Your Emperor Has Returned

Chiesa pointed to himself in surprise. Seeing Boskov nod, he ran towards the sideline without even taking off his jacket. His clothes caught his feet, and he tumbled onto the turf.

The action was as comical as something out of a cartoon, but no one laughed except on the Sampdoria bench.

The fans in the stands behind the bench glanced at the comical scene, feeling only greater sadness.

A great ambition unfulfilled before the journey even began.

The Dortmund fans were heartbroken right now.

It was the same feeling as when some rich guy buys a team and then discovers at the start of the season that they're all useless garbage.

They had promised to compete on multiple fronts, but unexpectedly got beaten black and blue in the group stage.

Sampdoria is already this strong, and weren't Barcelona, who they beat last year, considered an invincible team?

Fortunately, they wouldn't be participating in the Cup Winners' Cup this year.

Enrico Chiesa watched from the bench for a while. He felt that Dortmund wasn't all that impressive; he probably could get past any of their players if he played.

The main reason was how easily Dejan Lu weaved through players; the Dortmund players seemed like wooden stakes.

Still, Dejan Lu played exceptionally well.

He had previously thought Dejan Lu was a year younger than him and should be ranked behind him.

He never expected him to be in the first team while he was still sharing a table with the youth team.

Having recognized the gap, Chiesa decided to focus on getting enough playing time first. Today, his goal upon entering the field would be to score a goal. If he couldn't, he'd aim for an assist, and if that didn't work out, creating a penalty would suffice.

Just as he was about to go on, Sampdoria initiated another attack.

Marco Lanna was clearly in good form. Seeing Dejan Lu give up the flank to move into the penalty area, he made a decisive run down the wing. After shaking off Schulz, he delivered a high-quality cross into the box.

Chiesa shook his head.

The pass was good, but the timing was off.

Dejan Lu was facing three defenders; what was the point of passing the ball?

As Dejan Lu charged forward, Chiesa was immediately stunned.

Dejan Lu swung his right foot. Helmer immediately moved to block, Zorc went for a sliding tackle, and Kutowski shifted his feet to provide support.

However, the ball slipped right through Dejan Lu's legs.

A mistake?

Chiesa couldn't help but gasp, "Damn, this guy is really good."

The ball rolled to the right side of the penalty area. Mancini, who had charged forward, unleashed a powerful shot, and in the next second, the ball was already in the back of the net.

So cool!!!

Chiesa couldn't help but cheer for Dejan Lu.

That play, that shot, had incredible deception.

He had drawn the defensive attention of all five opposing players, making Mancini's shot almost secondary.

The shot without a touch was impressive, but in the face of such a skillful feint, it felt like an afterthought.

Seeing the bewildered German defenders in the penalty area, Chiesa couldn't help but feel a sense of schadenfreude.

He wasn't the only one who had been impressed by Dejan Lu.

"Are... are we still making a substitution?"

Pezzotti asked, swallowing hard.

Another goal had been scored while the players were warming up.

"Yes."

Boskov turned around with a worried expression, afraid the safety net wouldn't be enough to contain the home fans.

The atmosphere at the Westfalenstadion was overwhelming.

If anything went wrong, the veteran Yugoslavian coach was prepared to grab Dejan Lu and make a dash for the players' tunnel.

The fourth official by the sideline had already raised the substitution board.

Dejan Lu noticed Chiesa by the sideline and walked directly towards the edge of the pitch.

Snap, Snap, snap, Snap, snap, snap—

Just as he was about to reach the sideline, applause erupted from a section of the Westfalenstadion stands and gradually spread throughout the stadium.

Dejan Lu reacted instantly, raising his hands to acknowledge the crowd.

Chiesa was completely dumbfounded.

Dejan Lu was still half a meter away from him, within reach for a high-five.

The distance between them was just one step.

But at this very moment, on a Dortmund night, the Number Seven, standing slightly taller than him, seemed a light-year ahead.

The stadium returned to silence, and he thought the fans would boo.

Dejan Lu or any Dortmund player.

But he never imagined they would applaud Dejan Lu.

The man who personally orchestrated 5 goals and ravaged the home team!

Chiesa's outstretched right hand froze in mid-air; he didn't even dare to move it.

He felt that any further movement in such a moment would be a desecration of football.

"Come on, mate."

Dejan Lu grasped Chiesa's hand and patted his shoulder.

Chiesa snapped back to reality and rushed onto the field.

The director's camera, however, turned to the stands, where they discovered the first person to applaud was none other than Franz Beckenbauer!

With the protagonist leaving the field, the rest of the match became completely irrelevant.

However, Sampdoria still managed to score another goal, ultimately winning 6-1 against their opponent.

Coppel insisted on attending the press conference after his team's heavy defeat.

But football doesn't celebrate losers; only the ridicule of the German media awaited him.

"Mr. Boskov, could you comment on Dejan's performance today?"

"Why was Dejan substituted early? It's rare for a coach to substitute a player before injury."

"Vujadin, what's your assessment of Dejan's performance? What score would you give him?"

"Mr. Coppel, can you tell us about the applause at the Westfalenstadion?"

Coppel: ...

He wished he hadn't heard that question.

Coppel rallied himself and said, "This was a great game, and we lost badly. As the coach, I take full responsibility, but I want to say that a star player changed the course of the game. I never expected that Number Seven to dominate the match."

"So you believe Dejan is the key to your loss today?"

An Italian reporter pressed.

Coppel nodded vigorously and said, "If you watched the game, you'd know how absurd his performance was. Matthäus and Brehme lost, and we lost, it's no different. Perhaps only Maradona could match him."

The Italian reporters in the audience chuckled.

Maradona had played in Serie A for a while, and they were all familiar with his personality.

When this comment got back to him, Maradona would surely respond.

Boskov, abandoning all pretense of composure, immediately grabbed the microphone and said, "Dejan performed exceptionally well today, but winning is a team effort. Dortmund didn't play to their full potential, and the score doesn't reflect the gap between the two teams."

Dejan Lu was already at the center of the storm, and he really didn't want Dejan Lu to continue being the focus off the field.

"Then what do you think of Dejan's performance?"

Boskov replied, "This is very normal. Dejan has such talent."

Westfalenstadion.

Since Schmidt refused to stand, Beckenbauer sat with him for a while longer.

They wanted to leave discreetly, but they were immediately recognized by a reporter from the Bild newspaper.

Schmidt wanted to lash out immediately, but Beckenbauer quickly stopped him.

It was better to have fewer negative news stories when losing. European competitions could easily escalate to a national level, especially since the world was in the midst of a Cold War.

There would be trouble in the East German newspapers tomorrow.

The reporter, sensing the situation, looked at Beckenbauer and asked, "Can you tell us why you applauded the opponent? Was it admitting defeat? Submitting to the opponent's skill?"

"I will not admit defeat without competing on the same field. I have retired, and you don't need to compare me to current players. I applauded because I witnessed a captivating match. Some say Italian football is boring, but today's Sampdoria was full of passion; this is how football should be. If you think this is a sign of weakness, then go ahead and say it. One must admit that some art transcends national borders."

Beckenbauer smiled and said, "Don't trouble the Dortmund players. Sometimes, people just encounter opponents they can't defeat no matter how hard they try."