Chapter 867: Big Favorites
Seeing Choupo-Moting score, Flick felt triumphant, as if the tide was already turning—Bayern overturning United and erasing last season's final.
Moments later came the slap—Bayern conceded again.
"United win it at the edge of the box!"
"N'Golo Kanté gives it to Gündoğan."
"Gündoğan goes long—direct to the front…"
…
United sprang a lightning counter.
Bruno shed Goretzka and tore through Bayern's half, straight for the area.
Bayern had just equalized and pushed high; when United broke, only Süle and Alaba were behind.
Süle sprinted back alongside Bruno; the German center-back turns and accelerates slower, but Bruno started deeper; they reached the box fringe together.
...
The ball fell; Süle read the drop, used his body to pin Bruno to the left.
In Süle's mind, Bruno's edge was pace and dribbling, not physical power—so a touch of pressure should do.
The collision told a different story; Bruno, slight as he looked, met the contact with stubborn strength. He wasn't bulldozing Süle, but he couldn't be shrugged off either—not with Süle needing to play the ball cleanly.
Options abounded—lay back to Alaba, return to the keeper, or simply whack it long. Süle intended to pin, then pass the danger away.
But Bruno thrust his head at the dropping ball, nicking it forward at the last instant.
Süle yanked his leg back—any swing would have smashed Bruno's forehead.
That hesitation let Bruno wriggle free and surge.
...
Perhaps still shaken from his earlier misjudged claim, Neuer mistimed his charge—or Bruno's touch caught him out. Either way, Bruno reached it first.
One deft touch nudged past Neuer, and with the keeper beaten Bruno strode on and side-footed with his left.
Alaba scrambled back and launched into a desperate slide, trying to hook it off the line—but he, and the ball, skidded into the net together.
Turf shredded in his wake.
Bruno never broke stride—he burst beyond the byline, arms aloft, roaring his joy.
Behind him, the whistle confirmed the goal.
Less than three minutes after Bayern drew level, United struck again—Bruno's brace restored the lead.
2–1.
...
By full-time, the Millennium Stadium scoreboard read 3–2—home side first, by convention.
Soon after Bruno's second, United bagged a third.
68': another quick break—Bruno threaded a through ball, Mbappé feinted and drilled near post, the shot nutmegging substitute Jérôme Boateng on its way in.
3–1—United two clear and the win effectively sealed.
Bayern did pull one back late through Thomas Müller, 3–2, but United saw it out at home.
On the night, Bruno's two goals and one assist toppled the Bundesliga giants and encapsulated his rampant form.
United's players celebrated in waves, each stopping to congratulate their captain.
Next month brought the Laureus World Sports Awards; Bruno remained the favorite.
He was chasing a third Laureus.
After losing to Roger Federer in early 2018, the next two Best Sportsman awards went to Bruno.
In 2019, he beat Novak Djokovic, who had won two Slams in 2018, to lift his first.
A year later, he edged F1's Lewis Hamilton for a second straight.
...
This year's main rival was Rafael Nadal, the Spanish legend who had lifted a 20th major last year.
Yet with the pandemic, Nadal's major honor tally in 2020 centered on Roland-Garros, while Bruno held five trophies—Premier League, Champions League, League Cup, Community Shield, and UEFA Super Cup—making him the clear front-runner.
Should he prevail, he would become only the second man to win three in a row, after Federer's four straight from 2005 to 2008.
Though it was already April 2021—strictly speaking, performances were largely baked—reality often bent for landmark displays.
Against Bayern, Bruno's excellence would weigh heavily on voters' minds.
He grinned from ear to ear, chatting with teammates, shaking hands with passing Bayern players—his popularity on the pitch was clear for the world's top footballer.
...
United 3–2 Bayern Munich at Old Trafford.
Bruno, man of the match again, sat atop the headlines—his two goals and assist orchestrating the night, proving the astonishing consistency of his recent years.
Sky Sports called it unbelievable, noting no one had sustained Bruno's standard for so long—not even Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi at their peaks matched this specific consistency.
Such supremacy required not only talent but extraordinary discipline.
British and Portuguese outlets rallied, insisting there was no rational case against Bruno for the looming Laureus—passing him over would be the gravest blow to the award's credibility.
...
After the marquee tie, United led the Champions League odds; English media framed Real Madrid and United as the year's most likely champions.
In first legs across the quarters, three of four Premier League clubs won: City 2–1 Dortmund, Chelsea 2–0 at Porto, while Liverpool fell 1–3 at Real Madrid.
Thus City, United, and Chelsea were widely tipped to reach the last four; Liverpool, likely not.
Real Madrid's European power needs no introduction; "kings of Europe" is earned, not given.
United's defeat of Bayern only boosted belief—perhaps becoming the first side of the modern era to win a fourth straight Champions League.
United were favorites domestically as well.
Pep Guardiola's City charged hard, but United's five-point cushion loomed large with 30 rounds gone.
United's relentless stability made chasing down five points in eight rounds a Herculean task.
In league and in Europe, United stood among the favorites.
(END CHAPTER)
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