Demien walked slowly toward the tunnel as teammates exchanged handshakes with Udinese players, and his legs felt the accumulated load of twenty-eight minutes even though the contribution hadn't produced individual statistics that would appear in match reports.

The system interface materialized as he reached the tunnel entrance, and the notification appeared without fanfare.

「MATCH MISSION COMPLETE」

「Performance: Substitute Appearance - 28 Minutes」

「Role: Functional Contribution」

「+30 MP」

「+10 TP」

「Current Balance: 249 MP | 158 TP | 2 SP」

The notification faded quickly and Demien continued toward the dressing room where the atmosphere was satisfied rather than celebratory because three points at home against Udinese was expected rather than surprising.

Media attention after the match stayed focused on the goalscorers—Højlund and Lookman—and Demien's name barely appeared in post-match analysis beyond being listed as a substitute who'd entered in the second half, and the lack of attention suited him fine because contributing without needing recognition was part of professional football at this level.

The Week Leading to Spezia

Monday, October 3 - Saturday, October 8

The following week shifted subtly as training intensity increased and Gasperini began trusting Demien more centrally during tactical work, and the change wasn't announced or explained but became apparent through how the drills were structured and where Demien was positioned during eleven-versus-eleven exercises.

His decision-making sharpened over the week as repetition turned conscious choices into instinctive reactions, and his body language became calmer during pressure situations because the game was slowing down mentally even as the physical demands remained high.

Monday's session after the Udinese match was light recovery work—cycling, stretching, massage—and the system registered +10 TP without drama.

Tuesday through Thursday saw full training sessions where Demien operated primarily in the attacking midfield role during tactical drills, and each day the system quietly added +10 TP to his balance as the consistency stacked without fanfare.

By Friday's session when Gasperini ran through final preparations for the away match at Spezia, the accumulated work over the week had produced visible improvement in how Demien received under pressure and recognized passing lanes before the ball arrived, and though nobody commented on it explicitly, the coaching staff's body language suggested they'd noticed the development.

Saturday's squad announcement showed Demien's name in the starting eleven for the first time since the Sampdoria debut, and the news registered as information rather than validation because starting made tactical sense after a week of strong training performances.

Sunday, October 9, 2022

Stadio Alberto Picco, La Spezia

3:00 PM - Kickoff

Against Spezia the responsibility of starting showed early, not through flair but through rhythm as Demien positioned himself intelligently between Spezia's midfield and defensive lines, and he became a connector in Atalanta's attacks rather than a focal point, and the role suited his natural game because creating for others felt more comfortable than being the primary creative threat.

1' - 25' |

The opening twenty-five minutes saw Atalanta dominate possession as Spezia defended deep in a compact 4-4-2 shape, and Demien operated in the pockets of space between Spezia's midfield line and their defense, and he constantly showed for the ball with intelligent movement that gave his teammates safe passing options when pressure arrived from Spezia's forwards.

At the fourteenth minute his first key contribution came from patience rather than urgency as he received the ball centrally with three Spezia players closing him down, and rather than trying to force a pass through traffic he drew the pressure toward himself before playing a simple ball wide to Hateboer who had space on the right flank, and the movement pulled Spezia's defensive shape out of position which created space for Lookman to exploit on the opposite side.

Two passes later the ball reached Lookman in dangerous territory, and his shot forced a good save from Spezia's goalkeeper, and the chance had originated from Demien's willingness to be patient rather than forcing the obvious pass that Spezia's defense had been positioned to intercept.

26' - 45' |

The first goal came in the thirty-second minute from sustained pressure as Atalanta's movement finally broke down Spezia's compact structure, and Demien's involvement was direct but understated as he received between the lines and immediately recognized Højlund's run toward the near post before Spezia's defense had adjusted, and the pass came quickly with perfect weight into the striker's path, and Højlund finished clinically from eight yards.

SPEZIA 0-1 ATALANTA (32')

The assist was Demien's first in Serie A since he got back, and his teammates congratulated him briefly before resetting for the restart, and the moment registered as progress without needing excessive celebration because creating goals was part of the job description for attacking midfielders.

The second goal arrived just before halftime when De Roon's long ball caught Spezia's defense pushing too high, and Lookman's pace took him clear before finishing past the advancing goalkeeper, and suddenly Atalanta were 2-0 up heading into the break.

HALFTIME: SPEZIA 0-2 ATALANTA

Second Half - Spezia

46' - 75' |

The second half saw Spezia push higher in search of a goal that would give them hope, and the tactical adjustment created more space for Atalanta to exploit on the counter, and Demien continued operating in the half-spaces where his movement and positioning kept Spezia's midfield stretched across the pitch.

At the fifty-eighth minute the third goal came from quick recognition as Demien spotted Muriel making a diagonal run that Spezia's left center-back hadn't tracked, and the pass came immediately—weighted perfectly into space rather than to feet—and Muriel collected it in stride before finishing low past the goalkeeper.

SPEZIA 0-3 ATALANTA (58')

The second assist registered as another small step forward in Demien's development because seeing runs that others didn't notice came from understanding positioning and timing rather than technical brilliance, and the contribution felt more significant than the first assist because it demonstrated vision developing beyond simply recognizing obvious options.

Gasperini made his first substitution at the seventy-third minute as Demien was replaced by Pasalic with instructions to protect the three-goal lead, and as he walked toward the touchline his legs felt heavy from seventy-three minutes of constant movement, but his mind felt clear because the performance had been exactly what Gasperini had asked for—intelligent positioning, quick decision-making, creating for others without forcing individual moments.

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