The Greatest of all Time

Chapter 395 A Game of Ups and Downs

　　The Rosenborg players quickly followed Coach Johansen’s game plan and arrayed themselves into a 4-3-3 triangular formation. Thomas Partey settled into the holding midfield role while Zachary and Takumi Minamino were the attacking midfielders. The three of them quickly built a good rapport and started dominating play in the middle of the pitch. Due to their efforts, Rosenborg even hoarded a large percentage of the ball possession during the first 10 minutes of gameplay.

On the other hand, the Sevilla players settled into a 4-2-3-1 formation to weather Rosenborg’s dominance on the pitch. They utilized Stéphane Mbia and Daniel Carriço as the two holding midfielders to support their four defenders. Anyone watching the game could tell that they intended to play a very defensive game against the seemingly weaker Rosenborg side. They obviously hoped to snuff out any chances of Rosenborg scoring a goal.

But their efforts were soon rendered useless by Zachary’s brilliance in the midfield. During the 16th minute, he intercepted a loose pass from Daniel Carriço close to the center circle. Before any opponent could close him down, he burst into action.

He exploded with speed through the middle and tore the Sevilla defense apart with his incredible sidestepping skills. Before long, he was already stepping into the final third as he bore down on Sevilla’s goal like a raging hurricane. However, he couldn’t help but slow down after a few more seconds. That was because he’d run into a challenging roadblock in the form of Stéphane Mbia, one of Sevilla’s holding midfielders.

Zachary’s mind started working in overdrive mode as the opposing holding midfielder was about to close him down. His Zinedine-Pirlo mental Juju immediately widened his field of vision, and his spatial awareness worked like the best of charms. In anything but an instant, he made a mental map of all the players around him. Be it the opposing defenders ahead of him, Takumi Minamino on his left, and Tobias Mikkelsen, far on his right — their positions were all clear in his mind.

”This is it.”

Zachary chose an outlet for the ball the next moment. After holding off Stéphane Mbia, he unleashed a killer pass towards the right side of the box to set off Tobias Mikkelsen on a straight course towards Sevilla’s goal.

The cheers in the stands rose to another level as Tobias Mikkelsen, Rosenborg’s right forward, connected with the pin-point pass. His composure was incredible as he fed the ball past Nicolás Pareja, Sevilla’s center-back, and stepped into the box. He then slammed the ball past the outstretched hands of Sevilla’s keeper to score Rosenborg’s 1st goal for the day.

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Sevilla FC 0 : Rosenborg BK 1

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”Tobias Mikkelsen has dug in and delivered,” the voice of Peter Drury, the commentator, resounded across the stadium. “What a start by Rosenborg! It’s barely 16 minutes past the hour. But Rosenborg is already in the lead against the two-time Europa League champions by a goal. What a night for the Norwegian giants!”

”Rosenborg deserves the lead,” Roy Hamilton, the co-commentator, chimed in. “Their three midfielders have been incredible during the opening minutes. They kept the ball flowing in the middle of the field and dictated the tempo. The final icing on the cake was their young playmaker – Zachary Bemba. As usual, Zachary’s technique and vision were incredible. He created a goal-scoring opportunity almost from nothing by picking out Tobias with a well-timed pass. The latter didn’t disappoint and converted to score Rosenborg’s opening goal.”

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Coach Unai Emery could feel cold beads of sweat rolling down his back as he watched the referee blow the whistle to restart the game. He had miscalculated and assumed that Rosenborg would play a counterattacking game during the final. But instead, the team from Norway had opted to turn the game into a battle in midfield. They had utilized their three sharp midfielders to render his tactics useless before dictating the tempo. As a result, their efforts paid off, and they managed to take the lead during the 17th minute of this heated final.

Be that as it may, Coach Unai Emery remained confident and hopeful despite the circumstances on the pitch. As a coach, he’d already arranged targeted countermeasures for various unexpected situations during the final. So, he could enforce them right away to turn the game around.

”Carriço!” He yelled at the top of his voice to attract the attention of one of his holding midfielders. “Push forward and play as support to Rakitić in attacking midfield. And be more aggressive in the middle of the field. Don’t allow the opponents to step over you in your position. Okay?”

Daniel Carriço gave his coach a thumbs-up to indicate that he’d gotten the message. After that, he returned his focus to the proceedings on the field of play.

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After a few adjustments, team Sevilla started playing with more zeal to stop Rosenborg’s momentum. They were always hungry for the ball and even resorted to the rough game of fouling. Soon, they established a midfield stranglehold that choked Rosenborg’s passes and caused the battle for Europa League glory to become more heated.

The Rosenborg players responded by increasing their work rate, hoping to maintain their advantage against the Spanish side, especially in the midfield.

However, the Sevilla players again rendered their efforts fruitless by switching to wing play tactics and long balls. Their strategy enabled them to bypass Rosenborg’s strong midfield, causing the scales to tilt towards Sevilla’s side. And during the 29th minute, their endeavors finally bore fruit.

Ivan Rakitić, Sevilla’s captain and attacking midfielder, worked his magic on the pitch after connecting with a pass from Stéphane Mbia. He skillfully skipped past Thomas Partey before kicking the ball towards the left flank to find Vitolo, Sevilla’s left-winger.

Vitolo brilliantly controlled the ball on the left flank before any of the Rosenborg players could close him down. He then whirled around and exploded with pace along the touchline. When the angle opened up, he sent forth a curling killer cross towards the box.

The cross was spot on and descended towards the area where Carlos Bacca, Sevilla’s center-forward, was lurking. And as expected, Carlos Bacca immediately went into action. He leaped high and battled Eric Bailly for aerial superiority before planting a header towards the top right corner.

Daniel Örlund, Rosenborg’s goalkeeper, reacted immediately and tried to save the ball with an acrobatic effort. But his fingertips were just a few centimeters shy of reaching the ball. In the end, he could only watch helplessly as the ball zoomed past him and homed into the back of the net.

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Sevilla FC 1 : Rosenborg BK 1

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After scoring the goal, the Sevilla players seemed to have gained a boost in their momentum. They played more brilliantly and dictated the tempo against Rosenborg. And during the 38th minute, they created another excellent goal-scoring opportunity.

That time, it was Vitolo, Sevilla’s left-winger, at the end of the opportunity. He connected with a pass from Ivan Rakitić and blasted a right-footed shot towards the goal.

Fortunately for Rosenborg, Daniel Örlund, the keeper, was alert. He rose to the occasion and committed himself to a full-body dive that enabled him to punch the ball out of play.

*FWEEEEEEE*

The referee blew the whistle and pointed toward the corner flag. On cue, most Sevilla and Rosenborg players started crowding into the box to prepare for the corner. Some even began fouling each other as they struggled to create advantages for themselves before meeting the corner ball. The referee even had to step in and show a yellow card to both Eric Bailly, on Rosenborg’s side, and Federico Fazio, on Sevilla’s side, before the situation in the box could calm down. After that, he blew the whistle again and motioned for team Sevilla to take the corner kick.

Coke, Sevilla’s right-back, wasted no time going into action after hearing the whistle. He sent forth a teasing cross from the corner flag that headed towards Rosenborg’s crowded penalty area like a guided missile.

The descending corner ball pushed the players within the box into action. In particular, the Sevilla players started running around to confuse opponents, while others leaped high to meet the cross. But in the end, it was Carlos Bacca, the incredible Sevilla forward, who got the last laugh.

Carlos Bacca shrugged off the harassment of Yerry Mina before angling his head and planting a powerful header towards the goal. And before the Rosenborg keeper could react, the ball had already homed into the back of the net.

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Sevilla FC 2 : Rosenborg BK 1

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”Team Sevilla is flying and leaving Rosenborg in the dust,” Peter Drury, the commentator, yelled out loud over the thunderous cheers in the stadium. “And the man of the moment is Carlos Bacca. He has punished Rosenborg twice in less than ten minutes to complete Sevilla’s comeback. The tides have turned for team Sevilla, and they might be well on their way to winning the Europa League final.”

”Well,” Roy Hamilton, the co-commentator, said, “The Rosenborg players have failed to adapt to Sevilla’s versatile tactics. And if Coach Johansen fails to find a way to contain the Sevilla players on the flanks, he will surely lose this final.”

”You’re right,” Peter Drury concurred. “In the opening minutes, it was Rosenborg dictating the tempo. But after Coach Unai Emery and his players switched to using wing play tactics and long balls over the midfield, the Norwegian giants lost their command over the game. Even Zachary Bemba, their most dangerous and creative player, rarely gets time on the ball. So, it’s not surprising that they are trailing by two goals to one against the more aggressive and versatile Sevilla side.”

”What’s your prediction for the game, Peter?” Roy Hamilton asked his counterpart. “Do you think Sevilla will maintain their lead and win this final?”

”Honestly, I don’t know,” Peter Drury replied. “This is a game filled with uncertainties. It’s just one goal separating the two teams, and there are still more than 45 minutes to the end of the game. Anything can happen, especially with a player like Zachary Bemba on the pitch. So, we can only wait and see how the game will progress.”

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