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Allianz Arena, Munich.
The match had ended, with Bayern Munich defeating VfB Stuttgart 4-0. Thomas Müller, Philipp Lahm, Franck Ribéry, Arjen Robben, Manuel Neuer, Toni Kroos, and many other Bayern Munich stars, including Pep Guardiola, showed no signs of victory on their faces; a big win seemed irrelevant to them.
Everyone gazed blankly at the sky, awaiting their final judgment.
"Damn it!"
Thomas Müller, who usually enjoyed joking around and being the team's mood-maker, couldn't be happy at all now.
"If only we had tried harder, if only..."
Unfortunately, there are no 'ifs' on the football field. Losing means losing.
Their poor performance, coupled with Lance's perfect play, helped Bayer Leverkusen defeat Bayern Munich and seize the initiative in the title race. Bayern Munich, having failed to win their own match, could only passively await the result from the other stadium.
Theoretically, as long as everything remained unchanged, with the 1-1 score holding there, Bayern Munich would automatically win the Bundesliga title. But Thomas Müller had a bad feeling, as long as that kid Lance wasn't substituted, the match still had variables!
He would never give up until the final whistle! Guardiola paced anxiously, while his assistant coach was still listening to the broadcast with headphones.
Like the spectators in the Munich stands, everyone was nervously following the other match.
"What's the situation?" Guardiola couldn't help but ask.
"It's still a draw, and it's already injury time. We should be safe," the assistant coach said with a slight smile.
It looked like Bayern Munich was going to win the title! Guardiola, however, couldn't smile. Was it really that simple?
He raised his hand to check the time; the other match should be ending soon... Just as Guardiola relaxed and prepared to adjust his emotions to welcome his first championship since arriving at Bayern Munich, a gasp suddenly erupted from the stands of Allianz Arena in Munich!
"What's going on?" Guardiola's expression changed slightly, and his hands began to tremble.
"They... they scored a last-minute winner."
The Bayern Munich players standing on the field didn't need to see the result; they knew it was over just from the commotion in the stands. Everything was over.
Only Thomas Müller could still force a smile:
"This kid, leading his team to a championship in his first season, that's really impressive!"
...
Compared to the lamentations at Allianz Arena in Munich, BayArena had completely turned into a wild party. The moment Lance scored the last-minute winner, the frenzied fans in the stands couldn't even wait for the referee to blow the final whistle.
A tsunami of black-jerseyed people surged madly onto the green field, completely filling the green expanse within seconds! The entire BayArena became a black ocean, cheers, applause, and whistles rose and fell in waves!
After Lance's world-class last-minute goal, he intended to celebrate with his teammates. He looked up and saw a scene comparable to a zombie horde in a game, which almost startled Lance.
Before he could react, the ecstatic Bayer Leverkusen fans had already lifted Lance, tossing him high into the air.
"König von Leverkusen, Lance!"
(The King of Bayer Leverkusen, Lance!)
"Der Große Lance!"
(The Great Lance!)
"Mächtiger Lance!"
(Mighty Lance!)
"Führt uns zum Meistertitel!"
(Lead us to the Championship!)
"Leverkusen Alleeeezzzz!!"
The frenzied Bayer Leverkusen fans tossed Lance while chanting a song they had never heard before. It was probably a song they improvised based on the Bayer Leverkusen team anthem, a song exclusively for Lance—"The Song of Lance"!
Adored by all! Lance was undoubtedly the only Superstar at BayArena today!
"Finally!! I finally witnessed this moment!!"
Even though he wasn't a Bayer Leverkusen fan, commentator Mehmet Scholl was moved to tears by this moment after the last-minute goal.
"Bayer Leverkusen has historically come so close to the championship many times, but ultimately fell short and failed to lift the trophy."
"But today!! Right today!!"
On Germany's pay-per-view football channel, commentators Berenberg and guest commentator Michael Ballack also witnessed this historic moment. As a Bayer Leverkusen legend, Chelsea legend, and Germany National Football Team legend, Ballack in 2002 was practically the embodiment of second place.
Bundesliga runner-up, DFB-Pokal runner-up, Champions League runner-up, World Cup runner-up... He had achieved a grand slam of second places, so to speak.
Especially during his time at Bayer Leverkusen, Ballack dreamed of helping Bayer Leverkusen win a championship. Unfortunately, after a brief moment of glory, Bayer Leverkusen was kicked back into darkness by Zinedine Zidane's otherworldly volley.
After several years of decline, Ballack had given up all hope. Who would have thought that Bayer Leverkusen, which had previously hovered around fourth or fifth place in the Bundesliga, would actually win the championship this season with the emergence of Lance!
What I couldn't achieve, a 16-year-old kid did! Seeing this wild scene at BayArena, even a tough man like Ballack couldn't help but shed tears.
"Sorry, this scene is truly too moving. I never thought we would actually be champions!"
"That's right!! We are champions!"
...
After the fans rushed onto the field in celebration, the referee, seeing that time had long passed, simply blew the three final whistles to end the match. The whistle sounds were completely drowned out.
After an unknown period of celebration, the stadium finally returned to normal under the organization of Bundesliga staff. Lance and his teammates had celebrated enough, from a completely blank mind to now regaining stable emotions.
"I heard there's a beer shower for winning the Bundesliga. Are we going to get drenched later?"
"I don't know, I haven't tried it either."
Son Heung-min shook his head. He had been in Hamburger SV's youth academy before and had never touched any championship in his life, so he had no experience at all.
The entire Bayer Leverkusen team also lacked championship experience. How do you do a beer shower, anyway?
"Pouring beer on yourself is such a waste. It would be great if someone gave me a can right now, I'm so thirsty."
"You alcoholic, you only know how to drink, don't you?"
"Guys, is it true? Did we really win the championship?"
Stefan Kiessling couldn't even believe any of this.
"No, it's fake. You're actually dreaming. Let me punch you and you'll know it won't hurt."
"Okay, Lance, you punch me!"
Lance almost burst out laughing. Kiessling, a big guy at 1.9 meters, was actually so naive; he really believed him!
The few of them chatted for a while, then were led by the staff back to the locker room. Everyone changed into the Bayer Leverkusen championship commemorative T-shirts, the club's first-ever title!
Inside, they wore black T-shirts printed with the cross-shaped word [MEISTER]. Outside, they wore another red T-shirt printed with [FINALE].
From top to bottom, it conveyed that Bayer Leverkusen's century-long wish had finally come true! They finally won the damn championship!
It was also Lance's first time to be presented with a championship medal in front of tens of thousands of spectators, by German football legend, Bayer Leverkusen's all-time leading scorer, the legendary player Ulf Kirsten. The heavy golden medal hanging on his chest wasn't the main point; the most important part of the award ceremony was coming next!
Amidst the deafening cheers from the entire stadium, Kirsten brought out the silver Bundesliga "salad bowl" and handed it to captain Simon Rolfes. The players couldn't wait any longer!
"Hurry, lift it up!"
"Captain, come on!!"
Everyone on the podium was restless like monkeys, constantly singing championship songs.
"Ole, OleOleOle—"
"We are the champion, We are the champion—"
Captain Simon Rolfes squatted down, placing the championship trophy by his knees. Lance and his teammates lowered their voices together, then gradually increased their shouts.
As Rolfes gathered his strength, and lifted the Bundesliga championship salad bowl high, the cheers of the entire Bayer Leverkusen team reached their peak! At the same time, fireworks ignited behind them!
Confetti exploded! Golden flowers scattered everywhere!
Even 10 minutes after the match ended, Sina Sports' live broadcast room still had over 1 million fans witnessing this moment of Chinese rising star Lance winning the championship! When the whole team lifted the championship trophy to celebrate, Zhan Jun, at this moment, even forgot his Merseyside accent and automatically switched to a Bayer Leverkusen accent!
"Let's shout together!"
"Bayer Leverkusen—is the champion!!!"
"Lance—is the champion!!!"