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There was nothing quite like a derby. The heightened emotions, the extra effort from all sides, the aches and pains afterwards that proved that they’d given their everything. Daniel almost relished the knocks and bruises that he would be wincing over the next day. He was just one of those people that fed off of the energy of those around him. The intensity of a derby or a big game only heightened it. There had only been a few occasions when the emotions had been too much. Monaco away in 2016 was probably the biggest example. He’d forced himself to play through injury - not for the first time that season - and had scored what was supposed to be the winning goal in a knockout tie, only for it to be disallowed. As if that wasn’t bad enough, Daniel ended up making his injury worse and had to be subbed off. His team conceded quickly after that to seal their fate and there was a famous video of him screaming in the tunnel of the Stade Louis II, despair etched on him.
With age came experience and after transferring clubs twice in the past few years, Daniel wanted nothing more than to feel settled . His move to France was supposed to be that but there was the club’s internal politics, Cyril’s weary face as he explained that the budget wasn’t there to improve the team and a style that he just wasn’t suited for. The move to England was a chance to reboot his career, to remind people why he was so highly rated in the first place. There had been some teething pains - he was on the other side of 30 now and the Premier League lived up to its reputation as one of the more physically demanding leagues. He’d also needed to adjust to his role in the team. He wasn’t quite the star signing that he would have been a couple of years earlier and he was the one needing to get used to Lando, as opposed to the other way round. Lando had been one of the breakout players of Euro 2020 and as the homegrown star, commanded the adoration of teammates and fans alike. That wasn’t to say Daniel had an issue with that aspect at all. His own hang-ups over his dynamic with a homegrown wonderkid aside - he held Marko and Horner personally responsible for that whole debacle anyway - Daniel genuinely respected little Lando (he had to remind himself not to call him that to his face) and had even found himself singing the fans chant for the midfielder when it was just him at home.
We’ve got Norris, Lando Norris
I just don’t think you understand
He’s Andy Seidl’s man
He’s better than Kevin (who?)
We’ve got Lando Norris
Fan culture differed from nation to nation and they were all intense in their own ways. Despite moving to Italy as a teenager in order to help his dream of becoming a professional footballer, he’d always gravitated towards following the English teams. The attitude there of taking the piss out of yourselves and the opposition matched his own sense of humour and the icing on top of Daniel’s hypothetical cake would have been to have his own name sung on the terraces.
Derby day soon rolled around and Daniel was up for it. He’d found some good form and built on his understanding with Lando, timing his runs for when the midfielder would find a way through the opposition’s defence. As the striker, his job was to then score with the chance that Lando created for him. The game had been tense so far with both sides doing a good job at restricting the other to a handful of chances.
The first time Daniel heard it, he almost did a double take but it was the worst possible time for him to be distracted. Lando was at the corner flag, about to raise his arms to signal that he was going to strike the ball which was to be aimed straight at Daniel for him to head into the net in order to give their team the lead. He shook it off, instead focusing on jostling and getting past the player marking him. The ball was whipped in and he grunted as his marker nudged him out of the way to clear it and prevent him from scoring. The away fans, all the way at the other end of the stadium behind the opposing goal, groaned.
“Next time.” he nodded at Lando as they moved into position to deal with the opposition’s goal kick.
The next time, it sounded clearer but he still couldn’t be 100% sure. Away fans of all affiliations were known to be rowdier than the home contingent despite there being less of them and the ones clad in papaya were no exception. It sounded like they were going through the entire songbook, from singing about how shit the opposition were to individual player chants and simply shouting the team’s name. It was a cliche but hearing and feeling the support from the fans just made Daniel want to work harder and secure the win more than he already did.
After half time, they switched ends as they always did and so the team were going to be aiming for the goal directly in front of their fans. It was still 0-0 and remained so, despite the increasing number of goal scoring opportunities and the heating tempers on both sides.
In the 89th minute, Lando was hacked down a short distance outside of the box. Supporters of both sides made their feelings known, the home fans chanting “cheat” as they thought he’d gone down too easily and the away fans giving it back in equal measure. As the nearest one to the incident Daniel went over to where Lando was sprawled on the floor, holding his shin where he’d been caught.
“You good?” he asked the younger man, offering his hand to help him up as the midfielder winced. For some reason the guy who’d tackled him in the first place thought it was a good idea to come and sneer at them. Daniel moved as if to shield Lando, putting his body in between his teammate and the enemy. “Fuck off mate.” he snapped with a shove, as the referee finally remembered that he had a job to do and gave the free kick in their favour. “Full send?” He asked Lando to confirm the plan for the set piece, taking his nod as an affirmative.
Daniel hummed and got in position in the box, copying the routine they’d practiced countless times at training. The dickhead from earlier was the one tasked with marking him and Daniel took pleasure from knocking into him as they waited for the whistle to be blown. He was never opposed to some light shithousery. As soon as Lando took the freekick, Daniel darted around his marker and out jumped him to head the ball. Hearing it smash the back of the net and the roar of the fans was the sweetest sound he had ever heard. It was total carnage from there. Daniel had run - towards what, he didn’t know himself - before changing course and doing a knee slide towards the mass of papaya orange, screaming back at the fans before his teammates caught up and all piled on him. While he’d already announced himself to the fans, this had secured his place in their hearts. It was no wonder that they were singing his song again but this time he could hear it loud and clear.
Daniel Ricciardo, you are the love of my life
Daniel Ricciardo, I’ll let you shag my wife
Daniel Ricciardo, I want curly hair too