Dominating Football with Perfect Ball Control

Chapter 305: 305. A game out of control

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”Five Consecutive Wins! Atlético Madrid is on Fire!”

”2.2 Goals Per Game! Lance Reportedly in Ballon d’Or Top 3, Expected to Become Youngest Ever Winner”

”Eibar 0-2 Atlético Madrid, King Lance with 1 Assist and 1 Goal, Summer’s Most Expensive Signing Leads Atlético Madrid’s Surge”

”La Liga’s Three-Way Battle Set: Barcelona, Atlético Madrid, and Real Madrid’s Title Race Heats Up”

Returning from the Champions League, Atlético Madrid secured another victory in their away match for the 4th round of La Liga over the weekend.

Against Eibar, a weak team in the relegation zone, Atlético Madrid initially used a rotated squad and didn’t achieve good results.

In the 55th minute of the second half, Lance and Griezmann entered the pitch as dual playmakers, and the situation immediately turned around!

Five minutes after coming on, Lance assisted Griezmann for a goal.

In the 75th minute of the match, Griezmann returned the favour, providing a reverse pass assist to Lance from outside the box.

Hyuga Kojiro’sTiger Shot found the net, and Eibar’s goalkeeper had no time to save it.

0-2, Atlético Madrid secured five consecutive wins across all competitions!

Since the start of the new season, they have only conceded 2 goals whilst scoring 12.

Lance alone accounted for 11 of those goals.

In the words of Atlético Madrid CEO Gil:

”Indeed, 150 million euros is an astronomical figure for Atlético Madrid. Atlético Madrid’s finances are still in the red. But the facts prove that every penny of this signing was well spent. In all the years I’ve been in charge of the team, I have never signed such a cost-effective player!”

Gil couldn’t stop praising Lance.

Initially, perhaps considering Chinese capital, the primary thought behind signing Lance was to expand into the Chinese market.

The original Atlético Madrid management, the Gil family, didn’t have high expectations.

Who would have thought Lance would be so outstanding!

A goal-scoring machine averaging 2.2 goals per game arriving at Atlético Madrid, the happiest were, of course, Atlético Madrid fans.

Real Madrid, Barcelona, Chelsea, Manchester United, and Bayern were all crying with envy.

Recently, on social media platforms like Twitter, Atlético Madrid fans were undoubtedly the most flamboyant group.

”Please call me a noble Atlético Madrid fan! We have the world’s best scorer.”

”Atlético Madrid used to produce great strikers; this season, we directly have a god!”

”I can place a statue of Lance in my home and pray to it every day.”

”Tell me, this isn’t a dream!”

Whilst Atlético Madrid fans were going wild online, Real Madrid and Barcelona couldn’t stand it.

”Who isn’t at the top of the league? No one has lost a game yet.”

”The championship depends on a season’s effort. There are too many teams that start strong but collapse in the middle and latter parts of the season!”

”Stop criticising us, Arsenal!”

”Is this your first time playing in La Liga? What’s the point of beating weak teams? The real matches are only the strong vs. strong encounters.”

”Brag after you beat us in the derby.”

Atlético Madrid fans had cold water splashed on them, but they were right.

Beating weak teams doesn’t mean much.

After 4 rounds of La Liga, Real Madrid and Barcelona haven’t lost a game either.

For the top three, there are only 4 matches in a season: the clashes between Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Atlético Madrid.

In other matches, they just need to stay stable and avoid collapsing.

It’s like the multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank questions that give away points before a final exam.

They should try to secure all the points they can, and just wait for their opponents to make mistakes.

Atlético Madrid’s first real test will be in the 7th round of La Liga, in half a month, a direct confrontation with Real Madrid.

”Real Madrid, a strong powerhouse. I came to La Liga to play against powerhouses, to play against strong teams!”

Waking up in the morning, Lance saw the calendar in the living room, with October 3rd circled in red.

”ATM vs. RMA”

”Derby! Must Win!!”

The good news is that the entire Atlético Madrid team is in excellent form recently.

Griezmann, Torres, Koke, Gabi, as well as Godín, Juanfran, and goalkeeper Oblak in the backline... Atlético Madrid’s lineup is Champions League Final level.

Under the influence of his butterfly effect, they won the 2013-2014 season Champions League, and their squad strength is universally recognised as top-tier.

Even without his influence, Atlético Madrid, in the original timeline, was a Champions League runner-up, a team that almost pushed Real Madrid to the brink.

And in 2014 and 2016, they reached the Champions League Final twice, playing derby matches against Real Madrid both times.

They might just be a bit less famous, but if this kind of squad strength isn’t considered world-class, then no team can be called top-tier.

Backed by world-class teammates, Lance had no reason to fear Real Madrid!

The bad news was, it seemed that at the current rate of fusion value growth, he wouldn’t reach 100% before the big battle with Real Madrid.

Lance could only use his existing abilities to confront Real Madrid.

He believed the opponent’s coaching staff and analysis team had already dissected him thoroughly, and he didn’t know what kind of freezing tactics they would employ during the match.

”Take it one step at a time; deal with the current match first.”

...

La Liga Round 5, Atlético Madrid vs. Getafe.

Getafe started the season with 3 consecutive losses, currently struggling for a win, and in a very dangerous position in the relegation zone.

Therefore, from the very beginning of the match, Atlético Madrid players faced desperate resistance from their opponents.

”Griezmann on the ball... Ouch!! That tackle was fierce!”

”The referee’s whistle blows, Griezmann is on the ground in pain.”

”It doesn’t look serious, but the referee’s officiating today is a bit lenient; he didn’t even show a yellow card.”

Commentator couldn’t help but frown.

Something seemed a bit off today.

Atlético Madrid players were falling to the ground one after another, and the referee’s standards were comparable to the Premier League.

The young Spanish referee seemed to have lost control of the pitch.

Could Atlético Madrid tolerate this?

Saúl immediately retaliated, taking down a Getafe player with a flying tackle.

Both sides were on the verge of a conflict, and the pitch instantly became chaotic.

”What are you doing? Looking for a fight?”

”Idiot!! What if I want to fight you?”

”Afraid of you? What are you looking at!”

”Get lost! You bastard!”

Saúl was surrounded by Getafe players, and Lance, who was closest to him, rushed over immediately to support his teammate, glaring at the opposing defensive midfielder’s face.

This was the first time his teammates had seen such a fierce Lance, whose sharp gaze seemed to materialise into tangible killing intent, making the burly opponent’s demeanour immediately shrink. (T/N: Ofc he is special)

”What are you looking at, what?”

The opponent was shouting, but his feet honestly retreated a few steps, fearing Lance might suddenly erupt.

”Thanks, Lance.”

Saúl was deeply moved.

”We’re all brothers; it’s what I should do.”

Despite such a conflict, the main referee still made no signal.

The rest of the match became increasingly explosive, and the originally fluid game became fragmented, with whistles constantly blowing.

”Lance!! Tackled to the ground!”

In the 39th minute, just before half-time.

Atlético Madrid had an opportunity in the attacking third.

Griezmann passed horizontally to the middle, Lance played a wall pass with central midfielder Koke, and as Lance was about to make a run forward, whilst off the ball, he was tackled down by Getafe midfielder Rodríguez.

”Damn it!!”

Lance felt his mind go blank for a moment, briefly losing consciousness.

His first reaction was to the ”Substitute Paper Man” in his item bar!

”Oh no, the item seems to be used up!”

Beads of sweat trickled from Lance’s forehead.

His ankle had completely lost sensation.

Lying on the grass, the stadium lights above seemed like a heavenly glow.

His teammates’ shouts also sounded like voices from another world.

”Lance!! Can you hear me?”

”Lance!!”

”Team doctor!! Team doctor!! Get the medical team up here quickly!”

”He seems unresponsive!”

”Lance, hey!! Brother!!”

Lance’s last conscious image was Torres rushing over with an anxious look in his eyes.

Then, like a phone running out of battery, he suddenly plunged into darkness.