THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME
chapter-589

Emilia Vasquez's ESPN Sunday morning sports show commenced at 11:00 AM the following day. With her in the studio were the usual pundits, including Alessandro Costacurta, Joshua Morales, and Charles Adams. She calmly introduced them to the viewers watching before smiling and tackling the main topic to start off her program.

"Our dear viewers," she said while facing the cameras. "Yesterday evening, we all watched Juventus humble Inter Milan with a score of three goals to one, even while playing away from home in Milan. The victory allowed them to extend their lead at the top of the Italian Serie A table to 102 points. With just one more draw, they will shatter the record they set last season and achieve new heights in the Serie A."

"Gentlemen!" She turned away from the cameras and faced her three pundits. "If we're to start counting from the previous season, Juventus have extended their unbeaten run in the Italian Serie A to 45 matches. The last time they faced a defeat was in an away game against Napoli at the end of March last year."

"That aside, they also haven't faced any defeats in all the other competitions this season. They have already played twelve Champions League games, one Supercoppa final, and four matches in the Coppa Italia without losing a game. Their worst results have only been a few draws, meaning their unbeaten run in all competitions is at a whopping 62 games. Such a statistic is insane, especially in top-flight European football."

"Yes, such a statistic is startling," Alessandro Costacurta, one of the pundits, agreed. "Formerly, AC Milan held the longest unbeaten run in Europe after going 58 games unbeaten from 1991 to 1993. Other teams with unbeaten records included Bayern Munich (after playing 53 games from 2012 to 2014 without a loss), Arsenal (with 49 unbeaten runs from 2003 to 2004), and Juventus (with 49 unbeaten games from 2011 to 2012)."

"But as of now, Juventus has smashed all those records and gone 62 games unbeaten. We have to agree that they are currently the best team in Europe. No other can match how they have played and handled matches this season."

"No argument about that," Charles Adams, the other pundit, concurred. "They won the Italian Serie A with eight games to go. Aside from that, they have already won the Supercoppa Italiana and qualified for the Italy Cup and UEFA Champions League finals. Going by the statistics, they are the best team in Europe, and if things continue going their way, they might grab themselves a quadruple this season."

"Gentlemen!" Emilia Vasquez smiled at her pundits. "What do you think has allowed Juventus to achieve such success?"

Joshua Morales sighed and said," Zachary Bemba. His addition to the team was like fixing the last gear, the last piece missing from Juventus. In just a few months, he has established himself on the team and helped Juventus become more threatening on the attack. Whenever he's on the pitch, you'll always get that feeling that Juventus can score anytime. I think he's the main factor that has allowed the Turin-based team to achieve such heights this season."

"Speaking of Zachary," Emilia Vasquez said, "He scored two more goals during Juventus' game against Inter yesterday. He has now pushed his Serie A goal-tally this season to 35. He has also already found the back of the net twice in the Supercoppa, five times in the Coppa Italia, sixteen times in the UEFA Champions League, and twice more while playing the two international friendlies for Ivory Coast. That puts his total for Juventus at a surprising 58 goals. If we add his two goals for Ivory Coast, he has already found the back of the net sixty times in a single season."

"His stats are insane," Joshua Morales said with a gentle shake of his head. "I have been looking at the records, and the record number of goals scored by a player in a single Serie A season currently stands at 36. Gino Rossetti set the goal-scoring record while playing for Torino during the 1928-29 season. If Zachary can score two more goals during Juventus' remaining two Serie A games, he will push his goal tally to 37 and smash this record to become the all-time top scorer in a single Serie A season."

"Additionally," Joshua Morales continued, "Zachary Bemba has already scored 16 goals in the Champions League this season. If he can score two more, he will smash Christiano Ronaldo's seventeen-goal-record to become the all-time top scorer in a single UEFA Champions League season."

"Do you think he can break the records?" Emilia Vasquez inquired as the cameras focused back on her.

Joshua Morales smiled. "Smashing the record of the Serie A will depend on whether Coach Max Allegri rests him to preserve his energy for the UEFA Champions League final."

"As we all know, Juventus only has two fixtures remaining in the Serie A. But they still have to play Lazio in next Wednesday's big Coppa Italia final before facing off against Napoli at home three days later on Saturday, May 23rd. They will then return to action after seven days on Saturday, May 30th, when they battle Hellas Verona in their last Serie A fixture, which happens to be an away game. Finally, after all that, they will play the UEFA Champions League final against Barcelona in what could be their most crucial fixture this season on Saturday, June 6th."

"All this seems like a tight schedule, and going by how Coach Max Allegri has been managing his players this season, he will most likely rest Zachary at least for one of the Serie A games. Because of this simple fact, Zachary will have limited opportunities to score more goals. So, unless he scores a brace or a hat trick in a single match, he won't be able to break Gino Rossetti's record of 36 goals in a single season."

"As for breaking Christiano's Champions League record of 17 goals in a single season, I can't predict that. Juventus will be taking on a Barcelona side that is truly strong, even by the strictest of standards, in the big final in Berlin. Everything is possible in such a final. I can't envision how the game will progress, and neither can I predict whether Zachary will score against Barcelona. We'll have to wait and see whether he can perform beyond expectations and break the record."

"I have also looked at one record that we didn't mention," Charles Adams, the other pundit, said. "It's the phenomenal record set by Lionel Messi during the 2011-12 season. The incredible Argentine playmaker scored a noteworthy 73 goals, which included scoring a La Liga-record 50 goals in only 37 games and finding the net 14 times in the Champions League. And with that, he became the highest-scoring player in a single European season when considering all competitions."

"That's indeed an incredible record by Messi," Alessandro Costacurta remarked. "Zachary only has 60 goals in all competitions and is still 13 away from the 73-goal record with only four games to go. I guess he has no chance of breaking the record this season."

Emilia Vasquez, the host, nodded and smiled. "The Coppa Italia final will kick off at 8:45 PM next Wednesday. Juventus will be facing off against a tricky Lazio side. All eyes will be on the game as it will decide whether the Juventus players can keep their hopes of a quadruple alive by winning yet another trophy this season. Do you see them overcoming Lazio and going with another big prize home?"

Alessandro Costacurta chuckled. "I know that in most cases, anything can happen in a football game. But this time around, I think the saying won't stand."

"Juventus has been in incredible form. Weeks ago, they put six goals past a tricky Borussia Dortmund side during the first leg of the UEFA Champions League semis. Then, later on, they again scored six against Cagliari and beat Dortmund again before humbling Inter Milan with a 3:1 score even while playing away."

"It's unfortunate that Andrea Pirlo, one of their playmakers, is still out of action with a calf injury. But I can still picture them continuing their form by putting up another incredible performance against Lazio. They will most likely defeat the opponent and go home with their 3rd trophy of the season. My prediction is 3:1 or 4:2 in their favor."

"Zachary is the current top scorer of the Coppa Italia with five goals," Emilia Vasquez chimed in. "He's only ahead of Miroslav Klose, the Lazio center-forward, by two goals in the race to win the Coppa Italia Golden Boot. What is the likelihood that the German forward will score two more goals for Lazio during the final to share the honor of winning the Coppa Italia Golden Boot with Zachary?"

Alessandro Costacurta chuckled. "Honestly speaking, Miroslav Klose's chances are minimal. We shouldn't even debate whether he will score the goals and catch up to Zachary. Instead, the more appropriate topic of discussion should be how many times Zachary will find the back of the net in the Coppa Italia final to extend his incredible goal-scoring record this season."