Chapter 21: No Such Thing as 'Bad Press'

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Como Mirarte by Sebastian Yatra  & Mientes by Camila

TW: Panic Attack & Slight Verbal and Physical Abuse

A/N If you would like to not read that, skip to the part that isn't italicized. Read at your own discretion.

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Cristina stood in the tunnel listening to the roars of the crowd cheering. The Champions League games were back and they were finally playing in Camp Nou. It was the last game of the group stages against Bayern Leverkusen. Roma and Barcelona were currently tied at the top of the group since their draw in the first match, but Roma just beat them to the top on score aggregate. Today's game was a chance for the Blaugrana team to show how dominant they'd become with a team that was more in sync than at the beginning of the year.

Luis was finally back from his injury and at the top of the field with Neymar and Leo. Cristina was more than happy to let him take his spot back. She liked training with Ney and Leo, but they honestly goofed around rather than actually trained. She missed playing directly with Busquets and Andres. They were always nice to her and she liked being a midfielder. She was more of a technical player and enjoyed the challenge of getting passed defenders.

Cristina stretched her arms and shook her legs waiting for the referees to arrive and start the walkout. Ney was messing with Luis by stepping on the back of his shoe and splashing him with his water bottle. Everyone on her team tended to leave her alone for a bit in the tunnel before games. It was her time to zone everything out and focus purely on the game. She would do her final stretches and focus on what lied ahead. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She felt someone tap on her shoulder. She turned around and saw Leo giving her the same goofy smile she grew to love the most about him. Leo was the only one that talked to her before games. Since they were both on the same side of the pitch, they talked about prepping for the game or who to look out for. But most of the time, they would just talk about random things and make each other laugh. While he was a quiet guy in front of everyone, he felt most himself and comfortable with his friends. Cristina found that he was actually very funny and loved to tease his friends. He told jokes at the worst times when everything was supposed to be serious just to get the other person in trouble, especially Ney. He would also be so the kindest person to everyone and tried to take photos with any fan he met. Cristina asked him one time if he ever got tired of all the pictures and signatures he had to do. He simply said, "I could be good at futbol all I want, but if it wasn't for the support and love from all of them, I'd just be a random guy in Argentina." That was all you had to hear to know everything about him. He was humble and knew that his success wasn't just because of him, but a combination of luck and support.

"Ready?" he asked looking at her with a smile.

She went to hold his hand and looked at him, "Now I am," she smiled. He gave her hand a squeeze and felt his heart speed up. She liked their little routine before matches and wouldn't trade it for the world.

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The referee blew the whistle and Luis kicked the ball to Ney. In the first opening minutes, everything was fine. Busquets and Andres were controlling the midfield while Cristina was pushing the play forward. The Blaugrana team managed to keep most of the possession and play on the opponent's side of the field. Any dangerous plays that Leverkusen managed to build up were quickly defused by Geri and Dani. The ball was mostly at either Leo, Cristina, or Andres' feet. Their dribbling and passing to each other were becoming quite annoying for the German team. The Leverkusen defenders started to become a bit more aggressive with their tackles, but nothing the three terrors of all defenders couldn't handle. Cristina felt great. She managed to create some chances for Luis and Ney 15 minutes into the game. Both chances didn't produce a goal because Luis was offside and Ney couldn't get there in time.

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