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The final whistle had sounded.

Manchester United 4–1 Paris Saint-Germain.

The 2019–20 Champions League was over, and for the third consecutive season, Manchester United stood at the top of European football.

The commentary continued over images of United players embracing on the pitch while PSG's players slowly came to terms with the defeat.

"There is always another side to a final," Drury said. "For Manchester United, this is a night they will remember for the rest of their lives. For Paris Saint-Germain, it will hurt for a very long time."

"That is football. Every season eventually reaches its final whistle. Some leave celebrating, others leave wondering what might have been, and then tomorrow arrives and everyone begins again."

The camera eventually found Ling.

Seven years after arriving at Carrington as a teenager, he now stood beneath the lights of the Estádio da Luz as a three-time Champions League winner.

His rise had been extraordinary.

In his first senior season, he broke the Premier League single-season scoring record and scored a hat-trick in the Champions League final against Real Madrid, helping United complete the comeback that supporters still called the Miracle of Kyiv.

In his second, he broke his own league record and scored twice in another Champions League final as United successfully defended the trophy.

And now, in his third, he had pushed his Premier League scoring record even higher, surpassed Cristiano Ronaldo's seventeen-goal Champions League single-season mark, and finished the European campaign with twenty-three goals after scoring four times in the final.

United had completed the first Champions League three-peat of the modern era!

There was no need to turn the achievement into proof that previous generations had somehow become irrelevant.

Messi and Cristiano had defined an enormous period of football history, while Ling was beginning to construct something different of his own.

Tonight belonged to him.

And to Manchester United.

The club's history contained far greater hardships than losing matches or enduring unsuccessful seasons.

The Munich air disaster remained inseparable from United's identity, as did the rebuilding that followed under Sir Matt Busby.

Generations later, that history still shaped the idea supporters attached to the club: when circumstances turned against them, they kept going.

This United side had created its own version of that tradition.

Three consecutive Premier League titles.

Three consecutive Champions League titles.

And, in this fictional timeline, a sixth European Cup for Manchester United.

...

A cool breeze moved through the Estádio da Luz as Ling stood near midfield and looked toward the Champions League trophy.

Of the three European finals he had played, this had been the most comfortable.

That did not mean PSG were weak.

Their attacking quality was obvious, and Mbappé's second-half goal had demonstrated how quickly the match could have changed if United allowed them momentum.

The greater difference had been balance and experience.

United were deeper through midfield and defense and had already lived through two Champions League finals together.

Paris were still building toward that level.

Mbappé, in particular, had impressed Ling.

Even after the match was effectively gone, he had continued running and demanding the ball, refusing to disappear from the contest.

A few moments later, the French forward approached him.

"You were better tonight."

Ling smiled.

Mbappé looked disappointed but composed.

"Can we exchange shirts? I think I'm going to remember this match for a long time."

"Of course."

Ling pulled off his United shirt and handed it over before accepting Mbappé's in return.

Mbappé had already experienced an extraordinary amount for a twenty-one-year-old.

He had become a World Cup winner as a teenager, established himself as one of Ligue 1's leading scorers, and now played in a Champions League final.

Rapid success had its own disadvantage.

Failure arrived on an equally large stage.

Ling understood that better than most.

In age, there was little between them.

In experience, however, Ling felt much older.

There were parts of his previous life he still preferred not to revisit, and much of his obsessive commitment to training came from an unwillingness to ever return to the person he had once become.

He still did not consider himself finished improving.

If there was another level above him, he intended to reach it.

And if there was not, he would try to create one.

Ling glanced back at Mbappé.

"So what now? Season's over."

Mbappé smiled faintly.

"Keep improving."

"That's it?"

"Maybe we meet again next year."

It was not an answer about his future, and Ling did not press him.

Mbappé had no apparent interest in joining Manchester United merely to become another attacker operating around Ling.

Like Haaland, he wanted his own team, his own responsibility, and his own opportunity to become the central figure.

Ling could understand that perfectly.

He was no more willing to surrender his own role.

"Then I'll see you next season," Ling said.

Mbappé nodded.

They separated, and Ling returned to his teammates.

...

As the man of the match, Ling was soon pulled aside for the post-match television interview.

Thierry Henry held the microphone.

"Congratulations. Three consecutive Champions League titles, four goals tonight! What do you think about the match itself?"

Ling took a moment before answering.

"We knew winning three in a row was going to be difficult. You don't get to this stage without playing against great teams."

"But we also believed we were good enough."

He glanced toward his teammates celebrating behind the interview area.

"Everyone did his job tonight. Paris had moments, especially after Mbappé made it 2–1, but we responded instead of panicking. I think that was the difference."

Henry followed up.

"Was this the hardest of your three finals?"

"No."

Ling laughed slightly.

"But that doesn't mean it was easy."

"Paris have Neymar, Mbappé, Di María, Verratti... very good players. But as a team, I think we played the better match."

"And now the inevitable question. Are you staying at Manchester United?"

"Of course."

The answer came without hesitation.

"I'm happy here. I've been here since I was young, I like the people around me, and we keep winning things together."

Ling shrugged.

"It would be strange to leave when everything is going this well."

Henry smiled.

"Anyone you particularly want to mention tonight?"

Ling considered it.

"José."

That answer earned a laugh from the nearby production staff.

"You've probably heard enough stories about us arguing."

"I remember one meeting where we disagreed about something in front of the whole squad. He eventually got annoyed and said, 'Ling is the only one in this room who tells me what he actually thinks instead of just agreeing with me.'"

Ling laughed at the memory.

"I'm fortunate to have a manager who allows that."

"There are coaches who say they want players to think for themselves but get angry when the player's answer is different from theirs. José gets angry too, obviously."

Henry laughed.

"But he'll still listen."

Ling looked toward Mourinho.

"I'm grateful for that."

When the interview ended, Henry lowered the microphone and watched Ling return to his teammates.

There was something about the situation that inevitably reminded him of his own relationship with Arsenal.

He had once imagined spending his entire elite career there as well.

Football rarely made that simple.

A one-club career required more than loyalty.

The player needed to remain good enough, the club needed to remain ambitious enough, financial expectations had to stay compatible, managers changed, ownership changed, and sometimes circumstances pushed two sides apart even when neither initially wanted it.

Ling happened to have found the rare combination.

He had grown up inside United's academy and then become the central figure of one of the most successful periods in the club's history.

Whatever happened later, that connection could no longer be erased.

Henry knew the feeling well enough to envy it.

...

Not far away, Tuchel gathered his players.

He remained on his crutches, which made the scene slightly awkward, but his message was serious.

"Losing tonight doesn't erase what we achieved getting here."

Several PSG players looked toward him.

"This club had never played in a Champions League final before. Now we have."

"That matters."

Tuchel pointed toward the United players.

"They have been here three years in a row. They know these moments better than we do."

"We learn from this and come back stronger."

The disappointment in the PSG group was too fresh for the speech to have much immediate effect.

Neymar, in particular, remained frustrated about having been substituted when the score was only 2–1.

Whatever disagreements already existed between him and Tuchel were unlikely to become easier after tonight.

But those were questions for Paris to resolve later.

For now, they had lost a final.

Nothing the manager said could make that painless.

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