LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 255
As Son Jinho shouted, “Let’s go to Mars!” he was frantically pulling every financial string to renovate Old Trafford.
At the same time, the Champions League final was kicking off at San Siro, home of AC Milan in Milan, Italy, featuring Bayern Munich, who had defeated Manchester United, and Atletico Madrid, who had triumphed over Barcelona.
[Objectively, Bayern Munich has the upper hand, but they have slipped in the finals four times in the 2010s! Until the final whistle blows, nothing is decided!]
[That’s right! Indeed, how will the match unfold? With the referee’s whistle, the 2015/2016 Champions League final is now underway!]
Despite Bayern Munich having the advantage on paper, many experts speculated about Atletico Madrid’s potential victory while referencing Bayern’s Champions League finals jinx.
As the referee’s whistle blew, the game began, and Bayern Munich seemed to be in control during the early stages.
[Ribery’s cross! But Diego Godin clears it with his head!]
[Mario Mandzukic protests to the referee that Diego Godin pulled him down, but the referee shakes his head firmly.]
[Yes, that kind of physical battle is hard to call a foul, right?]
However, Bayern’s attackers struggled against Diego Simeone’s well-organized defense.
[Gabi passes to Koke, Koke! He sees the penetrating Antoine Griezmann.]
The flow of the game gradually began to shift towards Atletico Madrid.
[Griezmann’s cutback!!]
Antoine Griezmann’s pass slipped past Jerome Boateng and reached Fernando Torres.
[Torres—!!]
Each time Torres scored, he was resurrected by the media, but now he steeled himself to shoot.
[Oh no, Torres’s shot flies into the air!]
However, the phoenix Torres missed a golden opportunity and disappointingly failed to revive his career.
It seems he still had remnants of the sea urchin incident from his Chelsea days.
Torres’s ridiculous shot went wide of the goal, and Bayern Munich narrowly escaped a dangerous situation.
“Scheiße! You bastards! Look for space, for God’s sake!!”
Yet, Bayern Munich’s goalkeeper Manuel Neuer exploded in anger at the defenders.
The eyes of the audience were focused on the ace of Atletico Madrid, Antoine Griezmann, and it was clearly a defensive blunder to leave Fernando Torres unmarked.
A single mistake could lead to being runners-up, so an extremely agitated Manuel Neuer berated the defenders.
Even after Neuer’s scolding, Bayern allowed Atletico Madrid to take shots.
With a serious demeanor, Neuer made several incredible saves, literally denying goals.
[Manuel Neuer showing yet another fantastic save!!]
With Neuer’s last-minute save, the first half ended.
Then came halftime.
Without a word, Jupp Heynckes simply showed a video of the moments of Bayern Munich’s past near-misses in finals, filling the players’ eyes with fierce determination. The second half began, and they started to press Atletico Madrid aggressively.
Then, in the 32nd minute of the second half.
Frank Ribery, who had torn through Atletico’s defense on the wing, attempted a cross.
Ribery’s cross was perfectly delivered to Mario Mandzukic’s forehead.
[Go, gooooool—! Mario Mandzukic’s golden opening goal!! Bayern Munich takes the lead!]
The ball that struck Mandzukic’s forehead shook the net of Atletico Madrid.
As soon as the net rippled, Jupp Heynckes made a substitution.
The Bayern players dropped back and defended with fierce tenacity.
[It’s brutal! Truly brutal! Bayern Munich!]
They boldly threw themselves towards the Atletico Madrid players attempting shots, and during that process, one player’s forehead was cut by a stud, leading to bleeding.
But the Munich players merely bandaged up and returned to the field.
Audience applause echoed for the Munich players’ fighting spirit, and fueled by the fans’ cheers, Bayern Munich intensified their dedicated defense.
Time flowed quickly, and when Frank Ribery cleared the ball, the referee blew the whistle, signaling the end of the match.
[Bayern Munich defeats Atletico Madrid in the final and finally!! Finally!! wins the Champions League!!!]
After countless challenges, Bayern Munich had finally succeeded in claiming the Champions League title.
“FC Bayern, Stern des Südens, du wirst niemals untergehn! (FC Bayern, star of the south, you will never fall!)”
As the match concluded, Bayern’s anthem echoed through the ground.
[The European Champion of the 2015/2016 season is…!!! Bayern Munich!!]
At the awards ceremony, as Bayern’s captain Philipp Lahm lifted the big ear trophy.
“Weil wir in guten wie in schlechten Zeiten zueinanderstehn. (We will be together in good times and bad.)”
Everyone, from the coach to players to fans to board members began to cry tears of joy, celebrating the Champions League victory.