The match between Unique FC and Spree City was set to kick off on Friday and that day was finally here.
It was supposed to be an away match for Unique FC so they had to travel to Spree which was quite a distance away from Unique City the night before the day the match was supposed to kick off.
This was one of the most highly anticipated matches in Bilbeth so far because everyone wanted to see how things were going to turn out between Unique FC and Spree City after their recent league match in which Unique FC beat them two goals to nothing.
They wanted to see how Spree City were going to handle this match and which team was going to make it to the quarterfinals of the Bilbeth Super Cup.
Well, the odds were in favor of Unique FC but anything could happen in these kinds of matches so everyone just needed to watch.
With a whole hour left before the match would kick-off, the players from both teams were now on the pitch warming up for the main event.
"Five-four-one looks okay for us during practice but how much of that is going to transition into a match," Merino commented.
Dave was jogging alongside both of the team's main wingers Mateo and Merino and they seemed to be talking about something that led Merino to say that.
"Yeah, I don't think this is the right match for the coach to try something ," Mateo remarked before shaking his head.
"I've already told you guys, he's using the Super Cup matches for experimenting and I don't like the idea," Dave claimed.
"Yeah, that's the general idea, I just hope he can fix things when things start going wrong but I hope it doesn't have to get to that," Mateo spoke with a hint of optimism in his voice.
With the time for the match kick-off getting closer now, the players had to make their way down the tunnel and to the locker room to get ready.
It didn't look like Unique FC were going to be putting on their standard away jersey for this match, instead, their kit for this match was going to be their second away kit.
A dark blue kit with just an orange diagonal line running down with a bit of curve down the left side of the shirt with that webnovel logo embroidered with a touch of white in its usual spot.
Dave's kit was just plain orange with the logo on the shirt embroidered with black.
Both teams met up in front of the exit and just as expected, Spree City were putting on their light blue kit while their goalkeeper was putting on a black kit.
They stayed there for a while with the mascots before they were given the signal to start making their way to the pitch.
The fans went up with an uproar as soon as the players from both teams stepped out into the open.
Unique FC fans were back with all the loudness that was needed and Spree City fans could not be described as quiet either.
Jim and Steve said their introductions while the players slowly lined up in front of the pitch.
"Well, you can call this a rematch between these teams after their match against each other last week but this time there is something immediate to lose, and that is being knocked out of the Bilbeth Super Cup, so what's it going to be?" Jim articulated.
The players from both teams had to make their way to the officials for the coin toss and in the end, Unique FC ended up winning which meant that they were going to be the ones to start the match from the kick-off spot.
The tension between both teams was already starting to build up as they all made their way to their side of the pitch.
"Just before the kick-off, let's take a quick look at the lineups and formation from both sides," Jim commented. "Well, it looks like Norman is going to make things a little interesting today with this formation."
"Five-four-one, I think this is the first time he's using this formation, I wonder how it's going to work out for him in this match, I would be cautious in using a formation I have never used before in a match."
Having five players in defense was something, Norman and Roland were in the right-back and left-back positions respectively.
Then the center backs were Aima, Pirlo, and Adolf, that was almost all of his standard center back options.
Their midfield was more of an attacking midfield than anything and with that many players behind with a defensive midfielder, he had a point for making things this way.
Martinez was starting in the defensive midfield position as expected and then up front, there was Mateo on the left side of midfield, Minino on the right, and Ferran in the middle.
And then up front was their only striker for the game, Fredinho.
At least he wasn't pulling any punches with this starting eleven so there was still a chance that they could do something with this formation or even shock everyone with a stunning performance.
Spree City on the other hand were playing with their normal Four-three-three formation and since the start of this season, their manager has had no reason to pull his punches against Unique FC so he was throwing out the best of everything he had out there.
[ Quest type: Conjoined ]
[ Keep a clean sheet ]
[ Make at least eight crucial saves ]
[ Get a shot on target ]
[ +5 skill upgrade points ]
The goalkeeper had the quest pop up in front of him as he slowly made his way to his goalpost.
'Yeah, I guess but it also feels like these rewards are getting smaller even with quests .'
'Of course.' He replied with an inward sigh.
Fredinho was standing over the ball now on the kick-off spot and as soon as he heard the referee's whistle, he quickly sent the ball rolling to Mateo.
"There's the whistle and we are on the way."
Mateo had to quickly push the ball back to Roland before quickly making a run forward.
Roland quickly tried to find Minino down the wing but that didn't work out quite well as Dennison was able to get his head on the ball just before Minino and that header was all he needed to send the ball rolling toward Felix.
"And Spree City are with the ball now."
Felix had Martinez quickly heading toward him, but just before the midfielder could get to him, he sent the ball rolling to Jelani down the right.
The right winger had Roland hot on his trail as he raced down the wing with the ball and he also had Adolf coming from the side to block him so he had no choice but to send the ball flying in as Torres and Felix had already closed up in there.
"Jelani sends it flying in."
Pirlo and Aima were in the area to try and stop the opposition but Pirlo may have been a bit too extra as he got his head on the ball and instead of sending it out, he sent it flying straight into the goalpost from the top left-hand corner.
"Oh, dear it's an own goal!" Jim exclaimed as Spree City players raced to the sidelines.
"That has to be the most ridiculous own goal I've ever seen, he just headed it straight into the goalpost." Steve chuckled.
Pirlo was lying on the floor now with his hands covering his face while Dave was standing in front of his goalpost with his left hand on his waist.