THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME
chapter-579

Three days later, on Wednesday, April 29th.

Juventus welcomed Fiorentina at their home ground in Turin for their 33rd fixture of the 2014-15 Serie A season.

Coach Max Allegri was still maintaining his plan of resting his crucial players. He once again fielded a team almost full of second-stringers. But what excited most fans was that he bolstered the 'seemingly weak' starting squad with the addition of Zachary Bemba, Andrea Pirlo, Carlos Tevez, Leonardo Bonucci, and Giorgio Chiellini, who were all first-team players of the highest quality.

When asked why he hadn't rested all his first-team players for that game against Fiorentina during the pre-match press conference, he replied, "I don't want my players to get rusty before our semi-finals against Borussia Dortmund. I must balance resting them with giving them some game time for the next seven days."

The reporter then asked, "There are still six games to go before the end of the season. But aside from already securing the title, you and your boys have already amassed a whopping 90 points. You're in a great position to break the record of accumulating the most points ever in a single Serie A season by surpassing the 102-point mark."

"Are you actively looking forward to breaking this record? Or is it not one of your key objectives, especially with your upcoming hectic schedule that includes the Champions League semi-finals?"

Coach Max Allegri smiled at the reporters and said, "We're Juventus. We always play to win every game. We'll try to do the same for our remaining Serie A fixtures."

The coach's responses excited the Juventus fans, who were more than eager to see their team continue winning. They were all in a hyper mood as they waited for the game to commence that Wednesday night.

The pre-match proceedings ended quickly, and the game kicked off right on time at 8:45 PM.

The Juventus team immediately started on the front foot by dominating possession against Fiorentina. Their first-team creative players, including Zachary, Andrea Pirlo, and Tevez, linked up well with the rest early on. Their exchange of the seemingly slow but intricate passes saw them dictate the tempo and create a few chances before the half-hour mark.

Carlos Tevez and Fernando Llorente, the two Juventus attackers, even came inches close to scoring during the 16th and 29th minutes, respectively. But the brilliant efforts of the Fiorentina keeper saw their efforts denied, and the score remained tied at 0:0 with less than a quarter an hour to go to halftime.

The Juventus players didn't give up even after missing opportunities. They maintained their 4-3-1-2 formation and continued dictating the tempo with their intricate passing while waiting for the perfect opportunity to penetrate Fiorentina's tenacious defense.

Their efforts eventually paid off during the 43rd minute when Zachary suddenly worked his magic in the middle of the park. He skipped past Alberto Aquilani, one of the Fiorentina midfielders, and made one of his signature penetrating runs through the middle.

Zachary continued forward and skipped over another sliding tackle before slaloming his way past two more defensive opponents.

Speed like the wind, he approached the final third and played a well-timed through ball past the strikers to release Carlos Tevez.

Carlos Tevez, on his part, was as sharp as ever. He accelerated to top speed and beat Fiorentina's offside trap before connecting with the pass from Zachary. The Argentine then drove the ball into the box like a predator on the hunt before sliding it past the keeper with a left-footed drive. He effortlessly found the far bottom corner and scored Juventus' first goal on the night during the 44th minute, right before halftime.

The first half ended immediately after the ensuing celebrations, and the players walked down the tunnel for halftime.

Coach Max Allegri acted with urgency to give his halftime pep talk. He didn't say anything concerning changing the tactics against Fiorentina. Instead, he encouraged the players to remain hardworking and disciplined during the second half. He also urged them to play boldly and get one or two more goals before sending them back to the field for the second half.

*FWEEEEEEE*

The referee blew the whistle, and the second half began, with Fiorentina playing much better football.

The men in purple arrayed themselves into a 3-5-2 flat formation, which worked wonders and soon allowed them to overpower Juventus in the middle areas. They then set a stable tempo and began relying on long balls over the midfield to apply a fair amount of pressure on Juventus' backline.

The tides of the game seemed to have changed, and it wasn't long before Fiorentina started creating chances against Juventus. Mario Gómez and Mohamed Salah even came close to capitalizing on two floating passes, the first time during the 51st minute and the second time during the 56th minute. However, on both occasions, Juventus' ever-tenacious defensive duo of Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini stood firm and thwarted their goal attempts.

But the misses didn't discourage the Fiorentina players, who continued attacking with increasing intensity. They committed more men forward, with even their defensive midfielders pushing into Juventus' half. Marcos Alonso and Joaquín Sánchez, the two wing-backs, had also started playing as true-blue attacking wingers to bolster Fiorentina's hunt for the equalizer.

But what the Fiorentina players seemed to forget was that Juventus was a monster of an entity on the counterattack. They were soon punished for that oversight when Andrea Pirlo collected a loose ball at the edge of the box after a failed Fiorentina corner kick during the 59th minute.

Andrea Pirlo didn't waste time finding Zachary, who had just arrived in an unmarked pocket of space on the left wing. And with that, the counter was on, and the attackers in the striped black and white jerseys bounded forward like a pride of lions on the hunt.

Zachary exchanged snappy one-twos with Carlos Tevez and Roberto Pereyra as they tore down Fiorentina's unprepared defense. They moved from one end of the pitch to another within less than ten seconds, and the ball eventually returned to Zachary as he stepped into the final third on the left flank.

Zachary collected it mid-stride and cut into the pitch without slowing down. He then skipped past a tackle from the 'very last' Fiorentina player, who had remained back to defend, and opened up the space toward the goal. Everything else was simple, and he immediately squared a pass to find the arriving Fernando Llorente in the middle.

Fernando Llorente was in the right place at the right time as the ball arrived towards him. He remained composed and took a touch to control it before hammering it goalward and past the keeper. He found the back of the net and scored Juventus' second goal on the night during the 60th minute.

The score was then 2:0 in favor of Juventus, and Coach Max Allegri returned to his recent antics of ever wanting to rest his crucial players. The Juventus manager substituted Zachary Bemba, Carlos Tevez, and Andrea Pirlo out of the game. And with the absence of the three, the situation on the pitch became trickier.

The Fiorentina players became bolder and bolder and attacked with more zeal. Diagonal passes into the box became the order of the night as Mario Gómez and Mohamed Salah, the two attackers, continued making spirited runs behind the Juventus backline. They were really going out to score a goal and find some lifeline for a comeback.

However, their efforts bore no fruit, mainly due to Juventus' tenacious defensive efforts. The players of the Turin-based team relied on their same old tricks to see out the remaining minutes of the game. They fell back and remained solid in defense while maintaining a fair measure of a threatening counterattacking presence.

And with that, the game fell into a steady rhythm, with Fiorentina continuously on the attack while Juventus mostly defended. Unsurprisingly, no more eventful occurrences transpired until the referee blew the final whistle after three minutes of added time.

Following the usual practice, the coach gave the Juventus players a day off after their game against Fiorentina. The intent was for them to recover before returning to the training ground.

Zachary, who had provided two assists in the game the previous night, woke up early at around five, feeling more refreshed than fatigued. He quickly went through his morning routines before packing a light luggage and setting off for the airport with his bodyguard - Lorenzo.

He had finally received a response concerning his travel request to Norway the previous evening, right before the game against Fiorentina. The club management had permitted him to go on the journey on his off day, which happened to be Thursday. But there was also a condition. He had to return to Turin the same day and be ready to attend Juventus' training on Friday.

Zachary had no problem with the conditions set by the club. He planned to take a six-in-the-morning private chartered jet to Bergen and visit Mr. Martine Stein, Kristin's grandpa and the scout who brought him to Norway. He would spend about one hour or two with the old gentleman before relying on the same private jet to return to Turin by evening.