CHAPTER 108: HALFTIME(BY DEMYA_THE_HEALER)

Lukas looked at Hradecky, then at the bottom left corner, then back at Hradecky, then the top right corner before taking about three stride-long steps back.

FWEEEE

The referee’s whistle blew and Lukas did his run-up, no stutter, no faking, just a calm steady run before hitting the ball with the inside of his left foot.

"Lukas Brandt against Lukas Hradecky. Which of the two Lukases would come out on top? Brandt to put this game right on a knife edge just before half-time, Hradecky to help his team hold on to their two-goal lead going into the half... LUKAAAASS!!!"

The crowd erupted as the ball struck the inside of the bottom right goal post before nestling into the net while Hradecky dived to his left — completely wrong-footed.

Lukas ran straight into the net, picked up the ball, and pumped his fist in the air as he ran back to the touchline.

The referee blew his whistle a couple of minutes after the restart by Leverkusen to bring the first half to an end as the crowd applauded their team while they went down the tunnel and into the dressing room.

"AND IT’S HALF TIME! Eintracht Frankfurt are back in this game in the final ten minutes of the half! A five-goal thriller, and it’s still only the first half. Brandt creating the chance for Ekitike a minute after Leverkusen’s third, before sending Hradecky the wrong way to cut the deficit in half for Frankfurt. He has been one of the standout players on the pitch so far. Definitely the best player in the home side right now.

Still 45 minutes to play here at the Deutsche Bank Park, though. At halftime it is Eintracht Frankfurt two, Bayern Leverkusen three."

Lukas sat on the bench quietly catching his breath as he drank from the bottle he was handed when he came in. His clothes were drenched in sweat and he could feel his heart racing. A mixture of the excitement due to the frantic end to the half as well as the sheer amount of running he had to do during the half, sitting at the heart of both the midfield and the attack and sometimes even the defense.

He was always lauded for his stamina, but this time it was showing something unimaginable — especially for someone his age.

Toppmöller walked into the room with urgency, as if he was about to explode. But once he got into the room and looked at the faces of his players, he just took a deep breath to calm himself.

They had conceded all three goals either directly or indirectly because of the amount of space Granit Xhaka was granted in the midfield. Lukas had managed to plug that midfield perfectly once he was told what to do, even managing to cut the deficit down to just a solitary goal completely out of his own brilliance.

But the question was, how long could Eintracht Frankfurt possibly expect him to keep doing that? How long could the club even afford to keep him?

"I don’t have the leisure of worrying about questions like those, for now at least," Toppmöller thought as he looked at Lukas. He knew his topmost priority right now was to complete the comeback in the next half. Or at least, to stop Leverkusen from extending their lead.

After about a minute of silence in the room, he finally spoke up.

"First half an hour or so, I could not recognize the players on that pitch. After all we worked on during the week, you allow Leverkusen to boss you around in the midfield like that? That was a disgrace to watch.

But we responded expertly.

Even though we threw goals down, we didn’t let our heads drop.

And that’s the spirit I want you to take into the second half."

He then turned to the substitutes who were still in bibs. "Oscar, Collins, you’re coming in for the second half." Then turned to Larsson and Knauff. "You both are coming off."

"For this second half, we have to win the midfield battle. Don’t allow Wirtz to turn, if he looks like he’s gonna get in a dangerous position, bring him down, a yellow card is alright. We cannot afford to concede a fourth goal.

You both coming on will drop back just in front of the defenders. Lukas, keep causing their backline problems, make them wary about stepping up too much. But also keep an eye on Xhaka. If they’re in possession, make sure he doesn’t have too much space for the ball to be played into him."

Toppmöller continued giving his tactical instructions, sometimes using the whiteboard behind him to explain the kind of changes he wanted to implement in the second half while the players nodded when it was their turn and kept listening.

"This is our home ground. It doesn’t matter what team comes here. It doesn’t matter what they’ve achieved. We are not going to bend over for them. So go out there, and show them that a one-goal lead against Eintracht Frankfurt at the Waldstadion is the most fragile lead in this league."

Some teammates clapped to keep the energy up and they stepped out of the tunnel and onto the pitch to the warm welcome of the supporters.

Lukas looked up into the stands in the direction where his family would most likely be, and smiled as he jumped and looked back at the ball, focusing his attention for the start of the second half.

FWEEE.

"And we’re off. A first half of 5 goals. Now 45 more minutes of what the neutrals at home will sure hope this second half provides as much entertainment as the first. Leverkusen kicks off with a pass to Hradecky and a long shot into Eintracht’s half."

The ball found the head of Schick who knocked it to his left for Wirtz. Wirtz, with his back to goal, brought the ball down expertly with his first touch, and after scanning his shoulder once, he swivelled past Oscar with ease and kept driving forward.

Just as Wirtz glanced up to see the passing lanes developing in front of him, two feet slid in from his right-hand side, taking both him and the ball as the ball was kicked out for a throw-in.

He rolled on the floor and looked up to see Lukas standing up from his slide tackle and running to the touchline to take the ball.

"Look at the energy and intensity from Lukas Brandt. He needs no time to settle into the half and is already firing at all cylinders."

The last touch was off Wirtz so Lukas took the throw — a short throw to Hojlund just in front of him.

Hojlund’s first touch passed the ball back to Lukas, and immediately, Wirtz closed in on him with force, looking to exact his revenge as soon as possible.

As the saying went, though, "revenge is a dish best served cold," and Wirtz would prove to be lacking in the patience required for that dish to cool down. So naturally, he wasn’t getting his revenge.

Wirtz’s momentum and direction into the challenge was all Lukas needed to see to flick the ball the opposite direction and jump to avoid the contact as the Leverkusen star man was left tackling the grass.

And before he got up, Lukas was gone.