Chapter 159: A Nexus

Tsubasa Ozora made a sharp, energetic run, shaking off Bonucci to receive a precise through ball from Bakambu on the left side of the penalty area.

"A right-angle body feint?"

Watching Tsubasa drag the ball with his left foot over to his right, then violently shift his body to the right in a continuous change of direction that closely resembled his signature right-angle body feint dribble, Bonucci reacted instantly.

Just as Bonucci prepared to use his body to block Tsubasa's usual breakthrough path following the feint, Tsubasa suddenly pulled the ball back and broke through in the opposite direction.

"Heh, if a right-angle feint were so easily cracked by you, how could it be considered a signature move?" Tsubasa gave a light chuckle, quickly dribbling along the outer flank and soon advancing near the edge of the six-yard box.

Barzagli, rushing over to cover, saw Tsubasa moving inward and spotted the recovering Bonucci. The two defenders quickly established an unspoken understanding, preparing to pinch and dispossess Tsubasa from front and back.

Sensing a defender closing in on his right, Tsubasa remained completely calm. He violently shifted his body to the right, nudged the ball outward with his right foot, and then sharply flicked it back under his left foot with the instep. The trailing Bonucci was thrown completely off balance by this rapid sequence of movements.

Tsubasa had just beaten the same defensive player twice!

After shaking off Bonucci, Tsubasa didn't get entangled with the recovering Barzagli. With a quick glance out of the corner of his eye, he flicked the ball with his left foot, sending it bouncing toward the left channel of the Juventus penalty area.

That was the zone previously guarded by Barzagli, which now stood as a gaping vacancy. Bakambu left Pjanić trailing in his wake, arriving precisely where the ball was heading.

At this moment, there was nobody in front of him. It was a clean one-on-one opportunity, and his left foot was already drawn back like a cocked bow.

"Goal! Bakambu! Bakambu pulls one back for us! Thanks to Tsubasa's wonderful assist—their combination play was simply breathtaking!" The hoarse, passionate roar of the Spanish commentator finally echoed for the first time during the live broadcast of the UEFA Champions League semi-final between Villarreal and Juventus.

Bakambu's ferocious half-volley pierced through Gianluigi Buffon's defenses, finally breaking Villarreal's scoreless deadlock across the two legs.

1-2!

Tsubasa and his teammates rushed over to surround Bakambu, celebrating together. Bakambu shared a tight embrace with Tsubasa, thanking him for the assist.

They no longer harbored extravagant hopes of advancing to the Champions League final, but they refused to kneel and beg for death. Instead, they would fight to the very last moment and go down standing!

Massimiliano Allegri remained seated in a relaxed posture, yet a hint of solemnity had crept between his brows.

He wasn't dwelling on this single conceded goal, nor even on the match itself; rather, this goal exposed lingering flaws within his defensive line.

Juventus's defense was undeniably exceptional—unmatched in modern football—yet Tsubasa's earlier dismantling of the Bonucci-Barzagli defensive partnership left Allegri deeply concerned.

Throughout the two legs, the Juventus backline hadn't given Tsubasa many openings, but the few chances he did get had posed extreme threats to Buffon, including the shot that struck the post in the first leg and the recent assist that set up Bakambu's goal.

On the other side, Real Madrid had already secured their spot in this season's Champions League final ahead of time.

What troubled Allegri was that they had managed to limit Tsubasa to the maximum extent simply because Villarreal possessed no other genuine threats apart from him.

However, apart from Ronaldo, Real Madrid also boasted Gareth Bale, Isco, Luka Modrić, Karim Benzema...

"What a headache," Allegri thought, rubbing his temples.

After the match resumed, it did not unfold with the fierce Juventus response people expected. Instead, a tense stalemate ensued. The Bianconeri pulled their formation back, seemingly intent on protecting their 2-1 aggregate lead, while Villarreal also appeared to deflate slightly after finally finding the back of the net.

To maintain attacking vitality and enhance flank penetration, Fran Escribá realized he had to play his second card of the match, promptly substituting Denis Cheryshev on for Jonathan dos Santos.

Meanwhile, Allegri also initiated his final substitution, withdrawing the tireless Andrea Barzagli and sending on Mehdi Benatia, who had rested for the entire match.

Escribá's intention was simple: bring on fresh substitutes to rest key players for the league while seeing if they could nick another goal. Allegri, on the other hand, was testing his defensive structure to see if the opponents could break it down.

Play quickly restarted with possession belonging to Villarreal. Antonio Rukavina threw the ball in from the sideline to the feet of a central teammate, who bypassed Miralem Pjanić’s attempted challenge and fed the ball to Roberto Soriano.

Roberto Soriano drove forward for a few steps before passing to Cheryshev, who had also joined the club last summer. At this point, these two substitutes who entered in the second half possessed the freshest legs on the pitch for Villarreal.

Looking back at Villarreal's transfers at the beginning of the season, the window could largely be considered a failure.

While the acquisitions of Roberto Soriano, Denis Cheryshev, and Alfred N'Diaye all produced sporadic moments of brilliance, none of them managed to mount a serious challenge to the starting lineup. Conversely, Alexandre Pato, who had secured a regular starting spot in the first half of the season, had performed well, but unfortunately transferred to the Chinese Super League during the winter break.

Cheryshev attempted to ignite an attack from the spot. Pjanić was tasked with marking him, using his robust frame to press close to the Russian winger, trying to nudge him off balance while continually poking his foot out for the ball.

Cheryshev's individual technique was unquestionable. Upon receiving the ball, he dragged it under his sole, flicked it behind his body, and executed a swift spin to slip past the forward-leaning Pjanić. Bursting forward with explosive pace, he utilized his technique to afford Pjanić no further chance, vanishing into the distance.

Because of Pjanić's lapse in concentration, a massive void had opened up in the central midfield for Juventus. Cheryshev was already advancing at high speed toward the edge of the penalty area, and the Juventus players dared not take him lightly.

Spotting Claudio Marchisio closing down, Cheryshev came to an abrupt halt, then lifted the ball with the instep of his right foot. The ball sailed over Marchisio's head and drifted toward the right flank.

There, Bakambu and Giorgio Chiellini were already jostling for position.

Seeing the ball arrive, Bakambu leaped high into the air, beating Chiellini to win the first header and redirecting the ball deep into the penalty area.

The moment he saw Bakambu leap, Tsubasa had already prepared himself for the pass. As soon as Bakambu nodded the ball toward the box, Tsubasa unleashed his maximum speed, sprinting directly toward the ball's landing spot.

He managed to reach the ball a fraction of a second ahead of Bonucci, finding himself very close to the edge of the six-yard box.

"The angle is rather tight!" By the time Tsubasa collected the ball, the shooting angle had narrowed drastically, estimated at less than thirty degrees relative to the goal.

Almost everyone anticipated that Tsubasa would opt for a cross, but he held entirely different intentions.

Sweeping a glance across the penalty area, he violently cocked his right foot as if to cross.

Bonucci hurriedly raised his foot in an attempt to block the passing lane, but then quickly dropped it back down as Tsubasa altered his motion.

Chaos erupted inside the Juventus penalty area as Bakambu and Roberto Soriano rushed forward in time to vie for the finish. Yet, at that exact instant, Tsubasa dragged the ball with his right foot, gently pulled it with his left, nudged it outward, and launched into an explosive acceleration, flashing past Bonucci's flank to carve out a pocket of space.

In a fraction of a second, Tsubasa assessed the situation in the box: Chiellini and Bakambu were still tangling for position, while Buffon had already rushed out to seal the near post.

At this point, his position relative to the goal was approaching an impossible zero angle!

"There's a chance!"

Although Tsubasa had never equipped the "Razor Shot" skill in actual matches, he had successfully replicated the exact same curving effect during training sessions.

Without taking a touch and without any warning, the outer instep of his left foot whipped fiercely through the ball.

A cross?

No! This was a shot!

"Here it comes! The curve shot!"

With a resounding crack, the boot struck the air with violent force, generating a blast of wind and tracing a bizarre, outward-curving trajectory as it whizzed past Bonucci, screaming directly toward the far corner of the net.

Buffon had not anticipated that Tsubasa would suddenly unleash such a freakish curve. He threw his body forward in a desperate, sprawling dive toward the right.

Just as he thought he was about to intercept the high-speed projectile, the ball seemed to bend outward once more with a sudden swerve, slipping completely out of Buffon's outstretched reach and spinning away toward the outside.

Buffon had stabbed at empty air!

The out-swinging shot struck by Tsubasa bent around Buffon and nestled directly into the far top corner of the net!

2-2!

"Goal! A bizarre curve, a genius strike!" The Spanish commentator screamed into the microphone in disbelief. "This is a shot taken from an angle infinitely close to zero degrees! Absolutely magnificent! Without a doubt, I believe this goal is the finest of this Champions League season! I am immensely privileged to broadcast this match and witness this goal!"

Having roamed the football world for over two decades, Buffon stared at the goal with an expression of sheer disbelief.

"Could it be... am I getting old?"

"Oh! This is Tsubasa's 18th Champions League proper-stage goal of the season! He has broken the single-season individual scoring record of 17 goals set by Ronaldo in the 2013-14 campaign!" The Spanish commentator continued with soaring, enthusiastic tones. "Although Tsubasa will not appear on the stage of this season's Champions League final, he has already locked up this season's Champions League Golden Boot and Best Forward awards in advance. Indeed, I consider him the undisputed best player of this Champions League campaign!"

Following the goal, Tsubasa did not break into any arrogant celebrations. After all, the team still trailed 2-4 on aggregate and retained no hope of advancing. He simply tapped his chest gently, celebrating his feat of breaking a new Champions League record.

"Brilliant, Tsubasa!" Bakambu was the first to leap onto Tsubasa's back.

As a fellow striker, he understood all too well the sheer difficulty of scoring from that angle!

Seeing his team breached by such a freakish shot, Allegri could not help but applaud.

Juventus's defense had certainly committed no glaring errors on the play; one could only say that Tsubasa was simply too extraordinary!

The Italian commentator was also full of praise upon witnessing the goal: "Oh, Tsubasa's goal is simply stunning! I'm sure Buffon must be utterly baffled by the spin on that shot! 2-2, Villarreal have leveled the score. However, unless they can score two more goals within the remaining ten minutes, Juventus will still be the ones advancing."

Seeing their team equalize, Tsubasa, Bakambu, and their teammates felt a lingering spark of illusion reignite at the thought of the two-goal deficit. After the restart, they continuously manufactured threats against Juventus, yet against the suffocating defense of the Italian side, they found no further openings.

Having been beaten twice in succession by Tsubasa to concede a goal, Bonucci treated marking Tsubasa like a piece of stubborn plaster stuck to his skin, refusing to shake loose no matter how hard Tsubasa tried to shed him.

"Hey, you three-timing traitor, aren't you going to play in the Champions League final?" Tsubasa muttered sarcastically, trash-talking Bonucci. Unfortunately, the Italian center-back—who had once played for Inter Milan, currently played for Juventus, and in some 'future' would join AC Milan before returning to the Bianconeri—did not understand Tsubasa's English.

In truth, back when he acquired Ozora Tsubasa's linguistic talent skill, Tsubasa had already ruled out the possibility of transferring to Serie A because Tsubasa spoke Spanish, Portuguese, English, French, and Japanese, but conspicuously lacked Italian.

After talking at cross-purposes for quite some time, Tsubasa abandoned his trash-talking campaign against Bonucci.

As Villarreal continued their frantic onslaught for another seven or eight minutes, their attacking momentum gradually began to fade.

Seconds ticked away, and under the crushing psychological and physical pressures, the Villarreal players finally began to crack. When the electronic board on the sidelines flashed four minutes of stoppage time, everyone realized it was time to let go of any remaining hope.

Villarreal team captain Mateo Musacchio headed Juan Cuadrado's cross out over the baseline near the edge of the box before collapsing onto the turf in utter exhaustion.

Musacchio's physical stamina had completely collapsed, and both of his legs were seized with cramps. Although he signaled that he could continue playing after receiving emergency treatment from the team doctor, virtually every Villarreal fan knew that the fate of the match was sealed.

Watching Musacchio struggle back to his feet in pain, Tsubasa drew a deep breath of air. He might still have had some energy left in reserve, but scoring two more goals was simply an impossibility.

Naturally, he had wanted a victory in this match; he had wanted to play a brilliant game on the grandest club stage of the Champions League final, and he had wanted to help these teammates, who possessed such an ardent desire for victory, fulfill their dreams before leaving Villarreal.

Yet, Tsubasa felt a profound sense of powerlessness washing over him.

As Buffon safely cradled Roberto Soriano's cross into his arms, Tsubasa heard the final whistle—the sound he least wished to hear at that moment.

Those three long and two short blasts of the whistle marked the definitive end of Villarreal's Champions League journey for the season.

Although two rounds remained in La Liga, Villarreal had long since lost any mathematical possibility of competing for the title.

Thus, in Tsubasa's second season with Villarreal, apart from winning the UEFA Super Cup at the start of the campaign, his trophy cabinet was destined to remain completely empty.

Yet, for someone as young as him, all of this was merely a milestone along the road.