Chapter 213: Xia, We Are One of Us
On the pitch,
Xia Qi steadied his balance and turned to chase after Cristiano Ronaldo.
At the crucial moment, Gustavo made the difference!
He had dropped back to cover for Xia Qi and, with a timely sliding tackle, stopped Cristiano Ronaldo—the man who had just beaten Xia Qi.
Gustavo knew that if Xia Qi couldn't stop someone, there was a high chance he himself wouldn't either.
At least, a straight-up defensive stop probably wouldn't work.
So as he went in for the slide he already had a plan in mind: once Cristiano lost his footing after beating a man, Gustavo would use lightning speed to take him down.
The moment the whistle sounded,
the atmosphere in the Emirates fractured into two extremes.
Real Madrid fans cursed and were at a loss for words...
Arsenal fans, on the other hand, slapped their hands red from clapping.
"How clever! Gustavo's tackle paid back Arsenal's entire transfer fee this year."
"Yeah, Cristiano is stomping at the turf—see how right Gustavo was."
"Although the free kick from here is decent, it's still much better than Cristiano running straight through."
Gustavo's foul occurred near the halfway line across the pitch's width, roughly twenty meters from goal—perfect distance for a free-kick specialist like Cristiano Ronaldo.
The only minor complaint was the spot was too central; if it had been a few meters left or right it would've been even better.
The instant Gustavo brought Cristiano down he felt elated; when Xia Qi pulled him up from the turf, his eyes were all smiles,
especially when he heard Arsenal fans chanting his name.
He felt like a hero. The yellow card the referee showed him he shamelessly accepted as a reward...
But now, seeing Cristiano patting the ball confidently, his stomach tightened. He glanced at Xia Qi.
Xia Qi's face was calm; when he met Gustavo's look he gave him an assuring glance.
In that instant of eye contact,
Gustavo's heart quieted; he stopped overthinking.
His mood swing reflected what everyone else felt.
Under goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez's direction, Arsenal set up the wall.
Cristiano Ronaldo took the free-kick, but his shot, lacking accuracy, struck the wall.
When the ball rebounded out,
Cristiano immediately raised his hand to report to the referee, claiming Arsenal's wall was not standing on the white line.
That would be a foul and require a retake.
In a match of this importance, of course the referee ignored him.
This triggered displeasure among Real Madrid fans in the stands.
From then on, whenever an Arsenal player touched the ball they were booed.
The clock hit the 85th minute; extra time now seemed unavoidable...
But there are always people who fight until the last second.
Xia Qi felt responsible and obliged to help the team secure a final victory.
Cristiano Ronaldo was no slouch either; he kept looking for the chance to end the match.
He was very active up front, constantly raising his hand for the ball; you could see him in every corner of the attacking third,
even forcing the wasteful Álvaro Morata to lose his position.
The 21-year-old Morata was on the verge of tears—he felt he had lost his teammates' trust and that his career had gone dark.
In the final moments of regulation time, Real Madrid's overall strength created more opportunities.
Fortunately, under Xia Qi's leadership Arsenal's defensive line still held firm against Real Madrid's tests.
[Xia Qi is so strong! A versatile six-sided warrior!]
[Arsenal's strongest captain in history, bar none.]
[A player like this should come to the Bernabéu. Imagine how strong we'd be if Xia Qi really came.]
[Whichever of Barca or us signs him would dominate the other generation, assuming Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi stay.]
[...]
Seeing Xia Qi defend like Patrick Vieira, building Arsenal's backline into something rock-solid,
Real Madrid fans, expecting extra time, were in no hurry—they calmly chatted about how the opposition wasn't finishing their chances...
Arsenal fans, by contrast, had no leisure to chat; their hearts were in their throats, anxiously fearful
that their team's hard work might be undone and they'd concede a last-gasp winner.
"Cristi—ano... Ronaldo!" (voice cracks on the high note)
"Header!"
"Emiliano Martínez's godlike save—he's rescued Arsenal again."
"Cristiano's toe-poke!"
"Xia Qi! Xia Qi! Xia Qi cleared the ball out for a throw. His tracking back was so timely!"
"Modrić laid it off—Xia Qi!"
"Xia Qi anticipated Modrić's pass and intercepted it before Cristiano could reach it."
Compared to Real Madrid's noisy attacking, Arsenal's quick breaks often came as clearances followed by counterattacks.
These counters focused on clearing first; counterattacks were incidental, so the quality of their offense wasn't high.
If the game continued that way into extra time, Arsenal would be content.
Arsenal fans in the stands consoled one another: "At least we didn't lose."
"Don't mind how hard they're attacking; in extra time they'll run out of legs and that's our chance..."
But Xia Qi wasn't willing to wait!
At that moment, Cristiano created a shooting angle against Xia Qi on the edge of the box and instantly struck!
"Boom!"
The ball hit the post and bounced back into the box, causing a scramble.
Xia Qi didn't charge into the box like Cristiano; instead, in the blink of an eye he turned and sprinted toward Real Madrid's goal.
In the chaos, veteran captain Thomas Vermaelen hoofed the ball upfield,
another defensive-style quick counter.
This time the runner on the ball was Xia Qi!
"Xia Qi!"
"How is he in the front (or the back)?"
Arsenal and Real Madrid fans belatedly realized Xia Qi had gone from the "passer to the knife" to the "one wielding the knife."
Excitement and dread surged in their hearts.
Arsenal fans leapt from their seats and, using every lungful of breath, shouted: "Charge! Xia!" "Finish them off, you bastards."
By shouting they found themselves with tears in their eyes.
They were proud of their player and ashamed at their earlier small-minded satisfaction with a draw.
The players on the pitch were thinking only of the winner...
Real Madrid fans screamed in panic: "Defend!" "Defend!" "Commit a foul!" "Foul them now!" Their cries turned shaky and broken, and some were already in tears.
Arsenal's approach was no different from previous matches, but this time it was Xia Qi on the attack!
Like Messi or Cristiano, he is a suppressive force of his generation!
Of course fans are terrified!
If he finished it...
Real Madrid fans swore they would resist Xia Qi parachuting into the Bernabéu!
Xia, we love you—everyone has their own "son-of-the-king dream," we are one of us...
(END CHAPTER)
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