An Inward-Curling Arc That Tore Through the Meazza Stadium

Many Chinese fans, busy with life, family, and work, had not had time to watch football for years. This season, they had gradually begun following Li Luo.

That night, they were astonished to discover:

A Bundesliga team was sitting deep and parking the bus?

A Serie A team was launching relentless attacks?

The world had turned upside down!

Why? What happened to the old Apennine 1-0 philosophy?

Time ticked by, second by second.

"The two sides have taken about the same number of shots."

"Inter Milan's organized attacks have been very fluid."

"Wolfsburg's counterattacks have been high-quality."

"Hehehe, just looking at the stats, you might think these two teams are trading attacks."

Inter Milan's center forward—Icardi—was extremely frustrated.

He was completely locked up.

He had to hold off the opposing back line, yet had no chance to touch the ball at all.

On the other side.

Wolfsburg's center forward—Bendtner—was in much the same situation.

But he was not frustrated. He was busy trading trash talk with former Manchester United player Vidic.

One was Danish.

The other was Serbian.

Both found fond memories of their Premier League days in Great Britain's culture of profanity.

De Bruyne and Vieirinha, along with Wolfsburg's two full-backs, grew more excited as the match went on.

Two flanks, four points.

Thanks to Li Luo, switching play had become remarkably easy.

Li Luo was enjoying the match.

Every moment, he was absorbing precious match experience.

He was being tempered by different leagues and different systems.

Without possession, he tracked back deep.

With possession, he worked with the back line to build attacks.

Whenever the opposition occasionally gave him a "gentle" hacking, Malanda would find an opportunity to "gently" hack them back.

Yuto Nagatomo, that Japanese lad, would occasionally come up and say some chuunibyou nonsense to interfere with him mentally:

"Li-san, please go easy on me. I will give it my all."

"Li-san, that escape just now was very impressive. It won't be so easy next time, so please be careful."

"Li-san, tonight may be the only fair duel you and I will ever have."

In the livestream chat.

-[Mazzarri used up his three opening moves, and now he's out of ideas? Still, he has coached Inter Milan's organized attack into something very fluid.]

-[Yeah. Not long ago, Inter Milan beat Sassuolo 7-0. Mazzarri has something, but not much. Coaches who really have a lot to offer have all gone to the Premier League to make money.]

-[I've focused all my attention on Li Luo. Compared with his Manchester United youth-team days, he has shown three extremely obvious changes during his loan spell at Wolfsburg: 1. Movement; 2. Defensive willingness; 3. Stamina management.]

-[Yeah, in most matches this season, his total distance covered has basically ranked among the top three.]

-[That's right. Li Luo didn't like defending when he was in the youth team.]

-[In those first two Bundesliga matches, Li Luo looked like he only had 60 to 70 minutes of stamina. After that, his stamina management became more and more reasonable.]

-[The more you say that, the more I admire Hecking. He managed to develop both Li Luo and De Bruyne, these two prodigies.]

-[Young players need to play more high-quality matches to improve quickly. They need to experience different opponents, different tactics, different styles, and different cultures, then gradually find the path that suits them best.]

-[First-half over 0.5. I'm getting anxious.]

Turin.

Juventus's genius midfielder—Pogba—sat quietly before the television.

Beneath his brightly colored mohawk was a serious expression.

This behavior seemed highly unusual.

"Paul? Didn't we agree to go to the nightclub? The manager there said a batch of Eastern European..."

"I'm not that interested in women."

"Pfft!"

His companion pointed at the messily scattered newspapers on the table.

The headlines were nothing more than: Pogba Seeks Latin Beauties at Nightclubs, <Pogba Books a Room for 6 Days to Entertain Women, Neighbors Complain About the Excessively Loud Moans>, Pogba Secretly Meets Spicy American Girl...

They were even accompanied by intimate, bold candid photos of him with his arms around them.

"They're all fake news. They and I are just ordinary friends. Those South American stars are way crazier than I am. The paparazzi should be focusing on them."

Pogba's tone shifted. "After Li's loan expires, he'll return to Manchester United next season... If Manchester United buy me back then too, what position am I supposed to play?"

His companion froze. It was the first time he had heard the little Black Egg talk about football, and he immediately perked up. "Malanda! You can do the dirty, exhausting work like Malanda... Hahaha, don't look at me so lost. I'm joking. You can play like De Bruyne."

Pogba shook his head without speaking.

Meazza Stadium.

The cheers from all four stands kept rising, echoing the fierce action on the pitch.

"It's in!"

"Inter Milan have finally scored!"

"The 19-year-old genius midfielder, the Croatian Kovacic, combined smoothly down the flank with Yuto Nagatomo."

"Icardi, a super striker with top-class finishing and poaching ability... Ah, damn it, he tripped over his own feet."

"Counterattack."

"Gustavo won the ball and passed it to Li Luo. Li Luo is already charging forward."

By the sideline.

Hecking remained calm, without shouting or yelling.

He thought to himself, Li is handling the ball. There's no need for me to give blind instructions.

On the other side.

Mazzarri stood up, glanced at his team's high defensive line, then sat back down in the coaching seat.

"They can't create any threat."

"Vidic and Ranocchia are holding their positions. The other midfielders have plenty of time to get back into position."

The geometric model within Spatial Awareness quietly transformed into a dynamic bird's-eye view.

Li Luo observed that Inter Milan's high defensive line was very orderly.

His passing attributes were not high enough; a blunt through ball could not tear it apart.

There was plenty of time.

The passing environment was very comfortable.

In his vision, a golden phantom rapidly condensed in the night wind.

Bayern Munich's number 3.

Xavi Alonso.

Li Luo gently nudged the ball forward with his right foot.

He took a step.

Raised his arm.

Swung his leg.

His posture gradually overlapped with the golden phantom.

Smack!

The football rose off the ground.

Carrying fierce inward spin.

It soared rapidly into the air.

Its trajectory was like a beautiful ribbon.

Or like a curved blade, slicing through the night over Meazza Stadium.

The tens of thousands of fans in the stadium could not help but lose themselves.

"Wow!"

"Beautiful."

"I thought De Bruyne had played that pass!"

"Ah! No!"

Former Manchester United player Vidic reacted quickly.

As he retreated, he looked up to track the ball's flight.

He relaxed.

"Li must be too nervous. The quality of that long pass isn't very high."

He quickly judged where it would land.

He took a quick step and accelerated.

The next moment.

Something completely unexpected happened.

After the ball hit the ground, its inward spin did not fade. When it bounced up again, its trajectory took an incredibly exaggerated sideways turn.

Vidic lunged and missed.

His face was full of disbelief.

What?

Li Luo's long pass had not torn through the defense while in the air—it had... gone around the defense after hitting the ground!

All the spectators were dumbfounded.

The commentator and Director Zhang were so stunned that they were momentarily speechless.

Hecking stood frozen.

Mazzarri's mouth fell open.

Even the broadcast camera seemed to hesitate for a moment.

A breathtaking display of long-passing skill.

The ball rolled sideways, bounced three times, and rolled to the left side of Inter Milan's penalty area.

Its inward spin gradually faded.

Wolfsburg wide midfielder Vieirinha came charging in.

"Great chance!"

"Straight at the goalkeeper!"

"He shoots!"

"It's in!"

"Handanović's unbeaten run tonight has been broken!"