Chapter 196: Revenge from Al
Atlético fell behind right at the start.
Shocked, Atlético's morale began to sag. After play resumed, Atlético was clearly stunned and could no longer press like rabid dogs for the whole match.
By contrast, Arsenal surged forward with overwhelming momentum, launching a furious assault on Atlético's goal.
In the 8th minute, Arsenal won a free kick just outside the penalty area. Kevin De Bruyne took it directly; the ball curved around the wall and flew toward the top-left corner of the net. The arc was a perfect "C" — it flew out from the edge of the wall, and from Thibaut Courtois's vantage it looked like it would go out for a corner, but then it zipped back in. Courtois, totally unprepared, could only throw up his hands in surrender and made no reaction.
Unfortunately, that beautiful curling shot still struck the crossbar and bounced out over the line, failing to produce a goal.
"Oh, De Bruyne's shot quality is top-notch — just a hair short. What a pity, otherwise that would have been a contender for Goal of the Season."
Three minutes later Arsenal came again. Balotelli released a venomous shot from the same dead-ball spot, but Courtois made a heroic save, tipping the ball out for a corner.
"Courtois, a world-class save!"
"Balotelli's shot was beautiful, Courtois's save even more so — the two of them just treated us to a great footballing spectacle."
From the following corner, Xia Qi rose for the ball but was elbowed in the air by Raúl García; his header was skewed.
When Xia Qi landed he simply looked at García without reporting to the referee. That look made García uneasy — players fear the ones who don't make a fuss.
Because noisy dogs don't bite, but quiet dogs do; that rule applies everywhere.
Captain Gabi (Gabriel Fernández) walked over and patted García on the buttocks reassuringly: "Don't be afraid. Sacrificing you to get the team through is worth it."
"Captain, you really know how to comfort people…"
García forced a smile that was uglier than crying.
In the 18th minute, Xia Qi held the ball facing away from the attack in Arsenal's front third and didn't immediately turn to drive forward — he wanted to control the tempo. Constant reckless assault, all thunder and no rain, might hand Atlético chances. But while simply holding the ball and posing no threat, García came from behind and kicked him down, and stole the ball.
This kind of foul play wasn't in the AI's calculations. Xia Qi really had been tricked by García.
The blatant foul was ignored by the match referee, who signaled play-on as it favored the attack.
Instantly, applause thundered around Vicente Calderón Stadium; Atlético fans stormed to their feet, punching the air in approval of the referee.
For a moment, Arsène Wenger's heart thudded wildly.
He immediately realized: that damned UEFA wanted to sacrifice Arsenal to manufacture a Madrid derby.
He jumped up from the coaching bench and protested to the fourth official: "Does the home whistle have to be this biased? You are sullying the game."
The fourth official warned him not to talk nonsense and to calm down.
Wenger would not let it go. He deliberately leaned toward the near-side microphone and shouted: "You only want to create a Madrid derby — that's why you're being blind on purpose…"
Everyone is a crafty fox; the fourth official understood what Wenger meant. He grimly pointed to the bench: "Sir, please go back, or I will call the referee."
Wenger took his dismissal and angrily returned to the coaching bench.
On the pitch, Xia Qi got up and coolly glared at García.
García, prepared for this, returned the stare without a shred of courtesy, his eyes revealing smug satisfaction.
García's interception gave Atlético a chance to break quickly.
It ended with Diego Costa firing a long-range shot.
By the 28th minute, Arsenal won another corner.
"Xia Qi is leaving the box — are Arsenal going to run a set-piece routine?" wondered commentator Zhan Jun. Xia Qi was Arsenal's biggest star; no matter what tactic he executed he would be tightly marked. If you truly wanted to surprise, you would use someone else.
Patlès (an assistant) looked at Wenger asking with his eyes: did you set this up? Wenger shook his head.
The two men exchanged a smile and leaned forward, gazing intently at the pitch.
They were convinced:
Xia Qi doesn't act without purpose. Something's about to happen.
They were eager to see it.
García smugly watched Xia Qi's back, thinking Xia Qi was afraid and would shy away from him.
Of course — no chance!
So García followed Xia Qi out of the box and continued shadowing him.
Xia Qi didn't look at the corner taker Kevin De Bruyne; he instead exchanged a glance with Balotelli, who flashed a broad smile showing eight teeth.
The Xia Qi of AI status had a face like an iceberg that melted in that moment.
AI's learning capacity is too strong — if one day AI gained feelings like humans, would it still be AI?
The whistle blew.
De Bruyne swung the corner in. Balotelli did not head it on at the near post; instead he nodded it out to Xia Qi outside the penalty area.
That was unexpected.
When Xia Qi stayed well outside the box, most people suspected something.
García didn't contest Xia Qi for the near-post header; he waited for Xia Qi to jump and then rose beside him, opening his arms and "accidentally" elbowing Xia Qi. Same recipe, just moved outside the box. Outside the box, García felt less constrained — even if the referee wasn't biased, this would be a harmless foul, right?
But García didn't expect his little "elbow" to make Xia Qi so unbalanced.
Xia Qi fell in an exaggerated way, head-first, somersaulting to the ground. In that instant García felt certain he had figured Xia Qi out — he thought Xia Qi was going to dramatize the foul to exaggerate contact. Ridiculous.
A foul is a foul; at that position it didn't matter.
Suddenly, between his legs: pain.
Testicles — noun!
When Xia Qi fell head-over-heels, his legs curled up naturally and struck García precisely between the legs.
At that moment, if García still didn't understand, then he was a fool.
Patlès covered his mouth and laughed in Wenger's ear: "This kid's too smart. Afraid that in the box there are too many people and things might not be clear, he deliberately moved out of the box to perform clearly under the camera. The referee can't favor and Atlético can't complain."
Wenger, pretending to be serious, replied: "Don't talk nonsense. It was just an accident. Raul's (Raúl) foul motion was too big; Xia Qi couldn't control himself in the air. I sincerely hope Raul will be okay…"
Patlès immediately put away his smile. "Right, it was an accident."
Vicente Calderón fell silent.
In that eerie quiet, García's screams were particularly miserable. Nearby, Gabi felt his own family jewels twinge a little, but he quickly recovered and led the charge toward Xia Qi.
Balotelli and the Arsenal players also rushed forward.
The stadium sprang to life again.
"BEEP!"
A shrill whistle sounded.
A suffocating wave of boos and abuse swept toward Xia Qi.
"Foul!"
"You bastard, murderer! You've ruined someone's lineage!"
"Red card! Red card!"
On the touchline, Diego Simeone leaped up and first called the team doctor on. He then stormed to the fourth official to protest.
The referee waved the team doctor onto the field and called both captains over to give warnings, then made a gesture indicating he would check the replay.
García had been hit hard; he curled on the ground like a prawn, both in pain and panic, his eyes rolling in their sockets.
Pain goes without saying, panic came from fear of a lingering injury.
When a boy grows into a man, he usually won't cry in public — which shows how much pain and fear García was in.
The team doctor sprayed a lot of pain relief spray and then carefully put García on a stretcher.
After talking with the doctor, Simeone signaled Mario Suárez to warm up.
Seeing that, Atlético fans realized García could not continue; louder boos rose from the stands.
But it was not over.
The referee ran off the field and showed García, on the stretcher, a yellow card.
The jeers from the crowd grew even louder.
"García tried a cheap trick and got backfired — he not only got injured but also got booked."
"The referee's decision is fine; García committed the foul, Xia Qi's fall was just an accident."
Nonsense!
An AI-designed movement would certainly have no problems.
AI originally wouldn't make illegal moves, but after an upgrade patch it no longer just took hits without responding — it wasn't a meek child anymore.
Play resumed. García was judged to have committed the foul; Arsenal had a free kick.
The free kick was very close to the goal, making a direct shot difficult.
Arsenal's set-piece specialists huddled and decided to work it short.
De Bruyne took it. Xia Qi squeezed into the box. Since Mario Suárez was still warming up, Gabi tightly followed Xia Qi, eyes flashing hostility.
Simeone's nickname is the gang leader; his disciples were not the sort to take hits and stand at attention.
Though he had no proof, Gabi just knew Xia Qi had done it on purpose.
He would definitely retaliate at the first chance.
Courtois saw multiple Arsenal players crowding into the box and signaled to his teammates: play the offside trap.
Atlético players immediately nodded in understanding.
"BEEP!"
De Bruyne's delivery curled into the penalty area.
Almost at the same moment, Atlético's defenders all pushed up in unison.
In an instant, Balotelli and Theo Walcott, poised to attack the goal, were rendered ineffective. But as Courtois smiled in satisfaction, his expression changed and he shouted: "Captain! Xia Qi!"
He didn't even have to shout — Gabi knew he'd been careless. He had been marking Xia Qi, but Xia Qi wasn't Arsenal's spearhead.
A moment earlier, at the instant De Bruyne released the ball, Xia Qi had blended into Atlético's defensive line to create an offside trap!
What a bastard!
This wasn't making an offside — it was like a venomous snake hiding in the grass.
Gabi felt his head spin; Xia Qi was far too slippery. In a moment of inattention he had lost control of him.
A second later, Xia Qi burst from the crowd and sprinted toward goal.
Beating the offside trap and surging forward.
Gabi felt luck smiling on him because Xia Qi came right back in front of him.
The relief of having regained his marker made Gabi swear to himself he would absolutely stop Xia Qi's attack.
Kid, if you want to score, you've got to get past the lucky one first!
Gabi lunged from an angle and quickly closed on Xia Qi. It looked like Xia Qi would reach the ball and possibly shoot before Courtois could get there.
Surrounded by the halo of fortune, Gabi instinctively used his usual small trick: he subtly put a hand on Xia Qi's back and pushed.
At the first touch, Xia Qi collapsed like a sheet of paper.
After falling, Xia Qi neither clutched his face and rolled nor loudly complained to the referee; he sat on the ground with an air of helplessness, shrugged, spread his hands, and gave a rueful smile.
Not fighting, not protesting — his expression of pain and helplessness was heartbreaking.
Arsenal's traveling fans, who had been holding their anger back, finally erupted.
Some emotional female fans even cried out of sympathy.
Gabi was stunned; he really hadn't expected that broad-faced guy to act.
As everyone knows, among Messi, Ronaldo, Xiaxing, Xia Qi's style is the toughest and his reputation the best.
But today…
Seeing his teammates glare at him for being reckless, Gabi swallowed a mouthful of spit in disgust and felt like a rancid old heart.
"Ah! Pushed from behind, a foul in the box — that's a red plus a penalty combo," shouted commentator Zhan Jun angrily.
Surrounded by Arsenal fans' enraged shouts, Gabi immediately raised his voice to defend himself.
"He's diving!"
"I only touched him lightly…"
As he spoke he noticed his own teammates were averting their eyes.
Done for.
Even his own people didn't believe him. Gabi felt instantly: this is infuriating! I'm unjustly accused!
Although they didn't believe Gabi was innocent, Atlético's players tried to help by explaining to the referee.
Arsenal, of course, protested to the referee.
The referee gestured for calm and pointed to his eyes, indicating he had seen everything clearly.
Because Xia Qi had already broken past the last defender, Gabi was shown a red card and a penalty was awarded.
"A red and a penalty! This call is very fair."
Only Gabi knew how unfair it was — the villain had become a young man!
The broad-faced, big-eyed traitor!
He tried desperately to explain to the referee, but the referee told him to stop talking nonsense and go off.
Gabi had no choice; he handed the captain's armband to center-back Diego Godín and said: "Be careful, that boy's turned bad. He's no longer cute…"
Simeone was very unhappy with the referee's decision. He swore on the sideline. Wenger couldn't stand it either. He stormed to the touchline, pointed at the LED screen and shouted: "Open your eyes and look — what's wrong with this?"
Slow-motion replay showed Gabi did touch Xia Qi; the replay couldn't show how much force was used.
The slow-motion replay confirmed Xia Qi had indeed been infringed upon, so a red card seemed justified.
Simeone looked up and bellowed: "He's hurt Raul."
Wenger snorted coldly: "That was an accident — Xia Qi has no eyes on the back of his head. Besides, why didn't Raul move out the way?"
Simeone felt a surge of anger and thought to himself: damn it, if anyone says the Professor (Wenger) isn't good at arguing with me, I'll kick his butt!
Simeone felt like he'd left the house on the wrong foot — everything tonight was going wrong: García injured and out, Gabi sent off with a red, and his team trailing by a goal; they were about to be two goals down.
His whole plan had been thrown into chaos.
Who can tell me what on earth just happened?
(END CHAPTER)
Thank you for the support, friends. If you want to read more chapters in advance, go to my Patreon.
Read 20 Chapters In Advance: patreon.com/Bankai10