I Am Scouted by Real Madrid

Chapter 64: Chapter 35: Savagery

In the locker room, Francisco was reading out the starting lineup from the podium.

When Metzelder’s name came out of Francisco’s mouth, there was a bit of commotion in the locker room, but it quickly subsided. Many felt it was something unexpected yet expected.

After all, this is the Champions League. Metzelder has big match experience, while Chen Zhong, despite performing well in the league, lacks Champions League experience. With Pepe not fully recovered from his injury, choosing Metzelder and having Chen Zhong on standby seemed like the right decision.

Metzelder clenched his right fist, lips slightly pressed. He touched his slightly aching thigh, firmly believing that this was the reward for his persistence in physical training. From now on, he must persist in completing the training arranged by the fitness coach and even voluntarily do extra training to show the head coach his attitude!

Francisco observed the reactions of the players in the locker room. In fact, he had discussed it at length with Schuster when drafting the list.

It was Schuster’s first time leading the team in the Champions League match. Since he became the team coach, he had always dreamed of one day leading the team in the Champions League.

After much consideration, he finally chose Metzelder, with his Champions League experience, to start. The experience and stability of the veteran were what he needed.

After all, their opponent was Werder Bremen, although they lost Miroslav Klose in this summer’s window.

That man who did backflips on the field, leading Werder Bremen to the Champions League group stage for three consecutive seasons and successfully reaching the knockout stage each time, creating a new European history for the team, making Werder Bremen’s European performance no less impressive than Real Madrid’s in those three years.

But Thomas Shaf is still there, the coach who has been in charge of Werder Bremen for over 10 years. Having led the team to the Bundesliga championship and the German Cup in 2004, making the team a double winner and earning himself the title of Germany’s best coach, he deserved attention.

Time quickly arrived on match day.

Santiago Bernabeu Stadium

The Merengue in the stands were very excited, singing loudly in unison. When the players from both teams entered the field, they shouted together: ”Hala Madrid,” making the Real Madrid supporters feel their blood surge.

The majestic shouts echoed throughout the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, showcasing the heritage and momentum of a giant club.

Countless fans online saw this scene and couldn’t help but type out impassioned words on their keyboards!

[Hala Madrid!]

[Go, Real Madrid!]

[Quite a few German fans are here...]

[I wonder if they’ll get stage fright seeing so many people.]

[Victory, victory, victory, Real Madrid must win!]

At this time, the discussion was all positive, but soon this positive atmosphere was disrupted by some people.

[Hiss, why is Metzelder the starting center-back?]

[I remember there’s a genius Chen Zhong, right? Why is he on the bench?]

[Genius? This is considered genius? Look at Barca’s Dos Santos, Bojan, and Messi, now that’s genius.]

This series of comments immediately shattered the harmonious atmosphere. Initially, no one paid them any mind, but there’s always someone who can’t stand it and says a couple of words, eventually leading to a verbal scuffle.

”This is a group stage match in Group C of the Champions League.”

”Real Madrid against Werder Bremen.”

”For this match, Real Madrid made some adjustments to the lineup.”

”Marcelo replaced Heinze in the starting lineup, Robinho was left out of the squad, and Higuain took up the position of right-forward for the team.”

”This is Real Madrid’s 300th match in Champions League history, and Schuster’s first Champions League match of his coaching career.”

”Historically, the two sides have never faced each other. Real Madrid has a record of 15 wins, 8 draws, and 13 losses against German teams.”

”What kind of outcome will this first encounter between the two teams bring?”

”Let’s wait and see.”

On the bench, Chen Zhong watched this match. Werder Bremen, as a German team, had the style of German teams, which was to like to intercept the opponent at midfield.

Shortly after the match began, they made a rough tackle and dispossessed Real Madrid of the ball. Rosenborg took control in the center and passed it to Sanogo. Sanogo evaded Metzelder’s reckless interception, broke directly into Real Madrid’s penalty area, and executed a low shot.

If not for Casillas’s quick reflexes, Real Madrid would have had their goal breached by Werder Bremen.

”What are you doing?” Casillas shouted angrily at Metzelder: ”Hold your position.”

Metzelder bit his lip. Although he felt angry inside, he also knew that this time the defensive error was due to his eagerness to perform, giving the opponent such an excellent opportunity. So facing Casillas’s yelling, he just loudly responded, ”Got it!”

Casillas glared at Metzelder, feeling more and more displeased. You know it, so why are you yelling so loudly?

On the sidelines, Shaf, wearing sunglasses and a suit and sporting a bald head, felt some regret. If they had scored just now, this match would have been easier.

Compared to Shaf’s regret, Schuster was only left with anger. On the sidelines, he shouted loudly as if wanting to inject energy into the team in this manner.

Werder Bremen pressed their defensive line very high in this match, turning the midfield into a meat grinder, leading both teams to start a ”bare-knuckle brawl” in it. It didn’t look pretty and disrupted Schuster’s tactics.

Sneijder and Guti were unable to organize calmly, Higuain couldn’t break through, the whole scene appeared like a large brawl, and it was so hard to get a one-on-one chance when Van Nistelrooy just broke through the encirclement only to face a hard tackle from the opponent’s defender.

What’s more annoying for Schuster was that their decision to ”grind” in the middle was obviously fearing Real Madrid’s free kick, where even if they fouled and conceded a free kick here, there was no direct scoring chance, effectively neutralizing one of Real Madrid’s offensive weapons.

”Damn bastard!” Schuster cursed angrily: ”We need to respond forcefully, we need to.”

Schuster paced back and forth on the sidelines, wishing he could go on the field himself. Compared to Werder Bremen’s brutality, Real Madrid seemed much gentler, and even when pushed to the brink, their actions were like those of a ”little lady” throwing a tantrum.

How could that make Werder Bremen afraid?

Although the match had just gone on for less than 10 minutes, Schuster had already glanced at the substitutes bench three or four times. During this time, Real Madrid’s defense was full of holes, with Werder Bremen having 3-4 threatening shots, while Real Madrid had none.

Finally, Schuster could not stand by any longer.