By the quarter-hour mark, it was evident who the fulcrum of the game was because every time Amani Hamadi touches the ball, there's a sense urgency and that something might happen. Bayern's players had taken notice. Their holding midfielder was starting to shadow Amani closely, almost man-marking him, determined to cut off the supply of the ball to him.
Wherever Amani moved, the red-shirted opponent was never far behind, determined to smother Utrecht's lifeline.
Yet Amani responded not with frustration but with intelligent adaptability by drifting intelligently – if he's marked in the center, he'll peel out to the wing or drop even deeper to shake the coverage. In one sequence, he drifts wide right to receive a throw-in. Finding himself cornered by a Bayern player as the ball comes in, Amani uses quick feet to create space – a shimmy of the hips and a sudden pullback move.
