Chapter 63: Offensive Exchange

Chapter 63: Offensive Exchange

After receiving the ball, Lazzari immediately cut inside toward the penalty area! Liberec's center-backs, who had been focusing on defending against Bruno and Di Natale, thought they would break through the middle. Instead, the ball was quickly passed twice and ended up on the right flank.

At this moment, Liberec's center-back, Radoslav Kovač, had to rush towards Lazzari in a hurry. Lazzari showed no signs of slowing down.

The 33-year-old Czech defender Kovač didn't slow down either, predicting Lazzari would attempt to dribble past him, so he went to ground for a tackle.

Lazzari jumped to avoid the tackle! "You're still green, kid!" Kovač thought proudly to himself, only to be shocked: Where's the ball?

He hadn't reached the ball at all!

Just as the defender was about to reach him, Lazzari cleverly poked the ball towards the sideline and leapt to avoid the sliding tackle.

"João Cancelo! He's so fast!"

Receiving the ball was Cancelo, the 19-year-old Portuguese right-back, who pushed the ball forward with incredible speed, then accelerated to catch up to it, smoothly cutting into the penalty area!

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By this time, Liberec's defense was torn apart, and Cancelo's speed and decisive cut inside meant he was already in the penalty area by the time Liberec's defenders could react.

After cutting into the box, Cancelo feigned a shot, fooling the desperately backtracking Liberec midfielder into a sliding tackle, then coolly pulled the ball back as the defender slid past him out of bounds. He calmly passed the ball across the goal.

At the goalmouth, Di Natale, holding off Liberec's center-back Renato Količ, turned and shot!

Liberec's goalkeeper Kovař dived for the ball, pushing it towards the right side of the goal.

A figure in a black and white striped shirt rushed forward — it was Pinzi, the 32-year-old veteran who swept the ball towards the goal just before it crossed the baseline.

"Bruno Fernandes! He's unmarked now... open goal! He shoots..."

Facing the wide-open goal, Bruno fired a direct shot!

The ball flew straight towards the goal. The recently diving goalkeeper Kovař, still lying on the ground, was powerless to stop the shot.

He could only lift his head and watch in despair as the ball flew into the net.

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"GOOOOOOOOOL!!!!!!" The commentator leapt from his seat.

"Beautiful counterattack! Speed! Udinese has shown us their speed!"

"Spectacular goal! Bruno Fernandes! This summer's superstar signing for Udinese scores in his first match for the club, netting his first career European goal!"

"1:0! Udinese takes the lead!"

———

In the stands of Stadio Friuli, the fans erupted from their seats, cheering, shouting, jumping, and clapping to celebrate the goal.

"So fast!" the commentator exclaimed. "From a backfield interception to a successful counterattack, Udinese has completely ripped apart Liberec's defense with swift passes, demonstrating what a counterattack should look like."

After the goal, Bruno didn't celebrate alone; he ran towards the fans' stands, beckoning Lazzari, Di Natale, and Cancelo to join him.

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On the sidelines, Guidolin also celebrated the goal. He was thrilled, as the star player they'd spent a fortune to bring in had scored within the first ten minutes, indicating he was in great form.

This was good news!

On the other side, the Liberec coach stared blankly at the field, still somewhat stunned. His team had conceded so soon?

Udinese's counterattack was too quick, catching the coach off-guard.

"Damn it!" cursed the Liberec coach, standing up restlessly. This goal was completely unexpected, and now he had to decide whether to continue pushing forward or stabilize the play for a while.

Knowing he couldn't hesitate at this moment, the Liberec coach made his decision: Keep attacking! The goal was just an accident, a surprise punch from the opponent.

"Jiří," the Liberec coach shouted to his left-back, "Keep pushing forward! Udinese has just scored, and they might relax a bit. We need to equalize as soon as possible!"

"Understood, coach!" said Freisleben grimly, his face somber. The recent goal was ultimately initiated from his intercepted pass, and he was holding onto that frustration.

Thinking it over, he added, "Tell Dejan to be careful of their counters! They're very fast!"

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As the game resumed, Bruno quickly noticed that Liberec hadn't tightened their defense but continued to attack. The only change was that their tall defensive midfielder, Dejan Drag, wasn't pushing as far forward as before, instead staying back as a defensive barrier.

Bruno smirked at the naivety; Udinese's strategy for the game was to fully utilize the speed on the wings. Relying solely on a defensive midfielder, no matter his capabilities, was foolish.

Most importantly, Liberec's left-back Freisleben hadn't learned his lesson and was still pushing up aggressively, even more so than before.

Seizing the opportunity, Udinese, led by Bruno, launched a vigorous attack on Liberec's goal.

At this point, if the Liberec coach had chosen to retract his defense and play it safe, his team might have stood a chance. But he misjudged the situation and was pleased to see his team press high, thinking that the inexperienced Udinese would leave significant gaps at the back—a great opportunity for Liberec to score.

Then, both teams, seemingly disregarding defense, began a full-on offensive battle.

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