Wednesday, September 20, 2023
Allianz Arena — Approach
Evening
The coach rolled the last stretch of the access road, and the windows kept catching red light off the police barriers, the camera phones lifted over the heads of the crowd, and the Champions League boards lit blue along the perimeter.
Bayern scarves hung from the railings outside, and the noise of the home support came through the glass in waves that built and broke before the coach had even reached the gate.
Demien sat with his travel bag by his feet, the tactical card folded flat inside it between his boots, and he didn't reach for it the way a nervous boy would have.
He looked once at the bag, then back through the glass at the stadium lights, and when a louder swell of the crowd pushed against the windows his thumb tapped once against his knee before going still again.
