Chapter 707: Biggest Night in Club Football III
Buffon dived powerfully at the ball, letting his experience and instincts guide him towards where he expected the Bayern striker to hit it to and luckily, his guess was correct as he managed to reach the low driven shot and deflect it out of play for a corner kick.
{Fantastic save!!!}
{How did he get to that!} Trevor squealed in excited disbelief.
Even the fans were surprised that the ball hadn't gone in and Lewandowski had his hands on his head in disbelief. What followed was excited cheers of the Uventus fans cheering for their goalkeeper.
{Uventus were caught by surprise then. Trying to attack and all of a sudden the ball was in front of their own goal}
{That beautiful counterattack really deserved a goal. The midfield play, the rapid decisions and quick thinking of the winger and the midfielder to unlock the striker and the strikers instinct to make the run. All of it was just perfect} Martin said, his voice filled with admiration.
{And what other than perfect goalkeeping to stop it, am I right?} Trevor cut in.
{I can't deny that. Gianlugi Buffon, one of the more famous names when it comes to legendary goalkeepers of the beautiful game, showing us that there is a reason why we know his name} Martin replied, nodding.
{They say De Gea can save the titanic but this man... could save the titanic twice} Trevor joined in, hyping Buffon to the high heavens more than his teammates on the pitch could.
On the field, Kimmich took the ball and jogged down to the corner flag to take the corner kick but the ball was hurriedly cleared by the Uventus players who had regrouped at the back and were very alert to the ball coming in.
While the players battled it out on the field, Pirlo focused his attention on the young Bayern midfielder, Musiala.
'That kid is very dangerous,' Pirlo could not help thinking to himself as he replayed the counter in his head and could once again confirm that it had both been created and orchestrated by the kid.
Pirlo already knew that Musiala was quite the talented kid but it was one thing to know it and another thing to see it live and direct.
Glancing at Jason who had gone to do some warm-ups on another side of the pitch, Pirlo sighed while beginning to think of countermeasures, as he knew more than anyone what young talented footballers like Jason and Musiala could do.
Because of their youth and still developing playing styles, they tended to have sudden outbursts of magical moments that could turn into dangerous moments for their opponents and this was especially so as they were young and did not like to play by the rules.
Musiala had already showed that he could be dangerous and Pirlo had to start making adjustments to the arrangements on how to have his players keep an extra watch over the kid.
#27th minute…
{We're approaching the first half hour of the ninety minutes and so far there has been no goals yet in this game}
{It's not been for the want of trying as both teams have been gotten a few good shots away but the goalkeepers have been at the top of their game}
{It's Uventus again. The ball goes to Ronaldo} Trevor was saying calmly as Ronaldo received the ball calmly with his back to goal.
As Ronaldo received the ball, Kimmich rushed at him from behind and tried to tackle, but as if he had eyes in the back of his head, Ronaldo suddenly flicked the ball with his heel, sending the ball between Kimmich's legs behind him and turning to chase.
His foot caught against Kimmich's leg and he almost stumbled, but he caught himself and dashed after the ball, catching up to it and speedily dribbling the ball toward the opposition penalty box.
He was instantly surrounded by four players on all sides who tried to box him in and steal the ball, but he somehow managed to keep the ball at his feet and away from all his markers.
As he got nearer to the penalty box, he suddenly kicked the ball to his right with the tip of his right foot, seemingly poking it as he tried to push it forward. Not expecting it, the ball flew past the player on his right and made it to Chiesa who was coming from behind on the right.
While Chiesa raced to catch the ball, Sule who had been unable to stop the ball from getting past him chased and tried to block Chiesa from getting to the ball and getting a cross into the penalty box but he was no match for Chiesa's pace and the Uventus man got to the ball first.
Slowing down with the ball, Chiesa faced off against Sule and tried a few fancy flicks to confuse the defender while still in motion, but Sule wasn't biting.
Seeing Ronaldo suddenly increase his pace and dash into the penalty box, Chiesa remembered the manager's words and pushed the ball forward a bit and instantly tried to send a cross in to Ronaldo, but the ball had barely flown a meter when it smashed into Sule's outstretched hand and bounced off it's intended path.
*Fweeeeeeeeeeee!*
The referee's whistle went off immediately and the referee came running over as Sule had just handled the ball in the penalty area.
The Bayern players instantly rushed to the referee trying to debate the issue, but the replay had already begun playing and it was clear to see that Sule's hands were out of a natural position as he had been running to block the ball so it was a clear handball foul and the referee's decision to give a penalty was justified.
{Penalty to Uventus!} Trevor shouted as Menedo pointed at the spot and the Uventus supporters at the stadium instantly burst into another round of joyous cheers as to them they already had a goal.
Even though one of the best goalkeepers was in goal, they didn't have a single ounce of doubt as Ronaldo put the ball down on the spot, after all, even this man had been unable to stop Ronaldo from scoring penalties against him in the past.
Taking a deep breath as he stared at the goal, Ronaldo's eyes zeroed on the goal as a whole and he barely looked at Neuer as he waited for the referee's whistle.
*Fweeeeeeeeeeeee!!!*