Chapter 831: Second Half Begins!
Soon enough, all the players were ready. This time, Schalke kicked off, with Paciencia and Mark Uth ready in front of the ball.
The referee glanced at his watch for a moment, then got a subtle nod from all his assistants...
FWEEE!
The whistle was finally blown, and Schalke didn’t hesitate to go for their usual scheme. This was something that Frohling started to do at the latest stage of the last season, and since the man saw the great effect in it, he put this scheme into one of the team’s arsenals, hoping that it could provide another chance for the team.
The scheme was, of course, none other than the Blitzkrieg attack.
However, this time, there was no Morita or Ozan Kabak who could send a long ball properly, so now, the role somehow shifted to Higo, whose Hail Mary pass was still decent enough compared to the others.
Well, the boy didn’t hesitate when doing his job here. After the ball was passed back to him, the goalkeeper glanced at the frontline for a second, waiting for the rest of his teammates occupying the space there before launching the pass that they had been waiting for.
BAM!
’Come on, Fabian! This is your specialty!’ Higo squinted his eyes unconsciously while watching the ball falling from the sky.
The route here was not something that Higo picked randomly or after observing his teammates’ positions right now. No, it was pre-planned by Frohling, as the head coach had already put Alphonso Davies as the target here.
Just like their last encounter in February, Frohling still believed that out of all the Bayern players on the defensive end, the Canadian fullback was still too young and inexperienced, being the biggest weakness there.
Still, what he didn’t calculate thoroughly was the fact that eight months had passed since that time, and there was no way in hell Alphonso Davies would be stuck in that situation for that long.
No, the Canadian fullback also gained a lot of muscles in that summer, sufficient enough to improve his strength while also not destroying his speed in the process. As a result, even though Fabian Reese was 5 cm taller and probably several kilograms heavier, the man still managed to fight head-on, not even losing momentum here.
BAM!
The moment a collision occurred between those two to fight for the aerial ball, Fabian Reese blinked in disbelief, feeling like he had just hit a brick wall. In his mind, he started wondering, ’What the fuck?! Did I hit the right person here or what?!’
Unfortunately, while the blonde winger was still in confusion, Alphonso Davies managed to head the ball away, letting it fall straight to Josua Kimmich’s foot.
The midfielder didn’t even hesitate, glancing at the frontline for a moment before launching a scalpel-like long ball diagonally to the other side of the flank, where Leroy Sané had already started running there.
BAM!
"FUCK! Counter!"
"Delay! Sead, delay!"
This sudden counter was of course enough to create panic on Schalke’s side. After all, some of their players were still on the frontline, thinking that they had a chance to launch a blitzkrieg attack against Bayern.
Who would’ve thought that the table would be flipped so quickly, and this time, it was them who got stabbed from the dark like this?
Sead Kolasinac also couldn’t help but curse, lowering his stance while also dropping slowly to protect the touchline. He had been destroyed by Leroy Sane’s speed so many times in the first half, and while the man knew this would happen again for the rest of the game, at least, in this moment, he didn’t want to lose against the boy in front of him.
’Fuck it! At least, I have to delay him until the rest is back at their own position!’ He scowled, a bead of sweat rolling down his forehead.
Unfortunately, Leroy Sane didn’t intend to wait. No, the boy’s dribble was so short at first, approaching Kolasinac slowly. It was a clear bait for the man to take, but since the Bosnian defender was too smart to ignore, Sane changed direction quickly, cutting into the penalty box to catch the defender off guard.
"FUCK! CENTER, GET READY!" Kolasinac couldn’t help but curse, having already lost all of his advantage the moment he had to turn around to chase Sane. "PUSH HIM TO THE TOUCHLINE! DON’T LET HIM SEND A CUTBACK!"
Benjamin Stambouli and Thomas Becker moved together here. One followed Kolasinac’s instruction, while the other was still keeping an eye on Lewandowski, who was restless inside the penalty box.
Not just them, though; Sebastian Rudy also shrank into the penalty box, getting ready to reinforce the defense. However, his movement was small and full of hesitation, not wanting to get caught in the crossfire like his own goal before.
Still, even with all that precaution made, they somehow forgot about one thing.
Leroy Sane was a dangerous winger not just from all of his dribbles and assists, but also from his ability to score a goal by himself.
The boy didn’t even wait for Stambouli to get closer to him as he leaned his body slightly, trying to get the best angle possible. Then, in a swift movement, the winger used the instep part of his right foot to curl the ball into the bottom right of the goal.
Thud!
The shot itself was not powerful. However, it was low and aimed at the trickiest spot on the goal. Combined with the fact that it got through two defenders that somehow only became blockers for the goalkeeper here, this should be a perfect execution to double the lead for Bayern Munich.
Leroy Sané himself had already turned around, getting ready to run to the corner to celebrate the goal. However, his eyes were still on the ball, wanting to make sure that it went in first before doing anything foolish.
Well, his instinct was proven to be true, because right before the ball would go in, one hand suddenly appeared there, perfectly blocking the ball’s way before crossing the goal line.
Thud!
Seeing this, Leroy Sane had his eyes almost pop out of their sockets, having only one reaction here.
’What the fuck?!’