In the 65th minute, Leganés, who had been attacking fiercely, created another chance.
Roberto lifted a ball over the top toward Hernández up front.
Levis fought hard in the air, but the ball somehow bounced loose and landed perfectly at Philip’s feet just outside the box.
Herbert stepped forward to block him.
Philip cut inside and struck a curling shot with his left foot.
A Beckham-style curler, heading straight for the top corner!
Michael saw that he would not get there in time.
‘Rewind five seconds!’
Before Philip shot, Michael adjusted his position early.
By the time the ball came flying over, Michael was already in place.
He caught it cleanly with both hands and rolled forward, using the momentum to pop back to his feet.
Without hesitating, he launched a powerful, sweeping throw.
Michael Chen’s signature move!
“Philip’s shot!
That’s a beautiful curling effort!” Jack yelled into the broadcast microphone.
“And Michael still plucks it out of the air!
Whoa!
That forward roll is becoming Michael Chen’s trademark.
From catching the ball to throwing it out for a counterattack, he completed the whole sequence in such a short time.
This man is terrifying!”
Even though this was the second time Jack had seen Michael use this specific distribution tactic, he still could not help sighing in amazement.
The ball was thrown accurately toward Oriol.
Oriol turned back, controlled it, and passed to Levis, who immediately sent a long ball upfield.
That rapid sequence of transitions caught the entire Leganés team off guard.
Up front, Costa drove forward with the ball.
Facing Ferdinand, he skipped past him lightly with a quick touch.
“Costa!
He’s one-on-one with the goalkeeper!
Goal!”
“Costa nutmegs him!
Hah!”
Martínez slapped the turf in frustration, while Costa rushed toward the touchline with his arms spread wide to receive the cheers of the home fans.
Kokosi threw himself onto the striker first, and one teammate after another piled on top.
Michael, the man who had initiated the counterattack, stayed back in his penalty area, quietly taking satisfaction in the assist.
Simeone Jr.
raised his arm and shouted from the touchline.
Atlético Madrid 2–0 Leganés!
Hernández restarted play once again.
This time, he and Ruli both wore faces long enough to drag across the grass.
In the 85th minute, Leganés had already burned through all their substitutions.
Philip and Touré played a quick one-two to get past Oriol, but as Touré moved wide to ask for the return pass, Felipe aggressively swept him down.
The referee awarded a free-kick.
Touré took it himself.
He struck the ball with heavy pace.
It curved dangerously toward the far post.
There were too many bodies crowding the box, and Michael was screened in the middle of the goal.
At the far post, Hernández had already been waiting in secret for a long time.
Header!
From close range, Michael threw himself out almost by pure instinct and managed to block the initial effort.
But the second ball fell to Ferdinand, who headed the loose rebound downward.
Goal!
Michael sat on the ground, staring at the net.
‘Rewind three seconds!’
Time snapped back.
After saving the first ball, Michael forced himself back to his feet a fraction of a second faster.
The second header came in.
Michael caught it firmly in his arms!
Felipe and Rayleigh excitedly ran over and rubbed Michael’s head.
“Michael, you really are built different!”
Levis was right beside him, unable to fully understand the freakish reflexes but deeply impressed anyway.
Michael stood up, raised the ball high, and shook it to hype the crowd.
“If Leganés fail to score past Michael Chen today, then Michael will have started six matches and kept six consecutive clean sheets!” Jack shouted over the broadcast.
“The current Spanish record is held by Bravo, who joined Barcelona last season.
Bravo kept eight clean sheets in a row and went 755 minutes without conceding!”
“If Michael can keep another two or three clean sheets, he’ll break the Chilean goalkeeper’s record!
We are all looking forward to that day!”
Until the final whistle blew, neither side scored again.
Hernández walked weakly toward the tunnel.
Michael jogged up to him.
“Hernández, you’re a forward with a lot of ideas.
I rate you.”
Hernández looked up at Michael, felt the genuine sincerity in his voice, and nodded.
“You really are a striker killer.
But I’ll definitely score against the goal you’re guarding one day!”
Michael smiled and patted him respectfully on the shoulder before going off with his teammates to applaud the fans.
Team Daily gave the MVP award to Costa, with a rating of 8.6.
Michael came second with an 8.5.
In attack, Costa had indeed been the team’s pillar, and in match situations like this, goal-scoring players were often given slightly higher scores by the media.
At the press conference, a reporter asked Simeone Jr., “Coach Simeone, we saw that in the post-match rating system, Costa’s score was slightly higher than Michael Chen’s.
But looking at the match overall, Michael’s saves rescued the team multiple times.
Who do you think had the greater impact today?”
“I think we’re a team,” Simeone Jr.
replied smoothly.
“Our players won’t fight over so-called media ratings.
Costa performed well today, and Michael also performed well.
Let’s focus more on the players’ actual on-pitch performances rather than the numbers.”
Over at Leganés’ press conference…
“Coach Barry, unfortunately, you lost the match today.
What are your thoughts on the game as a whole?”
“I don’t have many thoughts,” Barry sighed tiredly.
“All I can say is that our team lost to Michael Chen again.
Yes, Michael Chen.
He made every tactical arrangement we prepared disappear into smoke.”
After the match, the media rushed to publish their reports.
Michael’s Chen Shines Across the Pitch with Another Clean Sheet!
Michael Chen Is About to Break Spanish Football’s Clean-Sheet Record!
Santander Filled with Regret as Relegation Threat Looms!
… This chapter is updated first at g.com.
On social media, Hernández and Philip both formally followed Michael.
Michael picked up his phone and took a look.
Ever since posting that blunt statement after the street robbery incident, he had not really logged into Twitter again.
Even Cristiano Ronaldo had officially liked Michael’s “Siu” celebration video!
While Mario had begrudgingly liked Michael’s transfer post.
…
It actually felt pretty good to read the gossip news about himself from time to time.
Just as Michael was happily scrolling through the mindless articles praising him, Peter Cao called.
“Michael, the big boss admires your recent performances a lot.
If you get promoted to La Liga, he’ll fly out to meet you personally.”
After hanging up, Michael thought for a moment.
Mendes?
The legendary super-agent himself.
Perfect.
When the time came, they could sit down and talk properly, and Michael could ask him to help map out his long-term career path.
…
The days continued in an orderly rhythm.
Michael kept up his daily training, and Atlético assigned Jan Oblak’s first-team goalkeeping coach to him to help Michael continue his grueling extra sessions.
On January 11, Atlético hosted Girona and comfortably beat the visitors 2–0.
On January 18, Atlético traveled away to Zaragoza and destroyed the home side 3–0.
After that match, Michael’s run without conceding a single goal had reached 750 minutes.
If he kept another clean sheet in the next match, he would completely break the league record.
And Atlético’s next opponent was Barcelona B!
On the training pitch, Michael was practicing penalty saves with Costa.
From the touchline, Simeone Jr.
looked down at the scouting notes where his staff had estimated Michael’s raw goalkeeper data.
Profile: Attacking goalkeeper.
Twenty-five years old.
192 centimeters.
78 kilograms.
Right-footed.
Segunda División level: Speed, kicking power, physical duels, ball-winning.
Top Segunda División level: Stamina, jumping, defensive coverage, long throws, explosiveness.
La Liga level: Goalkeeping, clearances, passing, catching, injury resistance, body control.
Top La Liga level: Save reactions.
Just that freakish reaction speed alone was enough to crush most goalkeepers.
As for everything else on the list, that could be built up with time and heavy conditioning.
After all, in the goalkeeper position, age and experience only made players more dangerous.
On the pitch, after scoring five straight penalties into the bottom corners, Costa frowned and complained to Michael.
“Michael, can you stop going easy on me?
I want to actually improve against you, not be humored!”
Seeing Costa’s serious expression, Michael could only bring out one of his old, deflecting excuses.
“Costa!
Don’t push your luck after getting a bargain!
You train with me, hit shots that perfectly placed, and then you have the nerve to say I’m going easy on you?
I think you’re the one trying to piss me off!”
Costa looked at Michael suspiciously.
Then the striker carefully thought back to the tight, precise shots he had just taken, realized they were actually unsavable, and scratched his head in embarrassment.