Twenty-six-year-old Vincent Kompany stood at the very back of Man City's formation. He was the team's captain and the core of its defense, hailed as the Pillar of the Sea anchoring Man City's back line.
At that moment, however, his gaze passed through the layers of players and landed on Yang Yang, standing outside the center circle in a white jersey on the opposite side. Memories of the several times he had faced Yang Yang before involuntarily surfaced in his mind.
That had been when he had just arrived in the Premier League. He had been twenty-two that year, merely a young player who had just begun to make a name for himself.
Because he had participated in the Olympics, Kompany had fallen out badly with Bundesliga club Hamburg. He had transferred to Man City before the summer transfer window closed and become a first-team regular, but by then Yang Yang had already become a world-famous superstar in European football.
In Kompany's first Premier League season, Yang Yang had led Liverpool to England's first Grand Slam in history before transferring to Real Madrid for a record-breaking €100 million, completely establishing himself as the number-one player in world football.
Back then, Kompany had looked up to this peer, who was a few months younger than him.
It was also during that season that Yang Yang's "terror" had been deeply branded into Kompany's mind. Even now, he still had not completely escaped it.
Yang Yang had been the strongest and most terrifying opponent he had ever faced in his career, even more frightening than Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo. Kompany had always both respected and feared Yang Yang. He dreaded facing him, yet desperately wanted to.
For defenders, competing against masters was often a way to improve their own abilities.
Time had passed,