The enigma of Michu: the rise, the fall... the what next?

The ball rolls fortuitously towards the penalty spot as Miguel Perez Cuesta strides to meet it. In many ways, the stars of fate seem to have aligned perfectly: it is the 80th minute in the Champions League qualifier between Napoli and Athletic Bilbao, the score is 1-1, and the shaggily haired hero-to-be has been on the pitch for mere minutes after coming on for Marek Hamsik. 

But, within a blink, the stars were back to their arrogant randomness. The anxious debutant’s first instinct had been to look away from goal rather than towards it, and to bizarrely pass to a team-mate in a noticeably worse position. Uncharacteristic, to say the least, from a man coveted for his calmness.  

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