From Arsenal to the Ball God

”Sneak!” Just as he changed direction to dribble towards the baseline, Lam quickly followed up with a clean slide tackle to intercept the ball, and with a flick of his toe, brought the ball back under his control.

Lam swiftly got up, controlling the ball, and dashed towards Arsenal’s midfield, taking two steps before making a direct pass to Mueller on the flank.

”I’ve been waiting for this moment!”

But Arsenal’s defender Sagna predicted his intention, stepped in front to intercept the ball, causing Bayern’s attacking players to suddenly halt and retreat to reorganize their defensive formation.

Sagna passed the ball to Alexander Song in the center, who then orchestrated a long pass towards Ma’el.

”Bang!”

The ball was too high and was headed forward by Badstuber standing behind Ma’el, with Robben controlling the second ball.

Offense and defense exchange again!

The pace is rapid!

Arsenal’s players, rushing forward, make an abrupt stop and move towards their left side to compress Robben’s space to carry the ball.

”Robben! Robben!”

Raphinha, realizing an opportunity from his offensive position, sprinted towards the baseline from Robben’s outside.

With his advance, Bayern Munich managed to create a brief two-on-two matchup on the right side, and with Robben drawing attention, Raphinha faced virtually no opposition.

”Bang.” After drawing away two defenders with an inward cut, Robben smoothly passed the ball to him.

When Raphinha received the ball, there was no one within three meters, allowing him to easily carry the ball into the penalty area, aiming at the reverse triangle position for a pass.

”Bang!!”

Schweinsteiger, following up, didn’t waste the opportunity and pushed the ball with great force towards the top corner of the goal, scoring!

One to one!

Bayern Munich equalized the score!

”Oh.....!” This time, it was the Bayern fans on-site roaring with joy, having been suppressed by Arsenal’s supporters for quite some time, now released their pent-up energy.

Schweinsteiger, delighted after scoring, shouted as he ran to the edge to celebrate, joining the team’s left winger Mueller, both exchanging ecstatic looks and roaring, they leaped onto the sidelines, punching the air.

......

In the 40th minute of the match, Wenger substituted Frimpong for Rosicky from the left midfield, officially pairing a defensive midfielder behind Ma’el.

Despite the flexibility of substitutions in friendly matches, making this change at this time point indicates the significant defensive pressure Arsenal was under during this period.

The defense on the left side was extremely poor..... this area suffered repeated assaults and suppression by Robben and Raphinha.

The ball hardly reached Ma’el’s feet, diminishing the impact advantage.

Additionally, Wenger had long wanted to pair a defensive midfielder with Ma’el, thus deciding to sacrifice some midfield control to test the feasibility of this tactical setup in a battle against strong opposition.

”Sneak!”

Frimpong’s presence clearly relieved the pressure on the left side; his physical confrontation was very tough, covering a substantial area, tirelessly running up and down doing the dirty work for Arsenal.

In the 43rd minute of the match, during one defensive sequence, he slid to take the ball from Raphinha; getting up, he pushed the ball to Ma’el nearby.

Bayern’s defender Badstuber was positioned behind Ma’el, not wanting him to turn, aiming to use his physical advantage to force the opponent to pass backward.

This choice posed some risk, because once Ma’el turned, they would have no defensive players left on their right side in the rear.

Under Badstuber’s pressure, Ma’el received the ball and first controlled it at his feet, slowly turning towards the sideline.

”Bang!” Spotting a narrow opening at the sideline, he decisively dribbled the ball into the empty space in the backfield and sprinted towards the football.

Badstuber didn’t expect Ma’el to choose to dribble at this moment, and lowered his center of gravity with a side shift, trying to block Ma’el’s advance along the sideline, aiming to pin him down on the flank.

Ball could go past, but not the player!

”Bang!” Their bodies collided fiercely next, the players nearby heard a dull thud of bones and flesh clashing.

Badstuber quickly felt immense force emanating from his side shoulders, piercing into his body, causing his internal organs to tremble violently, and a sudden urge to vomit rushed up.

He lost the feeling of the ground under his feet, but his body instantly felt the solidity of gravity.

”Bang!” The 189 cm German defender dropped down to the ground in sheer amazement; his ability to withstand impacts was undoubtedly among the best in Bayern’s lineup.

Even if he underestimated his opponent and didn’t use his full strength, he exerted seventy to eighty percent, but was still knocked straight off?

No time for shock, he planted both hands on the ground, quickly getting up to chase after Ma’el despite feeling out of breath.

”Bang bang bang.....!”

Ma’el sprinted at full speed towards Bayern Munich’s backfield, seeing only two defenders and one retreating defensive midfielder ahead, he decisively charged towards the center.

The player in front of him next was Boateng, the main defender of the German National Team, extremely formidable in strength.

Ma’el dribbled the ball into the inner line, then forcefully cut it to the outside, racing forward intending to use this simple maneuver to bypass Boateng’s defense.

Boateng was prepared; he swiftly followed him, stepping quickly, matching Ma’el’s speed closely, all set to attempt a slide tackle.