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Chapter 241: Blue and Black VS Blue and White XIV

{Another save from Handanovic! He just wouldn’t let the ball pass!} Giuseppe squealed in a frenzy of emotions.

The ball flew over to the right where Otavio still stood.

As the ball flew in Otavio’s direction Stefan de Vrij jumped up to try and head the ball away, but he missed as the ball flew just over his head, skimming his hair as it flew over and dropped into the path of Otavio’s foot.

Without surprise, Otavio’s foot smacked the ball with as much power as he could muster and the ball rocketed into the back of the net.

{This time their aim is true!}

{GOALLL!!!}

{Deep deep into injury time, Porto find an equalizer!}

{The lifeline they’ve been looking to hold on to for a long while is finally in their hands!}

{Look at their joy! The fans must be ecstatic in their homes!}

{Porto have finall-! Oh, what’s this!?}

{The assistant referee’s flag is up for a possible offside call!}

{Celebrations come to a halt for the Portuguese side and they’re already making their objections known to the referee!} Giuseppe’s voice didn’t go along with the rise and drop of the Porto players’ mood.

On the field, the Porto players surrounded the referee and made their objections known about the offside call while the referee was doing all he could to calm the Porto players who looked like they could mob him anytime if he dared to disallow their goal.

After calming the Porto players, he informed them of his decision of intending to check the possibility of the goal being onside with the aid of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR).

After saying his bit, the referee took off to the sidelines while the Porto players remained on the field waiting with complicated feelings.

The Porto fans’ emotional state was even worse.

They did not know whether to wait in anticipation or to lose hope and some of them began praying and hoping for the referee’s decision to be in their favor.

The referee who was watching the replay took his time to check as he had a game-changing decision to make.

A full minute later, the referee began walking away from the sidelines, placed his whistle in his mouth, and blew loudly before crossing his hands.

The goal was to be disallowed and the hearts of everyone supporting the Porto team dropped.

The Porto players had their hands on their heads while a few of the other players still tried to convince the referee, but soon a replay of the goal was shown on the screen at the stadium as well as on the broadcast.

It showed that when Fabio Viera had hit the ball after Handanovic’s first save, Otavio’s right hand was offside.

It was just slightly and his fingers were barely a few centimeters behind Stefan de Vrij, but it was enough for an offside call according to the rules of the game.

It looked like a controversial decision to the Porto players and the fans who didn’t want to accept that their last-minute equalizer had been disallowed, but the referee’s decision had been made and it could not be changed.

Even worse was that while there was a debate about whether the goal was offside or not, the match’s added time was already fast spent and the whistle would be blown any moment from when play resumed.

Just as the Porto players and fans expected just five seconds after the free kick to resume play was taken, the final whistle was blown and the match came to an end.

{The final whistle has been blown and it’s been confirmed, Inter Milan are going to the Europa League Semi-finals}

{They are the victorious ones, the acclaimed ones, and they have taken a step further at being the chosen ones for the Europa League title}

{It’s been said that history only remembers the winners, but history will definitely remember Porto’s efforts}

{After giving their all in what I’d claim is the most topsy-turvy half I’ve seen in a while, they just fell short and I’m sure it must hurt}

{They must be disheartened and their fans will be disappointed, but one cannot say that they didn’t try their best}

{Perhaps they can learn from this and hold onto hopes for next season}

{For now, we must go and allow the victors to celebrate their triumph}

{Once again, I am Giuseppe Meazza, and from my partner Alan Mackenzie, we say goodnight to you all} Giuseppe gave closing remarks and the broadcast ended with the graphic design of the Europa League appearing on the screens of countless Porto fans who could do nothing more than to stare at their screen blankly.

Reality was finally setting in that their beloved team had lost, but they had no words to express their complicated feelings.

After a disastrous first half, their team had put on a splendid display that more than made up for the disastrous first half and they had come so close to equalizing the game.

In fact, they had done so, but their efforts had been denied and disallowed.

The Porto fans couldn’t even be angry at their players and instead began hurling curses at the next possible target to relieve some of their lingering annoyance.

That unfortunate target was the referee who was simply doing his job and ensuring that fair play was ensured in the match, but that had unfortunately struck the nerve of the Porto fans wrongly.

It has been said that referees were either invisible to fans or hated by them and now it was clear that the referee for that game was no longer invisible to the Porto fans.

Luckily for him, the curses wouldn’t mean much, or he would be drowning in misfortune before he could even leave the grounds of the Merkur Spiel-Arena.