The Greatest of all Time

Chapter 604 The Peak Stage of European Club Football

Emily Anderson, Zachary’s agent, had already taken her seat in the stands of the Olympiastadion to watch the Champions League final. Her emotions were beyond complex as she waited to witness her young client’s performance in a match that could define his career.

She worried for Zachary as she understood that he had just overcome a minor injury. But even then, she still wished to see him defy common sense and perform beyond expectations.

She wanted to see him play exceptionally well during the final so that he could take home the Champions League trophy. She hoped to see him outshine everyone else that season and raise his chances of winning that year’s Ballon d’Or.

Sitting close to Emily were some of Zachary’s acquaintances who had also come to see him face Barcelona. They included his former teammates, like Paul Kasongo, the Otterson brothers, Mikael Dorsin, and Thomas Partey. There were also his employees, plus former and current trainers nearby, including Coach Bj?rn Peters (his fitness trainer), Coach Johansen (the Rosenborg coach), Inger (his live-in chef), Lorenzo Riccardo (his bodyguard), and Kristin Stein, who had taken some time away from nursing his sick grandpa to watch the game.

Emily Anderson was only close to Bj?rn Peters, Kristin, and Inger. She had tried conversing with them while watching the two teams go through the pre-match dynamic warm-ups that had started only minutes ago. But because of the sheer intensity of the noise around the place, Emily had quickly abandoned the notion. She just gave up as she didn’t have the energy to continue yelling at the top of her lungs just to make a simple discussion possible.

And so, she remained silent while taking in the boisterous scenes within the stadium.

On the pitch, the players of both teams were seriously going through the pre-match warm-up routines. The Barcelona players had taken up one side of the pitch while the Juventus stars had occupied the other. Both teams didn’t give any attention to their fans as the only thing that seemed to be on every player’s mind was preparing for the soon-to-commence final.

Emily’s eyes took in all these sights. Her gaze paused on famous Barcelona players like Lionel Messi, Andrés Iniesta, and a few more for a second or two. But she soon ignored them, as they didn’t interest her much. She readily returned her focus to Zachary, who was repeatedly running through cone drills as he prepared for the game that would define his career. Her eyes softened, and she silently wished him the best during the game for the umpteenth time that evening.

—–

The pre-match proceedings moved forward fast when the players ended their warm-up routines. They returned to their dressing rooms, where they quickly made their final preparations, including donning their match gear and listening to the pre-match addresses of their respective coaches.

The clock hands around Berlin soon pointed to the half-past eight mark, signifying that only fifteen minutes remained before the planned kick-off time of the game. On cue, the players and coaches put everything else aside before heading out into the tunnels, eager to make their way to the pitch. They walked quickly, and within half a minute, they all made two neat lines before the stairs leading to the playing field.

At that juncture, the Barcelona players queued on the right side of the tunnel, beginning with Andrés Iniesta, their captain. In a simultaneous fashion, the Juventus players also lined up on the left side, starting with Buffon, their goalkeeper and captain. And, as usual, groups of youngsters sporting similar jerseys to the two sides also made a timely appearance to hold the hands of the stars of their respective teams.

Everything was in place, and the schedule progressed quickly and smoothly. The match officials picked up the ball and led the two lines of players and the lucky kids holding their hands up the stairs and towards the pitch.

Under the focus of countless cameras, they soon passed by the UEFA Champions League trophy displayed atop a magnificent stand and swiftly exited the tunnels. They immediately stepped onto the pitch of the Olympiastadion, where their senses took in the thunderous applause and other wondrous scenes of the opening ceremony.

The pitch had long turned into something akin to a gigantic piece of artwork. Within less than thirty minutes, when the teams were preparing, the organizers had finalized everything to do with the UEFA Champions League opening ceremony. They had spread expansive and blue carpet-like decorations all over the field, with the highlight being the flags of Juventus and Barcelona held up by smartly dressed individuals on each side. Then, at the center of it all was a large depiction of a ball made up of blue stars that was the logo of this prestigious European competition. The scenes of the opening ceremony were just that dazzling.

Zachary observed all the incredible sights as he followed his teammates and lined up before the dugout. His ears could pick up the loud chants of the more than 70,000 supporters in attendance that soon subsided and gave way to the UEFA Champions League Anthem sung by a choir of musicians smartly dressed in all-black suits. His heart continued racing all the way up to the point when the pre-match routines ended, and he took his position on the field of play.

Everything around, including the breathtaking depiction of a giant trophy hanging on one side of the stadium and the spectacular colors within the stands, reminded him that he was already experiencing the peak stage of European club football. And all he had to do was perform as usual and help his team win yet another trophy for that season.

A couple of more minutes passed, and the big moment arrived. The referee finally blew the whistle to signal the commencement of the match, causing waves of thunderous cheers to explode around the Olympiastadion.

On cue, Carlos Tevez, the striker waiting over the ball, flicked it to the nearby álvaro Morata. The latter passed it back toward the side Juventus to kick start the long-awaited UEFA Champions League final.

The action was on, and the Juventus players quickly arrayed themselves in a 4-3-1-2 formation while moving the ball forward during the opening minutes. They played slow but intricate passes at the back, hoping to quickly settle down in the game before attempting to create goal-scoring chances.

As for Barcelona, they organized themselves into their traditional 4-3-3 formation before quickly starting to work hard to win possession. And as usual, some of their players, like Luis Suárez, Ivan Rakiti?, Sergio Busquets, and Andrés Iniesta, were exceptional on this front. They ran at every Juventus player who received the ball until they forced a long pass forward out of Roberto Pereyra, who was playing as one of Juventus’ three defensive midfielders.

That instance marked the change in possession from Juventus to Barcelona, with the Catalans soon starting to do their thing of playing short and intricate passes that were the true defining feature of their Tiki-Taka style. They quickly worked the ball from defense, hoping to exploit any gaps within the midfield.

But of course, the Juventus team had prepared well for this situation by fielding three defensive midfielders plus Zachary, the advanced playmaker, in the middle of the field. They had all the numerical superiority in the central positions — a reality that forced the Barcelona players to fail miserably at their first attempt to execute their Tiki-Taka football.

But would this simple hardship stop Barcelona from finding a way to dominate the game? Would fielding many midfielders prevent the Catalans from doing what they do best? Would this strategy stop one of the best teams in Europe from dominating possession?

The answer became apparent within the next three minutes.

The Catalans didn’t waste much time before utilizing the wing areas instead of working the ball through the crowded defensive midfield channels.

Everything began with Jordi Alba, Barcelona’s left-back for the day, who unleashed a pass along the touchline to find Neymar on the same left flank during the 4th minute. His timing was perfect, and he took advantage of Juventus’ lack of wingers to find his Brazilian teammate in space.

Of course, Juventus tried to close this gap in their formation by having Arturo Vidal step out of the midfield to close down Neymar. But Neymar did his magic and skipped past the opponent before playing a couple of one-twos with Andrés Iniesta to exploit the gap left by Vidal in midfield. They then continued linking up well to rush past Stephan Lichtsteiner, Juventus’ right-back, before finding themselves deep within Juventus’ half.

At that point, Barcelona showed why they were one of the most dangerous sides within the advanced positions of the final third. Their snappy passes flowed fluidly like stream water among their players, including Sergio Busquets, Andrés Iniesta, Ivan Rakiti?, and Luis Suárez, until the ball returned to Neymar, who had just stepped into an unmarked pocket of space at the edge of Juventus’ box.

Neymar, on his part, didn’t choose to take on any defenders with his dribbling. He instead played another sweet and immaculate pass to Andrés Iniesta.

The latter also didn’t lose a second before turning with the ball and squaring it further into the box. His timing was beyond perfect, and he managed to thread the ball toward the sprinting path of Ivan Rakiti?, who was arriving in the area.

All this was Barcelona at its best, with Ivan Rakiti? completing the perfect passage of play. The Croatian outwitted a couple of Juventus players to connect with Iniesta’s pass before maintaining his composure and hammering a shot past the outstretched arms of Buffon. And just like that, he effortlessly found the back of the net to score Barcelona’s first goal for the night during the 5th minute.