Chapter 1 VIP Box

In a VIP box, Kiesling, dressed in a suit, sat beside Voller.

The former Bayer Leverkusen header specialist had been invited to join the club's management after retiring.

He watched the teams emerge from the player tunnel and murmured, "Time flies."

"I remember when I first met Li two years ago... he was still short back then."

Voller nodded and chuckled, "You can save those sentiments for when Li retires."

...

The giant Champions League star banner was slowly taken away.

Bayer Leverkusen's mascot, Brian the Lion, excitedly high-fived Li Kang.

Fans in the nearby stands couldn't help but cheer. Historically, a real-life lion cub had once been the mascot of the BayArena.

A system notification quietly sounded.

[Ding, Task Triggered: North Rhine-Westphalia Bond!]

[Task Description: North Rhine-Westphalia, your emperor... alright! Don't forget, as long as you step onto the home grounds of Cologne, Borussia Mönchengladbach, and Bayer Leverkusen, you will possess...]

[Task Reward: Bayer Leverkusen Legend · Platinum Treasure Chest.]

Li Kang stepped onto the green field, a ghostly image of a lion cub circling beside him.

...

"Now, we'll introduce the starting lineups for both sides."

"Bayer Leverkusen is fielding a 4-2-3-1 formation."

"Goalkeeper: Leno."

"Defenders: Bellarabi, David Luiz, Jonathan Tah, Borges."

"Defensive midfielders: Bender, Çalhanoğlu."

"Attacking midfielders: Brandt, Havertz, J. Rodríguez."

"Striker: Balotelli!"

"This is perhaps the last lineup in world football centered around a classic attacking midfielder!"

Ctv5 Live Broadcast Room.

The number of viewers continued to soar.

-[Since when is J. Rodríguez the last classic attacking midfielder? He's just slow.]

-[The last time I heard that said, it was about Riquelme.]

-[Wasn't the last classic attacking midfielder Rui Costa?]

-[Wasn't it Zidane?]

-[Wasn't it Hagi?]

-[Are these stars actually classic attacking midfielders? I bet the forum could argue about this for hundreds of pages.]

-[No need to argue, different historical periods have different interpretations, and every star is an individual.]

-[The classic attacking midfielder problem boils down to a simple question: if you're Barcelona coach Louis van Gaal, would you choose Riquelme or Ronaldinho? If you're AC Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti, would you choose Rui Costa or Kaká?]

-[I want them all. Back then, Ronaldinho and Kaká weren't limited to the attacking midfielder position in terms of activity and combat style. The two Brazilian stars had excellent synergy with other teammates and didn't have any major flaws in their mental game.]

-[Let's get back to the game. As long as Balotelli doesn't start contemplating life, Arsenal won't take this game easily.]

...

"Arsenal is fielding a 4-3-3 formation!"

"Goalkeeper: Čech."

"Defenders: Monreal, Maguire, Koscielny, Bellerín."

"Midfielders: Xhaka, Li Kang, Cazorla."

"Forwards: Sánchez, Giroud, Morata!"

-[Full strength! A healthy Arsenal is just too strong!]

-[The more I look at this lineup, the more perfect it seems. Explosiveness up front, a pivot, a player to drop back and receive, the passing and receiving abilities of the two support midfielders are top-notch, and the defensive line is flexible...]

-[The key is having a Li Mingdeng.]

...

With the referee's whistle, the match officially began.

Possession for Bayer Leverkusen.

Balotelli passed the ball back to Çalhanoğlu from the kickoff.

The midfields of both teams immediately intertwined and overlapped.

The atmosphere at the BayArena grew even more intense.

"Çalhanoğlu has improved a lot this season, especially his ball protection!"

"Look at that move to get away!"

"Oh, beautiful, defusing Giroud's pressure, not letting the tempo become sluggish, quickly distributing the ball to J. Rodríguez on the right."

"We seem to hear Bayer Leverkusen fans... chanting Pirlo's name!"

"Coach Toppmöller said in an interview: the deep-lying Çalhanoğlu is the Pirlo of North Rhine-Westphalia!"

...

Çalhanoğlu hasn't yet become a "big mouth" like Özil, Lewandowski, Ranieri, Griezmann, or Klopp, because Bayer Leverkusen is very strict with him.

Last month, he was invited by West Ham United's Töre to film a video: the purpose was to support a certain political event.

After learning about this, Bayer Leverkusen immediately stopped this behavior, demanded that he not make any related comments, and hired professionals to analyze and educate him on the international situation...

He's only in his early twenties, not stubborn, and can be persuaded.

...

The moment J. Rodríguez received the ball, Cazorla quickly closed in.

His ability to shake off players on the spot isn't too bad, he's not afraid of burly players, but he's especially afraid of being marked closely by short players.

There was no choice.

He could only pass the ball horizontally to the supporting Havertz.

"Beautiful footwork to stop the ball!"

"Without any hesitation, he dribbled the ball along the right wing, the movements are so fluid!"

"A supremely talented German genius!"

"At this time, J. Rodríguez switched to the center!"

"Look at Havertz's performance... he is the most sought-after young player in the Bundesliga after Li Kang!"

...

There are some talented players who are at their peak from the moment they debut.

Havertz's growth rate is even more exaggerated.

Last season, his signature skill was his unique change of pace, and now he has also developed the ability to read the game.

"Cazorla is working hard to track back, forming a double-team with Monreal!"

"Why isn't Balotelli supporting Havertz?"

"Oh no, they're going to lose the ball!"

"Bellarabi!"

Bellarabi sprinted all the way, slowing down slightly as he approached Havertz, maintaining a distance, ready to support at any time.

Suddenly.

He saw Havertz's forward gesture...

Rush into the ribs?

Rush!

Without hesitation.

Bellarabi stomped hard on the grass and sprinted.

What happened next ignited the passion of the Bayer Leverkusen fans.

Havertz slowed down, first feinting with a sideways body posture.

Then flicked his left foot.

The football quickly swept past Monreal's side...

"Beautiful!"

"Havertz's through ball is too subtle!"

"You can't even see how his left foot passed the ball!"

"Bellarabi didn't run far before receiving the ball!"

"Cut inside!"

The Leverkusen winger has a very good shooting environment.

Brandt and Balotelli helped him create space.

Here it comes!

The first Champions League goal of the season!

Clang!

A familiar figure stood in front of him.

Li Kang.

The Leverkusen winger couldn't utter a single word of trash talk.

Snap.

No one saw how Arsenal regained possession.

A beautiful arc had already risen in the air above the BayArena.

The football plummeted into Bayer Leverkusen's half.

Bellarabi looked dumbfounded: he didn't even see Li Kang's tackling motion.

...

Giroud leaned against Bender with his back, heading the ball on!

The football leapt into a vacuum zone!

"Morata!"

"The space to sprint is open!"

"Huh?"

An even more swift and burly figure emerged from the Bayer Leverkusen defense.

David Luiz!

His afro trembled in the wind.

He was closer to the landing point.

With his smooth, long legs, he steadily intercepted the ball before Morata could accelerate.

"Worthy of being an excellent center-back from a top club!"

"His appearance was too timely."

Applause from the whole stadium.

David Luiz pressed his hands down, signaling his teammates to maintain good spacing.

Then he passed the ball to Çalhanoğlu.

"Bayer Leverkusen attaches great importance to maintaining the overall formation structure."

"This season, their number of goals conceded in the Bundesliga is second only to Bayern and Hoffenheim, but no player has emerged with particularly high tackling statistics, relying on the team's overall cooperation ability."

On the sidelines.

Coach Toppmöller paced back and forth anxiously.

Dino furiously scribbled in his notebook, saying, "Clearly, we have a midfield numerical advantage, the advance isn't difficult, the forward movements are sufficient, but the direction of our attack was seen through by Li, and his counter-attack long pass almost broke through our defense."

"Our offensive changes are not rich enough!"

Wenger sat calmly on the coach's seat.

Bould was checking the bananas that had been airlifted over.

...

Ctv5 Live Broadcast Room.

-[These Bayer Leverkusen players have improved a lot.]

-[Çalhanoğlu, Brandt, and Havertz are still young and have plenty of room to grow.]

-[Look at the replay of the attack just now, Brandt pressed forward to the front line, coordinating with Balotelli to put pressure on the Arsenal defense, it was terrifying! It attracted most of the defensive force, which created the opportunity for Havertz and Bellarabi.]

-[Balotelli and David Luiz seem to be arguing!]

-[J. Rodríguez's positioning is also very threatening.]

-[David Luiz's interception was also crucial. Before he rushed out, he instructed Çalhanoğlu to fall back and cover the defensive line.]

-[When Bayer Leverkusen bought Li for 1 million euros in installments, why didn't they spend more money to buy these real star players? Maybe they could have reached the Champions League final back then.]

-[The game has been going on for almost four minutes... is my 0:3 bet doomed?]