“April is the month of change. Winter passes, spring arrives, and a new semester begins. People’s outfits on the streets grow lighter, and the color of the sky changes, too. Perhaps that is why. April is also famously a month where many changes occur in the football world.”
On a British sports talk show. As the host opens the segment, the current league table appears on the screen behind him. From 1st to 8th place. The records and points of teams fiercely competing to qualify for European competitions are neatly organized and displayed.
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1. Manchester City / 28 matches, 23 wins, 3 draws, 2 losses, 72 points
2. Arsenal FC / 28 matches, 22 wins, 2 draws, 4 losses, 68 points
3. Liverpool FC / 28 matches, 21 wins, 4 draws, 3 losses, 67 points
4. Aston Villa / 28 matches, 18 wins, 5 draws, 5 losses, 59 points
5. Tottenham Hotspur / 28 matches, 16 wins, 6 draws, 6 losses, 54 points
6. Newcastle Utd. / 28 matches, 15 wins, 4 draws, 9 losses, 49 points
7. Manchester Utd. / 28 matches, 15 wins, 4 draws, 9 losses, 49 points
8. West Ham Utd. / 28 matches, 12 wins, 7 draws, 9 losses, 43 points
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From Manchester City leading in first place with 72 points, to West Ham holding eighth place with 43 points. The host, scanning the table on the screen, addresses the panelists.
“The gap between 1st and 2nd is four points, and between 1st and 3rd is five points. The difference between 6th and 8th is also merely five points. Even with ten matches remaining, it’s quite tight.”
Among the panelists nodding in agreement, one takes the baton and continues.
“It’s a gap that could be overturned in just one or two rounds. No one can rest easy yet. It’s a points difference where it wouldn’t be strange at all for everything to be different in just a month. Especially, as you mentioned, April is the season of change.”
The host sits down, and the panelist stands up, moving to the front of the screen. On the screen, the league table slides down, and data about what happened during April in past seasons appears. Upward-pointing arrows and downward-pointing arrows stand out.
“Let’s look at last season. As you know, the champions were Manchester City. But until March, Manchester City was not in first place. Arsenal was. However, this was overturned right as April began.”
The positions of the Manchester City and Arsenal emblems displayed on the screen swap. In a season that opens in August and concludes in May, the 1st and 2nd places changed with just one month left.
“Then what about the season before that? This time, Liverpool was the victim. Actually, the rankings never flipped that season. But they almost did. Manchester City had held a comfortable lead, but after stumbling consecutively in the second half, Liverpool caught up and it became a neck-and-neck contest. In April, the gap narrowed to just a single point. Still, thanks to their strong finish, they handed Liverpool the record of 90 points as runners-up.”
That season, while the rankings didn’t change, the one-point battle that began in April lasted until the end of the season, making it a historic campaign. That time, too, was April.
“Is there something about April?”
“There is. You can’t just look at the league. In April, the FA Cup semi-finals are held, and the Champions League quarter-final tournament takes place. Important matches are squeezed in between league fixtures. And most teams competing for the title participate in these competitions. Their concentration inevitably becomes divided. Because of that, you can see that they are especially often caught out by relatively lower-ranked teams in the league.”
April is a month with a lot to worry about. Important matches pile up outside the league as well. There are the FA Cup semi-finals and the Champions League quarter-finals.
Of course, both the FA Cup and the Champions League are competitions that run parallel to the league from the first half. But undoubtedly, the concentration required for the lower rounds or group stages versus the semi-finals and quarter-finals is inevitably different. Rotation is possible at the bottom, but the higher you go, the less possible it becomes.
“Therefore, the load on key players inevitably grows greatly. It’s the same for all teams, but even more so for teams like Manchester City, Arsenal, and Liverpool. All three are currently competing in European competitions.”
“Especially Manchester City and Arsenal are facing the Champions League quarter-finals.”
“That’s right. Since we’re on the topic, let’s take a look.”
As the panelist gestures, the image on the screen changes. A total of four team emblems appear on the screen: Manchester City and Munich. And the emblems of Arsenal and Real Madrid.
“Manchester City meets Munich, and Arsenal meets Real Madrid. It’s a very difficult draw. It’s a draw where it wouldn’t be strange if both teams were eliminated. But what’s a bit interesting is the defending champion’s performance the following year.”
The screen changes again. Captions appear showing what became of the teams that had won the Champions League in the season before last, last season, and the season prior, in the immediate following season.
“Bayern Munich, who won in the 19/20 season, met Paris in the quarter-finals the following year and suffered the bitter taste of elimination. Chelsea, who won in the 20/21 season, were eliminated by Real Madrid in the quarter-finals the next year. It’s not just these two teams; it’s extremely common for the defending champion to be eliminated in the quarter-finals.”
“What’s the reason?”
At the host’s question, the panelist smiles and shrugs.
“Who knows. I don’t know the reason either. But what is certain is that this April will be the biggest hurdle for Manchester City.”
Manchester City’s April schedule appears on the screen. In the first and second weeks of April, there are the first and second legs of the Champions League quarter-finals against Bayern Munich. From Matchday 31 to Matchday 35, there are a total of five league matches. And sandwiched between them is even the FA Cup semi-final.
“It’s a grueling schedule. Guardiola’s complaints about the fixture list don’t look like an exaggeration at all.”
“It also shows why maintaining the ranking in April is so difficult. To become champions, they must endure all of this. Moreover, in the first week of May. In Matchday 36 of the league, these two teams will clash.”
Matchday 36 of the league. Manchester City’s opponent at the Etihad Stadium will be Arsenal.
“How exciting.”
“It is exciting. This is the Premier League. We don’t know if this match will be the title decider, but in any case, it certainly looks like it will be a fierce battle.”
The point gap between Manchester City and Arsenal is merely four points. It’s a difference that can be overturned in just two matches, and they still have their head-to-head clash left. No one knows who will be in the higher position when the season ends. It wouldn’t even be strange if it weren’t these two teams but Liverpool at the very top. Liverpool is also just two matches behind Manchester City.
“What will happen? Let’s wait and see together.”
“Because the title race is only just beginning.”
For some, it could be an April of anguish; for others, an April of comebacks. Or it could be an April that shows why a champion is a champion.
It was something they would only know by watching.
···
April 5, 2024.
···.
Looking out the window, white clouds lay flat like a carpet. Perhaps everyone had fallen into a deep sleep, for the only sounds were steady snoring and the hum of the airplane engines. Right now, this place is... somewhere above the English Channel. I am flying over the sea.
···Hm.
The destination is Munich, Germany. A charter plane carrying its expensive cargo is flying swiftly toward the holy land of German football.
The Champions League quarter-finals had arrived just a day away. How fast time had passed. It felt like just yesterday when I had confirmed that Munich would be our opponent through the draw, but now, after closing and opening my eyes, I was heading to Munich.
Honestly, I think I had forgotten for a moment. The very fact that I was facing the Champions League quarter-finals. The league schedule was so packed that I had been focusing on the weekly matches. It was as if no one had even uttered the word Munich. At the training ground, we had only trained for that weekend’s opponent; we had never once trained specifically for the match against Munich.
I couldn’t help but be surprised anew. How could everyone focus only on the goal right in front of them? I was the type to worry about everything, even things a year away, pulling together both real and imaginary concerns. The manager and everyone else, however, only focused on each weekend, approaching every match faithfully as if it were the last.
But anyway. Now it was the match against Munich. Come to think of it, last year suddenly came to mind. Was the feeling similar to now when I met Manchester City while at Fiorentina?
I had never imagined that a day would come when I would play against such a team in my life. Whether it was Manchester City or Bayern Munich. They were teams you only commonly saw in football games; could I have ever imagined running on the same pitch as them? It was still the same now. My ears were ringing and my body felt like it was floating, as if my current state was telling me how I felt.
···
But those things weren’t important. What was important was that we were carrying great expectations. The reporters always camped out in front of the training ground, the people shoving microphones before and after matches. They were all pointing to that championship trophy up high, saying it was ours.
For them, it was probably a simple expectation. The same team achieving the treble two years in a row. Since it was a sight no one had ever seen, they might simply and purely want to see it.
But from the position of climbing up to pluck that star... I couldn’t help but keep looking down at my feet below. Because the higher I rose by the hands of those around me, the more I couldn’t help but think of the shock I would receive if I fell.
Perhaps everything could fly away. Even everything built up last season could be dragged down. I might be dismissed, written off as luck, and hear that it was over now. Because people have always liked that kind of thing.
Honestly, I was scared. I felt difficulty every time I played a match each week. These days, I was realizing how absurd it was to win three competitions, and why the treble was called a “feat.”
But the fact that doing it again would merely be breaking even made my chest feel tight. I couldn’t help but respect the manager anew. That courage to climb again from the beginning even after having stood at the summit once.
I, too, needed courage at this point. My legs trembled in fear of falling. I had already climbed higher than I had imagined. Having recklessly climbed up, I hadn’t even prepared a parachute.
If I fell, it would end right there. That was so frightening. That was why I absolutely, absolutely did not want to fall.
But there were only two directions. If I didn’t want to fall, I had to go up. And from that higher place, I would have to wage the battle again—whether to fall or to rise.
···I suddenly felt as if the pasta and sandwich I had eaten in the morning were about to come back up.
···
I hurriedly turned my head toward the window, fixing my gaze on the far edge of the clouds. After calming my churning stomach somewhat, I took my phone out of my pocket.
And then I skimmed through the messages sent by my Fiorentina hyungs. I vowed to get revenge for them.
Next, I checked Jiu’s message. She told me to sleep well on the plane and contact her when I arrived. I wanted to reply now, but I felt she would say something if I didn’t listen, so I would have to do it when I arrived.
···
I closed my eyes. And drew the future in my mind. It was hard to imagine having never been there, but I roughly pictured Bayern Munich’s home stadium in my head.
That massive stadium. The home fans screaming and chanting. The world’s best players, carried upon their backs.
And us kneeling in their midst. I pictured myself and my team blocked by a massive wall and succumbing to despair. On top of that, I thought of the people who would be disappointed if we lost, and those who would point their fingers.
···
I opened my eyes again and looked out the window. For quite a while, I kept my eyes on the edge of the clouds and exhaled deeply.
After that, I picked up my phone again and entered the group chat with my Fiorentina hyungs. Nothing but messages telling me to kill them all. Clenching my molars, I typed and sent a message.
[I’ll kill them all and come back.]
However frightening climbing up was, it was nothing compared to falling.