"A match ticket?"
Inzaghi and Tassotti were in the office when Leon walked straight in, and the two of them had been trying to guess what he wanted.
To be completely honest, for a brief moment Inzaghi had genuinely felt a small knot of worry, fearing that Leon had gone and injured himself in training.
The thought of someone other than Leon standing in the AC Milan goal made Inzaghi deeply uneasy.
"Leave it with me!"
"One ticket is nothing."
"Go and play well tomorrow night."
Inzaghi said with a smile.
"Gaffer! Thank you!"
Leon's eyes carried genuine gratitude.
At this club, the manager was still the most dependable person around.
At 7pm on the evening of 17 March, the Serie A spotlight fixture between AC Milan and Napoli kicked off away from home.
Su Jing had found her seat in the middle of a small pocket of devoted AC Milan supporters who had made the away trip, and her view was a good one.
The AC Milan supporters nearby caught sight of an unfamiliar face from the East, and the moment they connected it to Leon, everything made sense.
Once that clicked, the AC Milan faithful warmed to Su Jing immediately.
It was easy to understand. Devoted supporters of any club wear their hearts on their sleeves.
Leon had performed brilliantly and contributed enormously to the team, and that meant he deserved every bit of support the fans could give.
Su Jing felt the warmth from those around her, and a quiet sense of happiness settled in.
In this moment, Su Jing felt that she had truly become Leon's friend.
Abroad, in a foreign country, having a friend of the opposite gender from home, someone who understood where you came from. That feeling was something close to wonderful.
Both sets of players had already emerged from the tunnel.
Stepping onto the pitch once more, Leon felt very little nervousness now.
But that pulse of excitement in his chest had never once gone away.
The AC Milan starting line-up for this match remained unchanged.
With results continuing to go their way, Inzaghi had no reason to tamper with what was working.
As a general rule, barring injury or fitness concerns, managers do not lightly alter a starting eleven that keeps on winning.
Four defenders: Lami, Zappata, Mexes, De Sciglio!
Three midfielders: Essien, Muntari, Menez!
Three forwards: Suso, Torres, Bonaventura!
Goalkeeper: Leon!
Napoli's head coach this season was Benítez.
Benítez had arrived at Napoli the previous season and signed a two-year contract.
And so far this season, there had been no reports of a renewal being agreed between Benítez and the club.
It was very possible Benítez would leave Napoli at the end of the campaign.
Funnily enough, Benítez's managerial style this season bore a real resemblance to Inzaghi's.
Both sides played with an expansive, direct approach!
Strong going forward, but with a back line that was often stretched.
Benítez: No! I am nothing like Inzaghi! My system has tactical structure! His is just chaos!
Inzaghi: No! I have Leon! We keep a clean sheet every single match! You can't say that!
Benítez: Oh for...!
Napoli lined up in a 4-2-3-1 formation for this fixture.
Four defenders: Zukanović, Enrique, Raúl Albiol, Mesto!
Five midfielders: Hamšík, Insigne, Inler, Callejón, Dries Mertens!
One forward: Higuaín!
Goalkeeper: Reina!
Compared to AC Milan's attacking options, Napoli's forward line was clearly the more formidable.
Higuaín alone was not something a Torres, who had completely lost his eye for goal, could match.
The match began!
Su Jing's seat in the stands happened to be directly above the goal Leon was defending.
She waved down to him, though Leon did not see her.
Once a match started, Leon directed every bit of his attention onto the pitch.
"Hey! Higuaín! Don't tell me you're going to fail to break down that East Asian goalkeeper again tonight!"
Hamšík grinned as he and Higuaín stood at the centre circle for kick-off.
"You're overthinking it. I'm going for the Golden Boot this season."
"I'm getting on the scoresheet tonight."
Higuaín replied calmly, not giving Leon a second thought.
540 minutes without conceding?
In Higuaín's view, that was nothing more than luck.
Any goalkeeper, given a run of matches, would put in some clean sheets.
That alone proved nothing.
And the fact that AC Milan's opponents over the previous four matches had been weaker sides without top-level strikers was simply true.
This match was different.
Since arriving in Serie A, Higuaín's reputation had taken a slight step down from its peak, but that did not change the fact that he remained one of the finest forwards of this era.
Leon had no idea what Higuaín was thinking, but he had his own intentions for this fixture. He was very much planning to take something from Higuaín as well.
When the match began, the system did not issue a new mission, but a notification did sound.
"Ding! Reminder to Host! Keep a clean sheet against Higuaín and defeat Napoli to unlock a draw for the Higuaín badge!"
Both previous draws had clearly brought meaningful improvements to Leon's abilities.
He was genuinely looking forward to this one.
Napoli's very first attack immediately served notice to AC Milan.
After a sharp exchange of short passes between Hamšík, Insigne and Callejón, Hamšík suddenly played a long ball that cut straight through AC Milan's defensive line.
"Oh! Here we go again!"
"It's fine! We have Leon!"
The expressions on the AC Milan supporters' faces were utterly calm.
Because across the last few matches, this kind of situation had come up far too many times to count.
Early on they had all held their breath each time, hearts hammering.
But by now they had become completely numb to it.
More importantly, Leon had never once let them down.
Every single time, whether it looked difficult or comfortable, he had kept the opposition out.
And as for one-on-ones, there was nothing more to be said.
Some of the more devoted AC Milan supporters had been keeping track, and Leon had never conceded from a one-on-one.
Not once.
Those numbers had left everyone stunned.
It was almost impossible to believe.
And yet it was simply true.
Out on the pitch, Higuaín made one sharp run to beat the offside trap with ease and was clean through on goal.
Every forward facing Leon for the first time in a one-on-one carried the same absolute confidence.
Higuaín was an exceptionally precise finisher, which made him all the more certain of himself.
The moment he saw Leon beginning to come off his line, Higuaín immediately struck a thunderous effort toward the top left corner.
The quality of that shot, it had to be said, was genuinely high.
But it made no difference whatsoever.
Guided by the [One-on-One Specialist] talent, Leon read the destination of the ball at the very first moment.
The follower becomes the leader.
Leon retreated unhurriedly to his line and leapt to collect the ball cleanly.
"What on earth! Why did I feel absolutely certain that ball was going in when Higuaín pulled the trigger, and yet Leon made the save look so effortless?"
"Is Higuaín's finishing not up to standard, or is Leon's positioning just on another level entirely?"
Leon's save looked too easy.
So easy that the supporters began to question the quality of Higuaín's finishing.
Higuaín: Are you actually serious right now?!
---