After scoring, Rosický clasped his head in disbelief.
With a shocked expression, he ran toward Kai!
"Captain, that pass was unreal! How did you even spot me?"
On the sidelines, Wenger couldn't help but applaud in admiration.
The Emirates erupted into another wave of frenzy!
Not even twenty minutes in, and Dortmund were two goals down!
The traveling Dortmund fans sat in stunned silence.
What was going on?
After several months, they had almost managed to bury the painful memory of that 6–1 thrashing by Arsenal in the Champions League group stage.
But the moment they stepped back into a Champions League pitch, facing Arsenal for the second time this season…
All that pain came rushing back!
What kind of monster was this?
The German media on-site were completely dumbfounded.
This era's Dortmund were the undisputed elite of the Bundesliga!
Even Bayern had to admit they were a notch below.
Yet against the current Premier League overlords, Arsenal,
Dortmund barely had any room to fight back.
Did this mean…
That German football as a whole was now being crushed by English football?
A chilling thought.
One that sent shivers down the spines of every German journalist present!
Late in the first half—43rd minute.
Kai gave the home fans another taste of his trademark scoring method!
A thunderous strike from the top of the box!
And this one was even more spectacular.
It began with a curling effort from Walcott, which Weidenfeller just managed to parry away from the box.
Kai was waiting at the arc of the area.
As the ball dropped toward him,
He met it first time—
A blistering volley without taking a touch!
The ball screamed like a cannon shell, smashing into the top right corner of Dortmund's goal!
Weidenfeller collapsed onto the goal line, eyes vacant.
"OOOOOOHHHH!!!"
Arsenal flags whipped wildly above the Emirates!
Songs and thunderous cheers swirled through the air, unending!
Second half.
Wenger made rotations.
Some of the main players were subbed off,
Preserving their legs for the upcoming congested schedule.
Under Kai's lead,
Arsenal slowed the tempo, and with one decisive wave, killed the match completely!
78th minute.
Substitute Mertesacker connected with Kai's corner kick.
The nearly two-meter-tall giant center-back barely had to rise—
And in Dortmund's penalty area, he towered over everyone!
With a twist of his waist, he powered a header toward goal!
The ball rocketed into the net like an artillery shell!
4–0!
Arsenal sealed the victory completely!
At home in the Emirates, in the second Champions League group-stage clash with Dortmund,
They thrashed the defending Bundesliga champions 4–0!
Five straight wins in the Champions League group stage this season!
After the match, the cameras caught it clearly—
Klopp muttering a string of German curses before storming down the players' tunnel.
To the outside world,
It was obvious that the legendary coach who had rebuilt the Yellow Wall had been completely stunned by Kai!
The team that swept all before them in the Bundesliga,
In the Champions League against Arsenal, had no choice but to take the beating!
And with the match against Dortmund concluded,
The entire English football scene erupted!
Kai's Champions League goal tally this season had reached a staggering 14!
A record like no other before!
And those 14 goals had come in just five matches!
As for assists—
Kai also topped the Champions League assist chart with 10 assists!
In second place was Barcelona's star player, Messi.
The media excitedly noted that ever since Kai's meteoric rise, the Champions League scoring and assist charts—once dominated alternately by Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi—had now become a one-man show for Kai!
First place over Ronaldo in goals.
First place over Messi in assists.
Dominating both ends of the stats!
Arsenal's 17-year-old captain had set the whole of European football ablaze!
"Double Strike Against the Bundesliga Champions! Arsenal Continue Their Unstoppable Winning Streak!"
"Champions' Executioner! Arsenal, Winless in Eight Years, Specialize in Slaying Defending Champions!"
"Champions League Goal Record Shattered at 14! Kai Dominates Both Charts—A True King of Europe!"
"Next Round, Ajax Awaits! Can the Dutch Youth Storm Withstand the Gunners' Impact?"
Amid the uproar sweeping across European football, just two days later, the final round of the Champions League group stage arrived!
Arsenal once again took to the pitch at home, facing the defending Eredivisie champions—Ajax!
In their previous encounter at Ajax's legendary Johan Cruyff Arena, Kai had led a surging Arsenal side to a devastating 6–0 victory.
That match had become a nightmare for the young Dutch squad.
As the final group stage round arrived, Group F's qualification picture was still unclear!
AC Milan and Borussia Dortmund were tied on points, separated only by a single goal in goal difference.
The last round would decide who claimed second place in the group.
Ajax, however, had no hope left.
With three draws and two losses in the first five matches—without a single win—they were already guaranteed to finish bottom and be eliminated.
For this match, Ajax head coach Frank de Boer all but surrendered.
Bringing his team to the Emirates, he fielded a heavily rotated squad, with only about a third of the usual starters.
With Ajax already out of the Champions League, de Boer decided to focus entirely on the Eredivisie title race.
Wenger was more than happy to see this.
He too rested most of his starters, sending out a half-strength lineup.
From start to finish, Arsenal—playing at home—wielded their blade without hesitation!
In 90 minutes, they swept Ajax aside 5–1!
Kai scored two goals and provided three assists, once again dominating the pitch!
With that, this season's Champions League group stage came to a close!
Arsenal stormed through with a perfect six wins from six, topping the group and advancing to the knockout rounds in style!
In the final group match, AC Milan were held to a draw at home by Borussia Dortmund.
With identical points and head-to-head results, Milan fell to third place by the slimmest of margins on goal difference.
The Serie A double champions were eliminated in disappointment!
Klopp's side scraped through to the Champions League knockout stage!
The entire European football world buzzed with discussion.
With the group stage wrapped up, Arsenal still faced three more matches this month—two Premier League fixtures and a League Cup semi-final!
These two league matches would also close out the first half of the Premier League season.
Fans looked ahead to the schedule:
December 23rd—another away clash loomed!
In the 18th round of the league, they would travel to Stamford Bridge to face the Blues—Chelsea!
This season, Chelsea had been rocked by intense dressing room turmoil, drawing fierce debate from the outside world!
~~----------------------
Patreon Advance Chapters:
[email protected] / Dreamer20