Greatest Of All Legends

**29th May 2021**

After a light stretch in the hotel gym, the Uventus players sat together in the conference room as the manager unfurled a board with all sorts of things drawn and written on it.

"Alright boys, today is the day. You have trained hard and are prepared for the game, but there are some things we still need to discuss," Pirlo began, pointing at the board.

"As you already know, our opponents play a formation that looks like the 4-2-3-1 formation that is widely used these days, but is actually a 4-2-2-1-1 formation,"

"Four defenders, two central midfielders, two wingers, and two strikers, with one playing as a support to the main striker,"

"Of course, their dynamic formation can revert back to a 4-2-3-1 formation with wide two holding and wide midfielders, along with an attacking midfielder whenever they are playing defensively, but that doesn't happen very often," Pirlo said and the players nodded, agreeing with his words.

They had been paying attention to the other tactical meetings, it seemed.

"I have here the most likely lineup I think they would field against us today,"

"Neur will definitely be their starting goalkeeper, I don't think they'd risk playing anyone else against us," Pirlo said and everyone smiled, easing up the tensions a bit.

The manager's words reminded them that they were a force to be reckoned with and that the Bayern team was probably making just as many preparations as they were making so that they wouldn't be swept away.

"Upamecano and Sule are very likely to start as centerbacks. It's a good combination of experience and youthful energy in the backline so it'll be a challenge, but it's nothing we've never gone against before,"

"Hansi could go for a more experienced lineup by using Martinez or Boateng instead, but either way, you know how best to handle them considering their features," Pirlo said, turning to Ronaldo and Morata, who would be forwards in the starting eleven.

"They're all the same type of defenders. Strong physical and in the air, but not very fast… most of the time," Ronaldo said, thoughtfully.

"Exactly. They welcome physical battles so try to get past them before they can engage…" Pirlo paused to let his words sink in.

"Now for their wing backs, Alphonse Davies will most probably be playing as the left back since their main left back, Alaba, is injured. He's er… I'll talk about him when I'm done with the lineups,"Pirlo stopped midway what he was about to add.

"For the right back, it would either be Pavard or Kimmich, depending on what Hansi has planned for us,"

"In the center midfield, we'll probably get Kimmich and someone else if Kimmich is not playing as the right back, but if he is, then they'll most likely have Goretzka and Musiala in center midfield,"

"We should expect both Lewandowski and Muller in the forward positions as they are both fit to play and unless Hansi is on something, then that two will be on the field and for the wingers, every single one of them can play on either flank so all you need to know is that they are all fast and have good technical skill,"

"If you ease up for a second, they will hit us hard so the most important thing in this match is concentration, right, concentration!"

"Our own lineup is Ronaldo and Morata in front,"

"Mckennie and Chiesa as wide midfielders and Bentacur and Kulusevski in the center midfield positions,"

"Cuadrado and Alex Sandro are the wingbacks, Chiellini and De Ligt are the centerbacks and Buffon will be guarding us today for the last time in his illustrious career," Pirlo said and everyone began applauding immediately.

Smiling amiably, Buffon silently basked in the appreciation, the words of his manager and former teammate hitting home.

Initially, he had been intending to continue his career at another club since the middle of the season when the club had begun showing signs that they wouldn't be offering him a new contract, but as the team went farther and farther in the champions league, he began to change his mind and thought to make this season his last shout.

After chasing and chasing this famous trophy for most of his career, he was finally getting what was most likely his last chance at lifting the trophy and it could not have come at a better time.

If he won the trophy, then it was the perfect time to hang his boots, but if he didn't, he probably wouldn't be able to win the trophy elsewhere as no big team that could contend for the champions league trophy would want to sign him to their team at this time as anything other than a backup goalkeeper.

Might as well just go for broke and retire after… There was nothing to lose anyway.

Even if he wanted to still play, he could just go to the MLS or those rich Asian clubs and begin receiving exorbitant amounts of money as wages.

"That's just another reason why we need to win this trophy. Give the old man an unforgettable retirement gift," Pirlo grinned and the players cheered with the older players patting Buffon on the back.

"Anyways, back to the matter at hand…" Pirlo began after the noise had subsided and circled the left side of the Bayern formation outline he had on the board.

"This… is our ticket," he said, his hand pressed on the left back on the board.

"The left side of their team is the most dangerous after the center, but it's also their weakest side when they are defending,"

"The left back, Davies, was originally a winger at academy level… well, more wide midfielder than winger, but his finishing skills were not up to par and since he was not too bad defensively, he converted to the wing back position,"

"Since he is naturally a winger, he always moves up the field to help on the attack. It works for them so Hansi allows him to do what he likes. Since he's also very fast and can quickly track back, this weakness seems covered, but it's the best chance we have,"

"Chiesa, I want you always ready to run down his flank whenever he has gone up the field to join the attack. All our counterattack chance must come from this flank," Pirlo emphasized continuously, tapping the right side of the field on the board.

"If we steal possession in midfield, Chiesa, immediately start running forward, your teammates job is to get the ball to you as fast as possible and then you take it up the field down the flank,"

"This guy…" Pirl said, circling the left center back,

"... Would come off his line trying to stop you cutting into the penalty box while Davies will come at you from behind. What you have to do then is find the forwards with a good cross,"

"Over, under, behind, anywhere. I don't care how you do it, but we will have two center forwards in the box and they will only have one center back and one wing back who probably is too far away to do anything in time,"

"The ball comes in and Ronaldo or Morata finishes it fast. That's going to be our main tactic,"

"What this means is that we are going to be playing for control. Maintain a compact shape against our opponents and maintain possession. We don't want to leave any space in the middle for them to take advantage of and the center backs must keep their eyes on their two danger men, this guy and this guy," Pirlo said, pointing to Lewandowski and Muller.

"Now… let's go into more detail," Pirl continued, grabbing a bottle of water to moisturize his throat. There was still a lot that needed to be said.