Chapter 969: Higo in Action! (I)

"A push from Sebastian Rudy toward Serge Gnabry! On-site decision, a free kick for Bayern Munich and a yellow card for Sebastian Rudy!"

When the referee announced his decision, everyone could see Sebastian Rudy’s shoulder drop a few inches. However, the right back didn’t complain, knowing that he was at fault.

The fault here wasn’t the foul. No, he did it with full consciousness, knowing that it would end up with him getting a yellow card. The only mistake here was him letting Serge Gnabry dribble through him, which the man had to resort to in this kind of push to stop the attack.

"Eh, don’t worry too much, Rudy!" Stambouli patted him on the back. "You made the right decision. If you didn’t stop him, Malick would be too late to cover for your spot, and we don’t know what happened."

Rudy just smiled weakly as this was the justification that he told himself inwardly.

After this, all the Bayern players rushed forward, occupying the penalty spot. They won a free kick in a decent position, as even though it was difficult to aim directly at the goal, the distance was still close enough with a good angle to deliver a cross to the box.

At least five Bayern players were at Schalke’s box, with Josua Kimmich getting ready to send the ball there.

Higo himself was busy in front of the goal, directing his teammates to fill up any spot that he believed could be exploited by the opponent.

"Benjy! Keep your eyes on Lewandowski! It doesn’t matter what everyone is doing, just focus on him!"

"Nabil! Don’t lose track of Muller! He is sneaky; make sure you don’t get fooled!"

"Come on, everyone! Focus!"

It had only been five minutes since the team got a lead, so there was no way he would let Bayern get a goal so quickly and destroy the momentum.

Still, all the preparation that he did was useless here, as right after the whistle was blown, Thomas Muller suddenly made a run out of nowhere, cutting into the back of the wall to receive the pass.

"SHIT!" Nabil Bentaleb cursed out loud, trying his best to chase the opponent’s captain even after losing one step behind.

Kimmich didn’t hesitate to send a short pass behind the wall, and the moment Muller managed to twist his body to face the penalty box again, he spun like a hurricane before whipping a low and fast cross toward the six-yard box, the most crowded place in Schalke’s territory right now.

BAM!

’Fuck! I cannot see anything!’ Higo gritted his teeth, moving as quickly as possible.

Fortunately, he had this brilliant clairvoyant ability inside his head, as the boy could just ignore everyone in the middle. Yeah, he knew beforehand that those guys, from Lewandowski to Alaba, wouldn’t be able to get the ball first.

’No, it is going to Sane! I get it!’

BAM!

True enough, the ball just got through everyone’s face before it fell on Leroy Sane on the far post, and the winger jumped quickly to tap the ball with his right foot.

However, the timing was also exactly when Higo stepped in that direction, as the goalkeeper managed to block the ball completely with his body.

As a result, Leroy Sane just had his eyes widen in shock when he saw the ball bouncing away from the pitch.

"What the hell?! You can block that?!" He exclaimed with his hands on his afro hair, staring at Higo in disbelief.

In the broadcast studio, Daniel Herzog also couldn’t help but jump, finding the situation to be way more exciting than ever.

"What a save! What a save from Ryusuke Higo!" The man exclaimed excitedly.

"Can you see how he moves?! He abandons the whole midsection, running straight to the far post! Just one tap from either Lewandowski, Gnabry, or Alaba would be enough to get Bayern a goal, but he didn’t even hesitate here, gambling his own goal to arrive right on time to stop Sane! What a crazy play from Higo!"

"This is what a pure instinct looks like as a world-class goalkeeper." Michael Ballack nodded in approval. "No data or logic will be able to explain his decision-making. No, he just knows where the ball would go. That is something that not a lot of goalkeepers in the world have."

That was definitely a bold claim, especially considering Higo was fighting head-to-head against Neuer right now, the best goalkeeper in the world.

Still, the boy deserved credit here, as his reaction and decision-making ability shone brightly at that moment.

It was as if the boy was trying to say to the whole world, ’The best goalkeeper in the world? He is playing here today, but definitely not on Bayern’s side!’

Or... At least, that was what everyone imagined.

In reality, Higo couldn’t care less about it right now. No, he just wiped the dirt off his body before going back to his own position, putting his focus back on the game.

This was not the time to celebrate anything, not when the team itself was still in danger. If anything, Higo knew that this was just the beginning of the storm.

’I have to be more careful in my instruction, or I will only kill myself here...’ He murmured under his breath.

After this, Bayern got a corner kick from the stop that Higo did earlier. This time, Gnabry took it quickly, sending a short pass to Thomas Muller, who somehow transported to the other side of the flank after creating the last chance for Bayern.

They kept it short, passing back to behind the penalty box so that they could get a better angle to aim.

Once the space was open for them, this time, it was Gnabry who delivered a curved cross straight to the far post, and this time, Higo gritted his teeth as he leaped into the air as well.

’Yes! An easy ball! I can get this!’

BAM!