Chapter 531 141 — Manchester vS Bayern (I)

The Champions League anthem was already rolling around Old Trafford when the two lines stepped out of the tunnel.

It sounded heavier than it had on Wednesday against Chelsea, heavier than anything against Bournemouth. The floodlights bounced off the damp pitch so brightly that the grass looked almost wet-painted, and the Champions League boards glowed blue and white along every touchline. In the far corner, Bayern's travelling supporters were singing something in German, loud enough to carry, and the rest of the stadium answered them by simply getting louder.

Demien breathed out and saw his breath hang in the air.

Then the teams split for the handshakes, and he forgot the cold completely.

The line moved quickly. Neuer's grip was brief and firm. Kim nodded without looking up. Kimmich's handshake lasted half a second longer than the others, his eyes staying on Demien's face as he moved past, as if he were checking something he'd only seen on a screen until now. Kane gave him a short, polite nod — the kind professionals gave each other before ninety minutes of trying to ruin one another's night.

Mainoo fell in beside him as they jogged toward their half.

"You alright?" Mainoo asked.

"Yeah," Demien said. "You?"

"Cold."

"You won't be in five minutes."

"Here we go, then," the commentator said. "Both sides already through to the last sixteen — but it's simple tonight. Bayern Munich have eleven points. Manchester United have ten. United win, and they top Group A."

"And don't read too much into Saturday," his co-commentator added. "Bayern lost five-one at Frankfurt. First league defeat of their season. That doesn't make them weak. If anything, you'd expect a reaction. Teams like Bayern don't sit on a result like that."

MANCHESTER UNITED

Onana.

Dalot — Varane — Maguire — Shaw.

Demien — Mainoo.

Antony — Bruno — Garnacho.

Højlund.

BAYERN MUNICH

Neuer.

Mazraoui — Upamecano — Kim — Davies.

Kimmich — Goretzka.

Coman — Musiala — Sané.

Kane.

While the captains stood with the referee for the coin toss, Demien watched Bayern rather than the stands.

Kane had his hand on Musiala's shoulder, talking into his ear and pointing — not toward United's goal, but toward the gap between United's midfield and defense. The exact space Monday's training had been built around.

Kimmich wasn't looking at the ball, or at Bruno, or at the referee.

He was looking at Demien.

Twice in thirty seconds, Kimmich glanced over to check where Demien was standing before a single pass had been played.

They've done their homework too.

We spent all of Monday on them. They'll have spent all of Sunday on me.

Kimmich knows I'm the route. If I get the ball facing forward, United go. So Tuchel won't let that happen easily. Not tonight.

He rolled his shoulders once, and the thought narrowed into something clean and sharp.

Fine. Then we'll see who's done it better.

The system panel that had started in the dressing room finally completed.

「UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE MATCH MISSION」 「Manchester United vs Bayern Munich」 「Complete 6 Successful Pressure Escapes」 「Complete 8 Line-Breaking Actions」 「Create 3 Clear Chances」 「Record 4 Midfield Recoveries」 「Maintain 92%+ Pass Accuracy」 「TEAM OBJECTIVE: Win and Finish First in Group A」 「Reward: +100 MP」

No goal requirement. No assist requirement.

Win the middle of the pitch. That was the job.

The referee looked at both goalkeepers.

Old Trafford rose.

Kickoff.

Bayern didn't start like a team that was already qualified.

Kimmich dropped almost between his two center-backs to collect the ball, Goretzka stayed slightly higher, and Kane walked straight away from United's back line and planted himself in the space right in front of Demien and Mainoo. Musiala didn't sit in one spot like a traditional number ten. He drifted wherever Kane wasn't.

Inside three minutes, Monday paid for itself.

Kane dropped.

Maguire's weight shifted forward. He was about to follow.

Demien saw Musiala already starting to move into the gap behind.

"Harry, hold! Hold!" Demien shouted. "Ten's going behind you!"

Maguire planted his feet.

"Mine!" Demien called, and stepped toward Kane himself.

"I've got the lane!" Mainoo shouted, sliding across behind him.

Kane received with his back to goal, felt Demien arriving, looked for Musiala — and found Mainoo already standing in the passing lane. He couldn't turn. He laid it back to Kimmich.

Up front, Bruno threw his arm out toward the center-back. "Now! Squeeze!"

United's front line stepped together. Bayern had to recycle the ball backward.

"Good, good!" Varane called from behind. "Stay like that!"

Bayern went around them instead.

Davies carried it forward on the left, then swept it all the way across to Coman on the right. Coman worked it inside, and the ball finally reached Kane at the edge of the area. He hit it early and low.

Onana got down and gathered it cleanly.

"Kane with the first real sight of goal," the commentator said. "Nothing too difficult for Onana."

United's first proper possession started with Varane.

He rolled the ball into Demien as Musiala closed from one side and Goretzka started stepping over from the other. Behind them, Kimmich stayed deeper, and Demien knew exactly why — he was sitting on Bruno so United couldn't find their captain.

Demien checked his left shoulder, then his right, before the ball arrived.

Musiala got there first.

Demien let the ball roll across his body, past Musiala's outstretched foot, and turned away.

「TRAIT ACTIVATED」 「Press Resistant」

Goretzka was already stepping into the next lane.

Demien didn't try to beat him too. He passed it to Mainoo, kept running past Musiala, and took the return on the other side of Bayern's pressure.

「MATCH MISSION PROGRESS」 「Successful Pressure Escapes: 1/6」

Suddenly, Bayern's whole midfield was behind the ball.

Demien looked left. Garnacho, one-on-one with Mazraoui.

He switched it.

Garnacho took it in stride and drove forward, but Upamecano shifted across in time and blocked the ball into Højlund. The attack fizzled out without a shot.

It still mattered. Old Trafford could feel it. United had gone through Bayern, not just survived them.

The next ten minutes turned into chess.

After seeing Demien escape once in the middle, Bayern changed how they pressed. Musiala stopped chasing Demien from behind and started shadowing Mainoo instead. Goretzka became the man who stepped toward Demien. Kimmich stayed glued underneath Bruno.

It took Demien two possessions to see it.

They're not trying to take the ball off me anymore.

Goretzka comes to push me sideways. Musiala's already blocked Kobbie. Kimmich's already on Bruno.

So I beat Goretzka — and then what? Every pass after that is already taken.

Beating the first man means nothing if they already own the second pass.

Bruno had seen it too. He dropped a few yards during a throw-in and jogged alongside Demien for a moment.

"Kimmich won't leave me," Bruno said, not looking at him. "He's on my back the whole time."

"I know," Demien said. "Stay there anyway. If he's on you, he's not on me."

"And then what?"

"Then I find someone else."

Bruno grinned and jogged back up the pitch.

On the next buildup, he received and let Goretzka come at him.

He didn't turn.

He played it straight back to Varane.

Goretzka started jogging back into position.

Demien moved three yards wider and called for it again.

It changed the angle completely. Kimmich was still on Bruno. Mainoo was covered. But Davies had narrowed to keep an eye on Højlund, and that left Antony standing on his own on the right touchline.

Demien hit the diagonal.

「LEGENDARY SKILL ACTIVATED」 「Paul Pogba — Long Switch Flair」

The ball flew over three Bayern players and dropped at Antony's feet. Antony controlled it and went at Davies before Bayern could shift across.

「Line-Breaking Actions: 1/8」

His cross was cut out by Kim.

Mainoo won the second ball, and Demien received again just outside Bayern's block.

He didn't rush another attack. He moved it to Shaw, then to Varane, then back through the middle.

The crowd applauded. United weren't wasting the ball. They were keeping Bayern pinned.

Bayern were dangerous the moment United lost their shape.

Antony tried to beat Davies one time too many and lost the ball. Bayern went through Kimmich immediately, before Dalot could get back.

Kane dropped.

This time Demien followed, because Mainoo was already in Musiala's lane.

Kane laid it off first time — not to Musiala, but out to Sané.

Sané burst into the gap between Shaw and Maguire.

Demien couldn't do anything about it. He'd dealt with Kane, which was exactly what he was supposed to do.

Sané reached the final third and looked for Musiala arriving in the middle. Varane stretched out a leg and cut out the final ball.

Demien exhaled.

That's the problem from training. Exactly that.

I did the right thing. Kobbie did the right thing. And they still found a way through, because Sané's that good.

It's not about me getting it right. All eight of us behind the ball have to survive every rotation.

"Luke, tighter!" Maguire was shouting. "Don't let him in there!"

"I know, I know!"