Chapter 651: Changes from Both Sides

The two new players for Dortmund were Relu, an attacking midfielder from Spain, and Magnus Kaastrup, a left winger from Denmark. Not a single Schalke player was surprised by this, as they had already been warned by Frohling that the opponent’s change would happen sooner or later.

"Relu is a composed player who likes to play a combination attack in an enclosed space, so if he and Tigges are in our pocket area, we will be in great danger. Also, Kaastrup is a classic winger, but his appearance would allow Fuhrich to roam freely in our penalty box. If our opponent couldn’t score in the first fifteen minutes, they would put them both together, so you have to watch your back about them."

At least, that was what the coach said about those two, so the home team players were far more than ready to face this. The only surprise, though, was that they would replace two fullbacks, sacrificing the number in their defensive line to stack more players on Schalke’s penalty box.

Seeing this, even Higo himself couldn’t help but feel the corner of his mouth twitching in speechlessness.

’It seems they are in a do-or-die moment already, so desperate to shorten the gap first. The question, though, is whether this could get them an advantage against us or not?’

Honestly, it was a normal move for a team that was down on the scoreboard. While every position was important, fullback was probably the most likely one that would go unnoticed when they were taken off the pitch, so Dortmund didn’t hesitate to make this move to chase the score.

Now, they used the outrageous formation of 3-1-4-2, dragging one defensive midfielder to be a part of the trio center back on the defensive line, while adding at least two more players in the front line to receive the ball. This was the ultra-offensive strategy with only one aim: to score as many goals as possible.

Of course, Frohling would never stay quiet when he saw this. The man also made a move immediately, taking off Levent Mercan, the young Turkish left back who had been bullied by Joseph Boyamba, to reinforce the flank.

Not only that, but the coach also replaced Idrizi in midfield with a tougher defensive midfielder, as the Kosovo magician was never a strong presence on the defensive line. He had done his role well with one assist to Nassim, and now, it was time for the man to rest on the bench.

Now, with four substitutions being made together like this, all the players couldn’t help but turn solemn, knowing that they were so close to the climax of the story today.

After the change was made, the first to take action was Chris Fuhrich. With Kaastrup’s appearance, now he had a free role on the pitch, and the team’s captain took advantage of it by moving to the right side, having a one-two combination with Boyamba to breach that side.

"SHIT!" Jan Eric Hempel, the left back who had just replaced Levent Mercan, couldn’t help but curse. Who would’ve thought that the moment he entered the field, he would be bombarded by two of the opponent’s best players? "They have no fucking martial ethic!"

Boyamba, who was freed inside the penalty box, glanced around for a moment, and instead of taking a shot by himself like he had done it several times today, the winger changed his approach. He sent a strong cutback to the space on the penalty spot, and there, Relu suddenly popped out of nowhere, sending a low shot straight to the bottom left of Higo’s goal.

BAM!

The ball got through Brackelmann’s legs as the captain tried to block it, making it harder for Higo to observe carefully. It was fortunate that the boy didn’t need that. His clairvoyant ability kicked in at the best time, and he dived straight with a left hand stretching far to reach the ball.

As a result, he could feel a weight push his palm for a solid two or three milliseconds before he deflected it away from the goal, only resulting in another corner kick for Dortmund.

"OH! YES, HIGO!"

"COME ON, HIGO! YOU CAN DO IT, HIGO!"

So many cheers exploded as Higo once again managed to stop a dangerous threat from Dortmund. However, the boy couldn’t care less about it right now. He got up immediately, came to his captain, and whispered, "If you encounter this kind of situation again, don’t just stand there. Slide on the ground, try to block the low shot. At least, you can give me a better sight for a more dangerous attack."

Brackelmann pondered for a moment before nodding solemnly. "Don’t worry, I will tell Timo about it as well."

Higo couldn’t help but let out a relieved sigh when he heard that. Fortunately, all of his teammates were easy to communicate with, so no need to go through an awkward phase where they felt like they were higher than the goalkeeper or some stupid drama like that.

Still, that was not the right time to be relieved. No, the corner kick was played by Relu, and this time, it flew so close to the six-yard box. So many players were pushing around to get an upper hand, and Higo himself found that his space to move was limited.

In this scenario, he could only do one thing: Calculate where the ball would fall and punch it away to get the threat out of his zone.

BAM!

"YES! Nice clearance!"

"No, the attack is still not over yet! Keep an eye on it!"

Yeah, even though Higo managed to punch the ball away, it still fell on the midfielder who rushed to pick up the ball on the flank. Before anyone could stop him, that midfielder lifted the ball once again, sending another cross so close to the box.

’Shit! I have to move again!’ Higo gritted his teeth, forcing his buckled knees to jump.

However, as he put his focus on the ball, the boy didn’t notice that someone was also rushing in his direction, and the next thing he knew...

BAM!