My Ultimate Gacha System-Chapter 294 - 283: Bologna vs Atalanta -
Thursday, April 27, 2023
Stadio Renato Dall’Ara, Bologna
Halftime - Away Dressing Room
3:48 PM
The dressing room door shut and the noise from the stands dulled into a low rumble behind concrete, and Bologna shirts hung damp across their benches in the next corridor while the echo of their supporters still bled through the walls.
Inside Atalanta’s room no one sat immediately and De Roon stood over the tactics board with his finger tracing the space Bologna had been attacking during the first half, and Gasperini stepped in front of it before tapping the gap between midfield and defense once.
"Closer," Gasperini said, and his palm went flat against the board. "Win the second ball and we breathe."
Koopmeiners nodded once and Tolói tightened the tape around his wrist while his teeth pulled the end tight, and Demien stayed seated with a towel around his neck while listening without speaking.
The players rose together after Gasperini finished his instructions, and the tunnel felt tighter on the way back out because both teams were moving through it simultaneously.
Bologna reappeared first and were greeted by a surge of sound from their supporters who sensed the comeback was possible, and Atalanta followed thirty seconds later.
The whistle started the second half.
***Fweeeeeetttttttt!!!!!***
**46’ - 55’ |**
Bologna pressed immediately again with their fullbacks pushing high up the flanks, and their intensity hadn’t dropped from the first half because the aggregate score gave them no choice except to attack.
A turnover near the center circle happened when Koopmeiners’ pass toward Lookman was intercepted by Bologna’s midfielder, and immediately their winger received the ball before driving down the flank with space opening ahead of him.
Mæhle tracked the run but couldn’t close the distance fast enough, and the cross came fast and low across the penalty area seeking Bologna’s striker who was making a run toward the near post.
Scalvini stretched with his leg extended and his clearance connected but sent the ball only as far as the edge of the box where Bologna’s attacking midfielder was positioned.
A shot followed immediately—right foot striking through the ball from eighteen yards—and the trajectory was good but the placement was slightly off, and the ball skimmed wide of Musso’s left post by two feet.
The crowd roared anyway because they sensed another goal was coming, and the noise sustained itself without dropping.
**55’ - 65’ |**
Bologna continued pressing and Atalanta defended deeper than Gasperini wanted, and the territorial advantage belonged completely to the home side while Atalanta’s attempts to counter were cut off before developing properly.
Gasperini turned to his bench and his eyes scanned the substitutes before landing on Demien.
Demien was already on his feet and removing his jacket before the instruction came, and at sixty-five minutes the fourth official raised his board showing the substitution.
**Number 28 coming on. Number 21 coming off.**
He replaced De Roon who jogged off while offering a brief hand clasp in passing, and Koopmeiners dropped five yards deeper into the space De Roon had occupied while Demien slotted in beside him, and the adjustment narrowed the central channel immediately.
**Commentary Booth**
As Demien stepped onto the pitch the commentator’s voice cut in.
"Walter enters with Atalanta needing composure in midfield. Fresh legs could change the rhythm here with twenty-five minutes remaining."
**65’ - 68’ |**
Play resumed with a Bologna throw-in deep in Atalanta territory and the ball was worked inside quickly through two short passes, and a loose touch under pressure from Bologna’s midfielder spilled the ball toward the center circle where both teams scrambled for possession.
Demien stepped in first with his shoulder coming through contact from behind, and his toe poked the ball cleanly away from the Bologna player before it could be controlled.
「TRAIT ACTIVATED」
**Ball Winner**
He read the bounce and his body was already angled forward as the defender tried to recover position, and he didn’t hold the ball because space was opening ahead.
One touch forward with his right foot sent it rolling five yards, and Koopmeiners collected it before immediately feeding it back into Demien as space opened centrally.
Demien turned and his first two strides carried him past the recovering midfielder who lunged but couldn’t make contact, and a second defender leaned into him from the side with shoulder pressure.
Demien shifted his weight lower while holding balance, and he kept the ball tight to his right foot as he accelerated past the challenge, and then he released it wide to Lookman who had space on the left flank.
He kept running and cut between two retreating Bologna shirts who were backpedaling toward their penalty area, and Lookman’s return pass arrived at the edge of the area where Demien had continued his movement.
One steadying touch with his instep brought the ball under control, and his eyes went up to scan the goalkeeper’s position while his body stayed balanced.
No rush.
He struck low across goal and his foot wrapped around the ball while his body leaned slightly left, and the ball shot across the turf with spin that took it away from the goalkeeper’s dive.
It skimmed past his outstretched fingers and struck the inside of the far post before rolling across the line, and the net bulged.
**GOAL: BOLOGNA 1-2 ATALANTA (68’)**
The away section exploded with noise and Demien turned while raising one hand briefly before jogging back toward the halfway line, and teammates clapped him on the shoulders as they surrounded him.
The scoreboard updated.
**AGGREGATE: ATALANTA 3-1 BOLOGNA**
**68’ - 74’ |**
Bologna restarted furiously because now they needed three goals instead of two, and their midfield pushed higher while abandoning defensive caution completely.
Crosses began arriving in waves as their fullbacks overlapped constantly, and Atalanta’s defensive line was under sustained pressure for the next six minutes.
In the seventy-fourth minute Bologna’s midfielder received the ball twenty-five yards from goal and struck it with power, and the shot was heading wide until it deflected off Scalvini’s outstretched leg.
The deflection changed the trajectory completely and wrong-footed Musso who had been diving toward where the original shot was traveling, and the ball found the net inside the near post.
**GOAL: BOLOGNA 2-2 ATALANTA (74’)**
The stadium erupted again with noise that felt louder than before, and Bologna players sprinted back to the center spot without celebrating because time was running out.
**AGGREGATE: ATALANTA 3-2 BOLOGNA**
**74’ - 81’ |**
The match stretched as both teams committed more players forward during attacks, and gaps appeared in both defensive shapes because neither side could afford to sit back.
In the eighty-first minute Demien dropped deeper to receive the ball from Djimsiti, and two Bologna defenders closed quickly from different angles to prevent him from turning.
He dragged the ball under his sole and his body turned sharply over it while his left foot planted as the pivot point.
「SKILL ACTIVATED」
**Johan Cruyff — Turn Innovator**
The defenders committed past him because their momentum couldn’t stop, and he exited the spin with the ball rolling cleanly in the opposite direction while his body shielded contact as he accelerated into open grass.
Space opened ahead of him and he looked up before swinging his right foot across the ball, and he struck it flat and hard diagonally toward the right flank.
「SKILL ACTIVATED」
**Paul Pogba — Long Switch Flair**
The ball traveled thirty yards through the air while dipping slightly, and it arrived perfectly into Hateboer’s stride on the opposite side of the pitch.
Hateboer controlled it with his first touch before cutting the ball back quickly toward the center with his second, and Demien continued his run forward but saw Højlund positioned better near the penalty spot.
He shaped to pass left with his body angled in that direction, but at the last instant he dragged his foot across the ball and rolled it with the outside edge between two closing defenders.
「SKILL ACTIVATED」
**Mesut Özil — Eye-of-Needle**
The ball threaded through the narrow gap that existed for maybe one second, and Højlund arrived at the six-yard box with his right foot already drawn back.
He struck it first time with the inside of his boot, and the shot was low and hard toward the near post, and the goalkeeper dove but the ball was already past him before he could extend his hands.
The ball smashed into the side netting and the net rippled.
The scoreboard flashed.
**GOAL: BOLOGNA 2-3 ATALANTA (81’)**
**AGGREGATE: ATALANTA 4-2 BOLOGNA**
The away supporters erupted again with sustained noise that drowned out the home crowd’s silence.
**81’ - 88’ |**
Bologna pushed everything forward because mathematical possibility still existed, and their center-backs crossed the halfway line now while abandoning defensive structure completely.
Long balls were launched into the penalty area repeatedly and Scalvini and Tolói headed clear again and again while bodies jumped in congested space.
In the eighty-eighth minute another clearance from Tolói’s header dropped near the center circle, and Demien reacted first by cushioning it on his chest before the ball could bounce.
He drove forward immediately with the ball at his feet and a Bologna defender stepped in late with a desperate challenge, and Demien shifted the ball slightly to his left with the outside of his boot while using his body to shield the contact.
He planted his left foot and struck with his right from twenty-two yards out without breaking stride.
「TRAIT ACTIVATED」
**Long Shot Taker**
The ball stayed low and never rose above knee height, and it skimmed across the turf while bouncing once just before reaching the penalty area.
The goalkeeper dropped but the ball was already beneath him, and it slid inside the near post before he could get his hands down.
The net billowed.
**GOAL: BOLOGNA 2-4 ATALANTA (88’)**
**AGGREGATE: ATALANTA 5-2 BOLOGNA**
Silence spread across the home stands before the away section erupted with noise that celebrated qualification being secured.
Demien didn’t sprint to the corner and he exhaled once while his fists clenched briefly at his sides, and teammates surrounded him while jumping on his back.
**88’ - 90’+3’ |**
The final minutes were desperate from Bologna who sent one last high cross into the area during stoppage time, and Musso claimed it before falling to the ground with his arms wrapped tight around the ball.
The referee checked his watch and raised his whistle.
***Fweeeeeetttttttt! Fweeeeeetttttttt! Fweeeeeetttttttt!***
**FULL TIME: BOLOGNA 2-4 ATALANTA**
**AGGREGATE: ATALANTA 5-2 BOLOGNA**
Atalanta players threw their arms up and the bench emptied as substitutes sprinted onto the pitch, and Gasperini shook hands quickly with Bologna’s coach before turning toward his own staff.
The away supporters bounced as one block while their voices created sustained noise, and the scoreboard confirmed it with graphics showing Atalanta’s progression to the final.
**ATALANTA QUALIFY FOR COPPA ITALIA FINAL**
As Demien walked toward the tunnel with sweat running down his neck and soaking through his shirt, the translucent panel appeared once more in his peripheral vision.
「MISSION COMPLETE」
「OBJECTIVE: QUALIFY FOR COPPA ITALIA FINAL」
「REWARD: 200 TP + 200 MP」
The numbers updated briefly before fading, and his teammates pulled him back toward the celebrating away section where supporters were still singing. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢
**End of Chapter 264**
