Football: Salary System - Chapter 128: A Tight Spot (Patreon)

In the 13th minute, Zayn dropped all the way back to the edge of the center circle to receive the ball.

Rodri, who was responsible for marking him, chose not to follow him out and instead held his position.

After receiving the ball, Zayn nudged it with the outside of his left foot and twisted his body with the motion, turning smoothly to face forward.

Seeing this, Thomas, positioned higher up the pitch, immediately stepped forward to close Zayn down. At the same time, he waved and shouted for Griezmann to drop back from the front and help trap him.

Zayn naturally wasn't going to wait for the net to close.

He pushed the ball diagonally forward to his left and prepared to accelerate.

Thomas planted his foot and drove straight into him with his body.

His intention was obvious. The ball could get past, but Zayn wasn't going with it.

To the Ghanaian midfielder's surprise, however, Zayn simply yielded slightly with the shoulder charging into him, taking most of the force out of the collision. At the same time, he hooked the ball forward again and kept going.

Thomas couldn't even get a touch on it.

By the time he reached out to grab Zayn, Zayn had already recovered his balance, accelerated, and slipped past him.

The blond teenager sliced into Atlético's left half-space like a blade.

But Rodri, whose awareness was excellent, had already shifted across in time.

He positioned himself in front of Zayn without diving into a challenge. Instead, he turned his body to block the inside route and shepherd Zayn toward Juanfran.

Zayn kept up his speed, seemingly content to be forced toward the touchline.

Rodri stopped giving him space and stepped in, joining Juanfran to close the trap.

Then, at full speed, Zayn suddenly slammed on the brakes. He cut across the front of the ball with the outside of his right foot, bringing both himself and the ball to an abrupt stop.

The sudden change caught both defenders badly off balance, and they staggered as they tried to pull their weight back under control.

Before either could regain his footing, Zayn slipped a diagonal pass through the narrow gap to Marco "Rolls Reus", who was darting in behind Rodri.

Reus took the ball in stride and shaped as if he were about to drive into the penalty area.

Rodri, having only just recovered his balance, had no choice but to abandon Zayn and turn to chase back.

At the same time, center-back Giménez stepped out from the defensive line and moved across to block Reus's shooting lane.

Surrounded, the Dortmund captain didn't force the shot. Instead, he deftly knocked the ball behind himself with his right heel.

He was looking for Zayn, who hadn't continued forward after releasing the pass but had instead moved laterally toward the middle.

Reus's backheel layoff had exactly the right weight and direction. It was a perfect setup.

Zayn arrived onto it, drew his leg back, and prepared to smash the ball toward goal.

But someone suddenly grabbed his raised arm from behind.

Thomas!

The Ghanaian midfielder was clearly in far better form than he had been in the first leg.

Even after Zayn beat him, Thomas had stayed focused and chased him all the way back. Now he had finally caught up.

After tugging Zayn with his hand, Thomas drove his shoulder into him again.

Zayn had no time to absorb the impact. Bracing himself against Thomas's challenge, he swung through the ball and forced out a fierce low shot.

There was still tremendous power behind it as it screamed toward goal.

But Thomas had ultimately done his job. At the last instant, he had disrupted Zayn's technique.

The shot went too centrally, allowing the alert Oblak to get down and smother it securely.

"Wow! Zayn! That was still a very high-quality strike, but Oblak's positioning was excellent!"

"Look at the understanding between him and Reus. They don't even need to exchange a glance!"

"That's 'modern jazz' for you! The two of them created that beautiful move all by themselves. Reus didn't even look back before playing the backheel!"

After Zayn's warning shot, Atlético tightened up even further defensively.

Dortmund were allowed more possession.

But just as at the start of the match, they kept moving the ball from side to side without creating another shooting opportunity. Meanwhile, even Atlético's occasional counterattacks were being carried through to the final phase and turned into genuine threats on goal.

"We're almost twenty minutes in, and Dortmund's defenders still haven't settled into the game. Those two center-backs in particular are really struggling to play the ball out!"

Matthäus had never been one to mince words, and he immediately began criticizing the makeshift pairing of Toprak and Akanji.

"Actually, Akanji is pretty good on the ball. We've seen him hit plenty of long passes toward the two wingers or Zayn this season, and his success rate has been quite respectable.

"But at the back, he's usually responsible for switching play wide, hitting diagonal long balls, and playing penetrating passes forward. The short combinations and safer progression usually fall to Diallo.

"His partner today, Toprak, hasn't played much this season. He's clearly out of form, and his distribution isn't exactly impressive either.

"That means the entire burden of Dortmund's buildup has fallen onto Akanji. With Atlético's two forwards constantly harassing them, it's inevitable that Dortmund's progression from the back will become sluggish."

Favre on the touchline had clearly noticed the problem with Dortmund's buildup as well.

After thinking it over, he made an adjustment, signaling for Witsel and Delaney to drop much deeper in front of the defensive line to offer themselves for passes. Bürki also cut down on his long balls, trying instead to give the ball to his two center-backs before having the deeper midfielders help move it forward.

Neither midfielder was an outstanding playmaker, but the adjustment still made Dortmund's buildup somewhat smoother.

"Favre's idea is a good one. It sacrifices some of Witsel's ability to make forward runs, but at least it keeps the buildup from the back flowing."

Hellmann nodded repeatedly at Favre's adjustment, but Matthäus frowned again.

As a legendary midfielder who had won the Ballon d'Or, he felt Favre had only gotten half of it right.

"There's absolutely nothing wrong with Witsel dropping in front of the defense to receive and distribute the ball. That's where he plays for Belgium."

"But Delaney shouldn't be dropping that deep. The Dane's strengths are his running, the ground he covers, and his ability to immediately counterpress and battle for the ball after possession is lost."

"If you pull him all the way back in front of the center-backs, you're completely wasting those strengths. And even if Delaney drops into that position, he doesn't have the technical quality to play his way out when he's being surrounded and pressed.

"More importantly, if Dortmund lose the ball while they're advancing, Delaney's deeper position means gaps are bound to appear in their midfield defensive structure."

The course of the match soon proved just how much that Ballon d'Or-winning midfielder knew what he was talking about.

In the 23rd minute, Sancho dropped back to receive on the right and chose to attack down the touchline himself.

But repeated changes of direction and tempo couldn't shake off Filipe Luís. Instead, the Brazilian fullback bumped him off balance, and Sancho stumbled as he lost possession.

After winning the ball, Filipe Luís didn't hesitate. He immediately sent a diagonal long pass toward Griezmann, who had dropped off to provide an outlet.

Just as Matthäus had said, Delaney's deeper role in the buildup meant he couldn't stay tight to Griezmann when the Frenchman dropped back.

Griezmann turned easily in the attacking half and even had plenty of time to lift his head and scan the field.

Delaney wasn't slow to press. He simply had much farther to run.

Before he could get there, Griezmann had already played the ball to Saúl, who was cutting diagonally into midfield from the right.

Toprak was the first to step toward Saúl.

But Saúl merely used the inside of his right foot to cut the ball left and glided straight past him.

Toprak had committed too aggressively and couldn't stop himself in time. He was beaten cleanly.

After getting past the center-back, Saúl didn't continue forward. Instead, he played a diagonal pass toward the left side of the penalty area.

He was looking for Filipe Luís, who had sprinted forward after winning possession.

Filipe Luís received the ball on the left side of the box and, without taking another touch, immediately cut it back to Saúl.

With that quick exchange, Dortmund's young defense completely lost track of the danger.

They couldn't close him down in time.

Saúl met the return pass and guided a shot toward the far corner.

1-0!

"Goal! In the 23rd minute, Atlético Madrid take the lead at home!"

"That's Dortmund's first goal conceded in this season's UEFA Champions League! They hadn't allowed a single goal in their previous three group-stage matches, but that record has finally been broken!"

"Atlético's counterattack was simple, direct, and deadly!"

"Look at that. Dortmund's midfield was completely empty. From the moment Sancho lost possession until Saúl took the shot, there wasn't a single interception or even any meaningful delay in midfield."

The Wanda Metropolitano erupted.

The supporters raised their arms and roared along with Saúl as he raced toward the corner flag to celebrate.

This was exactly the "revenge" Atlético's fans had been waiting for.

On the other side of the pitch, Toprak, who had been beaten in a single move, stood with his hands on his hips and his head lowered, his expression impossible to read.

His partner Akanji spread his arms, seemingly complaining about how completely the protection in front of him had vanished.

Meanwhile, Achraf, who had been practically "invisible" on the left for the first twenty minutes, retrieved the ball from the net and angrily booted it toward the center circle.

The makeshift defensive line was already beginning to come apart.

Zayn calmly brought down Achraf's frustrated clearance, placed the ball on the center spot, and waited for the restart.

Up in the commentary booth, Matthäus had already delivered his verdict without holding anything back.

"I'm afraid Dortmund may already be in serious trouble tonight."

Less than half an hour had been played, yet he sounded completely certain.

Hellmann was already used to his partner making bold statements and naturally followed up. "Why do you say that?"

"First of all, part of the reason Atlético lost so badly in the previous match was Simeone's lineup. He used a 4-3-3 the team wasn't accustomed to and put Thomas alone at defensive midfield.

"More importantly, they conceded first that night. They had no choice but to push forward, and all that open space behind them played straight into Dortmund's hands.

"But the true gap between these two sides is nowhere near as wide as the 4-0 scoreline suggested.

"Tonight, Atlético scored first at home. Do you really think Simeone is going to let them open up and push forward now?"

Hellmann smiled. "Of course not. They've been playing primarily to defend from the start anyway."

"Exactly. I've watched Dortmund's matches earlier this season. Their positional attacks have worked quite well against the Bundesliga's mid-table and lower-table sides.

"But now they're facing one of the best defensive counterattacking teams in European football.

"To be frank, after watching these twenty-odd minutes, I don't believe Favre's side can break down Atlético's set defense and get through Oblak. What they really need to worry about now is avoiding another goal. After all, even if Dortmund lose, they'll still remain top of the group on goal difference."

Saúl's goal didn't fundamentally alter the pattern of the match.

Simeone's side didn't retreat dramatically.

"El Cholo" had no intention of parking the bus this early and simply absorbing pressure. Atlético maintained their defensive counterattacking approach and still looked to break forward immediately whenever they won the ball.

Favre, meanwhile, instructed Dortmund's players to remain patient and continue following the plan they had prepared before the match.

So after play resumed, Dortmund once again fell into the same predicament. They had possession, but couldn't find a way through.

Zayn, Reus, and Sancho occasionally produced a few combinations that caught the eye, but they usually ended with a blocked shot or a forced pass.

The team that had played some of the most attractive football in Europe this season had run into serious trouble at the Wanda Metropolitano.

Before long, the first half was entering its closing stages.

"Another twenty minutes have gone by, and Dortmund's attack still hasn't improved. Favre needs something different, but so far he hasn't changed anything."

Matthäus was just about to criticize Favre's in-game management when something suddenly changed on the pitch.

Dortmund finally managed to put together a proper passing sequence from the back.

Using Witsel's movement to create space, Akanji carried the ball forward a few steps before sending a diagonal pass toward Guerreiro on the left.

Achraf quickly moved closer to support him, and the two exchanged a crisp one-two down the flank. The ball returned to Guerreiro while Achraf continued his run toward the byline.

Guerreiro then clipped a small lofted pass over the top and into the space behind Juanfran.

Achraf brought it under control at full speed.

Playing as a makeshift left back today had limited what he could offer going forward, but his pace was still undeniable. One explosive burst was enough to leave the Spanish fullback behind.

While running, Achraf looked up toward the middle.

His eyes met Zayn's as the blond teenager made his run from the center toward the penalty area, and he saw Zayn raise his arm.

As one of Dortmund's main crossers, Achraf immediately understood the signal.

Zayn, currently running centrally toward the box, was about to stop abruptly and drop two steps toward the edge of the area, taking up the cutback position while leaving the space inside the box for Reus to attack from deep at speed.

Achraf initially wanted to shift the ball onto his stronger right foot to deliver a precise cross.

But out of the corner of his eye, he saw Juanfran had already recovered, while Hernández was charging toward him aggressively from ahead.

There was no time to adjust.

Achraf gritted his teeth and swept the ball across hurriedly with his left foot.

A cutback for Zayn!

The direction was roughly right, and the ball had enough pace to get through the defensive line.

But under pressure, Achraf released it half a beat too early. The placement was slightly off, and the ball rolled behind Zayn.

Zayn responded with a stunning piece of control behind his body.

He didn't slow down or stop. As the ball passed slightly behind him, he planted his right foot and delicately reached his left foot backward, knocking the bouncing ball down before guiding it back into his path in one fluid motion.

The entire sequence was seamless.

Zayn twisted his body to an extreme angle while sprinting, yet barely lost any speed. In the same motion, he prepared to shoot.

But just as his left foot planted and his right leg swung back to generate power, Giménez, who had been tracking him, crashed into him hard from the side.

The Uruguayan center-back saw that Zayn had already begun his shooting motion and no longer had time to worry about restraint.

His right knee slammed hard into the outside of Zayn's planted left knee.

Zayn instantly lost his support and crashed heavily to the turf.

"Foul! That's a foul!"

"That was far too forceful from Giménez! Zayn's knee could be hurt!"

Favre, rarely seen this furious, rushed toward the fourth official and protested repeatedly.

The referee didn't hesitate.

He pointed straight to the penalty spot.

Then he pulled a yellow card from his pocket and showed it to Giménez.

"A penalty and a yellow card!"

"Dortmund have a chance to equalize right at the end of the first half!"

The home supporters inside the Wanda Metropolitano immediately erupted into deafening boos.

They didn't believe it was a foul. In their eyes, Zayn had dived to win the penalty.

Atlético's players, however, had little to say.

Even Giménez, who had just been booked, didn't try to defend himself. He slowly walked toward Zayn, seemingly intending to apologize, only for Sancho to rush over and shove him away.

Giménez didn't bother trying again. He simply turned and stepped aside.

Zayn lay on the grass clutching his left knee with both hands, cold sweat forming across his forehead.

Dortmund's team doctor sprinted onto the pitch carrying the medical kit and carefully examined Zayn's knee.

"FK!" Zayn cursed through gritted teeth.

After signing his new contract with LV yesterday, his [Business Health Index] had risen from 154 to 211.

Not only had he gained 10% [Head Trauma Resistance], but both his [Quadriceps Injury Resistance] and [Hamstring Injury Resistance] had increased from 30% to 60%.

At this point, he had injury resistance bonuses covering ten different areas of his body.

His knees, however, were not among them.

Fortunately, after following the team doctor's instructions and carefully moving his left leg, Zayn realized that the pain was already fading, leaving only some mild discomfort.

"You should have it checked after the match. We don't take chances with knees," the team doctor said, still uneasy.

Zayn didn't try to act tough.

With assistance, he got back to his feet, walked to the sideline, and immediately sat down so the doctor could examine him more thoroughly.

His eyes, however, returned to the pitch.

Reus was already carrying the ball toward the penalty spot.

The noise from the stands grew louder with every passing second.

The whistle sounded.

The Dortmund captain began his run-up without changing rhythm and calmly passed the ball into the net with the inside of his right foot.

Oblak went the wrong way.

1-1!

"Reus holds his nerve and converts the penalty! Dortmund have equalized right at the end of the first half!"

"Most of the credit for that goal has to go to Zayn. Let's watch the replay again... My God, I'm starting to wonder if he's Brazilian! Look at that unbelievable control behind his body. That's the kind of touch only the very best possess!"

"That's talent. There's no explaining it."

Reus didn't celebrate wildly after scoring.

He simply pumped his fist once, then turned and ran back toward the center circle.

Once he returned to his position, his gaze remained fixed on the blond teenager at the sideline who was still being examined by the team doctor.

Only when he saw Zayn stand back up with the doctor's help and give him a thumbs-up did the Dortmund captain finally look away in relief.

Zayn moved his left leg around.

The pain and discomfort had almost completely disappeared.

He nodded to the team doctor, indicating that he could continue.

"It should be fine, but to be safe, tell us immediately if you feel anything wrong in the second half."

"Got it."

Because his knees had no injury resistance bonus at all, the fall had genuinely frightened Zayn.

But after recovering so quickly, he realized that his [Business Health Index] might not only strengthen the specific injury resistances listed by the system.

As the index continued to rise, his body itself was probably receiving a more fundamental improvement. Even the areas without explicit injury resistance had likely been strengthened to some degree.

Otherwise, after that hit from Giménez, there was no way he could have recovered this much in only a few minutes.

At the referee's signal, Zayn jogged back onto the pitch.

The boos inside the Wanda Metropolitano immediately returned, even louder than they had been when Reus took the penalty.

Atlético's supporters were already furious about the decision. Seeing Zayn running around as if nothing had happened only made their anger flare up again.

"Diver!"

"Get out! Cheat!"

In truth, there was no deep rivalry between the two clubs.

But the humiliation of being thrashed 4-0 by Dortmund in their previous meeting was still fresh, and now, after Atlético had been in such a favorable position, the supporters believed a "dive" had robbed them of their lead.

The die-hard fans simply couldn't stomach it.

Zayn, however, smiled.

A crisp, cool sensation he hadn't felt in a long time washed over him.

[Boos Charge] had been triggered.