Chapter 180: Either You Explode in Attack or You Die in Attack
"Arsenal have reached the most dangerous moment. Facing a strong Bayern, they need to score two goals in twenty minutes—there's no doubt that's an extremely difficult task!"
"Tonight's Arsenal, including Xia Qi, are a different team from the Arsenal that twice beat Bayern last season. They seem to have lost that fearless courage…"
…
…
With just over twenty minutes left, Arsenal needed to score two goals in the remaining time to advance, provided Bayern didn't score again.
That was undeniably tough,
because on the pitch, Bayern were fiercer and more combative than Arsenal—
it was truly despairing!
At this critical moment,
the broadcast camera gave Xia Qi a close-up.
Under the lens, Xia Qi's face was stern; he clearly understood how bad the situation already was.
Fans were calling for their hero; the song "Song of Xia Qi" pricked at his heart like a needle.
He knew he wasn't him, yet at this moment he was him!
Don't panic, baby!
You have a 95 ability stat, and even the world's double peaks Messi and Ronaldo are only 97; and now there's no Messi or Ronaldo on the other side—none compare to you!
Calm down, baby!
Actually, we've not played badly in this match; at some moments we even had the advantage, but our ability to convert advantage into victory is weaker than the opponent's.
It's not that there were no chances—just that we couldn't seize them. So there are still chances!!
Under this self-hypnosis of the A Q spirit, Xia Qi's drumming heart slowly calmed, and ideas began to form in his head:
First, the whole team must not panic or become rash—an army in rout cannot win battles.
So we must quickly regain confidence.
Last season's frequent "firefighting hero" had become his teammates' stabilizer.
If I don't panic, the team won't panic; if I'm confident, the team will be confident.
Having thought this through, Xia Qi clapped and called his teammates.
He pressed his hands down, making a "calm" gesture.
At the same time he signaled the four defenders to push up as a whole—an offside trap tactic.
Seeing a bit of hesitation on Per Mertesacker's face, Xia Qi shouted, "Don't think about whether they'll score again—what we need to solve now is whether we can score."
"It's nothing—just score more than them. Two goals not enough? Score three. Three not enough? Score four…."
"Attack! We need to attack!"
"If you don't explode in attack, you die in attack."
"Fight! We have no choice but to fight!"
Santi Cazorla clapped: "Listen to Xia! Xia, I'm willing to fight with you!"
"Count me in!"
"Me too!"
"..."
Xia Qi's words removed the defenders' doubts—what use is defending well if you don't score?
They had to score, and soon the whole team unified their approach.
Bayern returned to position after celebration, and Arsenal had already set up.
Once minds are aligned, a team is easier to lead.
After kickoff, Arsenal pushed everyone up, ignoring Mario Mandžukić's on-the-front fixation; to avoid offside, Bayern's forwards were forced to retreat toward their own goal along with Arsenal's back line.
Of course, this approach carried risks, but at this point there was no time to worry about that.
Around thirty meters from Bayern's goal, unable to find an opening, Xia Qi drifted out to the left flank.
Bayern's defensive midfielder Javi Martínez and their captain Philipp Lahm exchanged glances, then Lahm came over to mark Xia Qi.
Two captains were now matching up on the pitch—
you've got to show some respect in that case!
Kevin De Bruyne played the ball to Xia Qi.
Xia Qi cushioned the ball intending to turn, but realized he would run straight into Lahm's arms.
He didn't force it and instead returned the ball to De Bruyne.
Then he ran diagonally, pushing into the channel at the edge of the box.
Lahm hesitated slightly, choosing to stick with Xia Qi; he followed his run.
Sure enough, De Bruyne still combined with Xia Qi.
The ball arrived at Xia Qi at the near post.
Lahm accelerated and lunged, but Xia Qi was closer and faster; he sprinted forward, looked briefly at goal and met Manuel Neuer's eye, but didn't shoot—he instead slid the ball left-frontward with his right foot.
On the flank, Serge Gnabry—subbed on in the second half—charged forward at high speed.
"Arsenal have worked a combination down the left. Lahm has been drawn out by Xia Qi; Gnabry is unmarked—this is a chance."
Pep Guardiola was stunned and glanced at Arsène Wenger in disbelief.
Trailing, sacrificing the European Golden Boot-scoring ability to bring him out and shield the flank newbie—Wenger, you do love your little darlings!
Bayern's players hadn't expected the star Xia Qi to act as a decoy for a nameless assistant;
they were a little caught off guard!
Gnabry received the ball and ran unimpeded into Bayern's box.
Jerome Boateng hurried up to intercept,
Gnabry didn't attempt to dribble past; he played the ball along the penalty line into the box.
The ball rolled along the turf, from left to right, parallel to the goal, five meters away.
Inside the box,
Xia Qi and Mario Balotelli both charged toward goal, splitting near and far posts to contest the ball.
Their runs immediately threw Bayern's defense into confusion.
Lahm's start was a half-beat slow; he couldn't keep up with Xia Qi and, in a panic, called for Dante to help.
Seeing Xia Qi go in with a sliding attempt, Dante didn't hesitate and slid in too,
but neither managed to make contact with the ball at the near post.
The ball rolled along the turf, brushing their studs.
At the far post,
Balotelli surged like a gale and struck a powerful shot.
At the crucial moment David Alaba arrived in time to block with his foot and the ball popped up.
Just as Bayern breathed a sigh of relief, a red figure darted into their peripheral vision.
Kevin De Bruyne met the ball, getting to it ahead of the Bayern players, and dinked a first-time finish!
The ball traced a small looping arc into goal.
Manuel Neuer, though making a save motion, couldn't reach the ball.
"Goal!"
"It's the 78th minute. Arsenal have, through dazzling combinations, finally scored to equalize. The match is 2–2 tonight, but on aggregate Arsenal still trail 5–6."
Pep Guardiola shouted from the touchline, visibly furious at his side conceding.
Arsenal's players didn't celebrate; Xia Qi and the others merely ran to De Bruyne, patting his back or ruffling his hair...
Guardiola gestured to his players to calm down and shouted, "Steady! Don't rush—control the rhythm. We're the side in the lead; they should be the ones panicking."
After Mario Götze's restart, Bayern did indeed avoid rushing forward.
But Arsenal's players scattered like mad dogs and pressed aggressively.
Götze passed back, Mandžukić returned to Schweinsteiger, who passed to Arjen Robben—Robben, under Theo Walcott's pressure, passed back to Götze.
Götze received centrally and was shepherded to the flank by the joint efforts of De Bruyne and Cazorla.
On the left, Serge Aurier suddenly stole in from behind, cut the ball forward and poked it to De Bruyne.
"Three against one—Götze loses it. He's indecisive; he should have disposed of the ball earlier."
"De Bruyne's precise long pass. Xia Qi takes it and prepares to cut inside; Javi Martínez steps up to mark him."
On the pitch, Xia Qi feinted a forward drive—just a dummy to draw out Javi Martínez's weight—then sharply pushed the ball sideways, creating a passing angle and sending a diagonal through ball.
"A textbook diagonal, like a surgical cut through Bayern's defense."
The ball avoided all defenders precisely and landed at Balotelli's feet.
Balotelli was overjoyed; if this weren't a match he'd want to hug and bite Xia Qi's cheeks.
What brotherhood is this—
look, Xia Qi handed the meal straight to him.
No more talk—sprint and shoot.
"Boom!"
The ball struck Boateng.
Neuer pulled Boateng up and gave him a big hug.
Boateng had blocked the danger in time and averted the crisis.
Balotelli fell to the ground and pounded the turf.
Rising, he clasped his hands in apology to Xia Qi.
From the resulting corner, Boateng again judged the first contact and headed the ball clear of the box.
Bayern launched a counterattack.
Götze lofted a long pass; Mandžukić and Per Mertesacker jumped together to contest, but mid-air they elbowed each other and both fell awkwardly.
Referee Nicola Rizzoli glared at them and warned with his eyes.
The ball ultimately fell kindly to Arsenal goalkeeper Martínez.
Martínez quickly restarted; Cazorla received and fed De Bruyne.
De Bruyne curled a low driven arc with his outside foot.
It slid cleverly through Bayern's midfield and dropped at Xia Qi's near post.
"Nice ball!"
"Xia Qi receives it at the top of the arc."
In the first leg, Xia Qi had a 40-meter shot; from this position Javi Martínez wasn't willing to give him too much dribbling space.
He had to stick tight to him,
which was exactly what Xia Qi wanted—he immediately put his foot on the gas and charged at Javi Martínez.
Javi Martínez panicked, not wanting to serve up Xia Qi for an easy meal—
in a flash he braked and shifted into reverse gear, taking a step back to create distance.
But unexpectedly, Xia Qi's forward burst was only one step; in the same instant he also braked and stepped back.
Seeing Xia Qi stabilize his center of gravity, slightly adjust his angle, and lift his right foot!
Fuck!
Sneaky!
Javi Martínez judged Xia Qi was going to shoot and lunged.
But Xia Qi's right foot did not strike the ball—he placed his foot to the left of it, used the outside of his foot to flick the ball, changed direction, and then pushed it forward as they crossed.
"Javi Martínez was cut open."
In an instant Martínez felt a bitter taste in his mouth—he hadn't wanted to be eaten alive but ended up as sashimi.
"Xia Qi faked a long shot to draw Javi Martínez out, then changed direction to glide past him."
"That shot looked so real—I even shouted 'Shoot!'"
On the pitch,
Boateng tried to block and cover,
Xia Qi performed the same move again; Boateng and Javi Martínez, like Martínez before, rushed to try to stop him.
Dante wanted to cover his face—this was humiliating for the old partner.
One trap could bury you twice!
He was truly stunned!
He quickly pointed at Balotelli and signaled David Alaba to come and help defend.
He himself confronted Xia Qi head-on.
Having just performed the fake-shot-then-real-run, Xia Qi knew one trick alone wouldn't be enough against an angry Dante charging in.
He used the instep of his right foot to pull the ball onto the calf of his other leg, did a lateral hop and back-swinged leg to lift the ball over Dante's head from behind—
a rainbow flick!!!
Dante's head exploded with a ringing "boom," a black flash crossed his vision and the world lit up… Xia Qi was gone.
Xia Qi didn't even give him a chance to foul. Before Dante could react, Xia Qi had swept past and reached the ball.
Alaba panicked,
abandoning marking Balotelli and rushed to cover.
Buoyed by the fans, Xia Qi's adrenaline surged and he stubbornly wanted to finish it himself.
If it were Al mode, of course he'd pass,
but he was now zoned in.
He pulled the ball in, slid it sideways to change direction—
and again, a feint!!!!
He drew the ball back after having pushed it out.
"Cow tail move!!!"
"Xia Qi's gone wild! After a rainbow he's performed a nutmeg; after the match will Bayern players corner him in the bathroom?"
On the pitch, Xia Qi used a cow-tail move to bring the ball back, then sent it forward precisely through the legs of David Alaba who had lunged across.
Bayern fans instantly exploded with fury,
Arsenal fans screamed themselves hoarse with excitement.
Under murderous stares from Bayern supporters, Xia Qi stopped, pivoted on his left foot, executed a not-quite-perfect Cruyff turn, and spun past a flushed Alaba.
(Alaba: Nonsense. I'm not Liu Xing, I'm Black Liu Xing.)
Alaba reflexively closed his legs and failed to block the ball, instead losing his balance.
"Xia Qi has broken through Bayern's defense and is one-on-one with the keeper."
Neuer quickly shuffled to the near post, dropped his center of gravity, spread his arms and blocked off nearly all angles.
But Xia Qi had gone mad; his mind had no reason left.
He wound up his right leg, feinted a shot,
and Neuer, sharp-eyed, recognized the fake and didn't want to stay planted like a shot-stopper waiting for Xia Qi's next move.
He decisively came out!
Diving toward the ball at Xia Qi's feet,
this move hit Xia Qi's core—he quickly dragged the ball sideways, nudged it left, moving the ball from his right to the left of his body.
Before the flying Neuer could recover and make his double save to the right, Xia Qi cut across and tapped the ball into the empty net.
"Goal!"
"That box-to-box player has returned—he devoured five players including the keeper. This is a goal that will surely go down in the history books."
"Tonight's Puskás Award is born. Compared with this strike, other nominations are simply weak."
"Xia Qi used fake-shot-then-go, a rainbow flick, a nutmeg, dribbled past the keeper and tapped into the empty net—an unprecedented goal."
"For this one goal, staying up late was worth it!"
Bayern's players were listless after the goal—some stared at the ground dejectedly, some bit their lips and watched the replay on the big screen…
After scoring, Xia Qi ripped off his shirt as he ran and waved it in celebration…
He had not understood before why those "idiots" took off their shirts and earned yellow cards to celebrate,
but tonight, when he was the "idiot" himself, he finally understood—this was youth.
(END CHAPTER)
Thank you for the support, friends. If you want to read more chapters in advance, go to my Patreon.
Read 20 Chapters In Advance: patreon.com/Bankai10