Greatest Of All Legends-Chapter 608: Clear Stance

Chapter 608: Clear Stance

“It didn’t count… but it created a problem for us that we didn’t notice until too late,”

“It gave us a sense of security that we were only supposed to have after we scored a goal, which we did,”

“But it didn’t count,” Pirlo said, a little smile at the corner of his lips.

“With that sense of security, we subconsciously thought we had the game in the bag because coupled with our dominance and the goal that was unfortunately disallowed, what else were we supposed to think,”

“Because of that, you guys let up a little,”

“Not in your efforts, but in your concentration. We started missing shots. We had the chances, but we kept missing because we weren’t striving to be as accurate and as perfect as possible,”

“And then the first half ended, then the second half began,”

“Then our opponents scored first. With that happening, your concentration shot up again, and we scored again, but once again, bad luck, it was offside,” Pirlo said, waving his hands a little for a dramatic effect.

“Before you got comfortable back on the attack, the opponent somehow managed to use our desperation against us. We got careless and conceded another goal,”

“Bam! Just like that, we’re two down,”

“We got even more anxious, but we also learnt that we needed to stay tight at the back, and luckily, we managed to get one back, but that was actually a lucky break for us,”

“One thing about always having the ball is that you’re always trying to score and that simply means more energy expended on our side,”

“We were more tired than our opponents, so if they had focused on just defending, they would have probably managed to keep us down by two. Luckily, our bad luck let up, and we got the penalty, which brings us to now,”

“We still lost the game and now will have to work on beating Dortmund in the next game while already being a goal behind. They also have the away goal rule on their side for now, and we’ll be playing in their home ground next,”

“The odds are stacked against us…”

“So, what should we do in the second leg that would help us to win the game?” Pirlo asked the players with a burning look in his eyes.

“Uhhhhhh, we try to score first and score early to ensure we can play on our own terms?” Dybala asked, unsure.

“Well obviously…”

“… But that’s not the correct answer,” Pirlo replied.

“… So what are we supposed to do in the next match?” Mckennie asked.

“What Paulo said…” Pirlo said.

“Huh?” Some of the players muttered, confused.

“… That, and one other thing,” Pirlo continued.

“Play like your life depends on it. Despite all we’ve said and all we’ll do till that day, anything could happen. They could score first, but that is when we should play even fiercer,”

“The game is never truly over till it’s over, so no matter what happens. Keep going,”

“It’s been fourteen years since I last held that silver trophy. I want to refresh my memory this year,”

“Don’t let me down,”

***

After the team meeting, the players were herded back to the fields to begin their training and they went hard at it all fired up to face Dortmund in the second leg of their quarter final.

However, before that game, they would have to face Genoa first in two days and they wanted nothing more than to quickly get it behind them and move on to the second leg match against Dortmund, but things didn’t work that way.

They could only do their best on the training grounds, keeping their morale high while they waited for time to pass them by.

In these kind of moments, time usually ran slower, but soon enough, the days went by and Uventus soon faced off against Genoa in the next match day.

Despite their heavy interest and anticipation for the upcoming second leg match against Dortmund, the Uventus players didn’t lose their minds and risk jeopardizing their title run.

**11th April 2021**

* Allianz Arena…*

The match between Uventus had been raging on for twenty minutes with both teams looking to one up the other and soon enough, Bernadeshi found Correia, a youth player who was getting a run out due to the injury problems Uventus was having.

Correira playing as a striker received the ball and let it fly at the goal but the Genoa goalkeeper wasn’t interested in being part of the young strikers story as the first goalkeeper he ever scored against.

Expertly, he made a powerful leap and punched the ball to the side, aiming to punch it out of play, but he didn’t punch it powerfully enough and the ball bounced onto the pitch, allowing Ronaldo to run forward and hit it back at goal despite it being a tight angle.

The goalkeeper couldn’t keep up with the second effort, and the ball smashed past him and sent the net flying.

{Ronaldo again!}

{He gives Uventus the lead!} the commentator shouted as Ronaldo ran to the sidelines to celebrate.

The fans joined in Ronaldo’s celebration by shouting “SIUUUUU!!!” as the Portuguese striker hit his iconic celebration.

The players on the bench and the club staff on the sidelines weren’t left out of the celebrations and celebrated along with the team from where they were.

Jason who was sitting on the bench also joined in on the celebrations, not allowing the fact that he was on the bench stop him from being happy that his team took the lead.

The match soon continued after the celebrations, but while everyone was still basking in the waves of excitement that the goal had brought with it, Genoa scored an equalizer from a corner.

A Genoa player somehow managed to get away with a powerful leap to connect with a perfect ball in and sent the ball past Sczesny, who was slow to react.

{Oh they’ve gone and scored an equalizer, what do we have here!?}

{Could Genoa be making a comeback!?} the commentator screamed excitedly. He was one of the people who loved a comeback that could topple a giant.

A dreamer, some would say, but he awoke from his dream a few moments later when Uventus scored a corner of their own just five minutes after Genoa’s equalizer.

Chiellini had gotten a head to Cuadrado’s cross and sent the Genoa goalkeeper gasping for straws for the second time in the game.

{Uventus make their stance clear for the second time in this game!}

{They’re here for the three points and don’t plan to take no for an answer!}

{Can Genoa still refuse them regardless? We would like to know!?} The commentator did his job while the Uventus team and their fans celebrated their second goal.

The fans felt like they had been to the moon and back, but were suddenly thrust on the moon again and with greater force than the first time.

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They excitedly cheered with excitement as the players celebrated and even after the game resumed, they continued cheering and chanting excitedly until the whistle to end the first half blew.

Till the first half ended, there was no other goal, but the match was exciting enough that the fans weren’t bored for a single second.

The second half soon began with Uventus continuing to play exciting football, looking to pick up from where they left in the first half but the Genoa fans were doing their best to stop them, all while trying to get the equalizer that would bring them back into contention for a win.

The match raged on and in the 67th minute, Jason came on for Bernadeschi on the right flank.

The sudden injection of fresh legs brought life back to the Uventus attacking attempts that seemed to be gradually slowing down moments prior.

Jason made runs, sent passes, dribbled past his markers and tried to create goals for the team by either setting it up or taking the attempt himself but the Genoa team held strong.

For a while…

In the 83rd minute, Jason received a pass from Arthur on the right flank in the middle parts of the pitch.

Swiftly slotting the ball between his marker’s legs as he rushed at him, Jason dodged the player’s attempt to hold him back and raced after the ball.

Catching up to it, he swiftly darted down the right flank, slowly cutting in and then crossing the ball into Chiesa’s path in the center.

The ball flew in towards the approaching Chiesa, but a Genoa player came flying in trying to block the pass to Chiesa, but he miscalculated his attempts to block the shot and ended up deflecting the ball into the back of his own net.

{Oh he’s put it into the back of his own net!}

{What a disaster!}

{Just when Genoa were rallying themselves to equalize, he’s gone ahead and killed his own team’s dreams!} the commentator shouted, his voice holding no form of pity for the Genoa player.

{I’ve seen many things in life, but a person hammering down the last nail of his own coffin comes as a surprise to me and to anyone!} the commentator’s partner added as the Uventus fans celebrated a third goal despite it being an own goal.

*Jason Assist!*

*Jason Assist!* they chanted with mirth while the Genoa players walked back to their positions disappointedly, their face completely clear of any intention to find a way back.

With just about five minutes left of the ninety minutes, it was going to be very difficult to get two goals against Uventus and seeing that they had not managed to get one back since the first half, it looker even more like an impossible task.

Normally they wouldn’t think like that, but they were under a lot of pressure before the own goal and the own goal was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Now they only had the will to resist conceding any further.

The game ended seven minutes later with the scores: Uventus 3:1 Genoa.