Chapter 324: Give United a Push—They'd Better Get Used to the Europa League
"Leon is surging forward with pace! Let's see... he's going for the shot?! Neuer can't stop it! Goal! My God!!! Leon has just scored a worldie!
Unbelievable! Absolutely unbelievable! That was a thunderbolt from beyond 35 meters! Leon has blasted it past Germany's No.1!
The Lion King of Chelsea has ripped off his shirt! He's celebrating wildly with the fans! Good Lord—it's like we've traveled back in time!
This strike from Leon is a carbon copy of Balotelli's rocket three years ago! Germany is in deep trouble now!"
The Sky Sports commentator in England had completely lost it after witnessing Leon's long-range missile.
Sure, the phrasing might land him in hot water later—especially with German fans sure to flood the complaint lines.
But for English fans?
Pure euphoria.
Leon's thunderous goal had just shattered any remaining suspense.
And down on the pitch, he could feel it—the absolute, unfiltered ecstasy from the Stamford Bridge faithful, and from his teammates too.
"You motherfer! What kind of shot was that?! That was fing beautiful!!! I swear to God, I f***ing love you, Little Lion!"
Ibrahimović shouted every word with glee, wrapping Leon in a suffocating bear hug.
And the rest of the Chelsea squad weren't far behind.
That strike was so outrageous, it stunned them all.
Coming at such a critical moment—just as the match was approaching its final phase—Leon's wonder goal didn't just lift Chelsea's spirits.
It crushed Bayern's morale.
On the touchline, Pellegrini stood with his hands buried in his coat pockets, face drained of color.
Mourinho, on the other hand, couldn't contain himself.
He sprinted like a madman down the sideline, joining the pile of celebrating Chelsea players.
Leon had barely escaped Ibrahimović's clutches when his manager grabbed him next—pulling him in for a massive hug.
"I f***ing love you, man! You're the best footballer on this damn planet! Messi doesn't compare—I swear it! That was brilliant! Brilliant!"
Leon could tell Mourinho was genuinely thrilled.
Though he did raise an eyebrow at the Messi comparison.
Mourinho loved Messi. Everyone at Chelsea knew that.
The man brought up the Argentine's name in almost every training session.
But in moments of high emotion, words didn't need to be scrutinized too closely.
Hearing those words from Mourinho now?
It felt incredible.
Still, the celebration couldn't last forever.
The referee and fourth official walked over, urging Mourinho to return to the technical area.
He didn't argue.
He was all smiles, even joking with the fourth official as he walked back.
After the group hug dispersed, Leon remained in the spotlight—soaking up the deafening cheers from the Chelsea faithful.
He raised his arms high, roaring toward the stands.
Then he turned back toward his half—and saw the shell-shocked expressions on Bayern's faces.
That goal hadn't completely broken them, but their confidence had taken a massive blow.
To be fair, it was a bit of a lucky strike.
But the opportunity only came because Bayern's midfield was wide open.
Schweinsteiger stood silent.
Thiago had his hands on his hips, staring at the dugout.
Götze said nothing, just walked back toward the center circle.
The complete silence between Bayern's three midfielders?
More damning than any tactical error.
Pellegrini remained frozen.
And still—no Javi Martínez.
Instead, he brought on Sebastian Rode for Schweinsteiger.
Bastian didn't take it well.
He jogged off the pitch quickly, refused to shake Pellegrini's hand, and flung his warm-up jacket onto the bench in frustration.
The cameras caught it all.
And Bayern fans watching from home?
Their hearts sank.
They had suspected all season that something was off behind the scenes.
And now, the cracks were visible for all to see.
The subtle rift between veterans and newcomers.
The disconnect between senior players and the manager's philosophy.
No one could deny it anymore.
The Bundesliga title had masked these issues.
The German Cup final had offered some hope.
But Champions League glory?
That was supposed to cleanse everything.
Now, after Leon's hammer blow?
Even that seemed impossible.
Suddenly, no one cared about the last 10 minutes of the match.
When the final whistle blew, Stamford Bridge erupted.
Most of Bayern's players jogged straight for the tunnel.
Only Lahm and Müller stopped to speak briefly with Kroos.
Leon chatted with Müller for a bit, but seeing his friend in such low spirits, he didn't push for a shirt swap.
He knew what Müller was going through.
He'd lived it himself at Real Madrid.
When the dressing room splinters, it eats at you—even if the results are good.
And when you suffer a hammering like this in the Champions League semifinal first leg?
That locker room might not survive until the second leg.
Leon had no doubt—if Madrid had collapsed like this in 2012, they might never have reached the 12–13 final.
The politics of a superclub dressing room were always messy.
And compared to his old team, Bayern—nicknamed "Hollywood FC"—had even more explosive dynamics.
Leon felt bad for Müller.
But as a Chelsea player?
He was happy to see Bayern drowning in their own storm.
Maybe by the second leg, Chelsea would find things even easier.
Why not?
After the match, Chelsea were given a well-deserved day off.
But Leon wasn't one to sit still.
That afternoon, he invited several teammates over to his villa to watch Real Madrid vs. Atlético Madrid.
As the other Champions League semifinal kicked off, most of the Chelsea squad backed Madrid.
But Leon went against the grain.
"I'm betting on Atlético," he said. "Madrid have too many injuries. Ancelotti ran that starting lineup into the ground. No rotation—now they're paying the price.
Back when we were chasing all three trophies at Madrid, even we wouldn't dare push like that. Ancelotti's gambling too big…"
His teammates nodded.
The more they looked at the lineups, the more Leon's logic made sense.
Atlético, meanwhile, had already given up on La Liga.
They had reached the Copa del Rey final early on, so now their squad was at full strength, with all key players starting this match.
Real Madrid, by contrast, were in a far worse situation.
Benzema, Xabi Alonso, Modrić, and Carvajal—these four core players were out with injuries, leaving Ancelotti completely at a loss.
With no better options, Ancelotti had to hurriedly deploy a 4-4-2 starting formation.
He dropped the central striker role altogether, putting Cristiano Ronaldo and Bale up front as a double forward duo.
In the defensive midfield, Ramos was pushed up temporarily to partner with Casemiro as a double pivot.
The two wingers were Isco and James Rodríguez.
In defense, Varane and Pepe formed the center-back pairing, with Marcelo at left back and Nacho at right back.
Casillas remained the starting goalkeeper.
At first glance, this lineup didn't seem weak at all.
But without Benzema acting as the tactical "meat shield," both Ronaldo and Bale had to face Atlético's ironclad backline head-on.
While the midfield had enough physicality, it lacked coordination and distribution. Both Isco and James needed a lot of time on the ball...
So this 4-4-2, which seemed fine on paper, actually had issues everywhere upon closer inspection.
There was no central playmaker orchestrating in the middle, and the wingers lacked the speed to make sharp breakthroughs.
Expecting Ronaldo, a sharp blade, to pierce through the opponent's steel defense alone was nothing short of a waste of his talent.
And in the end, the result proved Leon's predictions right.
The Ronaldo-Bale duo up front was clumsy and awkward, and the two Real Madrid superstars were practically nullified by Atlético's physical dominance.
Isco did relatively well on the left wing, given his larger range of movement—he could almost be considered Madrid's playmaker in this game.
But James, after being shifted out of the middle, essentially disappeared.
In this match, Real Madrid's three most important attacking players were completely neutralized, and Atlético secured a clean 2–0 win.
After watching the game, the entire Chelsea squad had basically concluded that Atlético would be their opponent in this season's Champions League final!
Leon had said he favored Atlético to advance, but watching Real Madrid lose away still left a bitter taste in his mouth.
Fortunately, Chelsea were about to face an opponent in the league that Leon "loved" very much.
The frustration building up in his heart finally had the perfect outlet.
On May 9, Chelsea hosted the 36th round of the Premier League at home.
Their opponent: the Red Devils—Manchester United!
In the early kickoff, Tottenham had beaten Stoke City 3–0, and now led United by three points, taking over the fourth spot in the Premier League standings.
So this match was incredibly important for the entire Manchester United squad!
If they couldn't beat Chelsea and retake fourth place with goal difference, then with only two league matches left, they would completely lose the initiative in the battle for a Champions League spot!
Having struggled all season just to get this far, United were giving everything they had in hopes of returning to the Champions League next season.
Chelsea were undeniably strong, but they had already clinched the Premier League title, and their motivation in league matches was no longer high.
Not to mention, Chelsea still had to prepare for the next round of their Champions League semifinal against Bayern, so it was highly unlikely that they would start a full-strength lineup in this round. That gave United some hope.
With this mindset, the Manchester United squad arrived at Stamford Bridge on the afternoon of May 9.
An hour before the match, when the United coaching staff got a hold of Chelsea's starting XI, they let out a collective sigh of relief.
Sure enough, Chelsea had once again rotated heavily.
Only Leon and Hazard were absolute starters among the starting lineup.
That instantly boosted the confidence of United's players.
On the other hand, quite a few Chelsea fans were worried after learning of their team's lineup.
Even if United had been underwhelming this season, they were on the brink of entering the Champions League zone.
If Chelsea wanted to go undefeated through the season, they should at least start five or six key players in this match.
Only starting Leon and Hazard—wasn't that a bit too arrogant?
With plenty of nervousness and concern, Chelsea supporters tuned in to watch the game live.
Chelsea lined up in a 4-2-3-1 and immediately conceded the initiative, just like they had against Bayern a few days ago.
United, just like Bayern had done, pushed forward aggressively and began to pressure Chelsea's rotated backline.
Van Persie had completely fallen out of favor with Van Gaal. Despite his poor scoring efficiency, Falcao remained United's starting striker.
Perhaps the news of Chelsea's heavy rotation gave Van Gaal some extra confidence.
In today's match, he boldly went with a 4-1-4-1 attacking setup.
In midfield, he only placed Ander Herrera as the defensive anchor.
Di María, Fellaini, Rooney, and Juan Mata lined up across the attacking midfield.
My goodness, this formation clearly showed that Van Gaal had no respect for Chelsea's rotated defense.
But as it turned out, Van Ginkel and Lampard's double pivot in midfield held up well against United's pressure.
At the back, Maguire and Kalas made up a very complementary center-back pairing.
No matter how hard Falcao and the surging Fellaini tried to break through, the duo handled their defensive duties expertly.
Van Gaal's usual offensive pattern of long balls and aerial bombardments using Fellaini's height once again failed against Chelsea.
Meanwhile, the massive space left behind United's aggressive press became the perfect opportunity for Leon and Hazard to launch counterattacks!
By the 17th minute of the first half, United's over-commitment finally cost them as Chelsea found the perfect moment for a counter.
Van Ginkel won the ball cleanly from Rooney with a sliding tackle.
Lampard instantly launched a long pass, which Drogba, who had dropped back near the center circle, headed sideways.
Leon picked it up and advanced, quickly laying the ball off to the right before Herrera could close him down.
Salah hugged the sideline and zoomed past the young Luke Shaw!
The two broke into a sprint race down the flank.
Though Salah didn't completely shake off Shaw's pressure, he still managed to gain enough space to deliver a cross.
His right-footed, weak-side cross was a bit erratic, but Drogba still managed to outjump Smalling and barely flick it on with his head!
Leon, who had arrived in the box, even had time to trap the ball before blasting a shot from close range!
De Gea, with his line of sight blocked by young defender McNair, had to guess where the shot was going.
He dove toward the near post—but Leon had gone for the center of the goal!
As the ball hit the back of the net, Leon sprinted straight toward the corner flag!
He raised his right hand and twirled it near his ear, then planted his feet beside the corner flag, gripping it with his left hand and cupping his right behind his ear in a listening pose!
Chelsea's home fans were instantly reassured and erupted into wild cheers and screams for Leon!
Leon laughed heartily as he turned and embraced his teammates who rushed over to celebrate.
He really didn't have any grudge against Manchester United—it's just that they'd gotten a bit too cocky before the game, thinking they could win at Stamford Bridge?
Well, in that case, he had no choice but to teach them a lesson.
Perhaps starting next season, United would really need to get used to playing in the Europa League...
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