Thursday, May 1, 2014.
Lerkendal Stadion, Rosenborg's Home Ground, Trondheim, Norway.
Time: 9:05 PM.
*FWEEEEEEE*
The referee blew the whistle that signaled the start of the second leg of the Europa League semi-final battle between Rosenborg BK and SL Benfica. The cheers around the stadium rose to thunderous heights within an instant as Nicki Nielsen, Rosenborg's center-forward, kicked off the game by passing the ball back into his midfield.
The match was finally underway, and the players of both teams quickly arrayed themselves into their respective playing formations as they tried to outmaneuver one another.
On the side of Rosenborg, there was almost no change to the squad that played Benfica away in Lisbon. Daniel Örlund, Rosenborg's experienced and ever-reliable number-1, was in goal, while the defense comprised the four players - Mikael Dorsin, Tore Reginiussen, Yerry Mina, and Eric Bailly.
Up the pitch, Thomas Partey, Zachary Bemba, and Takumi Minamino took up the reigns in midfield. And lastly, the three players — Paul Kasongo on the right, Alexander Söderlund on the left, and Nicki Nielsen as center-forward in the middle completed Rosenborg's 4-3-3 formation for the night.
Similarly, on the side of Benfica, there weren't any significant changes to the set-up from the previous week, save for the missing Rúben Amorim, who'd received a red card for his accumulated fouls on Zachary Bemba.
In Benfica's goal, there was Artur Moraes as keeper, while the four players - Guilherme Siqueira, Ezequiel Garay, Luisão, and Maximiliano Pereira were the bastions in defense.
In midfield, Benfica utilized five players. They included André Gomes, Ljubomir Fejsa, and Enzo Pérez as the three central midfielders, while Miralem Sulejmani and Rodrigo Moreno Machado played on the left and right flanks, respectively. Finally, Óscar Cardozo was the only center-forward on the striking line to complete Benfica's 4-5-1 formation.
Both teams tried to settle down during the opening minutes of the game. The players were conservative in their approach, and by the 15th minute, both teams were still neck and neck in various statistics. Be it the ball possession, the number of corner kicks, or the zero number of shots on target — they were equally matched, with neither side getting the better of the other.
The proceedings moved forward, seemingly at a slow pace due to the defensive tactics employed by both teams. But then, during the 16th minute, just when the fans had started to grow tired of the tedious football on the pitch, a lightning-fast change transpired.
Zachary Bemba, who had been kept silent by the Benfica midfielders during the first quarter of an hour, worked his magic for the first time on the night. He made a spontaneous and daring off-ball run towards the other side of the pitch to catch the opponents unawares and connect with a lofted pass over Benfica's midfield from Thomas Partey.
Ljubomir Fejsa, Benfica's defensive midfielder for the night, tried to stop Zachary by harassing him as he chested the ball close to the border of the final third. But Zachary remained composed and steadfast as he brought the ball to the ground before twisting and turning away from the opponent.
His incredible spatial awareness immediately combined with his Zinedine-Pirlo Juju to work like a charm. And in anything but an instant, he managed to spot that Nicki Nielsen was at that exact moment starting to make a run past Benfica's defensive line.
Zachary's heartbeat started racing as his hopes instantly soared into the night sky. He immediately spun around with the ball glued to his boot to complete an improvised version of the Marseille turn. The brilliant move took him past another opponent — and when the passing angle opened up; he unleashed a through-pass towards Nicki, who was already on a straight sprinting course towards Benfica's box.
The cheers around Lerkendal Stadium soon hit a thunderous crescendo as Nicki Nielsen connected with Zachary's defense-splitting pass. The center-forward controlled the ball mid-sprint after escaping from Benfica's two center-forwards. He then accelerated and continued dashing toward Benfica's goal as if his life was on the line.
Artur Moraes, Benfica's goalkeeper, soon came out of goal to meet the approaching Nicki. However, Nicki remained composed and rounded the keeper with a simple deft touch before burying the ball into the back of the net to score Rosenborg's 1st goal for the night in the 17th minute. He then rushed towards the corner flag before sliding onto his knees to celebrate his goal.
Rosenborg BK 1 (2) : SL Benfica 0 (2)
Both Kristin and Emily were also in the stadium, watching the game. When Nicki buried the ball into the back of the net, they also started yelling and jumping along with the rest of the fans around them to celebrate Rosenborg's first goal.
"We're going to the finals," Kristin, who was in Rosenborg's black and white colors, hollered out while waving her scarf. A bright smile had already lit up her face as she was really excited.
At the beginning of the season, she wasn't expecting her team to qualify from the group stages. But step by step, the Rosenborg players, especially Zachary, had exceeded all her expectations and defeated a series of tough opponents before qualifying for the semi-finals. But that wasn't the end of the Troll Kids' success story in the Europa League. Once again, that night, they were already putting up another powerful display in the semis. And going by the away-goal rule, they might be the team qualifying for the next round if they could maintain their 1:0 lead for the rest of the game.
Kristin could hardly contain her delight as all the past victories plus potential prospects of Rosenborg ran through her mind. Her smile brightened even further as she continued cheering and jumping along with the rest of the fans while keeping her eyes on the celebrating Rosenborg players on the pitch.
"Rosenborg one, and Benfica zero," the voice of Kjell Roar, the commentator, reverberated across the stadium when the cheers began dying down. "Courtesy of a brilliant combination play from Zachary Bemba and Nicki Nielsen, Rosenborg is now ahead by a goal in the second leg of the Europa League semi-finals. If Rosenborg can defend well and maintain the one-goal lead for the rest of the game, they'll secure one of the two tickets to the Europa League finals, based on the away-goal rule. Harald! I can see that you're smiling. You should be in a good mood."
Harald Brattbakk, the pundit for the day, chuckled. "The Rosenborg players and us, Rosenborg fans, are really living the dream. We might really be qualifying for the Europa League finals for the first time ever."
"Hahaha, is that so?" Kjell Roar said. "What's your take on the goal, Harald?"
"As usual, Zachary was brilliant and executed a beautiful play in the midfield to find Nicki with that beautiful pass," Harald replied. "The pass was well-timed, well-placed, and also unexpected. It caught the Benfica players off-guard as it made its way to Nicki. Nicki remained composed and planted the ball into the back of the net. The result shows the beauty of football when two on-form players on a team connect well and achieve perfect chemistry in a moment."
"I've been looking at Rosenborg's statistics in the Europa League this season," Kjell Roar chimed in. "An interesting fact is that every time they scored first during previous Europa League games, they went ahead and won."
"You know," Harald said, "Before the game, I expected Rosenborg to face tough opposition from Benfica. I feared that Benfica would sit back and utilize ultra-defensive tactics — and in so doing, render our often-potent counterattacking tactics useless. But now, after Nicki's goal, I'm really hoping that the Benfica players continue playing defensive football. That would be interesting."
"Your wishful thinking is really commendable." Kjell Roar chuckled. "But, don't hold too much hope as I'm sure that Benfica is about to shift to a higher gear. If the Rosenborg players aren't careful, they might concede a goal and bow out of the Europa League tonight. Football is unpredictable before hearing the final whistle."
"Why the negativity?" Harald questioned. "Are you a Molde supporter, by any chance?"
"This isn't the Tippeligaen!" Kjell Roar said. "Why are you even mentioning Molde at this moment?"
"I'm asking because I'm sure that the Molde fans might be the only people in Norway praying and wishing for Rosenborg to lose this semi-final," Harald replied. "So, are you a Molde supporter?"
Kjell Roar chuckled and chose to ignore the question. "Gameplay has already restarted," he said, his voice rising and booming over all the chatter in the stadium. "Rosenborg has already made an incredible start in tonight's semi-final. However, the million-dollar question is: Can they maintain their one-goal lead against Benfica for the remainder of the game? Or can they score another goal to cement their victory? Let's take you back to the proceedings on the pitch to find out."
