Chapter 826: Higo is Busy
Honestly, no one knew what was going on there.
All the Bayern players just jumped around, trying to block any attempt by Schalke players to clear the ball so that it would stay in the penalty box, and the away team players were also rushing frantically to at least kick the ball away as far as possible from their own territory.
Then, in that whirlwind of shit, the ball suddenly fell in front of Jerome Boateng, and wanting to add more chaos, he just shot the ball randomly, keeping it in the penalty box. Hell, the defender didn’t even look at the goal, just aiming the ball blindly.
BAM!
However, that random shot turned into a decisive pass, as right in front of the goal, Lewandowski suddenly beat everyone to extend his right foot there. He didn’t even put any power, just letting his foot deflect the ball into the goal.
Behind, Benjamin Stambouli couldn’t help but widen his eyes, not knowing how the Polish striker managed to guess where the ball would go.
’FU—!"
Thud!
In the next second, though, it was Lewandowski who was so dumbfounded. Even though he didn’t truly aim where the ball would go, with him being just three meters away from the goal, any deflection with his foot should lead the ball into the back of the net.
Unfortunately, somehow, Higo managed to react—’No, it shouldn’t be a reaction. He read where I would send the ball there.’ Lewandowski thought grimly—at the right time, blocking the ball with his body.
As a result, the ball bounced away, and before anyone else could get the rebound, Sebastian Rudy came out of nowhere to clear the ball as far away as possible.
BAM!
"YES, Rudy-san!" Higo roared first when he saw this, getting up quickly to hug the man in front of him. "That’s what a clearance is about! Good fucking job!"
The rest of the Schalke players also came, slapping both Higo and Sebastian Rudy on the head.
"Nice save, Higo! You are the best!"
"Haha! You can even save that?! Are you fucking kidding me?!"
"That’s why you are our guardian angel. Come! Fucking! On!"
Higo just grinned widely as he received the wild praises from the others. Then, his eyes caught Lewandowski, who was still lying on the ground, especially the man’s disbelief gaze when he looked at the goal where the ball that should’ve been there couldn’t be seen in that place.
When Higo found the man in that state, he couldn’t help but grin here, finding satisfaction in this.
’Yeah, I will have to make sure that this would be your common expression for the rest of the game.’ His gaze burned deep on Lewandowski, feeling so determined to prevent the best striker in the world from scoring a goal against him.
Meanwhile, all the players from Bayern Munich also recovered quickly, going back to their original positions. Even though they were shocked at how Higo still managed to keep the ball away from his goal, they didn’t fall into anxiety quickly after that.
No, they were the best team in Europe right now, so there was no way not being able to score in the first ten minutes against Schalke, a bottom-tier team in the league, would stump them.
In fact, the one who was still shell-shocked by everything here was Lewandowski. However, Thomas Muller stepped up as the captain, snapping the man out of his daydreaming quickly to get ready for the next play.
Fortunately, after being pressured for the first ten minutes, Schalke finally started to adapt to the intensity today.It also helped that Bayern lowered their tempo, not wanting to hit the acceleration for too long in the beginning just to get themselves killed from exhaustion later.
After this, all the Schalke players could be seen gathering around their own territory. Hell, even the two strikers, Mark Uth and Goncalo Paciencia, also helped in defense, trying to repel all the intruders. It was clear by day that they didn’t have any intention to attack, not when Bayern could punish them with a quick counter.
Still, with ten players in front of him, that didn’t make Higo’s job easier. No, if anything, the difficulty level was still the same, but the object was different.
If before, his focus was on how to stop the attack, this time, the boy had to act like a commander, guiding all of his teammates to shut down all the holes that Bayern could take advantage of.
It was not an easy task, as some players still hadn’t gotten used to each other on the back, sometimes creating a little bit of chaos that made Higo’s heart jump unconsciously.
"Fuck! Stambouli-san, if you want to rush, tell Timo-san first! His reaction will always be slower than you!"
"Suat-san, you’ve been losing the second ball three times in a row right now! What the fuck are you doing?!"
"Kolasinac-san, don’t shrink too much to the middle! Alphonso Davies can still be a threat; leave the center for me and the others!"
Higo didn’t know how long he had been shouting like this. The boy only figured out that his throat started to get dry, and even two bottles of water that he brought here were far from enough to relieve his hoarse voice.
Still, at least, the effect was visible here.
All the players coordinated in a unit, supporting each other and creating a big chain that was hard to be broken by the opponent. Even Bayern Munich’s players struggled to get into Schalke’s territory again, with Lewandowski being completely isolated on the frontline.
A few times the Polish striker managed to get the ball, he couldn’t turn around to look at the goal properly, and in the end, the best thing he could do was to send possession back to the midfield.
However, Bayern was not a team that only relied on one trick. No, they knew that their patient scheme was not effective, so after a while, Thomas Muller suddenly made a subtle signal that went unnoticed by Higo.
’Damn! What is he trying to do?!’