Football singularity-Chapter 546 My Goodness Gracious

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[UEFA Champions League, Round of 16 – 2nd leg | Aggregate: Liverpool 2–2 Leverkusen (Aggregate: 4–5)]

[75]

Salah snaked past Palacios and Sinkgraven, cutting in from the right flank, and he came to a sudden stop, forcing Tah to halt his charge. Using the moment of hesitation, he nudged the ball forward and rifled a curving shot towards the bottom left corner. Like a seal, the ball glided along the slick surface, curving past Tah's outstretched foot.

"Lukas Hardeckey with a heart stopper!" Peter Drury's voice crackled from the commentary booth as the finish keeper slid low, firmly wading onto the ball after palming it to stop. "That's the seventh shot in the past 5 minutes. If the German side doesn't respond soon, I wouldn't be surprised if that net bulges."

The Kopp stand on the other end of the pitch shared the commentators' thoughts as they jumped up and down in anticipation. "Looks like Peter Bosz shares your thoughts as he finally signals a change, and from the looks of it, he's making 3 at once."

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The fourth official's board lit up:

🔁 #19 Diaby ⬅️ #22 Rakim Rex

🔁 #10 Demirbay ⬅️ #11 Nadiem Amiri

🔁 #31 Volland ⬅️ #9 Leon Bailey

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Peter Drury spoke with rising curiosity. "Triple substitution from Bosz—he's throwing in his young guns. Rakim Rex, the 16-year-old wonderkid who turned the first leg upside down, is on for Diaby. Amiri brings fresh legs and vision, while Bailey's pace will test Liverpool's tiring backline."

Clive Tyldesley added, "he's been off due to the injury he caught in their first leg clash, so to see him make his return in this game is rather surprising. Especially since the culprit for his injury, Wijnaldum is still on the field."

"We can only guess what the coaches are thinking, but I'm looking forward to how he will handle facing him on the pitch," Drury commented with a light smile as Rakim dabbed up Diaby, pulling the latter into a short hug.

They exchanged a couple of words before Rakim jogged onto the field in his black and pink Ace11s. Clapping at his team's fans, who cheered upon his entry, he jogged across the field, taking his position. Bouncing lightly, as the rest of the substitutions were, he tested the range of motion of his right foot.

Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath, feeling the familiar air of a football stadium. One might argue he was crazy, but he knew that the feeling he got every time he stepped onto a football pitch was different. It sent electricity coursing through his body, sending adrenaline pumping through his veins.

"We meet again; I wasn't sure you'd make it for this game," Trent's voice sounded from beside him the moment he opened his side, almost scaring the Ba-Jesus out of him. "We thought for sure we wouldn't have to deal with you this game."

"Well, you know what they say, when God has a plan, seas part and mountains move." He told the Englishman with a light smile. "Plus, I had to get my get back for that cheap shot somehow."

(Fweet) Almost immediately, the referee blew the whistle, signalling the restart of the match. Rakim didn't hesitate in jogging back from the halfway line at 3/4 pace to present an option. Trent didn't dare move that far forward and get drawn out of position, but he didn't have to, as Wijnaldum moved to cover him almost immediately.

He seemed to want to assert his dominance on the younger wunderkind early as he spotted Hardeckey send a ground pass his way following a pass back from Tah. Wijnaldum was on him like a shadow, stretching a hand out on his back as Rakim stepped forward to receive the incoming ball. Remembering a trick he had picked up from an academy player in Scotland that reminded him to use the ball's momentum to flick it up and loop it backwards.

However, Wijnaldum stuck too close to him for him to get away, and since his body's engine wasn't as hot as his, he had a different idea. Instead, he received it with his right foot, his touch a little shaky as it rolled, not as instinctive as it usually was. Before Wijnaldum could react, though, he pushed off the ground, kicking the ball up with his momentum, just as his marker's foot, seeing from the side, tried to hit the ball and his leg in the process.

Now, in the air, his left foot that had just flicked the ball up caught it in the air, flicking it up and back, performing a smooth sombrero. He landed a second later and immediately turned, spinning past lunging Wijnaldum. "Oh, my goodness gracious—he's only just stepped onto the pitch!" Peter Drury exclaimed as Rakim smoothly brought the ball down, with Trent, Milner, and Salah moving around him.

He didn't charge forward, though, as he deftly flicked the ball that he had just brought back under control back through Wijnaldum's open legs. The midfielder, who had just turned ready to pounce once again, could do nothing but accept fate. Even his attempt to grab onto Rakm was met with a Mr Han-inspired arm flick as he side-stepped the tumbling defender, letting him become intimate with the ground.

He latched onto the loose ball and stopped for a moment, gazing at the downed midfielder with a look of disdain. The moment seemed to last for years as he gazed up at the sixteen-year-old whose career he had almost ended a couple of weeks back. In reality, it was no more than two seconds before Rakim kissed his teeth in disinterest before calmly passing the ball back to Sinkgraven.

"That right there was cold, cold-blooded, and that stare, Clive, I never want to be on the receiving end of that," Drury commented with excitement as the fans in the stands, whether home or away, lost their shit.

They had just witnessed a teenager effortlessly humiliate a fully grown man poetically. "We wondered whether he'd take the high road and keep things professional or hold a grudge. Well, we got our answer right there, Rakim Rex, as my nephew would say, has that Dog in him." Clive Tyldesley commented with excitement at what he had just witnessed.

[80]

While the two commentators and viewers lost their grip on reality, the match continued down below, with the German side retaining possession. Leverkusen began to string passes together around their back line, sending the ball up the flank for their wingers whenever the home side rushed in too deep. This kept them honest, given the pace both flanks and forward now possessed, which had threatened quite a few times.

In the 78th minute, after they had managed to corner Bender at the side of his box, the fullback lifted the ball up the flank. Leon Bailey, who had drifted wide, swapped positions with Amiri, chased after the descending ball. The Jamaican battled it out with Robertson, trying to win the aerial duel, and he managed to use his body to manoeuvre the defender out of the way.

Bailey's shoulder nudged just enough into Robertson's ribs to throw the Scot off balance without drawing a foul. The ball bounced twice before Bailey tapped it forward and darted down the line, his studs carving streaks into the slick grass. "Bailey breaking through with brute... and he's away", Peter Drury exclaimed as the Jamaican chased after the ball.

He zipped past the halfway line, but rather than charging toward the box, he lifted his chin and curled a short pass into the middle channel. Kai, who had managed to slip his marker, latched onto the ball a second later, doing his best to hold off Milner. He felt Milner clawing at his back, but the German playmaker used his frame well—backing into the veteran and cushioning the ball with his right foot.

With one touch, he rolled it sideways into space using his arm to push the latter away before pivoting into a reverse angle. He glanced once over his shoulder and spotted Rakim darting into the left inside channel behind Trent, who had stepped up a beat too late. Your support on M|V|L8EMPYR keeps this series going.

He whipped a curling through ball forward with the inside of his right foot into Rakim's path. The winger, who had been in full sprint, looking to pick up the ball at the edge of the box, suddenly jumped into the air, vaulting over a sliding figure.

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To Be Continued...