"Bang!"
Athletic Club B created a very good chance right from the off!
Right winger Guarochena found himself in an excellent position to shoot on the right side of the penalty area!
His high-quality curling effort was tipped around the post by Leon with a full-length dive!
"Captain!"
Leon's brow furrowed as he called out to captain Xio.
"My fault, my fault!"
"That won't happen again!"
Xio looked a little embarrassed.
Whether it was due to the winter break lasting too long, Xio had just suffered a clear lapse in concentration, allowing Guarochena to get his shot off completely unopposed.
That was obviously a situation that should never have been allowed to occur.
Athletic Club B were playing an unusual formation with no recognised striker.
Instead of a conventional centre-forward up front, they used a three-man attacking line made up of a left winger, a right winger, and an attacking midfielder.
This setup did create some marking headaches for Leoia's defenders.
The three Athletic Club B attackers were extremely fluid in their positioning, constantly rotating in ways that consistently caught opponents off guard.
Modern defensive football had long since moved beyond the rigid constraints of pure man-marking or zonal defending, instead emphasising pace and physicality in a high-tempo game, compressing space on the pitch and preventing opponents from taking shots or playing passes with any ease.
This was the fundamental reason why classical number tens in the mould of Riquelme had completely vanished from the game, as relying on a single positional creator to orchestrate the attack from the front made it far too easy to get squeezed into a tiny pocket of space and suffocated entirely.
Pirlo had also dropped back from the number ten role to a deeper midfield position, taking on the role of a deep-lying playmaker, and it was only then that he truly unlocked a whole new world of football.
After all, in one's own half, the opposition committed far fewer bodies to pressing.
However, over the past five seasons, Guardiola's high-press tactics at Barcelona and Bayern had set a new trend across the footballing world, and the space available even for deep-lying playmakers was being squeezed just the same.
Out on the pitch, after signalling to Leon with a raised hand, Xio also noticed the considerable improvement in Leon.
Previously, Leon had rarely communicated with his teammates while keeping goal, which was far from an ideal habit for a goalkeeper.
But now Leon had started to organise and call out instructions.
With the strong foundation built by Leon's outstanding displays in the previous two matches, the defenders were also happy to listen to Leon's direction.
After all, the goalkeeper has the widest view of the pitch and can spot details in defensive situations that outfield players often miss.
Leon had clearly come on enormously.
Before this match began, Leon had invested a portion of his points into upgrading his attributes.
His overall ability was still far too lacking and needed to be brought up as quickly as possible.
Leon had previously had a total of 343 system points remaining.
(Previous match settlement: 243 points, plus 100 points from training.)
Defensive Organisation upgraded from 1 to 10, costing 290 points.
Reflexes upgraded from 8 to 9, costing 50 points.
A total of 340 system points had been spent, leaving 3 points remaining.
Leon's defensive organisation ability had received a massive boost, and his Reflexes attribute had been strengthened at the same time.
Out on the pitch, Athletic Club B launched a corner kick.
Leon rose and claimed it cleanly, giving Athletic Club B no opportunity to threaten goal.
In the opening fifteen minutes, Athletic Club B's attempts to seize an early advantage were steadily and calmly dealt with by Leon one after another.
Seeing that their early pressure had come to nothing, Athletic Club B unhurriedly dropped into a more compact shape and began to shift towards a possession-based approach, patiently waiting for their chance.
For them, a point away from home was an acceptable result.
Holding down the top spot in the table wasn't about charging forward relentlessly at all costs, as picking up the points that needed to be picked up was the real secret to staying at the summit.
"His communication with teammates has increased noticeably!"
"His reactions seem quicker too!"
"Leon Feng's improvement is truly astonishing!"
"Could all that frantic training actually be working?"
"But that doesn't make scientific sense!"
Up in the stands, Su Jing was left somewhat bewildered.
After getting back the previous evening, Su Jing had quickly caught up on Leon Feng's match footage, and it wasn't much either, just two matches.
The ability Leon was displaying in this match showed visible improvement in certain areas compared to those first two outings.
Su Jing was no professional scout, but even she could see it clearly.
In the first two matches, aside from his one-on-one saves, Leon's goalkeeping technique in other areas had looked very raw, relying entirely on instinct and fortune, and Leon had simply been lucky enough that it all came off.
But in this match, Leon looked far more composed.
'Completely in control.'
That was the first phrase that came to Su Jing's mind.
'If he keeps playing this solidly for the rest of the match, it'll end in a draw, because Leon can already guarantee the goal won't be breached.'
Up in the stands, Watson was equally won over by Leon's progress.
Gifted, and on top of that an incredibly hard worker, this only strengthened his resolve to recommend him to Milan.
On the touchline, head coach Burke Abel was weighing up a decision.
He knew perfectly well that holding on for a draw in this match would be a fine result.
But the two victories before it had planted a wild idea in Burke Abel's head.
If Leoia could beat strong opponents in three or even four matches in a row, the recognition that followed wouldn't belong to Leon alone but to him, Burke Abel, as well.
If that happened, it would inevitably attract the attention of higher-division clubs, and he, Burke Abel, could become the head coach of a side playing at a higher level.
Who didn't want to climb higher these days?
"Let's go for it!"
"Attack, attack, attack!"
Burke Abel sent the signal for a tactical change to the players out on the pitch.