Chapter 63 — Sending a Bundesliga Team Home with the Bundesliga Logo
Schalke 04 had expected they might lose away. After Arsenal poured a bottle of 7-Up down Manchester United's throat at Old Trafford, they were regarded as the second-strongest side in Europe after Real Madrid—so Schalke were mentally prepared for defeat. What they didn't expect was to be so easily beaten!
Not even half an hour in and they were 0–2 down, and damned if they didn't lose to that tired old tactic of "both wings flying" — that overused wide-attacking setup.
If anyone could claim mastery of the wing game, Arsenal wouldn't even be worthy of polishing Bayern Munich's shoes. Against Bayern you could withstand them for forty minutes; tonight…?
Could it be because of that youngster? But that kid is just unbelievably lucky — lucky through and through. The first goal was a start-of-game sucker-punch into a moment of inattention; the second was pure blind luck.
The Schalke players were boiling with resentment. Huub Stevens, seeing his players unsettled, stood on the touchline and shouted, "Defend! Hold the line first."
Although Schalke had possession, their players were distracted — steadying themselves first was certainly the right call.
Play resumed. Lewis Holtby rolled the ball back to Jefferson Farfán.
Schalke are an upper-mid table Bundesliga side; when they decide to defend, Arsenal really had no quick answers. Xia Qi's (Xia Qi) "unbeatable" attribute had no chance to come into play when he couldn't receive the ball.
Like the martial-arts quip goes: Little Li Flying Dagger — without the dagger, what good is Li Xunhuan?
"Schalke's defending is good — Jermaine Jones and Roman Neustädter as the double pivot sweep a huge area; Arsenal's ground passing-and-moving is finding it very hard to break through their zone."
"Jones with a tackle — nice!"
"Jones a clean Maldini-like tackle to win the ball off Mikel Arteta."
"Jack Wilshere! Ah! He's too light in the European game — that won't do! Neustädter squeezes him tight and Wilshere loses the ball."
"At the moment Arsenal's attacks are petering out; if you keep wasting chances you'll get hit on the break."
No sooner had Zhang Lu finished his commentary than Neustädter intercepted Wilshere's through pass in the middle and quickly switched play to the right.
Holtby carried the ball down the right, Klaas‑Jan Huntelaar followed into the box — Schalke had been patient for ten-odd minutes, and just before half-time they showed their teeth.
Holtby saw Bacary Sagna push up to intercept and carried the ball out wide. Sagna allowed him the outside run, but as Holtby was almost leaning wide he suddenly changed direction and came back inside.
Sagna had been ready to shepherd him down the outside touchline; the change of direction caught him off guard. In the scramble Sagna got beaten by a shoulder from Holtby.
The sudden move also left Thomas Vermaelen behind on his heels.
With a small change of pace Holtby beat Vermaelen easily.
"Ah! Through on goal!"
"Vito Mannone has come off his line!"
"Shot! It's a feint!"
"The ball's to Klaas‑Jan Huntelaar!"
On the pitch, facing the rushing goalkeeper Vito Mannone, Holtby faked a shot and played a true pass; the ball reached the center.
Huntelaar and Per Mertesacker tussled and Huntelaar poked the ball first.
The ball deflected into the unguarded goal.
2–1!
Schalke pulled one back just before half-time.
That goal left the fans who had been chanting "punch the clock at half-time" feeling awkward. There are no weak teams in the Champions League — a moment's inattention, and you pay.
In the dressing room, Arsène Wenger was furious. "When the midfield can't feed the forwards, why don't you adapt?" he demanded. "Xia, where's your flexible movement? Wilshere, what about your link-up with Xia Qi? Why insist on short passing infiltration to tear them open? Why can't we use the long ball? In the second half we'll be more controlled — we've got a one-goal lead, we should be more patient than them."
In the away dressing room, Schalke's reply was simple: "In the second half we'll attack first, because they won't make the same mistakes again."
The second half began and Huub Stevens anticipated Wenger's adjustments. At the whistle Schalke pressed high.
Holtby repeatedly got past Arteta and Santi Cazorla down the flank, reached the right edge of the box, and cut a cross to Huntelaar. Huntelaar controlled, steadied, and curled a shot.
The ball drew an almost anti-physical "S"-shaped arc, struck the top-left corner, and ricocheted out in front of the goal.
Amid the scramble, Mannone punched the ball out of the area. Schalke full-back Christian Fuchs surged onto the rebound and, without controlling, thudded a fierce shot that scraped the post and flew out.
Three minutes later Schalke came again: Holtby ran the right channel and crossed low; Huntelaar leapt amidst the crowd and headed — the ball smashed against the crossbar and bounced down into Mannone's arms.
"Right now Schalke's pressure is tidal — Holtby is blowing Arsenal's left open. Arsenal must change, or conceding is only a matter of time."
Wenger knew it would be tough in the second half because they hadn't killed Schalke off in the first.
Holding a six-point cushion in the group gives Arsenal a bit more margin for error in the group stage; he wanted to see whether his players could perform under adversity. In good times you look to Xia Qi; when things are bleak, who steps up? If no one does, he could still adjust the lineup later.
Mannone quickly threw the ball out; it reached Santi Cazorla. Huntelaar pressed, Cazorla passed to Jack Wilshere.
At the moment Cazorla released the pass, Xia Qi made a straight run into the opponent's box — a blistering forward charge, aiming straight for the danger zone.
Schalke retreated quickly.
Lukas Podolski received Wilshere's pass on the left and lofted the ball into the small box.
The moment the ball left his foot a smattering of disappointed groans rose across the Emirates Stadium. Arsenal supporters are discerning; many instantly saw the delivery's flaw — the receiving angle was too narrow, not a good spot. Podolski's pass lacked the quality that Wilshere's deserved.
Xia Qi burst from the crowd and sprinted towards the ball.
Goalkeeper Timo Unnerstall (the text uses Unnerstall) saw that Konstantinos Papadopoulos had failed to cut Xia Qi off, but the keeper wasn't panicking. From his perspective, when Xia Qi was in that position there was nothing but the near-post to aim for; saveable. He shifted quickly toward the near post on the goal line; Joel Matip made the same read and closed in, forming a tight corner.
The shooting corridor for Xia Qi was sealed tight by the two of them.
Many Arsenal fans who had been standing and waving settled back into their seats. In everyone's eyes that attack was over — unless Xia Qi's shot could bend. But how likely was that?
Papadopoulos chased Xia Qi, slid across to cut the link between Xia Qi and Mikel Arteta; he assumed Xia Qi's only options were to lay it off or to try to force his way through. If Xia Qi tried to power through there was Matip in front of him; simply defend Xia Qi's pass and the danger was gone.
Instead of heading the ball down from height, Xia Qi waited for it to drop, then launched himself — his left leg snapped out in mid-air like a martial-arts double-kick. He struck under the ball with the outside of his left foot, sending it shooting up with heavy spin; it cleared Matip and Unnerstall's heads.
Unnerstall, knowing he couldn't reach it, still leapt and flung his hand up. Seeing the ball miss his fingertips by at least a hand's breadth, Unnerstall relaxed.
A projectile that high should have flown out for a throw-in. But after the ball cleared the two heads its upward momentum inexplicably vanished, leaving only a push toward the far corner.
It was eerie — a descending leaf, yet not quite like a typical curl. The upward force suddenly stopped.
"Ah!"
Screams erupted around the Emirates.
Holy sh*t! The ball didn't curve — it changed trajectory!
Incredible!
Fans sprang from their seats.
An anti-physics shot! Even Newton himself couldn't nail this.
Live stream chat erupted:
"Xia Qi! An unconventional strike!"
"It's in!"
"My God — another wonder-goal!"
"This is an anti-physics shot. I can hear Sir Isaac Newton raging."
"3–1!"
"Xia Qi has produced back-to-back Champions League hat-tricks."
"Schalke 04 were two goals down at 61 minutes and their qualification hopes looked bleak."
Online:
"Damn! Why did my physics teacher fail me? Because of Xia Qi's goal I deserve at least 90!"
"Bro, don't tell your physics teacher that — I'm afraid he'll send Sir Isaac Newton after Xia Qi at night. We shouldn't ruin someone's grades to get revenge."
"Doesn't Xia Qi's strike look like the Bundesliga logo?"
"No way! Insane — send a Bundesliga team home with the Bundesliga logo."
"Tyrant of brutality!"
"Xia Qi's strike is extremely difficult — he leap-struck it with the outside of his foot; compared to Quaresma he at least has the aerial leap."
"Science explain this, not the footwork!"
"Science was murdered by Xia Qi's shot…"
"Do I even have to take physics exams from now on?"
…
(END CHAPTER)
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