Reincarnated As A Wonderkid-Chapter 536: One game to win the league again

Alex sat in the third row. He was watching the board.

In football, you sacrifice energy. You sacrifice your body. Sometimes, you sacrifice your own glory so someone else can score.

"Mr. Finch," Mr. Bishop asked. "What is the most dangerous piece on the board?"

Alex looked up.

"The Queen, Sir," Alex said. "She has the most power. She can move anywhere."

"Correct," Mr. Bishop nodded. "But because she is powerful, the enemy watches her. Sometimes, the Knight does the damage because nobody is watching the horse."

Mark sat next to Alex. He was wearing a cardboard box on his head. It had a long snout and two ears cut out of paper.

"I AM THE HORSE!" Mark neighed loudly. "CLIP CLOP! CLIP CLOP!"

"Mark," Alex whispered. "Please stop neighing. You are a university student."

"I am a Knight!" Mark argued. "I jump over people! It is my special move! Also, are these chess pieces made of chocolate? The Bishop looks delicious."

"Do not eat the chess set, Mark."

"Too late," Mark mumbled, chewing on a black pawn. "It tastes like plastic and victory."

The lecture ended.

Alex packed his bag.

Strategy. Sacrifice. The Gambit.

He would need it.

Tonight was the penultimate game of the Premier League season.

Aston Villa vs Arsenal.

Villa Park.

Unai Emery, the Villa manager, was a tactical genius. He set traps. He played a high line. He made teams suffocate.

If Arsenal won, they were one step closer to the title. If they lost, City would overtake them.

Alex walked out to the car park.

Milo was waiting.

Milo was dressed as... a General.

He was wearing a green military jacket covered in fake medals (mostly chocolate coins wrapped in gold foil) and a helmet with stars on it. He was studying a map of Birmingham upside down.

"ATTENTION!" Milo screamed, saluting. "GENERAL MILO REPORTING FOR DUTY! ALEX! I AM SELLING STRATEGY! I HAVE THE ENEMY PLANS! I FOUND THEM IN A BIN! (It was actually a takeaway menu, but it looks official!). ONLY FIFTY POUNDS!"

"Milo, that is a menu for a curry house," Alex said.

"AN ARMY MARCHES ON ITS STOMACH!" Milo yelled. "I AM ALSO SELLING CAMOUFLAGE PIZZA! YOU CAN EAT IT IN SECRET! THE CALORIES DON’T COUNT IF NOBODY SEES YOU!"

"Get in the car, General," Alex laughed.

They drove to Birmingham.

The mood on the bus was tense.

Steve, the manager, stood at the front.

"Aston Villa," Steve said. "They are organized. They play the offside trap better than anyone. They want you to run early. They want you to get frustrated."

He pointed to the screen.

"If you run too soon, the flag goes up. If you wait too long, the space closes."

He looked at Alex.

"Professor. Timing is everything. Do not play their game. Make them play yours."

"I will set the clock," Alex said.

Villa Park.

The stadium was old and loud. The fans were close to the pitch.

Alex stood in the tunnel.

John McGinn stood next to him. The Villa captain. He was small, wide, and tough. He used his backside to shield the ball like it was a vault door.

"Professor," McGinn grinned. "Ready for a lecture?"

"Ready for a game," Alex replied.

"We prepared a special test for you," McGinn said. "Multiple choice. A) You lose. B) You lose badly."

"C) We win," Alex smiled.

"That option is not on the paper," McGinn winked.

Mark stood behind Alex. He was staring at Ollie Watkins.

"You run fast," Mark said to Watkins.

"I do," Watkins said.

"I run faster," Mark said. "I am a horse. A chess horse."

Watkins looked confused. "Okay."

The whistle blew.

The game started.

It was a tactical nightmare.

Villa played a defensive line that was almost on the halfway line. They squeezed the pitch. There was no room to breathe.

Arsenal tried to pass. Rice to Odegaard. Odegaard to Saka.

But every time Saka ran, the Villa defense stepped up.

Flag up. Offside.

It happened again in the tenth minute. Martinelli ran.

Flag up. Offside.

And again in the twentieth minute.

"It is a trap!" Mark yelled. "It is a laser grid! We cannot get through!"

Villa were frustrating them. And they were dangerous on the counter.

In the thirtieth minute, Tielemans got the ball. He launched a pass over the Arsenal defense.

Watkins ran. He was onside.

He lobbed Raya.

The ball hit the bar.

The stadium gasped.

"Wake up!" Gabriel screamed. "Focus!"

Alex stood in the center circle.

He analyzed the trap.

Problem: The high line compresses the space. We are running into the trap.

Solution: The Gambit. Sacrifice a piece to break the line.

He looked at Rico.

"Rico!" Alex shouted. "Stop running forward! Come short!"

"But the goal is that way!" Rico pointed.

"Come short!" Alex ordered. "Drag them out!"

Halftime. Zero zero.

It was a stalemate.

"They are disciplined," Steve said in the dressing room. "They are robots. You have to break their programming."

He looked at Alex.

"Professor. You need to be the ghost. Be where they do not expect you."

"I will disappear," Alex said.

Second half.

Villa continued their trap. Step up. Flag up. Step up. Flag up.

The Arsenal fans were groaning. It was frustrating to watch.

Sixtieth minute.

Alex decided to play chess.

He got the ball deep.

He saw the Villa line. It was perfect. Straight. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

He looked at Mark.

Mark was on the shoulder of the last defender. He was ready to sprint.

Alex knew if he passed to Mark now, Mark would be offside.

So Alex didn’t pass.

He dribbled.

He drove straight at the Villa defense.

This forced a defender, Pau Torres, to step out to stop him.

The line was broken.

"Now!" Alex thought.

But instead of passing to Mark, Alex passed backward to Rice.

The Villa defense relaxed. They stepped up again to reset the line.

That was the moment. The Gambit.

As they stepped up, Mark ran across the line, not behind it. He stayed onside.

Alex spun away from his marker and called for the ball back.

Rice chipped it over the top.

Alex ran.

He was onside because he started his run from deep.

He broke the trap.

He was in the box.

Martinez came out.

Alex saw Mark. Mark had continued his run and was now open at the back post.

Alex squared it.

Mark tapped it in.

Goal.

One zero. Arsenal.

"CHECKMATE!" Mark screamed. He ran to the corner and pretended to ride a horse. "GIDDY UP!"

Alex ran over. "The timing was perfect!"

"I waited!" Mark yelled. "I waited until the last second! It was so hard! I wanted to run!"

Villa were furious. They surrounded the linesman. But the flag stayed down. VAR confirmed it.

Arsenal had the lead.

But Villa were not done. They threw on Leon Bailey. They attacked.

Seventy fifth minute.

Bailey ran down the wing. He crossed.

McGinn used his famous backside to shield the ball from Saliba. He turned. He shot.

Goal.

One one.

The Villa Park crowd erupted. The noise was incredible.

"We need to win!" Rico shouted. "A draw is not enough for the title!"

Eighty fifth minute.

Five minutes left.

The game was chaotic. End to end.

Alex was tired. He had run 12 kilometers.

He had the ball in the center.

He saw the Villa high line again. They were pushing for the win.

Alex saw a pattern.

Every time Alex got the ball, Douglas Luiz came to mark him. The Queen hunting the Queen.

"Sacrifice," Alex whispered.

He looked at Rico. He signaled.

Alex started to run with the ball. He ran slowly. He looked tired.

Douglas Luiz saw this. He thought, "I can take him."

Luiz committed. He lunged for the ball.

Alex didn’t move the ball away. He left it there.

He let Luiz take it.

It looked like a mistake. A terrible mistake by the Professor.

Luiz took the ball. He looked up to start a counter attack.

But because Luiz had stepped forward to take the ball, he had left a massive hole behind him.

And because Alex had "lost" the ball, the Villa defense pushed up even higher.

But Alex hadn’t lost it. He had left it as bait.

As Luiz took a touch, Rice (who Alex had signaled) came thundering in.

Rice tackled Luiz. Hard. Fair.

The ball flew loose.

It flew into the space Luiz had vacated.

And there was Rico.

The Samba King had been waiting in the shadow.

Rico picked up the loose ball.

He was free. The defense was too high. The midfield was gone.

Rico ran.

He had forty yards of green grass.

He ran towards the goal.

He did a stepover against the goalkeeper.

He sat Martinez down.

He rolled the ball into the net.

GOAL.

Two one. Arsenal.

Eighty ninth minute.

Rico took off his shirt. He spun it around his head.

"SAMBA!" Rico screamed.

Alex ran to him. He was laughing.

"The Gambit!" Alex shouted. "I gave him the pawn to take the King!"

"I don’t know what that means!" Rico yelled. "But I scored!"

The final whistle blew.

Arsenal 2. Aston Villa 1.

A massive three points.

Alex fell to the ground.

The title race was going to the final day.

McGinn walked over. He helped Alex up.

"You tricked us," McGinn said. "You let us think we had you."

"Strategy," Alex smiled.

Milo ran onto the pitch. He was wearing a graduation gown (again?) but this time it was camouflage print.

"THE GENERAL!" Milo screamed. "VICTORY IN THE FIELD! ALEX! I AM SELLING MEDALS! THEY ARE CHOCOLATE COINS! BUT THEY TASTE comme VICTORY! FIVE POUNDS!"

"Milo, are you eating the medals?" Alex asked.

"QUALITY CONTROL!" Milo mumbled with chocolate on his face.

They walked into the dressing room.

The team was celebrating.

Alex checked his phone.

A text from Maya.

"Strategic analysis: The ’Gambit’ play had a success probability of 14%. High risk. But the psychological impact on the opposition defense caused a structural failure. Brilliant. Also, Mr. Bishop wants his white pawn back. Mark ate the black one, but the white one is missing."

Alex checked his pocket.

The white pawn was there. He had kept it for luck.

He smiled.

He looked at Mark.

Mark was trying to balance a pizza box on his head while dancing.

"I am the Tower of Pisa!" Mark shouted. "Wait, Pizza! Tower of Pizza!"

Alex leaned back.

One game left.

One game to win the league again.