Rise of a Football God

1 chance, 1 shot, 1 goal…

It was literally Osasuna's first chance of the game.

Their first shot of the night and their lethal striker, Budimir did not miss his moment, taking it with aplomb to sink Barcelona and give his team the lead.

Charging towards the corner flag, Budimir slid on his knees in celebration even as the Osasuna fans roared at the top of their lungs, cheering loudly.

That goal changed the nature of this game.

FC Barcelona were stunned by it, after all, it was totally against the run of play but with that goal, the Catalans finally felt some urgency to score a goal.

FWEEEE!

When the referee's whistle sounded to continue the game, FC Barcelona played like men on a mission, pressuring Osasuna even as the home side kept on defending against the Catalan onslaught.

Unlike what most people expected, in this game, Sam seemed even more physically fit than before as he imposed himself on this game from attacking midfield.

He created, won back the ball, and took those occasional shots.

In the 43rd minute of this game, Sam came closest for FC Barcelona, unleashing a thunderous outside the box shot that flew like a missile, homing towards the top left corner of the post.

But once again, Herrera, the Osasuna goalkeeper was on top of his game.

Like a spring, the goalkeeper dived, stretching as incredulously, he seemed to fly through the air, his outstretched arm just barely pushing the ball, tipping it away from the net to hit the post before going out for a corner kick.

"My goodness gracious!" The commentators were amazed.

"Herrera, this guy…, he's having a terrific game!"

"What a save!"

In the corner kick, Ronald Araujo rose highest, planting a firm header towards goal only for Herrera to calmly catch it.

The goalkeeper was laying an audacious claim to the man of the match award for this game with his crazy saves.

His team defended valiantly, but Herrera was the core of the piece that kept a rampant FC Barcelona at bay during the first half.

During half-time, Hansi Flick faced his players.

"What you guys gave out there on the pitch, it's not enough!" He said in Spanish. "I want more from you guys!"

"Come on!" He clapped aggressively.

"If we want to retain our La Liga title, we can't afford to falter now. Let's go out there and let's win this game!"

Minutes later…

FWEEEE! Experience new stories on My Virtual Library Empire

The players returned to the pitch and with the referee's whistle giving the signal, the second half of this incredible game started.

Hansi Flick made only a single change for the second half, taking off Marc Casado as he introduced Gavi, intending to make his team even more offensive in this 2nd half to break down the Osasuna low block.

Again, just like the first half, FC Barcelona dominated, torturing the Osasuna players but the decisive goal of this game remained elusive.

50 minutes, no goal…

60 minutes, no goal…

70 minutes, no goal…, and to add salt to injury, Osasuna came close to doubling their lead, the crossbar coming to the Polish goalkeeper's rescue.

80 minutes, no goal…, and that was when a certain player's retrospection in this game started.

'I'm playing well, but is this the best that I can give?' Sam's eyes slowly changed as the game reached its dying stages.

'Is this how I want my return to the pitch to end?'

'A defeat?'

His eyes gleamed. 'Unacceptable!'

'I can't let it end like this; it must not end like this!'

'At the very least, it must be a win!'

Sam's eyes slowly changed, from a sentient human's eyes into that of a feral predator whose sole purpose of existence was causing carnage and drinking blood.

Just a few minutes after it started, Sam did it.

Bam! Bam!

Down the right side of the pitch, he played tiki taka passes with Lamine Yamal, another step in their improvisation to pry open the Osasuna defense.

And all of a sudden, Sam erupted in a dash, making a byline back to the middle towards the Osasuna 18-yard box.

Reading his run perfectly, Lamine Yamal played a lobbed pass towards him.

Bam!

Just as an Osasuna player was to steal the ball, Sam controlled it with his lap.

2 Osasuna players followed him in his flanks while another one barred his path. Unfazed, Sam moved forward, calmly jogging the ball with his lap as he moved.

"…!"

The Osasuna players were confounded, caught in between 2 minds.

How would they steal the ball without risking a foul?

That moment of hesitation to think was the window of opportunity that Sam needed. Before they could react, after lobbing the pass to Sam and as all of the attention was on him, wary of his threat, no one noticed Lamine Yamal's shadow run from the right in behind the Osasuna defense.

After one last juggle of the ball with his lap, Sam hit it with his head, in-between the Osasuna players and towards Lamine Yamal's path.

The teenager Spaniard just about beat the offside line.

Lamine Yamal took the ball in his stride, charged towards goal and as Herrera charged out again, keeping his composure, he played a perfect ground shot towards the near corner of the post that finally beat the Osasuna goalkeeper.

"GOALLLLLL…!" The away stands erupted immediately.

"YES!!!" Pumping his fists, Lamine Yamal celebrated excitedly in front of the goal but Sam already rushed into the net, picking the ball and charging out even as he gestured for Yamal to follow him.

Yes, they just scored but they still needed another goal to win.

In the 83rd minute of the game, FC Barcelona finally equalized.

2 minutes later, they got the winner and again, it was Sam orchestrated.

This time, receiving a diagonal pass from Gavi, with an immaculate body feint, Sam left his marker for dead, penetrating into the Osasuna 18-yard box.

With his physicality and his close ball control, he evaded challenges, skipping through players with tight cuts, shifts of the ball, and lightning fast la croquetas.

"Oh my God! Sam is unleashed!"

"He goes through 1, 2, 3, 4, 5…, and he passes!"

Sam dribbled through 5 players at a go!

His dribble caused chaos in the Osasuna defense, once again the commotion leading to one of the Barcelona attackers being forgotten.

Due to having scored a goal already, they paid more attention to Lamine Yamal, wary of their connection. They were also wary of Lewandowski's goal threat as one of the center backs diligently kept him in check.

But due to having a relatively average game today, the Osasuna defense forgot about the threat of a certain Brazilian who carried Barca through the majority of last season, Raphinha.

This was what gave him the chance to ghost in behind the defense like Lamine Yamal did earlier, catalyzed by Sam causing such a commotion with his dribbling.

Despite the commotion, Sam's incredible spatial awareness enabled him to spot the Brazilian's run.

Bam!

He threaded a needle pass behind the Osasuna defense, cutting Osasuna apart like they were not there.

At this moment, Sam felt like a Grandmaster martial artist in an eastern fantasy universe who cut the heavens asunder with a mighty sword slash.

That sword slash brought Osasuna to submission.

Raphinha didn't hesitate, the pass was just too juicy and perfectly weighted and so he hit it once on his first touch.

Bam!

Herrera reacted, flailing his arms but it was not enough as the ball squirmed past his grasp and into the net.

"…"

El Sadar Stadium was silenced.

Only the roar of the FC Barcelona fans reverberated as Raphinha charged towards the corner flag to celebrate even as Sam charged after him, eventually jumping on his back in celebration.

"Oh my goodness gracious!"

"OH MY GOD!"

"Zinedine Sam they called him, like Zidane he played!"

"2 immaculate passes are all he needed to turn this game around!"

"1 to even the odds, and the other to send a dagger through the hearts of Osasuna fans around the world!"

"What a perfect playmaking performance!"

"Samuel Moses…, is back!"

FWEEE!

The referee's whistle soon sounded to continue the game but all the venom was already expended in this game, neither Barcelona nor Osasuna had more juice to create moments of magic and so, the game eventually came to an end.

And just like that, FC Barcelona won.@@novelbin@@

Sam won the man of the match award due to his 2-assists display in his first game since being confined in police custody.

It was a statement performance.