Chapter 98 — The Essence of the 3-2-5 Formation Is to Smash You to Pieces
Jupp Heynckes truly lived up to his reputation as the master who returned to Bayern and steered them three times — when Xia Qi killed the match with that S-ball, he immediately performed cardiac resuscitation on Bayern: a brilliant substitution, bringing on Mario Gómez to play as a second striker.
His players responded. Toni Kroos dropping into the No.10-but-deeper role, Mario Mandžukić willing to be the supporting forward, and the steady, unadventurous Mario Gómez together gave Bayern a new lease on life at death's door.
It was the 62nd minute; Bayern still needed three goals to equalize 7–7 on aggregate and advance on away goals.
With half an hour left, anything was possible.
Bayern didn't celebrate. Although the men who had just restored life to the match wanted to run into the wind, they held back their joy to focus on getting safely ashore.
Arsenal took the restart. After a few passes the ball reached Xia Qi.
At that moment, Bayern's defensive line didn't shrink back into the penalty area because Xia Qi was organizing the attack — they tried to spring an offside trap and hit on the break.
That was a mistake: they didn't take Zhao Zilong (a metaphor for a fearless attacker) seriously.
Indeed, Xia Qi's fame had more to do with his long-range break-ins than with orchestrating attacks.
The Arsenal 3-2-5 wasn't a makeshift shift; they'd trained it for a week, and the new 3-2-5 was just a variation of the old 3-4-3.
So although Lukas Podolski didn't usually interact much with Xia Qi in normal play, he still decisively made his forward run.
As he started, Xia Qi played the pass.
"Not offside!"
"Beautiful counter-offside."
Podolski lifted his leg to receive. What should have been a difficult, ultra-long pass landed perfectly — Xia Qi's angle and weight were just right.
It was so perfect that it actually confused Podolski, costing him half a second.
That extra 0.5 seconds was crucial. As Podolski lifted his boot to strike, Manuel Neuer was already in front of him.
At this level, matches are decided by that 0.5 second.
Podolski isn't an AI; thinking like a human, he struck at the chance.
He lifted and fired!
Neuer, surging forward, dived to block — not only did he parry the ball, he also collided with and knocked Podolski over.
"Penalty!"
"Penalty!"
Jupp Heynckes tensed on the touchline — if the referee was blind and awarded a penalty, Bayern's painstaking comeback would suddenly die again.
Fortunately the referee had eyes.
He waved his hand: no foul. Play on.
Podolski protested angrily.
"Referee didn't give it… ah, now Bayern are countering."
Honest men aren't always honest on the pitch!
Kroos saw Arsenal's players still dazed from arguing and immediately launched a huge clearance.
He struck it full power from his own box deep into Arsenal's half.
A sudden shout erupted around the Emirates: "Watch out!"
As a top team, Bayern's players were all switched on. Mandžukić tracked back, headed it on, Thomas Müller controlled and immediately played it forward — lofting it toward the far post.
Under Xia Qi's orchestration Arsenal had just pulled off a counter-offside; after that failed attack their players were caught out of position and hadn't retreated instantly.
Their back line was thin.
Arsenal keeper Emiliano Martínez had two options: dive for the far corner or trust his judgment and try to snatch the ball mid-air in the center — he chose the latter, rising high to "intercept."
Reality is cruel: he didn't reach the ball.
At that instant Martínez wanted to die.
In that moment the Emirates fell silent; time seemed frozen.
The ball fell to Gómez at the far post with a second goal ready to be celebrated.
Maybe Gómez didn't expect the keeper to miss and was unprepared.
Maybe the unexpected gift made his head spin and his technique faltered.
Maybe his technique was simply a bit lacking.
Whatever the reason, Gómez at the far post failed to hit it with power — his tap was limp, like an old lady shuffling along.
Samuel Umtiti sprinted back and, arriving just in time, booted the ball off the goal line.
"Oh, Gómez! What a chance — a match point! If that goes in Bayern, even though they'd still be behind on aggregate for a moment, the momentum would be massive."
"Arsenal escaped by the skin of their teeth but can't be complacent. The collective lapse just now mustn't happen again."
"As time goes on, Bayern will play more of these quick counters — they're down by three and don't have time for patient possession."
"Arsenal themselves are a fast-tempo team. As long as they don't make mistakes they should be able to handle it."
Play continued.
Bayern threw the ball in from the touchline.
Kroos received and passed back.
By now the Arsenal team had returned, so it wasn't the time to immediately attack.
Kroos knew you can't force things, so he gestured for his teammates to spread out to pull Arsenal's defense apart.
"Kroos is organizing the attack. He's playing the defensive-mid role with style — it's hard to imagine tonight is his first time there," said commentator Zhang Lu — not realizing that defensive midfield was Kroos's proper opening.
Bayern continued to pass patiently. As Bundesliga masters they had plenty of "hunting" experience and knew how to break compact defenses.
The ball reached Müller; he strolled thirty meters from Arsenal's goal as if on a leisurely walk.
Mikel Arteta couldn't stand his composure and pressed, but Müller seemed ready: a touch, a feint, a return, another turn — three changes of direction and Arteta was beaten. Santi Cazorla, seeing his teammate fooled, couldn't stand it and closed in to help.
They were baited!
The three-back Arsenal were pulled into exposing two holding midfielders; their box defense went into red alert.
Müller flicked back with his heel; Kroos arrived at the far post and fed the ball forward.
The ball skimmed the turf — "grass-level flight" — piercing Arsenal's defensive line and found Mario Mandžukić at the top of the penalty arc.
Mandžukić had his back to goal with Thomas Vermaelen tightly marking him.
Mandžukić isn't a static target-man; his playmaking is top class.
Seeing Kroos aim at his spot, Mandžukić made a movement as if to spin right.
Defending means denying the opponent's plan; breaking the opponent's intention is a basic rule.
Vermaelen resolutely prevented Mandžukić from turning right.
But Mandžukić didn't need to turn; he wanted Vermaelen's balance to shift.
So when Mandžukić raised his left leg and struck the ball with his left heel toward the left-rear, Vermaelen, committed to blocking his right side, couldn't stop the left-sided pass.
The ball threaded between the pair to the lurking Mario Gómez in the box.
"Mandžukić is brilliant. Even without goals so far, his playmaking lifts Bayern's front line by a whole level."
"This one's on!"
This time Gómez struck with power — the shot thundered toward the goal.
It wasn't a tricky angle, just fast — nothing else mattered.
But in the world of football, speed conquers all!
Martínez reacted quickly, but how can a man be faster than the ball? By the time he reached it, the ball was already in the net.
Gómez completed his brace — Heynckes's substitution paid off!
The match stood at 3–3.
Aggregate: 7–5.
Bayern needed two more goals — they were now in shallow water, a few strokes away from safety.
In the Emirates, the few Bayern fans roared as if they owned the stadium.
They chanted: "Eat, sleep, beat the Gunners!"
Damn it. If Barcelona had beaten us five times in a row, fine — they're powerful; but you, Bayern, too? This hurts the ego!
Arsenal fans were furious: "Xia Qi! Xia Qi! Xia Qi!"
When Death knocks, what do you do?
Answer: Open the door and let Xia Qi in!
...
On the Penguin live stream, Zhang Lu was far more excited than Zhan Jun — Zhang loved tactical analysis.
At first he wasn't impressed with Heynckes' changes. If Kroos dropped into midfield had some sense, then removing a defender to play two strikers seemed like a desperate gamble.
That was almost everyone's view.
Yet Heynckes' gamble paid off.
They hadn't yet defeated their opponents, but they were on the right path and saw the dawn breaking.
"This is football — you don't always need complicated tactics. Sometimes you must show your blade and gamble: a bet might turn a bicycle into a motorcycle."
Online, Heynckes was praised in chorus.
Back at the Emirates, Bayern's morale was high; they didn't celebrate yet.
Arsène Wenger's coaching trait came into play. Holding a two-goal aggregate advantage, he did not order the team to sit back; instead he told them to use attack as defense.
That's Wenger: refined in appearance, wild at heart!
On the pitch Arsenal kept possession with the same aim as Bayern had earlier: stretch the defense.
This was an open strategy. Bayern knew but had to engage — they were the trailing side after all.
Low presses were necessary.
When David Alaba was drawn out of position, Kevin De Bruyne played a diagonal through-ball. Xia Qi controlled on the right and burst forward; a quick acceleration shrugged off Müller and dragged Kroos forward to mark him.
Xia Qi slipped another diagonal to the right; Theo Walcott made a late diagonal run behind Xia Qi, stroking the ball a few times, then cutting inside into the right channel left by Alaba.
"Nice right-side combination. Arsenal play with layers."
"They seized the chance well: once Alaba pushed up the space was left. Jérôme Boateng's cover was timely — his recovery is strong."
On the pitch Walcott couldn't march unimpeded into the right channel; Boateng stopped him.
Walcott didn't try to run through Boateng — he went to the byline instead.
Walcott knew that aside from Messi, only Xia Qi might shrug off Boateng; Cristiano Ronaldo would yield. So going to the byline was the pragmatic choice.
But Boateng didn't let him off that easily.
In the cramped space they chased and tugged at each other; Walcott almost lost the ball several times.
As he neared the byline with no obvious chance to find Balotelli in the middle, he heard, "Behind you!"
Walcott recognized Xia Qi's voice — distinct and pleasantly timbred with a Manchester lilt in private, but on the pitch a cool London accent.
Walcott heel-flicked the ball back. It clicked across to Xia Qi, then arced in a stunning rainbow into Bayern's box toward Balotelli at the near post.
Balotelli dived forward like a bomber, head up to head the ball.
The header smashed the ball toward Bayern's goal.
Arsenal fans erupted!
Such a close-range header — fast and furious — not scoring would be harder than scoring.
But just as the ball looked set to cross the line, Manuel Neuer flashed in and with the tips of his fingers managed to shepherd it away.
"It's Neuer! Again Neuer!"
"Tonight isn't just a striker duel but a goalkeeper duel. Even though it's the 70th minute and five goals have been scored, both keepers have been phenomenal. If not for those divine saves the scoreline could easily have been double digits."
"This is the beauty of attacking football — both sides playing positively produce many brilliant moments."
"Arsenal didn't extend the lead, but they shook their opponents."
[Neuer is incredible — a world-class keeper. Even that close shot he saved.]
[What's up with Arsenal? Why is no one else besides Xia Qi able to break Neuer's gate? Does Neuer have 'Xia-phobia', or did Balotelli play the field last night? Triumph off the pitch, failure on it?]
Play continued.
Bayern switched tactics and returned to their familiar wings-and-center combination.
Müller's strengths began to show — he linked wings and center beautifully.
But this time Xia Qi didn't hook up directly with Müller.
Wenger decided to ignore Bayern's changes and told his players to stick to their pattern: from now on, the real 3-2-5.
"Wenger is not conservative! He answers Bayern's wing play with equally fierce offense and the teams trade blows," Zhan Jun roared, goosebumps rising.
"This is the style proper to Bundesliga and Premier League leaders. It's the confidence of a world-class coach in his tactics."
Fans loved the open trade.
The tempo rose rapidly and the match entered a white-hot phase.
Although fast breaks suit Arsenal, this time they were at risk.
Heynckes watched Wenger and his face showed admiration — not because Wenger had handed Bayern chances but because he respected Wenger's coaching philosophy.
Heynckes, himself a proponent of attack, had created many annihilations as Bayern's manager. Yet in this tit-for-tat, his Bayern didn't have a clean edge.
Don't be fooled by Arsenal having five men forward: their attack wasn't complicated, it was brutally simple.
Faced with Bayern's world-class rear, if they couldn't penetrate the box they dumped balls into Bayern's area.
Balotelli fought the first ball aggressively, Xia Qi hunted the second, and wings Podolski and Walcott played the instigators.
Those five — aerial bombing, short infiltration, near-post poaching, long-range strikes — mastered every weapon. Who needs a fancy tactical bicycle? Just smash you with star power.
Heynckes watched two or three minutes and finally understood.
He withdrew his admiring gaze and muttered, "So you're that kind of sly fox! Even tying a dog to the coaching bench would do."
In truth, that was going too far!
Wenger's change was supported by data. Though it looked like five frontmen ignoring each other, there was tactical coordination.
On the pitch Walcott attacked down the right and Franck Ribéry chased.
Ribéry was comfortable defending Walcott; Walcott couldn't cut inside nor easily find a pass into the box — it looked like he'd only be able to take it all the way to the byline.
Walcott was following the script. When he reached the byline he unexpectedly whipped in a powerful cross, not aiming for precision but for a general zone.
Because Ribéry pressed, Walcott couldn't clearly see his teammates, he just followed the tactical instruction.
Ribéry didn't expect such power. Due to the misjudged weight, he delayed half a beat in closing it down.
The ball flew from the right to the left like it had crossed mountains.
"Arsenal's big switch of play!"
"Oh! Walcott's cross was overhit."
"Podolski managed to check it on the touchline; Arsenal lost the chance to break quickly."
Javi Martínez met it; in the second half Bayern were using three at the back and as a holding midfielder he had to recover.
Podolski danced and created a crossing angle.
The ball reached Bayern's box.
Balotelli and Dante leaped for the near post; Walcott flew to the far post to pounce.
The ball was a bit high — Balotelli overjumped. Walcott stretched his arms to shield David Alaba behind him.
But Neuer leapt in the center. The ball was a touch high and he couldn't catch it — he slapped it away with his fingertips.
The ball flew to Toni Kroos at the edge of the box.
Behind Kroos, like a red lightning bolt, Xia Qi rushed in — but Kroos was completely unaware and made no defensive move.
"Watch out!"
"Behind you!"
The Bayern players shouted.
Too late!
Xia Qi ghosted past Kroos, leapt, his body soaring with a sliding step in the air.
In fact it was an AI-esque change of foot — an AI doesn't have a weak foot, but Xia Qi did the swap because his left-footed strike felt more explosive and gave a better chance to score.
That change of foot caused a stadium sensation!
Human beings have dreamt of flying since childhood.
Jordan and Kobe's hang-time, Robin van Persie's flying volley, Klinsmann's aerial barrage, Cristiano Ronaldo's extreme leaps — none compared to Xia Qi's air-walk.
Xia Qi took a step mid-air; his left foot swung back and then forward to strike the ball…
(END CHAPTER)
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