1 Chapter 1: Attempting The Impossible

The Etihad Stadium, the home of Manchester City, one of the most prestigious clubs in England.

Their stadium was ranked the eighth largest stadium in England with a current capacity of fifty-three thousand four hundred and right now all those seats were occupied.

A match was going on at the moment and it just wasn't any match, it was the Manchester Derby.

The Manchester derby was always a highly anticipated match because of how popular both of the clubs were and the impacts they had managed to make in the world of football.

It was always a tough match between both sides and this time it wasn't any different.

It was the first half of the match with only five minutes of normal time left for the half to come to an end yet the scoreline was two goals to two.

Both teams had been at each other's neck trying to overpower the other and at least gain the upper hand in the first half but so far they were still on leveled ground.

The fans were loving every single second of the match and they had been on the edge of their seats the whole time.

The atmosphere was very lively as expected as both Manchester fans kept on cheering their team as loud as they could but the Manchester United fans seemed to be a bit louder because their team were the ones with the ball now.

"Manchester United are on the offensive now and they're not slowing down!" The host's voice echoed as a Manchester United player moved down the right wing with the ball.

His shorts seemed to have some mud on them because of the rain during the first twenty minutes of the game but because it was a black kit no one could really tell.

He raced down the wing with a Manchester City player hot on his trail and everyone else trying to cover up from behind.

He had gotten close enough to the box when the opposing player slid toward him to try and take the ball off his feet.

That would have worked quite well for him but the Manchester United player was fast enough to pull back with the ball in time, and with the opposing player now on the floor, he sent the ball flying in to find one of his teammates inside the box.

"He's trying to find Abel, he wants the striker to get that assist."

Just like the commentator said, he was trying to find a player with the name Abel written above the number nine on the back of his jersey and it looked like he was going to get it to him just near the edge of the box until someone on a blue and white kit suddenly swooshed in and made enough contact with the ball to send it toward the right where the right back was standing with no Manchester United player that close to him.

"And Axel gets in the way to redirect the ball just in time, where did he even come from?"

Axel crashed to the floor after putting the ball out of Abel's reach but he wasted no time in springing back up on his feet to reveal his bright blue eyes filled to the brim with determination.

The right-back had to quickly send the ball flying forward before any of the Manchester United players could start advancing toward him.

He sent the ball to one of his teammates on the right side of midfield and as soon as the player brought the ball down with his chest, he pushed forward down the middle at full speed.

"Thanks to Axel, the home team have the ball back and they're quickly pushing forward with it."

The midfielder on the right had to send the ball rolling to his teammate who was right on the kick-off spot because he had two black shirts around him and he couldn't evade them.

The player he was sending the ball to also had a Manchester United player behind him he had something in mind.

Just as he got his foot on the ball, Axel moved right past him, and without hesitation, he transferred the ball to the youngster with a backheel pass.

"Great thinking from Hugo and now Axel's with the ball racing down the middle!"

He had two Manchester United players coming toward him from behind and one coming toward him from the front but just before any of them could get to him, he sent the ball rolling to the right back before amping up his speed to get to the edge of the box.

"Now, give it back!" He yelled as soon as he got to the edge of the box.

His teammate heard what he yelled and didn't hesitate to send the ball back to him.

"He sends it rolling back to Axel, this could be their chance!"

The defender in the area quickly rushed out and stretched out his legs toward the ball at the same time as Axel was doing so but the Manchester City player got his foot on the ball first because he was closer to it, and that was all he needed to chip the ball toward the left.

Nobody expected it but the left back in the area got into the box while the defenders were still trying to process what just happened and without hesitation, he fired the ball toward the bottom right side of the goalpost.

"Peterson!"

The goalkeeper managed to get his hand on the ball but that wasn't enough as the ball ended up bouncing off it before it hit the post and flew straight into the goalpost.

"And he puts it away! Goal number two of the game!"

The winger quickly took off to the side before turning to point at Axel who was racing straight toward him and the youngster did not hesitate in jumping straight into his arms as soon as he got close enough.

"Another hat trick of assists for Axel David, he did it against Burnley four days ago and he has done it again against Manchester United."

"One hundred and twenty assists for the twenty-year-old now, unbelievable number for someone his age." Another voice commented.

"Yeah, you can say that again, and with that goal now it's Manchester City three, Manchester United two, the home team finally taking the lead after going behind twice."

Manchester City's side of the stands was covered with blue flags which they were waving as their voices went up with chants of jubilation.

"This has been quite the first half, the first time we're seeing five goals in the first half of an EPL match this season."

The first half had to come to an end with the current scoreline because Manchester United failed to break through Manchester City's defense with the little time left, and now they had to start making their way down the tunnel.

Inside Manchester City's locker room, their coach was standing in front of them now and while everyone was up front, Axel was sitting on the bench behind with his hands on his cheeks and a couple of thoughts running through his mind.

'I turned twenty yesterday and completed my one hundred and twentieth assist today, this is a good pace but it's not enough, if I'm going to surpass Lionel Messi's numbers and move even further away from him then I have to ramp up my speed. I have to find a way if I'm going to complete a thousand assists before my career comes to an end.'

"Axel!"

The coach's voice managed to break through his subconscious forcing him to quickly sit up on the bench with a nervous look on his face.

"Pay attention!" The coach grumbled with a stern look on his face.

"I'm sorry coach," Axel muttered before putting his gaze down.

The coach kept his gaze on him for a while before he let out a sigh and turned away from him.

"Just try not to space out whenever we're talking about something important."

"I'll try to." He replied before bringing his gaze up.

'Anyway, a thousand assists may look like an unbelievable number for someone to achieve during a career but that's the fun part about it, attempting the impossible.'