Football: Salary System - Chapter 120: Perfect Score! (Two-in-One) (Patreon)

As Premier League referee Anthony Taylor blew the opening whistle, the match got underway.

A wall of noise swept through Westfalenstadion, the roar of 80,000 supporters seeming to make the very turf tremble.

Yet both Dortmund and Atlético Madrid began cautiously, neither side in any hurry to show its hand.

“From these opening few minutes, both teams seem to be feeling each other out. Neither looks intent on making a fast start.”

“Exactly. Favre and Simeone clearly don’t want to make an early mistake.”

[This start is way too dull. Zayn’s barely touched the ball.]

[Simeone’s an old master at parking the bus. If he let your center forward get on the ball over and over from kickoff, he wouldn’t have lasted this long.]

[Dortmund’s attack has just been too strong this season. Nobody dares go toe-to-toe with them at Westfalenstadion anymore.]

On the pitch, the ball circulated back and forth across the defensive lines. Both sides occasionally tried to play forward, only for the opposition to intercept or break up the move immediately.

Following Favre’s pre-match instructions, Dortmund willingly surrendered some possession.

The Yellow and Blacks’ wide players dropped deep, while the double pivot of Witsel and Delaney held their positions through the middle, directly in front of Griezmann and Diego Costa.

Atlético therefore enjoyed more of the ball, but against Dortmund’s compact defensive shape, their passing lacked penetration.

Both sides attacked in turns, yet neither committed many players forward. They were like two experienced boxers circling one another, each waiting for the other to expose an opening first.

“Atlético have around sixty percent possession, but most of their passes are safe, lateral balls. Very few have managed to penetrate Dortmund’s defensive lines.”

“And Simeone clearly isn’t concerned. He’s not going to let his team concede first away from home because they attacked recklessly.”

[My under bet might actually be alive.]

[You’re insane. Betting the under in a Dortmund match this season?]

In the 8th minute, Götze received Witsel’s pass in the middle with Thomas Partey tight behind him, then used a delicate backheel to release Pulisic down the left.

Captain America drove forward along the flank, cut inside toward the edge of the penalty area, and tried his luck from distance.

The shot sailed straight into the stands.

“Götze looks sharp today.”

[That backheel from Götze was slick.]

[Shame Pulisic’s shot went way over.]

[With Atlético set up like this, playing through them is going to be incredibly difficult.]

After the long-range effort flew over the bar, the match settled back into its earlier stalemate.

The battle in midfield was fierce, with players frequently sent tumbling in challenges, but genuine chances remained rare.

Minute by minute, nearly twenty minutes passed with both teams still testing each other.

Then, midway through the first half, the match changed.

Young Dortmund made the first move.

They shifted gears and began to attack.

No longer content to circulate possession through midfield and defense, they suddenly raised the tempo. Every forward pass now carried far greater intent.

In the 24th minute, Götze received Witsel’s vertical pass near the center circle and produced a wonderfully smooth drag-and-turn to glide past Koke as he closed from the side.

A wave of gasps swept through Westfalenstadion.

“What a turn from Götze! That’s the golden boy we remember! Little by little, he’s finding his old form again!”

After raising the tempo, Götze didn’t carry the ball forward himself. Instead, he immediately slid a short, low pass into Zayn’s feet near the top of the penalty arc.

Götze’s quick decision-making had bought Zayn precious time.

Although Zayn had his back to goal, he had already opened his body before the pass arrived. With a simple half-turn as he controlled it, he was facing goal before Atlético center back Godín could close him down.

The experienced Uruguayan immediately lowered his center of gravity and checked his momentum, holding his position an arm’s length away.

He gave Zayn no gap to burst through while using his body to block as much of the shooting angle as possible.

Zayn took a quick look around.

His teammates out wide had yet to find good passing lanes, while he could already feel Thomas closing in from behind.

So he stopped hesitating.

From the top of the arc, with the Atlético captain right in front of him, Zayn curled a shot toward goal.

The ball traced a C-shaped arc through the air toward the top-right corner.

“Zayn shoots!”

But Oblak had anticipated it.

The Atlético goalkeeper sprang across his line and managed to tip the ball over the crossbar with his fingertips.

Groans of disappointment and applause rang out together around Westfalenstadion.

“Oblak! What a save! Zayn could hardly have placed that shot any better!”

[Holy crap!]

[That’s why he’s one of the best goalkeepers in the world.]

[Great shot, great save!]

Götze took the resulting corner, and Witsel got to the ball first. But under pressure from Juanfran, he couldn’t generate enough power on the header, allowing Oblak to gather comfortably.

Dortmund’s sudden burst hadn’t produced a goal, but it had still landed like a heavy punch on Atlético’s jaw.

Los Colchoneros had felt the pressure.

And they had no intention of simply absorbing it.

In the 28th minute, Koke dispossessed Pulisic as he advanced down the flank.

The Spanish midfielder immediately played forward to Lemar.

Atlético’s record signing received the ball with Piszczek in front of him, threw in several stepovers to create space, then suddenly accelerated and whipped a low ball across the face of goal from near the byline.

Diego Costa held off Akanji at the near post and tried to flick it toward goal with his heel.

He failed to make contact.

Akanji, behind him, managed to poke the ball out of the penalty area.

But the clearance didn’t travel far.

Griezmann reached the second ball near the edge of the box.

The angle was poor, but the French forward didn’t take a touch. He turned his body and struck the dropping ball first time.

It flashed just outside the near post and slammed into the side netting.

Griezmann tilted his head back, hands on his hips, disappointment written across his face.

“Oh, Griezmann was inches away! Atlético’s counterattack is every bit as dangerous!”

“After spending the opening stages feeling each other out, both teams have finally shown their teeth. The game is opening up!”

[Now this is more like it!]

[Both sides have raised the tempo. Let’s see who cracks first.]

[No, no, no. My under bet...]

As the tempo increased, Dortmund gradually began to take control.

Once both sides stopped cautiously probing, the more open game suited the Bumblebees and the “Modern Jazz” they had been playing all season.

Matthäus, however, narrowed his eyes.

As the match turned into a fast-paced exchange of attacks, the pattern of play was drifting away from what he had predicted before kickoff.

“It seems the key to this match isn’t the middle of the pitch, which we emphasized so much beforehand.”

“We said Simeone chose Thomas because he could provide physicality defensively while also carrying the ball vertically in transition.

“On top of that, Götze, Reus, and Zayn have often combined through the middle in previous matches, so we expected the central battle to decide the game.

“But since the tempo increased, Dortmund have clearly shifted their attacks toward the flanks, and they’re creating one dangerous situation after another.”

“You’re right. So what do you think is causing it?” his longtime partner asked, smoothly handing Matthäus the floor.

“The problem is Thomas himself.

“He can certainly carry the ball forward after a turnover and give Atlético another way to progress during transitions.

“But his lateral movement and recovery runs are weaker. Look at what happens when Dortmund attack the flanks at speed. He can’t shift across quickly enough to help close the passing lanes, and once the wide players accelerate, he can’t catch them.

“That means Saúl and Koke constantly have to tuck inside to cover the spaces beside Thomas and compensate for his limited lateral mobility.

“They’re supposed to be Atlético’s key outlets in transitions out wide, but now they have to defend the flank, tuck inside to protect the half-spaces, and still push forward in attack. That takes an enormous amount out of them.”

[Spot on. Looks like Simeone got his lineup wrong.]

On the pitch, Dortmund’s attacks grew sharper and sharper.

Favre hadn’t known in advance that Simeone would start Thomas. And since in-game adjustments were hardly the Swiss coach’s greatest strength, he hadn’t issued any specific instructions targeting him once the match began.

But Favre had always given Dortmund’s attacking players a great deal of freedom, allowing them to make their own decisions according to what they saw on the pitch.

After several duels with Thomas, Zayn had already spotted the crack in Atlético’s midfield.

The Ghanaian’s ability to drive forward vertically was certainly dangerous, but his lateral coverage and recovery speed after turning were weaknesses.

So Zayn began deliberately drifting toward the flanks and repeatedly combining with teammates on either side.

Pulisic kept making runs on the left, while Reus and Achraf launched wave after wave of attacks from the right.

Whenever Saúl and Koke shifted across to one flank, Dortmund quickly switched the ball to the other, forcing them to run themselves ragged.

Thomas should have been helping ease that pressure.

Instead, against Dortmund’s rapid switches from side to side, he looked heavy and slow, unable to keep pace when the Bumblebees accelerated down the wings.

In the 34th minute, Dortmund’s relentless wide attacks finally tore open Atlético’s iron defense.

Achraf received Witsel’s switch of play on the right and moved the ball forward to Reus.

The Dortmund captain received with his back to Filipe Luís.

The Brazilian fullback was experienced, but Reus had no intention of wrestling with him. He simply put his right foot on the ball and knocked it inside to Zayn, who had pulled away from the front line to offer himself centrally.

Thomas followed Zayn closely.

Zayn therefore laid the ball straight back to Reus, then pushed off and suddenly made a run forward.

For a split second, the Ghanaian defensive midfielder hesitated.

Should he close down Reus and help Filipe Luís double-team him, or follow Zayn’s run?

That moment of indecision was enough.

Zayn didn’t actually continue forward.

After making the initial run, he suddenly stopped and dropped back again.

The quick change of direction left Thomas rooted to the spot.

Reus wasn’t going to waste the opportunity.

Before Filipe Luís could close him down, he played the ball back inside to Zayn.

Zayn received facing forward, but instead of carrying the ball himself, he delicately used the outside of his left foot to flick it across to Götze, who had found space on the other side of the center.

Then Zayn immediately accelerated past Thomas again.

Götze had already scanned the situation before receiving the ball.

Filipe Luís, recovering toward the flank, was occupied with Reus, while Atlético’s two center backs had their attention drawn toward Zayn’s forward run.

Amid the confusion, the former golden boy spotted the most dangerous gap.

Meeting Zayn’s pass first time, Götze clipped a long diagonal ball behind Atlético’s right side.

Achraf, who had been lurking behind Reus, was already flying forward on the overlap.

The young Moroccan’s speed was on full display.

He left Filipe Luís trailing behind, controlled the ball cleanly on his chest before it could cross the touchline, then surged toward the byline and cut it back toward the middle.

The target was Zayn, already arriving at full speed.

Zayn reached the ball before Godín could slide across to block and drove a firm side-footed finish toward goal.

The shot went underneath the Uruguayan center back’s outstretched leg and into the far corner.

1-0!

“GOAL! What a magnificent team move! Zayn finishes off a brilliant Dortmund attack!”

[This is the Youth Storm! That was so damn smooth!]

[That pass from Götze took me straight back to 2014!]

[Simeone looks like he swallowed a fly. Thomas’s defensive decision-making was a disaster.]

Zayn performed his trademark knee slide in front of the Yellow Wall, carving a long trail through the grass.

His teammates rushed over and piled on top of him.

From there, Dortmund began playing with greater and greater freedom, continuing to use their speed out wide to pull apart Atlético’s increasingly shaky defense.

In the 46th minute, Zayn received a square pass from Reus more than thirty-five meters from goal.

He looked up, checked Oblak’s position, and immediately swung his right leg through the ball.

A thunderous long-range strike flew toward goal.

Oblak threw himself across and once again managed to tip it over the bar with his fingertips.

“Another unbelievable save from Oblak! What a shame. If that had gone in, Goal of the Matchday would have been wrapped up right there!”

Moments later, Anthony Taylor blew the whistle for halftime.

1-0.

Dortmund headed into the dressing room with a one-goal lead.

“That’s the end of the first half. Dortmund lead through Zayn’s goal. Atlético have a slight advantage in possession at 52 percent, but most of the genuinely dangerous shots have come from Dortmund.”

“Exactly. Simeone has to make an adjustment at halftime. If Atlético defend the same way in the second half, especially with the problems exposed by Thomas as the lone holding midfielder, they’re only going to come under even more pressure.”

Sure enough, Simeone had identified the problem.

At halftime, he acted decisively and replaced Thomas with Rodri.

The effect was immediate.

Rodri’s introduction noticeably improved Atlético’s positioning in midfield.

With a holding midfielder capable of covering a larger defensive area, Koke and Saúl no longer needed to constantly shift across to plug gaps, and Atlético finally stabilized through the middle.

“Simeone has corrected the problem quickly. With Rodri on, Atlético’s midfield shape is already much better. His lateral movement and awareness when covering space are far superior to Thomas’s.”

“Exactly. Atlético have settled defensively after the adjustment, and Rodri doesn’t seem any worse than Thomas when it comes to progressing the ball either.

“Now Los Colchoneros can finally commit more players to the attack.”

And once they did, the chances came one after another.

In the 50th minute, Rodri won possession in midfield and Atlético put together a quick sequence of passes in the attacking third.

When the ball eventually came back to Rodri, he immediately slipped a diagonal pass toward Saúl, who was making a run down the flank.

From the edge of the penalty area, Saúl swept the ball across the face of goal.

Costa threw his entire body toward it, but he was still half a step short.

The ball rolled beyond the far post.

“So close! Costa was half a step away! Dortmund survive!”

[If Costa had touched that, it was definitely going in. That scared the hell out of me.]

[Atlético have come out flying in the second half. They’re going to equalize at this rate.]

In the 53rd minute, Griezmann carried the ball in from the left before threading a precise diagonal pass toward Diego Costa at the edge of the penalty area.

The Spanish center forward held off Akanji behind him and curled a right-footed shot toward goal.

The ball sailed beyond Bürki’s reach.

“Bang!”

It smashed against the top of the crossbar and bounced behind for a goal kick.

“The crossbar! The crossbar denies Costa! The frame of the goal has saved Dortmund at a crucial moment!”

“That’s the second golden opportunity Costa has failed to convert today.”

“Atlético have completely pinned Dortmund back since the restart! They’ve created chance after chance, but luck simply isn’t on their side!”

[Holy crap, how did that not go in?]

[Dortmund are ridiculously lucky today.]

[Simeone’s stamping his feet on the touchline, hahaha.]

Atlético were pushing more and more players forward, but their failure to score left enormous spaces behind them.

Rodri alone couldn’t possibly cover all of it.

Atlético’s entire defensive line had already advanced to around the halfway line in pursuit of the equalizer.

But Dortmund had no intention of protecting a one-goal lead by retreating into a shell.

If they surrendered possession at times, it was only to make their next attack even more dangerous.

Favre made his move from the sideline.

Sancho replaced Pulisic, ensuring Dortmund maintained their pace in attack.

That substitution effectively announced what came next.

Dortmund were ready to finish the match off.

They had survived Atlético’s fiercest spell of pressure.

Now, with all that open grass behind the visitors, Dortmund could unleash the full force of their Youth Storm.

Every Atlético attack that broke down became another chance for Dortmund’s counterattack to strike.

The match entered the kind of rhythm the Bumblebees knew best.

In the 73rd minute, another Atlético attack failed.

Witsel won possession and immediately played a through ball forward.

Reus redirected it down the flank, allowing Achraf to race onto it from behind and burst across the halfway line.

He surged forward with huge strides.

Atlético left back Filipe Luís desperately chased him, but could only watch the Moroccan pull farther and farther away.

Achraf calmly looked up toward the box.

Zayn had already arrived.

The Moroccan curled a precise right-footed cross toward the head of Dortmund’s No. 9.

The delivery was perfect.

Sandwiched between Lucas Hernández and Godín, Zayn rose high, powered through his core, and snapped his head through the ball.

2-0!

“Dortmund have their second! Achraf sets up Zayn again! Zayn has his brace, and Achraf has two assists!”

Westfalenstadion erupted.

But Dortmund gave Atlético no chance to recover.

In the 83rd minute, it was the same pattern all over again.

Atlético won a corner and pushed almost everyone into Dortmund’s penalty area to attack it.

Bürki rose and claimed the ball securely.

The Swiss goalkeeper didn’t hesitate.

He immediately launched a long kick forward to start the counterattack.

Near the center circle, Zayn held off his marker, brought the ball under control, and carried it forward down the right.

Behind him, Achraf sprinted up the flank at full speed in support.

The two combined repeatedly down the right before Achraf received the ball again and exploded forward.

Against an exhausted Filipe Luís, he simply knocked the ball past him and blew by the Brazilian with raw pace.

The Moroccan burst into the penalty area.

With Oblak in front of him, Achraf stayed calm and squared the ball across goal.

Sancho arrived through the middle and guided it into the net.

3-0!

Achraf had completed a hat trick of assists.

“This match is completely beyond doubt now! Atlético’s defense has collapsed!”

“Zayn deserves plenty of credit for that goal as well. His ability to act as a focal point is getting better and better!”

[That’s counterattacking football. Simple and brutal!]

[Real Madrid fans silently giving Achraf a perfect score.]

[Achraf has been unbelievable tonight.]

Atlético still refused to give up.

They repeatedly tried to bypass midfield with long balls directly toward Diego Costa and Griezmann, looking for a simple and direct route to goal.

But neither forward could gain any advantage in the air against Dortmund’s two center backs, Akanji and Diallo.

Those desperate long balls, almost more like clearances than passes, repeatedly handed possession straight back to Dortmund.

They perfectly reflected how thoroughly Atlético had lost control of the match.

A team renowned for its hard-nosed defending had not looked this helpless in European competition for a very long time.

Then, in the 89th minute, came their most embarrassing moment of the night.

Under wave after wave of Dortmund pressure, Filipe Luís made a fatal mistake in possession near his own penalty area.

His square pass from the flank toward Godín in the middle was far too weak.

Philipp, who had come on as a substitute for Reus, intercepted it immediately.

The mistake was catastrophic.

Philipp needed only one touch to set himself inside the box before drilling a low shot toward the corner.

Oblak could only watch it nestle inside the post.

4-0!

“FOUR-NIL! Filipe Luís has gifted Dortmund another one! Philipp, who came on for Reus, adds the finishing touch!”

The Westfalenstadion crowd went completely wild.

Scarves were raised high as the supporters sang the club anthem at full volume, completely drowning out the visiting Atlético fans.

Then came the final whistle.

4-0.

A demolition nobody had seen coming.

“It’s over. A complete and utter victory. An unbelievable rout.”

“This match has exposed far too many of Atlético’s current problems.”

“They lack cutting edge in attack, and their defense is aging. The iron defense Atlético once built their identity around is gradually being worn down by time. Tonight, Simeone’s team was torn apart again and again by Dortmund’s young players attacking at speed.”

“This Atlético side once came so close to winning the UEFA Champions League. But judging by tonight, if they don’t make changes soon, that trophy will only move farther and farther out of reach.”

[Simeone’s Atlético really are getting old.]

[Dortmund’s Youth Storm is terrifying.]

[I feel bad for Oblak. He played really well and still conceded four.]

With the match over, Dortmund had become the first team to score four goals against Simeone’s Atlético Madrid in the UEFA Champions League.

Across 391 competitive matches in charge, this was the heaviest defeat of the Argentine coach’s tenure.

It was Atlético’s biggest defeat in the seven years since Simeone had taken charge.

For Dortmund, however, the 4-0 victory was unquestionably a perfect answer to their test.

Favre’s big exam had been passed with full marks.