Chapter 859: Higo’s Fury

Of course, it wouldn’t be Schalke if the players could get out of this toxic train of thought and managed to get back on track instantly. No, even if Higo shouted until his voice was dry, some of the players still had a blank expression on their faces, as if they were just here to stroll around.

This time, it was Goncalo Paciencia who made a mistake.

The striker dropped back with good intentions, helping the team guard the aerial territory in the corner kick scenario. However, once the ball truly came in his direction, the Portuguese striker miscalculated where it would fall, jumping far too forward from the ball’s original route.

As a result...

Thud!

The ball just bruised his wavy hair, bouncing on the ground once before hitting Matt Hummels gently on the stomach.

Fortunately, as a center back, Matt Hummels didn’t have any killer instinct, so his first thought after receiving such an easy ball in front of the goal was surprise. His brain couldn’t even register what had just happened, staring at the ball blankly for just a few milliseconds.

In the end, he still swung his right foot to kick the ball as hard as he could, with him being driven by his instinct. However, that few milliseconds pause earlier was enough to give Higo all the time in the world to react, as in the next moment, he had already been in front of Matt Hummels, less than one step away from crushing the defender.

BAM!

"Urgh!" Higo couldn’t help but groan when he felt like his chest was slammed by a fucking missile.

However, he ignored the burning pain in that part as right now, his focus was still on the ball that was flying wildly inside the penalty box. "CLEAR IT! CLEAR IT!"

Stambouli and Fabian Reese tried to get the job done, but Giovanni Reyna, the young winger who was targeted by Dortmund, was faster than anyone else, jumping like a Kungfu master while launching a half-volley to go for the goal.

BAM!

Honestly, at that point, Higo was helpless, not being able to cover the ground on that side. Fortunately, though, it seemed that his luck was still as strong as ever, as while the volley shot had decent power, the trajectory was still uncontrollable, making the ball float way higher than ever even though it was delivered from a close distance.

"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" That American youngster looked at where he launched the ball in disbelief, probably not wanting to get himself associated with someone who had a terrible finish like that. "What the fuck is that?!" He cried as if he was ready to throw a tantrum.

Higo himself couldn’t help but sigh in relief. However, his gaze turned ugly, and some of the guys around couldn’t help but flinch. Hell, even some of the Dortmund players turned around quickly, not wanting to catch a stray bullet from the boy. After all, they could recognize rage when they saw one.

"You know what? I don’t care about your fucking lazy-ass attitude, but if you dare to drag me into your mess, don’t think you can get back to the pitch in the second half, you Bums. So, you better start playing properly, or God knows..." Even though he didn’t raise his voice, his tone was laced with venom here.

Not that anyone could blame him, of course, since the last two attacks shouldn’t be that dangerous, but the team’s defense suddenly let all the threats come inside, opening the door for them so easily.

Sebastian Rudy and Goncalo Paciencia were so pale when Higo’s eyes met them, and even though the latter one was just a newcomer to this team, he had learned that when it came to defense, Higo’s words were the rule, and it was better to make him happy for the sake of everyone’s sanity.

Fortunately, this reminder was enough to get them to play more seriously.

Oh, it wasn’t like his words managed to knock some sense into the players, but they were just too afraid to mess up and face Higo if something bad happened because of them. Well, not that Higo could complain, as this was definitely the best he could ask for in this scenario.

Still, the attack from Dortmund somehow became fiercer, and this also highlighted Jude Bellingham’s amazing performance as someone who operated in the shadow. Somehow, the boy would always be able to insert himself into the most threatening space in Schalke’s territory, and he could even dribble on his own as long as the space was available.

Honestly, even Morita himself started to get tired to catch up with that boy, and the only thing that he hoped would work was that he would outlast the English teenager in stamina.

’Yeah, he has been running so dynamically since the beginning, so his stamina should drop by miles in the second half, right? Maybe that would be my chance to shine.’

Fortunately, though, for the frontline part, even with Haaland being able to defy Higo’s clairvoyance ability, everything was still under control. The advice from Kumiko worked quite well, helping Higo predict when Haaland would get involved in the play.

As for the one-on-one scenario, well... Higo didn’t need to worry about that, since with a low-block tactic, the chance for that to happen was quite low. In fact, with the first half about to end, he had never faced one where no one from his defensive line left him with Dortmund’s player, which was a relief since that would be a disaster no matter how his clairvoyance ability was used.

However, once the game entered the additional time, Dortmund’s players suddenly made another move, and this time, they managed to get so close to the heart of Schalke’s territory.

It all started with Jude Bellingham once again, who received the ball in front of the penalty box, and with a little flick to the flank, he managed to enter the penalty box from the channel route, getting through two defenders at the same time.

Benjamin Stambouli was about to rush to push the boy further toward the flank, but before the French defender could do his job, he could hear the scream from Higo at the back.

"FUCK! No, let him come!"