Chapter 194: Wenger Wins the Next Match, Atletico Wins the Present
A laterally moving Godín intercepted a wisp of fresh breeze.
At that moment, his heart felt like it had fallen into a bottomless abyss—completely empty!
In a panic, he turned his head to look behind him.
He saw a "white light" rise rapidly from the ground and swiftly streak over the top of his head.
Godín hurriedly turned his head again to look at the goal.
AI-Xia Qi had applied a bottom-up lifting force to the football. The ball flew high like a rocket launch, dropping toward the far corner of the goal in a very high parabola. Courtois spread his wings like a giant roc (mythical bird), pouncing toward the spot where he predicted the football would land.
With this dive, he was full of confidence. Not only was he sure he could reach the football, but he was also confident he could hug it into his chest.
However, as the football was falling,
Suddenly!
It actually accelerated!
With this, it dropped earlier than expected, before his palms could reach it.
Courtois only slapped the afterimage of the football!
"Knuckleball!"
"F*ck! Can you not be such a monster!"
Courtois let out a miserable howl in his heart!
"Why am I the one getting hurt! I only made a mistake that every man makes!!!"
In the live broadcast room, Zhan Jun roared hoarsely: "Shot! It's a goal! 3:1! Arsenal can travel to Madrid with a relaxed mood."
"Xia Qi scores a hat-trick! Xia Qi is the true King of the Champions League!"
The moment the football fell into the net,
The Emirates Stadium exploded!
The explosion was so intense that no one could remain sitting in their seats!
Arsenal fans leaped up one by one, raising their arms and shouting.
On the sideline,
Wenger waved to Gnabry on the bench, asking him to warm up.
Simeone called García to the sideline:
"Xia Qi is great. Hard to defend, right?"
"I'm sorry, Boss."
"Beckham was great too that year, but I sent him and his England home. Raúl, football requires not just ball skills, but also acting skills."
García looked at Simeone and felt he was a stranger, but thinking about it, it made sense; South American players were born actors.
"Where the referee can't see, you grab Xia Qi's arm and hit yourself in the face with it, then roll on the ground in pain..."
Returning from the celebration, the whistle blew. Wenger immediately made a substitution from the sideline. Seeing the blood-red Number 9 on the display board, Simeone's vision went black, and he slumped onto the coaching bench.
García was dumbfounded. Did this Wenger grow a pair of clairaudient ears?
Thinking that his conversation with the coach had been overheard, García instantly blushed.
"Oh my! The in-form Xia Qi has been substituted."
"Wenger is making a foolish move!"
"Why not kill the suspense of advancing? There's an inside story! Match-fixing, absolute match-fixing."
"Is there a possibility it's because of Xia Qi's yellow card?"
Seeing Wenger take off the most capable fighter, Xia Qi, the internet instantly exploded.
Although there were people online who truly understood football and knew it was because of Xia Qi's yellow card, the vast majority thought Wenger had become arrogant.
Xia Qi high-fived Gnabry with an expressionless face, then stepped off the football pitch. Suddenly, a snow lotus bloomed on his iceberg face (a smile).
This caught Pat Rice, who had stood up to explain, off guard. The words he was about to say were swallowed back into his stomach.
Xia Qi grinningly high-fived Pat Rice and his teammates one by one, then put on his jacket and sat on the bench. One couldn't see any unhappiness at all.
Pat Rice turned to Wenger and said, "He doesn't seem to need me?"
"Pat, the eaglet has grown up. He is now a man, just like us."
...
...
Simeone quickly drummed up his motivation again.
It was now the 68th minute of the match; there were still more than twenty minutes left.
Although his idea had been seen through by Wenger, the objective had already been achieved.
It was just a pity that the next match would be difficult.
Simeone rushed to the sideline, telling the players to take this match first.
Atletico Madrid players began to assault the Arsenal goal in turns. Diego Costa was at the very front of the team, capable of attacking and supporting, his all-around attributes shining brightly.
The continuous waves of attacks by Atletico players constantly consumed the physical energy of the Arsenal players.
By the 80th minute, Arsenal's fitness indeed showed problems.
Wenger replaced De Bruyne with Arteta, keeping one substitution slot in hand for emergencies.
The fresh blood on the field was a drop in the bucket and couldn't solve the fundamental problem.
Compared to the "stamina monsters" on the Atletico side, Arsenal's fitness reserves were indeed insufficient.
The players' running on the pitch was no longer so active, appearing somewhat powerless.
Fortunately, Arteta and Cazorla had their IQs online. With a wave of their hands, the whole team contracted back and started playing defense.
"Xia Qi opened up the lead (height) for us; now is the time for us to defend the fruits of victory."
Regarding this situation, Wenger had asked the players during the halftime break:
What should we do when Xia Qi is not there?
So the players did not panic.
Simeone also knew it was time to decide the winner. He used up all his substitution quotas in one breath.
At this time, Atletico's formation was a sharper attacking 2-2-3-3.
After both sides changed formations, another five minutes passed.
Atletico fans began to get a little anxious.
The turning point of the match appeared in the 90th minute. In the last minute of regular time, Arsenal players began to cramp up consecutively.
Wenger had no choice but to use the last substitution slot to take off the most severe case.
Seeing that there were still three players on the field who could no longer run, and stoppage time was actually five minutes long...
Arsenal fans also felt their hearts tighten.
On the bench, Xia Qi and others stood in a row by the sideline, shoulders touching, arms around each other's waists, singing the Arsenal anthem loudly.
However, the "spiritual victory method" was of no use!
In the 91st minute, Diego Costa shot near the penalty spot. Martinez caught it but had "butterfingers" (fumbled), and the alert Villa followed up to score.
3:2!
Ten seconds before the final whistle, Diego Costa received the football in the penalty area and laid it back for Gabi at the far post. The latter scored a world-class goal (worldie), piercing Arsenal's gate once again.
Arsenal ultimately fell due to their own fitness reserves, burying Xia Qi's hat-trick.
In the end,
Arsenal was tenaciously held to a 3:3 draw by Atletico Madrid at home.
Leading 3:1 and then being equalized at the death, and at their own home ground—Arsenal was definitely not satisfied with such a result.
After the match, Wenger's substitution was heavily criticized. Except for Simeone and García, no one knew he was right.
Simeone couldn't be happy either.
Although he got three away goals, Xia Qi was still a huge threat.
Facing the elusive and omnipotent Xia Qi, Simeone hadn't found a countermeasure yet. He knew he only had one week.
Simeone shook his head with a bitter smile and told reporters: "That boy is harder to deal with than C. Ronaldo. The match point of the next round will be whether we can restrict him."
Wenger also had a face full of bitter smiles: "We are definitely not satisfied with this result. We will continue to strengthen physical training and won't let it drag us down in the next round.
As for why Xia Qi was substituted early, that was because of the yellow card. Actually, in the twenty-plus minutes after Xia Qi left the field, the players performed very well and didn't let the opponent gain an advantage. Unfortunately, our fitness..."
The 3:3 scoreline filled the second leg a week later with suspense.
It also filled the Spanish media with enthusiasm. They shouted the slogan: Champions League Madrid Derby.
(End of Chapter)
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