Chapter 383: Chapter 56: Pre-Season Week 1

Three Days Later

Centro Bortolotti Training Complex

Main Pitch

9:15 AM

Thursday morning brought different work because Gasperini’s pre-season structure always followed the same pattern—two days of pure fitness conditioning, one day of technical work, repeat—and today’s session was eleven-a-side practice match on the main pitch with competitive intensity but controlled tactical structure.

The squad split into two teams—starters versus reserves with some mixing to balance quality—and Demien lined up in central midfield for the first team alongside de Roon in the double pivot while Koopmeiners played ahead of them in the advanced midfield role.

Højlund led the line for the starters and Lookman operated on the left side of the attacking trio, and the formation was Gasperini’s preferred 3-4-2-1 that required midfielders to cover substantial ground both vertically and horizontally while maintaining positional discipline.

Practice match kicked off at nine-twenty and the intensity was immediate because players competing for starting positions couldn’t afford to treat friendlies casually, and bodies that had spent three days doing interval training were now being asked to think tactically while executing at match pace.

Demien received the ball in the sixth minute from de Roon’s square pass and two reserve midfielders pressed him immediately from different angles—one from his left, one from his right—and the space between them was maybe three yards which meant the passing lane forward was blocked and backward would reset possession to the defensive third.

「TRAIT ACTIVE」

Press Resistant

His first touch directed the ball slightly forward and his body turned to shield it from the nearest presser, and the ball sat protected between his feet while his head came up to scan options, and Koopmeiners had dropped five yards deeper to create a passing angle that wouldn’t be blocked by the pressing midfielders’ positioning.

The pass went to Koopmeiners with the outside of his right foot—fifteen yards, driven rather than lofted, weighted so it arrived at the Dutchman’s feet rather than requiring him to adjust his stride—and possession moved forward while the two pressing midfielders were left behind because their momentum had committed them to challenges that never materialized.

「STAT ACTIVE」

Short Passing: 88

Fourteenth minute Demien found space in the right half-space twenty-five yards from goal and Lookman’s pass from the left flank came across the pitch with pace, and when the ball arrived at Demien’s feet two defenders were closing from central positions but neither had reached pressing distance yet.

The angle to goal was available and his body position was set and the goalkeeper was positioned slightly to his left to cover the near post.

「STAT ACTIVE」

Long Shots: 89 | Curve: 92

His right foot connected with the ball just below its center and the strike was clean—the kind of contact where ball compression felt perfect and the sound of leather meeting boot carried across the pitch—and the shot rose with curve that bent it away from the goalkeeper’s dive while the trajectory stayed under the crossbar.

The ball hit the inside of the far post and ricocheted into the net before the goalkeeper could recover his position, and the goal was counted even though this was practice because Gasperini ran practice matches with the same scoring and timing structure as real matches.

Teammates jogged toward Demien with brief congratulations—nothing excessive because this was training rather than competition—and de Roon said "that curve" while they moved back to position for the restart, and the acknowledgment was enough.

Practice match continued for eighty-five minutes total with two goals scored by the reserves bringing the final score to 3-2 in favor of the starting eleven, and when the session ended Demien’s jersey was soaked and his legs felt the accumulated load of four training sessions in four days.

The blue panel appeared as he walked toward the tunnel.

「DAILY MISSION COMPLETE」

「Session Type: Full Practice Match」

「Duration: 85 minutes」

「Performance: Professional Standard」

「Goal Scored: +1 bonus」

「REWARDS: 10 TP + 5 TP」

「CURRENT BALANCE: 380 TP | 18 SP | 463 MP」

The notification faded and recovery protocols began—ice bath first to reduce inflammation, then contrast shower alternating hot and cold water to stimulate blood flow, then proper meal in the cafeteria where teammates sat and talked about the session while bodies cooled down and soreness started settling into muscles that had been pushed properly.

First week of pre-season was establishing rhythm and building base fitness, and next week would bring tactical complexity and positional drills, and the week after that would bring the first friendly match where system missions would activate for actual competition rather than training simulation.

Transfer decision still sat unresolved in the background with Chelsea meeting scheduled for Friday, but the football came first because the football was always what came first regardless of contract negotiations or media speculation or agent phone calls.

Thursday Morning

Demien’s Apartment, Bergamo

6:45 AM

The alarm went at six-thirty and Demien shut it off before the second cycle finished, and across the room Luca was already awake scrolling through his phone with the blue screen light illuminating his face in the pre-dawn darkness.

"Nike today?" Luca asked without looking up from whatever he was reading.

"Yeah. Milan at nine. Shoot runs four hours probably, back by three if traffic cooperates." 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"Sounds terrible."

"It’s work." Demien swung his legs off the bed and stood, and the apartment was quiet except for the street noise filtering up from below where Bergamo was starting its Thursday morning routine. "You training this morning?"

"Recovery session at ten with the physios. Light gym work after. Nothing serious." Luca finally looked up from his phone. "Hojlund messaged me last night. He’s leaving Saturday for Manchester. Wants to go out tomorrow night, proper send-off before he flies to England. You in?"

Demien walked to the bathroom and turned on the shower while considering whether adding a night out to an already packed week was smart or stupid, and the hot water started running before he made the decision. "Where?"

"Somewhere in the upper town. He didn’t specify. Scalvini’s coming too apparently."

"Tell him I’m in. Friday night, not too late because I have Chelsea meeting Saturday afternoon."

"Done."

The shower was hot enough that steam filled the small bathroom within thirty seconds, and Demien stepped under it while his body woke up properly and his mind started organizing the day ahead—drive to Milan, four hours of photoshoot work for Nike’s boot campaign, drive back to Bergamo, recovery protocols at home, early sleep because tomorrow meant final training session of the week before the weekend break.

Commercial obligations were part of the job now that he was an established player rather than an academy prospect, and Nike paid well enough that four hours of posing for cameras and discussing boot customization options was justified even when it meant missing a morning at Centro Bortolotti.