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...
As referee Damir Skomina's whistle pierced through the noise of the Allianz Arena, the contest was officially underway.
Arsenal kicked off. Luis Suarez immediately rolled the ball back to Santi Cazorla, who in turn shifted it deeper to Kai. A quick pass was followed to Laurent Koscielny, but Kai was already darting into space on the left, demanding it back.
Koscielny obliged, finding him under pressure. Kai received with his back to the goal. Suddenly, Arjen Robben came charging in from behind, snapping at his heels.
But Kai was calm. With a deft touch, he nudged the ball sideways, dropped his weight low, and braced himself.
Thud!
Robben crashed into him like a wave against a rock, only to bounce off. The Dutchman clutched his ribs, grimacing, while Kai carried on unfazed, shifting back into position and linking play once more.
Moments later, Tomas Rosicky threaded it into Kai again. This time, the captain released Cazorla quickly, pushing the Spaniard higher up the pitch to orchestrate the attack. Rosický surged forward, while Kai coolly dropped into his holding role, already eyeing Robben's movements.
Arsenal's first probe broke down as Thiago Alcântara intercepted, and Bayern instantly looked to transition. Robben dropped deep to collect and turned, sprinting down the right wing—the danger zone Arsenal feared most.
But who was waiting for him?
Kai.
The Allianz Arena collectively leaned forward, tension spilling across the stands. Fans remembered last season's clash. The duel was back: Robben versus Kai, round two.
"Here he comes!" Martin Taylor's voice rose with anticipation.
"You can feel it, can't you?" Alan Smith chimed in. "This is the battle everyone wanted to see—Robben with the ball at his feet, and Kai right in front of him."
Robben started his signature dribble, short touches, fast rhythm, teasing the angle.
Kroos called for the pass, yelling urgently,
"Play it! Play it!"
But Robben trusted himself, cutting inside—until suddenly Theo Walcott came sprinting back to pinch from behind, and Gibbs stepped across on the overlap.
In an instant, Arsenal had caged him in—a triangle of yellow shirts.
Robben twisted, tried to shield, but the space was gone. Walcott's overzealous nudge sent him tumbling to the turf, arms raised in protest.
Beep!
The whistle blew. Free kick Bayern. No card, just a warning for Walcott.
Kai jogged over, clapped his teammate on the shoulder.
"Well done, Theo! But ease up on the pushing—don't give them easy fouls."
Walcott nodded, hands up. "Got it, skip."
Kai quickly organised the line, shouting with authority:
"Back! Everyone back! It's their set piece!"
In the Sky Sports booth, Martin Taylor admired the sequence.
"Lovely bit of defensive awareness there from Arsenal. People expected Kai to handle Robben one-on-one, but he read the danger and pulled in support. Walcott tracking back, Gibbs stepping up—that's excellent organisation."
Alan Smith added:
"And the crucial thing, Martin, is the time Kai bought. He delayed just enough for his teammates to get back. Against Robben, that's everything. If you dive in, he's gone. If you hesitate, he's in the box. But Kai just stood him up, and in those two seconds Arsenal closed the net. That's textbook defensive midfield play."
Bayern's free kick followed. The penalty area was a sea of bodies, shirts tugged, arms locked.
Mandzukic rose, but Per Mertesacker thundered through him with a booming header.
"Out you go!" the big man barked in German as he cleared his lines, sending the ball to Cazorla.
"Superb from Mertesacker!" Taylor exclaimed. "He read it all the way, attacked the ball—brilliant defensive header."
Cazorla, though, was patient. Instead of turning immediately into pressure, he held it, scanning for movement. Bayern were pushed high, their defensive line stretched. The counter was on—if the timing was right.
Spotting the opportunity, Kai burst out of the box, waving for it. Cazorla slipped it back, and the captain launched a raking diagonal with his right foot.
"Lovely vision!" Smith shouted. "He's seen Suarez making the run!"
Sure enough, Suarez had already peeled off Dante's shoulder, charging into the space behind. The ball arced perfectly into his path.
It was a race—Suarez closing in, Boateng scrambling. Suarez reached, ready to cushion it down.
But before his boot could settle the ball—whoosh!
Out of nowhere, Manuel Neuer stormed 30 yards off his line, leaping like a sweeper, and hoofed it clear into the night sky.
"Neuer! Absolutely fearless!" Taylor shouted. "That's why he's the best in the world at it—turned sweeper-keeper, saved his team there!"
Suarez froze, stunned, watching Neuer jog back as if nothing had happened.
Kai, however, slapped his forehead in frustration. How could he forget about Neuer's radar-like instincts?
No matter—he recovered quickly, sprinting to intercept the second ball before Kroos could collect, hammering it into touch to reset Arsenal's shape.
The match's tempo had erupted into life.
"This is breathless!" Taylor declared. "End-to-end stuff. A fierce set piece, a lightning counter, Neuer sweeping like a midfielder—this has got everything already."
Smith chuckled. "And we're only ten minutes in, Martin. If it carries on like this, we're in for a treat."
...
The battle between Robben and Kai had reached a boiling point.
Toni Kroos received the ball in midfield and instinctively glanced toward Robben on the flank. For a moment, he thought about sliding the pass through—but then he noticed Kai hovering nearby like a shadow. Kroos hesitated. Everyone in Europe knew that when Kai read your intentions, he was ruthless in the interception.
Instead, Kroos switched his focus and looked to play Mario Götze into space. Just as he prepared to release the pass, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain dropped back intelligently to block Götze's path, while Tomas Rosický surged forward to put immediate pressure on Kroos.
Left with no real outlet, Kroos was forced to retreat, knocking the ball back into Bayern's half.
"Arsenal are closing every door," Martin Taylor noted on commentary. "They're defending in layers, and with those wingers tracking back, Bayern are finding it impossible to build any rhythm."
Alan Smith added, "And the key is Kai in the middle. Sitting as that single pivot, he's always in Kroos' eyeline. Before Toni even thinks about a forward pass, he's checking where Kai is. That's draining."
Bayern kept recycling possession, knocking the ball side to side, searching for a gap. But Arsenal's shape held firm, compact, and disciplined.
On the right touchline, Arjen Robben grew increasingly frustrated, waving his arms and demanding the ball. He knew what the problem was. As long as Kai patrolled that zone, his teammates were reluctant to risk feeding him.
Finally, Robben had to drop deeper to get involved. The ball reached his feet, and everyone in the stadium knew what was coming—Robben would have to take on Kai one-on-one.
"Here is the duel," Taylor said. "Robben against Kai. We've seen it a few times already tonight, and the Dutchman hasn't found a way through."
Robben darted forward immediately, deciding against hesitation. He shifted his weight left, then right, feinting with quick, sharp touches, trying to unsettle Kai. His movements were frantic, like a tree branch whipping about in a storm.
But Kai didn't bite. He adjusted calmly, keeping his body balanced, his eyes fixed on Robben's hips rather than the ball.
"Look at the discipline," Alan Smith observed. "Robben's throwing the whole book of tricks at him, but Kai's not flinching."
Cursing under his breath, Robben drove the ball sharply to the left and looked to explode past his man with a burst of speed. But before he could accelerate, Kai shifted his body just enough, sticking out a subtle right foot and leaning his chest into Robben to break his stride.
The ball squirmed loose. Nacho Monreal anticipated the moment perfectly, snapping onto it and immediately rolling a pass into Laurent Koscielny.
Robben slapped the air in frustration, bouncing on his heels. Once again, he'd been shut down.
"It's maddening for him," Taylor said with a grin. "He can't go inside, he can't go outside, and when he hesitates, Walcott's there to double up and Monreal for the loose balls. Arsenal have boxed him in completely."
Alan Smith laughed. "Robben's used to terrifying full-backs, but here he's running into a wall every time. Kai is absolutely dictating the terms of this contest."
The Arsenal supporters watching on screens back in London loved every second of it.
...
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