Rise of a Football God-Chapter 420: Prelude to the 2nd leg

50th minute, 0-1…

53rd minute, 1-1…

56th minute, 2-1…

In less than 10 minutes, the complexion of the game changed completely.

BOOM!

The Etihad exploded.

The fans in sky blue in this stadium erupted, jumping up and down, some removing their jerseys and waving it wildly, others collapsing in tears as they celebrated the goal exuberantly.

While this happened, the star of the moment, Erling Haaland was already charging towards the corner flag amid the cauldron of noise.

The Norwegian striker had a big smile on his face, waving his right hand as he celebration passionately. And then, he slid on his knees in celebration.

Behind him, his teammates surged forward, celebrating with him.

Erling Haaland didn't stop at that. Immediately after his sliding tackle, he sat on the pitch, curling his legs together in a yoga meditation pose.

He did his iconic meditation celebration.

And amid all the chaos, the commentators went loose.

"HAALANDDDDD!!!" The excited commentator screamed.

"ERLING HAALANDDDDD!"

"ERLING HAALANDDDDD!"

"The Norwegian King has struck!"

"The Viking King has struck at the Etihad, when Man City needed it the most!"

"Best striker in the world?"

"There you have it, this is him, ERLING HAALAND!"

"This is the best striker in the world!"

"The best players leave their mark in the biggest stages, and this is one of the biggest stages you can ever think of, against Hansi Flick's Barcelona, against Samuel Moses's Barcelona, and yet, Haaland did it!"

"This is the mark of greatness!"

The stunned Barcelona players watched as their opponents celebrated.

FC Barcelona did not play a bad game tonight. Far from it. They played an amazing game; it was just that the game was just so tight.

And in the tightness, Haaland picked his moment to shine.

Tonight was his night.

"Come on guys!" Sam clapped, bringing his teammates back to the game. "It's not over yet, there's still time!"

Sam was right, there was still time.

But tonight, he underestimated the impact of momentum and fan energy. Most importantly, the underestimated the Etihad.

From the 1st minute till now, the game had been even but after Haaland's lightning-fast brace, the momentum finally swung in Man City's favor.

This sudden advantage? The sky blues were determined not to let go of it. Not just the players, the fans too, and of course the coach.

Pep Guardiola regained his energy after Haaland's brace, walking to the touchline as there, he regained his animated coaching energy as he gesticulated all game, directing his players on how to defend, limit the threat of the Barca players and manage their lead.

Well, it worked.

In the storm of a seething Etihad, Barcelona toiled, Sam toiled, Raphinha toiled, Pedri toiled, and yet it was not enough.

Haaland came close to getting a hattrick in the 77th minute but Ter Stegen's strong hands stopped the shot.

And just like that, Barca lost the first leg of this UEFA Champions League clash in England, at the Etihad Stadium.

The final scoreline was 2-1 in Man City's favor.

Erling Haaland won the man of the match award for his electric performance.

…

(UEFA Champions League:)

(Quarterfinal:)

(Leg 2 of 2:)

(Barcelona – Man City)

(Aggregate: 1-2)

(Date: 15th April, 2026)

It was already a day after the damning defeat in England.

Sam and the rest of the FC Barcelona squad were already back in Spain. The defeat was damning, demoralizing but they could not afford to dwell on it.

Afterall, they were in the deep end of the season already.

Sam and his friends wanted nothing more than to ruminate on the defeat, focusing all their time and attention on preparing for revenge on the return leg but sometimes, things don't always go according to plan.

Especially when playing for a big club like FC Barcelona, and when you were competing in so many competitions.

There were 8 days separating the 2 leg UEFA champions league game, but in between, there was another game, a La Liga game.

(La Liga:)

(Leganes – Barcelona)

(Date: 12th April, 2026)

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This game risked derailing their focus on the return leg of the Champions League game, but they had no choice. Hansi Flick had to face the challenge.

Alongside his teammates and their coach, Sam returned to a familiar monotone schedule…, train, train, and train again.

He had no time to think of nothing else.

In these few days, all Sam could think of was football.

And his family seemed to understand his need to focus, they gave him space. Even Kayla limited the time she nagged and spoke with her fiancée.

Like this, Sam developed laser focus on his profession, football.

And the first D-day came.

Hansi Flick started with a vastly changed starting XI against Leganes. Big names like Sam, Pedri, Lamine Yamal, and Alejandro Balde all started in the bench, giving chance to Ferran Torres, Eric Garcia, Dani Olmo, and Gerard Martin.

This left the team vulnerable though.

A spirited Leganes side fought tooth and nail against this FC Barcelona side. Barca scored first, Ferran Torres scoring as early as the 4th minute of the game, but then Barca lost control of the game.

Leganes scored in the 22nd and 35th minute of the game, stealing the momentum, and they sealed it with a third goal in the 45th minute.

In the second half, a reluctant Hansi Flick was left with no choice.

He brought out the big guns; Sam, Pedri, Lamine Yamal.

Just 2 minutes after coming on, Sam assisted Raphinha, slipping a pass for the electric Brazilian to blast into the net.

The first half started 3-1 in Leganes' favor.

2 minutes with Sam, Pedri, and Lamine Yamal in the game and it became 3-2, and that was just the start.

In the 66th minute, Lamine Yamal scored an Ankara Messi goal.

Receiving the ball in the halfway line, the teenage wonder wiggled past 7 Leganes players like they were not there!

After that crazy dribble, he nutmegged the goalkeeper, scoring a confident contender for the goal of the season.

66th minute, 3-3…

For the rest of this game, Leganes held on for dear life, and yet, it was still not enough against this Barca side.

In the 90th minute, Barca scored a 4th time.

Sam leaped highest from a Pedri corner, powering a header past Leganes' goalkeeper and into the net.

The away section exploded in this game.

Barca stole a late victory, Sam winning another man of the match award with his goal plus assist this game.

And with that out of the way, the prelude for the main game continued.

Time moved fast.

In the twinkle of an eye, D-day came.

The day, the moment of truth was here… 15th April.