microcosm of Chinese football fans.
At this very moment, across the land of China, countless eyes were closely following this pinnacle showdown!
"Yes!! Yes!!!"
"Am I dreaming? Lance, am I dreaming?"
"Now?"
"Hiss—F***!! You hit too hard!"
Immediately after scoring, Lance rushed towards the away stands.
Compared to the magnificent scene of over 90,000 people at Camp Nou, the away stands, with fewer than 1,500 people in the corner, seemed isolated and helpless.
Before the match, these 1,500 people had shouted themselves hoarse, their voices completely drowned out by the home fans.
But now, the home fans were silent, everyone looking bewildered.
It was finally the turn of the travelling Bayer Leverkusen fans to have their moment of triumph!
As Lance stepped onto the advertising board and raised his arms in triumph, everyone chanted his name in unison!
"King Lance—"
"King Lance—"
"King Lance—"
The great King Lance!
Soon, the Bayer Leverkusen players also gathered around to celebrate with Lance.
Harry Maguire, that guy, still couldn't believe it, thinking he was dreaming.
Lance kicked him in the backside, making him yelp in pain, which finally confirmed it wasn't a dream!
Bayer Leverkusen was really leading Barcelona away from home!
Leading 3-2 on aggregate!
"Bayer Leverkusen has a dream start!"
"Let's look at this goal. As expected of the Belgian Twin Stars, their chemistry is truly telepathic."
"Exactly, Lance's timing for the press was also perfect. Rakitić didn't anticipate it at all."
"That shot was so decisive. Speaking of which, Lance's shooting has become increasingly confident in the second half of the season. Before, he would probably have found it difficult to shoot immediately."
"Indeed, Lance used to be more accustomed to shooting inside the box. Now, he takes long shots whenever he has a chance. It's more like Curry in the NBA, whether it's a good opportunity or not, he'll just shoot a 3-pointer first. It's just that Lance's shots are much more difficult than Curry's 3-pointers."
Duan Xuan and Xu Yang were like a comedic duo, each taking a turn to praise Lance.
As the only active Chinese player in European football, the only Chinese player standing at the peak of world football, no amount of praise for Lance could be excessive...
"Puta!!!"
Messi cursed angrily in Spanish.
Neymar and Suárez also offered helpless, bitter smiles.
What the hell, conceding a goal in 7 seconds?
"Sorry, guys, my fault..."
As Xavi aged and his form declined, Rakitić gradually took over his starting position.
In such an important match, Rakitić's oversight was a major mistake.
He hung his head, not daring to look his teammates in the eye.
Luckily, the team's good-natured Iniesta patted Rakitić's shoulder.
"It's okay, we'll just play harder later."
Puyol retired, Xavi was a substitute.
Iniesta was the current captain.
It's just that he had a softer temper.
He didn't have the charisma of a tough guy like Puyol, nor the ability to talk rubbish like Xavi, who put pressure on opponents.
In adverse situations, he could only comfort his teammates.
Today, the key was still the performance of the MSN trident upfront.
"Leo, no problem?"
"Don't worry."
They were all old teammates who had experienced many ups and downs; no words were needed between them, a glance was enough to communicate.
Seeing the burning flame in Messi's eyes, Iniesta wasn't worried.
They were only one goal down; with Barcelona's strength, they could definitely come back.
Indeed, Barcelona adjusted quickly, and for the next 10 minutes, they used their unstoppable ball possession to wear down their opponent's stamina and will.
The match gradually entered Barcelona's standard rhythm.
"Rakitić... Iniesta, Messi!"
"Good, it's in!! Suárez!!"
"A low shot just wide."
"...Still Barcelona's possession, to the left, Neymar!! A one-two with Iniesta!!"
"A reverse pass, no shot!! To the right!!"
"Messi!!!"
"The goalkeeper saves!! Suárez follows up with a shot!!!"
"During this period, Barcelona has found their rhythm and are constantly threatening Bayer Leverkusen. The MSN trident is very active."
"Yes, Van Dijk's absence is still a big impact. Antonio Rüdiger isn't really good at defending against this kind of short-pass penetration..."
Xu Yang was just about to worry about Bayer Leverkusen's defence.
In a flash, Barcelona launched another attack.
Iniesta dribbled to the left, then suddenly made a diagonal short pass.
The exquisite footwork penetrated two defenders and went directly to Suárez in the box.
Antonio Rüdiger went up to challenge, temporarily not paying attention to the space behind him.
"Suárez!!! A deliberate dummy!!"
At that moment, Antonio Rüdiger's heart skipped a beat; he knew it was going to be bad.
Indeed, Messi surged in from behind, and with his left foot, decisively curled a shot, creating a deadly low drive!
Goalkeeper Leno frantically dived, but unfortunately, he was a step too late.
"Messi!!! Goal!"
"In the 13th minute of the first half, Barcelona's continuous upfront cooperation finally resulted in a goal!"
"The score on the pitch is levelled at 1-1, aggregate 3-3!"
Even though they knew Barcelona was likely to score, when the goal actually came, Bayer Leverkusen fans still found it hard to accept.
But this wasn't the worst part.
The worst part was that just 3 minutes later, Barcelona attacked down the left.
Neymar had just burst into the box when the young Joshua Kimmich was still trying to shield the ball with his body.
But Neymar suddenly fell to the ground, rolling around in the box, clutching his leg!
Beep—
A shrill whistle sounded!
Referee Cüneyt Çakır mercilessly pointed to the penalty spot!
Bayer Leverkusen's dream start didn't last long.
In an instant, they plunged into hell!
"Camp Nou tragedy? No way!"
Lance suddenly had an ominous premonition.
He wasn't afraid of any of the MSN taking centre stage.
The most deadly situation was when the referee took centre stage.
In 2009, Chelsea's pain in the "Stamford Bridge Tragedy" was like a suffocating dark cloud, engulfing Bayer Leverkusen!