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Leverkusen was being pinned back, struggling to clear the ball beyond their half. Juventus applied relentless pressure, with Ramsey and Dybala adding fresh energy and creativity to their attacks. The Allianz Stadium roared with every pass, urging the home side forward as they sought an equalizer.
In the 78th minute, Ronaldo received a clever pass from Bentancur just outside the penalty area. With his back to goal, he turned sharply, evading Aránguiz with a flick before firing a low-driven shot toward the bottom right corner. Once again, Hrádecký was alert, diving quickly to smother the ball. The Leverkusen goalkeeper was proving to be clutch in the final moments of the game as he had been put to the test 4 times in the last 2 minutes.
Seeing his team being locked down in their own third, Rakim decided to drop back further calling for the ball from the keeper. Since all other players were marked, he was a natural choice, and Hrádecký didn't hesitate in throwing the ball his way. Rakim deftly jumped into the air before touching the ball down with his right heel after his left foot flashed across his body.
Dybala and Bentancur were on him in the next moment, but the winger did not panic in the slightest as he stared them down. With a sharp shift of his body weight, Rakim sent the ball rolling to his left, drawing Bentancur toward him. Then, with a flick of his right foot, he nutmegged the Uruguayan midfielder, slipping the ball through his legs and darting past him exciting the field in the process.
The Leverkusen supporters roared in approval, at his cheeky display of skill as he once again collected the ball. Dybala didn't let this chance get away as he turned and latched onto his side trying to shove him off the ball. Rakim didn't face him head-on though as he turned with the press scoping the ball towards the line before cutting behind Dybala.
Escaping from him Rakim wasted no time playing a short pass with Havertz, who had gained a little room from Pjanic's marking before floating into space. Kai didn't hesitate to ping the ball back his way just in time for him to escape another defender who tried to close him down with a swift Cruyff turn.
Before he knew it, he was pinging quick passes with his teammates as he helped them retain possession. Almost like a true maestro, he'd pick the perfect passes that would give his teammates just enough time to react and pick a good pass. Since they were all in the top 85th percentile of professional footballers, this much was easy enough for them to do.
Thus, despite the mounting defensive pressure that the Turin side mounted on them, they retained control of the ball on the left wing. They didn't cross past the halfway line, but it wasn't required of them as long as they held the ball. Since they were in the lead there was no need to force an attack and just waited for the Juventus side to get frustrated.
They didn't have to wait long as Havertz found himself with a bit of space on the wing after Rakim dragged 3 defenders inwards after utilizing a dizzying piece of footwork and skill. After completing that he just calmly locked the ball back to the German forward who was free after Wendell dragged a defender up the wing. Havertz used the breathing room to look up only to see a hand in the distance instantly making up his mind.
Without hesitating he drew his leg back channeling most of his power before launching a lofted pass across the pitch. Aaron Ramsey tried to intercept it with a jump, but he was too late as Havertz's pass gained wings as it sailed towards the right flank. Immediately a foot race ensued as both Diaby and Sandro raced down the flank towards the ball's landing point.
Diaby only looked up once and instinctively knew where it would land and Sandro, who is a world-class full-back, judged the landing point from the winger's body movement. Keeping a hand out both battled for position as they accelerated forward with Sandro surprisingly keeping up with the speedster. As the ball neared its landing point, Diaby's pace was undeniable. His legs seemed to stretch further with every stride, his eyes locked on the ball. Sandro, on the other hand, wasn't backing down.
The Brazilian's defensive instincts were sharp, and despite Diaby's burst of speed, he managed to stay within striking distance. With a final surge, Diaby was the first to reach the ball, his foot meeting it just a split second before Sandro could close the gap. That is as far as he could go as the moment, he landed a pair of feet came sliding hooking the ball and sending him stumbling in the process.
Sandro had timed his slide tackle perfectly for the moment he landed with the ball, giving him no time to react. "That's a fantastic tackle!" Derek Rae stated as the Allianz Stadium erupted in applause. He wasn't done though as he sprung up the next moment picking up the loose ball as he began his charge forward.
Leverkusen barely had the chance to initiate an attack before it was stopped in its track and Sandro wasted no time to initiate a counter. Juventus, who hadn't had a chance to touch the ball for a good few minutes, immediately exploded with the ferocity of lions protecting their pride. It was as if they flipped a switch as Pjanic collected the ball from Sandro before swiftly dribbling up the field.
As he advanced forward he wasted no moment in sending a weighted pass forward into the feet of Ronaldo. The striker held off Tah before flicking it to his right into the run of Matuidi as he pinned off towards the middle. Tah couldn't follow him as he had to back up Weiser to stop Matuidi from breaking through or launching a cross.
It worked as Matuidi didn't find a clear passing lane into the box, but in the end, he was forced to perform a fake shot before abruptly turning back. Seeing Sandro running up the flank he quickly unleashed a pass back to the Brazilian full-back. Sandro, having gained some space, took a touch to steady the ball before whipping a curling cross into the box. A second later Baumgartlinger came sliding in just barely missing the ball and could only watch it as it flew into the box.
The ball curved sharply, sailing into the box with a lot of spin completely bypassing the players around the near post. It descended around the back post but even then, it was too high as it floated around 4.40m from the ground. Bender who was marking the area around the back post didn't even attempt to jump as no above-average player could reach that ball.
However, as he turned his head just as the ball sailed past him, he saw a scary sight that reminded him of the day he wanted superpowers as a little kid. This was real though and the figure wore a black and white Juventus kit jumping well over 2 meters into the air. He almost looked board up there as he waited for the ball to reach him and when it did it was game over.
Hrádecký standing on his line didn't even get a chance to react as the ball comfortably nestled itself into the right side of the net. The wasn't even a moment of silence as the second Ranaldo landed a tsunami of cheers erupted from the stands. The home fans who had seen their lead be robbed screened in elation as they watched the man of the hour sprint to the corner flag.