Chapter 545 Deadlock


    The referee''s whistle sounded again, and the Juventus yers went into action. Andrea Pirlo smashed the ball from the corner spot and sent it on a curling trajectory toward Genoa''s already chaotic box.


    Within the area, the yers of both teams had long started a messy battle of pulling, grabbing, and shoving each other. As the corner ball descended toward the box, there seemed to be the smell of gunpowder around the area. The scramble was a fight for aerial superiority blown out of proportion. As such, the eyes of all thepeting yers glittered with indomitable fighting spirit as they all struggled to outwit their opponents and meet the corner ball.


    "Whoosh..."


    Leonardo Boni, the Juventus center-back, was the first to overpower an opponent and leap off the ground to meet the corner ball. But under the entanglement of another opponent, his head missed the ball by mere inches, and he could only dejectedly watch it continue toward the direction of the far post.


    "Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh..."


    A secondter, yers of both teams continued towering high into the air to connect with the ball. But their attempts were all futile, and the ball shed barely above their heads as it continued on its teasing trajectory toward the area beyond the far post.


    The next instant, right as the ball was about to float out of y, a silhouette finally connected with it. It was Carlos Tevez, who had long camped in the area just beyond the far post. The center-forward reacted like a Ninja and contorted his physique to throw himself at the ball. He headed it back toward the middle of the box before it could head out of y.


    Another chaotic scuffle followed as the yers of both teams pounced after the returning ball like hungry hyenas going after a helpless rabbit. But eventually, it was Arturo Vidal, the Juventus midfielder, who came out on top to send the ball past an opponent and toward the goal with a raised boot. His luck seemed to smash through the heavens, and by some miracle, his attempt shed through the spaces ''in between'' a hoard of yers before finding the back of the.


    "GOAAAL..."


    Being his usual entric self, Arturo Vidal immediately roared like a madman and started racing toward the corner g to celebrate the goal. But right after taking a few strides, he seemed to realize that something was off about the situation and stopped dead in his tracks.


    The next moment, he reflexively nced toward the referee and noticed that the man was already pointing his arm toward Juventus'' side of the pitch. Everything was then clear to Vidal. The referee had already blown the whistle to cancel the goal and then offered a free-kick to Genoa.


    "Motherfuc..."


    Arturo Vidal used every ounce of his willpower to stop himself from going berserk as he raced toward the referee. His eleration was impressive, and he was in the referee''s face within no time.


    "Ref!" He said with narrowed eyes akin to a predator eyeing its prey. "What did I do wrong? I went for a fair ball and tapped it into the back of the without touching an opponent! So, tell me why you canceled our goal and offered the opponents a free kick. Are you kidding me?"


    "Raised boot!" The referee said lightly and stepped away from Vidal. "The goal will not stand as your actionscked unprofessionalism. You were just inches from kicking Facundo Roncaglia in the head with your boot studs. Had he not stepped back to avoid your lunge, he would now be lying on the ground with a head injury. So, Vidal! Tell me why I should allow a goal scored in such a manner to stand?"


    Vidal was incensed after hearing the referee''s exnation. "Football is a man''s game," he said. "How can you cancel a goal simply because a defender ying in the Italian Serie A, which happens to be one of the top football leagues in the world, was scared to make contact with the ball? Your actions don''t make any sense!"


    The referee smiled and said, "I have already given my exnation. The goal will not stand. Step away and let the opponents take the free-kick."


    "But..." Arturo Vidal was about to continue arguing. But right then, the other Juventus yers, including Andrea Pirlo, Carlos Tevez, and Patrice Evra, swooped in. They pulled the anguished Chilean midfielder away and stopped him from further angering the referee.


    Of course, the other Juventus yers were also unsatisfied with the referee''s decision. But they remained disciplined and handled the situation calmly to prevent the worst-case scenario from happening. They wanted to ensure Vidal wouldn''t get a pointless red card that early in the game.


    *FWEEEEEEE*


    A minuteter, after the situation on the pitch calmed down, the referee blew the whistle. The game restarted with a Genoa free-kick. But after only a dozen or so seconds, the Genoa yers lost possession, and the Juventus yers took advantage of the opportunity to continue dictating the game''s tempo.


    The Juventus yers were sure on fire. They continued arraying themselves in their 3-4-1-2 formation whileunching attack after attack against Genoa''s defense. They yed splendid football throughout the rest of the first half and came close to scoring on numerous asions. But again and again, their efforts always fell short when they reached the final third, and they couldn''t find the back of the. As such, the score remained deadlocked at 0:0 as the yers matched down the tunnel for the half-time break.


    After the fifteen-minute break, the game resumed with a bang. The Juventus yers, who had just listened to Coach Max Allegri''s pep talk, continued ying like they were on steroids. From the very 1st minute of the second half, they started dominating proceedings with their neat midfield y while sometimes attacking from the wings to mount pressure on Genoa''s defense.


    Everything that followed was only natural. The Genoa yers couldn''t match Juventus'' individual brilliance and teamwork. As such, the yers in red and blue jerseys fell back into their own side of the pitch to defend. Their strategy was straightforward. They arrayed themselves into a bizarre 3-6-1 formation, with all bodies back in their own half to ''park the bus'' and weather Juventus'' increasingly terrifying attacks.