Expect The Unexpected (Alexia Putellas x OC)

Chapter 8

March 30th, 2023, London, Stamford Bridge

Second leg of the quarter final against Bayern Munich. Stamford Bridge is full, the fans are cheering loudly, and we are ready to play our best football. I am starting with Eve – Millie – Kadeisha – Magda in front of me, Sophie – Guro – Grace in the midfield, Fran – Sam – Pernille in front. The referee whistles and we play forward immediately. Emma warned us, Bayern must take the lead quickly to even think about the qualification. We must do one thing, one thing only. Play football and show them why we are the best team.

The first ten minutes are complicated for us, all the Bayern girls are on Lina mode, which means they are super aggressive, on every single ball, they chase, they run, they hunt us. Fortunately, we've been working on that, and we manage to play well. Sam almost scored already on a corner, but Giulia saved on her line. Talking about the blond defender, she is running on her left wing, but Eve tackles her. As our French defender is getting up, Giulia plays quickly and throws a perfect deep ball to Lea Schuller. The German girl enters the side of the box and sends a powerful cross in the middle of the area. I look up to see who is here and of course, Georgia runs in. I know her, she'll focus on touching the ball not on where to put it. Judging by the power and the trajectory of Georgia's run there is only one spot where the ball can possibly go. And I'll need to be perfect to save this one. I take two quick steps on the side and dive as far as I can on my left. I see Georgia hitting the ball and the time seems to stop, I stretch as much as I can and focus on putting my fingertips on the ball. I manage to touch it, but I don't know if it'll be enough. I land on the grass softly and hear the huge cheer on the crowd. I think I have saved that one.

"Fuck off!" I hear Georgia complain in the box.

"Beautiful." Millie helps me up.

"Come on, girls!" I yell and my teammates get back to the game.

The corner gives nothing good for Bayern and we keep playing. Nothing much happens in this very disputed first half and we go back to the locker room still with our 2 goals advantage.

"It's good, girls." Emma calmly states. "It's very good. You don't let them build confidence. You're showing them how football should be played. Now, we need one thing. Grace?"

"A goal." The French girl answers.

"Exactly, score and you'll see. We are home. It's going to be fire out here if we score. Make them want to come back. Next step is Barcelona if we manage to keep this advantage. Make our fans want to come back against Barcelona. We'll need them so much more than today. It'll be a first leg at home, they'll be the difference. And if you want them to be there on April 21st, we need to score. And quickly."

"Be ready for a hard fight, girls!" Stuart states. "They've got soldiers on the pitch, but we have warriors. We'll show them what they are missing! Come on!"

We all cheer and get back to the pitch. On our way, Stuart gives me a pep talk and it boosts my confidence even more. I look around the stadium and see all our fans on their feet singing and cheering. We must provide a better spectacle. I think my teammates have the same idea because as soon as the second half starts, the game seems different. We win all our duels on the ground and in the air. Grace is mastering the midfield followed by Guro's perfect vision and Sophie's relentless defensive work. Millie and Kadeisha stop very single beginning of attack from Bayern, and Eve and Magda are allowed to help more offensively. At the 62nd minute, Grace finds Guro at the edge of the box, our Norwegian player maker fakes to take on the shot but softly sends the ball to Sam in the middle of the box. This move surprises the defense and Sam scores easily. 1-0. The stadium erupts literally, and I jump on Millie's back happily.