Rise of a Football God-Chapter 419: War at the Etihad

Barca stored first!

At the Etihad.

Yes, the Catalan club was in form, maybe even the form of their lives but no one saw this coming, not even the Barca players themselves.

They expected to play a hard and extremely tough game, a game where Man City held the most advantages, and yet, they scored first.

"GOALLLL…!!!"

The Barca players celebrated excitedly, their fans joining them, roaring at the top of their lungs even as the commentators went haywire, waxing lyrical about the crazy nature of that goal and how unexpected it was.

Charging towards the corner flag, Sam slid on his knees in celebration and when he rose to his feet, he kissed the Barcelona badge passionately.

And then, the Sam chants broke out at the Etihad.

"Sam!" "Sam!" "Sam!"

The Man City fans felt a sense of déjà vu.

They've heard this chant before, but not from Barca fans. Then, it was from Fulham fans. Against them, this Sam always seemed to receive a boost.

'This bastard…!'

They were incensed but there was nothing they could do.

And then, the referee's whistle reverberated again; the game continued.

That goal felt like an injection of energy to the Barca players as with it, their gameplay improved immediately with Sam leading the charge.

But despite that goal, Man City didn't rollover in defeat though.

Not tonight, not in front of their fans!

Rather, the sky-blues showed defiant energy and fight.

Sam scored in the 14th minute of the game and from then on, it didn't seem like a game of football anymore, rather it felt like a war.

War at the Etihad.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

And the ammunition and bullets were the star players of both sides.

After that goal, Ruben Dias and John Stones were even more rough on Sam, Barca's star player but Sam didn't cower. He took them on without fear and the result of it was extreme exhaustion.

He was sweating like a Bull of labor.

In the tightness of the game, in the middle of the pitch, Pedri and Phil Foden shined for their respective teams.

Anytime they had the ball in the middle of the park, they seemed always able to do something that made their fans rise to their feet in awe and excitement.

With silky touches, deceptive body movement and body feints, they weaved in and out, throwing passes like and right like Ancient Weavers of destruction.

Ikay Gundogan assisted Phil Foden in dictating the tempo of the game.

As for Kevin De Bruyne, he was a menace all game, throwing passes left and right, chasing the ball down relentlessly.

He was giving his all in the game.

And then Rodri? He was a rock in the middle of the park. No one could pass him.

And on the other side, just as Sam tangled with Ruben Dias and John Stones, so did Omar Marmoush and Erling Haaland tangled with Barca's center defenders all night, pushing them to the limit.

It was a tight game.

It was an exciting game.

And then…

FWEEEE!

First half came to an end, 0-1…

During halftime, Hansi Flick had a passionate team talk with his players, emphasizing the important of winning this game.

He admonished his players to stay focused till the final whistle.

Pep Guardiola?

The Catalan coach ignited a fire in the cold expanse of his players' hearts.

And in the second half, Man City erupted.

They came out with vastly different energy; the way they carried themselves was different; the way they played, chased after the ball, passed, all of it was different; more focused, more straightforward, and more lethal.

For a few minutes after the restart, Barca failed to adjust to the sudden radical tempo switch of their opponents, and they were punished for it.

In the 53rd minute, Kevin De Bruyne finally did it.

From the right, after evading a tackle from Frankie De Jong, the Belgian maestro whipped his right leg, floating a dangerous cross into the box.

The ball seemed to have been overhit, but was it really?

The ball passed above all the players in Barca's box, floating towards the edge of the post, where Marc Andre Ter Stegen was already rushing towards, and then… a miracle happened at the Etihad.

Whoosh!

The ball that seemed to be overhit, one player could get to it.

Erling Haaland leapt high, soaring into the air like some bird and just as the ball was about to float out for a goal kick, he raised his right leg high acrobatically, placing it in the ball's path, and then…

Bam!

His leg touched the ball!

The ball that seemed unassailable, unreachable by any other player, the tall, imposing, and athletic Erling Haaland got to it.

And with his touch, he redirected the ball… straight into Barca's net.

The Barca players were still stunned, unsure of exactly what just happened. They were only distracted by the sound of Erling Haaland rushing off to celebrate, and the subsequent roar of tens of thousands of fans at the Etihad.

BOOM!

The Etihad turned into a cauldron of noise.

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Waving his arms wildly like a wild animal, Erling Haaland rushed towards the corner flag, celebrating his goal passionately.

After the celebrations died down…

FWEEE!

The game continued.

But, Erling Haaland was already in the zone state.

Just 3 minutes after his first goal, he did it again. But this time, luck played in his favor, luck in the form of a stalwart Rodri.

Barca was in the sequence of another attack when a perfect but heavy tackle from Rodri took Frankie De Jong off his feet. De Jong barely landed when Rodri rose back up from his knee.

He raised his head and looked, then…

Bam!

He hit a long-grounded pass.

Because as soon as he won the ball, Erling Haaland started running. Not just him, Omar Marmoush too.

For a moment, Pau Cubarsi was stumped, wondering which of the 2 center forwards he should follow but the more experienced Inigo Martinez already reacted, going after Omar Marmoush.

But the pass was towards Haaland.

Pau Cubarsi jumped on a sliding tackle to try intercepting the pass but he timed it wrong, the ball rolled past him, into Haaland's path.

Haaland took one touch of the ball to set himself up.

By now, Inigo Martinez already recovered, charging towards him even as Alejandro Balde also closed the striker down from the right.

But it didn't matter.

Because at that moment, just inside the 18-yard box, Haaland raised his leg and then.

WHOOP!

The Man City striker unleashed a powerful shot.

Ter Stegen dived but he stood no chance as Haaland's shot was precise, straight towards the top right corner.

It powered its way into the net, and then…

BOOM!

The Etihad exploded.