FWEEE!

The Spanish referee's whistle went off.

"And we are underway here at a drenched Deutsche Bank Park in Frankfurt! The Europa League Round of 16 — Eintracht Frankfurt versus Fenerbahçe — with the home side leading 3–1 from the first leg in Istanbul. The stage is set for what promises to be another electric European night!"

"Yeah, Matthias, and the atmosphere is brilliant, even in this weather. Frankfurt fans have turned up in numbers — flags waving through the drizzle, voices echoing through the stands. Their team has one foot in the quarterfinals, but against a side like Fenerbahçe, that's never enough. You can't switch off for a second."

"Let's take a look at the lineups, starting with Eintracht Frankfurt — they're sticking with that familiar 4-2-3-1 setup under Dino Toppmöller. In goal, the Brazilian Kaua, who's been excellent in Europe this season. A back four of Kristensen, Koch, Tuta, and Brown. Ahead of them, Skhiri and Larsson forming the double pivot. Then in attack, on the left, it's Lukas Brandt — the 16-year-old sensation — starting just behind Ekitike, with Götze pulling the strings in the middle and Bahoya wide on the right. What a moment for Lukas, Tobias — his first European start since being called up to the German national team."

"Yeah, it's surreal, Matthias. Just sixteen years old, the youngest call-up in German history, and here he is, starting a knockout game in Europe under the lights. It says a lot about how far he's come — and how much trust Toppmöller has in him. Another thing to observe is his position. A second start on the wing for him. In the Bundesliga he always plays down the middle and sometimes even partnering up top with Ekitike, but he played on the wing at Istanbul and did so perfectly. Such an important player to have, being able to play in any position of a front three."

"That's right, I think it'll be interesting to observe his position on the pitch as the match progresses.

Across from them, Fenerbahçe line up in a 4-4-2, coached by the ever-demanding José Mourinho. Between the sticks, Irfan Can Eğribayat. The defense: Kostić, Akcicek, Škriniar, and Müldür. In midfield, Szymanski, Fred, Amrabat, and Osayi-Samuel — a mix of creativity and power. Up front, the duo of Talisca and En-Nesyri, both capable of punishing mistakes in a heartbeat."

"And you can already see Mourinho's intent — tight lines, heavy pressing, and quick breaks. They've got to score early to rattle Frankfurt, because if Frankfurt settle into rhythm, especially with Götze and Bahoya feeding Ekitike, it could be a long night for the Turkish side."

"The ball rolls slick across the soaked turf — Fenerbahçe in yellow and navy, Frankfurt in all red — and here we go, under the rain and the floodlights, for ninety minutes that will decide who marches into the quarterfinals!"

Talisca, standing over the ball at kick-off, nudged it backward to Fred, who immediately rolled it further behind to Škriniar. The defenders exchanged a quick glance — then Škriniar, without hesitation, stepped up and launched a booming long ball deep into Frankfurt's half.

Even in the cold rainy night, Mourinho's strategy for this game was as clear as day — get a goal as early as possible.

And his wish, would come even earlier than he could have ever imagined.

"Straight from the start — look at that, Fenerbahçe wasting no time! That's a long one, and everyone's running forward!"

The ball cut through the mist, gliding off the rain, spinning toward Frankfurt's backline. Tuta leapt, but the wet ball skipped awkwardly off his forehead and dropped behind him. Kristensen tried to recover, but Szymański was quicker — chesting it down on the edge of the box before taking it wide toward the right.

"This looks dangerous already — Szymański's pace catching Frankfurt cold here!"

Lukas was sprinting back from midfield, boots splashing in the shallow puddles, but the Polish midfielder was already preparing his next move. Szymański didn't overthink it — a sharp touch, then a whipped ball into the near post where En-Nesyri had peeled away from Koch.

The Moroccan striker met it first time.

It wasn't a blast — it was precision. His right foot connected perfectly, the strike slicing through the damp air and flashing past Trapp's outstretched glove before the goalkeeper even had time to react. The net bulged high and hard.

"En-Nesyri! OH MY GOODNESS! That's in! It's 1–0 Fenerbahçe — and it's barely been thirty seconds!"

The away supporters, soaked but ecstatic, erupted into cheers that echoed faintly beneath the steady patter of rain.

"That's a sensational start. One long ball, a deflection, and the perfect volley. The Moroccan makes it look effortless in this weather!"

Lukas stood near the halfway line, hands on his hips, watching the yellow jerseys swarm toward the corner flag. His heart raced, the cold rain dripping from his hair and soaking through his long sleeves. The atmosphere felt heavier now — not just from the rain, but from the sudden shift in tension.

Frankfurt were still leading on aggregate, but this was no ordinary start.

He drew in a slow breath and muttered under it, "Alright then… time to wake up."

And as he jogged back toward the center circle for the restart, the roar of the crowd faded beneath the pounding of his own pulse — the game had only just begun.

The game resumed soon with Eintracht Frankfurt's lead in the tie cut to just a single goal, and Fenerbahçe looked like they were ready to build on the momentum they had gotten in the opening minute.

Right from Ekitike's kick-off to resume the game, Fenerbahçe pressed with ferocity.

The ball was passed to Götze, who had to send a hurried pass back to Koch as he was being closed down even before the ball arrived.

Koch had a few more seconds on the ball, before picking out Skhiri just behind the center circle.

Amrabat badged into Skhiri from behind, right as he tried to turn, as the ball rolled away to the sidelines and the referee brought his whistle to his lips to blow for the foul, but an Eintracht player on the flank collected the ball, and the referee played the advantage.

It was Lukas.

His first touch in the game in the pouring rain.

As he turned with the ball and attempted to drive forward, Fred, Szymanski, and Kostic were firmly in his way.

They had received express instructions on the night to tie Lukas down.

And they were prepared to do just that.

But on that night, those three players would be properly toyed with on the left wing.

Lukas saw there was no space to run down the touchline. He looked behind Fred and saw Larsson unmarked and pointing into the free space in front of him.

The two players eyes only met for a second for Larsson to know what to do as he started running into the space past the halfway line.

Kostic felt something was about to happen and threw his foot to the ball, but before he got close, Lukas scooped the ball with his left foot up and over Fred and right into Larsson's path.

Both sides had 10 outfield players on the pitch, so if three players were to be used to tie up one boy, then it would be a 9 v 7 for the rest of the pitch. Ensuring that there would always be an Eintracht Frankfurt player who's unmarked.

The ball bounced perfectly in front of Larsson as he took a touch, looked to the opposite end of the pitch, and launched a pass to Bahoya.

Although Bahoya's first touch betrayed him a bit, he was able to retrieve the ball before Muldur. His cross into the box, however, was cleared by Akcicek before Ekitike could get on the end of the attack.

"Ohhh! Decent play by Eintracht Frankfurt. It seems Mourinho is hell bent on keeping Lukas out of the game as much as possible. Will he succeed? I guess time will tell."

After a the first ten minutes where the game was end to end, with Fenerbahçe having a two more shots on after their first goal and Eintracht Frankfurt coming close to drag the game back level on the night with a right-footed curler from Lukas in the 9th minute being saved by the Fenerbahçe goalkeeper, the away team decide to sit back and defend.

They were hoping to absorb the onslaught of pressure from Eintracht Frankfurt and bide their time as they waited for the perfect opportunity to strike them on the counter.

They were happy to let Eintracht Frankfurt hold possession of the ball even in their own half, as long as they stopped the ball from entering their penalty box and stopped the passing lane into Lukas down the left, they were confident they could limit the home team's chances.

As the clock ticked closer and closer to the half time whistle, the home supporters grew more restless.

They were leading the tie, but now only by one goal, the weather was not ideal, their team kept the ball but couldn't do anything with it, their star player hadn't even seen the ball for the most part of the game.

Just when the Fenerbahçe players were starting to feel comfortable with how the game was going, Lukas reminded them that he was still on the pitch.

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