Chapter 160: The Final Sprint

Facing the experienced Juventus, Tsubasa and his team, Villarreal, ultimately failed to gain any real advantage. With one loss and one draw across the two legs, Tsubasa's UEFA Champions League journey this season came to a formal end.

However, in the eyes of all media outlets and football industry insiders, for this gifted youngster, his path to superstardom had only just begun.

Solely looking at the second leg of the semi-finals between Juventus and Villarreal, Tsubasa was already more than enough to give fans high expectations. Although the overall match result and run of play still showed Juventus holding the general advantage and controlling the proceedings, Tsubasa still shone as the most dazzling superstar of the night with a goal and an assist.

Setting a new personal single-season scoring record in the Champions League, such a performance naturally earned Tsubasa high praise from legendary Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, who even went out of his way to exchange jerseys with Tsubasa after the second leg.

Such a dominant performance had already allowed Tsubasa to swap the "prodigy" label on his back for that of a "superstar."

Yet, whether he could cement his legendary status in the world of football remained a long road ahead for Tsubasa, with the two towering mountains before him—Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi—serving as the best benchmarks.

Of course, as Ronaldo and Messi grow older with each passing year, the football world of the future might well belong to young talents like Tsubasa. It is worth noting that before him, Anthony Martial was similarly hailed as a teenage prodigy, but currently playing for Manchester United, Martial's performance this season has not been eye-catching and he still needs to prove himself further. Conversely, Tsubasa would inevitably encounter such challenges as well.

To become the greatest superstar after Ronaldo and Messi, Tsubasa still had a long way to go with heavy responsibilities. Judging by his performances this season, Tsubasa certainly possessed room for growth; high-profile managers including Arsène Wenger, Zinedine Zidane, and Antonio Conte had all offered him glowing praise. But to become a true superstar, aside from personal development, the ability to lead a club and even a national team to great success is equally crucial. Just like Ronaldo's Real Madrid, Messi's Barcelona, and Buffon's Juventus, the reason these superstars became superstars is precisely because they shared in the glory of their teams and revived them through their own sheer willpower. Whether Tsubasa could achieve this in his future football career would largely determine his ultimate ceiling.

Because of this, an eliminated Villarreal could naturally not serve as the optimal stage for Tsubasa to ascend to superstardom. How should he choose his next destination?

Should he head to Manchester United, where Ronaldo made his name?

Or choose Arsenal, where Thierry Henry once played?

Or join Real Madrid to fight alongside Ronaldo?

Or move to Barcelona to receive firsthand guidance from Messi?

Different choices might shape Tsubasa's development in entirely different ways.

From a teenage prodigy to a legendary superstar, Ronaldo did it, Messi did it. Can Tsubasa do it?

Yet, at this moment, Tsubasa paid no attention to the outside world's speculations about his future; he was busy studying newly redeemed skills within the "Captain Tsubasa System."

"This really came just in time..."

After a 2-2 draw with Juventus and being eliminated 4-2 on aggregate, Tsubasa had finally accumulated 30 points, earned from the aftermath of this defeat, allowing him to redeem the stamina-boosting skill he had planned for a long time—Hikaru Matsuyama's "Unyielding Eagle."

Hikaru Matsuyama is a fictional character from Volume 4 of the Captain Tsubasa youth arc, born on June 21 in Hokkaido, skilled at mid-distance shooting, and known as the "Wild Eagle of the North." His voice actor in his youth is Akira Ishida.

In elementary school, Hikaru Matsuyama was the captain of Furano Elementary School in Hokkaido and the sole standout player on the squad. Under his leadership, Furano Elementary first eliminated the tournament favorites Sapporo in the national qualifiers, successfully advanced into the national top four, and gave Hyuga's Meiwa team a hard time. Unfortunately, due to a leg injury and Ken Wakashimazu's timely return in the semi-finals, they missed a penalty kick and lost to Meiwa, but his exceptional individual skills and leadership abilities had already gained widespread recognition.

Matsuyama's signature move is the Eagle Shot, a special technique comparable to Kojiro Hyuga's Tiger Shot, which also goes by alternate names such as the "Wild Eagle Shot" and the "Northern Country Shot."

However, the skill Tsubasa wanted to redeem was not this one. On one hand, he already possessed the Tiger Shot; on the other hand, the Eagle Shot only required 15 points in the system, a full tier lower than Kojiro Hyuga's Tiger Shot, offering virtually no improvement to his current abilities.

Among Matsuyama's skills, the one with the highest point value was a stamina-enhancing ability—"Unyielding Eagle."

Compared to the endless stream of geniuses in Captain Tsubasa, Matsuyama was not that kind of gifted player. The reason he managed to enter the national junior and youth teams relied entirely on his diligence and unyielding perseverance.

And the 20-point-valued "Unyielding Eagle" by Hikaru Matsuyama represented his perseverance to the very end and his relentless, unstoppable pursuit.

As a forward, Tsubasa no longer had any weaknesses in terms of technique. Even his slightly weaker left foot had reached an overall rating of 86, surpassing many renowned left-footed players in the football world.

His stamina was actually not bad at all; in fact, he was considered a relatively outstanding player within the Villarreal squad, and playing a full 90 minutes with abundant energy was never a problem.

However, when facing a season filled with multiple concurrent competitions, his stamina would inevitably suffer a drastic drop by the end of the season, especially after enduring the exhaustion of traveling back and forth for national team matches, which would likely cut his performance by half.

The most obvious sign was that during the first half of the season, Tsubasa's scoring efficiency and goal tally noticeably outperformed the second half, which was precisely the impact of fatigue.

Upon redeeming Hikaru Matsuyama's "Unyielding Eagle," Tsubasa only felt as though he were soaking in a hot spring—immensely comfortable, his body completely relaxed, and even the fatigue in his mind seemed to be washed away.

Most noticeably, the health status bar in his system, which had slipped down to 6 points, climbed right back up to its peak value of 7 points after redeeming the skill.

Tsubasa clenched his fist, feeling the same surge of strength he had right after finishing his workouts at the start of the season.

"This is the feeling, awesome!" Tsubasa laughed heartily. With his stamina restored to its peak, he gained two more parts of confidence in competing for the Pichichi Trophy in La Liga. "This time, Messi is completely out of the running!"

On May 13, the 37th round of La Liga kicked off.

With only the final two rounds remaining, many of the season's suspenseful battles had already been resolved; for instance, the three relegated teams had been determined, and the four Champions League spots were basically clear. Among the three major suspense points remaining, the league title race naturally had nothing to do with Villarreal, but the other two suspense points were closely tied to them.

First suspense: Which team will finish as the league's third place?

Second suspense: Who will win this season's La Liga Golden Boot?

As of the kickoff of the 37th round, Villarreal and Atletico Madrid occupied the third and fourth positions in the standings respectively, with identical points and only a single-goal difference in goal differential.

In the league's top scorers' chart, Tsubasa and Messi had both scored 35 goals, with even the number of penalty goals being identical at 6.

With only two rounds of the league remaining, no one could predict the outcome of these two suspenseful battles.

Would Villarreal overthrow Atletico Madrid?

Would Tsubasa pull off a comeback against the Argentine superstar?

Or would Simeone's team defend the glory of the top three traditional La Liga giants?

Would Messi safeguard the king's glory?

Only time would tell.

Among the matches involving these two major suspense points, the first to take place in the 37th round was Messi's Barcelona.

The Catalan team secured a clean and decisive 4-1 away victory over Las Palmas.

Barcelona took the lead in the 25th minute; Andres Iniesta played a through ball, Luis Suarez broke into the penalty area and unselfishly squared it, allowing Neymar to tap into an empty net, making it 1-0.

Barcelona extended their lead in the 27th minute; Neymar played a vertical pass down the left flank, and Suarez executed a one-on-one chip shot into the net from the left side of the box, making it 2-0.

Las Palmas pulled one back in the 63rd minute; Bigas drove the ball from the backline to launch a counterattack, Kevin-Prince Boateng crossed from the right, and Bigas slid the ball into the net from 10 yards out, making it 1-2.

Subsequently, Barcelona scored two consecutive goals to widen the gap.

In the 67th minute, Ivan Rakitic crossed from the right, Suarez missed the ball in the center, and Neymar headed it in at the far post from close range, making it 3-1.

Four minutes later, Jordi Alba provided a pass, and Neymar fired a low shot into the far corner from the left edge of the small penalty area, completing a hat-trick and making it 4-1.

During stoppage time, Messi's shot from the left side of the penalty area was saved by Las Palmas goalkeeper Raul Lizoain.

In this match, although Messi performed brilliantly, he failed to score a single goal, leaving an opening for Tsubasa to surpass him.

Messi did not disappoint Tsubasa's "high expectations," and the second team to take the field, Atletico Madrid, similarly did not let Villarreal "down."

In the 57th minute, Atletico Madrid cleared a corner kick, and Real Betis's Dani Ceballos unleashed a volley from outside the arc of the penalty area. Jan Oblak misjudged the save, causing the ball to deflect into the net, making it 0-1.

Atletico Madrid equalized in the 66th minute; Saul Niguez headed the ball across during a scramble from a free-kick, and Stefan Savic poked it into the net from close range. 1-1 remained the final score of this match.

Although Atletico Madrid temporarily led Villarreal by 1 point, the initiative had been handed over to their opponents, who had played one fewer match.

Due to the Champions League semi-finals, the match between Villarreal and Deportivo La Coruna was the final fixture of this La Liga round.

In pursuit of third place in the league, manager Fran Escriba fielded a full-strength starting lineup.

Villarreal naturally attached utmost importance to this match, believing they needed to perform with absolute stability.

On the other hand, the Yellow Submarine's opponents, Deportivo La Coruna, had nothing left to play for; already out of European contention and safe from relegation, they had long since turned their minds to holiday planning.

After kickoff, Deportivo, lacking any pressure regarding results, played relatively relaxed and showed no strong desire to attack, whereas Villarreal launched wave after wave of attacks at home.

They quickly seized control of the tempo on the pitch, playing at their own rhythm as several midfielders frequently rotated and supported each other, while the attacking line led by Tsubasa showed extremely active cutting and running.

Playing in their own style, Villarreal successfully executed their attacks. Merely 7 minutes into the match, Manu Trigueros tore through Deportivo's defense with a precise through ball.

Tsubasa slid to shoot inside the penalty area, but unfortunately, a Deportivo defender cleared the ball out over the baseline, earning Villarreal a corner kick.

Giovani dos Santos delivered an inswinging corner that curved toward the goal, where the towering Mateo Musacchio outjumped the Deportivo defender to head the ball home. In the 12th minute of the match, Musacchio's header broke the deadlock for Villarreal.

1-0!

Musacchio smiled exceptionally brightly amid the cheers of the fans throughout the El Madrigal stadium!

Having taken the lead, Villarreal's morale surged even higher, and they began to steadily play a possession-based tactical game.

Of course, Villarreal's ball-retention capability was somewhat inferior to Barcelona's, but it was more than enough when facing Deportivo players who no longer had any competitive pressure.

In the dying moments of the first half, Trigueros passed horizontally across the center, and Bruno Soriano smoothly shook off his marker to drive forward with the ball.

He delivered a disguised through ball toward the edge of Deportivo's penalty area, but an eager Tsubasa unfortunately fell into the offside trap, missing a golden opportunity.

As the second half began, Deportivo found it even harder to cope. In the 69th minute of the match, Villarreal mounted another wave of attacks to deliver the blow that would seal the match's suspense.

Bruno intercepted the ball in the backline, and Dos Santos made a blistering run down the flank before passing the ball to the feet of Trigueros.

Receiving Dos Santos's pass, Trigueros used his skilled dribbling to shake off his opponent, hesitating not a moment as he accelerated into Deportivo's large penalty area.

As Deportivo players rushed forward to surround him, Trigueros gently lifted the ball to send it toward the front of Deportivo's goal.

This time, Tsubasa was not impatient. Breaking the offside trap successfully, he burst forward and unleashed an aerial volley to score his 36th league goal of the season, securing the final victory of the match for Villarreal.

Following the conclusion of this round, Villarreal led Atletico Madrid by 2 points in the standings, firmly holding onto the third position.

Tsubasa also led Messi by a 1-0 margin, standing alone at the pinnacle of the top scorers' chart!

...

Attached are Tsubasa's latest ratings—

Attacking Ability: 98 (World-Class)

Defending Ability: 38 (Terrible)

Balance: 91 (Excellent)

Left Foot: 86 (Good)

Right Foot: 87 (Good)

Stamina: 98 (World-Class)

Top Speed: 98 (World-Class)

Acceleration: 96 (World-Class)

Reaction: 98 (World-Class)

Agility: 92 (Excellent)

Dribbling Accuracy: 96 (World-Class)

Dribbling Speed: 91 (Excellent)

Short Passing Accuracy: 93 (Excellent)

Long Passing Accuracy: 71 (Average)

Shooting Accuracy: 90 (Excellent)

Shot Power: 98 (World-Class)

Shooting Technique: 90 (Excellent)

Free Kick: 99 (World-Class)

Turning: 90 (Excellent)

Heading Accuracy: 91 (Excellent)

Jumping: 95 (World-Class)

Technique: 92 (Excellent)

Goalkeeping: 40 (Amateur)

Teamwork: 91 (Excellent)

Health: 7 (Excellent)

Skills: Elle Sid Pierre's Mind Dribble, Teppei Kisugi's Off-the-Ball Movement, Flying Overhead Header, Kojiro Hyuga's Tiger Shot, Roberto Hongo's Bicycle Kick, Shun Nitta's Right-Angle Feint, Al Sid Pierre's Eiffel Pass, Tsubasa Ozora's Curving Shot, Karl-Heinz Schneider's Left-Footed Power Shot, Hikaru Matsuyama's Unyielding Eagle

Comprehensive Rating: 99 (Epic Star World-Class, Unsurpassed in the Present Era)