Chapter 182: That Wingless Maniac Who Can Do Everything Except Goalkeeper—The King Returns
Seeing Xia Qi trip Franck Ribéry, the Arsenal supporters screamed in shocked delight!
They weren't worried about Ribéry, of course — they were afraid Xia Qi would be sent off. Looking back now, that shirtless celebration earlier had been truly foolish.
Then people saw Ribéry had been tripped so badly that feces and urine ran, spotting a smear of shit on the back of his white shorts. They wanted to laugh but dared not, for fear of angering the referee.
When the referee made his decision, the stadium erupted into deafening cheers.
Arsenal fans then began to taunt Ribéry. They didn't want to know the truth; they only accepted what they wanted.
In an instant Ribéry's mood turned sour and his play deteriorated — two of his subsequent runs were both cut out by Xia Qi.
Seeing their comrade humiliated, Alaba took up the task of attacking.
He charged forward with the ball, Xia Qi pressed closely.
Alaba didn't accelerate away; instead he deliberately slowed, waiting for Xia Qi.
He wanted to avenge Ribéry, to toy with Xia Qi and reclaim lost face.
When Xia Qi closed in, Alaba suddenly stopped, cut inside into the inside lane.
Xia Qi slammed on the brakes too, turned, and followed closely.
Alaba had been waiting for that moment when Xia Qi adjusted his center of gravity — that moment is when a player is usually unsteady.
Alaba shielded the ball tightly between his legs and charged into Xia Qi aggressively.
However, Alaba's envisaged smash-and-break scene did not occur; the unsteady Xia Qi matched him, and neither gained the advantage.
Alaba didn't lose the ball but he lost speed and the chance to cut inside.
He began to regret his earlier decision.
Seeing he had Alaba tied up, Xia Qi quickly reached to hook the ball.
In a flash the two traded moves:
first Alaba thrust his backside out and nudged Xia Qi back,
then Xia Qi, after being shoved and missing the hook, immediately converted the hook into a poke — a poke at the ball!
He poked it and the ball rolled outward.
At that moment Alaba couldn't afford a second back-thrust to fully shove Xia Qi away; he could only chase the ball.
Xia Qi wouldn't let him go, and charged after it; the two tangled again.
"Pass!"
"Here!"
Ribéry saw Alaba being single-minded, focused on his duel with Xia Qi, forgetting that a group of men confronting one was the true way to dominate.
Hearing Ribéry call, Alaba glared at Xia Qi like a woman wronged through three lifetimes, then used his body to hold Xia Qi off, grudgingly preparing to knock the ball to Ribéry.
With his back to Xia Qi and resentment in his heart, Alaba's touch was slightly affected and his pass wasn't as quick.
Then, from behind him, Xia Qi suddenly let go and slid out from behind Alaba toward Ribéry.
Because of limited sightlines, that sudden sliding tackle took Ribéry by surprise.
Players' instinct to protect themselves first kicked in; Ribéry jumped without thinking.
Only after he leapt did Ribéry realize, but he didn't regret it: Xia Qi was ninety percent likely to have knocked the ball out for a throw-in.
A throw-in at this moment would be acceptable.
However, the ball Ribéry expected to be cleared out did not leave the field.
The tackle kept the ball in play.
A beautiful "Paolo Maldini-style tackle and keep" — Xia Qi kept the ball inside the pitch.
As soon as he retained it, Xia Qi sprang up from the ground.
Bayern were attacking and this was the perfect moment for an Arsenal counterattack: "Arsenal start the counter!"
On the pitch, Alaba realized he had caused trouble and gifted the opponent a chance for a defensive-to-offensive break.
He rushed back from behind to contain it.
Committing a foul and conceding a defensive free kick to stop Arsenal's counter would be worth it.
But Xia Qi seemed to have eyes in the back of his head; he twisted on his right foot to pivot and surged forward, brushing past the Alaba who'd lunged in for a sneaky tackle.
In an instant Alaba regretted lunging so hard — he couldn't stop and had to watch Xia Qi speed past him…
"Beautiful turn and escape!" Zhang Lu shouted excitedly: "Top-class anticipation, god's-eye view. The moment Xia Qi got the ball he had already predicted Alaba's counter-press; immediately after getting the ball he performed an escape move…"
After beating his man, Xia Qi didn't keep running with the ball — counterattacks require speed, carrying it alone would be too selfish.
He looked up at the front a bit and played a pass.
The ball skittered along the turf like a torpedo, very fast — a ground missile.
Bayern's defensive midfielder Javi Martínez saw the ball rolling toward him and went in with a tackle, but only hit the shadow of the ball.
Javi Martínez turned and shouted behind him: "Careful!!"
Warning the defenders behind to be alert,
Dante surged forward to intercept the ball mid-route.
But the ball seemed alive: as it raced it suddenly curved to the right!
Not only did it avoid Dante,
but crucially, it rolled into the path of Mario Balotelli who was sprinting forward.
"'N'-shaped pass!"
"Holy shit! Who just passed that — Xia Qi or Ding Ding? Or has the N-shaped pass become mainstream now?"
Bojan/Boteng? No — defending Balotelli was Jérôme Boateng.
Boateng and Balotelli were both sprinting back toward their goal; Boateng positioned himself inside and ahead of Balotelli.
The ball coming from left to right had to pass in front of him.
If he could get to the ball before Balotelli and disrupt it, Xia Qi's pass would be fireworks — pretty but harmless. Bayern would only suffer a scare.
Boateng, high-speed tracking back, kept his "lead" over Balotelli while watching the ball's trajectory, searching for the right point to break it.
After his brain ran at full CPU speed, Boateng launched a sliding challenge toward the ball.
He thought he could get it — Guardiola, Dante, and Bayern fans believed he could.
Compared to the hurried Javi Martínez, Boateng had time to prepare.
But Boateng failed to reach it.
He was just fractionally late; the ball grazed past his toe…
A sliver decides heaven or hell.
Boateng's heart jolted and he instinctively glanced at Balotelli.
Balotelli had swept by him and used the outside of his right foot to guide the bending ball into the center.
"One-on-one!"
"An absolute gilt-edged chance!"
At that moment every seat in the Emirates felt spring-loaded; everyone sprang up. In their sight Dante and Boateng were behind Balotelli.
Arsenal fans threw their arms up and yelled.
Bayern fans gasped.
Because everyone knew what this meant.
Balotelli's control wasn't steady — he had to avoid a possible foul.
Although Boateng hadn't committed, Balotelli still had to be wary, so his first steps were a bit awkward.
Manuel Neuer decisively abandoned his line and rushed out.
Facing Neuer's charge, Balotelli had no time to adjust his balance and shot in his stagger.
Seeing Balotelli just swing away, Xia Qi's kick (some nonsense phrase about kick), Neuer's forehead furrowed with black lines…
His heroic Batman moment had been stolen by Xia Qi's poke.
If the shot went in, he would not be a hero but the team's sinner, because Dante in chase might still catch up.
Balotelli lofted the ball over Neuer's head into the empty net; Neuer had not expected the off-balance Balotelli to still shoot, and he froze, only watching the ball sail into the net behind him.
"Shit! That went in!"
Neuer and Dante cursed angrily.
If regret had a potion —
when the ball bent, no, even when Boateng slid, Dante would have immediately tracked back.
If regret had a potion —
Neuer would have steadied himself and trusted his teammates, choosing not to rush out.
After shooting, Balotelli, having lost his balance, fell on the turf and was piled on by Xia Qi and others!
It was the 86th minute: Arsenal 4–2, leading Bayern by two goals.
"Goal! Strange though — although Arsenal lead by two, they haven't completely killed the game. If Bayern score one in the remaining time, the aggregate would be 7–7, and both sides would have three away goals.
"The match would go to extra time, and if still level then into the cruel lottery of penalties."
"But for Bayern the remaining minutes are limited. The referee has given four minutes of stoppage time. Oh, Guardiola is protesting to the fourth official."
On the touchline Pep Guardiola shouted at the fourth official, then gestured to his wrist at the referee — though there was nothing on his wrist, everyone knew what he meant.
While Arsenal players celebrated, Thomas Müller came on to replace Bastian Schweinsteiger.
Although Müller's substitution was a bit late, it was a statement.
Arsenal players returned to their half, and Bayern's players took up position.
The air above the Emirates instantly became heavy.
Whether in the stadium or in front of a TV, everyone knew the decisive moment had arrived!
Bayern's fighting spirit hadn't been wholly crushed because if they scored one more, the tie would reset.
Eight minutes left — the first leg had been a killer, the second leg a draw; thinking of this pumped the Bayern players' adrenaline.
Play restarted, and they surged forward energetically as if injected with adrenaline.
Bayern threw everything forward, not afraid of conceding another goal, but Arsenal were afraid. Xia Qi waved his hand and the whole team fell back to defend.
Arsenal defended tightly; after several forward pushes, Bayern couldn't break Arsenal's defense. Instead they were rattled by high pressing led by Xia Qi.
Müller, forced, had to lay the ball back to Mario Götze; Götze switched it to the right and Ribéry received it.
Ribéry had just turned with the ball when he saw the one person he least wanted to see.
Xia Qi!!!!
"Shit!"
Ribéry cursed inwardly. Although he had beat Xia Qi earlier in the match, Xia Qi had humiliated him deeply afterward.
With eight minutes left, Ribéry really didn't want to match up against Xia Qi again — every one-on-one felt tingling in his behind…
Although he hated to admit it, it was a psychological reaction beyond his control.
Just as Ribéry tried to drive forward with the ball, Xia Qi suddenly accelerated to press.
Xia Qi's press was extremely sudden. Facing speed-type wingers like Ribéry, Robben, Bale… it's usually better to maintain distance and drop slightly for defense.
Of course close marking can work, but Ribéry hadn't expected Xia Qi to be so decisive.
Afraid that Xia Qi would eat him alive?
He didn't have time to think; Xia Qi had already closed in and crushed his dribbling space to the utmost.
Ribéry tried to force his way through but couldn't — he couldn't get past.
But he also couldn't let Xia Qi poke the ball away.
On the touchline Guardiola shouted angrily: "Pass! Pass!"
Time was burning — you can't waste it battling someone one-on-one.
They have plenty of youth, what about you?
It's a death countdown!
Hearing Guardiola's shout and unable to get past, Ribéry opted to pass back.
"Great defending!"
"That wingless maniacs who can do everything except goalkeeper is back — he's Arsenal's mobile long wall on defense."
Seeing Ribéry pass back, Xia Qi decisively ran into the center.
He didn't want extra time; he'd put all his stamina for the extra time sweep into this moment.
Every inch of land soaked with blood!
Led by Xia Qi, Arsenal's morale soared; they forced Bayern to pass and move only in their own defensive third.
After a few sideways passes in their backline, Javi Martínez seized an opportunity to play a long ball to the left, to Arjen Robben.
Looking at the formerly idolized bald man, Xia Qi made no hesitation and rushed forward swiftly.
Xia Qi knew his idol's inside cut was lethal; that burst of acceleration is hard to defend.
So Xia Qi pressed decisively, aiming to hold Robben before he could launch.
Robben had been let down by Javi Martínez — the defensive midfielder hadn't given Robben a weighted pass in advance.
That forced Robben to receive with his back to goal; his technical strengths couldn't be exploited.
By the time he controlled it, he found he couldn't turn.
Left, right, a few turns, hips twisting, he couldn't find a weak spot in Xia Qi's defense; forcing a turn risked landing right in Xia Qi's arms.
Not acceptable.
While Robben pondered how to breakthrough, Götze shouted: "Hurry up, pass it, don't dilly-dally!"
Robben was annoyed. Though Götze was liked by the club higher-ups, on the pitch and in the dressing room he was still just a junior.
That attitude…
As he momentarily lost focus, a leg that did not belong to him appeared between his legs.
The ball was poked away by Xia Qi's defensive interception to Serge Gnabry.
"Xia Qi has stopped Robben again; whether it's Robben or Ribéry, they cannot break through the 'wing-breaking demon' defense. Xia Qi has broken Bayern's wings."
Zhan Jun's commentary was filled with admiration. He didn't know what Xia Qi had endured, but he knew the boy who'd become as powerful as a manga character — tonight, the king had returned.
Arsenal fans felt the same. Xia Qi's repeated presses had broken Bayern's wings — those wings were Europe's most efficient flanks — the only drawback was that it cost a lot of vocal cords to shout his praise.
On the pitch Xia Qi shouted to Serge Gnabry: "Serge, slow down a bit. Kevin, you take it."
Gnabry, who had run hard after receiving the ball, was chastised by Xia Qi…
On the sideline Wenger smiled.
As the train of time slowly rolled past the Emirates, Wenger sat there, gazing affectionately at Xia Qi running on the pitch, seeing in him the image of his compatriot number four captain.
From now on, he and he — nine and four — would be Arsenal's anchors and Arsenal legends… (END CHAPTER)
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