My Ultimate Gacha System-Chapter 314 - 302: Coppa Italia Final — Extra Time

Chapter 314: Chapter 302: Coppa Italia Final — Extra Time

**Wednesday, May 14, 2023**

**Stadio Olimpico, Rome**

**Extra Time — First Half**

**9:52 PM**

The referee raises his whistle and the sound cuts through sixty thousand voices while both sets of players push themselves upright from the grass where they’ve been sitting, and the movement is slow in the way that only complete exhaustion produces — not theatrical, just honest.

Legs don’t fully straighten before they have to move again.

Atalanta kick off with the ball dropping immediately to Ederson who plays it wide right where Hateboer receives and immediately knocks it simple and safe to Tolói in the back three, because the first thirty seconds of extra time belong to composure rather than urgency while both sets of lungs reset to the new reality of thirty more minutes.

**91’ - 94’ |**

Milan settle into patient possession from the opening exchanges and their passes stay short and deliberate, with Bennacer and Tonali rotating the ball between the defensive and midfield lines without any attempt to accelerate, and the tempo is slower than anything seen during the ninety minutes of regulation because neither team has the legs for the press-and-recover cycles that defined the first half.

Atalanta sit deeper than they have at any point in the match while Gasperini’s touchline instructions earlier echo through the positioning — stay compact, keep the shape, wait for the moment — and the midfield holds its double line with Demien operating just ahead of Ederson while both track back to deny the space between the lines that Milan spent the match trying to exploit.

In the ninety-fourth minute Theo Hernandez receives from Kalulu on the left flank and drives forward with the persistence of a man whose body is tired but whose will isn’t, and Hateboer steps across to shepherd him toward the touchline while his angle narrows with every yard covered.

Hernandez doesn’t cut inside the way he has all match because the legs aren’t quite there for the sharp change of direction, and instead he shifts the ball onto his right foot before striking from twenty-two yards while his body leans back slightly from the accumulated fatigue.

The shot rises toward the top corner with enough pace to be dangerous and Musso shifts his weight quickly while tracking the trajectory, and he gets both palms behind the ball and pushes it up and over with his wrists rather than his fingertips, the save solid and controlled rather than spectacular because the angle gave him enough time to position his body correctly.

Corner.

The Atalanta section behind Musso’s goal holds its breath while Koopmeiners jogs back to defend, and the ball swings in from the right toward the penalty spot where Giroud rises with the authority of a man who has scored too many headers in too many big matches to be ignored.

Scalvini goes with him and his body position is good while his timing is better, and he gets his head to the ball a fraction before Giroud can connect cleanly, and the clearance carries back toward the halfway line where the danger dissolves before it can develop.

Milan recover the ball in their own half and begin again because patience is their only available tactic now, and the clock moves toward the ninety-eighth minute while legs grow heavier with every exchange.

**98’ - 102’ |**

Atalanta fashion their first meaningful chance of extra time when Demien drops deeper than his midfield position to collect from Ederson while both of Tonali and Bennacer step forward to close the space around him, and he receives with his back to Milan’s goal while their pressure arrives from both sides.

He doesn’t attempt to turn because the space isn’t there, and instead he shields the ball with his right shoulder while scanning over his left, and when Bennacer’s weight shifts forward onto his front foot Demien clips the ball over him into the channel where Lookman has already started his run down the left without waiting for the pass to be played.

The ball drops into Lookman’s stride precisely as he hits full pace, and Kalulu is tracking across but arriving late while Lookman controls with his first touch and drives toward the penalty area with the ball at his feet.

He cuts inside at the edge of the box and strikes with his right foot toward the near post, but the angle closes at the last moment and Kalulu’s outstretched shin deflects the shot wide rather than blocking it cleanly, and the spin of the ball off his leg sends it past the wrong side of the post while the away section groans.

Corner.

Koopmeiners takes it quickly and drives the ball toward the penalty spot with inswinging trajectory, and Scamacca attacks the delivery with a run that begins from the edge of the area while Tomori tries to get across him, and the header connects cleanly with real power behind it.

The ball strikes the crossbar.

The impact sends a sound across the stadium that silences sixty thousand people for a single second before the noise crashes back in, and the rebound drops toward the edge of the box where De Roon arrives running onto it without breaking stride, and his first-time strike is low and hard and driven toward the bottom corner.

Bennacer throws himself sideways and the ball strikes his shoulder while he’s diving, and it ricochets back into the area where bodies converge but no Atalanta player can get a clean contact before Milan clear.

The Atalanta section lets out a collective exhale that sounds like pain, and players stand with hands on their knees while the chance is absorbed and the moment passes without a goal.

**Commentary Booth**

"The crossbar saves Milan," the lead commentator says while his voice carries the weight of someone watching something that hasn’t quite happened yet. "Scamacca’s header is absolutely thunderous and the only thing that stops it is the frame of the goal. And then De Roon, first time — Bennacer somehow gets in the way. Atalanta must be wondering what they have to do to win this match in normal time."

"The momentum is entirely with Atalanta," his colleague adds while replays cycle through the sequence. "Look at De Roon’s position — arriving perfectly onto the second ball, clean strike, but Bennacer’s reflexes are extraordinary. Two chances, one crossbar, one block. At some point a goal has to come."

**102’ - 105’ |**

Milan respond with the counter-attack that exhausted teams always threaten when their opponents push too many bodies forward, and a long ball over Atalanta’s high defensive line catches the back three short while Leão is already running before the pass is played.

Tolói gets back and tracks the run while Leão drives toward the penalty area with the pace that’s been dangerous all match even as the ninety minutes and extra time drain the explosive edge from it, and when Leão reaches the edge of the box he strikes low and hard toward the far corner rather than trying to place it precisely.

The ball strikes the inside of the post.

The sound is different from the crossbar — sharper, more final — and it rebounds outward into the six-yard box where Brahim Díaz arrives running in behind Atalanta’s recovered defenders, and for a moment the goal is open enough that the chances of scoring seem higher than not scoring.

Scalvini slides from his covering position and gets his body across the line, and the ball strikes his shin while he’s still moving and loops upward over the bar rather than into the net, and the away section roars while Milan’s end falls silent because that was a goal that didn’t happen.

Díaz stands with his hands pressed to the sides of his head while Leão turns away with his palms facing upward, and Gasperini exhales once on the touchline without saying anything while the corner is taken quickly and Musso claims it from the air with both hands.

The referee checks his watch.

Three sharp blasts.

**HALF TIME: EXTRA TIME 3-3**

Both sets of players move toward their respective benches at walking pace, and the exhaustion is no longer something anyone is hiding — it’s visible in every stride, in the way shoulders drop and feet drag and hands reach for water bottles before they’ve fully arrived at the touchline.

Physio staff move between players with cooling sprays that hiss against sweat-soaked necks and thighs while towels are pressed against faces, and the brief one-minute break between periods feels both too short and necessary in equal measure.

Gasperini stands near his players while they drink and he waits until the water bottles are down before speaking, and his voice stays low so that only Atalanta can hear him.

"Stay compact," he says, and his eyes move across each face. "One chance. That’s all we need."

He says nothing else, and the players stand while the referee signals for the second period to begin.