Football singularity-Chapter 726 Tense Opening Minutes

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[2021-04-14, 19:00 | Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund]

[Champions League Quarter-Final 2nd leg | Leverkusen (1) 0 v 0 (2) Dortmund]

The camera cut to the centre circle, where the referee was conducting the coin toss. Reus called heads—the coin landed tails. Lars gestured toward one end of the pitch, choosing to defend the Yellow Wall in the first half.

"Leverkusen will attack the Yellow Wall first," Drury noted. "An interesting choice considering that without fans, the psychological burden is low."

The referee checked his watch, then gestured for both teams to take their positions. The players dispersed—Dortmund in their yellow and black kits, Leverkusen in their traditional red with black trim. The stadium fell into an eerie silence, all waiting for the referee’s start signal.

*(FWEEET!)* 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

[1’]

Leverkusen kicked off with Schick tapping the ball back to Wirtz, who immediately played it back to Jeremie. The Right back calmly brought the ball under control using a neat shoulder feint to slip by the Charging Hazard. By the Dortmund left winger on the flank, he sent the ball inward to the waiting Amiri, who immediately knocked it back to the defence to retain possession.

"Leverkusen starting off calmly here, any thoughts, Jim?" Asked after watching the first few exchnages were neiteher side appeared too daring. Even when losing possession, they first dropped back to defend rather than their usual pressing defence.

"Peter, both sides will have come with completely different game plans to this match, and what we are seeing now is the initial period of trying to settle as quickly as possible." He paused for a moment as Diaby was let loose on a run down the flank following a through ball lobbed into the air by Lars Bender. "Not even Diaby with all that pace could get on the end of that. It still goes to show just hodangerous they can switch from retaining possession to launching a quick attack."

"Speaking of attacking power, what can you tell us about both sides’ line-ups?" Drury asked, doing his job to keep the conversation going as the game entered another lull period.

"The home side fielded a stable starting eleven mixing veterans with talented rookies." Jim Beglin responded before listing the starting eleven. "Roman Bürki guards the goal as Hummels and Akanji play ahead in central defence. On the right is Mateu Morey, and on the left is Raphaël Guerreiro."

"In midfield, we have Emre Can and Jude Bellingham as the double pivot," Beglin continued, his tone analytical. "Two physical presences who will look to disrupt Leverkusen’s rhythm. Ahead of them, Marco Reus operates as the attacking midfielder, with Giovani Reyna on the right and Thorgan Hazard on the left. Leading the line, of course, is Erling Haaland—twenty years old and quickly becoming one of the most feared strikers in Europe."

"And for the visitors," Beglin continued seamlessly, "Lukas Hradecky starts in goal—the Finnish international who was outstanding in the first leg. The back four consists of Jeremie Frimpong at right-back, Edmond Tapsoba and Jonathan Tah as the centre-back partnership, with Daley on the left."

"In midfield, captain Lars Bender sits as the lone holding midfielder, with Florian Wirtz and Nadiem Amiri ahead of him providing creativity. On the wings, Moussa Diaby operates on the right, Rakim Rex on the left, and Patrik Schick leads the line-up top."

"A very mobile attack-minded setup from Peter Bosz," Drury observed. "Only one true holding midfielder. They’re clearly here to score goals."

"They have to be, Peter," Beglin replied. "One-nil down on aggregate means they need at least two without reply. Bosz knows his team can create chances—the first leg proved that. The question is whether they can be clinical tonight."

[4’]

Leverkusen began to settle into their rhythm, working the ball patiently from side to side. Tapsoba stepped forward with possession, scanning the field before playing it wide to Frimpong on the right. The Dutch fullback took one touch, then drove forward, his pace immediately drawing Hazard back to track him.

He exchanged a quick one-two with Diaby, overlapping to escape the Belgian’s challenge, bursting into Dortmund’s half. Guerreiro shuffled across to cover, showing him down the line. Frimpong didn’t force it, instead cutting the ball back to Amiri at the edge of the centre circle.

The German midfielder controlled it smoothly, turning away from Bellingham’s press. He played it across to Wirtz, who had dropped deep to collect. The teenage playmaker took one touch, then threaded a pass between Can and Bellingham into Rakim’s feet on the left.

The winger collected it with his back to the goal, Morey immediately on him. Rakim felt the pressure, dropped his shoulder as if to turn inside, eliciting a reaction from the fullback, then instead backheeled it to the overlapping Daley. The Dutch left-back drove forward, with gusto, sweeping the ball along, whipping in a low cross toward the near post before he could be closed down.

Schick sniffed out the chance and attacked the area, getting ahead of Hummels. With a clever flick of his left foot, he managed to direct it toward the far post, but Akanji was there, intercepting it desperately with a sliding tackle. The ball flew out for a corner, allowing the home side to take a much-needed intake of air.

"First real chance for Leverkusen!" Drury exclaimed. "Patrik Schick almost converted it, but Akanji reads it well. Corner kick."

[6’]

Wirtz placed the ball at the corner flag, taking his time as bodies jostled for position in the box. Tah and Tapsoba pushed forward, both marking Hummels and Akanji. Lars Bender held his position at the edge of the box, ready to cover any clearance.

The teenager delivered it with pace, curling it toward the penalty spot. Bodies rose in a chaotic scramble—Tah got a glancing header, but it lacked power. Bürki caught it comfortably, immediately raced to the edge of the box and launched a counter.

The ball sailed long, arcing toward the halfway line where Haaland had already started his run. Lars Bender tracked back quickly and used his body to shield the Norwegian from the ball. The two collided, both going for it, but Bender won out, nudging Daley on the left.

"Good tracking and defending from Lars," Beglin noted. "Perfect mix of physicality and experience doing just enough to knock the ball away from Haaland."

[9’]

As the game reached the ten-minute mark, Dortmund began to assert itself, pushing higher up the pitch. Bellingham won the ball in midfield with a crunching tackle on Wirtz, dispossessing the German cleanly. The English teenager sprang up immediately, drove forward at pace, his head scanning the field for options.

He found Reyna out wide on the right, who took one touch before accelerating past Daley. The American winger drove to the byline, drawing Tapsoba across, then cut it back sharply to the edge of the box. Reus arrived, striking it first-time with his right foot, sending the ball rocketing toward the bottom left corner.

Hradecky reacted immediately, dropping low and diving to his right. With his body fully laid out, he managed to get a strong hand on it, leaving no chance for seconds as he pushed it wide.

"LUKAS HRADECKY!" Drury roared. "Marco Reus thought he had the opener! Brilliant save from the Finnish keeper!"

The corner was delivered by Reus, curling toward the back post. Haaland rose highest, but his header had too much power and sailed over the goal.

"Dortmund showing they’re happy to counter, but when they get the ball, they attack with force," Beglin observed.

[15’]

It didn’t take long for Leverkusen to respond as Hradecky sent the ball wide to Frimpong on the right, following a pass back from Bender. The full back received it and immediately drove forward with abandon. He exchanged a one-two with Diaby, skipping past Hazard’s challenge.

He crossed the halfway line, then finally looked up and played a diagonal pass to Rakim on the left upon spotting his run. The winger accelerated further upon seeing the pass, bending his run towards the ball’s landing spot at the side of the box. He trapped the descending ball with his left foot, jumping back to avoid Morey’s lunge as the full back caught up.

Tapping the ball down, he dropped a shoulder, feinted inside, then exploded down the line with a burst of acceleration. Morey recovered quickly, sliding in trying to intercept the ball, but Rakim had already let loose a cross into the box. The ball whipped across the face of the goal with dangerous pace, curling toward the penalty spot.

Schick had already begun his run, timing it perfectly to arrive between Hummels and Akanji. He rose, stretching every sinew, his neck muscles straining as he met the ball with his forehead.

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TO BE CONTINUED...