Greatest Of All Legends

**29th May 2021**

At 6:30 pm sharp, the Uventus players left their hotel in the official UEFA bus with a police escort to clear the roads and as the security detail.

Exactly twenty minutes later, the bus arrived at the Estadio do Dragao and the players got off the bus, smartly dressed in black suits and white shirts.

Most of the players had headphones on to shut out any noise and faces the picture of concentration and determination as they walked into the stadium, cameras flashing continuously as they walked by.

Every step all the way to the locker room is filmed, with the players only getting some privacy after the doors of the locker room had been shut behind them.

The players quickly got to work changing out of the sleek, tailored suits that felt more stuffy than ever before due to the pressure of the game that loomed ahead.

The team's physios quickly got to work helping some of the players to begin taping their ankles, strapping their knees, and even doing some massage work for some players who were feeling a bit tense.

The players quickly got into their training kits for warm-up while Pirlo constantly gave short tactical reminders to each and every player as they readied themselves, reminding them of everything they had discussed tactically in preparation for the match.

Once the players were in their training kits with some having a training jacket over their kits, the players began stepping out of the room and back down the tunnel, but this time they weren't going outside the stadium, but rather, into the heart of it, the green.

At 7:25, the players stepped out onto the pitch for the first time that day. The training staff quickly got to work setting things up for a quick warm-up session while the players tried to get a feel of the grass, test their boots on the grass and soak the atmosphere.

They weren't the only ones appearing on the pitch either as they finally saw their opponents for the first time, standing on the other side of the pitch.

Some fans had already arrived and were already screaming in the stands at the players, unable to keep their excitement within their chest.

With a training jacket over his kit, Jason chewed slowly on a gum, trying to calm his raging nerves that had been causing his body to go haywire. His heart thumped loudly, almost bursting out of his chest despite him not exerting any physical efforts.

Here he was, on the roster of one of the biggest clubs in the world and about to face the match that was the peak of club football, years after what a career twilight.

It felt like a lifetime ago and truly, it was another lifetime ago, but that did not mean he was as calm as his face suggested.

For a second, he was grateful that he wasn't in the starting lineup for this game. He felt so nervous that he thought his legs wouldn't work well at that moment.

Trying to gather his thoughts, he began to hear voices cheering, screaming not only his name, but those of his teammate and that of his team.

Taking a deep breath, he was about to go join in the keep-ball rondo that was about to begin when a voice within the harmonious cacophony of cheers reached him and he turned in the direction of the voice.

Catching a sight of Adele in the stands waving wildly and unashamedly at him, a smile broke out on his face and he waved back. There was seemingly less enthusiasm in his wave, but the nervousness wracking him seemed to have decreased ever so slightly.

*Fwooooosh*

Taking a deep breath and slapping his face lightly with both hands, he whispered to himself.

"You can do this."

Running off to join his teammates, determined to do his best in the game, Jason went hard at the warm-up drills.

Two-touch rondos, stretching, sprint drills, and shooting practice all while the fans watched excitedly and the stadium filled up in anticipation of what was to come.

Cameras stayed on the players as they warmed up, broadcasting it live as a prequel to the most widely anticipated match in the world of football that year.

Twenty minutes to the set kickoff time, the players began returning to the locker rooms.

At this point, the confirmed starting lineups had already been released and people had quickly begun checking it on the internet.

The Bayern starting lineup was similar to what they had played like the whole season and the Uventus lineup wasn't strange to the Uventus fans either, but the Uventus fans felt uneasy after seeing the lineups.

The players in the starting lineup weren't strange to them. What was confusing to them was that this was the way the team usually arranged itself earlier in the season… before Jason joined in January.

It was a time when the Uventus team's results were quite erratic so despite the lineup not being a call for alarm yet, it still made the Uventus fans become a bit uneasy.

Some of the Jason fans were even a bit outraged as they had been looking forward to watching Jason try to dance circles around the Bayern players, but, calming themselves with the thought that the manager must have a plan, they calmly but excitedly waited for the match to begin.

In the locker room the players were changing out of their training kits into their match kits while Pirlo gave a final tactical talk to the player.

Few minutes later, with the players dressed up and his tactical talk over, Pirlo gestured to Chiellini,

"Let's have the captain say a few words,"

What followed were cheers, applause and whistles from the players as Chiellini was pushed out by the players to the front.

"..." First glancing around the room that rapidly quieted down as he stood in front of them.

"Two…"

"That's how many champions league finals I've played in… and as you know, I still don't have a trophy to show off,"

"Sometimes you run out of luck and at other times it feels like you don't have any luck at all, but I choose to believe that my hard work won't let me down,"

"Not this time, after all, as they say, third time's the charm,"Chiellini grinned and everyone cheered.

"So let's go out there and give it everything we've got. Win or lose, we will not leave anything out there on the pitch, but today…"

"... Today… I choose to win," Chiellini said determinedly.

"Uraaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!!!" Mckennie shouted a battle cry and as if it were a rapidly spreading infection, everyone else joined in the loud cry and for a while people thought they were shooting a viking movie in the Uventus locker room.