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Chapter 198: Champions League Quarterfinals, First Leg 3
🕑 Added 2025-10-17 21:18:18 +0000 UTCKai’s eyes were locked on Reus. He knew that ever since Dortmund lost Götze, their entire creative load had shifted onto Reus’ shoulders.
He had to be both the spark and the architect — and this season, Reus had been in sensational form.
But good form could always be disrupted.
Just like now.
As soon as Reus received the ball, he tried to shift it across the pitch — but Kai was already closing in.
Reus pulled the ball back instinctively. He knew he couldn’t match Kai’s physicality.
Trying to force a dribble here would only end one way — with him losing the ball.
Kai, meanwhile, was relentless. He pressed forward again, suffocating the space around Reus.
Under that pressure, Reus could feel the weight of it all. Last season, Götze had helped shoulder the creative duties, but now, it was all on him.
That had its benefits — more freedom, more influence — but it also meant that when things went wrong, the cracks showed fast.
Right now, facing Kai one-on-one, Reus couldn’t find a single way through. Even his passing lanes were being swallowed up by Arsenal’s tight, coordinated pressing — and Kai’s reading of the game made things even worse.
Every pass felt like a risk. Every touch felt heavier. The frustration was starting to creep in.
Martin Taylor (Sky Sports): “Reus just can’t get the ball moving! Kai’s defensive work is smothering him. We all know that to beat Arsenal, you have to dismantle their coordinated press — but the heart of that system is Kai. ”
Alan Smith: “Exactly. Everyone knows what needs to be done against Arsenal — but knowing it and doing it are two very different things. They just don’t have the strength or structure to break through this wall.”
After Bayern Munich’s defeat to Arsenal earlier in the campaign, people began studying Wenger’s tactical setup more closely.
It wasn’t a particularly complex system — but it was devastatingly efficient.
Everything flowed through Kai — his positioning, his anticipation, his voice. He was the keystone holding the structure together, and Wenger had built around that perfectly.
How vital was Kai to this Arsenal team?
And no one felt that more directly than his teammates.
“Theo, drop back!”
“Push forward, go!”
“Press! I’ve got you covered!”
“Beautiful, Santi!”
Kai’s voice echoed constantly across the pitch. He never stopped talking, never stopped commanding.
The Arsenal players were so used to his shouts that they moved almost instinctively with his rhythm.
Communication was everything — and with Kai driving it, their cohesion reached another level.
“I’ve got it!”
After Reus found some space with the help of his teammates, he lofted a hopeful cross into the box, but both Koscielny and Mertesacker were there to defend the ball.
Koscielny roared, swung his leg through, and cleared it decisively.
Mertesacker eased off, covering space just behind him.
“Good one!” Kai said as he jogged back, giving Koscielny a high-five. “Keep your line tight. Make sure your positioning stays clean — no gaps!”
Then he gestured toward Lewandowski. “Don’t let him sneak in!”
Koscielny grinned. “Relax, with you screening up front, if we can’t defend properly, we don’t deserve our wages!”
Kai laughed.
Then he turned to Mertesacker. “Be more aggressive, big man! You’re too quiet out there.”
Mertesacker smiled faintly. “Got it.”
Kai clapped his hands and raised his voice again, rallying everyone around him.
“Alright! It’s time to hit them! Forwards, take your shots when you see them!”
They’d spent much of the last spell under pressure, but now they’d started to read Dortmund’s rhythm — and it was time to strike back.
Once again, Dortmund tried to feed Reus, and once again, Kai was waiting.
But this time, his approach was even sharper.
As soon as Reus took the ball, Kai surged forward, body low, timing perfect.
Reus tried to pull away, to turn, to create just half a yard — but Kai didn’t give him even that.
The pressure was immense. Reus tried to pivot, to use his body, but Kai’s strength forced him back, making even shielding the ball a struggle.
“Damn it!” Reus hissed under his breath, feeling the frustration boil over.
Reus cursed under his breath again. As the two wrestled for control, he suddenly felt the pressure ease off.
Thinking he’d created an opening, he swung his leg, ready to slip a pass through midfield—
—but before he could, a foot darted in from the side and poked the ball cleanly away.
Martin Taylor: “Kai wins it! Perfectly timed tackle from the Arsenal captain!”
Borussia Dortmund had been fully committed in attack, which meant their midfield and backline were wide open.
Kai’s timing couldn’t have been better.
After stripping Reus of possession, he gave the winger a shove to keep him off balance, then burst forward with the ball.
He wasn’t the quickest, but he didn’t need to be. Kai glanced up once, spotted Walcott, and released a sharp pass into space.
Walcott took off like lightning down the flank. His pace forced Dortmund’s defenders into retreat, and as he neared the edge of the box, he squared the ball inside.
Suárez collected it on the turn, drawing in two defenders, before darting forward.
Mats Hummels, seeing Cazorla lurking ahead, abandoned Suárez completely and charged to press Cazorla.
Every pair of eyes in the stadium locked on Cazorla.
Cazorla shaped up as if to slide the ball left, and Hummels lunged that way—
—but the Spaniard merely rolled his foot over the ball, straightened, and with a delicate flick of his right boot, chipped it to the far side.
The ball dropped perfectly toward Rosický.
Dortmund’s defensive shape was in chaos now.
Rosický met it with a cushioned header across the goal—
—and suddenly, the ball was skimming toward the edge of the box.
The Dortmund defenders spun around — and froze.
Kai, in his red and white shirt, was already there, swinging through with his right foot.
Bang!
The strike was pure and flat, skimming just above the turf.
Weidenfeller reacted instantly, diving low and stretching his leg — the ball ricocheted off his shin and looped into the air.
It hung there, just a meter from the goal line.
And then—
Out of nowhere, Suárez leaped, arched his back, and met it perfectly with his forehead.
Thump!
The ball smashed into the net.
For a moment, the Westfalenstadion went dead silent.
Yellow shirts stood still. Wide-eyed.
Thirty minutes gone. Dortmund had fired five shots already — none had gone in.
Arsenal? Three shots, one goal.
They led in Germany.
Martin Taylor (shouting over the crowd): “Gooooooooooooooal! Luis Suárez!! The Premier League’s top marksman does it again — and Arsenal strike first in Dortmund!”
Alan Smith: “And it’s that familiar pattern again, Martin! Kai’s drive from a distance, Suárez following up — the man’s instincts are just incredible. He always seems to know where the ball’s going to land!”
Martin Taylor: “Every layer of that move was perfect — and look at those traveling Arsenal fans! They’re loving every second of it.”
