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Chapter 518: Defeating Real Madrid, Champions Once Again!
🕑 Added 2025-01-02 19:42:31 +0000 UTCChapter 518: Defeating Real Madrid, Champions Once Again!
Gareth Bale's sudden burst of brilliance caught everyone off guard.
Real Madrid fans, who had nearly resigned themselves to defeat, were suddenly reignited with hope. Zidane was on the sidelines shouting encouragement to his players.
On the other side, Manchester City became uneasy after Bale's goal. Some City fans were so nervous they could barely open their eyes, fearing a collapse in the final moments.
Pep Guardiola was equally tense. With Lin Quan subbed off, Manchester City's attacking strength had significantly weakened, leaving Pep uncertain.
If Real Madrid equalized and pushed the match into extra time, he feared City might lose.
No matter what, they had to hold on for the last few minutes!
With that thought, Guardiola called out to his players to waste as much time as possible. At the same time, he instructed Fernando to stand ready on the sidelines for the final substitution—a move clearly intended to buy more time.
Even though Bale didn't celebrate wildly after his goal and quickly brought the ball back to the center circle to restart the game, the match was already in the third minute of added time. Time was running out for Real Madrid.
Bale glanced at the clock, then at the Manchester City players, who were taking their time to get back into position. He was growing anxious, realizing they were deliberately wasting time.
Referee Mark Clattenburg had seen enough. He personally intervened, warning several Manchester City players, forcing them to reluctantly return to their positions.
Once both sides were ready, Clattenburg blew the whistle, and Manchester City restarted the game.
As expected, they immediately passed the ball back, intending to control possession and prevent Real Madrid from launching another attack, while using their own passing to run down the clock.
Real Madrid had anticipated this. As soon as the whistle blew, they rushed forward with reckless abandon, desperate to win the ball back from Manchester City.
The ball quickly moved from Agüero to De Bruyne, then to Kanté.
When Ronaldo and Benzema both closed in on Kanté, he passed the ball back to central defender Virgil van Dijk.
Benzema charged at Van Dijk fiercely—if he could win the ball here, he'd have a clear shot at goal and the chance to be the hero who equalized the game!
Under immense pressure, Van Dijk, calm and confident, smoothly sidestepped Benzema's tackle with a quick touch and passed the ball to fullback Pablo Zabaleta.
The crowd gasped in amazement at Van Dijk's composure.
Even under the immense pressure where a mistake could lead to a goal, he dared to play it cool. Was he born with nerves of steel?
Compared to the congested middle, there was more space on the flanks, and fewer Real Madrid players were marking those areas.
With Marcelo sent off, leaving Real Madrid a man down, they couldn't cover every Manchester City player.
And since they had just restarted, many Real Madrid players hadn't fully moved into City's half yet, leaving space for City to pass around.
But that space was quickly closing.
After Zabaleta received the ball, he saw that most of his teammates were marked. Passing to them risked interception.
So, he made a quick decision and hoofed the ball down the flank, essentially a clearance.
At this point, all of Real Madrid's players had pushed forward, even goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois was near the center circle.
When they saw the ball soaring over their heads, they were left speechless.
But that wasn't the worst part. The worst part was that City's striker, Sergio Agüero, was sprinting after the ball as if he intended to chase it down.
Not just Agüero—De Bruyne and David Silva were also sprinting towards it, chasing the ball with all their might.
This put Real Madrid's players on edge. The ball was high and seemed to be going out of bounds, but it was still about 30 meters from the touchline.
As the ball bounced on the ground, it slowed down, rolling further ahead.
Real Madrid's players quickly realized that if they didn't act fast, City might get to it before it went out of bounds.
Danilo and Bale, closest to the ball, sprinted back to defend.
Courtois initially wanted to control the ball himself, but after a few steps, he realized the risk. Changing direction, he ran back toward his own goal.
If he didn't get to the ball and no one was left in front of the goal, City could easily score into an empty net!
At this stage, Real Madrid couldn't afford to concede another goal—it would seal their fate.
Danilo, who was substituted in the second half, still had more energy than City's starting players.
He reached the ball before Agüero and others, but it was too late—the ball had already rolled out of bounds.
And to make matters worse, it wasn't a goal kick; it was a throw-in.
"Quick, throw it in!"
Danilo shouted for help. If it had gone out for a goal kick, Courtois could have launched it upfield.
But now, he needed someone to help him take the throw-in.
Bale and Jesé rushed over, but City's trio—Agüero, De Bruyne, and Silva—didn't retreat.
They stayed in Real Madrid's half, clearly intending to disrupt the throw-in and waste more time.
Realizing their defensive skills wouldn't be much help if they retreated, they chose to stay and pressure Real Madrid, even though they were exhausted from their earlier long sprints.
It was a smart time-wasting tactic. Guardiola had the same idea!
Once the ball went out of bounds, City made their substitution.
Danilo, who was holding the ball and about to throw it in, had to hold back a curse.
"Really? A substitution now, just to waste time?"
The player coming off was none other than Agüero, who was completely drained, barely able to walk.
After high-fiving De Bruyne and Silva, Agüero strolled slowly towards the sidelines.
Since they were in Real Madrid's half, the walk back to the bench was long, and at Agüero's leisurely pace, it would take him several minutes.
Real Madrid fans were furious at this blatant time-wasting and booed loudly, filling the stadium with a chorus of boos.
"Referee! He's wasting time on purpose!"
Real Madrid's players rushed to Clattenburg to protest.
Clattenburg, watching Agüero's slow walk, knew he had to act.
This was the Champions League final, being watched by billions around the world.
Allowing such obvious time-wasting wouldn't look good.
Without hesitation, Clattenburg ran over and showed Agüero a yellow card.
But Agüero secretly smiled, knowing this would buy him more time.
Feigning shock, he spread his arms wide like LeBron James, as if asking,
"Ref, what did I do? I'm innocent! Why the yellow card?"
Clattenburg had to explain the booking, so he told Agüero,
"Sergio, you can leave the pitch from the nearest touchline. You don't need to cross the entire field. That's deliberate time-wasting, and I can give you a yellow card. If you keep it up, I'll send you off with a second yellow."
Agüero had no intention of arguing. He just wanted to chat a bit longer and delay the game even more!
Hearing Clattenburg's explanation, Agüero smiled and said,
"Oh, I see! If you'd said that earlier, I would've run off sooner!"
He then pretended to comply, jogging off the field at a slightly faster pace, though not by much.
The boos grew even louder, and Real Madrid's players protested again.
Clattenburg, visibly annoyed, considered giving another yellow card but decided against it as Agüero was nearly off the field.
After high-fiving the substitute Fernando, the latter sprinted onto the pitch at full speed, in stark contrast to Agüero's leisurely exit.
As soon as Fernando entered, the substitution was officially completed, and Real Madrid immediately threw the ball in.
They were determined to capitalize on the brief moment before Fernando could settle into position.
It was now 93 minutes and 40 seconds into stoppage time, with only 20 seconds left.
Real Madrid likely had just one more chance to attack.
After the throw-in, Bale, under pressure from De Bruyne, managed to receive the ball and quickly passed it to a teammate before turning to sprint forward.
But suddenly, he felt a strange sensation. Looking down, he realized his shorts had been pulled down!
As Bale stood there, bewildered, the referee's whistle blew.
De Bruyne, who had fallen to the ground, blushed as he awkwardly apologized to Bale.
He had been trying to grab Bale's shirt but accidentally caught his shorts instead, pulling them down.
Bale was speechless, but seeing De Bruyne's sincere apology, he decided not to make a fuss.
Clattenburg, however, didn't care if it was an accident or intentional. He handed De Bruyne a yellow card for his unsportsmanlike conduct.
With so many female fans watching, such behavior was highly inappropriate!
On the sidelines, Lin Quan and the rest of City's bench couldn't help but burst into laughter.
No one had expected De Bruyne to do something like that!
"Well, well, Kevin, who knew you had it in you!"
Real Madrid earned a free kick near their own goal. The distance to the opposing net was far too great to shoot directly, so they opted for a quick pass to Modrić, who then passed to Bale.
Bale, using his incredible speed, advanced the ball, hoping to break through Manchester City's defense.
It was now 94 minutes and 50 seconds into stoppage time, well past the allotted four minutes.
Yet Clattenburg didn't blow the whistle, allowing Real Madrid to complete their attack.
Bale, a marked man, was immediately surrounded by three Manchester City players as soon as he crossed the halfway line.
David Silva and De Bruyne posed little threat, but Fernando, the newly subbed-on player, was no pushover.
Although Bale appeared to have plenty of energy, in truth, he was running on fumes after more than 90 minutes of intense play.
He managed to shake off De Bruyne and outpaced Silva, but Fernando stuck with him.
The two ran side by side, with Fernando blocking Bale's path to cut inside for a shot, while constantly using his body to nudge Bale off balance and disrupt his run.
For most players, such physical pressure would have caused them to lose balance and possession.
But not Bale. He gritted his teeth and pushed through!
In the stands, Real Madrid fans rose to their feet, hearts in their throats, silently urging Bale on:
"Bale, hold on! You're our last hope!"
Bale knew he couldn't maintain his speed any longer, and without his trademark ability to outpace opponents on the wings, he decided to pass.
After withstanding Fernando's body checks, Bale mustered all his strength to send the ball to the middle of the field.
As soon as he made the pass, Bale collapsed onto the grass but kept his eyes glued to the ball's flight:
"Ronaldo, Benzema, it's all up to you now!"
Catching sight of the ball's trajectory, Ronaldo's instincts as a top scorer kicked in, and he immediately calculated its landing spot.
Breaking free from his marker, he leaped high into the air, aiming to head the ball into the net.
"Go in!"
Ronaldo shouted as he smashed his head toward the ball.
But just before his header connected, a towering figure rose up and got to the ball first, heading it away.
It was Van Dijk!
Manchester City's defender had made a crucial clearance at the most critical moment, denying Ronaldo the chance to score!
But it wasn't over yet—the cleared ball fell to a Real Madrid player outside the box!
Modrić met it with a powerful volley, sending the ball flying back into the box, straight toward City's goal.
But before it could cross the line, a pair of strong, gloved hands blocked its path.
Navas had made the save!
With that, Real Madrid's hopes of victory were extinguished.
In the stands, countless Real Madrid fans sighed in disappointment, many on the verge of tears.
They knew it was over—Real Madrid's Champions League campaign had come to an end.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Manchester City fans, seeing Navas make the save, erupted into joyous celebrations.
"We are the champions!"
"We're champions again!"
"We're always champions!"
The final whistle blew, and Manchester City's players and fans could finally celebrate.
Real Madrid's players had given up, and as soon as Navas cleared the ball, Clattenburg blew the whistle, signaling the end of the match.
The 2015-2016 Champions League final had come to a close. The champions were... Manchester City!
The defending champions had triumphed over Real Madrid's Galácticos with a 4-3 victory, once again standing atop the Champions League podium and completing an incredible three-peat!
(End of Chapter)
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