Chapter 77: Chapter 2: Rival

Spain, Barcelona

Camp Nou

Player Lionel Andres Messi Cuccitini, commonly known as “Lionel Messi,” who won MVP for this match, is grinning widely, and moments later, covered his mouth with his hand, showing a bit of modesty and shyness.

In this match, Messi put immense pressure on the opposing defense line, performing a dribbling spectacle beloved by fans in the third minute, although he missed the goal, still inciting cheers from Barcelona fans, while in the fifth minute he opened the scoring, which was like a laxative, allowing Barcelona’s ensuing attacks to be incredibly smooth.

After consecutively winning the European Rookie of the Year award, known as the “Little Golden Ball,” and the European Golden Boy Award, Moratti attempted to lure him to Inter Milan for 150 million Euros.

During interviews, Messi often shows slight head-shaking movements, yet the words coming from his mouth are quite clear and precise. After a brief Q&A, the reporter asked, “Real Madrid recently saw the emergence of a genius player named Chen Zhong, have you heard of him?”

“Ah, Chen?” Messi touched his nose and said, “I’ve heard people around talking about him, and Bojan mentioned him too.”

“Yes, Chen, his appearance has brought a completely different state to the Real Madrid defense line, although his penchant for sliding tackles has sparked some controversy. Soon, you’ll meet him in the Royal Derby, are you worried about his defensive style?”

“Considering these past two years, since you have gotten injured numerous times because of opponents’ rough defense, do you worry about his tendency to slide tackle?”

Upon hearing the reporter’s question, Messi’s smile faded. He looked at the reporter first, then bowed his head and said, “I’m not worried about that. To me, he’s just a young player who just entered the first team, and now that I’m often faced with multiple defenders in matches, this is perfectly normal for me.”

…

“What can you see from this?” Schuster frowned and glanced at Francisco, speaking up: “See how this little flea belittles our little genius?”

“No, quite the opposite.” Francisco shook his head. As a die-hard Real Madrid fan, his attention and understanding of Barcelona surpassed the average person: “This means Messi is quite focused on Chen, he’s heard about Chen from people around him and Bojan, and did you see his smile fade?”

“What does that mean?” Schuster looked at Francisco feeling a bit upset: “Damn, can you just tell me your guess directly!”

“Many people think Messi is a humble player, and to some extent he is.”

“But to some degree, he’s also extremely proud and even mischievous.”

“Simply put,” Francisco patted his entire proud one-pack of abs, speaking with self-confidence, “He’s a fiercely competitive player. When someone questions him, especially in football, he will try everything he can to prove that he can.”

“Ha…” Schuster looked at Francisco: “Haha…”

“Maybe I should propose to the higher-ups to bring in someone else to assist me.”

“What you said is purely speculative, maybe he’s planning to outplay Chen and showcase himself, but in a match, that’s entirely different.”

“Agreed.” Francisco nodded in agreement with Schuster’s words, then flashed an innocent smile: “We can enhance his obsession with Chen during this period.”

“For example, give Chen the title of being able to man-mark Messi.”

“Hmm?” Schuster widened his eyes staring at Francisco, seemingly wanting to reevaluate the man before him, then couldn’t help but speak: “You’re a damn genius, an audacious maverick, have you even assessed whether Chen can handle this? If he ends up getting played into a sieve in a match, have you considered the mental harm and pressure this could bring him?”

“I remember you saying once.”

“Real geniuses shouldn’t be coddled. They need to endure all hardships, and then survive and break through, only then can they be considered geniuses.”

“Let’s see.” After hesitating for a moment, Schuster said: “We have time, we can further observe on the training ground. Actually, compared to Chen, I think Pepe might be more suitable.”

Their conversation stopped here, and at this moment, both Schuster’s and Francisco’s phones rang. After seeing the contents on their phones, they couldn’t help but simultaneously say: “Anti-Ronaldinho Clause?”

“Calderon?” Schuster widened his eyes, irritatedly said: “What is he up to?”

“Including this round, Ronaldinho has not appeared on the match roster for two rounds.” Francisco calmly analyzed: “If he doesn’t play in the sixth round, that’ll be three consecutive rounds.”

“Recently, news surrounding Ronaldinho directly formed a Ronaldinho scandal gate.”

“I think perhaps due to Ronaldinho’s lack of discipline, it made Calderon want to restrain the players a little.”

“I know.” Schuster looked at Francisco: “Actually, we were already going to do this, but why does Calderon have to publicly announce it in the media and notify the local newspapers to report it? Won’t this affect the team’s dressing room?”

“Last time I substituted Robinho, he had already started acting a bit petty, now he’d feel the whole world is against him.”

“Damn, doesn’t he see how much he plays like a pile of crap? I’m totally doing this for his own good.”

Francisco did not voice anything, Calderon has always had a sense of pressure. He’s always wanted to excel compared to Florentino, maybe what he’s doing now is also to assert his presence!

As for Robinho?

Francisco also found it difficult, if Robinho had Chen Zhong’s attitude towards football, he definitely wouldn’t just be at his current level.

“Has Raul’s contract renewal not been finalized yet?”

“Completing Raul’s contract renewal and announcing this news now would be a better choice for the team.”

Raul and the club have reached the final stage of negotiations, and Raul is even willing to take a fifty percent pay cut for the club. Although not immediately, it is enough to showcase his love for the club.

The two chatted for a while, studied a bit, and after discussing the upcoming match against Getafe, they each went home. Time quietly crept into October. After defeating Getafe on October 1st, the team would immediately head to Italy to prepare for the Champions League group stage match against Lazio on October 3rd.

Before the match with Getafe, Schuster received some bad news.

“Damn it.”

“Barcelona has taken the top of the standings.”

This is the sixth round of the league, with Real Madrid ranking second with 13 points from 4 wins and 1 draw, while Barcelona, having played one more round, temporarily topped the standings with 14 points from 4 wins and 2 draws.

In this match, Barcelona’s opponent was Levante. The last two away games in the league were both draws, and historically, the only time Barcelona won at Levante’s home was back in 1963.

“They’ve only taken the top spot temporarily.” Francisco consoled, “As long as we win this match, we can reclaim the top spot.”

Schuster looked at Francisco without responding. No one knows Getafe better than he does. If Getafe decides to defend to the death, Real Madrid might not necessarily win at Getafe’s ground.

In fact, since Getafe was promoted, Real Madrid has never won at Getafe’s ground.

Not to mention in this match, Real Madrid benched more than half of their main players for the next day’s Champions League group stage.

“Is this my concern?” Schuster retorted stubbornly, “I’m worried about Henry.”

“Damn it, he actually scored a hat-trick.”

“Their form just keeps getting better.”

Schuster was a bit anxious. Coaching Real Madrid was a completely different feeling from coaching Getafe. Getafe’s schedule was not as packed as Real Madrid’s, and as a ’weaker team,’ the performance expectations were not as high.

At Real Madrid, if you want to secure the head coach position, you can’t just be satisfactory or even excellent, you must be the best.

In fact, Schuster was somewhat regretting using the 4231 formation for this match.

Raul served as the sole forward, and behind him were Robben, Sneijder, and Robinho.

Drenthe and Gago played as the dual defensive midfielders, while Marcelo, Chen Zhong, Cannavaro, and Torres formed the defense, with Casillas still the starting goalkeeper.

The substitutes included: Soldado, Saviola, Guti, Diara, Baptista, Heinze, and Dudek.

Not using his familiar 442 formation against Getafe left him feeling unsure.

When he returned to the Alfonso Perez Stadium, the fans in the stands applauded Schuster, thanking him for his contributions to the team last season. This scene touched Schuster deeply.

“You’re now watching live coverage of a key match in the sixth round of La Liga.”

“Getafe is hosting Real Madrid at home.”

“Schuster returns to a familiar ground; who knows what he’s feeling inside.”

“Last season, Capello led the team to a 1-0 defeat away at Getafe.”

“In the three years since Getafe’s promotion, Real Madrid has yet to win away against them.”

“This season, Schuster has continuously broken fans’ perceptions of him.”

“First, he led Real Madrid to the best start in recent years, with three consecutive league wins.”

“Then, he broke Real Madrid’s three-year curse of not winning the Champions League opener.”

“Although he also created the embarrassing record of being scored on in 55 seconds during a derby.”

“Overall, Schuster’s work at Real Madrid so far has been successful.”

“But in this match, can they break the awkward streak of not winning away at Getafe?”

“Let’s wait and see!”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep