Lazy Genius Striker [EN]: Chapter 175

< Villain's Exit >

“Yaaay! My brother!”

“Son! No, soccer hero!”

Johan returned home after the game.

“…”

Johan scratched his head, bemused by his brother and dad’s enthusiastic welcome.

“You were so awesome! That first goal was insane! It’s a goal that will go down in Champions League history!”

“You upheld the fundamentals of soccer. Well done, so proud!”

“Such a fuss…”

He pretended to be nonchalant, but, actually, he was kind of expecting it.

This kind of reaction from his family.

Before the game, they’d made such a fuss about how it was a must-win game.

Since he delivered as they wished, this level of reaction was to be expected.

“Finals, let’s go!”

“The Champions League final is just around the corner!”

Johan smiled, watching his brother and dad being so happy.

He didn’t have any personal feelings towards Atletico Madrid, but he did his best to see this sight.

Because they wanted it, and he liked seeing them happy.

“I’m going in.”

“Okay, get some rest!”

“Good job, son!”

If there’s one rewarding thing about playing soccer, it’s this.

Atletico Madrid’s 0-3 defeat caused a great stir.

It was inevitable, because it was the end everyone had been waiting for: the villain’s demise.

-Johan Van Hattrick… Atletico Madrid, first 3-point loss of the season

└LOL, sweet. *burp*

└Well watched, anti-football execution

└Felt so refreshed! Johan is the best!

└As a Valencia fan, I thank West Ham and Johan on behalf of La Liga fans.

└I’m not a West Ham fan either, just a soccer fan, but thank you, Johan. Thanks to you, it looks like we’ll have a fun final.

└Of course, it’s not over yet, but Atletico Madrid is hopeless now.

-Coach Marco Darin, who said the Premier League’s level is low, refused to interview after the game and left the stadium

└Did you look down on the PL [Premier League]?

└This is the undefeated team of the Premier League, LOL

└He was so confident, but his head got smashed, right?

└Welcome, this is your first time with the Hammers [West Ham’s nickname]?

└The Premier League isn’t strong. West Ham is strong. Other team fans, don’t act up

└Damn, he still looked cool… like watching our class’s top dog beat up the bully from the next school?

└Yeah, our top dog is the strongest~ LOL

-‘Maradona, the Reincarnation of Messi’ Johan Van’s 50-meter Solo Run… Life Goal Explodes

└Well, there are so many cool goals that it’s hard to call it his life goal

└It was amazing, LOL. I was stunned watching it

└I doubted my eyes. How is that even possible?

└I came right there

└It was a goal worth cumming for

-Atletico midfielder Diogo De Paul, out for the season with a neck injury…

└Serves him right for acting up, LOL

└He rushed in and got himself out for the season

└There’s no monster like Johan in La Liga [Spanish Football League]. It’s a place where they play elegant soccer.

└It’s a good thing Johan dodged well, or he would have been injured

└If that happened, De Paul wouldn’t just be out for the season, but out for life. He wouldn’t have made it back alive.

-Atletico Madrid, is there hope for the second leg? To overturn a 3-point difference, they have to be aggressive, but then they’ll lose their unique color… Atletico Madrid in dilemma

└Just go back to turtle mode and die alone

└I hope they don’t send Johan out for the second leg… I’m scared they’ll rush at us desperately

└Did you see De Paul’s tackle? Those guys will do anything. Dirty bastards

└De Paul should get a post-match penalty. I saw him aiming for the ankle. Johan almost got taken out for the season

└Atletico is done. Home or not, they can never score more than 3 goals

└It’s their own trap. The price for underestimating Johan. Accept it.

-West Ham’s chances of reaching the final, what do the bookmakers predict? Increased significantly to over 90 percent

└Still, it’s a relief. At least one PL team will go to the final

└Did they say the PL is ruined this season? Whatever, West Ham~

└The last warrior, the Hammers, are going!

└So, is it Real vs. West Ham?

└Real is not sure yet

└Whether it’s Villarreal or Real Madrid, it’s still Real

└Anyone come up, we’ll smash your heads

Europe’s soccer scene was ‘We Are The World’ over West Ham’s victory.

La Liga fans, who had to face Atletico Madrid in the league and cup competitions, were grateful that they had achieved a great victory that no La Liga team could achieve.

Premier League fans were secretly proud to see their league’s top team showing such dominant performance.

Also, although it wasn’t known externally, UEFA [Union of European Football Associations] President Anton Schreger was said to be delighted, calling Johan the guardian of UEFA.

Thanks to Johan, last year’s Euros [European Championship] recorded unprecedented success, and this time, he drove Atletico Madrid to the brink of elimination.

In the current situation, everyone is looking forward to Real Madrid and West Ham facing off in the final.

If that matchup is realized as expected, this season’s Champions League will definitely be a very successful tournament.

-Real Madrid, 3-1 victory on the road… The dignity of the defending champion

While West Ham was crushing Atletico Madrid, in Spain, Real Madrid was giving Villarreal a hard time.

Real has only lost once this season at their home stadium, Santiago Bernabeu.

Since they boast an extreme home win rate, Real is likely to win the second leg as well, unless there is a major upset.

The final of this tournament will be held at a stadium called Olympiastadion Berlin in Germany.

Road to Berlin.

So far, Real Madrid and West Ham were one step closer to Berlin.

“But the Real guys are so funny.”

“What is it?”

“They’re happy that we won?”

“How rude.”

Lohan, who was browsing local communities and articles, laughed as if he was dumbfounded.

It’s natural that many soccer fans were happy about West Ham’s victory, but Real Madrid fans were also welcoming it, saying that it’s better to meet West Ham than to meet Atletico Madrid in the final.

“No matter how bad our record is against Atletico Madrid this season…”

“Bad?”

“Two draws in two league games, one win in the cup. It’s hard to say it’s bad, but it seems like they were difficult to deal with every time.”

“If Real had 1 win and 2 draws, it’s right to say it’s bad.”

Real Madrid had a record of 1 win and 2 draws against Atletico Madrid this season.

The only two times they drew in the league were both against Atletico Madrid.

Both games ended in a 0-0 draw.

It seems they struggled against Atletico Madrid’s suffocating defense.

“Still, to say it’s better to meet us?”

“Maybe they don’t know yet what kind of team we are.”

“If they don’t know, they should get hit.”

It’s outrageous.

Looking at Real fans’ communities, there were quite a few reactions hoping that the game wouldn’t be overturned in the second leg.

They don’t want Atletico Madrid to come to the final.

Their reasoning was simple.

First of all, West Ham is much better in terms of compatibility than Atletico Madrid.

The difference in style between these two teams is stark.

Atletico Madrid is a team with its balance extremely skewed towards defense, and West Ham is a team skewed towards attack.

Looking at this style, West Ham is the easier side for Real to deal with, so it wasn’t entirely incomprehensible.

However, it’s hard to understand them saying that even after watching the first leg of the semi-final.

West Ham mercilessly crushed Atletico Madrid, who Real struggled against.

Hmph.

Aren’t they afraid of Johan?

“Well, I hope it goes as they wish.”

“It’s also a great picture to beat the defending champion and become the new champion.”

Good.

We’ll go up as you wish.

Don’t regret it then, friends.

“Coach. There’s a story that Real wants West Ham as their final opponent. What do you think about this?”

“We haven’t advanced to the final yet. Has Real?”

Like Coach Schmidt’s interview, in any case, the final advance was not yet confirmed.

It is true that the situation is very relaxed, but there are many reasons why we should not be careless.

The second leg of the semi-final will be held at the opponent’s home.

It is also a stadium that we are experiencing for the first time.

The opponent is in a desperate situation, so we don’t know what they will do.

West Ham is a strong team, but if there is one weakness, it is experience.

Players without experience are more likely to be flustered when unexpected situations occur, and it is difficult to maintain composure.

In short, anything can happen during the 90 minutes of the second leg, so we must not be careless.

One week after the first leg, the second leg was held at Atletico Madrid’s home stadium, Wanda Metropolitano, with tens of thousands of fans wanting revenge for the first leg filling the stadium.

It doesn’t look easy. De Paul, who was sent off in the first leg, cannot play. The pressure of a big 3-point difference is also great. Nevertheless, we have to watch the game first.

Atletico Madrid’s situation is certainly bleak.

You could say that it is better than Bayern, who were badly defeated at home first, but it is not.

They have to overturn a big point difference, so they cannot use a defensive tactic, and if they do, they cannot take advantage of the team’s strengths.

A situation where they cannot do what they do best.

Coach Marco Darin’s worries must have been deep: whether to be aggressive, or to do as usual and dig into the opponent’s weaknesses.

Of course, now is not the time to be defensive.

No matter how ruthless Darin is, he couldn’t just defend in this situation.

In the end, Atletico Madrid started the game in a different way than their original style, pressing strongly from the front.

However, one thing is certain: that is not what Atletico Madrid can do best.

The Champions League semi-finals are played with only about a week between the first and second legs, leaving very little time to prepare for the second leg.

After the first leg defeat, Atletico Madrid prepared a different way of playing, but the appearance shown in the game was somewhat clumsy and incomplete.

In fact, it may not have been just because of a lack of preparation.

Maybe those are just excuses.

Maybe they just didn’t have the skills to go to the final.

They are not scoring easily. Atletico Madrid. Is it fortunate that there are no goals against? Already, 30 minutes have passed in the first half.

The flow of 0-0 continued until the 30th minute of the first half, and the home fans were burning inside.

However, they didn’t know that the first 30 minutes were the most hopeful time in today’s game, because Johan’s fourth goal in the semi-final was scored in the 33rd minute of the first half.

Champions League 27th goal! Johan succeeds in recording attack points in every game this season!

When 0-3 became 0-4, all hope was gone.

Atletico Madrid, who had lost hope, eventually began to show a disgraceful performance again.

I know they’re in a hurry, but they started playing plays that they shouldn’t have done.

Oh, oh, both teams are having a war of nerves!

The war of nerves between the two teams started with a rough tackle by Atletico Madrid midfielder Miguel Casas.

Atletico Madrid players rushed in fiercely, threatening West Ham players as if they were going to vent their anger because they couldn’t win anyway.

However, Atletico Madrid lost even in this war of nerves.

When there were signs of a fight, Bellamy quickly brought Johan, and the situation was quickly resolved when Johan appeared.

Three warnings are given. Miguel Casas and Deolofeu received warnings, and Johan also received a warning.

The process of resolving was a bit too violent, so Johan received a warning. Well, it was a valuable warning, since then, Atletico Madrid players have recalled De Paul lying in the hospital room.

They had no choice but to realize why he was out for the season.

Anyway, I got a warning, because I don’t know what the crazy Atletico Madrid guys will do.

Johan was replaced at the end of the first half.

Anyway, the 4-point difference was enough to keep even without Johan.

Actually, it was.

It’s a bit late, but they still follow one point!

In the 22nd minute of the second half, Atletico Madrid made up one point.

Daniel Capello! Fantastic free kick! Beautiful! Completely breaks the opponent’s will to chase!

Five minutes later, Capello’s picturesque free kick exploded, and the game was virtually over.

The game is over! West Ham! West Ham advances to the Champions League final for the first time!

West Ham advanced to the Champions League final.