Chapter 711: Giving Up Before the Game Begins?!

The next morning, Kumiko truly sent the file just like she promised, and Higo didn’t waste his time, reading every single point there cautiously while also enjoying a cup of matcha that his mom brought for him a week ago.

’Key player number one, Robert Lewandowski, their prolific goal scorer, having already scored 20 goals so far. One goal against me in the next match will put that man on the same level as Gerd Muller, Bayern’s legendary striker, for having more than 20 goals in just 18 Bundesliga matches. He will definitely be so motivated to score a goal that day more than in any game he played so far, huh?’

Higo winced slightly when he read the Polish striker’s stats. It was so ridiculous that the boy felt like the man came out of a video game.

’How could someone score so many goals like that? Wait, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have been doing the same all year, right? They sure are a bunch of monsters.’ He grumbled lightly while also continuing his read.

The most troublesome part wasn’t his goal-scoring ability. Well... No, that was also a very troublesome part, as Lewandowski could basically score from all over the place, executing any kind of ball with either his left or right foot. Hell, his header was also hard to handle, as he had scored at least 25 percent of his goals from that scenario.

However, what Higo found to be the biggest headache here was the gravity of the man’s presence on the pitch.

Yeah, whenever Lewandowski was standing in the penalty box, all the opponent’s defenders couldn’t help but be drawn to him, getting forced to swarm him unconsciously. This left a wide gap in the other area, and Bayern Munich’s other attackers were all too good not to take advantage of that.

Then, Higo read more of the report that Kumiko gave, and the further his eyes scanned through it, the more he felt hopeless.

’Besides Lewandowski, they still have Thomas Muller, Serge Gnabry, Philippe Coutinho, Thiago Alcantara, and even their two full backs, Alphonso Davies and Benjamin Pavard, are two different animals. How could they have so many world-class players like this? Is this even legal?!’ He sighed exasperatedly.

This was the moment when Higo truly realized what a big cheat code Bayern Munich was.

It seemed that everyone also realized that even stealing one point from Bayern was basically a mission impossible. Whenever Higo greeted people in his neighborhood, they would just pat his shoulder or give him a pity look as if they were sending him to death itself.

"Don’t worry about anything else, Higo. Playing against Bayern will be like a baptism experience for you."

"Yeah, don’t think too much even if you concede a lot of goals! Maintain your positive attitude and always remember that you are not the first goalkeeper that will experience this humiliating ritual!"

"Just... Go and have fun! No matter what happened, we will not blame you!"

Higo had to hold back the urge to roll his eyes whenever someone greeted him like that. Hell, even the town itself felt like the game was a lost cause, and even if the boy at first didn’t care too much about it, now everything started to infuriate him.

’So, you think I wouldn’t be able to survive against them? Well, let’s see how far they could push me in the next game.’ He clenched his fists, eyes burning in determination.

Unfortunately, he was clearly the only one who still had the fighting spirit in the team. Everyone else just strolled casually in the training session, not taking the next game that seriously. If Higo didn’t know any better, he would think they underestimated the next opponent here, thinking that the opponent wasn’t strong enough to catch their interest.

Hell, even the head coach himself also shrugged helplessly, getting ready to put some other bench players to go in that game. In his words, he wanted everyone to have an experience fighting against Bayern, letting them see closely how the best among the best approached the game.

Still, Higo didn’t get fooled here. Just based on everyone’s look, he knew that they were ready to throw away this game.

"Honestly, I would love to fight back and show some dignity as well here, Higo," Frohling said when the boy asked about it. "However, we really couldn’t afford that. The math is simple. No matter how hard we play with our main team, we would never be a match for Bayern. So, since the result will still be the same anyway, why won’t we take it easy and let this game be a chance to rest some of our players? I mean, this is the calculated loss that the team has already agreed beforehand." He shrugged nonchalantly.

Higo just sighed helplessly after knowing that the coach would also not budge about this matter. Right now, his motivation even started to waver as a poisonous thought suddenly slipped into his mind.

’I mean, Frohling-sensei is not wrong, right? This is a calculated loss, so no need to try too hard, or I would be more frustrated with everything. Since the game has already been determined, let’s take it easy a little bit.’

However, that thought was wiped away instantly by Kumiko during one of their calls before the game began.

"Well, yeah, you can do that, but can you look in the mirror after the game is over and say that you are not ashamed of yourself?"

The girl’s words were like a sword stabbing him straight to his heart.

"They might say that this is just one game. Then, when they face another strong opponent, they will say that again, and this process will be repeated for the rest of the season. This is just the behavior of a small team, but I don’t want you to follow it, Ryukkun. You are destined to be greater than that; don’t fall into this pit just because the others are already there."