Football: Arsenal - Chapter 14: Conte: I Want to Run Away, but There's No Escape (Patreon)

The final whistle brought events on the pitch to a close. Off the pitch, however, the spotlight was only beginning to gather.

Kieran Lee had been named Man of the Match. He'd scored five goals by himself, become the youngest scorer in Champions League history, set a record for the fastest five-goal haul, and come off the bench to lead Arsenal to a last-gasp winner in the dying seconds of the ninety minutes.

For the media, any one of those achievements would have been enough for a sensational headline. Together, they were the sort of story that could set the football world ablaze.

And this had been his debut. He was only sixteen.

Of course, you couldn't usually judge a player's full ability from just one match. But that was a rule for ordinary circumstances.

Tonight, Kieran's talent and ability to make an immediate impact had been impossible to miss.

His graceful yet unpredictable style, his explosive speed, the way he controlled and released the ball as if it were part of his body, his frightening knack for goals, and even his strikingly handsome face all seemed to declare the same thing to the waiting cameras.

Here was the next superstar. Here was the player the whole world would want to watch.

Any journalist who missed the chance to interview him after his first match would probably spend the next several days kicking themselves.

So the mixed zone and press conference room were both packed with reporters after the game.

As Man of the Match, Kieran had been taken straight to the press conference by Wenger once the celebrations ended. He never appeared in the mixed zone.

The reporters waiting there weren't especially disappointed. Arsenal and Juventus had plenty of other players, and most of them would still pass through. Asking those players what they thought of Kieran and his performance might reveal another major story from a completely different angle.

Meanwhile, on the way to the press conference, Wenger kept offering Kieran advice.

“Kieran, if somebody asks a question in bad faith, or anything you'd rather not answer, you don't need to answer it. Just look at me, and I'll handle it.”

“And don't be nervous in front of the reporters.” Wenger gave him an encouraging hug.

“I'm here. You can enjoy the attention, but remember not to let that attention become too important to you.”

Kieran nodded hard and smiled. “Don't worry, boss. I'll remember all of that.”

Arteta, the captain on the pitch and the team's official player representative, was also attending the conference.

Once Wenger had finished, he spoke quietly to Kieran. “I can answer most of their questions too. If they ask something difficult, just pass it over to me.”

Clearly, Wenger and Arteta had decided that Kieran was one of Arsenal's most precious young players, someone who needed protecting. Neither wanted a careless journalist to make life miserable for him.

Kieran hadn't been nervous in the slightest until they both started warning him. Now, after all that advice, even he was beginning to wonder what he was walking into.

So when the interviews began, the smiling, playful youngster from the pitch adopted a much more composed expression.

Kieran, Wenger, and Arteta took their seats in a row. The visiting side was interviewed first, so Juventus had already finished their conference.

The moment the three sat down, the cameras began flashing and hardly stopped.

A reporter opened the questions. “Hello, Mr. Wenger. I'm from UEFA's official website. First, congratulations to Arsenal on tonight's victory.”

Wenger listened attentively and nodded with a smile. “Thank you.”

The reporter continued. “Did you expect Arsenal to turn this match around? Did you have Lee in mind as a secret weapon before kickoff?”

Wenger answered with practiced grace.

“To be frank, nobody facing a strong side like Juventus can promise a victory, much less a comeback of this kind.

“Of course, I came into this match full of hope. I believe there's a special unity in this squad, and every player we have is capable. I told them to go out there and give everything they could.

“There came a moment when the score left Arsenal in a very dark place. But Kieran showed the spirit this club has always stood for, the refusal to give up. He came to me himself and asked to play. He wanted to do something for the team.

“I could never turn down that kind of heartfelt determination from a boy. So I sent him on.

“Fortunately, he gave us more than his determination. He gave us a performance of extraordinary talent. You all saw the final result. We're delighted, and every one of us is proud of him.”

It was a sincere answer. The journalists bent over their notebooks and hurried to record it.

But such friendly questions were only the beginning. They would never be enough to satisfy the press for long.

Earlier, someone had turned to Juventus manager Conte with a much sharper question.

“How does it feel to lose to a sixteen-year-old making his debut?”

Conte had barely managed to hide his reaction.

“I would say that we didn't lose to just any sixteen-year-old. We were beaten by flashes of brilliance from a truly gifted footballer. All I can say is that my players gave everything.”

The reporter immediately followed up. “Flashes of brilliance? Five flashes in a row? Have you worked out any way to stop these flashes of brilliance?”

A ripple of barely suppressed laughter passed through the press room.

Conte wanted nothing more than to walk straight out. The media had always been like this. They didn't care how defeat felt to the losing side. They wanted to dig into the wound until they found something they could turn into a headline.

Truthfully, he wanted the answer himself. Juventus had been four goals ahead on aggregate. How had one Arsenal youngster, making his very first appearance, managed to overturn that advantage with five goals of his own?

Was that even a result a human being could produce?

An uncomfortable silence settled over the room.

With their manager unable to find an answer, Juventus captain Buffon stepped forward.

“Personally, I admire Lee enormously. What he did in this match deserves to be remembered in football history. Unfortunately, we happened to be the ones there to witness it.

“More unfortunately still, I was the goalkeeper he scored all five goals against. Whether Kieran wants it or not, I suspect my name will be attached to the story of those five goals in thirteen minutes forever.”

That drew genuine laughter from the reporters.

Now the same remarks were repeated to Kieran at Arsenal's press conference.

He'd meant to stay calm and serious. But the moment he heard what Buffon had said, his composure vanished, and he burst out laughing.

The reporters had watched the broadcast and done their homework. They also knew that Buffon and Kieran had exchanged shirts after the final whistle.

Always eager to stir up a story, they immediately turned their attention to the young player.

A journalist from The Sun got in first.

“Lee, why did you go out of your way to exchange shirts with Buffon, a man you'd just beaten?”

“And we all saw that you collected shirts from several Juventus players. Why was Buffon the only one who received your shirt in return?”

“Are you saying the other Juventus players you faced tonight deserve less respect than Buffon?”