Chapter 35: Chapter 34: Fiorentina U23 Vs Atalanta U23 [I]
Luca glanced up into the stands and spotted Sophia before grinning slightly and saying, "She told me she was coming to watch our match," and his tone carried brotherly amusement as he added, "Said she wanted to see what all the fuss was about."
Demien’s gaze swept across the crowd one more time, and that’s when he saw her.
Elena.
His ex-girlfriend sat in the Fiorentina section wearing purple and looking directly at him with wide eyes and an expression that mixed shock and something else he couldn’t identify, and for a moment, their eyes met across the distance before Demien forced himself to look away.
The referee’s whistle cut through the moment with a sharp blast, and both teams moved onto the pitch as the crowd’s noise surged with applause and scattered cheers while players jogged to their positions.
Demien took his spot in central midfield beside Riccardo, who clapped once and said, "You ready?"
"Yeah," Demien said while bouncing on his toes and feeling his heart hammering against his ribs, and he added, "Let’s go."
Fiorentina’s players spread across the pitch in their 4-2-3-1 formation with Adriano positioned at the ten between their two defensive midfielders and the striker, and he checked his laces casually before looking over at Demien with a smirk that carried challenge and arrogance in equal measure.
The referee raised his whistle to his lips.
Fweeeeee.
The sharp blast signaled kickoff, and Fiorentina’s striker tapped the ball back to Adriano, who immediately turned and played it to one of the defensive midfielders while both teams began moving with purpose as the match came to life.
At 2 minutes, stadium noise surged with parents shouting encouragement, coaches calling instructions, and the sound of boots striking grass and ball as Fiorentina’s midfield began building from the back with short, sharp passes that showed their technical quality.
Demien tracked Adriano’s movement immediately while feeling tension in every muscle as he anticipated runs and tried to read the pattern of their attack, and beside him, Riccardo dropped deeper to cover space while calling out, "Stay tight!"
Fiorentina’s defensive midfielder Cataldi received the ball under minimal pressure and turned before playing it forward to Adriano, who had found space between Atalanta’s midfield and defensive lines, and he took the pass with his back to goal before feeling Demien closing in from behind.
Adriano’s first touch was clean as he controlled the ball with the sole of his right foot, and the moment he felt Demien’s presence tightening behind him, he chopped the ball sharply to his left with the inside of his boot while spinning his body in the same direction.
Demien reacted immediately and shifted his weight left to follow, but Adriano’s right foot came back around lightning-fast and dragged the ball back to the right in one fluid motion, completing a La Croqueta that left Demien’s momentum carrying him the wrong way.
The skill was executed so smoothly that by the time Demien planted his foot to change direction, Adriano had already accelerated into the space he’d created, and his first two touches out of the move were sharp and purposeful as he burst forward with the ball glued to his feet.
Fuck, Demien thought while spinning to chase, but Adriano was already five yards ahead and orchestrating the attack with the confidence of someone who knew he belonged at a higher level, and the crowd in the Fiorentina section erupted with appreciation for the skill they’d just witnessed.
Fuck, Demien thought while spinning to chase, but Adriano was already orchestrating the attack with the confidence of someone who knew he belonged at a higher level.
"Track him! Watch the runner!" someone shouted from Atalanta’s defense as Adriano called for a one-two with striker Vitale, who immediately played it back while continuing his run toward goal, and the passing pattern drew Atalanta’s defensive line forward while creating space behind them.
Adriano received the return pass and immediately dragged the ball away from another midfielder’s challenge before flicking a weighted diagonal pass toward the right wing, where Franchi had begun a surging run wide, and the pass arrived perfectly as the winger controlled it at full sprint.
Franchi cut inside before delivering a cross back toward the center where Adriano had continued his run completely undetected, and he ghosted between two Atalanta defenders while timing his movement perfectly to arrive exactly when the ball did.
The cross came across the box waist-high, and Adriano cushioned it with his chest before the ball dropped to his feet, and Ferrari lunged to block while Moretti tried to recover from the other side, but Adriano had already committed to his next action.
He dummied with his body by shifting his weight left, and the movement caused Ferrari to bite on the fake, and then Adriano opened his body with a subtle drop of his shoulder while taking one touch to create a yard of space.
Demien tried to recover by sprinting back toward goal and almost reaching the edge of the box, but Adriano’s right foot was already swinging forward with precision, and the low shot flew toward the bottom corner with power and accuracy as Leone dove with arms fully extended.
The ball stayed low and hard, and Leone’s fingertips missed by inches as the ball struck the inside of the post before bouncing into the net, and the stadium erupted with half the crowd celebrating wildly while the other half groaned in disappointment.
At 4 minutes, Fiorentina had taken the lead.
Fiorentina 1-0 Atalanta
Adriano wheeled away toward the corner flag with both arms spread wide and his face alive with triumph, and he looked directly at Demien with a mixed expression of victory and provocation before his teammates swarmed him with congratulations.
Fiorentina’s bench spilled onto the sideline with players clapping and shouting while their coaches applauded the early breakthrough, and the purple section of the crowd continued celebrating with chants and applause.
Atalanta’s defenders immediately began arguing among themselves as Ferrari pointed at where Adriano had made his run while Moretti gestured toward the midfield indicating the space that had been left open, and Riccardo jogged over to them while raising both hands and saying, "Heads up! Plenty of game left!"
Demien stood near the center circle with his fists clenched at his sides while shame, frustration, and old wounds surged through him all at once, and the internal monologue from David Drinkwater’s consciousness mixed with Demien Walter’s anger as one thought crystallized with perfect clarity: I’m going to show him.
In the directors’ box, Gasperini leaned back in his seat while his assistant murmured something about the goal, and Gasperini’s expression remained neutral as he said, "That’s how you start a game," before pausing and adding, "Now let’s see how Demien responds to his former team."
Demien’s mother sat with her hands clasped together while watching her son with visible concern as she recognized the body language of someone dealing with internal struggle, and beside her in the crowd, Sophia had removed her sunglasses to watch more clearly while Luca caught his sister’s eye briefly before focusing back on the pitch.
Luca, who’d seen Demien’s journey from broken academy reject to confident midfielder, gave him a supportive glance from his wing-back position and called out, "Shake it off, we go again!"
Atalanta’s players gathered for kickoff as Parisi stood over the ball in the center circle while his teammates spread across their half of the pitch, and Demien took his position slightly ahead of Riccardo while his eyes never left Adriano, who was now joking with his defensive midfielders about the finish.
Internal resolve started to harden in Demien’s chest as the shame and frustration transformed into something colder and more focused, and David Drinkwater’s thirty-seven years of experience whispered one word through his consciousness: Patience.
The referee raised his whistle to his lips one more time.
Fweeeeee.