The final whistle was less a sound and more a signal for the universe to collapse into a single point of blue and black pandemonium.
Leon was buried under a mountain of his ecstatic teammates.
He could hear Julián Álvarez yelling something that sounded suspiciously like "You are not a human! You are a cheat code!" right in his ear.
He felt Lautaro's hands clapping his head, a gesture of pure, unadulterated respect from his captain. The roar from the Curva Nord was a physical vibration that coursed through his exhausted body, and through it all, he could hear the impossible chant: "LEONDONA! LEONDONA! LEONDONA!"
They were eventually pulled to their feet, hoisted onto the shoulders of their strongest teammates, and paraded in front of their fans. Leon, held aloft, caught Cole Palmer's eye.
The usually cool and composed Englishman was just shaking his head, a look of utter, joyful disbelief on his face.
