Chapter 768: Schalke’s Solid Defense!

"OH! Yes! Come on, Cali!"

"Damn! That shot is amazing!"

"If only you could have done the same earlier, we would’ve been two goals ahead right now!"

All the Schalke players were rushing toward Caligliuri as the veteran was carrying Benito Raman in a piggyback right now, celebrating the goal in front of the empty stands behind the goal. The man himself had his face turning red, blood rising to his face from excitement.

Honestly, the man himself was still in disbelief right now. Just a few months ago, he was still the benchwarmer who the coach wouldn’t even take a glance to consider him to be on the pitch, and yet, here he was now, getting the second bloom that he had never dared to dream of.

Yeah, Caligliuri was aware of the role that the coach was hoping he would do for the team. They needed a veteran who could set up the mood inside the locker room without demanding too much playing time, and honestly, with his history of knee injuries, the man had already accepted this as the last job he could do before his retirement day.

Who would’ve thought that all it would take was the mixture of the whole world on the verge of its end and Suat Serdar’s lack of discipline for him to regain his form again?

Two games so far in this lockdown era, and yet, the man had already bagged three goals here. This was definitely an achievement that even some top players in the league would struggle to get after a long break.

"Hey, thanks, Beni! That’s a nice header!" Caligliuri didn’t forget to thank the Belgian winger for that assist.

"Hmph! I have delivered a better pass before, and you sure know how to waste it, Cali!" Nassim snorted, not-so-amusedly.

"Come on! You know that everything still depends on luck, right?" Caligliuri sighed helplessly as he ruffled the Moroccan winger’s hair in exasperation. For all the talent that Nassim had, the boy sure could be a handful in this situation. "Anyway, if you have a chance like that again, you could just execute it yourself. I mean, if you can, of course." He smiled mischievously; his tone was full of challenge.

This was enough to make Nassim Boujellab pump up, running back to his own position on the right flank before shouting, "You cannot complain about this later, Old Man!"

Meanwhile, all the Augsburg players were currently in a disheveled state. Their eyes didn’t land on Caligliuri or Benito Raman, but on the Japanese midfielder who quietly sent a rocket launcher that was so easy for his teammate to get inside the box. They all knew that the boy was the main perpetrator here.

"Fuck! How could he have so much space in the midfield?! Wingers, did you forget to put pressure on him or what?! You know how dangerous he is with his long ball!" Their captain was furious right now.

Their left winger, Ruben Vargas, had his face turning ugly in a second. He scowled silently, trying to come up with an argument to retort to the captain. Unfortunately, everything stuck in his throat, as the man himself also recognized that a part of it was his fault for being too lazy to do his defensive job.

Still, that didn’t mean he liked to be blamed here.

"It is not entirely my fault, you know? He didn’t even show any hint of launching that pass before, just playing around with that French dude on the flank! Who would’ve thought that his eyes were already on our box?!"

"Well, tell that to the boss there." The captain snorted while pointing at the sideline.

Ruben Vargas couldn’t help but grimace, finding that the head coach’s face was so red with fury. It would be good if he only got a mild scolding in the locker room later, but the man was ruthless enough to put him on the bench even though Ruben Vargas was the team’s top scorer right now.

"This sure complicates things, huh?" The winger frowned a little before shaking his head quickly. "Anyway, let me deal with that Japanese boy in defense later. As for offense, we will need to show some progress, or the boss will have our heads roll during the break later."

Everyone shuddered at that thought, nodding furiously at him. No one wanted to get the hair dryer treatment from their head coach, and the best way to avoid that was to get the score back to a tie as quickly as possible.

Unfortunately, it was never an easy task to do for a team that was weak offensively like them, especially when the opponent itself was Schalke.

Defensively, the home team was in good form, only conceding 4 goals in the last 9 games so far. It wasn’t just because of Higo’s presence, but the defenders’ discipline also got better slowly, and with their confidence growing back, it was not that easy to break through their defense again.

It wasn’t like Ruben Vargas didn’t try it himself. The man tried to break through Todibo’s side, but the French man was so tough and rapid, not giving him a way to use his strength in the opponent’s area.

Not just him, but Marco Ritcher, the team’s right winger, also found himself getting stuck with Juan Miranda glued to him no matter where he tried to run.Even though the Spaniard wasn’t as good as Todibo physically, he compensated for it with his brain, reading all the passes coming to that side perfectly.

Hell, at some point, Marco Ritcher was so frustrated he kicked the grass annoyedly as he had been running nonstop to receive a through pass, and yet, all of them got cut by Juan Miranda before it could reach him.

The only way to break through Schalke’s defense was through the crowded area in the middle, and there, the combination between Eduard Lowen and Florian Niederlechner was nasty enough to get them a space to shoot.

However, as the attacking midfielder whacked the ball...

BAM!

A presence on the back reached it before the goal could be breached, once again telling the opponent that Schalke’s guardian angel was still there to protect the home team from any threat.