15 minutes into the first half.
The match was beginning to tilt to one side.
[Barcelona's players are deliberately keeping their distance so the opposition cannot occupy those zones first.]
[In other words, they are playing dumb.]
Barcelona, who had shown a thoroughly complete performance from the start, took control of the flow of the match and turned the field into their own playground.
[Barcelona are pushing even harder now. It means they have no intention of letting go of the initiative once they have taken it.]
[That's right. It is still early in the match. If their fitness holds up, it looks like they can keep this flow going.]
With their midfield and central core cut off, Manchester City had completely surrendered the initiative and could not play the football they wanted.
Meanwhile, Barcelona had already moved beyond 67 percent possession and were fully imposing their own game.
They had already produced 2 shots on target and one clear-cut chance.
They had not scored only because Joe Hart had made miraculous saves.
Still, if they could continue sustaining this flow, it looked like they would create plenty of chances.
"Good, keep it like this!"
"We can do it! Believe in yourselves!"
Barcelona, whose momentum had fully risen, encouraged one another to keep the atmosphere going and strengthen their resolve.
[They have really come out with a plan. This is like a team staking its life on football. Or maybe they only intend to go hard for one half, because they have been pouring in energy from the very start.]
[I agree. Manchester City are defending well enough that chances are not coming constantly, but it is still incredibly intense.]
Gaël Clichy, Thiago Silva, Vincent Kompany, and Pablo Zabaleta, all in the starting lineup, had formed a tight back four and were steadily holding off Barcelona's fierce attack.
But once Barcelona began searching for different attacking routes, City's back four gradually started to wobble.
[Xavi Hernández is linking up with Fàbregas and slowly pushing the line forward. The intention must be to build patiently, then strike decisively when the moment comes. You can see it just from the players' eyes.]
[Yes, they definitely look sharp.]
"Sánchez! Stay wider! You have to exploit the moment Zabaleta is focused on Messi!"
As Thiago Silva, who had been assigned to man-mark Messi, began to struggle, right-back Zabaleta shifted slightly inward to provide cover.
That was the moment it appeared on Xavi's radar.
[Manchester City's second line, Xavi pauses on the ball.]
[Ah, and right on cue! Alexis Sánchez drifts out to the left flank!]
The moment he secured the angle, Xavi Hernández's foot moved.
His pass fired out with the speed and precision of a first-rate sniper's bullet and landed right at Sánchez's feet.
[Sánchez receives it and beats Clichy with ease. Now he drives inside!]
The symbol of the Chile national team.
Alexis Sánchez had become the top young prospect last season after recording the most Man of the Match awards in Serie A.
After that, several big clubs, including Chelsea, Manchester United, and Real Madrid, had tried to sign him, but he eventually joined Barcelona.
The transfer fee was around 30 million euros.
The moment he joined Barcelona, he produced performances worthy of that price tag and established his place.
And with Pedro, his positional rival, suffering a long-term injury, he was able to secure a starting place.
That way, he contributed to the team and achieved the feat of a domestic double in his first season.
And today.
Perhaps, in his very first season, he might achieve the great feat of winning the UEFA Champions League and the treble at the same time.
"I cannot let this go."
In other words, for Sánchez, this was an even more meaningful match than for most.
More than that, he had openly said in the past that Ho-young was his idol, so this match was especially significant to him.
Which meant he could not let this chance slip.
[Sánchez even gets past Vincent Kompany with a knock-and-run!]
[Ah, he is exploding!!]
A runaway charge.
As if trying to show someone something, he was imitating Ho-young's trademark explosive style.
And just as his desire to score rose all the way to the top of his head,
[Sánchez cuts inside and shoots!]
[Ahhhh, Joe Hart saves! He got fingertips to it!]
Thump!
But the attack did not end there.
The ball, touched by Joe Hart's fingertips, spilled back toward Sánchez, giving him another shooting chance.
And Joe Hart was down on the turf after diving.
In other words, it was a perfect chance to become the scorer of the opening goal in the final.
And then it happened.
[Sánchez, Sánchez! He has to hit it now!]
[He shoots!]
[Ahhh!! Super save! It is blocked!!]
The goal was completely open, it was a situation anyone with functioning feet could score from.
As a professional player, if you failed to score that, you would practically have to hand back your wages on the spot.
But something unbelievable happened.
A super save.
It was none other than Ho-young's block.
[Ho-young clears it with the studs of his boot!]
[Wow, what was that just now? It looked like a bullet had gone past. That was Ho-young, wasn't it?]
At the moment Sánchez took the first shot.
Ho-young, who had been in the third line, sprinted back at an astonishing speed and barely blocked Sánchez's second effort.
A scene that was impossible to believe even after seeing it.
It was at a level that could make someone think a cheetah had been let loose among humans.
[When the match is over and we look back on it, that might have been the fastest sprint Ho-young showed all game.]
[Yes, even thinking about it again gives me chills. In that moment, I actually thought of Usain Bolt. No, I even wondered if he might be faster than that.]
The transcendence of the body.
Now that it had been completed perfectly, this was the result of fully unleashing the power latent in his body.
The strain on his knee was something he had to accept.
Just as a human body strains when it uses the full extent of human ability, a superhuman body strains when it uses superhuman ability to excess.
Even so, the benefit was enormous.
With Ho-young successfully blocking the shot, the atmosphere in the stadium turned around.
And for good reason, because that had been the kind of chance everyone thought was guaranteed to go in.
That was the moment Barcelona's momentum began to break.
Around the 18th minute of the first half.
[The deflected ball reaches Zabaleta. He immediately passes it to Fellaini.]
[Fellaini receives it with his back to goal and glances behind him.]
Right behind him.
At that very moment, Ho-young burst forward.
Reviving the speed he had used to sprint back toward goal, he now charged into midfield.
Busquets, who had stepped up into midfield, stuck out a leg with intent, but Ho-young slipped past him by turning his body like a sports car making a sharp curve.
Then it happened.
Tap!
Fellaini played a short pass into the path of Ho-young, who was driving forward.
That was when Ho-young's solo run began.
[Ho-young goes!]
[Oooooooo! He is running! Ho-young! Ho-young is flying!!]
Everyone in the stadium could not contain their excitement.
As if they were at a racetrack, they all shouted in unison.
"Yes! That is it! You have to run!"
"Run! Run!!"
A furious reaction.
And it was not limited to the spectators.
"Young, go!!"
"That is it! Run! Run!!"
Joe Hart and Kompany, who had just stopped Sánchez's attack, were shouting themselves hoarse.
Maybe everyone had been waiting for this moment.
His other play had been incredible too, but this was still the best of all.
Knock-and-run.
Was this not Ho-young's signature, that glorious style of pushing the ball and running without looking back?
But at some point, Ho-young had begun conserving his body, so that kind of play had become less common.
Yet today was that day.
This knock-and-run, evolved by several levels from before, had no limits.
[Oooooh! Ho-young! He is getting faster and faster!]
A speed no one could possibly match.
No matter how determined Barcelona's players were, they were bound to wear themselves out and fall away.
And it was not just the speed that was frightening.
Thwack!
Thwaaaack!
Even while running at tremendous speed, Ho-young was adjusting the length of his dribbles and gliding past defenders.
There were no abrupt changes of direction at all.
Like a sports car weaving through traffic, if it looked like he was about to collide, he simply adjusted the length of the dribble in advance and slipped past them.
No, to be exact, it felt as if the opposing players were moving out of his way themselves.
"One more."
Whip!
[Ho-young gets past Piqué as well!!]
A state of rapture.
As Ho-young continued his unstoppable play, the crowd raised their voices even more.
"Oooooooo!"
"That is it!!"
And it was at the moment the noise of the crowd swelled to a peak.
[Valdés comes charging out in a hurry!]
Barcelona's reliable last man, Víctor Valdés.
His decision was correct.
Because Ho-young was charging toward goal with incredible dribbling speed.
It was only that Ho-young's abnormal talent ignored that ideal decision.
Whoosh.
"...!!"
[Ahhhh, that is insane!!]
A sudden stop, then a cut left.
Immediately after, a cut right again.
Ho-young executed all of those movements in an instant as if they were one single action, and Valdés was completely wrong-footed and ended up dropping onto his backside.
It was a skill move using David Silva's trademark La Pelopina Turn in quick succession.
And that was not all.
Ho-young unleashed the energy still left in his lower body and exploded forward again.
It was not a shot.
Instead,
Rustle!
He simply carried the ball with him straight into the goal.
[Goooooooal! Ho-young scores the opener!]
[What a ridiculous goal!!]
A solo dribble that began from the third line.
It was a remarkable play, a run of around 80 meters from start to finish.
[There is no arguing with this. That goal is winning this year's FIFA Puskás Award. I guarantee it. If it does not, I will never hold a microphone again!]
"Hoo!"
After testing the limits of his body, there was still nothing wrong with it.
If anything, he even felt refreshed.
And for good reason, because he had finally achieved something he had been longing for.
[You covet Emperor of Dribbling (T). You partially acquire Lionel Messi's experience and instincts. It will take 18 days to fully absorb the experience and instincts.]
That was thanks to fulfilling the condition, "Score after running more than 70 meters in the UEFA Champions League final."
It was such an absurdly difficult condition that one could wonder whether it had really been made to be achievable, but Ho-young had done it in the end.
And then.
"Next is Xavi."
It was the perfect chance to covet the one-of-a-kind talent in the world.
[Transcendent Passing (SSS-)].
"I can transcend even my passing-related talents now."
At the same time, there were also chances to covet talents from other players such as David Villa and Di María whenever the opportunity arose.
So Ho-young kept running.
He covered gaps all across the field on his own, sprinting from end to end.
It was the moment Manchester City, already complete, became perfectly flawless.
The remaining time had somehow already reached 45 minutes.
Piiik!
1-0.
The first half ended with Manchester City in front, and only one step remained before the long-awaited goal.
The grand slam.
It was no longer just a dream, but reality.
(To be continued.)