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Chapter 100: Europa League Round of 32, Second Leg: Penalty Shootout I

He had over-exerted himself trying to find a goal the last few minutes, continuously running at the Leverkusen defense, sending passes, and even making decoy runs but the goal just wouldn’t come and he walked off the field disappointed and exasperated, but his face maintained it’s impassive state, not letting anyone know how he actually felt.

In the Porto locker room, Sergio Conceicao was addressing the players,

“Although this wasn’t the results we were expecting, we are not out of the game yet and if you can carry on with the way we performed the last few minutes, we can still get our ticket to the next round,” Sergio spoke in a lighter tone than his face suggested.

He obviously wasn’t happy with the way his team had conceded two goals and gave away their almost surefire win.

It was very annoying, but he understood that this wasn’t the time to speak his mind as that could lead to a collapse of morale, and at a critical juncture like this, he couldn’t allow that to happen, thus, he’d keep his words till after the match.

With that said, he focused his efforts on giving the players instructions for the extra time period.

He wanted to get a goal before extra time ended as he didn’t fancy penalties all that much, but he also understood that this wasn’t the time to give up on defense so he gave appropriate instructions that would allow the players to attack fiercely while not leaving any major holes in the team’s defense.

Soon the break was over and the players headed out for extra time.

The match resumed again with Bayer Leverkusen kicking off for the fourth time in the match.

Without surprise, both teams played attacking football, each team not keen on waiting till penalties to settle the match, but despite their efforts and even a few close calls, the scoreboard remained unchanged after the first fifteen minutes and the players trudged off the field for a five-minute break and instructions from the coach.

After the five-minute break was over, the match resumed with the Porto team kicking off, this being their fifth kick-off in the same game was not something that happened frequently.

The second half of extra time was also filled with attacking football, but it had been dialed down a notch as neither team wanted to concede a goal at this juncture.

Inevitably, the whistle blew after another 15 minutes with the scoreboard still unchanged, thus bringing the match to penalties.

The noise in the stadium at this point was quite low as the fans all watched from the stands with tension on their faces and hope in their hearts.

After a few minutes of debate within themselves, the teams decided their sequence for the penalty before both captains headed over to the referee for the coin toss to decide what goalpost would be used and who would be taking the first penalty first.

After the two coin tosses, the goalpost to be used was decided on, and Bayer Leverkusen would be taking the first penalty.

With this decided and the penalty shootout about to start, the players of both teams headed to the circle in the midfield to wait.

Augustin Marchesin and Kevin Volland headed to the goal for the first penalty.

Without much trickery, Volland smashed the ball into the left side of the goal, sending Augustin Marchesin the wrong away and putting his team in the lead.

{0 : 1}

Tiquiniho Soares and Lucas Hradecky then headed out for the next penalty after Volland and Augustin Marchesin had returned to the circle in the midfield.

Tiquiniho didn’t disappoint the Porto colors and sent the ball flying into the bottom left corner despite Lukas Hradecky’s attempts.

{1 : 1}

Kai Havertz was the next penalty taker for the Leverkusen team and without hesitation, he sent the ball past Augustin Marchesin.

{1 :2}

For the Porto side, Moussa Marega was the next up, and with a thunderous shot, he brought the scores level once again.

{2 :2}

Lukas Alario stepped up to take the next penalty for Bayer Leverkusen and he coolly sent the ball past Augustin Marchesin, once again taking the lead in the shootout.

{2 : 3}

Alex Telles headed up to take the next penalty and as expected of him, he sent Lukas Hradecky flying the wrong way with a well-drilled shot.

{3 :3}

Kareem Demirbay was up next for the Bayer Leverkusen side and without much of a spectacle, he sent the ball into the top right corner of the goal.

{3 : 4}

Mattheus Uribe walked up to take the next penalty for Porto after Demirbay and Augustin Marchesin returned to the center circle.

With a slightly exaggerated run-up, Mattheus Uribe sent the ball flying at the left corner of the goal.

Lukas Hradecky dived for the ball but missed the ball, yet just when everyone thought the ball would end up in the back of the net, the loud *CLANG* of the ball hitting the bar sent the Porto player’s hearts into their throat.

But before anyone could react in disappointment, the ball bounced off the bar, hit Hradecky’s back, and rolled past the goal line, sending everyone in the stadium on a roller coaster of emotions.

{4 : 4}

Some Leverkusen players tried to appeal to the referee that the ball being deflected away from the goal meant that the goal wouldn’t count, but the referee argued that the ball ending up in the back of the net was due to the Leverkusen goalkeeper deflecting the ball into the net himself and was not due to the Porto player having another of the ball, thus it was not against the rules and he allowed the goal to stand.