The Greatest of all Time-Novel

502  Three Games

Having won the game against Lazio, team Juventus gained even more momentum. The players continued working harder than ever off the pitch, doing their utmost to maintain their tip-top match fitness. And naturally, their relentless efforts and dedication to the sport rewarded them handsomely, allowing them to put up a series of more impressive and consistent performances on the playing field.

Firstly, they played their return Champion's League game against Malmö on Wednesday, 26th November 2014, and won by three goals to nil, even while away from home.

Fernando Llorente, Carlos Tevez, and Claudio Marchisio were the undisputed heroes for Juventus during that game, with each scoring a goal during the 39th, 47th, and 78th minutes, respectively. As for Zachary, he didn't score but only provided an assist that resulted in Claudio Marchisio's goal.

Four days later, on Sunday, 30th November 2014, Juventus resumed their domestic Serie A duties. They welcomed Torino FC, their local rivals, to the Juventus stadium for the first 'Derby della Mole' face-off that season.

Due to the high stakes associated with the match, the Torino players were a spirited bunch. They played impressive attacking football and even scored the opening goal during the 11th minute. However, even doing all that was not enough to allow them to win the heated local derby. Instead, Juventus still came out on top and won the game with a score of 3:1 after Arturo Vidal, Álvaro Morata, and Andrea Pirlo found the back of the net during the 15th, 61st, and 87th minutes, respectively.

Surprisingly, the on-form Zachary once again failed to score, meaning that he'd gone two games without finding the back of the net. But he still put up an impressive performance and managed to provide an assist that resulted in Álvaro Morata's 61st-minute goal.

Having won the local Torino Derby, the Juventus players were in high spirits. They resumed training after a day of rest and started preparing for their next game, which happened to be against Fiorentina away from home. They soon became busy again as they drilled and conditioned themselves with the clear intent to continue their perfect winning run in all competitions.

However, the busy schedule still couldn't prevent Zachary from celebrating his birthday on Wednesday, 3rd December 2014.

He was in a hyper mood on that day since he had just turned twenty years. As such, he eagerly left Juventus' training center immediately after training and returned home for the festivities. Then, later in the evening, he enjoyed a feast with a select few acquaintances that included Emily (his agent), Kristin (his personal assistant and publicity secretary), Bjørn Peters (his fitness trainer), Inger Peters (his chef and dietician), Angelo (his driver and interpreter), and a few of his teammates like Patrice Evra, Gianluigi Buffon, and Carlos Tevez.

The birthday party was quite enjoyable. It was simple, precious, and destined to take a significant position in Zachary's album of good memories. The only blemish, however, was that he couldn't enjoy the feast with his grandma, who'd already passed away, and his girlfriend, whose status he didn't understand quite clearly as she was still traveling. But aside from that, he really had a fabulous time that evening and even received a lot of expensive gifts from his acquaintances.

"Zachary!" Emily called out to him as they relaxed on the couch in his living room after cutting the cake. "I got a gift for you." She handed him a well-packaged box and said, "Open it."

"Thanks a lot, Emily," Zachary said and opened the box. The next moment, his eyes lit up when they landed on a silver watch, which seemed quite expensive. Its silver surface glittered under the fluorescent lighting in the room, causing Zachary to become fascinated with it. His heartbeat accelerated a little, and his mood lifted as he immediately fell in love with the watch.

"Damn!" Suddenly, Patrice Evra, who was close by, exclaimed. "That's a Moon Phase Stainless Steel watch of the renowned Patek Philippe Nautilus collection. It costs roughly 120,000 Euros on the market. Zachary! God! Why can't I get an agent like yours? I also want a 120,000 Euro watch as a birthday gift."

On hearing the statement, Zachary glanced at Evra with surprise. "This is a 120,000 Euro watch?" He asked to confirm that he hadn't heard wrong.

"Yup," Evra replied. "I'm sure it is around that price."

"I'll be damned!" Zachary exclaimed and pivoted his gaze onto the watch again. It was sure pleasing to the eyes, but he couldn't identify what was particularly special about it. "Why is this watch so expensive?" He asked.

"The brand, my friend," Evra answered. "Patek Philippe is a long-established Swiss watch manufacturer that commands a lot of prestige all around the globe. As such, Patek Philippe watches represent swag and class, especially among the rich, making them unbelievably expensive. So, you could take it that wearing a Patek Philippe watch is similar to driving a Bugatti or Lamborghini for watch enthusiasts."

"Crazy!" Zachary mumbled. "I have really got a lot to learn."

"Do you find the watch, not to your liking?" Emily asked.

"Of course, I like it," Zachary hurriedly said. "It's a 120,000 Euro watch. What's there not to like? Thanks a lot for this gift, Emily."

"You're welcome," Emily said. "I'm also representing another person to deliver a birthday gift to you. Do you still remember Susan Berdal, the lady from Audi?"

"Oh! I remember her," Zachary said. "She's the Audi executive that offered me my first endorsement in Norway. Why are we talking about her at this moment?"

The corners of Emily's lips curled up into a smile. "She sent you the recently released Audi RS 7 model as a birthday gift. She hopes you can enjoy the comfort afforded by the car while traveling around Turin."

"Okay, I understand," Zachary said. "Thank her for me. I'll put it to good use."

"Good," Emily said, nodding. "We'll discuss the newly-offered terms in the endorsement contract with Audi when you get time. But for now, let me leave the floor for the rest."

"Okay."

With that said, the gift session continued with the others in attendance presenting their own gifts. And before long, Zachary received a pair of sleek, gentle shoes from Evra, an iPhone 6 from Kristin, running shoes from the Peters couple, and a few other gifts from the rest of his teammates in attendance. Then, when the gift session ended, Zachary thanked everyone and concluded the birthday party celebrations.

-----

While feeling refreshed after celebrating his 20th birthday, Zachary returned his focus to training the following morning. He did his utmost to hone his match fitness before playing against Fiorentina two days later, on Friday 5th, December 2014.

For that game, Zachary was at the very top of his game. Five minutes after the kick-off, he made a daring run through the middle, rushing past three Fiorentina players like the wind. Then, when the angle opened up, he threaded the ball to Carlos Tevez, who converted successfully from inside the box to score Juventus' first goal for the night.

However, making the assist didn't mark the end of Zachary's brilliance that night. He was in high gear for the next hour, executing tackles and making daring runs through the wings and the middle. He really terrorized the Fiorentina players before eventually scoring Juventus' second goal from a counterattack during the 70th minute of gameplay.

From that point onwards, everything was smooth sailing for Zachary and Juventus. All the Old Lady players remained tactically disciplined and defended as if their lives were at stake. They managed to keep the Fiorentina defenders at bay and eventually won the game by two goals to zero after six minutes of added time.

-----

Coach Allegri was in high spirits after watching his team defeat Fiorentina away from home and obtain their 14th consecutive win in the Serie A that season. He hugged all his players and congratulated them for the job well done before stepping off the pitch and heading towards the press area.

"Coach Allegri, welcome, and congratulations upon winning yet another crucial game in the Serie A," the reporter said after he stepped in front of the cameras.

"Thanks," Coach Allegri replied.

"You must be quite happy after winning the game against Fiorentina?"

"Yes, I am," Coach Allegri said. "It's another big win for us. The boys were impressive on the field of play and gave everything to win the game. Zachary, for instance, was exceptional and managed to set up the first goal before scoring the second during the 70th minute. There was also Andrea Pirlo, Arturo Vidal, and Claudio Marchisio. Their creativity in midfield today was impressive, and they managed to help us dominate possession throughout the entire duration of the game. Of course, there are moments when we could have done better. We could have capitalized on some of our chances during the late stages of the second half to score one or two more goals. But again, this is football, and even top players can miss opportunities, especially when the opposition is playing incredibly well on the defensive end."

"You have already amassed a total of 42 points, and you're also ten points clear at the top of the Serie A table," the reporter said. "Considering all that, do you think the Serie A is in the bag?"

Coach Allegri chuckled and said, "That would be my hope. But as we know, anything can happen during the course of a long season. Many uncontrollable factors can come into play, and our form as a team can take a dip. So, I can't say for sure that the Serie A is in the bag, as that would be unprofessional. But I can promise our fans that we'll continue doing our utmost to win every game. And hopefully, our efforts will be rewarded, and we'll be able to win the Serie A once again this season."

"On Tuesday, you'll face off against Atlético Madrid," the reporter stated. "Are you ready?"

"Not yet," Coach Allegri admitted. "We'll work on the tactics as a team from tomorrow afternoon til Monday. And hopefully, we should be ready to face off against Atlético Madrid by Tuesday."

"Okay, coach," the reporter said. "Thanks for answering our questions. We wish you all the best while preparing for the game against Atlético Madrid. Have a good evening."

"Thanks. Have a good evening too."

-----