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In the original timeline of the 2013-2014 season, Real Madrid's star midfielder Xabi Alonso missed the Champions League final due to accumulated yellow cards.
Ultimately, facing Atlético Madrid in the final, Real Madrid won, but the controversy surrounding Xabi Alonso's absence was still widely discussed.
After working hard for an entire season, missing the most important match due to yellow cards in the group and knockout stages seemed unfair to many diligent defensive midfielders and defenders.
Consequently, the controversy sparked by this incident was taken seriously by UEFA, leading to a reform of the Champions League rules.
Starting from the 2014-2015 season, all accumulated yellow cards would be cleared after the quarter-finals, meaning from the semi-finals onwards.
Unless a player received a direct red card in the semi-finals, he would not miss the Champions League final, even if he received a yellow card in every match.
At least in Lance's subconscious, this was how the Champions League rules worked.
However, today, he suddenly realised something.
The butterfly effect he brought had changed many things, including the "yellow card reset rule"!
After last season's Champions League, UEFA did indeed discuss reforms.
Real Madrid struggled to eliminate Bayer Leverkusen, and Modrić and Alonso both suffered injuries or suspensions, causing them to miss the Champions League final.
Ultimately, they lost to Atlético Madrid in the final, missing out on what should have been their 10th title.
However, after multiple meetings and discussions, UEFA did not implement any reforms.
The Champions League rules remained the same as before 2013!
Whilst Lance led his team to eliminate Barcelona and advance to the Champions League final, he would also miss his first-ever Champions League final!
"...Is Lance still not speaking?"
"No, this hit him too hard."
"It's not just Lance; Harry and Nathan are also in low spirits."
"If it were you, you'd be even worse off than them."
In the Bayer Leverkusen players' cafeteria, Lance ate mechanically, his eyes hollow.
Julian Brandt, De Bruyne, Son Heung-min, Firmino, and other teammates nearby were all worried about him, whispering to each other.
"We need to find a way to cheer him up... How about you introduce that supermodel you talked about last time to Lance, to make him happy?"
"Ah? It took me forever to get her number."
"At a crucial moment like this, shouldn't you consider your brother? Bro?"
"Alright, alright! For all the times Lance passes me the ball, oh, damn it!"
Julian Brandt gritted his teeth, in agony.
For Lance, he still chose to part with something he cherished.
"What are you lot talking about? I'm not deaf. Don't bother with all this nonsense."
Lance's gaze sharpened, and he glared at a few fools, annoyed.
Many fans have a filter for professional players.
In reality, if you interact with these professional players every day, especially the so-called big-name stars, you'd know that since they've been involved in football since childhood and have generally received little education, they are all incredibly foolish in private, like overgrown children.
Sometimes, when he saw their "ingenious ideas" in the changing room, Lance truly felt surrounded by 'Sleeping Dragons and Young Phoenixes,' and his aversion to stupidity was almost flaring up.
"Lance, why don't I really introduce her to you? She's super hot, smoking hot!"
"No, you keep her for your own amusement."
Lance wasn't in the mood for such things right now.
Since he had stumbled into the Champions League final but couldn't play in it, and was highly likely to lose the championship, Lance could only do his best to secure the Bundesliga and German Cup titles.
So, just three days after returning to Bayer Leverkusen victorious from Barcelona, the 33rd round of the Bundesliga was about to begin: Bayer Leverkusen vs. Hoffenheim.
With Bayern Munich having defeated Freiburg 2-1, Bayer Leverkusen had only one path: defeat Hoffenheim and secure three points.
Otherwise, if they dropped points, Bayern would once again overtake them in the standings.
With only one round left in the league, the championship they had fought so hard for would be handed over, and no one wanted to see that happen.
The night before the match, the Bayer Leverkusen coaching staff were still up late, finalising tomorrow's starting lineup.
What was rather strange was that during the meeting, the office lights were on, but it was empty.
The coaches were all gathered in the outdoor smoking area, a group of men with cigarettes in their mouths, all looking troubled.
"How should we arrange this? I really don't want to risk the lads."
"But what if a fully rotated squad fails? All the effort of the entire season would be wasted!"
"Sascha, you're gambling with the players' careers!"
"It's the final stretch; there's nothing wrong with pushing through!"
Just as Sascha and Hyypiä were arguing heatedly, they suddenly saw Lance walk past with his bag.
"Lance? Still here so late? Still training extra?"
"Yes, just finished."
"I told you, no extra training recently; the risk of muscle strain is too high. Tomorrow, have the physiotherapist help you relax more..."
Hyypiä was worried.
However, Lance looked up, his gaze firm and piercing.
"Coach, I want to play."
"Nonsense!"
"Coach!"
"But..."
"Forget it, Sami."
Sascha pulled Hyypiä aside.
"Let him start. Otherwise, he won't get past this."
"Fuck! I don't care anymore! If you want to mess around, then mess around! Damn it!"
Hyypiä couldn't convince these two madmen.
He shook his head and turned to leave.
Sascha ignored him and looked directly at Lance.
"Lance, since you're physically fine, then give it your all! No regrets!"
"Yes, no regrets!"
"...This is the second to last round of the Bundesliga. Bayern defeated Freiburg in yesterday's match. Currently, on the live standings, Bayern has temporarily moved to the top of the Bundesliga, leading Bayer Leverkusen by 4 points."
"If Bayer Leverkusen drops points today, they will miss a golden opportunity to win the title! It will be very difficult to catch up in the final round. This match today is crucial!"
"So we see that Bayer Leverkusen's starting lineup is mostly rotated, but the central attacking midfielder, Lance, is starting!"
"He has played every minute of two matches a week for three consecutive weeks!"
"Lance is the player with the highest attendance rate in the Bayer Leverkusen squad, with over 50 appearances across all competitions this season!"
"He is truly the soul of the team!"
Lance's start truly surprised German media, including Chinese media thousands of miles away!
Many fans hadn't planned on watching this match, and CCTV5 hadn't intended to broadcast it either.
Because of Lance's start, CCTV5 temporarily cancelled the La Liga Real Madrid match and chose to broadcast this Bundesliga match.
"His epic performance in the Champions League semi-final a few days ago is still a hot topic in football recently. The battle in which he led Bayer Leverkusen to eliminate Barcelona will go down in history, but unfortunately, they themselves were severely depleted, with several key players suspended or injured and missing the final, including Lance."
"He can only concentrate all his strength on the league, trying to win this Bundesliga title!"
"Alright, the match has begun!"
"Bayer Leverkusen kicks off and attacks first!"
"Lance appears very active!!"
"Kießling, header flick-on,"
"Lance receives the ball... and shoots directly from long range!!!"
"What a shot!! The quality of that shot is extremely high!"
"Less than 1 minute into the game, Lance helps Bayer Leverkusen win a corner kick opportunity!"
"Julian Brandt... tries to cut in from the right wing, a reverse pass to Lance!"
"Another shot!!"
"Oh, so close!!"
"...Bayer Leverkusen, wins the ball in the attacking third and launches a quick counterattack!!
"Kießling!! His header is saved!"
"Hoffenheim clears... but it doesn't go far,"
"Second ball!!"
"Lance!! Controls the ball! Dribbles past him!!"
"A direct volley with his right foot!!"
"Goal!!!! That's a goal!!"
"A worldie!"
"Bayer Leverkusen takes the lead!"
Less than 10 minutes into the game, Lance's powerful volley was a warning shot, leaving all the Hoffenheim players pale-faced and inwardly terrified.
The Lance before them was like a Diablo who had crawled out of hell, carrying the resentment of missing the Champions League final, full of pent-up anger with nowhere to unleash it, all of it pouring down on the unlucky Hoffenheim!