Chapter 124: Between Heaven and Earth Only the Word "Xia Qi" Remains
José Mourinho is a 1–0 man. After kickoff, Real Madrid players weren't anxious to attack; they played Tiki-Taka again.
The same Real fans who had booed earlier didn't dare boo now.
After countless passes that tore Arsenal's defensive shape to pieces, Real finally attacked.
Casemiro's position shifted — he was no longer in the attacking shape but roaming outside, tasked specifically with marking Xia Qi.
The responsibility of the double pivot fell solely on Xabi Alonso.
On the pitch Cristiano Ronaldo carried the ball forward and was blocked by Santi Cazorla.
Cristiano juggled the ball with little shifts, advancing bit by bit, while Cazorla retreated little by little.
Both were cautious; neither wanted to become the other's backdrop.
Great players carry an aura; an invisible pressure you can feel.
Cazorla felt suffocated by Cristiano's domineering presence.
Suddenly he pitied Pepe — just two minutes ago he had mocked Pepe as too weak.
Now he finally understood "Alexandre"!
He fixed his eyes on Cristiano's feet and lowered his center of gravity.
Stillness is better than action!
After several probes Cristiano couldn't find a weakness and the pair reached a standoff.
Seeing this, Kevin De Bruyne immediately closed him down.
Cristiano, having been caught out once before, didn't dare to be careless. Before the trap closed he nudged the ball toward the flank.
That nudge was meant to bait Cazorla into a leg poke; Cazorla bit.
As he reached, Cristiano quickly shifted his weight and pulled the ball back.
Then he threaded the ball through the gap between Cazorla and De Bruyne.
A little push, a pull, and a pass.
Cristiano used a long feint to open up Cazorla.
Planting his feet, he chased the ball.
"Classic Ronaldo move!"
"Less of Ronaldo's floaty style, more of his own power."
"Faster, harder — it has its own flavor!"
"Oh! Mertesacker went down, the referee didn't whistle."
"Umtiti covers!"
"Shoot! Cristiano shot!"
From around 35 meters out Cristiano unleashed a world-class strike.
In his prime, Cristiano could fire one from distance before Umtiti's recovery — unfortunately the ball skimmed past the crossbar and into the stands.
"Ouch!"
A chorus of sighs rose over the Bernabéu… Real fans all audibly sighed.
Cristiano was disappointed, shrugged and shook his head at the near miss.
Benzema, who had run into space up front, glanced at Cristiano and said nothing, turning away silently.
Off the pitch Benzema might stir trouble, but on it he is low-key and hardworking.
Every season he delivers assists from the striker's position, threading passes for Cristiano to wreak havoc.
[Cristiano chose a difficult long shot while Benzema had space.]
[If Cristiano had passed, Rooney's grievance wouldn't be so strong.]
[For Cristiano the long shot isn't hard; it wasn't a wrong choice. You can't expect every shot to go in; even Xia Qi can't do that every time.]
Martínez restarted with a goal kick. After a few passes the ball reached Xia Qi.
Casemiro immediately charged in for a "legal collision" on Xia Qi.
However in La Liga the usual hard charge didn't dislodge Xia Qi — Casemiro himself was surprised.
He hesitated for a split second, then felt a shadow shift ahead of him; Xia Qi had walked away unbothered.
"Danger!"
"Whoa! Did the chubby tiger not have breakfast?"
"Casemiro charged so hard, he was determined to put him down — he had nothing left in reserve."
"Don't judge Xia Qi's build; if he stripped his shirt he'd be all sinew!"
On the pitch Xia Qi gently stroked the ball with the outside of his left foot, then turned as if to leave.
Casemiro's recovery wasn't bad; he quickly re-positioned to block Xia Qi.
But for a powerhouse like Xia Qi, bypassing them was effortless.
With a burst of acceleration he swept past Casemiro's right side.
At that instant, against Xia Qi's absolute speed, Casemiro's defense seemed to run in slow motion…
They were operating on different time scales, the scene was surreal!
By the time Casemiro turned Xia Qi had already put five or six meters between them.
Pepe came in to cover!
Xia Qi manipulated the ball — a drag and a turn — and Pepe, schooled by defending Messi, didn't simply trail behind him. He gambled, spun, and ended up blocking Xia Qi's path.
That sort of defensive gamble is rare because it's high risk.
If Xia Qi had gone outside instead of inside just then, Pepe would have been out of position.
But in that moment it became a brilliant play.
Applause erupted around the Bernabéu.
The applause was loud — and they weren't quiet for long!
Amid the applause Xia Qi sent the ball beyond Pepe, playing it into the space he'd arrive to three seconds later.
To be safe from Pepe's interference, Xia Qi even ran a curved line.
Two points define the shortest path!
Pepe lunged at the ball to try to clear it before Xia Qi arrived — perhaps he overestimated his sliding speed or underestimated the fact that the shortest route between two points is a straight line.
Xia Qi blazed through and took the ball; Pepe's sliding tackle came late.
Seeing Pepe beaten, Sergio Ramos didn't hesitate and slid in.
Ramos's reaction was quick, but AI's calculations exceed human speed.
Xia Qi pulled the ball back and escaped Ramos' tackle.
Although Xia Qi had beaten two center-backs, he hadn't yet pierced Real's entire defense.
Alonso, 272, and Carvajal had tracked back, and Casemiro had also chased back behind Xia Qi.
Xia Qi pushed the ball toward the byline, getting past Casemiro, and 272 didn't give up — he shadowed Xia Qi all the way down.
"Real failed two sliding tackles; Balotelli, Walcott, and De Bruyne have come up. Is Xia Qi going to try the left side?"
"Casemiro's been eaten again — Xia Qi is indeed taking the left; 272 followed."
Near the corner, Xia Qi stopped the ball beside an ad board in Chinese: "Buy TEZO on Tmall."
There, beside that board, he stopped.
At that board Xia Qi stepped on the ball, spun, and turned past 272, driving along the byline toward goal.
Carvajal in the box rushed out to meet him; Balotelli was too far back to do anything but watch.
But Carvajal's challenge did little besides provide a body for Xia Qi to glide past.
Xia Qi nudged the ball through Carvajal's legs and used his drive to glide past him.
"Xia Qi got past Carvajal, picked the ball up centrally and stormed into the box — his dribbling is superb."
The whole eighty-thousand-plus Bernabéu crowd could no longer sit still.
Fans further away craned to watch the big screen for clarity; some even pulled out their phones to stream.
Closer fans kept their eyes wide on Xia Qi, while the stands behind Real's goal released waves of boos crashing down on him.
This moment — a sub-node in the match — wasn't yet decisive for the result, but it could determine momentum and even influence managerial tactics.
Diego López immediately positioned himself to block the near post and loudly called: "Close the post! Others cut off the passing lanes."
Xia Qi attacked along the byline at a near-impossible angle; if they shut the near post he'd have no shooting lane.
If the defending players cut off his passing lanes, this Arsenal attack would die — all Xia Qi's effort wasted.
Alonso moved toward Diego López.
On Xia Qi's left was the byline; slightly right and forward was Alonso; directly ahead was Diego López.
It looked like a dead end!
But that's human thinking!
In AI-Xia Qi's vision there were still goalposts and the crossbar!
Diego López bent forward, eyes fixed on Xia Qi's feet, legs together to prevent Xia Qi threading the small gap.
Alonso had his hands behind his back, body slightly leaning toward the goalkeeper.
He reasoned that either Diego would be caught by a shot, maybe yielding a goal, or charge forward and force a route between keeper and defender, perhaps even convincing a lenient referee for a penalty.
On Arsenal's side Balotelli was stationed near the goal line, only about three meters from the net, but he was separated from Xia Qi by Casemiro and Alonso.
Balotelli's right-rear was Walcott, marked by Ramos.
De Bruyne's defender in the center was Pepe.
So for Xia Qi to play to a teammate, the ball had to thread past Alonso plus another defender.
That was extremely difficult!
Putting aside impossibilities,
the truth was singular:
Xia Qi stepped on the ball, and with the arch of his right foot he pushed it toward goal!
Diego López felt a shock:
Is there space between me and the post?
Is my small goal ajar?
Is there a gap between me and Alonso?
He had no time to analyze; he crouched lower, coiling for a dive.
But the ball went on a diagonal rise!
Diego López froze — why a driven push instead of a chip? Wouldn't a chip be safer?
It didn't matter.
Boom!
The ball smashed the crossbar, but the goal whistle blew immediately after.
Diego López thought someone had reacted to the second ball.
True —
and not true!
After Xia Qi struck the ball he turned to face the furious, booing Real fans, spread his arms to the sides and slowly raised them up from below.
Standing in front of the opponent's fans, he encouraged them to boo louder.
It was a dominating gesture!
Even bolder was the fact that the ball hadn't even crossed the line yet!
He'd celebrated early!
Like an action-hero who never looks back at the explosion.
Real fans grew angrier and booed louder, but in the next second they swallowed the sound…
The driven shot's angle and speed surprised Diego López; he didn't move — and if he had dived it still would have been futile.
All of this had been calculated by AI.
The ball hit the crossbar and rebounded at a 45-degree angle to Balotelli at the far post; it bounced off his head and then in — into the net.
The Bernabéu fell silent for the third time!
This time they were truly stunned, no — petrified!
If Xia Qi hadn't celebrated early it would have been chalked up to luck.
But Xia Qi had celebrated — so it wasn't luck!
Although he could only be credited with an assist,
this was terrifyingly impressive.
Balotelli's confused expression in close-up showed they hadn't rehearsed this move.
Chilling on reflection!
Even the referee's whistle didn't immediately restore the Bernabéu's animation; people stood like scarecrows, heads raised watching the replay.
The slow motion replay unpacked the sequence — if Xia Qi hadn't celebrated early the goal was normal.
On the pitch, a blind swing can often be a wonder-goal!
That's not odd.
But if it wasn't blind…
Many inhaled sharply.
"Holy shit, what kind of monster is that?!"
Real fans were shell-shocked.
For a long time nothing happened.
Then the Bernabéu erupted like a nuclear blast.
"Xia Qi!"
"Xia Qi!"
"Xia Qi!"
It became the only word between heaven and earth!
After a simple, raw venting of emotion, the over twenty thousand Arsenal fans finally found other words.
"Oh my God!"
"Is this football snooker? Incredible!"
"Someone tell me, how did Xia do that?"
Wenger and Mourinho wore faces that said they'd seen a ghost.
After a few quiet seconds in the broadcast room, Zhan Jun's hysterical shout shattered the silence!
"38th minute: Xia Qi's miraculous assist! Balotelli the Pole-Post King heads it in for Arsenal's third, bringing the aggregate to 4–5!"
"Two more to go!"
"Visibly, Real fans have lost their smiles. The songs stopped; the fewer Arsenal supporters have taken over with their chants."
"Arsenal with Xia Qi is invincible — even the world's best clubs would kneel."
Online went mad!
"Get out of the way, this is insane."
"I knew every Xia Qi goal had surprises, but I still underestimated him — the end of surprises is a fright!"
"Quick question: is Xia Qi's early celebration just bravado because he wasn't sure?"
"Whether the shot was certain or not, his early celebration means he'd planned for the rebound. He aimed for the crossbar rebound."
"Xia Qi's early celebration is so stylish, love it."
"This is the most domineering and heart-stirring celebration in history."
…
On the pitch Balotelli felt a shadow rush past him; he barely had time to react — and the ball was in the net.
It felt like no achievement at all.
Then he thought, wait — my movement deserves fifty percent of the credit!
Having convinced himself, Balotelli sprinted toward Xia Qi.
On the touchline Wenger was happy but restrained.
He signaled his players not to waste too much time — they were still two goals down!
A two-goal deficit in football is still significant.
Play resumed…
Under Mourinho's instructions Real resumed safe passing in the back after kickoff.
This time the Real fans didn't boo them — they cheered them on…
"Arsenal's three-goal first half has humbled the arrogance of Real fans!"
"They're starting to respect their opponent!"
(END CHAPTER)
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