Become A Football Legend

"And off we go for the 7th matchday of the 2024/2025 Europa League competition — Eintracht Frankfurt against Ferencváros. Ferencváros kicks off the match.

And the lineups are out. Toppmöller goes for a traditional 4-4-2 formation for this match with Trapp in goal. Kristensen, Tuta, Koch, and Theate in defense. Knauff, Skhiri, Larsson, and Uzun in the middle of the park. While Ekitike and 16-year-old Lukas Brandt lead the line up top. That's two changes from the squad that demolished Dortmund about a week ago.

Ferencváros with a 4-3-3 formation with Dibusz in goal. A back four of Gartenmann, Makreckis, Cisse, and Raul. Ben Romdhane, Fani, and Maiga in midfield. Malinowski and Traore down the flanks, and Varga leading the line. It's poised to be a wonderful game."

Lukas was starting the match on paper as a partner striker with Ekitike, but it was obvious immediately after kick-off that he wouldn't be spending most of his time up top waiting for a pass to put him through on goal. Like in the previous game, he had received a free-roam pass from coach Toppmöller allowing him to appear in any part of the pitch he felt he could do the most damage from.

From the first whistle, after Varga kicked off the game with a pass to Fani, he chased it down. A hurried clearance from Fani gave possession straight to Frankfurt.

This would turn out to be a constant occurrence throughout the 90 minutes of the match — Frankfurt having possession.

Right from the onset, Eintracht Frankfurt launched waves of attacks on the Ferencváros goal. And there was one man conducting the orchestra.

In the 4th minute he received a pass from Uzun just by the left-hand flank. He was facing opposite the goal at the time. He looked to his side and saw Maiga rushing in towards him. With his left hand placed on Maiga's chest, he used the outside of his right foot to turn into the open space and immediately released Ekitike who had started making a run into the box.

The ball evaded the defenders, landing in front of Ekitike who had only Cisse and the goalkeeper in between him and the goalpost.

"Brandt releases Ekitike, wonderful pass! Ekitike with a touch to the right to evade Cisse, and he goes for it... Oh wonderful stop by Dibusz!"

The goalkeeper went down low fast and got to the ball with a strong right arm, pushing it out and into a safe area where Raul was able to clear to safety.

Ekitike raised his thumbs up towards Lukas as the fans applauded the effort.

As the game went on, it became obvious that the home team had the absolute advantage in the match. Everything from possession, to chances created, to shots on target, were all in favor of Eintracht Frankfurt. But they just couldn't seem to open the scoring.

Lukas already had 4 shots on goal. He hit the crossbar once from a left-footed curler from outside the penalty box. The goalkeeper pulled off a magnificent save from an attempted long-range drive heading towards the bottom left corner, and two shots were slightly off target.

It was the 35th minute, and the fans knew they needed a goal when they had all the momentum. Because this was how big teams lost games they should have won.

"You have to make it count when the momentum is on your side. Frankfurt went into this game, obviously expecting to win. It's only ten minutes to half-time, and the fans are starting to get worried — they want a goal before the half-time whistle."

The fans were still very much behind their team. Their voice, as loud as it gets. But they expected to be at least up by a goal at this point.

Lukas was prepared to meet their expectations.

A goal kick from Dibusz travelled straight to Koch in the middle of Frankfurt's half. With a strong header, Koch sent the ball straight back into Ferencváros' half.

Lukas, who was being marked tight by Fani, jumped and managed to flick the ball to Larsson with his chest. He turned immediately he landed and ran into the space behind Fani to receive the pass back from Larsson.

Two quick glances over his shoulders, and another one forward while the ball was on its way to him, painted a picture in his head.

Ben Romdhane was coming in from his right-hand side, Gartenmann was directly in front of him, while Cisse was more concerned with Ekitike who was trying to time his run into the box.

Lukas placed his body like he was about to take off with the ball, and just when Ben Romdhane threw his leg in to try and make an interception, he just nicked it through his open legs to the side, went through his back, and got the ball back on the other side. Before the midfielder could get back his balance, Lukas was gone.

He took one more glance in the box, it was overloaded with options, Uzun making a run from the left, Knauff from the right, Ekitike already waiting in position with Cisse glued to him.

As Lukas was approaching the penalty box through the middle, Gartenmann stepped into the penalty arc, ready to stop Lukas.

He danced toward the defender, eyes locked, the ball rolling lazily under his control. Then suddenly, his right foot whipped over the ball in a lightning arc, flicking it inward before snapping it back out in one seamless motion — the elastico. Gartenmann lunged the wrong way, caught in the trap, as the crowd erupted at the audacity of a move he had just pulled off.

"Oooh nice feet. Lukas Brandt has just sent Gartenmann on an errand! What will he do next? Fani and Ben Romdhane are closing in from behind! He looks in the box for options. Is it too crowded for a shot? OH WHAT ARE WE WITNESSING?! Lukas Brandt with a sublime finish!" The commentators screamed as Lukas ran towards the corner flag.

After he sent Gartenmann to the side, Lukas knew that any more hesitation would allow the midfielders he had left behind to close him down. So he had to make a quick decision.

He took one last look in the box and saw the space Knauff's run had created just to his right. There was a slight gap between the bodies gathered in the box. And like a thread going through the eye of a needle, Lukas, with the inside of his left foot, threaded the ball towards the goal.

It looked more like a pass than a shot as the ball curved around the players, kissing the grass as it headed towards the bottom left corner.

The goalkeeper was left rooted on the spot — unsighted by the number of players in his box.

The net bulged.

The fans screamed.

Lukas, with his hands together, bowed.

"Is he praying to the fans?! Is he praying to the god of football? We might never know! But he sure has answered the prayers of the fans today! Take a bow everyone! 16-year-old Lukas Brandt with his first goal in Europe in his first match in Europe!"

Larsson was the first to get to Lukas by the corner flag. He screamed something unintelligible as he grabbed Lukas by the shoulder and shook him violently.

The match resumed after about a minute of celebrations with Ferencváros kicking off the restart.

The roar from the crowd seemed to get higher after the first goal. They wanted another as soon as possible.

"The fans know the game against Roma in matchday 8 could be a tough one. A win here would guarantee their spot in the round of 16. So it is obvious the fans would want a dominant lead against this relatively weaker team," the commentator said.

The Eintracht Frankfurt players knew what their fans wanted, so they increased the attacking pressure. They made sure the Ferencváros saw none of the ball, with their possession hitting 75% at one point during the half.

In the 44th minute, Lukas received a huge diagonal switch from Uzun on the left towards the right flank. With the top of his boot, he trapped the ball perfectly. He executed a quick one-two with Knauff as they played around Ben Romdhane's press, and Lukas was with the ball near the right-hand goal line. Raul, the Ferencváros left-back, was already coming for the man-marking.

Lukas took one look into the box, and saw Uzun making a run towards the back post while Ekitike and Larsson were already in the middle of the box.

With his eyes glued to the back post, he swung his right leg at the ball, and Raul dived in to block the cross. What came, however, was a light nick of the ball to his left as he left the defender lying on his side like he was about to take a nap.

He cut to his left, the ball moved just to the edge of the box. He planted his right foot, raised his right arm, and swung his left foot.