On the touchline, Benítez could not help wiping the sweat from his brow.
The tactical adjustments he had made at half-time seemed to have backfired badly!
In the first half, Napoli had managed to create a fair number of one-on-one chances, and it had looked very much like they could find a way through!
They had simply failed to take them!
But in the second half, after abandoning the pursuit of one-on-ones and switching to a build-up approach with wide crosses, Napoli could barely even carve out a shot at goal.
No matter how Callejón, Insigne, and Hamšík delivered their crosses, Leon was there to deal with each one the moment it arrived!
What Benítez had not anticipated was that the understanding between Leon and the AC Milan defensive line had undergone a transformation compared to earlier matches!
After Leon raised his [Organise Defence] attribute to 15, his ability to marshal the backline had improved enormously!
On top of that, his sustained run of outstanding performances had earned the complete trust of the defensive line, with Mexes leading the way!
As a result, even though AC Milan's defence was still far from the strongest unit in the league, under Leon's organisation it was producing performances well above what its individual parts would suggest!
What a situation!
Benítez felt that every adjustment he had made at half-time had produced the exact opposite of what he intended!
If they lost this match, Napoli would drop out of the European places altogether.
Up to this point, no news of a contract extension between Benítez and the club had emerged, and the team's results were not entirely unrelated to that.
The reason Napoli had spent heavily to bring in Benítez was precisely the expectation that he would take the club further!
If the team continued to hover around the edge of European qualification, what had been the point of bringing him in at all?
Inzaghi on the other side cost less than half of what they were paying Benítez!
Before long, the match had moved into the 81st minute.
Napoli were running out of time!
The AC Milan supporters were already gearing up to celebrate another victory for their side!
Leon maintained his absolute focus, but his teammates could not quite do the same.
In the 87th minute, Hamšík's long-range strike was caught cleanly by Leon.
At that point the attack appeared to have been completely snuffed out.
But Zappata, who received Leon's throw-out, then produced a dreadful error!
Faced with Higuaín's sudden press, instead of clearing the ball directly, Zappata chose to show off with some footwork.
Higuaín read his clumsy feint instantly and poked the ball away!
"No!"
Leon sensed the danger immediately!
Because the throw-out had landed near the edge of the penalty area, Leon had not yet returned fully to his line!
After winning the ball, Higuaín did not even take a touch to adjust and simply hammered a shot straight at goal!
Higuaín put enormous power behind it!
Either it was going miles over the bar, or it was going to be something special!
That shot carried every drop of Higuaín's frustration!
An entire match of pent-up anguish had finally been let loose in one swing!
And it was precisely because he let it all go that Higuaín struck a shot of exceptional quality!
In that instant, Leon called on an explosive burst of speed and movement that pushed beyond the limits of his body!
Strictly speaking, this was still a one-on-one!
After Higuaín nicked the ball off Zappata, the only thing standing between him and the goal was Leon!
So [One-on-One Save] still applied!
However, because Leon was so far from his line, this moment was bound to mean something out of the ordinary was about to happen!
"Thud!"
Leon got his fingertips to the ball at the very last moment!
The power behind Higuaín's shot was so great that not only could Leon not hold it, he felt a sharp stab of pain shoot through his fingertips!
Leon even lost his balance in mid-air and came crashing heavily to the ground!
The ball dropped not far from where he lay.
"Thud!"
"Crack!"
"Oh, God!"
The entire ground fell silent.
Having just seen Leon [Flash] across to block his shot, Higuaín felt a surge of blind rage rising inside him!
There was absolutely something going on with this guy!
Seeing that Leon had failed to hold the ball, Higuaín rushed forward and hammered in a follow-up shot!
And this time, ghost-like, Leon [Flashed] into the path of the follow-up once more and blocked it directly with his face!
This was not the [One-on-One Save] ability at work, but Leon using his own raw ability to stop Higuaín's second effort!
A follow-up shot does not fall within the scope of a one-on-one!
But the cost was devastating.
The power Higuaín put into the follow-up was even greater than the first shot!
Leon's nose broke outright!
Blood instantly covered his entire face.
Leon felt his head spin violently and collapsed to the ground!
In the corner of his vision, he caught a glimpse of the ball rolling out over the byline for a corner!
He could finally let himself rest for a moment.
"Ah!"
With the tension released, the full force of the pain in his face hit Leon and he could not hold back a cry.
Higuaín had been ready to storm over and confront Leon, to rage at him for being impossible!
But the moment he saw Leon's blood-soaked face, it dawned on him that the injury was serious.
"Over here! Quickly!"
Higuaín made urgent gestures toward the touchline, waving for the stretcher to come on without delay!
"Oh no!"
Up in the stands, Su Jing had already covered her eyes, barely able to look!
An inexplicable dread gripped her heart!
'Please, let him be alright!'
There was nothing Su Jing could do in that moment, and she felt utterly helpless.
Out on the pitch, players from both sides had gathered around.
"Was that deliberate?"
Captain Mexes strode over and grabbed Higuaín by the collar.
"How could I have done that on purpose?!"
The anger that had been burning inside Higuaín had poured out through those two shots, and now, seeing that Leon was badly hurt, he felt a creeping guilt.
The two men were pulled apart by their teammates, and Mexes received a yellow card for his trouble!
Mexes did not give it a second thought, turning instead to watch Leon being carried down the tunnel, his expression filled with worry!
"Captain, this is all my fault!"
Zappata stood there like a child who had done something terribly wrong, his face stricken with guilt.
If not for his basic error, Leon would never have suffered this kind of injury!
"Hold on for the last few minutes and don't let Leon down!"
Mexes said nothing to Zappata beyond that, and simply patted him on the shoulder.
Diego López was brought on.
Coming on in these circumstances for the final minutes of a match, Diego López felt a complicated mix of emotions churning inside him.
Leon was clearly going to miss the upcoming matches.
How long exactly would depend on the injury assessment.
That also meant Diego López would return to the starting line-up.
But Diego López felt no joy at the prospect whatsoever.
In his competition with Leon, he had already lost!
And no matter how many more times he started from here on, he would only ever be Leon's backup!
'There are some talents in football that simply cannot be measured by ordinary standards!'
'Perhaps when the season is over, it will be time for me to move on again!'
Diego López admitted defeat.
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