Team B’s defensive shape shifted instantly.
Players moved as a unit, compressing space toward the ball side.
Luca sprinted back into position.
The tempo was a different sport.
Faster than youth football by an entire level.
Runs were sharper.
Passes were decisive.
The intensity of a single duel told him everything.
This was professional football.
This was Serie A.
Luca pushed forward, tracking Callejón, Team A’s Spanish right winger.
Callejón saw the rookie closing him down and smiled.
No fancy moves.
Just a sudden stop, a push of the ball forward, and an explosive burst of acceleration.
One step and he was half a body past Luca.
So fast.
Luca turned and chased, but the gap widened in seconds.
First-team wingers had a different gear.
He would not catch him.
Luca made the split-second decision not to chase blindly.
Instead, he adjusted his angle, cutting inside to block Callejón’s preferred path toward goal or a cross.
He shouted to left back Strinic.
“Watch the byline!”
Callejón had planned to go wide, but Luca’s positioning had already sealed the inside lane.
Strinic had recovered to cover the flank.
Callejón slowed, glanced at Luca, and grinned.
“Quick thinking, kid.”
Without hesitation, he cut the ball back to the edge of the box.
Hamsik was arriving at full speed.
But Luca’s early recovery and call had bought center-back Tonelli precious seconds.
He stepped up and disrupted Hamsik’s shooting rhythm.
The shot was weak and central.
Goalkeeper Rafael collected it easily.
Close.
Luca exhaled and returned to his position.
His brain saw the danger.
His body could not keep up.
Defense needed work.
Fast.
On the sideline, Sarri showed no expression.
He simply noted something in his book.
Jorginho watched Luca’s positioning and felt a flicker of interest.
The kid knew where to be.
Worth combining with.
Rafael rolled the ball out quickly.
Two passes and it reached Jorginho, who had dropped deep to receive.
Insigne pressed immediately.
But the ball stuck to Jorginho’s feet.
A light drag, a turn, and he was past the press.
Calm.
Effortless.
Insigne waved Milik forward to double-team.
Jorginho, as if with eyes in the back of his head, slipped the ball to Luca just as the trap closed.
Luca’s first touch in a first-team session.
His vision exploded open.
Team A’s defensive shape was compact.
No obvious gaps ahead.
Allan was charging at him.
No hesitation.
Luca played it first time, straight back to Jorginho, who had already escaped his marker and found a better angle.
Clean.
Sharp.
No wasted touches.
“Good.” Jorginho received and praised quietly, then pushed forward.
Luca stayed five to eight meters behind and to his side, a loyal shadow, always available.
Over the next few minutes, the two showed surprising chemistry.
Jorginho controlled.
Luca found space.
When Luca was pressed, he always found the return lane to Jorginho.
Their quick, simple exchanges left Insigne and Milik chasing shadows, burning energy on lost causes.
On the sideline, an assistant coach leaned toward Sarri, eyes bright.
“Coach.
Look at Luca and João.
The movement, the passing angles.
It’s got a bit of that Barcelona tiki-taka feel.”
Sarri adjusted his glasses.
His face betrayed nothing, but his eyes tracked the two midfielders.
“Both read the game well.
Especially Luca.
He always appears exactly where João needs an outlet.
That kind of understanding in a first session is rare.”
He paused.
“But I need to see it under pressure.”
Luca received from Jorginho in the half-space.
Hamsik closed him down, smiling like a senior greeting a rookie.
“Steady passing, kid.”
Luca said nothing.
Facing Hamsik, he dropped his shoulder, feinting a pass left toward Jorginho.
Hamsik was experienced, but the fake was convincing.
His weight shifted a fraction.
That was enough.
Luca’s right foot pushed the ball right, and his body slipped past Hamsik on the opposite side of his momentum.
A clean break.
“Whoa.”
Low murmurs rippled from the coaching staff and substitutes.
“That shoulder drop and push.
Great rhythm.”
“Has a bit of that Messi shiftiness.
Obviously not the same speed or explosiveness, but the timing and deception.
Similar.”
“Solid dribbling fundamentals.
The kid can play.”
“Not bad.
Reminds me of myself when I was young.”
In a top league, many players can dribble.
Few can use simple moves with such deception and efficiency at speed.
Luca had shown both.
“Good, Luca!”
Diawara called for it from a good position.
Luca did not get greedy.
He looked up and curled a perfect pass into Diawara’s path.
Diawara took it in stride, shifted right to open the angle, and slid a through ball past the defense.
Giaccherini, Team B’s striker, timed his run perfectly.
He rounded Albiol with a clever touch and curled a left-footed shot around goalkeeper Reina’s fingertips.
The net rippled.
One-nil.
Team B.
“Brilliant!”
Team B celebrated.
Diawara ran over and high-fived Luca.
“Great pass, Luca!”
The breakthrough and distribution had been the key.
Jorginho walked over and patted Luca’s back.
“Good play.
Good combination.”
He was increasingly impressed by the youngster’s football brain and technical ability.
But as a senior midfielder, he did not forget to mentor.
“Your one-on-one defending still needs work.
Callejón went past you too easily earlier.”
He lowered his voice and shared his insight.
“Against speed merchants, chasing is not the answer.
Read their intent early.
Move before they do.
Cut off where they want to go.
If you move first, even if you are slower, you can hold the position.
Then it is about timing and precision of the tackle.
Try it.”
Jorginho’s defending was often underrated.
He did not rely on strength or sliding tackles.
He relied on elite positional reading and interception.
In Chelsea’s 2021 Champions League run, it was not Kanté who topped the tackles and interceptions charts.
It was Jorginho, with a staggering twenty-six combined.
His single-game interception record in the European Championship still stood.
His theory sounded abstract to players who relied on physicality.
But for Luca, who already possessed exceptional game reading, it was a revelation.
Luca nodded, absorbing every word.
Then.
Ding.
[Key figure ‘Jorginho’ has expressed deep recognition and shared experiential knowledge.]
[Hidden condition met.
‘Bind Character/Template’ function unlocked.]
[Available template: ‘Jorginho’s Defensive Reading’ (Elite).]
[Begin fusion?
Fusion will gradually improve host’s defensive positioning, interception anticipation, and defensive reading.]
[Note: Fusion requires time and match experience.
Initial fusion rate will be low.]
Luca’s heart raced.
He confirmed mentally.
“Fuse.”
[Jorginho’s Defensive Reading template fusion beginning.
Current fusion rate: 10%.]
[Attribute update: Defense: 65 → 70.
Potential cap raised to 88.]
Not a specific skill.
More like an extra sense for space and intent.
When he looked at the pitch again, his defensive positioning felt guided by a faint intuition.
“Thank you, João.
That advice is gold.” Luca meant it, eyes bright.
Jorginho smiled.
Good attitude.
The match continued.
Team A kicked off.
They seemed to target Luca’s side.
The ball went right again.
Callejón received, facing Luca.
“Back again, kid.”
Callejón grinned.
This time, he was playful.
His feet flickered over the ball, stepovers, testing Luca’s balance.
Luca stayed rooted.
Eyes on the ball.
Center of gravity low.
With the new defensive sense guiding him, he felt Callejón’s weight leaning right.
Still going for speed on the outside.
Sure enough, Callejón’s outstep pushed the ball right, explosive acceleration.
Not this time.
Luca had already shifted left a step, turning not to chase, but to block the path.
Callejón hit the wall.
He tried to cut inside, but Luca timed his tackle perfectly, poking the ball cleanly away and stepping past to control it.
A clean, smart defensive play.
“Good ball!”
“Smart defending.
Moved early, cut the lane.”
Callejón blinked, turned, and watched Luca launch the counter.
He rubbed his nose.
“Not bad, kid.”
Luca did not dwell.
A precise long ball found Jorginho upfield.
The counter flowed.
Team A’s defense eventually cleared it, but Luca’s successful stand lifted Team B’s energy and his own confidence.
The duels grew fiercer.
On a Team B attack, Luca spotted a gap in the half-space and made a forward run.
Winger Rog saw him and played the pass.
It was high.
Luca leaped, extending his leg to bring it down.
As he landed, a figure flew in from behind.
Studs scraped grass.
Allan’s slide tackle was clean and brutal.
He got the ball first, knocking it out of play.
The follow-through took Luca’s standing leg.
Sarri waved play on.
Good challenge.
“You all right, kid?”
Allan, having completed the tackle, extended a hand to Luca.
His expression was neutral.
Just another training ground duel.
Luca’s chest was tight from the impact, but he grabbed the hand and pulled himself up.
“I’m fine.”
He shook his head clear.
Allan nodded once and jogged back to his position.
So this was Serie A intensity.
Luca took a deep breath.
Adrenaline surged.
The frustration of being knocked down bubbled into something else.
Not fear.
Excitement.
Team B’s throw-in.
A few passes.
The ball found Luca again.
Allan pressed immediately.
This time, Luca did not dribble or pass short.
He met Allan’s charge and, without letting the ball settle, swung his right foot through it.
A long, raking pass.
The ball soared over midfield and dropped perfectly into Jorginho’s path near the touchline.
The vision and weight were flawless.
Jorginho controlled it comfortably.
“Good ball!”
Jorginho shouted, took a touch, glanced at the box, and whipped in a cross on instinct.
Midway through the ball’s flight, he remembered.
Giaccherini was barely one meter seventy.
Against Koulibaly and Albiol, he had no chance.
Koulibaly headed it clear with ease.
Jorginho raised a hand in apology to Giaccherini, shaking his head with a small, self-deprecating smile.
He muttered under his breath.
“Old habit.
Still expecting Higuain.”