Chapter 210: Only Another Aerial Acrobat Can Defeat an Aerial Acrobat
The scoreboard at the Estádio da Luz glaringly showed:
2:1!
Arsenal had actually taken the lead!
After scoring, Serge Gnabry ran toward the north stand amid a tidal wave of cheers.
Under the stand, Gnabry struck a heroic, sword-drawing pose; under his blade, Xia Qi, Mario Balotelli and the others fell as if cut down by his sword, becoming the ghosts of his victory...
Seeing their academy graduate towering like Lü Bu, unmatched by anyone, the cheers from the stand grew deafening.
Play resumed and Arsenal tried to press their advantage, to chase a third goal and extend the lead to 3:1 — a margin that would all but seal the game.
But the path to victory is never smooth.
The trailing Real Madrid did not fall apart.
Arsenal's attacking waves crashed against Real's defensive dyke — noisy and high but unbroken.
Not only did Arsenal fail to extend the lead, they left spaces when pushing forward and Real Madrid seized on one such gap to launch a beautiful counterattack.
In first-half stoppage time, Iker Casillas quickly launched a goal kick.
After a few exchanges from the controlling midfield, Luka Modrić played the ball into the penalty area from the right side of the attack.
From the crowd, a white figure suddenly leapt high,
his elevation clearly surpassing everyone else, as if freed from gravity.
Truly: to stand on the highest peak and look down on the crowd.
At that moment,
everyone watched in stunned disbelief!
"Cristiaaaaaan…" As Cristiano Ronaldo leapt, commentator Zhang Lu dragged out the syllables and shouted…
For as long as Zhang Lu drew out his tone, Ronaldo hung in the air.
This was no illusion—
it was fact: some people are favored by the goddess of the earth, unshackled by gravity.
Not only did Cristiano jump higher, he also stayed aloft longer than others.
Per Mertesacker cursed him in English, French, German, Russian and Chinese, and Ronaldo still circled over his head;
only when an Italian expletive slipped out did Cristiano eventually whip his head down and powerfully head the ball.
Zhang Lu finished the second half of his shout: "…Ronaldo…"
Under Arsenal fans' mixed looks of envy, hatred and fear, the ball blazed like a white light, pierced past Martínez's attempted block, and hit the net behind him.
2:2 — level!
Cristiano Ronaldo completed a brace, wiping out all of Xia Qi's efforts and returning the sides to even.
"Wow! Incredible!"
"Cristiano is simply not bound by gravity. He floats effortlessly — a bomber of a header!"
"With the half nearly over, Ronaldo's brace has forcefully equalized the score!"
"This is Cristiano! Cristiano the king of comebacks!"
"That jump, that hang time, that core strength — it's inhuman. Sorry, viewers, I shouldn't swear, but Ronaldo is just out of this world…"
After the goal, Cristiano again celebrated under the north stand and, in front of Arsenal fans, turned to show the number and name on his back.
Many Arsenal fans had just applauded that inhuman header.
Sport can transcend rivalry at times — like when the Bernabéu once rose to applaud Ronaldinho.
Similarly, Cristiano's defiance of gravity transcended victory and defeat.
But in that instant, all that was wiped away.
Arsenal fans exploded in outrage.
"Shh…"
A chorus of boos rose.
Cristiano didn't care — he enjoyed it.
He loved the sight of his "enemies" angry but helpless.
Seeing Ronaldo's smug satisfaction made Arsenal fans even angrier; they began to shout for their prince: "Xia Qi! Xia Qi! Xia Qi!"
Only another aerial acrobat can beat an aerial acrobat!
Ronaldo heard the Arsenal chants; while embracing his surging teammates, his gaze kept returning to Xia Qi, who stood like a straight pine at the center circle.
Xia Qi's face showed no expression — an eternal iceberg — neither angered by Ronaldo's goal nor responding to the Arsenal crowd...
As if… detached from it all!
"Fack!" Cristiano spat in disgust; the joy of equalizing vanished without a trace.
Damn it! I hate people who show off better than I do!
…
…
Cristiano's goal came in the 42nd minute, during stoppage time of the first half.
Play resumed and, after a few tidy passes, the referee blew for halftime.
Amid Arsenal's unified sighs, Xia Qi quickly walked into the players' tunnel.
Arsenal fans regretted that time was too short; had it lasted a bit longer their prince surely would have answered blow for blow — aerial acrobat vs. aerial acrobat.
These days, who doesn't have an "aerial acrobat"? Without one, how can you call yourself a top club?
…
…
In the Real Madrid dressing room, Carlo Ancelotti and his players were buzzing about Cristiano's brace.
Especially that second goal — that jump, that hang time — it blinded the crowd with titanium brilliance.
"Your thighs aren't much smaller than mine, are they?" Casemiro compared thighs with Cristiano with mixed envy.
"He's got springs under his soles…"
When someone joked, Pepe actually went to look at Ronaldo's shoe soles — laughter erupted in the locker room.
Compared with Real's cheerful atmosphere, Arsenal's dressing room was heavier: they had been leading 2:1 and had been pegged back.
Though Cristiano's header was nearly impossible to stop, losing the lead left sour moods.
Kevin De Bruyne was injured, but Arsène Wenger told him not to rush to the hospital if possible — Wenger hoped De Bruyne could attend any award ceremony.
De Bruyne was currently helping Xia Qi with some stretching:
"Sorry, I…"
"Sorry for what?"
"Sorry to us… Tonight's drinks are on me."
"Sorry for what?" Xia Qi echoed.
Mario Balotelli, lying beside Xia Qi receiving treatment from the physio, wanted to sock De Bruyne in the nose.
"Don't worry, Kevin! Don't be fooled by Ronaldo's smile — I'll sort him out later…" Balotelli promised.
"Yeah! I want tonight's drinks to be celebratory, not sulky…" Balotelli jumped in again. In Arsenal he was much happier than in another timeline's AC Milan; here he had one, two, three… friends.
At halftime the Arsenal fans talked about the first half.
"Damn, Ronaldo's header was beautiful! Does he fly? His skills are good, but his character…"
"Arrogant Ronaldo will be taught a lesson — I believe Xia will teach him manners."
"Yeah, we have Xia. What's there to fear?"
"Xia is amazing, but he's playing midfield now — he has to organize and score, it's too much."
"Kevin getting hurt is bad timing; Xia must both create and score — it's tough."
"Did you forget Xia assisted Gnabry?"
"Right, Xia can assist! His surgical passes aren't worse than Kevin's…"
"But I want to see an aerial duel — Gnabry and Balotelli can't fly, right?"
"Hey, I want to see the aerial battle too…"
"Daddy, can Brother Xia fly like Cristiano?"
"…"
…
…
No substitutions were made by either side at the start of the second half.
Early in the second half, a more energized Real Madrid launched an all-out attack to take the win, but an unexpected moment occurred.
Xia Qi was on the ball in the attacking third, facing Casemiro.
Xia Qi performed a feint: he nudged the ball left with his left foot and tilted his body left, feigning an outside-run.
Casemiro, honest as ever, lunged in lightning-fast to make a tackle,
but at that moment Xia Qi stopped the ball under his foot, freezing the ball that had been about to be flicked left.
The ball stopped; the man stopped!
Casemiro could not stop; even worse, he was unwilling to accept it.
Perhaps without time to think, he slammed on the brakes at high speed.
Xia Qi's brake was intentional; Casemiro's was forced.
The momentum caused him to go into a huge split in front of Xia Qi,
and he still failed to stop him.
Xia Qi immediately seized the chance and passed to Mario Balotelli in the box.
Balotelli struck, and Iker Casillas parried the shot out for a corner.
Though the shot didn't go in, Xia Qi's deception of Casemiro was breathtaking.
Casemiro still lay on the ground clutching his inner thigh, face contorted in pain…
"Casemiro looks injured… he probably pulled a muscle while defending Xia Qi. I don't know if it will affect the World Cup — muscle pulls are troublesome and take time…"
"Ah, Real Madrid also has injured players now; the momentum swings toward Arsenal. In high-level matches players' nerves are tenser than usual, so mistakes and injuries can happen…"
Casemiro eventually could not continue and was replaced by Sami Khedira.
Khedira is a box-to-box player, but defensively he's not as strong as Casemiro.
Real's forced substitution reduced their combat effectiveness, at least defensively.
Xia Qi's burden on the attack was significantly reduced.
When Casemiro left the field Wenger smiled. He stepped to the touchline, called Xia Qi's name, and — after drawing his teammates' attention — made a gesture.
It was a call to step up the attack.
And because the substitution was enforced, Khedira did not immediately enter — he needed at least three minutes to warm up.
The flow of the match changed: Arsenal, eleven versus ten, and it was their corner.
If Wenger did not order an all-out push now, he would risk his reputation as a true coach.
Strike while the iron is hot.
That's a maxim of competitive sport.
Xia Qi and Santi Cazorla received the instruction and discussed the plan.
De Bruyne normally took these corners, but now… Xia Qi wanted to attack the near post.
"High ball, as high as you can."
"You want to fly too?" Cazorla wasn't thrilled — such a flight would make his delivery a narrow assignment, limiting options.
"You spoil the fans too much. If they want you to fly, you go fly? I object! You'll be their defensive focus. I suggest Per Mertesacker attacks the far post while the three forwards screen."
"Cazorla, I told you to deliver it higher — Cristiano isn't involved in defense now, the sky is ours. Just send it high and they can't stop me…"
Xia Qi added in his head: after the game they can't stop me — thinking of possible post-match fatigue, Xia Qi felt both pain and pleasure.
Cazorla did not give in easily. With Real a man down and Cristiano and Gareth Bale not defending, now was the moment to punish them. He didn't want Xia Qi to act on impulse.
But Xia Qi was captain; finally he wore a stern face and ordered: "Fire at me — anti-air artillery!"
Cazorla pouted and took the corner.
He swung it high,
the ball flew toward the far post,
so high that all the near-post attackers fell silent and turned to the far post.
At the far post, Xia Qi fixed his eyes on the ball, ignoring Toni Kroos and Sergio Ramos who sandwiched him front and back.
As the ball descended toward his head, Xia Qi rose like a rocket.
Ramos and Kroos jumped after him, hands doing a little holding and their bodies bumping into Xia Qi.
Defenders don't necessarily need to head the ball; forcing Xia Qi off the ball would suffice.
But this time they failed — their petty fouling was like debris jettisoned during a rocket launch; it did not impede Xia Qi's ascent.
"Up he goes!"
"Dad, Brother Xia really flew!"
Peter's five-year-old sat on his shoulders, excitedly slapping Peter's head.
At halftime Peter had told him Xia Qi could fly, and indeed Xia had flown — though the ball hadn't gone in yet, Arsenal fans couldn't contain their cheers.
Seeing Xia Qi "fly," Cristiano's face in the front line darkened as if the whole world owed him money.
He hoped Xia Qi would fall hard from that height and smash the ball into the stands — that would be perfect.
In the air,
Xia Qi leaned his head back and arched his spine, opening his body like an eagle spreading wings.
At that moment,
Peter's five-year-old screamed again: "Dad, Brother Xia jumped higher than the crossbar — will he fly all the way to the roof?!"
Real fans behind the goal were too scared to boo Xia Qi. Under their eyes, Xia Qi jumped a head and a shoulder above the crossbar.
In terms of "flight" height, Cristiano was now the little brother. This height exceeded their imagination; they all gaped.
All they could do was look up.
And open their mouths in awe.
Xia Qi rose so high he could wait in the air for the ball to fall and then strike it.
"Xia Qi… header!"
Xia Qi's head smashed the ball like a heavy hammer; the ball rocketed toward the ground like a shell, ricocheted in front of Iker Casillas, hit the underside of the crossbar and finally bounced into the net.
Casillas was flustered by the ball's double rebounds, clawing at it here and there and catching nothing.
"Goal!"
"Xia Qi has a brace too!"
"After Cristiano's goal, Xia Qi quickly regained the lead."
"Tonight is a duel of two peerless aerial masters…"
(END CHAPTER)
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