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Chapter 196: Champions League Quarterfinals, First Leg
🕑 Added 2025-10-16 20:01:19 +0000 UTCWestfalenstadion — one of Europe’s infamous devil’s home ground.
The noise was like a living thing. Even inside the locker room, Kai could feel it rumbling through the walls — waves of cheers, chants, and songs crashing over them.
That atmosphere had weight. It pressed down on everyone.
...
Arsenal Locker Room
The Arsenal players moved around the room — lacing boots, checking straps, sharing a few forced jokes — but beneath the calm, you could feel the tension.
This was the Champions League quarterfinal. One more step, and they’d be in the semifinals.
The thought alone was enough to make anyone’s heart race.
Nervousness. Excitement. Fear. It was all tangled together.
Some players sat on the bench, heads bowed, hands clasped — whispering silent prayers.
Some kept rechecking their kits, tugging at socks, adjusting shin guards like it would somehow settle their nerves. A few tapped their legs restlessly, boots thudding against the floor.
Even Kai, usually composed, had to take a few deep breaths to keep himself steady.
Across the room, Wenger stood quietly with his arms folded, just watching. He didn’t shout or rally them. He didn’t need to. A bit of tension was good — it kept players sharp, alive, ready.
Then came a knock on the door.
A staff member poked his head in. “It’s time.”
Kai rose immediately from the bench and clapped his hands. The sound cut through the low hum of the room. The others followed — some silent, some muttering final words of encouragement.
In the tunnel, both teams lined up almost side by side. Dortmund’s players in bright yellow, Arsenal in red and white. No handshakes yet, no smiles — just quiet focus. Cameras rolled in, panning slowly across their faces. Around the world, millions of fans were watching.
The players stepped out of the tunnel, holding hands with the mascots as the stadium roared around them. After the anthems and the ceremonial handshakes, the two captains — Kai for Arsenal, Hummels for Dortmund — met at midfield for the coin toss.
The coin spun under the floodlights.
“Tails,” Hummels called.
The referee caught it, glanced down — “Heads.”
Kai smiled faintly. “We’ll take the ball.”
They soon exchanged their pennants and took a group picture with the refs.
Hummels gave a quick nod, tapping his teammate’s shoulder before walking off.
Kai jogged back to his side, stretching and loosening up. Luck on the toss was nice, but it wouldn’t mean much if they couldn’t back it up.
Dortmund were dangerous — fast, sharp, relentless. Arsenal couldn’t afford even a moment’s lapse.
The lineups were already flashing across screens worldwide:
Borussia Dortmund (4-2-3-1)
GK: Weidenfeller
DEF: Piszczek, Friedrich, Hummels, Durm
DEF. MID: Jojic, Kirch
ATT. MID: Mkhitaryan, Großkreutz, Reus
FWD: Lewandowski
Arsenal (4-3-3)
GK: Szczęsny
DEF: Sagna, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal
MID: Flamini, Cazorla, Kai
FWD: Rosický, Suárez, Walcott
The whistle was moments away.
As the minutes ticked down to kickoff, Kai tugged the captain’s armband tighter around his arm. His face had lost all trace of a smile — just quiet focus now.
At the center circle, the referee Carlos Velasco Caballo took his position.
The restless murmur around Westfalenstadion swelled into a roar as the whistle blew.
Beep!
Lewandowski rolled the ball back, and the match was underway.
Dortmund didn’t rush forward immediately. They played a few cautious passes across their backline, probing, feeling Arsenal out.
But Arsenal pressed right from the first touch.
Walcott sprinted straight at Jojic, who barely had time to turn before Theo went sliding in.
Beep! Beep!
A sharp whistle echoed. Early foul.
The referee jogged over, hand raised — just a warning for now.
Walcott dusted himself off, expression calm, but his tackle had made the point clear: Arsenal weren’t here to sit back.
“Theo! Easy!” Kai’s voice cut through the noise from behind. He didn’t want Walcott getting too fired up this early.
Walcott turned, flashing him an okay gesture. Kai nodded.
Still, that early foul rattled Dortmund’s rhythm. They’d expected a patient, tactical start. Instead, Arsenal came flying out — aggressive, fearless, ready to meet them head-on.
For Klopp’s side, that was no problem. If Bayern liked to play slow and controlled, Dortmund were the opposite. They thrived on chaos.
The ball was back in play, and soon Dortmund found their stride — slick passing, quick combinations, the kind that made them deadly on the break. Their transitions were lightning fast, and under Klopp’s pressing system, they could turn defense into attack in seconds.
But their backline had its flaws.
Hummels and Friedrich were solid, but both liked to push high. It worked beautifully when timed right — and disastrously when not. Hummels’ confidence in his timing often left gaps that were hard to cover, even with Friedrich behind him.
Kai hovered in midfield, watching carefully, reading the tempo. Then he spotted Reus drifting wide toward the touchline — quiet, sneaky, like a thief moving into position.
Seconds later, the ball came his way.
Reus took the pass, turned — and froze for a split second. Kai was right in front of him.
Reus quickly shielded the ball, spinning away. He’d been on the wrong end of Kai’s tackles before and wanted no part of another.
But Kai didn’t dive in this time. He just waited — patient, steady, eyes fixed.
Seeing no move, Reus decided to play it sideways.
And that’s when it happened.
Walcott, who had tracked back hard, came from behind, cutting off the passing lane. Kai reacted instantly — one step, one clean tackle.
Together, they trapped Reus perfectly, dispossessing him in a move that looked rehearsed — because it was.
Walcott came away with the ball, flicked it forward, and burst into space down the flank.
But Dortmund weren’t going to sit still.
Seconds after losing possession, they launched into their counter-press — Reus tracking back, Kirch closing the middle, Durm pushing high to block Walcott’s lane.
They squeezed the space quickly, suffocating Arsenal’s break.
A firm tackle, and Dortmund had the ball again.
The game’s tempo was electric — both sides snapping into challenges, both pressing high, both refusing to retreat.
Most of the battle was happening in midfield — hard tackles, quick recoveries, endless transitions — but clear shots were rare.
It was controlled tension. Two teams playing fearless, high-stakes football, waiting for the first mistake.
