Chapter 1000: Kick-Off! Schalke VS Dortmund!

The moment the referee blew the whistle, Higo lowered his guard instantly, his eyes on the blonde boy who was rushing with his big body like a fucking tank.

"Malick! Back down! Let Benjy-san handle this!" He shouted.

Yeah, facing Erling Haaland, who was like a demigod, with the body and speed to destroy everything, a youngster’s recklessness was not needed here.

No, the most sensible approach was to use experience to deal with this shit, and coincidentally enough, Stambouli was a perfect man to do that.

As for why he ordered to do this so early in the game, the reason was simple. After passing back the ball to Mats Hummels on the defensive line, at least seven players rushed forward, overwhelming Schalke’s defense with the yellow jersey.

Yeah, this was none other than the Blitzkrieg tactic that Schalke seemed to popularize this year, as more teams tried to copy it and made their own version of it.

However, this time, Dortmund was definitely the most dangerous team that could pull it out against Schalke.

After all, not only did they have a strong passer like Hummels who could pinpoint Haaland whenever the blonde striker went, but the Norwegian striker was also strong in the air, beating everyone left and right.

The combination of those two was enough to create chaos in the opponent’s territory, and then, with five more players rushing forward, they created an overwhelming attack that could lead into a disaster if the defenders panicked in that moment.

Fortunately, this time, Schalke was more ready than ever to anticipate this attack.

The moment Hummels launched that long ball...

BAM!

Stambouli didn’t let Haaland gain an upper hand. No, if anything, he held the Norwegian striker strongly, not letting the man jump and reach his highest peak.

As a result, the ball slipped through the gap between them, falling into Higo’s hands perfectly to stop their attempt at a quick attack.

"Yes! Nice defense, Benjy!" Higo exclaimed. "Come on! Let’s slow down a little bit!"

Even though the game had been less than a minute, it was always important to calm down the tempo, especially when the opponent was a crazy team with a high-pressing tactic like Dortmund.

Higo also didn’t want to take a risk and let his area get swarmed by the opponent, so instead of playing it short, he just kicked the ball as far away as possible.

In the end, though, Hoppe failed to win the aerial duel against Akanji, and possession changed once again to Dortmund’s side instantly.

The first two minutes somehow went quite chaotic on the pitch.

Dortmund was so eager to get into the box, launching so many dangerous through passes that almost got into Schalke’s territory.

However, the home team also showed their maturity here.

Even though the players were still the same as what the team had last year when they were one of the worst defensive teams in the league, they had improved so much under Higo’s guidance this year, knowing at least where to push the opponent’s attack to make things easier for the goalkeeper.

Hell, at some points, Marco Reus managed to receive the ball in a tight space in front of the penalty box, but before he could turn around and face the goal directly, Jonas Hofmann had already been there to push the man away, kicking the attack out to the flank side.

This sequence happened so quickly that it made things look way less dangerous than the reality, and the supporters couldn’t help but appreciate it.

"YES, JONAS! THAT’S HOW YOU DO IT!"

"Come on, Jones! Show them what our talent can do!"

However, this state only lasted for two minutes—yeah, two minutes, a very short period—before the first dangerous attack finally came.

This time, it all started with Jadon Sancho, who inserted himself into the half-space area, trying to drive into the penalty box.

This made the team’s defense collapse immediately, shrinking back to the penalty box.

Unfortunately, Fabian Reese failed to drop back in time, and the opponent’s reinforcement came so quickly from the flank side.

This time, Mateu Morey, a right back from Spain, penetrated so close to the touchline, and before the ball was out of the pitch, he whipped a low cross that went so quickly to the penalty box where at least four Dortmund players were there.

BAM!

’Shit! Shit! Shit! Left!’

It was fortunate that Higo had a clairvoyance ability, as the goalkeeper read where the ball would land and took an action immediately. He didn’t care about Haaland, who was dragging Stambouli in the middle, just shifting his attention to Marco Reus, who was sneaking from the far post.

BAM!

Marco Reus executed the cross with a half-volley shot with his right foot, trying to tap the ball with his inside foot to put it in the empty spot glaring in front of him.

Or... So that was what he thought.

However, right at the same second Reus tapped the ball in, Higo also appeared in front of the man, using his body to cover the whole space and let the ball bounce off his shoulder before it went up into the air, only to fall onto the top of the net.

"What?! Verdammt!" The man couldn’t help but curse, looking at Higo incredulously.

Still, that feeling only lasted for one second before he went back to his position once again, apologizing to his teammates for his failure.

"Eh, don’t worry, Cap! We will get it later!"

"Come on! This is still the beginning! Let’s see how long he will last today!"

At this point, all the Dortmund players knew that breaking through the goal that Higo protected would never be an easy task. Instead of getting shocked and depressed over every chance that was stopped by the goalkeeper, it was better to put their focus on what to do next.

Seeing this, Higo himself also had a grim expression on his face as he couldn’t help but mutter, ’Damn, this is going to be a long day, right?’