Chapter 44: In the Name of God, a Bloody Slaughter
The match continued.
Conceding two more goals!
Olympiacos realized the gap between reality and ideal.
They played more cautiously; often before an Olympiacos player could close down, the ball had already been passed away.
No matter how hard Arsenal players ran, they couldn't be faster than the ball.
This approach was correct in concept, but it demanded very high positional discipline from the players — rapid passing is like a precision instrument; even a small mistake can trigger a collapse.
Only Barcelona and the Spain national team can play that slickly.
Other teams can improvise, no problem; but making it a dominant style… there will always be some issues.
In the 12th minute, under high pressing, Paulo Machado misplaced the ball while trying to evade Jack Wilshere's pressure and put it at Mikel Arteta's feet.
Olympiacos's tiki-taka, after six passes, broke down.
Arteta, gifted a golden chance, was immediately swarmed by Paulo Machado and Aboud.
Arteta threaded the ball through a seam to Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
The latter sprinted hard toward Olympiacos's half.
Olympiacos, showing the level of Greek champions, retreated in an orderly tide-like formation.
Just watching their tactical discipline explains how they had beaten Schalke 04.
If tonight they hadn't been arrogant and tried to press for quick attacks — which Xia Qi had exploited — it might have become a hard-fought siege.
Olympiacos coach Jardim glanced at Arsène Wenger with some unease, silently regretting that trying to play tactics in front of a tactical master felt like bringing a big axe to Lu Ban's workshop.
Oxlade-Chamberlain dribbled, dribbled, dribbled for a dozen meters before someone stepped up to block him.
Not only in front, but players on his right and behind began to close in.
Greek football has strong German influence; more than half the coaches in the Greek league are German.
The high press that's been popular in the Bundesliga these past years (the "mad dog" style) has also become common in Greece.
It uses aggressive movement to create local numerical superiority for pressing.
This tactic isn't actually new — Italians used it long ago.
What Klopp and Rangnick innovated was embedding defensive principles into the forward line, creating the concept of "defensive forwards" — revolutionizing modern football.
At this moment it was Olympiacos's midfield, not their defenders, pressuring Oxlade-Chamberlain.
Chamberlain managed to pass the ball to Wilshere before the ring closed.
Before the ball had settled at Wilshere's feet, Greco surged in; Wilshere smartly flicked the ball over Greco's head and into the box.
Again, Xia Qi!
Xia Qi materialized like a ghost, back to goal, arms spread to hold off both Manianitis and Torosidis, and laid the ball off to the arriving Lukas Podolski.
Podolski swept past Xia Qi, took the ball, and poked it toward the near post!
The ball slid quickly past the defender's toe and hugged the inside of the post into the net.
The goalkeeper, caught by the sightlines, was several beats late and abandoned the save on the goal line.
Arsenal struck again.
Arsenal fans were elated; was this so-called dark horse really that good?
Olympiacos players were stunned, staring vacantly at their net and thinking: is this what the essence of a big club feels like?
Podolski sprinted from one end of the pitch to the other.
"Insane, completely insane—how long has it been? 12 minutes! Only 12 minutes and three goals!"
"Could it be that tonight, in the name of God, we're unleashing a massacre?"
"I doubt it. Olympiacos's coach will surely tighten the defense."
"Olympiacos planned an opening press, but it backfired. Arsenal's counterattacks are so fast — two or three passes and a shot — and they hit the target. It stunned Olympiacos."
Zhang Lu (the pundit) was indeed prescient: after Olympiacos's fourth kickoff they shrank back.
But Zhang Lu only foresaw the beginning, not the ending.
Olympiacos contracted its defensive lines, their offensive intent faded, and shortly after the restart they lost possession.
After several passes the ball reached Wilshere.
Manianitis, assigned to mark Xia Qi, panicked and wedged Xia Qi behind him, trying to cut the Wilshere–Xia connection.
But as he leaned back, he leaned into air!
The Xia Qi he'd been holding behind him had vanished, like a parent looking away briefly and suddenly the child in plain sight is gone!
Manianitis broke into a cold sweat and immediately looked around.
He saw Xia Qi had somehow appeared behind his teammate Torosidis, at the far post.
Manianitis raised his hand and shouted: "Offside! Offside!"
Amid the offside shouts, Xia Qi leapt high at the far post and headed back — a moon-gazing flick — into the net.
"Xia Qi…Qi…Qi…Qi!!!!"
"When did he get there?"
"That goal was way too easy!"
On the sidelines,
the assistant hesitated, then raised the flag.
Beep!
The referee immediately signaled to disallow the goal.
Xia Qi wore an air of a bystander as he walked to the center circle; his teammates angrily surrounded the referee.
Wenger stormed from the technical area toward the fourth official and shouted: "Are you this unprofessional? Offside should be judged at the instant of the pass, not by the player's final standing position!"
"Calm down! Calm down, sir."
In the penguin livestream, replaying Wilshere's pass and Xia Qi's run, everyone found it was actually a good ball.
With VAR not yet authoritative, the ref's decision stood.
Although the goal was chalked off, Manianitis's back was drenched in cold sweat — he'd been terrified.
He heard his coach scream: "S***, please focus! Don't let him get out of your sight again."
Manianitis had thought the task was simple and that his own carelessness cost him the "child."
But once the match began and Xia Qi's unstructured off-the-ball runs became apparent, Manianitis knew he'd been wrong.
No wonder wives complain about childcare — it's not easy to watch all the time.
In the 35th minute, Oxlade-Chamberlain again ripped open Olympiacos's right flank and cut inside; Xia Qi suddenly sprung like a rabbit, moving toward Chamberlain.
Manianitis immediately stuck tight, guarding both Chamberlain and Xia Qi's combination.
He gave himself a 9 out of 10 for that defensive action — just short of perfect, because he feared pride.
Chamberlain cut into the box, glanced at Xia Qi, and curled a shot.
Roy Carroll performed a sensational save, the ball bounced off his fingertips onto the post.
Manianitis then remembered Xia Qi — but Xia Qi had again disappeared…
Suddenly Xia Qi burst from the crowd, met the ball and slid it past Roy Carroll's head into the net.
4–0!
Xia Qi completed a first-half hat-trick.
Olympiacos's coach was furious; he screamed at Manianitis: "You idiot, who are you marking?"
"Torosidis, you mark that boy."
Manianitis felt not anger at the coach but gratitude — relieved to be relieved.
Dead ally or not, everywhere's the same!
"Down four at halftime, Olympiacos must find a way to keep Xia Qi in sight, or a massacre is inevitable."
"Xia Qi's style tonight is different from before — darker, like a ghost assassin."
"A killer hiding in the night, impossible to defend — Olympiacos's backline faces a major test…"
(END CHAPTER)
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