Waltz on the Pitch

Chen Anno received the ball side-on.

The instant the ball rolled to his feet, Gabi pressed in from the front while Savic closed him down from the side.

Godin blocked off the route inside from nearby, while Saul covered behind them.

The attention of Atletico Madrid's four defenders locked onto the number 10's back as though drawn by a magnet.

The space around Chen Anno was compressed to the absolute limit in an instant.

The air at the Calderon fell silent, and more than fifty thousand fans held their breath.

Chen Anno felt Savic's body pressing against his back.

The Montenegrin defender's 187-centimeter frame and eighty kilograms of weight were completely bearing down on him.

Gabi was also closing in from the front, already preparing to stick out a foot and win the ball.

Then Chen Anno moved.

His left foot planted firmly into the turf.

Using it as a pivot, he carried the ball with his right foot and spun his entire body once to the left.

Savic's body involuntarily shifted left, cutting off Chen Anno's route toward the penalty area.

But Chen Anno had no intention of going toward the box at all.

Having just completed the turn, he set down his right foot as a new pivot, then stepped on the ball with his left foot and dragged it...

Right where he stood, he spun once more to the right.

Gabi's center of gravity was dragged to the right as well.

The sight at that instant was utterly bizarre.

Chen Anno was like a man standing at the center of a whirlpool, with the two defensive enforcers around him swaying left and right in time with his turns.

Savic and Gabi, two battle-hardened tough men, were like two men who could not dance being forcibly dragged onto