CHAPTER 153: CHAPTER 148: MATCHDAY - 1

Saturday, September 17, 2022

Demien’s Apartment, Bergamo

8:30 AM

Saturday morning arrived with the kind of pre-match tension that sits quiet in the chest rather than screaming in the head, and Demien woke at 8:30 AM to his alarm knowing today was about final preparation before tomorrow’s test at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.

He lay in bed for a moment and let his mind settle, and the apartment was silent except for the sound of traffic outside the window and his own breathing as Sunday’s magnitude pressed against his thoughts like atmospheric pressure.

The team gathered at Bortolotti at 10 AM for the traditional matchday-minus-one session, and the energy in the locker room carried focused quiet as players changed into training gear while veterans like De Roon and Tolói moved through their routines with practiced efficiency.

Out on the training pitch Gasperini walked them through positioning one final time, and there was no heavy running, just muscle memory and mental visualization of Napoli’s press triggers and where space would appear when their fullbacks pushed high.

"DEMIEN!" Gasperini called from midfield. "WHEN LOBOTKA SITS DEEP, YOU DROP BETWEEN THE LINES HERE!"

The manager pointed to the space between Napoli’s midfield and defense, and Demien jogged to the position while nodding.

"KOOPMEINERS COVERS! DE ROON SHIFTS! YOU RECEIVE ON THE HALF-TURN!"

The drill continued with players moving through their assignments slowly and deliberately, and by the time Gasperini dismissed them at 11:30 AM the tactical understanding had been reinforced one last time.

"Pack your bags," Gasperini said as players dispersed. "We leave for the airport at 3 PM."

The system chimed.

「TRAINING SESSION COMPLETE」

「Quality: Good」

「REWARD: 10 TP」

「Current Balance: 125 TP | 0 SP | 16 MP」

Demien returned to his apartment for lunch and the pre-match nutrition protocol came automatic because David’s body remembered this from a lifetime ago—grilled chicken, rice, steamed vegetables, precise portions that would fuel performance without weighing him down.

He ate mechanically while scrolling through his phone, and notifications from Instagram and Twitter showed Napoli fans already posting videos of the Stadio Maradona being prepared for tomorrow night, and the hostile energy was palpable even through a screen.

After lunch he packed his travel bag with match kit, recovery gear, headphones, iPad loaded with tactical videos, and the mental checklist of a professional preparing for hostile territory settled over him like routine.

Bortolotti Training Complex

3:00 PM

At 3 PM sharp the team bus departed Zingonia for Orio al Serio Airport and the journey took barely twenty minutes through afternoon traffic, and the atmosphere on the bus carried focused quiet as veterans slept with headphones on while younger players scrolled through phones or watched Netflix on tablets.

Demien sat beside Koopmeiners near the middle of the bus, and the Dutch midfielder had his eyes closed with AirPods in while Demien looked out the window at the Lombardy countryside passing by.

They arrived at the private terminal reserved for charter flights at 3:25 PM, and airport staff expedited their check-in process with practiced efficiency because professional football clubs received treatment that bypassed normal procedures.

By 4:15 PM the squad boarded a chartered plane with Atalanta’s crest displayed near the cockpit door, and Demien settled into his window seat beside Højlund who immediately plugged in his AirPods and closed his eyes.

The flight attendant moved through the cabin checking seatbelts, and her voice came through the intercom announcing they’d be landing in Naples in approximately one hour and twenty-five minutes as the plane taxied toward the runway.

Takeoff came smooth at 4:30 PM and Demien watched northern Italy disappear beneath clouds while his mind ran through Napoli’s shape—Spalletti’s aggressive 4-3-3, Osimhen’s movement patterns, Kvaratskhelia’s tricky runs down the left—and the flight passed quickly though time felt strange when traveling toward something inevitable.

The pilot announced their descent into Capodichino Airport at 5:45 PM, and through the window Demien saw the Bay of Naples stretching blue and vast with Vesuvius rising in the distance, and the city spread below looked dense and chaotic in ways that Bergamo never did.

Naples

5:55 PM

They touched down at 5:55 PM local time as the sun sat low over the bay, and after a quick deplaning process the team boarded a waiting coach that navigated through Naples traffic toward their hotel near the waterfront.

The city passed outside Demien’s window and it was different from anywhere he’d seen—narrow streets packed with Vespas weaving through traffic, laundry hanging between buildings on lines stretched across balconies, street vendors selling pizza fritta from carts on corners, and everywhere the passionate energy that made Naples both beautiful and intimidating for visiting teams.

Scooters honked constantly and pedestrians crossed streets without looking, and graffiti covered walls with declarations of love for Napoli written in blue paint, and the coach driver navigated it all with aggressive confidence while police escorts cleared space ahead.

They arrived at the team hotel around 6:45 PM and the building was modern with security keeping fans and media at distance, and after checking into rooms—Demien shared with Lookman this trip—the squad gathered in the hotel restaurant at 7:30 PM for a light dinner.

The meal was deliberately casual to keep nerves manageable, and players talked about anything except tomorrow’s match while eating pasta with simple tomato sauce and grilled fish with vegetables.

Demien sat between Malinovskyi and Pasalic, and the conversation drifted between Serie A standings and Champions League draws while his mind stayed partially elsewhere.

Hotel Conference Room

8:30 PM

Gasperini appeared at 8:30 PM to gather everyone in the conference room, and the atmosphere shifted immediately from casual to focused as players filed in and took seats facing the projection screen.

The manager stood before the projected footage of Napoli’s recent matches, and his voice carried absolute conviction as he clicked through clips showing their pressing patterns and transitional movements.

"They’ll press high from the first whistle," Gasperini began, and the laser pointer circled Napoli’s front three. "Lobotka will try to control tempo from deep. Kvaratskhelia will attack our right side constantly. Osimhen will punish any hesitation in our backline."

The footage showed Osimhen’s intelligent runs exploiting space behind high defensive lines, and Gasperini paused the video.

"But if we stay compact, win our duels, and transition quickly when we recover possession, we hurt them." His eyes moved across the room. "Their fullbacks push aggressively. That’s where space opens. Walter, Lookman, Malinovskyi—when we win the ball, you attack those channels immediately."

More tactical details followed with specific instructions for defensive shape and pressing triggers, and by the time the meeting ended at 9:15 PM with instructions for lights out by 10:30 PM, everyone understood their roles completely.

Demien returned to his room where Lookman was already in bed scrolling Instagram, and he lay down on his own bed and stared at the ceiling while processing tomorrow’s magnitude.

Sleep finally arrived around 11 PM though it came restless with dreams of packed stadiums and hostile crowds.