Football singularity

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~~~

Dr. Muller stood beside Rakim, now awake from his brief MRI-induced nap, holding the tablet containing the scan results and updated treatment protocol. "Alright, Kid, you're officially on Recovery Protocol 1-A, which means no weight-bearing at all for the next 72 hours. You move with crutches. You sleep with your leg elevated. No exceptions."

"We will be handing you over to the recovery team, who will oversee your recovery. We recommend rotating you through cryotherapy sessions and laser therapy treatments, but the team will curate a more detailed plan for you." Dr Muller stated as he handed the tablet over to Simon.

The latter immediately began syncing it with the recovery room terminal. "We've already notified them," Simon added. "By tomorrow morning at the latest, they will have a specialised plan for you."

"For now, we will put you in an orthopaedic boot so you can get around without too many problems." Dr Muller, said as he strapped the grey boot onto Rakim's injured right foot that had been professionally wrapped in medical bandages.

"Thanks, doc, btw, does anyone know the score?" he responded before asking his question to anyone in the room.

The way the medical bay was set up made it impossible for anyone to focus on anything other than the person being treated. It was done so by design, allowing the players who were forced to exit the match to focus solely on improving, rather than on what was happening with their team. "Let me check," one of the assistants stated before quickly exiting the room.

"The score is 2:2," he returned shortly, announcing a score that, while shocking, didn't distress them too much.

"Cheers," Rakim responded before tentatively standing up, utilising a pair of crutches he had received from the good doctor.

~~~

The match clock had just struck the 75th minute, and Liverpool had won a free kick from outside the home team's box. The home crowd in attendance was less than pleased by the referee's decision, and they let their dissatisfaction be known. Each time a Liverpool player touched the ball, they were drowned out by boos. Every time the referee made a decision, he was drowned in curses, no matter if it was a decision in their favour.

Led by the ultras who felt like they were slighted, no one was safe, least of all the away fans who tried to sing their marching song. "You never walk...Shut up, you cheating bast$£, how much did you pay the referee off?" It wasn't only Rakim's tackle that set the fans off, but a string of questionable decisions by the official that pushed the fans over the edge.

After Rakim had scored in the 43rd minute, the first half had ended with a score of 1:0. The second half started off rather hectic with Liverpool charging forward like madmen, but a well-conducted counter in the 52nd minute and Diaby took flight. Mane had cut inwards, at the edge of the box, skipping past Wendell, he was just about to take aim when Tah came sliding in with clinical efficiency.

The tackle was clean, hitting nothing but the leather off the ball despite sending Mane sprawling to the ground. Amidst the hearty cheers of the home fans, Tah jumped up and sent a laser of a pass through the middle. The ball cut through traffic, bypassing the feet of Henderson, slipping under Havert's legs and even bypassing Wijnaldum's desperate lunge.

The ball connected with Lucas Alario just past centre, and the striker, with his back to goal, leaned against Van Dijk as he swept his right foot across the incoming ball. The ball took an arced loop over the head of Gomez, dropping in the area just behind Robertson. The left-back turned on the swivel, trying his best to reach the ball first, but it was already too late.

Given Liverpool's pressing style, requiring the creation of situational number bombardment, it also led to a naturally high defensive line. Usually, one of the central defenders would hang back in such a situation, acting as a libero ready to react to sudden counters. While that would normally work, they underestimated Diabys' pace and pushed too far forward, leaving yards of clear green grass behind them.

That's why just as Robertson turned ready to take control of the ball, he was surprised as a red blur blitzed past him. The French winger did not take the ball down but instead headed the ball forward forcefully and raced after it. The crowd erupted, the stadium buzzing like an agitated hornet's nest that had been triggered.

Diaby didn't care as he continued to widen the distance between himself and the defenders chasing after him. "Diaby's off to the races and he's got daylight ahead of him!" roared Derek Rae on commentary, his voice rising with the roar of the crowd.

Taylor Twellman chimed in with disbelief, "They gave him *too* much room. You cannot give a guy like Diaby that kind of runway—not unless you want to get burned."

Diaby closed in on the ball that had bounced twice just outside the box with predator-like precision. He delicately angled his body as if he was going to square the ball around the outrushing Alisson, only to sweep it to his right, sneaking past the lunging keeper. A collective gasp swept through BayArena as he skipped past the keeper's legs.

Keeping his cool, he calmly slotted the ball into the empty net and continued his run towards the corner flag. "GOAL!" BayArena erupted in ecstasy, their sour mood washed away for a moment.

"GOOOAAAL DIABY! What a counter! What a finish!" Derek Rae shouted, nearly toppling out of his seat.

"From Tah's tackle to Diaby's final touch clinical. Ruthless. That's football played on instinct and pace. Textbook transition football, but they make it look so natural," Twellman added, even clapping as he spoke.

[54' Moussa Diaby – Leverkusen 2:0 Liverpool]

~~~

That, however, was where the good mood of the home fans ended as Klopp soon made two substitutions in the 57th minute. Keïta came on for Wijnaldum, who had become far too cautious following his tackle at the end of the first half. That on its own wasn't the problem, but the home team seemed to target him going into tackles extra hard whenever he received the ball.

Baumgartlinger especially pushed the needle of what he could get away with after receiving a yellow following an elbow to the head during an aerial duel. The psychological pressure the player received from the home fans also played a role in his diminishing performance. Takumi Minamino also came on to replace the winded Fabinho, ready to inject some energy into that Liverpool offence.

He did just that, as moments after he joined the match, he strung a sequence of passes together and managed to light up Salah in the 60th minute. The forward launched a first-time shot from the right rib of the box. His strike was silky clean, sending a curving bouncing shot around Hardeckey's dive into the bottom left corner.

[60' Mohamed Salah – Leverkusen 2:1 Liverpool]

The away section sprang to life like a spark on dry hay. Chants of "Mo Salah, Mo Salah!" rang out as the Egyptian King jogged back toward the halfway line, one arm raised, with the other grasping the ball.

"That's a statement from Liverpool," Derek Rae commented, his voice now a shade sharper. "Salah with a clinical finish. And just like that, we have a game again!"

Taylor Twellman nodded. "They were never going to take that second goal lying down. It's Liverpool. You poke the bear, and it wakes up hungry."

Leverkusen fans booed, but the anxiety was creeping back into their roars. The goal gave Liverpool oxygen and belief, and it showed almost instantly. Their pressing returned with renewed hunger, and the crispness of their passes tightened like coiled wire.

Liverpool started closing the space faster, shrinking the field, and forcing Leverkusen players to make decisions quicker than they wanted. By the 64th minute, Liverpool had nearly equalised again. A quick switch of play from Robertson to Alexander-Arnold found Minamino on the edge of the box. With one deft touch, he dropped the ball to Henderson, who rifled a curling shot from 22 yards.

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To Be Continued...