CHAPTER 518: KNOCKED OUT

The immaturity of the team was often reflected in two aspects: one was the lack of maturity in the tactical system, meaning the team’s offense and defense were chaotic; the other was the team’s mentality, which lacked stability and composure in crucial games.

Today, Manchester City exhibited both issues.

It was the immaturity of their mentality that led to the collapse of their tactical system.

The team had trained in cooperative passing and movement, focusing on quick, efficient one-touch football. Nevertheless, while striving for a fast tempo, they also had to consider their ability to cope with that speed.

For instance, if a pass was too long, players couldn’t catch up; if a pass was too early, players weren’t in position. This directly correlated with the maturity of a team.

Wanting to overwhelm their opponents in one go, City’s players aimed for a crushing victory over Spartak Moscow. They increased the speed of their passing, but the urge for rapid plays often distracted them from thinking through their options, resulting in substandard passes.

Thus, although it appeared that City was relentlessly attacking in the first half, their offense was chaotic enough to make Richard feel his heart bleed.

Seeking speed wasn’t necessarily wrong, but there was a saying: being half a step ahead is genius, while being a whole step ahead is madness.

As long as they could control their pace within a high speed they could manage while Spartak struggled to keep up, even missing by half a step, City’s advantages would begin to show. However, aimlessly pursuing even more speed was akin to self-destruction.

This wasn’t a matter of technical ability; it was a mentality issue.

Mourinho, and especially O’Neill, didn’t chastise the team; instead, they continued encouraging them.

As the second half began, City seemed to revert to the form they had shown in earlier matches. Their offense and defense were balanced, and the players no longer pursued a frantic pace. Instead, they adapted their tempo, alternating between fast and slow.

Just as the team’s performance began to improve, disaster struck — the very thing Richard had feared most.

After receiving the ball, Pires attempted a sudden acceleration to break through, but halfway through he kicked the ball out of play and gingerly walked toward the sidelines, clutching his hamstring.

Clearly, he had sustained an injury.

It’s very easy to pull a muscle when making an explosive move while in a state of extreme fatigue.

O’Neill called Deco to warm up and offered words of comfort to Pires as he exited the field. Pires’ ability to walk on his own suggested that the injury wasn’t serious; if it had been, he would have been lying down in pain.

O’Neill then called Zambrotta and Zanetti over to clarify their offensive roles. Originally, Zambrotta was supposed to cut inward in the offense, but given his poor performance against Spartak’s dense defense, O’Neill instructed him to focus only on crossing and linking up play, while Zanetti should press forward and stay near the penalty area, looking for long-shot opportunities.

This was a makeshift solution, not everyone’s ideal tactical execution. Zambrotta was often closely marked, and merely passing wouldn’t provide the element of surprise.

In the wide midfield, Deco needed little guidance when he came on. While primarily trained as an attacking midfielder, tasked with supporting and making runs forward to score, he was required to play on the right. The principle remained the same: when Zanetti surged forward, Deco needed to break into the box to pose a threat.

Once the substitutions were made, Deco quickly created a chance. Unlike Pires, he was adept in vision and technical ability, catching Spartak’s defense off guard with his movement.

Deco’s cross arrived at the far post, and Zidane expertly volleyed it, hitting the crossbar before the ball bounced back down.

A huge sigh swept through the Luzhniki Arena, followed by a burst of applause.

Deco touched his face, feeling guilty as if he had let someone down. However, seeing no blame in his teammates’ eyes, he let out a heavy breath and positioned himself to help defend.

As time ticked away, news arrived from the other groups.

Earlier that day, Lens had defeated Arsenal, which meant that the Gunners was out, finishing in third place.

In Group D, Barcelona drew 3-3 with Manchester United, which also meant that Barcelona had to settle for third place — out of the tournament as well.

Another surprising development came from PSV Eindhoven. Despite expectations, they were being led by FC Kaiserslautern, a team many had predicted would finish last in the group.

Back at Manchester City, Deco’s relentless passing was putting immense pressure on Spartak’s defense, forcing their striker to drop deeper to help relieve the attacking pressure.

By the 74th minute, Zidane played the ball back to Makélélé, who carried it past halfway and delivered a direct pass to Deco on the right forward flank.Before receiving the ball, Deco was already assessing the situation around him.

He remembered everyone halftime instructions: ’stay calm.’

Zanetti’s run to the byline pulled the fullback away, Trezeguet drew defenders toward him in the box, and Zidane’s forward movement forced Spartak’s players to mark tightly.

Apart from the defensive midfielder pressuring him, Deco was unmarked. He felt grateful to his teammates — they knew exactly how to move, running in the opposite direction to pull the right center-back out of position.

As the ball rolled toward him, he executed a clever feint, letting the ball slip under his feet while sprinting forward. The midfielder chasing him was completely fooled.

Deco advanced toward the defensive line, and as Trezeguet cleared the right center-back, a gap opened in Spartak Moscow’s defense. Deco was in prime position for a one-on-one with the goalkeeper.

The Spartak goalkeeper lowered his center of gravity, spreading his arms to cover more space as defenders rushed toward Deco. In that instant, Deco played the ball across to the left, and an unmarked Trezeguet tapped it into the empty net.

"Seventy-five minutes in! Manchester City has finally scored! They’ve pulled one back. With fifteen minutes remaining, can they do it? Oh, wait—Trezeguet went to retrieve the ball and twisted his ankle. It’s strange — City players seem to be suffering injuries without contact today. Perhaps they’re just exhausted."

Trezeguet had been tense all match, but scoring brought a sense of relief. Unfortunately, in his eagerness to retrieve the ball, he rolled his ankle, a symptom of extreme fatigue causing his body and mind to be slightly out of sync.

The injury wasn’t serious, but he could no longer continue. Frustrated, he walked off the field, facing a concerned Zidane. "Don’t worry about me," he said dejectedly. "Just tell the boss to make a substitution quickly. We still have time. The boss said we can win, and I believe we can!"

Zidane patted his head to comfort him, then sprinted back to midfield.

O’Neill reluctantly substituted Ronaldo for Trezeguet. To be honest, he had wanted to keep Ronaldo on the bench to give his knee extra care after his recent match.

Before Ronaldo entered the field, Richard carefully laid out some tactical instructions, which O’Neill listened to attentively.

Spartak left two players up front for counterattacks in the second half, but once the clock ticked past the 80th minute, they fully retreated, abandoning hopes of a counterattack. They now focused solely on preventing further goals to try to secure a point.

Upon entering the pitch, Ronaldo played noticeably differently from Trezeguet, leaving Spartak’s defense momentarily bamboozled. Instead of becoming a target man like Trezeguet, he worked closely with Larsson to create space, coordinating in tight quarters.

Still, seeing Larsson today was less effective, O’Neill immediately substituted him with Henry to better complement Ronaldo.

With the two best dribblers working in tandem, Spartak’s defense was forced to push deeper to prevent opportunities for Ronaldo and Henry. This, in turn, opened up chances for City’s midfielders to attempt long-range shots, while simultaneously compressing the passing lanes for both Ronaldo and Henry.

As the game reached the second minute of injury time, Zidane, having already taken three long shots, finally decided against another attempt.

At least, that’s what people thought — until Spartak’s defense and midfield combined to form a formidable wall. Seeing this, Ronaldinho adjusted his approach. Instead of shooting, he expertly delivered a lobbed pass that sliced through to the left side of the penalty spot.

Spartak’s defenders were caught off guard. The ball sailed past them — who would reach it first? Naturally, someone was ready to capitalize.

Ronaldo and Henry seized the moment, noticing that Spartak players were still lingering and no one stepped forward to intercept.

Ronaldinho also made a diagonal run from the left. His timing wasn’t perfect; he only began his run as the ball approached, but Zidane’s pass surprised the Spartak players, who had expected him to shoot again and remained glued to their marks.

Out of the blue, Ronaldinho burst into the box and quickly linked up with Ronaldo, who reached the ball first.

The Spartak goalkeeper, however, made a bold and reckless move.

Ronaldo, anticipating the danger, wanted to quickly pass the ball to Ronaldinho, and the young Ronaldinho also considered passing it back to Ronaldo just before the keeper could intercept.

Never had they imagined just how agile Spartak’s goalkeeper was — he hit the ground but immediately sprang up, lunging toward Ronaldinho, who was already sprinting past, ready to take a shot.

The young winger went down inside the box, and the Lukoil Arena erupted. Fans leapt to their feet, shouting and pointing at the goalkeeper, furious at what they saw as a blatant foul.

PHWEEEE~

RED CARD!

"Damn it!" Richard muttered under his breath.

If the keeper hadn’t fouled, Ronaldinho — had he been on the pitch — would have surely scored. Now, the referee had no choice: a penalty was awarded, costing precious time.

The whistle blew sharply. The Spartak goalkeeper was sent off, and a backup shuffled in, clearly unprepared and without a chance to warm up.

Ronaldo stepped up, the weight of the moment visible in his calm expression. He blocked out the roar of the crowd, the pressure pressing down on him, and focused entirely on the ball.

BANG!

He struck cleanly. The ball rolled into the lower right corner as the substitute keeper dove the wrong way.

Goal!

Manchester City were back in the game!

Without hesitation, Ronaldo retrieved the ball from the net and raced back to the center circle. His teammates mirrored his urgency — no time wasted, no hesitation. Meanwhile, Spartak Moscow’s players trudged slowly, attempting to disrupt the flow and waste precious seconds.

Zidane protested to the referee, insisting that additional stoppage time should be added. The previous three minutes had already elapsed, and no one knew when the final whistle would sound.

The referee took action, warning Spartak Moscow’s players to speed up. But even if they tried, what difference would it make?

Richard looked at his watch and shook his head.

90+5 minutes.

As expected, Spartak Moscow kicked off, passing the ball backward, while City’s players surged forward to apply pressure. The opposing defenders cleared the ball deep into City’s half.

PHWEEEEEEEEEEE~

The clearance soared high and slow, landing just as the referee’s whistle pierced the air.

The match was over.