Chapter 1004: A Goalkeeper’s Duel?!

Well, people didn’t need to think of Ballack’s words further, because after that chance from Morita, the game basically turned into a big duel between two goalkeepers, Higo and Marwin Hitz.

After witnessing Marwin Hitz stealing the show, Higo felt like his spirit was burning brighter than ever, wanting to take it back with his ability.

’Well, after this, they would definitely try to attack me again, right? Let’s see how they would do it...’

With that in mind, Higo turned into the real Genzo Wakabayashi from the Captain Tsubasa series, protecting the whole goal without missing a single hair that would slip through his grasp.

For the rest of the first half, he became a true nightmare for Haaland and the other Dortmund players, blocking them all left and right.

Hell, Haaland even had two chances where he was so close to Higo, facing the goalkeeper in a direct one-on-one situation, and yet, none of them was enough to give Dortmund the lead that they wanted.

The first one was after he managed to fool Stambouli with a fake shot to give a room for himself, and he tried to put the ball with a finesse shot to the bottom left of the goal.

It was the closest that Haaland managed to get the ball to Higo’s goal, but once again, the goalkeeper showed who was the better one today by deflecting the ball with his fingertips.

Honestly, with how powerful the shot was, Higo flinched inwardly as he felt the pressure on his finger at that moment.

’Damn, if I am slightly weaker, this would crack my fingers, right?’ He muttered under his breath while also rubbing his hand a little bit after that.

Then, the second one came about five minutes later, when another header came from Haaland. This time, it was a proper one with a lot of power in it, as he beat Stambouli fair and square.

However, once again, the direction of the header was weak.

It was just a few centimeters to the left of the middle, still within Higo’s reach. As a result, he didn’t even need to move, just putting his hand in the right place to block that header easily.

Other than those two chances, Dortmund also managed to get some good threats.

Matts Hummels had already proved himself to be a beast in the corner kick scenario, as no one was able to beat him inside the box.

It was just... In that scenario, Schalke’s defense was also on high alert, so even though they lost a duel or two, someone would still be able to cover the goal with their body.

Not only them; even Marco Reus and Julian Brandt also tried their luck, wanting to be creative with their approach.

From a long shot, a combination pass with each other, to even a solo run in a tight space to get through to a favorable position, somehow, they had done everything, and yet, Higo was still standing stronger than ever in front of the goal.

It was no wonder that they started to get frustrated with this situation.

However, this didn’t mean Schalke didn’t have any chance at all. Hell, if anything, today seemed to be the day when they got the most shots on target this season.

The reason was simple. Since Dortmund’s high pressure on their side put a lot of numbers, that meant there would be a gap in the midfield that they could take advantage of.

So, once they managed to escape from the pressure, they would be able to see a big space like an ocean in front of them, waiting to be exploited with everything they had.

In this case, Morita really showed why he was one of the most dangerous midfielders in the league nowadays.

He became the bridge for Schalke, becoming the first player to receive the ball whenever they wanted to pull off a counterattack.

It didn’t matter who guarded him or even how many, as even though both Delaney and Dahoud wanted to encircle him, sometimes even with Akanji’s help, Morita would still be able to slip from their grasp.

The most unfortunate part was that just like Dortmund, Schalke also faced a goalkeeper who was on a hot streak today.

Somehow, it didn’t matter how Morita orchestrated the attack, but the moment the ball fell onto the penalty box, Marwin Hitz would always be in the best position to stop it.

Hell, Hoppe was so frustrated right now, as he had already had two chances where the striker faced Marwin Hitz in a one-on-one duel, and yet, those two ended up with his shot being blocked straight away.

It wasn’t just him, as Fabian also tried to cut from the flank to the inside and got a good angle to take a shot. Unfortunately, that attempt was proven to be futile, as the goalkeeper just pushed the ball away to give Schalke a corner kick that only ended up as nothing more than a waste of time.

Both teams were getting blocked by the brilliant performance of the two goalkeepers today. It was as if they turned into a prime Buffon, not allowing even a single grain of salt to escape from their eyes.

In the end, all the attacks that they threw ended up with nothing, and once the fourth referee raised the board on the sideline, they lowered their intensity unconsciously.

’The fight in the first half is almost over. Let’s just let the boss think about what to do next...’ At least, that was what most of them thought.

At this moment, trying to take advantage of both teams lowering their guard would be too risky, as if the plan failed, it would be them who suffered from the same thing next.

So, the safest decision right now was to let the first half ended peacefully and recharged themselves during the break, so that once they were in the second half, they could start once again to get a goal that everyone was waiting right now.

In the end, the referee also let out a relieved sigh, finding the tempo had finally slowed down. Once the time was up, he gave a nod to everyone else, and in the next second...

FWEEE! FWEEE! FWEEE!

The whistle was blown, ending the first half with a draw 0-0.