Chapter 514 120 — Through I

Demien had barely reached the mixed zone corridor before a UEFA media officer redirected him toward a smaller room set up with a backdrop, a trophy stand and two cameras.

"Five minutes," she told him. "Photos first, then the broadcaster wants a couple of minutes."

He nodded, still in his kit, sweat cooling under the away shirt.

The trophy itself was smaller than he'd expected, a simple UEFA Champions League Player of the Match plaque rather than anything elaborate. He held it for the photographers, shook hands with the official presenting it, and was moved along toward the interview backdrop before the moment had time to become anything more than procedure.

The broadcaster's reporter had her earpiece in, waiting for the cue. "Demien, congratulations — Player of the Match after a five-two win here in Istanbul. One goal, two assists. Talk us through the night."

"It was a strange one," Demien said. "We're two goals up and playing well, and then in the space of ten minutes it's three-two and this place is as loud as anywhere I've played. We knew we couldn't let that turn into more chances for them."

"Galatasaray really did threaten to turn it around at three-two," she said. "Did Copenhagen cross your mind at all, with United having lost a two-goal lead there recently?"

"Honestly, yeah," Demien said. "We knew we'd let a lead slip there. Nobody said it out loud, but everyone remembered it. The difference tonight was we managed to calm the game down instead of chasing it. Keep the ball, make them run, wait for our moment instead of forcing it."

"Take us through the goal. From outside the box, that's not a shot everyone attempts in that moment."

"They'd started backing off me a bit by then, protecting the passes rather than closing me down," Demien said. "So I had space in front of me that I hadn't had much of the night before that. Nobody closed it down quick enough, so I took it."

"And the ball for Højlund's goal — the fifth. What did you see there?"

"Their two center-backs had a decision to make. One of them stayed with Rasmus, so the other had to step toward me. Once he did, there was a gap, and Rasmus was already making the run. Easy pass, really, once the gap's there."

"Last one," she said. "Manchester United are five-two winners in Istanbul. What does that mean for the group?"

"We're still waiting to see how Bayern and Copenhagen finish tonight," Demien said. "So I couldn't tell you exactly what it means yet. We've done our job. The rest is out of our hands for a couple of hours."

She thanked him, and the segment ended there.

Ten Hag's press conference followed not long after, the room filled with the usual mix of English and Turkish media, a few German outlets present given the group's stakes.

"Erik, a five-two win away from home — but for ten minutes in the second half, this looked like it could slip away. Talk us through that period."

"Galatasaray made it three-two and the stadium got behind them completely," Ten Hag said. "That's a real test for any team. The important thing wasn't that we conceded — you have to expect Galatasaray to create moments in this atmosphere. The important thing was we didn't let the next five minutes become chaos. We kept the ball, we defended the second balls better, and once they had to commit numbers forward to find an equalizer, we punished the space they left behind."

"How much of that composure came from Demien Walter specifically?"

"A lot," Ten Hag said. "The goal and the two assists speak for themselves, but it's what happened around three-two that mattered just as much. He kept asking for the ball when we needed an outlet, when Galatasaray wanted us to just clear it long and invite more pressure. That's not something you can coach into every player. He took the pressure off the rest of the team in the moment we needed it most."

"Is he the best midfielder in Europe right now?"

"He's nineteen years old and he's had an excellent night in a very difficult stadium," Ten Hag said. "That's what I'll say about it."

A reporter near the front raised a hand. "Two mistakes from André Onana tonight, both leading directly to goals. How concerned are you?"

"Every goalkeeper makes mistakes," Ten Hag said. "André has made two tonight, and he's also made important saves in between them — the save from Aktürkoğlu late on was a big one, at three-two, when a fourth Galatasaray goal changes everything about this match. I back him completely."

"Does tonight's result mean United have secured qualification?"

"We'll know once the other match finishes," Ten Hag said. "We've done what we needed to do. Now we wait."

By the time Demien made it back to the dressing room, the mood had leveled off from the immediate final-whistle noise into something quieter and more satisfied. Music played low from someone's speaker. Most of the squad sat working through recovery food, a few scrolling phones, nobody making a production of the result.

Højlund caught his eye across the room. "That pass for the fifth," he said, "still don't know how you saw that."

"Your run made it easy," Demien said.

McTominay got a round of applause from a couple of the substitutes when someone mentioned his goal again, and Garnacho grinned about the opener without needing to say much more than "eleven minutes, told you," to nobody in particular. Bruno moved between groups the way he usually did, checking in without making it about himself.

Nobody swarmed Demien specifically. The trophy went down near his bag, and he sat with his phone lighting up steadily without opening any of it yet.

The television mounted in the corner of the room was still running the Champions League coverage, and somebody turned the volume up when the graphic changed.

BAYERN MUNICH vs FC COPENHAGEN — LIVE

Bayern had most of the ball, wave after wave of pressure without finding the finish. Copenhagen defended deep and organized, surviving one save after another as the clock ran down. The room watched in patches, conversations pausing whenever Bayern got close and resuming when the chance came to nothing.

The final whistle went with the score still level.

BAYERN MUNICH 0 — 0 COPENHAGEN

The broadcast cut to the updated Group A table, and somebody read it out loud before the graphic had even finished rendering.

GROUP A — AFTER MATCHDAY 5

Pos

Club

P

Pts

1

Bayern Munich

5

11

2

Manchester United

5

10

3

Copenhagen

5

5

4

Galatasaray

5

1

Copenhagen could reach eight points at best now. Galatasaray couldn't catch United at all.

MANCHESTER UNITED ARE THROUGH TO THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE ROUND OF 16.

The reaction landed bigger than the final whistle in Istanbul had. Players clapped properly this time, a couple of shouts going up around the room, Højlund pulling McTominay into a one-armed hug over something that had taken the whole group's effort across five matchdays to secure.

Ten Hag let it run for a moment before raising his voice over it. "Enjoy that," he said. "You've earned it. But the group isn't finished."

He held up a hand until the room settled. "Final matchday is Bayern, at home. They're on eleven. We're on ten. We're through — but first place is still there to be won."

Demien looked at the table a moment longer than most of the room did. Copenhagen had cost United the cushion they'd built early — this result had put it back. He didn't need to say any of that out loud. The number on the screen said it for him.