Chapter 198 Chemistry

As Marc ran onto the field, he still felt a bit unreal. But thanks to Zhou Yi’s slap, he had been woken up.

Now, standing on the field, his mind was very clear.

Although Schalke 04 had been pressing Dortmund for a while, and it seemed like he wouldn’t have many opportunities to perform, that didn’t mean he was just there to make up the numbers and had no purpose.

In fact, after entering the game, Marc had been observing and thinking about how to help the team.

Assistant coach Buwach had told him a lot, but summed it up in one sentence: "Maintain contact with the midfield and defense, run actively, be willing to sacrifice, and create space for others."

He had also explained how to do it specifically.

But Marc had his own ideas.

This feeling might not have been strong when he was on the sidelines, but when he appeared on the field, it became even stronger, as if it wanted to burst out of his body, unstoppable.

It was a very familiar feeling.

He seemed to know what to do as soon as he entered the field, and he didn’t really need the assistant coach to tell him so much.

Because Zhou Yi and Götze were on the field now, and he had played with them before. Although they hadn’t worked together later, after Zhou Yi and Götze went to the first team, that sense of understanding hadn’t disappeared, but had settled in his heart.

Now, stepping onto the field again, and fighting alongside Zhou Yi and Götze, the understanding between comrades resurfaced.

He knew how to complete the task the assistant coach had given him, but in his own way.

※※※

Before Marc came on, Schalke 04’s offensive had been very fierce, almost forming a siege.

Not only were they bombarding Dortmund’s penalty area, but they were also pressing every Dortmund player who got the ball in the mid and front fields.

Zhou Yi was their top priority in defense.

Because Zhou Yi was Dortmund’s offensive core, his choices when he had the ball determined the direction and quality of Dortmund’s attack.

As long as they could contain Zhou Yi, they could paralyze half of Dortmund’s attack.

And now Dortmund only had Zhou Yi as a core. Unlike last season, when they had a dual-core system, there was also Shaheen alongside Zhou Yi.

So Zhou Yi was suppressed in the back and found it difficult to move forward. Most of the time, he could only rely on long passes to get the ball to the frontcourt. But long passes were not a regular way to organize an attack, and the success rate wasn’t as high as short passes.

After Barrios was injured, things got even worse, because Dortmund’s attack lacked a bridgehead in the front. After the long pass went up, it was basically a one-time deal. If it succeeded, of course, it would be good, but most of the time it was difficult to succeed. When two opponents surrounded a Dortmund player with the ball, the attack would end there.

So Zhou Yi could only pass back or sideways most of the time. Apart from controlling the ball and trying not to give Schalke 04 the chance to score due to Dortmund being one man short, part of it was also out of helplessness – if the success rate of attacking was too low, it would just be handing the ball over to the opponent.

Seeing Marc preparing to come on from the sidelines, Zhou Yi realized that this was a good opportunity to break Schalke 04’s blockade.

It was just that Schalke 04 didn’t seem to realize this. So they didn’t defend Marc closely.

Zhou Yi hadn’t communicated with Marc yet, and he didn’t know if Marc had seen it too, but he believed in the understanding between himself and Marc. Their understanding was more than just playing together in the youth team. In life, they had lived under the same roof, trained together, lived together, and had fun together.

The understanding cultivated in this way was better than that cultivated on the training ground.

While Schalke 04 continued to besiege Dortmund’s goal, Zhou Yi turned his head to look forward.

He found that Marc, as a center forward, hadn’t gone to the front.

Instead, he had retreated.

Zhou Yi smiled. As expected, although Marc and himself hadn’t played together for a long time, this understanding was still there!

So when Schalke 04’s attack was intercepted by Hummels, and he passed the ball to Zhou Yi, he didn’t hesitate at all and turned around to pass the ball forward to Marc.

Then he himself didn’t stay where he was, but ran forward diagonally.

When Marc received the ball, there wasn’t a single Schalke 04 player around him, because no one could have imagined that Marc, as a center forward, wouldn’t be at the front, but would retreat to the area where Kagawa Shinji should have been. Kagawa Shinji had gone to the wing at this time, and now it looked like Marc was an attacking midfielder!

"Marc Wagner! He received the ball! This is his first touch after coming on," Marcel Reif said.

※※※

Marc’s sudden appearance in this position and receiving the ball greatly surprised the Schalke 04 players. But they quickly reacted, and someone pounced on him.

"Höwedes!"

Schalke 04 defender Höwedes lunged at Marc.

On the sidelines, Klopp stared at Marc nervously. He now wished he could possess Marc and help him deal with the situation – kick the ball back to Zhou Yi!

Don’t hold on to the ball, don’t not know what to do, otherwise, it’s over!

In everyone’s opinion, Dortmund’s weakness was this rookie who had just come on and hadn’t even figured out the situation!

No one considered why Marc would retreat so far to receive the ball. They only thought it was a coincidence. He just happened to run to this position.

Schalke 04 fans couldn’t wait to cheer, preparing to witness the scene of the rookie being taken down from behind by Höwedes.

If they could intercept the ball here, Schalke 04 could launch a very threatening attack, because now was a critical moment for Dortmund to switch from defense to attack. Losing the ball at this time would make it impossible for Dortmund to react. Just like the goal Schalke 04 lost in the first half, it was also during the transition from attack to defense that they were caught off guard by Dortmund due to a lack of concentration.

Now, we have to return the favor!

Marc, under everyone’s gaze, didn’t show the slightest confusion. After receiving the ball, he turned around and passed the ball out again!

He didn’t choose the safest option that Klopp thought was best, passing the ball back to Zhou Yi, but passed it forward!

Who did he pass it to?

"Götze!"

Marcel Reif shouted.

The Schalke 04 fans who were cheering on the stands also instantly turned their cheers into…exclamations!

Now it was the turn of the Dortmund fans in the stadium and in front of the TV to cheer.

Because when Götze received the ball, he wasn’t on the wing, but appeared in the center, in the area around the arc at the top of the penalty area!

He received the ball in a center forward’s position!

It turned out that while everyone’s attention was focused on Marc, Götze suddenly cut inside from the wing and ran into the space left behind after Höwedes pounced on him!

A shift of positions!

※※※

Götze, receiving the ball at the top of the penalty arc, turned around smoothly and then shot!

"Götze—" Marcel Reif shouted with a drawn-out voice.

Neuer made a save, diving towards the ball.

But the ball drew a very obvious arc in the air, bypassing him from afar.

Seeing that the ball was about to fly into the goal, it flew out of the baseline, grazing the post at the last moment!

"Aiya!" This regretful shout came from Duan Xin.

Götze was also very regretful. He held his head in his hands, kneeling on the ground, unable to believe his eyes.

Such a good opportunity, and he didn’t score!

"Götze missed the chance to be a hero! If he could have scored, he would have reversed the score! But now the two sides are still tied! Schalke 04 escaped a disaster! Missing such an opportunity in the derby is really detrimental to morale! Maybe this ball will be the turning point of this game?"

※※※

"Ahhhhh!" In front of the coaching bench, assistant coach Buwach let out a regretful cry.

Klopp next to him, although he didn’t hold his head and shout, was even more excited – he picked up the plastic water bottle on the ground and slammed it back down hard.

With a bang, the bottle deformed, the lid flew off, and the water inside splashed out, spraying everywhere.

※※※

Götze’s missed opportunity was naturally very frustrating. This could be seen from the fact that he knelt on the ground and held his head in his hands after the shot.

But when he got up from the ground, he turned his head and saw Marc giving him a thumbs up: "Good job, Mario! Just a little bit away from scoring!"

Zhou Yi also ran up at some point and said to Marc: "Marc, you’re lying through your teeth, what’s so good about this ball? If it was really good, it would have gone in! Next time, let me do it!"

Looking at his teammates standing together, one encouraging him and the other mocking him, Götze suddenly had a feeling that he was back in the U19 youth team, and he and the two people in front of him were a well-coordinated golden duo. In order to achieve a level of understanding far beyond ordinary people, they would always do extra training sessions in addition to the team’s training.

In the end, the three of them together helped the team win all the championships that could be won at that level of youth team.

At that time, it seemed that no one could stop the quick passing and cutting coordination of the three of them.

Later, he and Zhou Yi were transferred to the first team together, while Marc stayed in the youth team. The trident was broken up, and the quick passing and cutting coordination was never seen again.

But just now, starting from Marc’s initiative to retreat, the three of them naturally produced a chemical reaction, pushing them to make such a beautiful offensive coordination.

The understanding cultivated together during training hadn’t disappeared, but had become an instinct deep in their hearts.

And this instinct was reactivated with Marc’s appearance.

This made Götze suddenly feel less frustrated about the previous missed opportunity, but instead filled him with confidence for the next game.

This time we didn’t score, but as long as the three of us are together, we will definitely score!

So he retorted to Zhou Yi: "By the time you slowly run up, the opportunity will be long gone. You should just stay in the back and pass the ball!"

"Hey!" Zhou Yi rolled his eyes, "Is that your attitude of needing me to feed you the cake?"

"Feed the cake?" Götze was a little puzzled.

"I pass the ball to you, you score, isn’t it like I’ve made the cake and fed it to your mouth, and you just need to open your mouth and eat it?" Zhou Yi shrugged.

This made it sound like all the credit for scoring was Zhou Yi’s, and even if Götze scored, it was without any technical content and not worth mentioning.

It was clear that the scorer was the most popular, but now Zhou Yi was the most important.

Götze was too lazy to pay attention to Zhou Yi, such a shameless person, and turned to put his arm around Marc’s shoulder: "Marc was the one who passed the ball to me just now, thank you."

Marc quickly mediated: "Alright, alright, everyone was great. Without any one of us, this coordination wouldn’t have happened..."

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ps, today’s three updates begin!

The second update is at twelve noon, and the third update is at six in the afternoon.