Genius - Chapter 544: I Hope You Play Really Well. That’s What Makes It Fun! (Patreon)

Emiliano Martínez’s save looked rather amusing to the fans, but the expression on his face was anything but. That technique had put tremendous strain on his arm.

He had managed to keep the ball out, but the area where his arm met his shoulder was throbbing with pain.

Leo rushed toward Douglas Luiz, who was covering where the loose ball would drop. Villa wanted to launch a counterattack through midfield, but Leo knew exactly what Douglas Luiz was trying to do.

Instead of pressing him, Leo sprinted toward Sanson.

Gravenberch immediately stepped up to challenge McGinn.

Douglas Luiz saw the two of them going after his teammates rather than him and began carrying the ball straight through the middle.

But Rodri was waiting for him.

For the first time in the match, Douglas Luiz found himself going head-to-head with Rodri.

Fans had actually debated the differences between Douglas Luiz and Rodri quite often. Many even believed Douglas Luiz could eventually develop into a midfielder with more attacking ability than Rodri.

That’s right. Despite all the trophies Rodri had won over the years, there were still fans who failed to recognize just how good he really was.

As Douglas Luiz drove toward Rodri, he suddenly realized that his preferred route to the left had already been taken away. Rodri had positioned himself slightly toward that side in advance.

If Douglas Luiz tried to break right instead, however, it would go against his usual dribbling habits, which meant he wouldn’t be able to make the move as quickly.

And against an elite defensive midfielder like Rodri, anything short of perfect execution would make getting past him extremely difficult.

Douglas Luiz, normally such a decisive player, hesitated.

Rodri immediately closed him down!

Douglas Luiz couldn’t see what was happening behind him, but the Villa supporters could.

The instant he hesitated, Leo and Gravenberch both came charging toward him from behind!

“Douglas, watch out!” McGinn shouted from behind him.

But Gravenberch and Rodri had already trapped Douglas Luiz between them!

Rodri stepped in from the front and won the ball cleanly with his right foot before nudging it toward Gravenberch.

Gravenberch immediately drove forward.

He first used his burst of acceleration to get past Sanson, then slipped a through ball beyond McGinn’s attempt to intercept it.

When Leo received the ball, he once again had space to shoot.

Villa had spent the entire match trying to deny him exactly that.

But this time, McGinn, Sanson, and Douglas Luiz had all lost control of midfield at once!

Emiliano Martínez was already preparing himself for Leo’s shot.

Leo looked up again, but this time he didn’t look at Emiliano Martínez.

He glanced toward Villa’s goal instead.

Then his body shape changed.

This wasn’t the setup for his spin-and-gravity shot!

Leo went for a full-power long-range strike!

The ball rocketed toward Villa’s goal with terrifying force!

Emiliano Martínez immediately threw himself toward it, but the wonder strike looked almost like a ball of molten fire, tearing through every obstacle in its path as it dipped toward goal before crashing into the net!

“GOOOOOOOOOOOAL!!!!!!”

“A terrifying full-power strike from distance, and it dipped on its way toward goal! Emiliano Martínez couldn’t keep it out!”

“This isn’t a world-class shot!”

“This is beyond world-class!”

“This is a shot that only Lin can produce in all of world football!!!”

“You could put three goalkeepers in front of that goal, or even six, and they still wouldn’t save it!!!”

“That is the kind of shot that proves Lin belongs among the top three players in football history!!!”

Gullit rattled off every bit of praise he could think of in a single breath.

Beside him, Rivaldo offered his own assessment.

“That was incredible.”

Hearing Rivaldo finally praise Leo made Gullit delighted.

Rivaldo had finally started joining him in praising Leo’s goals during matches!

“I don’t mean Lin is incredible. Well, obviously that shot was incredible too.”

“What I really mean is that you’re incredible, Gullit. When anyone else scores, your commentary isn’t even half as enthusiastic. But whenever Lin scores, you suddenly seem to have an endless supply of things to say.”

“I honestly think that if you had enough time, you could just keep going forever. You could praise Lin without stopping. That’s a talent in itself!”

Scholes burst out laughing.

Rivaldo was right. Gullit only got this excited after Leo scored, and Scholes had noticed it long ago.

“I’ve watched football for years, and I’ve watched Gullit work his way from co-commentator to lead commentator. If you watch any highlight compilation involving one of Leo’s goals, you’re guaranteed to hear Gullit roaring in the background!”

“I don’t even need to watch the match. I can just leave the sound on. The moment Gullit starts shouting, I know Leo has scored!”

“It’s been a long time since we’ve seen Lin unleash one of those full-power long-range shots. Maybe all this recent talk about him being top three all time has made him feel like taking the matches a little more seriously!”

Leo no longer put everything he had into every shot.

The spin-and-gravity shot was something he had developed specifically for situations where opponents restricted the space he had to shoot.

If they gave him plenty of room, there was no need to use it.

“Lin has so many different ways to shoot!”

“Emiliano Martínez initially set himself for the spin-and-gravity shot, but Lin changed his shooting technique, forcing Martínez to adjust his save at the last second.”

“It still wasn’t enough to keep the shot out, but that alone shows just how incredible Lin’s shooting ability is!”

Douglas Luiz was frustrated.

He and the rest of Villa’s midfield had played so well. They should have been able to beat Liverpool.

The thought left Douglas Luiz confused, and he began walking back with his head lowered.

He didn’t know how well he was supposed to play.

How much more did he have to do before he could help Villa beat Liverpool?

As he walked back with his head down, a hand suddenly landed on his shoulder.

Douglas followed the arm upward and found Leo smiling at him.

“I’m not trying to provoke you, and there’s nothing else behind what I’m about to say. I just want you to keep playing well. That’s what makes the match interesting.”

“I think you’ve been excellent in midfield, but sometimes you need to give yourself more time to think.”

Once again, Leo had fallen into his habit of talking to an opposing player after scoring.

Douglas Luiz had already heard about this habit from his teammates.

So instead of getting angry, he continued the conversation.

“Lin, how am I supposed to find time to think?”

“Just now, you and Gravenberch went after my teammates, so I had to carry the ball forward. Who else was I supposed to pass to?”

Douglas Luiz thought back to the sequence in which Leo and Rodri had taken the ball from him before Liverpool immediately attacked.

He genuinely couldn’t see another option.

What could he have done besides carry the ball forward?

“You were only looking at the midfielders around you, but midfielders don’t have to combine only with other midfielders.”

“Cash was in a good position. You could even have passed it back to Emiliano Martínez and let him play it to Cash. Then you could make an off-the-ball run beyond Cash and receive the ball behind Gravenberch.”

“If you do that, Rodri and I can’t surround you in midfield. You can receive the ball on the right and attack from there instead. And because you’re running without the ball, you’ll move faster, which helps Villa progress quickly from the back.”

“At the same time, making that run gives you time to think.”

The moment Douglas Luiz heard that, he immediately hugged Leo!

The Villa supporters had no idea what Douglas Luiz was doing.

Klopp knew.

Krawietz knew.

Zubizarreta knew.

The guy just couldn’t help himself again.

“The match isn’t even over yet, Douglas Luiz. What are you doing?”

“We all know a hug from Lin is tempting, but can’t you at least wait until after the match?”

“For Douglas Luiz, even losing this match would almost feel like a win. He may lose to Liverpool, but he’s earned Leo’s respect and even received advice from him. You have to understand how much that means for a midfielder. Earning Leo’s respect is something worth being proud of!”

The first half eventually came to an end with Douglas Luiz still doing everything he could.

Everyone knew that Villa’s midfield had already performed extremely well in the first half.

But if they wanted any chance of beating Liverpool, their attack and defense would have to perform just as well in the second half.