Chapter 152: The Bat Legion

Joaquín entered the fray in the 65th minute.

He came on for Pablo Hernández, who walked off with the blank, sullen stare of a winger who had endured a miserable evening and clearly wanted to be left entirely alone. Joaquín jogged out while tucking in his jersey. At thirty years of age, the former record-signing was largely used as an impact option off the bench, yet his direct dribbling and bag of tricks still made him one of the trickiest assignments in Spanish football.

Uchida had enjoyed a rock-solid shift at right-back up to that point, but his evening was about to get much more grueling.

Unai Emery had reworked his entire attacking balance. Everything was routed directly through Joaquín on the left wing. Valencia tilted their shape over to that flank, with Juan Mata drifting into the half-space to play quick give-and-goes, while Jordi Alba overlapped relentlessly like a secondary winger. If Valencia were to mount any kind of comeback, it was coming straight down that corridor.

Magath instructed Rakitić to track back and double up on Joaquín the moment the winger received possession. He told Uchida to hold his ground and rely on the cover, while Höwedes was told to tuck inside and plug the gap whenever the Spaniard cut onto his right foot.

Nobody was told to push forward. Schalke held a comfortable 3-0 lead away from home. Their sole priority was protecting the clean sheet for the final half hour.

Joaquín made an immediate statement with his very first touch. He feinted back toward the halfway line before turning on the afterburners, breezing past Uchida down the touchline to whip in a looping cross. Neuer stepped off his line to claim it with ease. The Mestalla crowd groaned in collective disappointment, briefly raised their voices to rally the team, and groaned once more as Joaquín frantically waved his arms, demanding his teammates push higher up the pitch.

In the 68th minute, Joaquín threatened again. This time he skipped inside past Uchida, shaping to bend a delivery into the box before chopping the ball back onto his left foot and drilling a low pass through the six-yard area. Aduriz stuck out a boot on the slide, but Neuer smothered the attempt cleanly at the near post.

Magath leaned over the edge of the dugout, dragging both hands down his face to wipe away the tension.

"Boss, how long do we have to keep defending like this?" Hughes Yves asked quietly.

"There are still twenty-two minutes plus stoppage, Hughes," Magath replied, not looking away from the pitch.

"Honestly feels like we've been pinned down on that side for hours."

"Time always drags when the home crowd has you locked in your own third."

By the 70th minute, Joaquín drove at the flank once more. Rakitić scrambled across just in time, teaming up with Uchida to force the veteran winger against the chalk. Even off-balance, Joaquín managed to hook a desperate cross toward Soldado. Metzelder climbed highest to head the danger away, and Annan collected the loose clearance, knocking a direct ball upfield for Jamie Vardy to chase.

Vardy had remained stationed on the halfway line as a lone outlet. It was Magath's tactical safety valve, keeping one forward pinned high to prevent Valencia's center-backs from committing fully into the attack.

Vardy controlled the bouncing ball on his chest, but Ricardo Costa was on his back within seconds. Vardy tried to shield possession and buy time for support, but the defender poked the ball away, conceding a throw-in on the far sideline.

Vardy jogged back toward the center circle, clutching his right ribs with a visible wince.

Mateo hurried over to his side, matching his stride. "How are the ribs holding up, Jamie?"

"They're burning a bit, mate, not gonna lie," Vardy wheezed, keeping his head down.

"Do you want me to signal the bench for a change?"

"No, leave it," Vardy said, shaking his head stubbornly. "Not yet. Give me twenty more minutes out here. I can grind out twenty minutes."

Mateo looked closely at him. Vardy's jaw was clenched tight, running purely on adrenaline. He was fighting through the knock, but his acceleration had dropped several gears compared to his explosive first-half sprint. Mateo looked over to the technical area to catch his manager's attention.

Magath was already ahead of the situation, signaling Edu to warm up along the touchline.

Vardy's shift was coming to an end at the next natural stoppage.

The clock ticked through the seventy-second minute while Magath waited for an out-of-bounds call or a foul to complete the substitution. Vardy stayed on the turf, pressing the backline in short, labored bursts and chasing down clearances.

Rakitić jogged over to Mateo while the ball was out for a throw.

"We have about fifteen minutes left until the final whistle," Rakitić said, catching his breath.

"Yeah, just need to stay disciplined," Mateo replied.

"You holding up fine physically? You look like you're starting to feel the pace."

"I'm feeling good, Ivan. Still got plenty left in the tank."

Rakitić looked at him with a tactical question. "Do you want to push up into the striker role once Jamie comes off?"

"No, keep me sitting in the hole," Mateo said, gesturing to the midfield pocket. "If they overcommit and we win the ball cleanly, I want to be the one releasing the final pass."

Rakitić nodded and returned to his defensive assignment. Mateo watched him step back into line. Rakitić possessed an exceptionally calm reading of the game, dictating tempo with simple, intelligent positioning rather than flashy tricks. Finding ways to incorporate that level of midfield control was something Mateo knew he needed to study over the long term.

In the 74th minute, Joaquín unlocked the defense again to win a corner kick.

He drove inside against Uchida for the third time in ten minutes. Uchida recovered with great recovery pace, tracking the diagonal run back toward the penalty area. At the last second, Joaquín clipped a delicate cross toward the far post for Aduriz, forcing Uchida into a desperate lunging block. The ball deflected off the defender's shin and spun out past the byline.

The entire Mestalla crowd rose to its feet, roaring in encouragement.

A corner in the seventy-fourth minute, trailing by three goals on aggregate. If Valencia wanted any chance of keeping the tie alive heading into the second leg in Germany, they had to convert this chance.

Éver Banega took charge of the set piece, raising his left arm high to signal a drilled delivery to the near post.

Every tall Valencia player pushed into the box. Soldado, Aduriz, Albelda, Costa, and David Navarro packed the penalty area. Schalke organized their defensive markers tightly: Metzelder locked onto Soldado, Höwedes tracked Aduriz, Rakitić stayed on Albelda, Jones leaned his full weight into Costa to disrupt his run, and Uchida covered the penalty spot while Neuer commanded his six-yard box.

Mateo hovered near the edge of the area to contest any clearances. Annan dropped back to help cover the far post, leaving Vardy as the lone blue jersey waiting on the halfway line.

Fweet—!

The referee blew his whistle.

Banega whipped a vicious, curling delivery toward the near post at shoulder height. Jones and Soldado leaped into the air together, tugging at each other's shirts in a tangle of limbs that went unpunished by the referee. The ball sailed right past both of them untouched.

Albelda arrived behind them on a late run.

The veteran midfielder threw his head at the ball, but the sudden leap of the two players in front of him threw off his timing. He caught the ball awkwardly with the crown of his forehead, sending a tame, looping header floating toward the goal line.

Neuer gathered it easily.

He wrapped both arms firmly around the ball against his chest, standing still for an extra second to let the defense breathe.

The referee waved his hand, signaling the goalkeeper to distribute the ball. Neuer lifted his eyes to scan the pitch.

Valencia's entire team was still stranded inside the Schalke penalty box. Every single outfield runner had pushed forward for the corner, anticipating a loose ball or a scrambled second phase. Nobody in a white shirt had started running back toward the center circle, naturally expecting the German keeper to launch a standard, booming clearance into the opposing half.

Neuer had no intention of kicking it long.

Magath stepped right up to the chalk line, recognizing the play before anyone else in the stadium.

Neuer dropped the ball down onto the grass in front of his boots.

Then, with complete composure, the goalkeeper began driving forward with the ball at his feet.

Enjoying the novel? Take two seconds to vote with your Power Stones. It genuinely helps the story grow and reach new readers!

Read Advance Chapters Here:

/Shadownarch_