THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME
chapter-570

"It's Juventus one and Real Madrid one," Sandro Piccinini, the commentator, yelled at the top of his voice. "A well-executed counterattack ending with a Cristiano Ronaldo finish has allowed the Madrid-based side to bring proceedings back to square one. Now, this is the Real Madrid that I know. If they get a chance, they will make it count."

Carlo Zampa, the other commentator, chuckled. "We've been mentioning how Juventus has dominated the game and dictated the tempo since the first minute. Their teamwork has been brilliant, and they have created a few good chances against Real Madrid during the first 25 minutes. They clearly seemed like the favorites to win the UEFA Champions League quarter-final."

"But what do we have on our hands now? With one counter, with the first clear chance, everything has changed. Real Madrid have overturned the status quo, and gotten the crucial away goal that has clearly put them in a very advantageous position to win the quarter-final."

Sandro Piccinini nodded. "I just think the Juventus players lost their focus before that goal. Most players flashed forward to attack and forgot their defensive duties while facing a team with fast and technically gifted attack-minded players like Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, Marcelo, and James Rodriguez. In my book, this is a typical way of courting death. The result is the counterattack and the goal we've just seen."

The game restarted after the goal celebrations. The Juventus players learned their lesson from conceding the equalizer and stopped committing numbers forward. They seemed happy to allow the Madrid-based team more territory and were content to soak up the pressure while waiting for opportunities to form counterattacks.

The Real Madrid players, on the other hand, sprung to life after scoring the equalizer. Their midfielders, like Toni Kroos, Isco, and James Rodríguez, all upped their game and started playing brilliant football. Their pass completion rate grew to incredible levels until they were constantly asking all the crucial questions on the field of play.

The game continued as more minutes flashed by quickly. Madrid's growing presence in the game eventually manifested into a clear goal-scoring chance during the 43rd minute. Cristiano Ronaldo was the man in action, and he drove through the left wing and cut into the pitch after connecting with a through pass from Toni Kroos.

Ronaldo then exchanged a couple of precise and quick one-twos with Gareth Bale to get past Stephan Lichtsteiner, Juventus' right-back. He approached the box from the left side before unleashing a pinpoint cross towards the far post, where James Rodríguez was arriving.

James Rodríguez stormed forward in the box like a panther going in for a kill. He raced past Giorgio Chiellini before pushing off the ground and meeting the ball from Ronaldo with a first-time diving header. He sent the ball goalward, hoping to score Real Madrid's second goal during the 43rd minute.

Fortunately, luck seemed to elude Real Madrid, and the header smashed against the crossbar the next moment. The Juventus fans in the stands behind the goal let out sighs of relief as the ball bounced back into the box without doing any damage. But they didn't take their eyes off the field as the game dynamics continued changing.

This was especially so since Patrice Evra had just collected the rebounded ball within Juventus' box. The left-back worked with all the haste he could muster and kicked it toward Andrea Pirlo, who had just positioned himself in a strategic pocket of space at the border of the defensive third.

Andrea Pirlo, on his part, also reacted faster than ever. He took just a single touch on the ball before hammering it to Carlos Tevez, who had just drifted into the right wing.

Juventus' counterattack was on, and the 'on-form' Tevez worked his magic. He exploited the space left by Marcelo, the Madrid left-back who had just been on the attack. He cut through the right flank uncontested before stepping into the final third and eventually cutting into the pitch to head towards the box.

Pepe, one of Real Madrid's center-backs, came forward to stop Juventus' counter. However, Tevez didn't wait for the defender to close him down. He instead played a square pass into the middle to find Kingsley Coman, who had just arrived at the edge of the box.

Kingsley Coman didn't lose composure as he controlled the ball. He outwitted Raphaël Varane, the Madrid center-back, and effortlessly played a back-heel pass towards Zachary, who was also quickly approaching the box.

Zachary was in a highly focused state as he connected with the ingenious pass from Kingsley just a few meters away from the box. He collected the ball midstride and bounded forward. He hoped to quickly open up the angle to pass or to take a shot at the goal.

But right then, he felt a strong tug on his shirt that halted all his plans. He loosened his gait and allowed the offender to pull him back. And as expected, he felt himself tumbling to the ground within seconds.

"FOUL..." Most of the Juventus fans and players in the stadium yelled, more or less in unison.

Martin Atkinson, the referee, didn't need the reminder, though. He blew the whistle and quickly arrived at the scene. Without fear or favor, he awarded the free-kick just a few meters from the box before showing a yellow card to Sergio Ramos, the Real Madrid player who had committed the foul.

"Phew..."

Zachary breathed a sigh of relief and rose from the ground. He ignored the Real Madrid players crowding around the ref to argue their case and picked up the ball. He then walked to the side and patiently waited for the situation on the pitch to calm down.

Kingsley Coman and Carlos Tevez suddenly approached Zachary.

Zachary smiled and nodded at the two players.

"Do you need our help?" Tevez asked after taking a position beside Zachary.

Zachary shook his head. "I'll just go for the goal as usual. However, as you know, Iker Casillas can sometimes turn into a miracle worker between the posts. Just be ready to tap the rebound into the back of the net if, by some chance, he saves my free-kick.

"Noted," Both Tevez and Kingsley replied.

Right then, a few other Juventus players, like Pirlo, Claudio Marchisio, and Patrice Evra, started crowding around Zachary. They all encouraged him to relax and act as usual without any pressure. After that, they walked into Real Madrid's box to perform their own roles during the taking of the free-kick.

A minute passed, and the 45th minute arrived. The referee finished organizing the defensive wall and the other players in the box before taking a strategic position at the side. He then blew the whistle and motioned for Zachary to take the free-kick.

Iker Casillas, Real Madrid's keeper, had watched plenty of Zachary's past performances in preparation for the game. He had learned that the young playmaker could use both feet well when working with the ball. But when it mattered, like while taking free kicks, he would pull the trigger with his more powerful left leg nine out of ten times.

Through his pre-game research, Casillas also discovered another habit of Zachary. The guy always liked to send free-kicks over the wall before finding the furthest top corner away from the keeper's position.

For instance, if the keeper positioned himself to the right between the posts, Zachary would target the top left corner with uncanny accuracy. This was how the guy had outwitted many keepers and built up a highly abnormal set-piece conversion rate.

However, Casillas had prepared for all this trickery. He had organized the defensive wall toward the right side of the goal. He had also positioned himself slightly towards the left in-between the posts to bait Zachary into sending the ball over the wall and targeting the top right corner.

Everything would be easy as Casillas knew where the ball would be arriving. All he had to do was to use his world-class incredible reactions to dive toward the right before saving the day.

Casillas waited with bated breath as Zachary took a few steps back from the ball. He raised his concentration to the max, making sure to study and analyze each of the free-kick taker's actions.

A few more seconds passed, and he finally saw Zachary approach the ball from an angle. Casillas got ready to dive as the young dead ball specialist reached the last moment and initiated the motions to unleash a shot toward the goal.

The next moment, Casillas' sharp eyes saw Zachary's left boot swing down and connect with the stationary ball. In his highly focused state, time seemed to slow down, and he started orienting his body, preparing to dive toward the top right corner.

But just then, his mind suddenly froze and caught ice. He blanked out as he noticed a flash of motion zooming under the feet of one of the defenders in the wall, who had just jumped.

"Shit! A carpet shot!" Casillas let out an inward curse.

He quickly tried to adjust his body, desiring to do his best to save the day. But everything had happened so fast, and the shot from Zachary was already darting toward the goal like a lightning bolt. It flashed past his left, barely skimming over the grass and giving him no time to react.

All his preparations became null and void. And all he could do was turn his head and watch the ball home into the bottom left corner.

Juventus FC 2: Real Madrid 1

The cheers exploded in the Juventus stadium as the home fans celebrated their team's second goal right before halftime. In the meantime, Zachary allowed his mind to soak into the joy of scoring his team's second goal as he raced towards the corner flag to celebrate.