Chapter 452 - 58 — Galatasary Preparation II
The quiet returned once he got back to his apartment Sunday evening.
Recovery boots sat near the sofa.
Food prepared according to the club’s nutrition plan waited in the kitchen.
The Burnley match ball still held its place on the shelf.
His phone kept lighting up with Palace reaction faster than he could clear it.
The television carried the match graphic on a loop:
DEMIEN WALTER VS CRYSTAL PALACE 2 GOALS | 3 ASSISTS | 5 CHANCES CREATED | 4 BALL RECOVERIES
A studio analyst replayed him dragging Doucouré out of position before Højlund’s goal, then froze the screen just before his own long-range strike.
The analyst explained that Palace had tried three separate approaches — single marking, then two-player pressure, then a deeper block — and that Demien had changed his positioning to answer each one.
A second analyst pushed back, asking whether United’s attacking output was masking real defensive instability, since Palace had still scored twice.
Demien stopped eating for a moment when the replay of Palace’s second goal ran.
His satisfaction faded slightly, because he knew the criticism was fair.
His phone rang with Sophia’s name across the screen.
He answered immediately rather than letting it sit and ring while he stared at it.
"Are you still pretending five goal contributions is normal?" she asked, no greeting first.
"It was a good match," he said.
She sighed, deliberately loud enough for him to hear it. "That is exactly the answer I mean."
Demien laughed, because he recognized the complaint now.
He admitted the second goal had felt better than the first, because United had been frustrated by then and the one-two with Bruno had finally cracked the lane open.
Sophia asked how he felt about Tuesday.
His first instinct was to reach for the professional answer, but he stopped himself before it left his mouth.
He looked toward the television, where the Champions League graphic had already replaced the Palace analysis.
"Excited," he said. "More than I expected."
She asked why this one felt different, given he’d already played at Bayern.
He looked toward the dark window before answering. "First Champions League night at Old Trafford. I used to watch those."
He kept it simple, no speech behind it, and the pause that followed carried more than the words did.
Sophia said she wished she could be there.
Before the call turned entirely toward him, he asked about her company.
She explained the decision waiting for her Monday — a supplier disagreement tangled up with a campaign approval she still hadn’t fully signed off on.
He listened properly and asked what happened if she rejected the current proposal outright.
Before hanging up, she told him, "Enjoy it when you walk out. Don’t wait until the match is over to admit it mattered."
Demien was still smiling after the call ended, rather than sliding back into his usual blank expression.
Monday morning at Carrington opened with Champions League bibs laid out in the changing room and UEFA balls arranged in net bags by the door.
Cameras and journalists waited beyond the restricted pitch boundary, since the first portion of training had been opened to media.
Staff moved players toward the outdoor warm-up in loose groups.
「CHAMPIONS LEAGUE PREPARATION MISSION ACTIVATED」 「MISSION: Break Galatasaray’s Midfield Pressure」 「Identify 3 Galatasaray pressing triggers」 「Complete 6 line-breaking passes」 「Create 3 final-third combinations」 「Stop 4 simulated transitions」 「Reward: +15 TP」 「Bonus Objective: Complete tactical session without correction」 「Bonus Reward: +10 MP」
Demien read the targets, rolled his shoulders once, and looked toward the tactical pitch rather than dwelling on the reward.
Photographers tracked him through the open session because of the Palace performance, their lenses following him through the warm-up jog, the dynamic stretches, and the early rondo.
He didn’t perform for them.
He exchanged quick passes, laughed when Bruno nutmegged a teammate, and carried on with the drill as normal.
A reporter outside the pitch called his name as the players moved between drills.
Demien glanced over automatically, then kept walking, because players didn’t answer questions during training.
The closed tactical portion began once media staff had been moved off.
Reserve players wore yellow bibs to simulate Galatasaray’s shape.
One midfielder imitated Torreira, jumping aggressively toward Demien’s first touch.
Another sat behind him to block the lane into Bruno.
The right-back had instructions to overlap whenever United’s simulated winger lost track of him.
A forward played Icardi’s role, staying between the center-backs and timing sudden blind-side runs.
Demien took his place in United’s main midfield beside Casemiro and Bruno, no selection tension hanging over it after Palace — his challenge here was preparation, not a place in the side.
On the first repetition, Varane played into Demien while the Torreira marker closed from the front.
Demien tried to turn too early, and the second midfielder blocked the lane into Bruno.
He kept possession by returning it to Casemiro, but the attack reset without breaking the line.
Ten Hag let it go without correcting him.
On the second repetition, Demien dropped two yards deeper before the pass arrived.
The Torreira marker followed him.
Demien cushioned the ball back to Casemiro first time, then accelerated into the space the marker had just abandoned.
Casemiro returned it straight into his path.
「TRAIT ACTIVATED」 「Press Resistant」
Demien now received facing forward.
Bruno moved beyond the second midfielder, and Demien threaded the ball into his feet before Galatasaray’s simulated block could close the gap.
「LEGENDARY SKILL ACTIVATED」 「Andrea Pirlo — Deep-Lying Playmaker」 「MISSION PROGRESS」 「Line-Breaking Passes: 1/6」
Bruno turned and released Rashford beyond the advanced right-back.
Rashford reached the box and cut the ball toward Højlund, but the defensive unit scrambled it clear.
On the next repetition, the Torreira marker refused to follow him deep.
Demien carried forward instead, accelerating through the free space, drawing the second midfielder toward him, then switching play toward the opposite winger before the block could slide across.
「LEGENDARY SKILL ACTIVATED」 「Toni Kroos — Metronome」
The line-breaking objective kept building through different solutions.
He played a first-time bounce pass through Casemiro before moving beyond the pressing player.
He disguised his hips toward Rashford before slipping Bruno through centrally.
He drew the Torreira marker toward the right side, then clipped the ball over him into Højlund’s feet.
He received under shoulder contact, kept his balance, and sent the right winger in behind Angeliño’s simulated position.
He finished the sixth action by dropping beside Casemiro, pulling both pressing midfielders forward, then playing through the gap they left for Bruno.
「MISSION PROGRESS」 「Line-Breaking Passes: 6/6」
The session moved into final-third combinations.
On the first, Demien received from Bruno outside the box, played Højlund in with one touch, then ran beyond him for the return.
The simulated center-back tracked the run properly, and the final shot was blocked.
On the second, Demien switched toward Rashford, arrived late at the edge of the box, and met the cutback first time.
The training goalkeeper pushed it wide, and Demien snapped his fingers in frustration, demanding the sequence again.
On the third, he shaped to shoot from range, pulled the nearest defender out of position, then slid Højlund into the gap for a clean finish.
「MISSION PROGRESS」 「Final-Third Combinations: 3/3」
Defensive transitions came next.
The simulated Galatasaray side won possession and found Mertens between the lines immediately.
Demien sprinted inside rather than chasing the ball from behind, blocking the route into Icardi and forcing Mertens wide, and Casemiro arrived to complete the recovery.
「MISSION PROGRESS」 「Simulated Transitions Stopped: 1/4」
On the second transition, Boey’s simulated runner overlapped beyond the winger.
Demien tracked the inside passing lane while the fullback dealt with the overlap, then intercepted the cutback before it reached the striker.
On the third, Icardi’s marker lost sight of the forward for a single moment.
Demien saw the run, dropped into the defensive line, and reached the pass before the striker could turn.
「TRAIT ACTIVATED」 「Ball Winner」