Chapter 855: Westfalen Stadion Once Again! The Revier Derby!

Time passed quickly, and the next thing Higo knew, he was already on the bus, being so dumbfounded at the hostility that he could feel himself even before the team entered the Westfalen Stadion.

So many fans were lining all the way along the side road to the stadium, seeming to wait for the bus to arrive. The moment they saw the one that carried Schalke players, everyone booed constantly, mixing in one or two insults that made some ears warm.

"FUCK YOU, HERNE-WEST!"

"Schlümpfe! Schlümpfe! Just a bunch of Schlümpfe!"

"We are not the same level! This is going to be easy!"

"Come on! Come on Dortmund!"

"Surprised?" Huntelaar asked with a smile at Higo’s dumbfounded face. "Honestly, it is still quite tame. The number is still limited to less than 10,000, so the intensity is not quite high. You have to wait until more than 65,000 people boo at you, and you will finally realize how intense the Revier Derby is."

Hearing that, Higo’s memory suddenly flew back to the moment when he was still on the second team, facing Dortmund II in the fourth division probably a year ago. He was still quite inexperienced during that period, being so shocked at how intense around 10,000 people showing their unwavering supports toward the team.

The scale should be the same as what happened this time. However, thinking about the possible 65,000 people going to enjoy seeing his death, Higo couldn’t help but shudder, wanting nothing but to banish that thought as far away as possible.

"Come on, don’t be too afraid, okay?" Frohling patted Higo on the shoulder when he saw the boy’s current state. "Don’t worry, everything will be different once we are inside the stadium." The man smiled knowingly.

Higo looked at the head coach skeptically for a second, not knowing how things could be different inside. However, the moment he got through the tunnel, the boy understood completely what his coach meant by that.

Even though the cheers and chants were still quite loud on the yellow wall on the southern side of the stadium, it was way underwhelming considering so many empty seats around.

Oh, Higo could imagine how crazy it would be once they got a full house, but now, with only half of the southern side being filled with people, the pressure that he felt dropped instantly, getting replaced by a wave of series that escaped from his mouth.

"What? Feeling like your nervousness is gone?" Morita greeted him while putting on his boots before the warm-up session. "Well, change your mindset, Ryusuke. Just think, this derby is quite famous in Europe. If we managed to steal the limelight, don’t you think people would notice us more?" He grinned excitedly.

Well, Higo had to admit that he was so envious of how the midfielder always managed to find a positive side in almost everything.

’Maybe that’s why he could be so good, right?’ He couldn’t help but mutter under his breath.

Still, the goalkeeper shared the same smile here, getting his spirit pumped up after that reminder. "Yeah, I can imagine Fujita-san having a field day once we manage to steal the show today."

"Atta boy!" Morita laughed boisterously. "That’s the spirit! Come on! We are here to destroy Dortmund! Don’t think too much about anything else!"

Honestly, if only someone from the other side knew Japanese, they would slap the boy instantly for this outrageous remark. After all, this was still Dortmund’s home ground, and provoking the home side when they fought for the rival was never a good idea.

Fortunately, it seemed that no one from Dortmund’s side could understand what they were saying. No, they just brushed off this little conversation, probably thinking that Higo and Morita were just trying to unwind themselves before the game.

Well, this worked in their favor, as they could communicate with each other quite well without having to worry about being overheard by the opponent. Even some of the guys on their side couldn’t help but shake their heads in exasperation, finding them to be quite bold in acting so relaxed in this stadium.

"Higo, I swear you looked like you were about to pass out yesterday, and now, you can still laugh with Morita? Are you really that confident?" Stambouli asked teasingly.

"Ah... No, not really. Just thinking that being overly worried will make my performance drop." Higo smiled wryly while also making up an excuse to answer that question. No way in hell he would dare to spill out all of his crazy conversation with Morita to the others.

"Well, that’s a good mentality." Omar Mascarell gave a nod of approval. "Don’t worry too much about them. If anything, they should be the ones being concerned about us. I mean, we managed to beat them in our last encounter here, right?"

Everyone laughed simultaneously when they heard that. It wasn’t as if they looked down on Dortmund. No, if anything, this was their way to cope when they themselves knew that their opponent was miles better than them.

At least, when they lost the game later, they would have an excuse already, knowing what to say to console themselves.

After their warm-up session was over, they were back to the locker room quickly to change into their own jerseys. Since the two teams had clashing colors, yellow against blue, there was no need to have one of them play in their away shirt, as they could just use their proudest one to fight in this derby.

Soon enough, Higo was back in the tunnel, standing behind Omar Mascarell before the referee could lead them to the stadium. Besides him, all the Dortmund players also formed a line, and they all had the same murderous intention flaring in their eyes.

It seemed that they were only here with one mission, and that was to humiliate Schalke until they walked out of the stadium crying.

The boy also saw Haaland in the middle, and he even had a thought of greeting the boy. After all, even if Higo was wary of the Norwegian striker, he still got along well with the boy after their last encounter a few months ago.

However, Haaland was so serious right now, not in the mood to have a chit-chat with him. Knowing this, Higo gulped, inwardly muttering, ’Yeah, the pressure from the fans should be the same for them, right? Oh, man, this game is going to be a headache...’