Chapter 515 121 — Through I

The wider football world had already started reacting before United's bus left Istanbul.

Television analysis opened with the obvious numbers — a goal, two assists, Player of the Match — but the better discussion settled on the period right after Ziyech's second goal. One analyst froze the buildup where Galatasaray had expected United to panic into a rushed clearance.

"Watch this," he said, running it back. "Galatasaray want this ball gone. Walter keeps asking for it instead — drops deep, takes it under pressure, moves it, gets it back. That's not a highlight. That's the actual difference in this match."

He ran the interception before the fourth goal next. "Aktürkoğlu's found the pocket here, this is the exact space that's hurt United before tonight — and Walter reads it before the pass even arrives. A few actions later, Galatasaray have backed off him completely, and he scores from thirty yards."

"The strike is the highlight," his co-panelist said. "The control before it is the performance."

Headlines followed across England and into Europe by morning.

WALTER TAKES ISTANBUL

UNITED THROUGH AFTER FIVE-GOAL STATEMENT

WALTER: 1 GOAL, 2 ASSISTS, PLAYER OF THE MATCH

The Mateo comparisons resurfaced within hours, a few outlets noting that both teenagers had now produced statement Champions League nights within weeks of each other, framed as two different kinds of elite midfielder rather than a rivalry needing resolution. Demien scrolled past enough of it to register the shape of the coverage and didn't read further.

Marco called before the bus reached the airport.

"You know it's not just the volume," Marco said. "It's the level. Broadcasters want longer sit-downs, not two-minute pitch-side stuff. Football magazines are asking about cover features. Outlets in Germany, Italy, Spain — places that treated you as an English story before tonight — are asking for direct access now."

"And Adidas?"

"Want to push clips from the campaign you already shot while your name's trending, not book another shoot," Marco said. "Sensible. We'll take what's useful this week and say no to the rest. You've got Newcastle in two days."

"Good," Demien said. "Handle it."

"Already am," Marco said, and left it there.

Thursday, November 30th, United landed back in Manchester and Carrington absorbed the players who'd carried the heaviest minutes straight into recovery protocol.

Demien went through screening, mobility work and light regeneration alongside the rest of the group who'd played ninety. His system-enhanced recovery meant there was no real physical concern, but the staff treated him like any professional coming off a demanding European night rather than someone who didn't need the process. No mission opened for it. No reward attached. Istanbul had already paid out everything it was going to.

He got a genuine stretch of time at home that evening, the first since before the trip.

Isabella called to say she'd watched the whole thing and was proud of him, brief and warm the way her messages usually were. Sophia had clearly seen the goal and the Player of the Match graphics doing the rounds, but their conversation stayed the way it always did — her asking what Istanbul had actually felt like from the inside, him asking about her week, neither of them turning it into a bigger moment than it needed to be.

He ate, got through the ordinary backlog of a life squeezed into whatever hours football left him, and at some point set the Player of the Match trophy down on the shelf where the rest of his career had slowly started accumulating — alongside the Kopa runner-up plaque, a framed shirt from somewhere, small proof of a season that kept adding things faster than he had time to notice them individually.

Friday, December 1st, Carrington's focus turned fully toward the league.

Ten Hag opened the team meeting with the table rather than a single word about Istanbul.

PREMIER LEAGUE — AFTER MATCHWEEK 13

Pos

Club

P

Pts

1

Manchester United

13

31

2

Liverpool

13

28

3

Aston Villa

13

28

4

Manchester City

13

27

5

Arsenal

13

27

6

Tottenham

13

24

"Three points clear, unbeaten after thirteen," Ten Hag said. "That's where we are. It's also exactly one bad weekend away from looking like nothing at all. Europe doesn't change that. Istanbul doesn't change that."

He let the table sit on the screen a moment longer before switching it.

NEWCASTLE UNITED — AWAY

"This is a genuinely difficult place to go," Ten Hag said. "Not because of one player. Because of how the whole team works together."

He ran the first clip. "Guimarães dictates once they've got the ball in your half. Joelinton gives them power in every midfield battle. Isak doesn't just sit between your center-backs — he drops off, drags them out of shape. Gordon and Almirón come inside and outside on purpose, which pulls your fullbacks somewhere they don't want to be. And when that happens —" he ran the next clip, Trippier attacking an empty flank — "he's already there to punish it."

Demien watched the sequence twice without saying anything yet.

"Here's the problem for you specifically," Ten Hag continued, looking at him. "If you press Guimarães, Isak drops into the space behind you. If you track Isak, Joelinton attacks the second ball. If you shift across to help against Gordon, they recycle it through Trippier on the other side. They're not trying to find one midfielder who can match you. They're trying to make the pitch too big for one midfielder to cover alone."

"Second balls," Demien said.

"Second balls," Ten Hag agreed. "Copenhagen already showed what happens when we defend the first action and lose the next one. Newcastle are built entirely around exactly that weakness."

Training followed straight from the meeting, kept shorter than a normal midweek session given how recently the squad had landed. United worked primarily on shape, reaction to second balls, and escaping the first wave of pressure cleanly rather than surviving it and losing the ball on the second touch.

「PREMIER LEAGUE PREPARATION MISSION」 「Opponent: Newcastle United」 「Second-Ball Recoveries: 6」 「Pressure Escapes: 5」 「Successful Switches After Pressure: 4」 「Central Turnovers: Maximum 1」 「Reward: +15 TP」 「Bonus Objective: Create 3 Transition Chances」 「Bonus Reward: +15 MP」

The simulated press closed him from multiple angles at once, the coaching staff drilling Newcastle's actual shape rather than anything generic.

「TRAIT ACTIVATED」 「Press Resistant」

He beat the first presser cleanly on the opening repetition, only to find the simulated shape had already covered Bruno's usual passing lane, forcing him to recycle the ball rather than insist on something that wasn't really there.

"Good decision," the assistant coach called out. "That's exactly the trap. Don't force it just because you beat the first man."

On the next repetition, he drew two defenders toward him before switching immediately to the opposite fullback, the whole simulated shape having to shift across in response.

"That's the switch," the same coach said. "Make them travel the full width every time."

A third repetition began with a long ball into the air. Demien won the second contact clean off the first header, turned before the simulated Newcastle midfield could close him down, and released Garnacho into space before the defensive block could reset.

「MATCH MISSION PROGRESS」 「Second-Ball Recoveries: 6/6 — COMPLETE」 「Pressure Escapes: 5/5 — COMPLETE」

The switches took a little longer, Ten Hag's staff deliberately compressing the space to make the pattern harder to execute cleanly, and it took most of the remaining repetitions before the objective finally closed out.

「MATCH MISSION PROGRESS」 「Successful Switches After Pressure: 4/4 — COMPLETE」

「PREPARATION MISSION COMPLETE」 「Reward: +15 TP」

He'd created two clean transition chances by the time the session wound down, one shy of the bonus, and nobody extended the drill artificially to chase the third. The session ended the way it had started — as preparation, not as a formality he was guaranteed to clear.

No attribute increase. No overall rating change. Just fifteen TP banked and a clearer picture of exactly what Saturday would ask of him.

Ten Hag confirmed the squad afterward.

Demien started, which had never really been in question after Istanbul barring injury or workload concerns neither applied to. Mainoo partnered him in midfield, chosen for his composure under the kind of pressure Newcastle intended to apply rather than any suggestion Demien needed managing through the game.

"Control doesn't mean touching the ball every five seconds," Ten Hag told him before they broke for the day. "Sometimes it's dropping into the buildup. Sometimes it's staying behind the attack so they can't counter us. Sometimes it's letting Bruno take it while you get ready for the second ball. And when their press commits enough numbers, it's breaking them and going immediately. Read which one it is. Don't force the same answer every time."

"Understood," Demien said.

The schedule sat behind all of it, congestion nobody could avoid — Newcastle on Saturday, Chelsea the following Wednesday, Bournemouth three days after that. Istanbul had been allowed one night of celebration. It couldn't be allowed to eat any more of the week than that.

Friday evening, back at the hotel ahead of the trip north, Demien's phone still carried Istanbul underneath everything — Player of the Match clips, a few of Marco's approved commercial posts, the Group A table with United's name sitting in green.

The football world had already moved past it. New graphics had replaced the old ones.

NEWCASTLE UNITED vs MANCHESTER UNITED

ST JAMES' PARK

UNITED: 13 PREMIER LEAGUE MATCHES — 0 DEFEATS

The unbeaten record gave Newcastle their own angle for the week, and Demien didn't need it explained to him. He already knew what mattered more than any of it.

Thirty-one points.

Three clear.

One difficult away day with the ability to cut that lead down to nothing.

The Champions League problem was solved. United were through.

In England, they were still being chased.

And the next stadium waiting for them was St James' Park.