Chapter 864: Dortmund’s Attack Continues!

As expected, after the first minute of the second half ended with no one managing to bag a goal, things shifted back to Dortmund’s side once again, as the home team started controlling the game like how they did it in the first half.

Around seven to eight players on Schalke’s territory were in yellow jerseys, moving around while also controlling possession as if it belonged to them completely. Not that Schalke was resisting, of course, as they didn’t have any intention to compete against their rival in terms of possession percentage.

No, as long as they could maintain this lead until the end of the game, everything would be okay.

Of course, in this situation, some players would always be able to stand out more than anyone else. In this case, it was none other than Jude Bellingham who didn’t have to be on guard against Morita anymore and finally unleashed his potential.

Somehow, the English midfielder managed to be everywhere, getting involved in every single threat possible. Not only that, whenever he carried the ball, danger always followed, since his solo-run dribble, strengthened by his great body balance, always managed to breach Schalke’s penalty box, creating chaos inside.

Not only that, but the boy was also quite creative in the midfield. He might not send so many killer passes like Morita, but he was able to link up with everyone, even Erling Haaland on the frontline, to open up space for his teammates.

Honestly, Morita himself even shook his head, starting to wonder what kind of gameplay he would be able to pull off if he had an all-around partner like Jude Bellingham.

’No wonder he is also one of the guys who is predicted to win the Kopa Trophy... He sure is talented as hell, right?’ The midfielder muttered under his breath, looking at the sponge-haired boy in admiration.

Unfortunately, Higo didn’t share that feeling right now. No, Jude Bellingham’s movement was enough to give him a headache, as more attacks came to his side with the fierceness that his teammates couldn’t handle well.

"Fuck! Move, Timo! Move! Don’t stay quiet there!"

"Stambouli-san, cover that side! Don’t let him enter!"

"Kick him out! Push him to the flank!"

BAM!

Another threat came! This time, it was from a cross that Marco Reus delivered, and somehow, Erling Haaland managed to beat Stambouli in a positional battle to get the front seat when the ball came, and the Norwegian striker nudged it with his iron head, hard enough to make it troublesome for Higo.

Fortunately, Sebastian Rudy was also keeping an eye on the far post, and while Higo also reacted, the ball hit the fullback first, and the man didn’t hesitate to clear it as far away as possible.

"YES! Nice clearance, Rudy-san!" Higo roared, high-fiving the flustered man enthusiastically.

However, the attack didn’t stop just like that. This time, Jude Bellingham suddenly shifted to the flank side, working together with Marco Reus to attract so many attentions on them and get Raphael Guerreiro escaped to the touchline.

Yeah, somehow, the Portuguese wing-back was forgotten there, and the man didn’t even hesitate to break through the penalty box from his side. However, unlike before, he didn’t make a mistake by executing the ball himself. No, if anything, he sent a cutback, and Axel Witsel came out of nowhere to be the executioner.

BAM!

’FUCK!’ Higo dived quickly, both hands stretched in the air.

Once again, it was such a fortunate thing that the final execution was bad. This time, Axel Witsel didn’t aim at a place that was hard enough for Higo to handle, and as a result, even though he still had to jump, his hands managed to find the ball, deflecting it away from his goal.

"YES!" This time, even Frohling himself roared, celebrating the save from the sideline. However, the coach also noticed one thing here. "Shit! Both Morita and Nabil have already started to get exhausted! Jonas! Come here!"

Hearing his name was called, Jonas Hofmann perked up immediately, knowing that his time had finally come.

"Get ready to replace Nabil. Your task is simple. Just get yourself in front of the defensive line and kick all of the opponents away from our territory! Keep it clean! We cannot afford to make a foul right now!"

The former second-team captain nodded solemnly, taking off his vest before revealing the proud blue Schalke jersey behind it. "Don’t worry, Boss. Consider the job done." He stated confidently.

Once the ball went out of bounds again, he finally came in, replacing Nabil Bentaleb, whose stamina had already been depleted after getting attacked by Jude Bellingham and Julian Brandt so many times before.

His appearance managed to ease the tension on the back slightly, as not only was he a very disciplined player, but his defensive range was quite wide. Still, that didn’t mean he was completely invincible.

No, it seemed Borussia Dortmund had already figured out that this substitution would happen, and they knew what they had to do about it. Marco Reus suddenly switched side with Julian Brandt, letting the handsome captain operate in the middle.

Even though it wasn’t his most comfortable position, the man still managed to occupy Jonas Hofmann’s attention, what with his efficient dribble that always fooled the opponent quite easily.

Yeah, somehow, they knew that Jonas Hofmann was never good at facing a dribbler like this, and just five minutes after he came in, Marco Reus managed to break his defense with his agility, using crazy footwork to confuse the midfielder before getting through his left side while maintaining possession on his feet.

"FUCK! HE GETS THROUGH!"

Everything was quite chaotic in that very second, with so many players wanting to get Marco Reus. However, Higo suddenly felt like his brain was short-circuited, unable to generate an image of what would happen in the next seconds.

Realizing what was going on here, the boy widened his eyes, cursing as loudly as possible.

"FUCK! Where the fuck is Haaland?!"