CHAPTER 97: OUTCLASSED

The players for both teams stepped out onto the pitch with contrasting responses from the fans. The Bayern players were applauded and cheered as expected, while the Eintracht players were welcomed with jeers and whistles.

The booing, though, reached a fever pitch when the Eintracht Frankfurt player with the number 49 jersey stepped out of the tunnel.

A slight grin tugged at the corners of Lukas’s lips as he stepped onto the pitch to that welcome from the crowd.

The Eintracht Frankfurt players, including Lukas, were ready to put in another 45-minute shift in the Allianz Arena after Toppmöller’s half-time talk...

But Bayern Munich were ready for much more.

From the referee’s whistle to start the second half, Bayern Munich pressed like madmen after the kick-off.

Ekitike passed the ball to Lukas, and like they discussed in the first half, he and Bahoya started running forward.

The Bayern defense was ready for it this time, however, as Kim and Dier kept a close eye on the strikers.

Lukas, on the other hand, was closed down much more violently than in the first half. He had been singled out as the danger man, and they had been instructed not to give him any space to find passes in the game.

He clipped the ball again over the midfield into Ekitike’s path, but the flag was up already.

The resulting indirect free kick was launched to Olise at the left flank.

Olise dribbled past Knauff and Theate before cutting the ball back into the box for Musiala.

Lukas threw his body at the ball as Musiala struck it with power. The ball struck Lukas in the abdomen as it deflected out for a corner.

There was a muted call for handball and penalty, but the referee paid no mind to it as he gave the corner.

"Olise to take the corner. In-swinger... Trapp cannot get hold of the ball... ITOOOOO!! Hiroki Ito has restored the lead for Bayern Munich!"

Lukas watched on from the edge of the penalty area as Bayern Munich celebrated their second goal.

"We’re down just a single goal, there’s still enough time to come back," he thought to himself as the Bayern players walked to their half of the pitch.

But just 10 minutes later and Bayern had already doubled their lead to three.

It started from an attacking sequence which Lukas started. In the 57th minute, he received the ball from Tuta down the right midfield.

His first touch put the ball through Sané’s legs while his second pushed it down the flank as he got into a footrace with Pavlovic. He got to the ball first, but Ito had already come for support.

Not trying to take on two players himself, he sent in a cross into the box before Ito could completely close him down, but Ekitike’s header was straight at Neuer.

"Ekitike should have done better with the header. At least make Neuer work for the save. After the hard work by Brandt to send the ball into the box, something should have come of that. Eintracht Frankfurt won’t get many more chances in this game."

Immediately Neuer got the ball, he launched a throw at Goretzka towards the opposite side of the pitch to where Lukas was.

Goretzka evaded the pressure from Uzun before playing a through pass to Musiala down the middle just past the center line.

"Jamal Musiala— Oh beautiful turn. Still Musiala, he beats Larsson, glides past Uzun. Jamal Musiala dances past Theate. He’s clipped by Tuta, but he gets back up— THIS IS WHAT THE FANS COME TO SEE! Musiala goes through four Frankfurt players and beats Trapp to make it 3-1 for Bayern Munich."

Lukas shook his head slightly as Musiala ran to the corner flag doing his trademark celebration — tapping the side of his head with three fingers.

Although not lacking in grit nor determination, Bayern had outclassed Lukas’s team in the second half.

After conceding the second goal, Lukas had tried to inspire another comeback goal, but there wasn’t much he could do alone.

The fact his teammates were missing chances — like Bahoya’s one-on-one chance with Neuer in the 53rd minute after Lukas threaded a through pass to him, only for him to sky the shot under the faintest of pressure from Dier — did not help matters.

After going two goals down, however, something in him clicked.

He started holding the ball for longer times, only releasing passes after successfully drawing the attention of at least two Bayern players. This meant there was always someone free to receive the ball.

He also started playing more directly, taking both Pavlovic and Goretzka for a run. He had already noticed that he was faster than those two. Not by a mile, but enough to make it nigh impossible for them to catch up to him if he got even an inch of a head start over them.

In the 61st minute, he received the ball from Knauff on the half turn.

With the ball arriving from his left, he feigned like he was about to take a touch with his left foot and go into the space in front of him. Pavlovic covered the location the hypothetical first touch would have left the ball.

But Lukas did not touch it.

With a quick change of body angle, he let the ball roll past his left foot and onto his right. And just when Goretzka stuck his foot out to poke the ball that was rolling directly towards him, Lukas used his right foot to push the ball towards the space Pavlovic had just vacated and slipped through that same gap to get to the ball.

In just one touch, Lukas had left two of the best defensive midfielders in the league in a ditch and was driving at the back four.

It was a variation of a move he had watched Ryan Gravenberch do a lot for both Ajax and Liverpool, but none of that was in his mind right now.

His body just moved.

Dier and Kim had their eyes glued on Lukas, trying to bide for time from the midfielders. They also had to be wary of the runs from Ekitike and Bahoya.

The fullbacks Ito and Laimer had Knauff and Uzun advancing forward, so they couldn’t exactly come in to help.

Lukas kept going, and the backline kept dropping down until he entered Bayern’s final third.

Dier picked this moment to step out and attempt a tackle, and that would prove to be a bad decision.

Slowing his speed on the ball, beating Dier with a simple sidestep, and accelerating immediately into top speed was all it took to take Dier out of the equation.

"LUKAS!!"

He heard his name from his right-hand side and could already tell why Ekitike was calling him. He looked up and he had only Kim to beat before he could face Neuer one-on-one, but he could already feel Pavlovic and Dier’s boots stomping into the pitch as they struggled to get close to him.

With his eyes locked on Kim, Lukas slowed down once more like he was about to repeat the same trick he just used on Dier.

He threw his left foot over the ball like he was about to start a step over. But instead of trying to beat Kim, he just threaded a pass into Ekitike’s run inside the box with his eyes still glued to Kim.

This caught even Neuer, in his box, off guard as he expected Lukas to try and beat Kim or maybe try a shot on goal from outside the box.

He had to think fast, though, as he was now facing Ekitike one-on-one.

"Oh great pass by Lukas to find Ekitike... And Eintracht can cut the deficit in half... YES THEY HAVE! Hugo Ekitike makes it 3-2, and it’s GAME ON! This is an extremely exciting game! Eintracht Frankfurt are not going down without a fight."

"You’re right, James, but this goal is wholly credit to Lukas Brandt. The kid has proved to be a talismanic figure for Eintracht Frankfurt in this match. Gliding through players like Goretzka and Dier before threading a perfectly weighted pass to Ekitike. Ekitike HAD to score from there!"

Lukas ran to Ekitike behind the goalpost and jumped on the striker.

They were all smiles as they celebrated the goal shortly before returning to their half with the ball to try and keep the momentum going to inspire one more goal.

FWEEE

The whistle blew and Kane, who had come on for Muller just after the goal, passed the ball to Goretzka. Goretzka to Ito, and Ito back to Neuer.

Bahoya and Ekitike closed Neuer down from both sides, but the goalkeeper gently clipped it over Bahoya’s head to Pavlovic. Pavlovic passed to Goretzka, who in turn found Sané down the left flank.

"Sané on the move. He beats Kristensen, takes on Collins, great cut back for Kane at the edge of the box. HARRY KANE!"

A/N: This match will be wrapped up in the next Chapter. Let me know if you think it’s a very long number of Chapters for a single match. Even if it’s big games like these.

Also help me with gifts if you can afford them, though. Thanks.

Love y’all

-Writ