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"What a beautiful play!"
"As expected of the Oriental Magician, as expected of the magical Lance!"
"Lance, this teenager has already scored 25 goals in his first Bundesliga season! He is very likely to break the 30-goal mark!"
"Since 1991, when the East and West German football leagues merged and the new Bundesliga was born, no one has ever broken the 30-goal mark in a single season!"
"Lance is very likely to break this record!"
"Currently, the closest was the 2011-2012 Golden Boot winner, FC Schalke 04 striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, with 29 league goals in a single season."
"But Lance has scored 25 goals in just 20 rounds!"
The German commentator Mehmet Scholl grew more and more terrified the more he thought about it!
The current Bundesliga league goal record has always been held by legendary striker Gerd Müller with 40 goals.
But that was in the 70s, when neither the world of football nor the Bundesliga was mature enough.
The advanced and complete defensive tactics of today, if applied to that ancient era, would absolutely prevent a forward from scoring so wildly.
Unless offensive tactics also developed rapidly.
Furthermore, the football leagues of East and West Germany were still in turmoil, and the quality within the league varied.
Since the creation of the new Bundesliga in the 1991-1992 season, 30 goals has been an insurmountable chasm.
Even strong players like Grafite and Mario Gomez, who won the Golden Boot, only scored 28 goals.
Lance's current 25 goals would already be enough for the Golden Boot in many seasons.
So this is truly terrifying!
Lance has simply caused a sensation in German football!
An average of 1.25 goals per game.
If you factor in the time Lance didn't play at the beginning of the league, his goal-scoring efficiency is even more absurd!
Even Cristiano Ronaldo at his peak didn't have a goal-per-game average exceeding 1!
Thanks to Lance's decisive goal, Bayer Leverkusen maintained a 1-0 lead until the 68th minute.
The coaching staff decided to let Lance rest and substituted him.
Thunderous applause erupted in BayArena!
Everyone stood up and applauded him!
Bayer Leverkusen fans were fortunate to witness their team's forward break a goal-scoring record!
Ultimately, Lance's goal was the only goal of the entire match.
Bayer Leverkusen defeated Borussia Mönchengladbach 1-0, continuing to bite at Bayern Munich's heels in the standings.
...
Three days later, in the DFB-Pokal quarter-finals.
As Lance had just made his Bundesliga debut and was about to participate in the first leg of the Champions League in four days, he did not play in this DFB-Pokal match, watching the entire game from the substitute bench.
Julian Brandt scored twice, leading the team to eliminate 1. FC Kaiserslautern and advance to the DFB-Pokal semi-finals!
"Julian Brandt! It feels like he's evolved a bit since the winter break."
"Yes, before, he was always a substitute for Andrés Guardado, making it difficult for him to get playing time. When he occasionally played, he always seemed to hold onto the ball too much, and he took a lot of risks. His speed and dribbling were very sharp, but he always seemed out of sync with the team, with a somewhat lazy feeling. Watching him play now, he's much more composed, and you can see that his attitude towards football has changed."
Julian Brandt's shot from cutting in from the left wing in the first half helped Bayer Leverkusen open the scoring.
In the second half, he repeatedly broke through in the attacking third, creating threats, and also combined brilliantly with teammates, making a run into the box and scoring with a low shot.
His outstanding performance left commentator Mehmet Scholl in awe.
"It's said that Julian Brandt often trains extra with Lance, and many fans and reporters often wait until dark to see Lance and Julian Brandt leave the training base together."
"No wonder, Lance is a typical training fanatic. If Julian Brandt can be influenced by Lance and become a more hardworking player, I think Bayer Leverkusen has truly hit the jackpot!"
Not only can he carry the team himself, but he can also elevate his teammates' performance.
Oliver Kahn also grew to admire Lance, this young man, more and more.
After defeating 1. FC Kaiserslautern 2-0, Bayer Leverkusen would no longer face weaker teams in the DFB-Pokal semi-finals.
In the upper bracket, Bayern Munich vs. Borussia Dortmund! The Champions League final replayed!
In the lower bracket, Bayer Leverkusen vs. VfL Wolfsburg!
The derby is coming!
Lance vs. Kevin De Bruyne!
After the DFB-Pokal draw ceremony, Kevin De Bruyne even sent Lance another text message.
[Lance, I'm definitely going to finish you this time!]
[Okay, I'll be waiting.]
Lance knew that Kevin De Bruyne wasn't joking around.
He was truly enraged.
When this guy is enraged, he doesn't recognize anyone, and he'll definitely go crazy with all that pent-up anger.
Lance, however, hoped that Kevin De Bruyne would bring his peak performance.
Winning against strong opponents is more satisfying than crushing weaker ones!
...
The strong opponent Lance had been anticipating had arrived.
On the plane, looking down at the fairly decent-sized city below, Aaron Ramsey couldn't help but exclaim:
"Didn't they say Bayer Leverkusen was a small town? It looks pretty good."
Beside him was the Spanish midfielder and on-field captain, Mikel Arteta.
Mikel Arteta casually retorted:
"This is Cologne, we still have to take a bus to Bayer Leverkusen."
"Huh?"
Aaron Ramsey was stunned.
"Hey, Mesut! How's Bayer Leverkusen? Are there any good nightclubs?"
The fun-loving tall striker, the Frenchman Olivier Giroud, asked in his English with a strong French accent.
Per Mertesacker, Lukas Podolski, and Mesut Özil, who were present, were all Germans.
Per Mertesacker and Mesut Özil were also former teammates at SV Werder Bremen.
Several of them had experience playing away at Bayer Leverkusen, but when Olivier Giroud asked that question, they looked at each other.
"Sorry, the nightlife there probably won't be to your taste."
What fun could there be in a small chemical industrial town dependent on the pharmaceutical giant Bayer?
At most, you could go see the natural scenery around.
But going to exciting nightclubs? Forget about it.
Even local Bayer Leverkusen players had to drive to neighboring Cologne to have fun.
After hearing Mesut Özil's explanation, Olivier Giroud looked a bit pained.
"So, is this team strong? What do you think our chances of winning are?"
Aaron Ramsey still brought the conversation back to serious matters.
Mesut Özil recalled his impression of Bayer Leverkusen, feeling it wasn't very useful for reference.
"It's not about whether they're strong or not; they just manage to stay in the upper-mid table of the Bundesliga every year."
"I found it quite easy to play against them back then... I heard they're a bit fierce this season."
"Winning should be no problem for us, right?"
Before coming to Germany, Arsenal's manager, Arsène Wenger, had already gathered everyone for a tactical meeting.
Even the detailed characteristics of each player had been thoroughly studied.
Aaron Ramsey had simply dozed off and zoned out during the meeting, missing a lot of content.
At the same time, manager Arsène Wenger was also discussing the previous two days' matches with the coaching staff.
"Their performance in the last match was quite good; we really need to strengthen our focus on Lance."
"Yes, I've always been worried that our defensive tactics aren't strict enough."
Arsène Wenger frowned.
Years without a trophy, years of Champions League failures, Arsène Wenger's white hairs were also increasing.
He was no longer the spirited "Professor" who used to stand on the sidelines in a suit; now he was an old man who couldn't even figure out his jacket zipper.
If he couldn't contend for a title in the next few years, Arsène Wenger felt he wasn't far from retirement.
Looking back at the current squad, he couldn't help but sigh.
Former prodigy Cesc Fàbregas and talented striker Robin van Persie had successively left, and the team's "prince" Jack Wilshere was not up to the task.
These current players could only be described as Premier League first-tier, not top-tier stars.
Arsène Wenger was truly envious of the opponent's forward, the young player Lance.
He was simply the perfect player Arsène Wenger dreamed of!
If Lance were at Arsenal, Arsène Wenger would definitely be confident in designing tactics around him to conquer all of Europe's top clubs!
He also wondered if he could get transfer funds next season to try and snatch him up early.
Otherwise, after another season, as Lance gradually matured, a transfer fee of over 100 million would be inevitable.
"This Champions League, I hope we can go a bit further and earn more broadcast revenue."
To have money to buy good players in the future, Arsène Wenger also had to lead the team into the quarter-finals! To eliminate Bayer Leverkusen!