Chapter 533 143— Manchester vS Bayern (III)

In the thirty-ninth minute, during a Bayern break, Maguire turned sharply to chase a ball over the top.

He pulled up.

Not dramatically — he kept running for a few more strides, trying to shake it off. Then he slowed to a jog, and then to a walk, and then he raised his hand toward the bench.

Demien saw him stop moving normally and saw the medical staff running on.

Old Trafford went quiet while he was treated.

On the touchline, Jonny Evans was already pulling off his training top.

Maguire walked off a minute later, shaking his head, furious with his own body. The crowd applauded him all the way to the bench.

Evans came on, tucking his shirt in as he ran, and went straight to Varane.

"Where do you want me?"

"Left of me," Varane said. "Kane drops a lot. Don't chase him — Kobbie and Demien handle him in midfield. You and me stay together."

Evans nodded and slapped Varane's back. Then he looked across at Demien, who was jogging past.

"How's it been?"

"Kane walks off you all the time," Demien said. "Let him. Talk to me when he goes. I'll pick him up."

"Got it."

Cold. He's coming on cold. Against Kane.

And Kane knows it.

Kane did know. The moment play restarted, Bayern started positioning themselves around Evans. Kane dropped. Musiala ran beyond him. Coman stayed high and wide, ready to go.

"Jonny, stay!" Demien called. "Don't go with him! Kobbie—"

"Got him! I've got nine!"

Evans stayed where he was. Mainoo went with Kane. The ball eventually reached Kane at the edge of the area anyway, and he shot. Varane blocked it. United cleared.

Demien got to the loose ball.

「Midfield Recoveries: 3/4」

The counter was right there. Antony was free on the right, and Bayern's fullback was high.

He didn't take it.

Jonny's been on the pitch for ninety seconds. The back line hasn't settled. If I lose this now, Bayern are running at a defense that doesn't know its own distances yet.

Not now. Keep it.

He played it back to Varane and let United breathe.

Antony threw his arms up on the right, wanting the ball.

"Not yet!" Demien called across to him. "Give it a minute!"

Antony shook his head, but he dropped back into position. Twenty seconds later, Evans called for a pass from Varane and moved it on calmly, and Demien felt the back line settle into place like something clicking shut.

Okay. Now.

Once United settled again, it was nearly halftime.

And Bayern had changed again. They were respecting Demien's passing so much that Kimmich and Goretzka were staying several yards deeper, no longer stepping out to meet him.

Demien received from Evans.

Nobody pressed him.

He moved forward.

Kimmich was watching Bruno. Goretzka was watching Mainoo. Davies was watching Antony. Mazraoui was staying tight on Garnacho after being attacked all half.

For the first time all night, Bayern had covered almost every pass.

Demien saw what it meant.

They've left me.

Earlier they came at me, and I found the space behind them. Now they're protecting the space and letting me carry.

So the answer isn't another pass.

It's me.

He drove forward.

Goretzka finally had to leave Mainoo and come to him.

Just before the challenge arrived, Demien released the ball to Garnacho on the left.

「Line-Breaking Actions: 8/8 — COMPLETE」

And he kept running.

He didn't stop at the edge of the box. He didn't wait for the return.

Garnacho went at Mazraoui.

Højlund made for the near post, and Upamecano went with him.

Bruno drifted toward the penalty spot, and Kimmich followed him.

Kim moved toward Højlund, because everyone in the stadium expected the cross to go to the striker.

Demien was still running.

Garnacho got half a yard on Mazraoui and, instead of crossing across the six-yard box, drove the ball backward.

The cutback skipped past Højlund. Past Bruno and Kimmich. Rolled toward the space at the top of the penalty area.

Demien arrived.

「LEGENDARY SKILL ACTIVATED」 「Frank Lampard — Late Box Arrival」

He didn't take a touch. He opened his body and hit it first time, low and through the bodies, before Kimmich or Goretzka could turn around.

Neuer saw it late.

Too late.

The ball went past his left hand and into the corner.

MANCHESTER UNITED 1 — 0 BAYERN MUNICH Demien Walter (Assist: Alejandro Garnacho)

Old Trafford exploded.

It was the loudest the stadium had been all season — a single, huge noise that seemed to come from everywhere at once.

Demien wheeled away with his fist clenched, shouting something that didn't have any words in it. It was Bayern. It was first place. For a second, he let it out.

Garnacho reached him first, jumping onto his back. "YES! YES! I saw you! I saw you coming!"

"Perfect ball," Demien shouted back. "Perfect!"

Højlund crashed into both of them, then Bruno, then Mainoo, and they were a pile of red shirts in front of the Stretford End.

"WALTER! It's Demien Walter!" the commentator shouted. "And United lead Bayern Munich!"

When the replay came on, the co-commentator talked through it slowly.

"Watch the run. Watch where he starts. He gives it to Garnacho and just keeps going. Now look — Højlund goes to the near post and takes Upamecano. Bruno drifts to the spot and Kimmich goes with him. Kim goes with Højlund. Everybody in a Bayern shirt is looking at the cross to the striker. And Walter is arriving in the space none of them are watching."

"All half they've tried to work out how to stop him," the commentator said. "They pressed him. He played through them. They blocked his passes. He carried the ball. They backed off to cover the passes — and he ran into the box."

On the other side of the pitch, Bayern didn't sulk.

Kimmich was already shouting, calling his teammates toward the center circle. Kane clapped his hands twice and pointed at the halfway line. Let's go. Restart.

No collapse. Not from them.

There were still three minutes of stoppage time.

Bayern pushed up. Davies went higher. Musiala moved closer to Kane. Coman and Sané stood almost level with United's back line.

United had to defend.

Demien dropped closer to Mainoo. This wasn't the moment to chase a second goal.

Kane received between the lines and found Musiala. Mainoo delayed him. Demien came across. Musiala tried to play it back to Kane.

Demien read it before the ball left Musiala's foot.

「TRAIT ACTIVATED」 「Ball Winner」

「Midfield Recoveries: 4/4 — COMPLETE」

He took it and found Bruno — and immediately shouted after him, "Keep it! Keep it, Bruno! Don't force it!"

Bruno nodded, slowed down, and played it back.

United kept the ball. Bayern pressed. Goretzka came at Demien one last time, and Demien turned away from him and moved it to Shaw.

「Successful Pressure Escapes: 5/6」

One more to go. It could wait for the second half.

The referee blew.

HALFTIME: MANCHESTER UNITED 1 — 0 BAYERN MUNICH

Old Trafford applauded United all the way off.

Bayern walked toward the tunnel knowing they were only one goal away from taking control of the group back.

「HALFTIME MISSION UPDATE」 「Goals: 1」 「Pressure Escapes: 5/6」 「Line-Breaking Actions: 8/8 — COMPLETE」 「Clear Chances Created: 3/3 — COMPLETE」 「Midfield Recoveries: 4/4 — COMPLETE」 「Pass Accuracy: 95%」 「TEAM OBJECTIVE: Manchester United 1 — 0 Bayern Munich」

No reward yet. No rating. Nothing else.

Nobody in the dressing room celebrated as if the group was already won.

Maguire sat on the physio's bench in the corner with an ice pack strapped to his leg, staring at the floor. Evans went over and crouched beside him for a moment. Garnacho was still buzzing, bouncing on the balls of his feet until McTominay put a hand on his shoulder and pushed him gently onto the bench. Bruno walked past Demien and knocked his fist lightly against his chest without saying anything.

Ten Hag went straight to the tactics board.

"They spent that whole half trying to find a way to deal with Demien," he said. "Pressing him. Blocking his passes. Backing off him. None of it worked properly."

He turned around.

"That's exactly why they're going to change something. Tuchel won't send them out to do the same thing again."

He tapped the board — the wide players, and Kane's arrow dropping deep.

"If they can't win the fight in the middle, they might stop having it. Go around it. Faster. Straight to Sané and Coman. Kane dropping to link it and then turning them loose. Be ready for that."

Demien drank slowly, watching the board.

We won the first half because they kept trying to solve me.

So the second half won't be more of the same.

Whatever they come out with, it'll be their answer to me.

Across the corridor, the Bayern dressing room door swung shut.

United were forty-five minutes from winning the group.

Bayern had forty-five minutes to take it back.