Become A Football Legend

The game began with total domination from Bayern. They kept the ball, picked off Eintracht Frankfurt when they pressed, and had some attempts on goal.

Compared to his previous performances since his debut, Lukas was fairly quiet in the first 20 minutes of the first half. He had been so successful at receiving the ball, holding possession, and drawing the opponents' attention to himself before finding his free teammates with beautiful passes. But today, he was unable to do any of that.

So far, he hadn't held possession for up to five seconds without being forced to pass back to avoid being dispossessed — something he almost never had to do in his career so far.

Kimmich and Pavlović had him covered. The few times he had received the ball on the run, he had either been cleanly tackled off it or a shoulder-to-shoulder challenge by one of the two center backs saw him destabilized or sometimes even hit the ground.

In the 19th minute, Bayern punished him.

He received the ball down the left flank and turned sharply, beating the press from Laimer as he tried to drive up the pitch.

Dier, however, had the space covered as he toe-poked the ball out of play just as Lukas started his run. The ball barely touched Lukas on its way out and the crowd cheered as the assistant's flag pointed toward Frankfurt's goal even as Lukas claimed the ball never touched him.

A quick throw from Kimmich to Olise began the attack as the Frenchman first took Knauff, and then Theate, for a spin. He got to the byline quite easily, but the resulting cross was overhit as it went past the six-yard area to the other side of the pitch.

"Oh lovely footwork by Olise, unfortunately the cross was overhit. Sané can get there on time... He does. He has Collins and Larsson for company, can he send in a better cross? Oh beautiful, he escapes from both players! He sends the ball in the box... MICHAEL OLISEEEEE! And Bayern Munich take the well-deserved lead. They have opened Frankfurt up and tapped the ball into the back of the net. Wonderful pass by Sané to find Olise for the tap-in. And it's Bayern one, Eintracht Frankfurt nil."

"That's right, James, and if you watch the replay, this all started from when Lukas Brandt was dispossessed in the middle of the pitch. The quick throw from that is what initially put Olise on an easy run down the flank. We also have to applaud Olise's pure instinct to get into such a dangerous position even after his initial cross into the box wasn't the best."

"Exactly. I've gotta say, it hasn't been the best start for the 16-year-old tonight. Kimmich and Pavlović have done a wonderful job of taming him, so far at least."

"Yes. Toppmöller would definitely have noticed that. Will he take him off at half-time and introduce someone with more experience in that role? Maybe Götze? Or will he stick to his guns?"

"We're not halfway through the first half yet, there's still over 25 minutes plus any stoppage time to play."

As the commentators gave their comments on the goal, Lukas was bent over, his hands adjusting his shins and his socks as the stadium announcer screamed, "YABADABADOOO!" and the song blasted through the speakers in the stadium while the packed fans cheered and danced to the tune.

After the goal, it was like something switched on for him. He had been getting slightly frustrated with the way the game was going in the opening quarter of the match, but it was like the goal reminded him of something.

"This is Bayern Munich. Right now, you're not better than a lot of players on this team. You've spent the past week training for one particular thing and you're not even using it here."

It was like his arrogance in trying to play against a team like Bayern the same way he played against one like Holstein Kiel or Ferencváros had just dawned on him.

"Hugo! Jean! Lars! Ansgar!" One by one he called together the players on his team including the goalkeeper as they gathered just by the edge of the penalty box.

"Guys... I'm sorry for what has been going on so far, but if we keep on going like this, it's gonna be a blowout even by half-time," Lukas spoke.

The players knew he was right. They hadn't had a single shot on goal in the opening 29 minutes while Bayern had already managed four on target with Trapp having to make some significant saves already.

"Jean, Hugo, once we kick off now, both of you should start running at the backline. I will send the ball your way. Also, whenever the ball gets to me deep in our own half, you guys should start your runs and expect the ball," he said to Ekitike and Bahoya, the two strikers playing in front of him.

"Lars, Oscar, don't give Müller and Musiala time to link up play. You've seen how fast they can pass the ball around. And once it goes out to the wings to Sané or Olise, it becomes so difficult to stop the cross into the box," he said, looking at Larsson and Højlund.

"Cap, take the goal-kick long towards Ekitike. If we try building up from the back and make a mistake, they will punish us for it," he advised Trapp.

His teammates nodded their heads, no one questioning him. He had said what most of them were thinking and articulated it perfectly well. They didn't even realize they were receiving advice from a kid who had just made his debut less than two months ago.

Toppmöller watched quietly from the touchline as Lukas finished speaking to his teammates and they all got in position at the same time as Bayern to resume the match.

"What were they talking about?" was what he was thinking as he stood with his hands crossed.

FWEEEE

The referee's whistle blew and Jean Bahoya kicked off the ball to resume the game. The pass was sent to Tuta near Frankfurt's penalty box, and just as Lukas had told them, Bahoya and Ekitike both started running towards Bayern's defense after the kick-off.

Lukas, however, ran back to his own defense to receive the ball, and Tuta obliged, laying the ball off for him.

He glanced over his shoulders as the ball was coming to him, and just like he thought, Müller and Musiala were already bearing down on him. Müller was right behind him, while Musiala was arching his run to cut the passing lane to Højlund.

Lukas moved his body weight to the left, his hips facing the direction of his turn. Müller read that and stuck his left foot out to dispossess Lukas when he turned.

The ball didn't go Müller's way, though, as Lukas planted his left leg at the last second, and used the outside of his right to turn into the empty space.

Without giving Müller or Musiala the time to get closer to him, he lobbed the ball over the entire midfield into the run of Ekitike.

"Great turn from Brandt to evade the press from Müller. He clips a pass towards the Bayern defense... Ekitike and Bahoya are already up front. Ekitike up against Dier... He's able to lay the ball off for Bahoya... CHANCE!"

Bahoya hit the ball first time on the bounce after Ekitike flicked it to him, but Kim got a block in as the ball deflected out for a corner.

"Eintracht Frankfurt almost drawing level immediately after conceding. All started by Brandt deep in his own half. Was this what he called his team together to discuss after the first goal?"

"Seems like it, James, and it's almost paid dividends so quickly. Eintracht have a corner and a chance to move the game out of their half where it has been since kick-off."

As Lukas walked up the pitch from the centerline, he didn't walk towards the corner area. He had been the only corner taker for both corners whenever he was on the pitch so far, so even the Bayern coaching staff, who had analyzed Eintracht Frankfurt's recent games, were surprised when Knauff strutted towards the left corner flag and Lukas jogged to the edge of Bayern's penalty box opposite the side the corner was being taken from.

"A change-up in corner-kick routine from Eintracht Frankfurt. Surprising 'cause Brandt has been delivering them whenever he's on the field, and he's rarely delivered them wrongly."

Knauff raised up both hands before whipping the in-swinger towards the back post.

Neuer, crowded out in the middle of his post, tried to go for it but it evaded his hand ever so slightly as it headed towards Kristensen at the back post.

Lukas, by the edge of the penalty area, calmly took a few steps backwards as his eyes remained glued to the ball which was now being fought for between Kristensen and Kim.

Kim came out on top as he got a strong head to the ball, clearing it out of danger.

Or so he thought.

A/N: I haven't been doing a lot of these recently... Please help me with gifts if you can. It is a really good motivator.

Love y'all regardless

-Writ