Chapter 99: Udinese's Achilles Heel

Chapter 99: Udinese's Achilles Heel

Alkmaar's coach had clearly done his homework on Udinese, knowing that Bruno was the key player, so he assigned someone to mark Bruno closely. As soon as Bruno received the ball, Alkmaar's defensive midfielder, Celso Ortiz from Paraguay, charged at him. Ortiz, a tough defender who joined Alkmaar in 2009 and was initially a fringe player, had become a crucial part of the team this season, contributing an average of 3.2 tackles and 4.7 interceptions per game.

Ortiz, not very tall but very agile, stretched his leg out as Bruno turned. This wasn't a friendly interception, but a fierce tackle! To avoid injury, Bruno quickly jumped, and the ball was cleared by Ortiz.

But Bruno wouldn't easily give up control of the ball. After landing, he turned and chased it down, only to see Alkmaar's left midfielder, Victor Elm, about to receive it. Bruno then tackled it away from Elm, sending the ball out of play, and Alkmaar regained possession in their forward line.

The game had just started and was already highly competitive, particularly due to Ortiz's aggressive defending. When Udinese attacked again, Bruno was ready to receive the ball, but Ortiz rushed at him once more. What should Bruno do?

A sudden idea struck Bruno, recalling a move he had practiced diligently over the past two years. He took a big step and dashed towards the ball. Anticipating Bruno would take control and attack, Ortiz decided to repeat his aggressive tackle.

The ball or the man—one had to stay! Ortiz's tackle was full of intensity, a challenge that many opponents had fallen to before, but today he was up against no ordinary adversary. Bruno, with his excellent physical condition and quick reflexes, took early control of the ball.

If he had dribbled forward as usual, he might have collided with Ortiz, who had widened his defensive stance due to his dive, potentially losing the ball and giving Alkmaar a chance to counterattack. Instead, Bruno leaped forward, pulling the ball back slightly with his right foot, just enough to dodge Ortiz's fierce tackle.

Ortiz, realizing he had missed, didn't give up and tried to intercept a second time. Not successful on the first try, he stretched his left leg while using his right as a pivot. Would this double attempt finally block Bruno?

Bruno pulled the ball back with his right foot, then stepped on it with his left and dragged it to the right, evading Ortiz's second tackle attempt! At the same time, Bruno spun 360 degrees to face the attacking direction, with the ball still under his control.

Ortiz, thrown off by Bruno's continuous dribbling and turning, fell to the ground, unable to intercept any further. "Oh... Oh! Oh!! My goodness! An almost perfect Marseille turn, it's like watching Zidane play!" exclaimed the commentator from Sky Italia, "Such a beautiful move, haha! Ortiz had no chance!"

Even Alkmaar's coach couldn't help but open his mouth in awe after witnessing Bruno's performance. Having shaken off Ortiz, Bruno pushed the ball forward and strode after it, driving into Alkmaar's half with the ball!

Feeling great after successfully performing a Marseille turn, Bruno didn't have time to relish the moment; he had to organize an attack. As he carried the ball forward through the middle, he became the focal point, drawing all of Alkmaar's players' attention. The defenders also shifted their focus towards the center, with the wingers consciously moving inward.

Seizing the moment, Bruno passed the ball to Mahrez on the flank. Mahrez took the ball and sprinted into the box, then faced Alkmaar's goalkeeper, Alvarado, and shot, but unfortunately, the ball went wide and didn't score.

After Mahrez's shot, the camera quickly switched back to Bruno's Marseille turn past Ortiz. "An almost perfect Marseille turn! A French specialty!" Although the Marseille turn wasn't invented by the French, it was named after and became a symbol of French football skills due to Zidane.

"Bruno seems in good form, Alkmaar better be careful!"

Unfortunately, despite organizing the attack after the Marseille turn, Mahrez couldn't capitalize on the breakaway chance and pushed the ball wide. This was Udinese's most promising attack so far.

Previously, Udinese had focused more on defense, especially as Alkmaar had the home advantage and needed to start strong and equalize early after losing the away game.

Alkmaar's attacks were fierce, and most of the time, Udinese were implementing their coach's "defend and counterattack" strategy. That counterattack was the best chance Udinese had had in the first 15 minutes of the half.

Mahrez was frustrated with himself for wasting such a great opportunity. When the ball went wide, he held his head in his hands, clearly upset. Mahrez could afford to linger on his disappointment, but Bruno, as the captain, didn't have time for regrets; he turned and sprinted back.

Defense was still the priority.

In the 18th minute, the home team took the lead. They created a corner from a long shot, and number 8, Goodley, delivered the corner. The captain, Vergever, got to the ball and headed it into Udinese's goal.

Udinese's goalkeeper, Burkić's, mistake in coming out was the direct cause of the goal. He attempted to catch the ball but missed, allowing Alkmaar's captain to easily head it into the open net.

Udinese had been performing well across all fronts this season, but the goalkeeping position was a constant source of errors. Compared to his teammates on the other lines, Udinese's goalkeepers seemed to be one blunder after another.

It could be said that Udinese's goalkeepers were not keeping pace with the rest of the team. This season, in 25 Serie A matches, Udinese scored 52 goals, only behind Juventus with 60 and Roma with 53, making them the third highest-scoring team in Serie A. However, defensively, they conceded 34 goals, ranking only eighth in Serie A. Not only were they behind Juventus, who had conceded only 19 goals, and Roma with 13, but also teams like Napoli, Fiorentina, and Inter Milan, who had all conceded fewer goals than Udinese.

As of today, Udinese had played 47 matches in all competitions this season, achieving clean sheets in only 10 of those games, just over 20 percent! Especially in the Europa League, Udinese had only managed one clean sheet in 12 matches, during the third qualifying round against the much weaker Borlachi. In the ten games since, including today, Udinese had conceded in every match.

Conceding in 11 out of 12 Europa League matches made them quite the anomaly among the teams in the competition.

It wasn't that Guidolin didn't want to change this; last summer, he tried to find a quality replacement for Burkić, bringing in the Greek Kanizis, the Croatian Krava, and promoting Scufet from the youth team, but none proved effective.

This season, the goalkeeper position at Udinese had been a rotation among Burkić, Kanizis, Scufet, and Krava, with each getting about ten appearances so far. It was a common scenario for one goalkeeper to make a mistake in a game, leading Guidolin to switch to another in the next; this rotation continued throughout the season.

Now, it seemed that how far Udinese could go in the Europa League might hinge on the goalkeepers' performances.

"Burkić's mistake was too amateurish! At 28, in the prime of his career, how could he make such a blunder in coming out but not touching the ball?" criticized the Sky Italia commentator, as his error put the team at a disadvantage.

Burkić, too, was visibly upset, standing still, shrugging, and muttering to himself, though no one could make out what he said.

Bruno, too, was disappointed with the team's concession. Normally, he might have helplessly waved his hand or shaken his head in frustration.

But not now—he couldn't afford that reaction, realizing his role as the captain. What should a captain do in such times?

Bruno didn't look to others for an example; instead, he thought about what he, as a captain, should do. He went over to Burkić, patted his shoulder, and comforted him, "Zeljko, don't give up! Focus on what's next, and do your best!"

Then, he retrieved the ball from the net and passed it to Mahrez.

The game must go on. It was just one goal; with over seventy minutes left, couldn't the attack-minded Udinese score?

(End of Chapter)

Thank you for the support, friends. If you want to read more chapters in advance, go to my Patreon.