Rise of a Football God

(UEFA Champions League:)

(Round of 16:)

(Leg 1 of 2:)

(Lille – Barcelona)

(Date: 5th March, 2026)

After 8 games of toiling, securing victories and dominating, FC Barcelona made it to the knockout stage of the UEFA Champions League as the top team with the most points in the league phase.

And after the playoff games were concluded, the exciting round of 16 stage of the UEFA Champions League finally started.

Barca's round of 16 draw was a slightly simple one against Lille, but if they progressed past the French side, every other team in their side of the bracket was a fearsome powerhouse in their own right.

If FC Barcelona was to win another UEFA Champions League trophy after more than 10 years, their 6th trophy, they needed to be better than any other team in Europe since they would be pitted against the best of the best.

For this game, both teams started with their best lineups, and it showed.

Bolstered by the relentless energy of their home fans, Lille threatened within the first dozen minutes of the game and it eventually bore fruit.

In the 12th minute of the game, Jonathan David showed perfect target man instincts as with his back to goal, receiving a cross, he hit the ball with his backheel, sending it towards the top left corner and in goal.

It was a crazy goal!

"GOALLLLLL…!!!"

Lille's Decathlon Arena stadium erupted, turning into a cauldron of noise.

The passion of the fans could be felt as Jonathan David charged towards the corner flag, sliding on his knees and celebrating the goal wildly.

Watching the stadium as they celebrated the goal, Sam could not help but feel wistful. 'In an alternate universe, I'd have played for Lille and not Fulham, right?'

He still remembered vividly.

After his 1 and half season with Enyimba FC in the NPFL, a few European clubs came for his signature then and if he didn't remember wrong, Sam thought Lille was one of them and they gave him the highest monetary offer.

In the end, he went to play for Fulham. He didn't regret his decision though.

Sam was not exactly sympathizing for them; he just entered that mood due to being influenced by the passion of the home fans in reaction to that goal. Well, he was still determined to doom them to defeat.

In this game, Sam was man marked again.

It only made him drop deep, increasing his influence in the overall dynamic of the game but Sam didn't get many sights at goal himself.

The first half ended 1-0 in Lille's favor.

But then in the 2nd half, in the 53rd minute of the game, Pedri flared to life, floating a perfect ball towards the left corner of the Lille 18-yard box for Raphinha to tap into an empty net.

The Brazilian celebrated his goal exuberantly.

And then, just 5 minutes later, in the 58th minute, Raphinha did it again, this time from a Lamine Yamal trivela pass.

Yamal received the pass at the far-right side of the pitch, torched his marker with a silky dribble, leaving the poor guy on his butt and then stretching his body, he played an unreal trivela pass that teasingly rolled past Lille's defensive line, perfectly rolling into Raphinha's front.

Bam!

With one touch, Raphinha pushed the ball and surged past the onrushing goalkeeper, accelerating to prevent the ball from rolling out for a goal kick.

And then, from an acute angle, he hit it, sending it into the net.

BOOM!

The away section of the stadium erupted.

This game, Sam didn't have his usual level of influence but FC Barcelona won the game still. Raphinha won the man of the match award.

In another rare game this season, Sam failed to score or assist.

…

11th March, 2026…

A week later, FC Barcelona welcomed Lille to the Spotify Camp Nou.

Well, it was safe to say that the Catalans tore their opponents apart.

In the 1st minute of the game, Sam lashed into a perfect Pedri pass, lobbing it past the goalkeeper to score the first goal of the game.

In the 18th minute, Pedri doubled the score, making it 2-0 in Barca's favor.

In the 43rd minute of the game, Raphinha ended any contention in the tie as he scored Barca's third goal of the night, dooming any Lille hopes of a comeback.

In the 2nd half, Inigo Martinez leaped highest from a corner kick in the 82nd minute, scoring from a header to put his name on the scoresheet.

At the end, it was a rout.

FC Barcelona won 4-0 at home and 6-1 on aggregate.

With that, they progressed to the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League where they were guaranteed to meet a heavyweight of European football next based on the result of tomorrow's games, no matter the result.

The next day, Manchester City demolished Copenhagen in their tie, also progressing to the quarterfinals where they were automatically pitted against the Catalan giants in the next phase of the champions league.

(UEFA Champions League:)

(Quarterfinal:)

(Leg 1 of 2:)

(Barcelona – Man City)

(Date: 9th April, 2026)

9th April was still a long time from now though, and so FC Barcelona focused on the next game on their agenda, another league game.

And again, it was against a familiar opponent this season.

(La Liga:)

(Atletico Madrid – Barcelona)

(Date: 16th March, 2026)

Again, FC Barcelona was to clash against Atletico Madrid this season.

It was a league game and this time; they would be facing the Madrid team in away ground at the Metropolitano Stadium.

Hansi Flick may have not played against the Madrid side at their home stadium yet, but he already had multiple experiences of playing against them this season. Not just that.

More importantly, Hansi Flick had extensive data to pool from in his preparations for this blockbuster league game.

No matter what form his team and his players were in, Hansi Flick knew that a trip to the Metropolitano was going to be tricky.

He didn't fret over it too much though.

He simply did his best tactically, and left the rest to his players.

And finally, it was time to test their mettle.