Footbal: Arsenal - Chapter 57: Ramos Is Lucky the Arsenal Fans Didn't Tear Him Apart (Patreon)

Arsenal's new approach was already beginning to look dangerous.

Real Madrid had to guard against the corners, but they also had to worry about Kieran and the others shooting from distance. There was too much happening for their defenders to process from fixed positions. They couldn't save energy by simply standing in their assigned places anymore.

They had to defend on the move, whatever it cost their stamina.

Kieran had retreated toward midfield? Fine. They would chase him into midfield and challenge him there.

Several Madrid players began changing positions. Ramos, Pepe and others who specialized in marking, blocking and intercepting gradually moved farther upfield.

It was perfectly obvious who they were after.

Kieran's response was simple. Was he supposed to be scared?

If they wanted to follow him into midfield, so much the better. It meant fewer defenders protecting the area directly in front of goal.

With the ball at his feet, Kieran raced from one position to another, trying to exploit the opening and fire another long-range effort toward the net.

Of course, defenders couldn't hope to match a speed specialist in a straight race. But speed wasn't their only weapon. They could close off space with several players at once, then spring an unexpected sliding tackle.

And when a defender was absolutely determined to go for someone's feet, it turned out that even a former hurdler couldn't dodge every challenge.

Kieran tried his hardest to avoid them.

His teammates were already rushing over in support, and he was preparing to release the ball so they could resume their passing game.

That was when Ramos launched himself in from behind and to the side.

He didn't hesitate. His boot went straight for the ball at Kieran's feet.

He got the ball. Then, in the same motion, he got Kieran's foot as well.

The impact took Kieran clean off his feet. He and the ball were sent tumbling almost five meters across the pitch.

Ow, ow, ow!

Ow, ow, ow, ow, OW!

It hurt badly enough that he wanted to scream. But in his previous life as a hurdler, he had fallen countless times during training. He knew pain like this.

He might not be the sort of hardened footballer who shrugged off every challenge, but changing sports hadn't changed his personality. He gritted his teeth and refused to make a sound.

Clutching his leg, Kieran lay face down in the grass, hiding his expression while he waited for the pain to ease.

Wenger, his Arsenal teammates and the enormous crowd of supporters were horrified.

Wenger charged onto the pitch. He brushed aside the fourth official who tried to stop him and sprinted toward midfield.

Behind him, assistant coach Bould called for the team doctor and hurried after him. Arsenal's players had already formed a protective ring around Kieran, keeping the Madrid players away.

Up in the stands, the crowd was losing control.

The Emirates security staff had no hope of containing tens of thousands of furious supporters all at once. And, if the truth were told, many of the stewards weren't exactly enthusiastic about stopping them.

Most were Arsenal fans themselves. After seeing Kieran taken down, some would have been delighted to open the barriers and let the crowd give Madrid a thrashing.

On the other side of the incident, Ramos was also on the ground, clutching his foot in pain.

His momentum hadn't stopped after the challenge.

The impact had worked both ways, and he was suffering too.

He hadn't gone in intending to break anyone's leg. His boot had reached the ball first, and he'd controlled the angle carefully, even knowing it would hurt his opponent.

Still, Ramos had to admit there had been an element of intention in the follow-through that caught Kieran's foot. He was an experienced defender who understood how far he could push a challenge. It was the sort of tackle a referee might punish or might let go.

Football sometimes demanded tactical fouls to test an opponent and interrupt their attacking rhythm. That was why most teams had someone willing to play the villain.

A team like Arsenal, apparently lacking that kind of player, was almost an endangered species. It was like entering a contest without one of the crucial abilities available to everyone else.

And yet Arsenal were fourth in the Premier League, a competition hardly short of ruthless players. That alone showed how good their passing game was.

Ramos had earned Madrid's captaincy through responsibility and leadership. For his team's sake, he was prepared to be the villain, both on the pitch and in front of the cameras.

Arsenal's attacks had been flowing brilliantly throughout this match. Their understanding of one another was something Madrid couldn't dismantle quickly. Drawing level was difficult enough, and the longer the match went on, the greater the deficit might become.

Ramos had therefore taken the initiative and attacked the central figure holding Arsenal's entire system together.

What he hadn't understood was just how important that figure had become.

Supporters pressed against the barriers separating the stands from the pitch. Some managed to climb over.

Those who broke through charged toward the field of play with such fury that they looked ready to rip Ramos apart.

Referees, stadium staff and anyone else available were called in to restrain them. For a moment it seemed they might be overwhelmed.

But however difficult it was, they couldn't let go. No one dared risk the consequences of someone being seriously hurt or killed.

The Madrid players had never witnessed anything quite like it. Neither, for that matter, had most of the people watching on television.

After seeing this, who would dare go in hard on Kieran again? Would anyone be willing to risk their life for another sliding tackle?

In the end, the person who calmed everyone down was Kieran himself.

When Ramos made contact, Kieran had instinctively relaxed his ankle and shifted with the force of the challenge. It sent him flying farther, but it also absorbed more of the impact.

His foot was certainly bruised, but the injury wasn't severe enough to require him to leave the pitch for immediate treatment.

After lying still and recovering for a moment, Kieran slowly stood up under Wenger's anxious gaze.

Wenger wanted nothing more than to take the boy off and have the doctor examine him properly.

But Kieran was a professional footballer. Protecting him too much would only hold back his development.

When both Kieran and the doctor assured him that the injury wasn't serious, Wenger finally gave a reluctant nod and allowed him to remain on the pitch.

The crowd's anger subsided a little when they saw Kieran standing. The supporters who had rushed onto the field were escorted away by the security staff who had arrived to help.

At last the referee had enough room to deal with Ramos.

He walked toward the Madrid captain, who was still on the ground. The corner of a red card was already visible in his hand.

The Arsenal crowd erupted in approval.

In truth, it was a challenge that left plenty of room for interpretation. A referee inclined to favor Madrid, or one unusually lenient, might offer nothing more than a warning. Another might show yellow. A strict official could go straight to red and send Ramos off.

This referee had a reputation for letting almost anything go.

Today, however, he seemed ready to become a card-dealing master and condemn Ramos with a straight red.

The Madrid players saw what was happening and immediately crowded around him, desperate to change his mind before the card appeared.

The referee was growing so tired of being surrounded that he looked ready to produce a yellow card first and distribute a few to the Madrid players arguing with him.

At that moment, Kieran pushed his way into the crowd.