On the 21st of March, the AC Milan squad gathered and made ready to travel to Turin.
That evening was the second leg of the Coppa Italia semi-final between AC Milan and Juventus.
Barring the unexpected, Diego López was set to reclaim his place as starting goalkeeper for this match.
But Diego López could not help noticing that whenever Inzaghi looked his way, there was always a trace of doubt in his expression.
Diego López shook his head with a quiet sense of resignation.
The feeling of being unable to nail down a starting place no matter where he went was truly miserable.
In truth, competition for the goalkeeper position was far more brutal than at any other spot on the pitch.
Outfield players who found themselves unable to break through in their natural position could at least develop the ability to play in multiple roles and make themselves universally useful.
As a general rule, injuries would crop up throughout a season, and those moments were where opportunities lay!
The goalkeeper was a different matter entirely.
A goalkeeper was either the first-choice starter or spent the entire season rooted to the bench!
The only way to move up was to hope the first-choice goalkeeper got injured.
That said, it was precisely an injury to himself that had cost Diego López his starting place to begin with.
And then, at that very moment, Diego López suddenly caught sight of the last person he wanted to see!
Leon!
Instead of lying in a hospital bed where he belonged, Leon had actually shown up at the Milanello training ground!
A dreadful feeling crept over Diego López at once.
Surely you would not push yourself this hard just for the starting goalkeeper spot!
"Are you recovered? Can you play?"
Inzaghi stared at Leon with undisguised astonishment.
Leon was wearing a custom protective mask.
Was he planning to take the field as some kind of masked hero?
The custom mask itself was nothing more than a prop.
The real work was being done by the system-issued [Iron Mask] Leon had equipped, which was invisible to everyone else.
With the [Iron Mask]'s 100% boost to injury recovery speed, the fracture in Leon's nose had healed to the point where it was no longer a serious concern.
The mild concussion had cleared up long ago.
In fact, Leon had been discharged from hospital the previous afternoon.
He had even seen Su Jing off at the airport.
Su Jing had been away for several days already and needed to get back to her studies.
Leon had no direct experience of universities abroad, but back home, skipping too many classes was a sure way to end up failing.
"Is he actually fit?"
Even though Inzaghi desperately wanted Leon to be available, he was not about to gamble with Leon's body and turned to the team doctor who had come in with Leon.
"Leon already meets the criteria to play!"
"With this mask for protection, it will effectively prevent any secondary injury to his nose!"
The team doctor gave his verdict in a few plain words.
That very morning during Leon's check-up, he had found himself struggling to believe what he was seeing!
Leon's recovery rate was clearly far beyond anything normal!
Truly a player in a class of his own when it came to natural gifts!
"Then he comes with us!"
Inzaghi swept his hand through the air and felt his confidence flood straight back.
Watching Leon board the coach alongside the rest of the squad, Diego López felt something quietly breaking inside him!
It was over!
Any hope of starting was gone!
Leon was ruthless!
He was leaving absolutely no room for anyone else to breathe!
A silent wail rang out inside Diego López!
"Good early morning to you, dear viewers!"
"Only true supporters stay up for the match!"
Jackson's voice crackled to life once again in the commentary booth.
He had always had a particular affection for Serie A!
Now that Leon was playing for AC Milan, Jackson had gone ahead and requested to commentate on every single AC Milan match himself.
This time he was not working alone, with Donny, known as the "Football Guru," sitting alongside him.
"Jiànxiáng, this match is going to be missing one of its biggest draws!"
Donny's opening words had the feel of a comic double act.
"Exactly! Leon should not be available for this one!"
"Are you having second thoughts about staying up for it?"
Jackson asked with a grin.
"I genuinely am! I am getting on in years! I need to look after myself!"
Donny chuckled beside him.
"Right then! The starting line-ups are in, let us take a look!"
"AC Milan's goalkeeper tonight should be Diego López... wait! Leon?!"
Jackson froze for a moment, his first instinct being that the producer had made a mistake on the graphic and filled in Leon's name out of habit.
"Donny, check the line-up on your end!"
Jackson said, turning to him.
"Same on mine!"
"It looks like Leon really is starting!"
Donny found it just as hard to believe.
The two looked at each other, and the shock written across both their faces said everything!
Just three days after a broken nose and a concussion, Leon had fought his way back in an emergency return?
Even the toughest names in football history would have been pushed to match that!
And at that moment, the broadcast camera cut to the players coming out of the tunnel.
That settled it beyond any doubt.
Leon walked out onto the pitch in a black mask, calmly leading a young mascot by the hand.
Just moments earlier, the system had sounded off inside Leon's head once more.
For this match, the system had issued a new mission.
[Shut out Juventus and reach the final!]
[System Reward: 500 system points!]
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