THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME
chapter-608

Coach Allegri's expression was somber as he welcomed his players into the dressing room for the halftime break. He understood he had to straighten his players' attitudes towards the game or risk shamefully losing the final.

He quickly started his pep talk and requested his players to work harder off the ball during the second half. He also encouraged them not to give up the game and urged them to continue fighting with all they had, emphasizing that goal-scoring chances would eventually come if they maintained their fighting spirit.

Finally, the coach narrowed his eyes and started announcing the changes for the second half.

"Vidal and Morata," the coach said. "You will give way to Andrea Pirlo and Kingsley Coman during the second half. With them on the pitch, we'll switch to a 4-4-1-1 formation."

"Pirlo and Marchisio will play as typical central midfielders occupying the center of the field. Zachary will be our attacking midfielder with the additional role of boosting Tevez on striking. As for Roberto Pereyra and Kingsley Coman, they will play as our wingers during the second half."

"The strategy is still the counterattack," the coach continued. "We defend and tirelessly work off the ball. We ensure we don't concede another goal until a chance avails itself. If we get the counterattacking opportunity, we play neat football and advance the ball through the wings or the middle, depending on the available space on the field."

"Pirlo, we'll require your expertise for this strategy to work." The coach turned to glance at the silent Maestro. "Whenever there's a chance to counterattack, you must quickly use long balls to find Coman, Pereyra, or Zachary up the pitch. That will allow us to skip over Barcelona's midfield and quickly threaten their defense after a turnover."

"I understand, coach," Pirlo gave his word.

The coach nodded and glanced at his watch. He then said a few more words to boost his players' morale before sending them back to the pitch for the second half.

—–

The referee blew the whistle after the two Juventus substitutes stepped on the pitch. On cue, the second half of the UEFA Champions League commenced with Barcelona's kick-off amid the thunderous cheers within the Olympiastadion.

The Barcelona players immediately resumed their typical tactics. They started passing the ball among themselves with short and intricate passes.

A point to note was that they lowered the intensity of their runs since they were ahead by three goals to one. But they were still doing everything they could to control possession as they advanced the ball through available avenues.

Of course, the Juventus players couldn't let the opponents do as they pleased since they needed goals sooner rather than later. They had to work hard off the ball and win possession or risk never obtaining an opportunity to stage a comeback.

"Push forward! High press and win back the ball!"

Max Allegri's voice was constantly sounding from the sidelines. He couldn't sit still as he urged his players to be more aggressive and obtain possession.

In response, Juventus came alive with the coach's constant urging.

The Juventus attack-minded players, including Zachary, Tevez, Roberto Pereyra, and Kingsley Coman, rushed forward like a pack of wolves on the hunt. They flooded into the advanced positions within Barcelona's half to high-press the opponents. They did everything possible to pressure the opponents and force mistakes out of them.

In turn, the Barcelona players responded appropriately, just like the world-class talents they were. They quickened their passing tempo and moved the ball around with a clockwork rhythm.

Busquets to Iniesta! Rakiti? to Messi! Jordi Alba to Neymar, and so on and so forth!!

Barcelona was simply at the best of its game, with passes flowing with the precision of laser beams from one player to another in quick succession. Tiki-taka soon became the order of the evening as the ball moved around the pitch.

Of course, the Juventus players didn't give up fighting for possession even under such circumstances. They had to continue working hard off the ball to match or raise the tempo and, in so doing, force mistakes out of Barcelona. They had to chase the game with all their resolve until a chance availed itself.

Fortunately, such a chance soon came when Barcelona failed to convert an opportunity during the 52nd minute.

Lionel Messi had cut inside the pitch and played a forward pass to Luis Suárez, who was arriving at the edge of the box. The latter skillfully skipped the ball and left it for Neymar, who was coming in from the left flank.

It was a crucial chance that saw Neymar pull the trigger and unleash a curling shot towards the goal. But the experienced Gianluigi Buffon, Juventus' keeper, read the Brazilian's effort like an open book and effortlessly snatched the ball out of the air.

That wasn't the end of the exciting action, though, as Buffon didn't rest on his laurels. The keeper quickly picked himself up and raced to the edge of the box. He hastily tossed the ball to Andrea Pirlo, the substitute midfielder who had just availed himself within an unmarked pocket of space in the defensive right midfield.

Pa!

The sound of the ball meeting a boot reverberated as Andrea Pirlo deftly controlled the ball. The Maestro then took another touch while scanning the field before doing what he did best.

He smashed the ball with a downward swing of his boot and unleashed a diagonal pass over the midfield. He skillfully took the opposing midfielders out of the equation by finding Kingsley Coman with a single long pass into the left wing.

Whoosh!

Kingsley Coman was like a whirlwind as he raced forward and connected with Andrea Pirlo's pin-point pass..

The counter was on, and the winger relied on his fresh legs to drive into the space left by Dani Alves on the left wing with all the pace he could muster. He soon stepped into the final third before squaring the ball to find Zachary in the middle.

Zachary, on his part, rushed away from Javier Mascherano, the defender harassing him, before connecting with the pass from Kingsley. He calmly collected the ball before playing an immediate diagonal pass to the right side of the box on the half-turn. He was hoping to find Roberto Pereyra, the other Juventus winger.

Roberto Pereyra didn't disappoint since he had already made a timely run from the right wing toward Barcelona's box. He calmly connected with the pass from Zachary and drove into the box with his pace. He then waited and waited to draw in the defenders before calmly squaring the ball toward the box, where Carlos Tevez was arriving.

It was a rare chance, and Carlos Tevez ensured that it counted. The Argentine pounced forward and skipped past Gerard Piqué with his pace before calmly guiding the ball into the back of the net with a simple tap. He relied on the ball's initial momentum to expertly squeeze it past the Barcelona keeper and score Juventus 2nd goal on the night during the 53rd minute.

—–

Juventus FC 2 : FC Barcelona 3

—–

The cheers of the Juventus fans hit a crescendo as the info on the stadium's jumbotron refreshed to indicate the fresh score. The Old Lady faithful were beyond themselves with joy as their team was almost completing a seemingly impossible comeback. They were all smiles and expectant to see their team score a third goal.

As for Tevez, the latest goal-scorer, he was brimming with boundless fighting spirit. He didn't waste time celebrating but quickly snatched the ball from the keeper before sprinting across the pitch and placing it atop the center spot. He, too, was like Zachary and only yearned for his team to win the Champions League final.

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