Genius - Chapter 535: An FA Cup Final? You Think I’m Under Pressure? (Patreon)

Over the past six seasons, Manchester City and Liverpool had kept the FA Cup trophy between themselves. Plenty of other teams wanted to win it, but this season, the two sides had ended up facing each other again.

In the dressing room, Leo looked over at the Manchester City players nearby. He had faced many of them countless times, but the one who had been there the longest was probably Stones.

From Leo’s very first season against Manchester City all the way to now, six seasons later, Stones was still one of City’s starting center backs.

“You won’t need me bothering you today, Leo. My good friend Aké is brilliant one-on-one. You’re not getting past him.”

“And then there’s Bernardo Silva. After the two of us defended you in our last league match, we thought about it for a long time afterward and realized we still hadn’t found the best rhythm for marking you.”

“Before this game, Bernardo told me he was going to show you what he can really do defensively. He’s going to stick with you the whole time!”

The moment Bernardo Silva heard that, he quickly reached over and covered Stones’ mouth.

“When did I ever say that? And I already told you, stop saying things like this to Lin before matches.”

Leo laughed as he looked at Stones.

He had always gotten along well with Stones. Aké was a new defender Manchester City had signed from Southampton, and Leo had watched him defend plenty of other players. Whether at left back or center back, Aké was very capable.

The FA Cup final was once again being held at Wembley.

Leo had returned to this stadium not long after beating Arsenal here to win the EFL Cup.

And this trophy would be the second of seven trophies.

Once the match began, Manchester City played with remarkable patience.

“As expected, Manchester City are using this midfield to increase their share of possession. Bernardo Silva, Gündoğan, and Foden are all excellent on the ball, especially Foden. Against Mac Allister and Rodri, he’s barely losing possession.”

Bernardo Silva was positioned deeper, operating as the holding midfielder, and frequently carried the ball backward to control the tempo.

Liverpool were just as composed.

Leo kept reminding Mac Allister not to press Foden too aggressively.

“Mac Allister, don’t keep diving in on Foden. Let him carry it. It’s fine. Once he gets farther forward, I’ll step up and defend him.”

“It’s okay, Rodri. You don’t have to keep following Gündoğan everywhere. Once he moves farther forward, I’ll deal with him.”

Those simple words were enough to keep Rodri and Mac Allister calm.

Because whenever Leo said, “I’ll defend him,” he would.

And he would stop him.

Manchester City wanted to use their midfield dribbling and possession to make Liverpool’s midfielders impatient.

But Leo steadied his teammates with just a couple of sentences.

The FA Cup final actually became fairly quiet amid this battle of patience.

Foden would carry the ball through midfield before passing to Gündoğan, who would then quickly move it on to Jesus and let him look for an opening out wide.

This kind of quick passing was designed to give City’s strongest dribblers repeated chances to take players on from different areas of the pitch.

Foden and Jesus gradually pushed closer to Liverpool’s back line.

Leo began marking Foden, which meant Jesus was now the only major dribbling threat Liverpool needed to focus on.

The rest of Liverpool’s players were also constantly watching Manchester City’s movement in different areas.

Whenever someone made a run or movement that looked capable of changing the tempo, Liverpool immediately closed the space around him.

Grealish was especially important.

Once the ball reached him, he could usually make sure City kept possession.

That alone was a valuable ability.

“Manchester City can keep passing and passing, making every ball clean, then suddenly use one pass to create a scoring chance.”

“You have to be careful. City may look calm at this tempo, but their players are composed and technically excellent. If you lose control of the rhythm and make a mistake during this tactical battle, Manchester City will immediately switch gears.”

“And once they change the tempo, they can create a goal in an instant.”

Premier League fans understood Manchester City’s tactics all too well.

If those tactics didn’t work, City wouldn’t have won so many trophies.

21st minute!

Bernardo Silva was giving everything he had to make Leo feel some pressure.

Foden and Gündoğan were challenging him in midfield as well.

Even Grealish dropped back to help put pressure on Leo.

Everything Manchester City were doing had one purpose.

Make Leo feel pressure.

Even a little would be enough.

Guardiola had realized that the less pressure Leo felt, the better he played.

And once Leo settled into the match and started playing freely, he stopped feeling pressure altogether.

At that point, Manchester City could forget about beating him.

That was why City’s midfield had been pressing Leo constantly from the opening whistle.

Yet Leo remained completely calm.

He looked almost effortless.

Pressure me?

How many FA Cup finals have I played in?

World Cup finals. Champions League finals.

What kind of match haven’t I played?

And you think an FA Cup final is supposed to make me feel pressure?

Keep dreaming.