Screenshotted

At Juan Pizjuan Stadium, the game kicked off with the referee's whistle.

Sevilla took the first kick.

Like most La Liga teams, Sevilla is known for their possession game.

They leveraged their midfield numbers, constantly passing the ball back and forth, while their striker, Gameiro, darted between the box and midfield, looking for an opening.

In matches between strong teams, the beginning often involves both sides feeling each other out.

To put it nicely, it's cautious,to put it bluntly, it's playing for a sneaky counterattack.

This tactic might be boring, but it's surprisingly effective. Often, it only takes one chance to come out on top.

That's why many coaches aim for a 1:0 victory.

Of course, this tactic is more common among the underdogs. Top clubs like Real Madrid and Barcelona would generally not resort to such strategies.

Big clubs have their pride, and besides, such a dull approach could seriously hurt the club's ability to draw fans and attract star players.

Imagine which superstar would want to be pressed into playing defensively all the time.

Five minutes into the game, Sevilla was still patiently passing in their own half, with Valencia barely touching the ball.

But they weren't worried,it wasn't anything new to them.

Especially after playing against Barcelona, where they hardly got a touch.

Sevilla's coach, Unai Emery, clearly had watched Rohan's games.

He knew this promising young player from India was talented in attack but somewhat lacking in defense.

So from the start, he had his midfielder, Banega, who wore number 19, take charge of the offense.

Banega received a pass from a teammate and chose to dribble past Rohan.

As a South American player, Banega's dribbling skills need no introduction. With just a feint, he shook off Rohan completely.

Rohan didn't panic but kept tracking and tried to anticipate where Banega might pass.

However, the experienced player kept his body between Rohan and the ball, giving him no chance to tackle.

Seeing this, Valencia's players quickly fell back to defend. Parejo, also a midfielder, rushed to help Rohan intercept the ball.

Before they could close him down, Banega passed to Vitolo, who was originally marked by Parejo.

Vitolo, known for his speed, took the ball in stride and then accelerated towards the box.

Valencia's defender, João Pereira, immediately chased after him, trying to block any cut-inside and push him towards the sideline.

Vitolo charged down to near the baseline and was about to cross.

But as the defender lunged to block, Vitolo pulled the ball back, then drove it into the box.

He looked up and saw his teammate, striker Gameiro, already in the box and unmarked.

Vitolo, feigning a shot, suddenly passed the ball sideways to Gameiro near the penalty spot.

Gameiro didn't hesitate, striking the ball cleanly.

The shot was tricky, and even though Alves dived desperately, the ball was still out of his reach.

He could only watch as the ball flew into his net.

The referee blew his whistle, pointing to the center circle.

Goal valid.

Score 1:0.

Gameiro, thrilled, ran to the sidelines and saluted the Sevilla fans.

The Sevilla fans applauded back.

The stadium erupted, but the moment belonged to Sevilla.

After the celebrations, Gameiro walked back to the center circle, passing Rohan with a grin.

"Hey, man from India, that's the quality of the top European leagues, how about that?"

"Not bad, really strong," Rohan nodded, then pointed to the ground, "But the victory will belong to Valencia."

"Heh, we'll see about that."

Gameiro gave a polite smile, but his eyes were full of disdain.

In his view, it was already a huge challenge for Indian players to compete in second-tier leagues, let alone in a top-tier league like La Liga.

...

"Banega dribbles forward, cleanly bypassing Rohan."

"Parejo moves up to close him down."

"Banega passes the ball to his teammate Vitolo."

"Vitolo fakes a cross, getting past Valencia's defender João Pereira."

"He's in the box now, will he shoot?"

"Vitolo kicks, passing the ball to the advancing Gameiro, a very deceptive move."

"Gameiro shoots... and it's a goal."

As the commentator finished, Shaiju slammed his hand on the table, visibly frustrated.

Clearly, he was not pleased with the outcome.

Valencia had set up their formation to score early in the game.

But now, less than ten minutes in, they had already conceded a goal.

Once Sevilla decided to sit back and counter, the outcome of the match was almost predictable.

"Rohan's defense is still too weak,getting bypassed was the main reason for the goal," Bineesh said, shaking his head, his face expressionless.

His words were undoubtedly a dig.

But Shaiju countered, "Rohan being out of position is part of the problem, but it's unfair to put all the blame on him."

"It's mainly because Sevilla suddenly picked up the pace, disrupting Valencia's rhythm."

"From the start of the attack to the goal, it all happened in about ten seconds,there was no time to react."

As they discussed, the online comments were just as lively.

Especially the viewer who had bet on eating a smelly sock, who was now gloating.

"HAHA, I told you, starting Rohan was asking for trouble. Looks like I won't be eating that sock after all."

"Get lost, you big mouth who doesn't keep his word."

"Exactly, you didn't even follow through last time. You should change your username before you show your face here again."

Amid the barrage of taunting comments, the sock-eating viewer was clearly struggling to keep up, hurriedly typing into the chat.

"Fine, I'll owe the last one, but if Valencia loses this game, I'll eat double. If they don't, we're square."

"Screenshotted. Remember your words."

Back on the field, the game continued.

Valencia's coach, Nuno, looked visibly upset after the early goal.

According to his pre-planned strategy, the team was supposed to pick up the pace around the 20th minute to score first by changing the rhythm.

But it turned out the opponent had the same idea and even executed it first, catching them off guard.

However, there was still plenty of time left, and scoring an equalizer wasn't out of the question.

But the goals had shifted.

If initially coming to Juan Pizjuan Stadium was about taking all three points, now Nuno felt that leaving with a draw, securing one point, would be a victory in itself.