Liverpool. Anfield Road.Champions League Group Stage - Matchday 2.Liverpool vs Bologna.Tuesday Night.
The tunnel at Anfield was narrow. It felt claustrophobic, like the trenches of a war zone. The walls were painted a glossy white, but the sign above the stairs demanded attention.
THIS IS ANFIELD.
Rio Valdes stood in the line-up. He stared at the sign. It wasn't just a decoration; it was a warning. It meant: You are not just playing against eleven men. You are playing against history.
Next to him stood Virgil van Dijk. The Liverpool captain was a mountain. He stood six-foot-four, smelling of expensive cologne and intimidation. He didn't look at Rio. He stared straight ahead, chewing gum with a relaxed arrogance that only the best defender in the world could afford.
Rio checked his System. His remaining lifespan was 603 Days. The match cost of 5 Days was deducted instantly, bringing his new balance to 598 Days.
He had dipped below the 600 mark. The number felt significant. It was a psychological threshold. Every game was literally eating him alive.
The music started. It wasn't the Champions League anthem yet. It was You'll Never Walk Alone. Fifty-four thousand scarves went up in the air. The sound was deafening. It wasn't the sharp, whistling noise of Madrid. It was a deep, baritone roar that shook the floorboards of the old stadium.
Adrian had warned him: "In Madrid, they watch you play. In Liverpool, they play with you. The crowd sucks the ball into the net."
Rio took a deep breath. Bologna had lost the first game. If they lost tonight, with zero points from two games, their Champions League dream was effectively over. They would be fighting for third place and a Europa League spot.
Tyler Stone had sent a text before the game: "Don't embarrass the brand. A draw is a win."
The Kick-Off.Minute 5.The Pressing Storm.
The whistle blew, and Hell opened up.
If Real Madrid was fast, Liverpool was frantic. They played "Gegenpressing"—heavy metal football. The moment Bologna touched the ball, three Red shirts swarmed them like angry hornets. Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister suffocated the midfield. Bologna couldn't string two passes together.
Rio dropped deep to receive the ball from Beukema. "Man on!" Beukema screamed.
Rio didn't need the warning. His [Omniscient Trap] passive skill sensed the pressure radius. Virgil van Dijk had stepped out of the defensive line to hunt him.
Rio prepared to trap the ball. The System calculated the safe angle. Turn left.
Rio turned left. But Van Dijk was already there. The Dutchman didn't tackle. He simply used his body.
SLAM.
It felt like running into a moving statue. Van Dijk's chest collided with Rio's shoulder.
System Notification: Strength Check: CRITICAL FAILURE. Rio Strength: C+ vs Van Dijk Strength: S.
Rio bounced off. He didn't just stumble; he flew two meters and crashed onto the wet English turf. Van Dijk took the ball, calm as ever, and passed it to Salah.
The crowd roared. YEAAAAH!
It wasn't a foul. It was just pure, unadulterated physical dominance. Rio gasped for air, tasting the mud. This was the Premier League physicality. They didn't need to tackle you. They just needed to exist in your space, and you would break.
Minute 20.The Sniper.
Bologna was surviving, barely. They had parked the bus, playing a 5-4-1 formation, trying to weather the storm. But you cannot give Liverpool space on the wings.
Trent Alexander-Arnold received the ball on the right flank. He wasn't pressured. He looked up. He didn't cross the ball. He "whipped" it. A low, curving trajectory that defied geometry.
The ball bypassed the entire Bologna defense. Mohamed Salah was waiting at the far post. The Egyptian King didn't smash it. He simply guided it with the inside of his left foot.
GOAL.Liverpool 1 - 0 Bologna.
Anfield erupted. The noise was physical. Rio felt the vibrations in his teeth. He looked at the scoreboard. Twenty minutes gone. 1-0 down. It looked exactly like the Madrid game. A slow, painful death by a superior opponent.
"We need to hold the ball!" Rio screamed at his teammates. "Stop panicking!"
But they were panicking. Every time they looked up, a red shirt was sprinting at them. The fear was contagious.
Minute 35.The Adaptation.
Rio realized something. He couldn't beat Van Dijk physically. He couldn't beat Alexander-Arnold in a race. He had to use their aggression against them.
The ball came to Rio again. A high pass from the goalkeeper. Van Dijk was behind him, breathing down his neck. The predator waiting for the prey to settle. Van Dijk expected Rio to try to trap it. He was ready to smash through Rio's back the moment the ball touched his foot.
Rio made a decision. Skill Active: The Omniscient Trap (Passive Variation: The Dummy).
Instead of killing the ball, Rio analyzed the spin. The ball was coming in hot. Van Dijk was coming in hot. Rio didn't touch the ball. He shaped his body as if he were going to chest it. Van Dijk braced for impact, leaning forward to engage in the duel.
At the last millisecond, Rio ducked. He let the ball fly over his head.
Van Dijk, expecting a collision with a human body, hit nothing but air. He stumbled forward, his balance compromised for a split second. The ball bounced behind Van Dijk.
Rio spun around the stumbling giant.
"He turned him!" the commentator shouted. "Valdes has turned Van Dijk!"
It was the first time in the match Van Dijk looked human. Rio sprinted toward the goal. He was free. But he wasn't alone. Ibrahima Konaté, the other center-back, was coming across like a high-speed train.
Rio had one second. Shoot? Too far (25 meters). Dribble? Konaté would crush him. Pass?
He saw Dan Ndoye sprinting on the left wing. Alexander-Arnold had pushed up too high, leaving space. Rio didn't need a skill to pass. He needed vision. He sliced the ball with the outside of his boot. A Trivela.
The ball curved around Konaté's outstretched leg and landed in Ndoye's path. Ndoye was one-on-one with Alisson. The Bologna fans in the away end held their breath.
Ndoye shot. Alisson Becker (Liverpool Keeper) made himself big.
THUD.
The ball hit Alisson's chest. Saved.
Rio fell to his knees. It was their only chance. Their only glimmer of light. But the crowd applauded. The Liverpool fans clapped. They appreciated the audacity of the turn.
Halftime.Liverpool 1 - 0 Bologna.
The locker room was different this time. In Madrid, they were shell-shocked. Here, they were angry.
"We can hurt them," Rio said, wiping mud from his face. "Van Dijk is aggressive. He wants to win every ball. If we fake the first touch, we can spin him."
Vincenzo Italiano, the new manager, looked at Rio. "You are isolated, Rio. We need to get bodies closer to you."
"No," Rio said, shaking his head. "If we push up, Salah will kill us on the counter. Keep the bus parked. Just give me the long ball."
"You want to fight Van Dijk alone?" the coach asked, incredulous.
"I don't need to fight him," Rio said, eyes narrowing. "I just need to trick him one more time."
Rio checked his System. Lifespan: 598 Days. He had used no Active Skills yet. He was saving them. He remembered the Platinum Gacha skill description: "The Magnet... resets the tempo of the game."
He had an idea. It was risky. It would cost 2 Days. But if it worked, it would silence Anfield.
Minute 75.The Silence of the Lambs.
The second half was a war of attrition. Liverpool pressed. Bologna defended. The score remained 1-0. Arne Slot, the Liverpool manager, was screaming from the touchline to "Finish it!"
Liverpool won a corner. Van Dijk went up. Konaté went up. The ball was crossed. Cleared by Bologna's defense.
The ball flew out toward the midfield. It was chaos. Bodies everywhere. Rio was standing in the center circle. The ball was coming down from a huge height, spinning wildly. Three Liverpool players were converging on him. Mac Allister, Szoboszlai, and Van Dijk (sprinting back).
They expected Rio to head it or chest it away to safety. They expected panic.
Rio closed his eyes for a microsecond. Pay the price.
System Notification: Payment Accepted. 2 Days Deducted. Skill Activated: The Magnet.
Rio raised his foot. The ball, falling from thirty meters, hit his toe.
Dead.
No bounce. No roll. It stuck to the turf as if it had roots.
The sudden stop of the ball confused everyone. Mac Allister ran past him. Szoboszlai couldn't brake in time. Rio stood still in the eye of the storm. He had the ball. He had 3 seconds of "Absolute Control".
He looked up. Alisson was off his line, expecting a through ball counter-attack.
Rio didn't run. He saw the geometry. [The Golden Arc] + [The Magnet Control].
He chipped the ball. From the halfway line.
The ball sailed over the retreating Van Dijk. It sailed over the desperate leap of Alisson Becker. The Anfield crowd watched in slow motion.
The ball dipped. It hit the underside of the crossbar.
CLANG.
And bounced... IN.
GOAL.Liverpool 1 - 1 Bologna.
The silence was total. Absolute.
Rio stood in the center circle, arms spread wide, soaking in the silence. He had just scored from the halfway line at Anfield.