[······A king whose pride has been wounded seeks to restore discipline and turn back the wrath of his people. It is a historically proven method: turning attention outward, demonstrating one’s might by defeating an external enemy. But this will be no easy war. For the expeditionary force that has arrived here today is the King of England, and the Conqueror of Europe. Welcome. 2023/24 Champions League Quarterfinal First Leg. This is the Allianz Arena······]
A cozy living room.
Gathered huddled together on sofas arranged in a U-shape around the living room, a group of rugged men had their eyes glued to the TV screen, which showed off the grand spectacle of a massive stadium.
Today was the day of the biggest clash in the Champions League quarterfinals.
Two giants, Manchester City and Bayern Munich, were facing off.
At this matchup that no football fan could resist, the men’s eyes gleamed brightly.
“What do you think the score will be?”
“Well. Still, since it’s Munich’s home, I’m guessing something like 2-1.”
“Who’s the 2?”
“Of course City gets the 2.”
“Hmm. Still doesn’t feel like it’ll be easy. You know how tough Munich’s home is.”
Eyes brimming with anticipation, back-and-forth chatter, beer and a slice of pizza in hand.
They looked exactly like neighborhood friends who loved soccer gathering at a buddy’s house in threes and fives—and while that wasn’t entirely wrong,
they weren’t just fans. They were experts in their own right.
In fact, they were experts who had actually played in the Champions League until recently.
Even though the match hadn’t started yet, Saponara, his face already flushed red, spoke in a boisterous voice.
“3-0! Jian with a hat trick! If I’m wrong, I’ll shave my beard!”
At this, Bonaventura, seated beside him, snorted.
“Sorry, but no one cares whether you shave your beard or not. If you’re going to bet something, bet something interesting.”
“Okay! Then if I’m wrong, you shave your head.”
“Now that’s a bit more interesting?”
It was a match worth watching even for someone with little interest in soccer.
And for these guys, they couldn’t help but care even more.
The reason was that Fiorentina—their team—had faced Bayern Munich in the Round of 16 and lost.
Moreover, Bayern Munich’s opponent was none other than Manchester City.
The team where Jian, their former teammate and the guy everyone still called “our maknae,” was playing.
So, to watch this match, nearly everyone had gathered at the house of their captain, Biraghi, who had lost the bet.
Of course, the players who had played alongside Jian were there, and at the kitchen table, Coach Vincenzo, Coach Tony, and Coach Luca could also be seen.
“Why don’t they use Kim in the starting lineup?”
“Probably because Dier looks better in training.”
“If they’re not going to use him, give him to us.”
“Why would Kim come here?”
“Is that how someone who wants to be a first-team manager talks?”
“You have to look at everything objectively.”
“Anyway, tsk. Munich’s gone with a 4-2-3-1… same as always. And City’s in a 4-1-4-1. So they’re just going to smash them regardless of it being away or Munich or whatever. This’ll be fun.”
“Munich’s going to struggle.”
“Let’s hope so.”
“They definitely will. They won’t be able to match them in midfield.”
No one knew better than these two how strong a team Munich was.
Because they’d taken a beating from them firsthand.
So they couldn’t help but rate Munich highly.
On top of that, it was Munich’s home.
Statistically, Munich’s home win rate was a whopping 80 percent.
Of course, most of those were league matches, but it was still data that couldn’t be ignored.
There weren’t even any injuries.
Their best eleven was out intact.
Schedule-wise, they were also in a relatively smoother stretch than Manchester City.
Physically, too, Munich seemed to hold a clear advantage.
But before that.
They also knew Manchester City well.
Because they had taken a beating from them even before Munich.
So if asked which one hurt more, that one had hurt more.
Someone might say they just got beaten either way, so what was the point in comparing, but there was a solid reason.
They had fought Munich without Jian, but they had fought Man City with Jian.
If Jian had stayed with the team this year too, they could’ve put up a fight.
Of course, they couldn’t guarantee they would have won, but they definitely wouldn’t have lost by such a large margin.
But even with Jian in their ranks, they had knelt before Man City.
They had poured everything out, only to feel a massive wall.
One might tilt their head and wonder how much difference one player could possibly make.
But these guys knew better than anyone.
They knew what an incredible ability the player named Jian possessed.
“My protégé.”
“Our protégé.”
“He’s my protégé. I taught him for two years.”
“I’m the one who scouted him.”
“He was a rough diamond who would’ve shined even without you.”
“Isn’t that the same for you, Coach…?”
“…Hmph. Our protégé. Jian, go get ’em.”
“Forza, Jian.”
Jian was a miraculous player.
Jian was the one who had nearly shot down a treble-winning team in the Round of 16.
And now that Jian had joined the very team that achieved the treble.
Just how strong would they be?
Surely, even Munich wouldn’t stand a chance against them.
[······As I speak, the players of both teams are beginning to appear on the pitch······]
At any rate.
While everyone had been waiting for the match to start with one heart and one mind, the players finally began to appear on the screen.
At that, the voices that had filled the cozy living room soon turned into hearty cheers.
“This is revenge for your hyungs, Jian!”
“We’re still brothers, right?”
“Kill them! Let’s go!”
“Just for today, sky-blue blood runs through my veins too!”
“Forza! Jian!”
“Forza! Man City!”
When Jian, wearing the sky-blue kit, was caught by the camera, everyone’s mouths stretched ear to ear.
They wore the expressions of older brothers watching their youngest late-born brother.
*
[Harry Kane and Jian Ri. A fascinating narrative. It’s a story about the Golden Ball. Two of the five players closest to this year’s Ballon d’Or will clash in a real battle today.]
[Just as one of the two teams will be eliminated, depending on the result of this quarterfinal, one of the two players will also see his chances fade.]
[Who will it be? Let’s take a look at their records for this season first. Whoever falls, it will surely be a very regrettable season. Let’s start with Kane’s record.]
The match began amid thick, bleary fog draped over the Allianz Arena.
As Bayern Munich, who had won the coin toss, slowly circulated the ball to start the match, the camera alternated between Harry Kane and Jian.
[He has scored 32 goals in 29 Bundesliga matches this season. He has recorded 8 assists. In the Champions League, it’s 6 goals and 3 assists in 7 matches. He’s recording absurd stats of 38 goals and 11 assists for the season.]
[It’s an incredible record. Last season’s Bundesliga top scorer had 16 goals. Of course, that was an unusually low number, but Kane has already scored exactly double that. And there’s still a lot of the season left.]
[Thanks to this performance, experts have Kane placed 3rd in Ballon d’Or predictions. For someone scoring the most goals in Europe, it might seem like a low ranking.]
[That must be because of the team’s results in the league, and also because PSG and Real each won their first legs yesterday.]
Kane was the player who had scored the most goals in Europe this season.
He was far ahead of Manchester City’s spearhead, Erling Haaland.
Having achieved these numbers in his first season abroad at a fairly late age, he was receiving even higher praise.
Proving his prowess in any league was something that silenced many doubts.
[But his opponent is no slouch either. Let’s look at Ri’s record as well. He has recorded 19 goals and 12 assists in the league. In the UCL, he has 6 goals and 4 assists. It might not seem as crazy as you thought? What’s important is that it’s 19 goals and 12 assists in 20 matches, and 6 goals and 4 assists in 5 matches.]
[It’s Ri, who missed many matches due to the Korean national team schedule. Even so, he far surpasses the stats of most players. What’s even more important is this player’s POTM ratio. He was named POTM in 15 of those 25 matches.]
[That’s an incredible record. And when you consider that his competitors were his own Manchester City teammates, it’s all the more impressive.]
If Kane had delivered a fresh shock to the Bundesliga, Jian had delivered a fresh shock to the Premier League.
From his first season after transferring, he had established himself as a core player, and every time he was absent, the team would stagger—proving his presence emphatically.
[Experts predict Ri alongside Kane in 3rd place. Of course, both players are within a very narrow margin of 1st and 2nd—close enough that it could change depending on today’s performance.]
[So today’s performance is important, and the moment I speak, Ri takes the ball.]
Just a minute ago, Munich had been circulating the ball, but now it had suddenly turned over to Manchester City.
They had won it back through intense pressing.
As possession changed hands, De Bruyne took the first connecting link.
De Bruyne sent the pass to Jian without a second thought.
*Tap—!*
Jian, having received the ball near the left half-space, turned toward the goal.
Immediately, Grealish and Phil Foden penetrated from the left and right, while up top, Haaland strode powerfully toward the box.
Thanks to this, as the Munich defense collectively dropped a step back, Goretzka—who anchored Munich’s waist—stepped up to block Jian’s path.
Goretzka was a player boasting a physical frame nearing 190 centimeters.
He charged in hard, as if trying to block with his large body.
“…!”
However, Jian didn’t even give him a chance to make contact.
Before Goretzka could close the dangerous distance, Jian already laid the ball off to the side, and while Goretzka’s gaze turned, Jian slipped in behind him.
*Fwhap—!*
*Fwhap—!*
The return pass from De Bruyne, who was supporting Jian, headed precisely toward him, and Jian received the ball in front of the box.
And then, the next moment.
A scene that was rather bewildering and humiliating for the Bayern Munich fans unfolded.
*Taka-tap—!*
While the other defenders each went into man-marking, it was Eric Dier who blocked Jian.
As if aware of Jian’s passing ability in the final third, Dier gestured to his teammates to cut off passing lanes.
But Jian pushed straight in.
As if asking where they were looking, as if saying they couldn’t afford to take their eyes off him even for a moment.
And indeed, that was the case.
*Tap—!*
As Dier maintained his distance and simply backed away, Jian cocked his right foot as if to shoot.
At that, Dier’s body turned halfway.
He had taken a stance to turn and stretch his leg to block the shot.
“…”
But the sound of a strike didn’t reach Dier’s ears.
He immediately realized he’d been fooled.
He whipped his body around to cover the opposite side—his left.
*Tap—!*
Jian cut inside to the left with the ball and broke into the box, but Dier, having turned, got there a step ahead to block his path.
Still, thanks to having maintained a safe distance, though fooled once, he had one more chance.
But the important thing was that by allowing Jian to get that far, the safe distance was now gone.
In other words, there was no second chance for Dier, and Jian seized that chance.
*Tap—!*
Jian cut back to the right again.
To follow that movement, Dier tried to twist his body once more, and that’s when disaster struck.
Attempting to change direction so sharply in succession, Dier’s balance shattered completely.
*Thud—!*
Dier crashed down like a dead tree, falling hard on his rear.
And Jian leisurely passed right by him.
Even in that moment, Dier did his duty, pointing at his teammates to block the way, but Jian wasn’t about to give the defense time to close in.
*Smack—!*
The shot went in just like that.
Munich’s goal was guarded by Manuel Neuer.
But this was a shot that even Grandfather Yashin himself couldn’t have saved, let alone Neuer.
*Shoooooom—*
*Thwack—!*
The net bulged.
And over the Allianz Arena, a bewildered atmosphere descended as thick and gray as the fog that had settled upon it.
“…”
There wasn’t even time to sigh.
Looking at the scoreboard, it was a point in time just barely 3 minutes into the first half.
That Manchester City was strong was a fact everyone knew.
The Bayern Munich fans had known it too.
After all, they were the defending champions.
They had acknowledged that they had met the opponent they least wanted to face.
But even so, this was too much.
Conceding a goal so futilely in just 3 minutes?
Everyone wore expressions of bewilderment at the audacity of the genius boy they were witnessing for the first time.
And there were people watching such expressions on TV from somewhere far to the south.
The rugged men huddled together in the cozy living room, pizza and beer in hand, all smiled.
It was a knowing laugh.
Because they too had worn the exact same expressions the Munich fans were wearing now when they had first seen that crazy little brat.