Chapter 878: VS Mainz!

"I will fucking say it again!" Frohling shouted, his voice echoing inside the whole locker room. "We have so many games that I deem to be uncontrollable losses! However, today! Against Mainz! This is the game that I demand you guys to win! We have no other choice but to come out with three full points today! Understand?!"

"YES, SIR!"

It was game day, and right now, everyone was so excited to play against their opponent. After all, Mainz was definitely the worst team in the league right now, losing all of their first six games in the league so far.

Their offense sucked, as they had only managed to score three goals out of six games. That meant they scored a goal for every two games, which was definitely not a performance that any Bundesliga team should have.

The defense, even, was worse. So far, the team conceded 18 goals out of 6 matches, averaging three per game. This was the worst in the league as well, as they became the opponent’s favorite to face in almost every week.

That was why Frohling dared to say quite boldly that this game was one where anything other than a win was unforgivable.

Soon enough, players from both teams finally came out of the tunnel, getting ready to play.

For Schalke’s side, some changes were made by Frohling to face the game.

Sead Kolasinac and Timo Becker were unfortunately unable to play due to discomfort in their body, but in return, Bastian Ozcipka was available to replace the Bosnian defender on the flank after getting sidelined for quite a while due to his injury, and Malick Thiaw was also more than ready to fill in the gap in the center to partner with Stambouli.

Not only them, but Goncalo Paciencia also started the game from the bench. After all, the Portuguese striker hadn’t done well in the last couple of games, so Mark Uth was back in the main squad to face the opponent today.

Still, overall, it wasn’t a bad squad, especially when the players were so motivated to snatch a win today. At least, their state was better than the home team, who were so tense, probably getting anxious here, praying to get their first ever point of the season today.

Of course, just like the usual, the team would lose the coin toss. With Higo being on the team, no way in hell Omar Mascarell could win one, and even some players also started to notice it.

"Hey, Omar, why is it that you have never won a single coin toss this season?!"

"Not just this season, but even last season was the same!"

"Damn! Your hand is so smelly! Don’t you need to go to church or what?!"

Omar Mascarell just rolled his eyes in exasperation. However, anyone who knew the man well enough would see that he thought about the suggestion seriously, probably starting to get bothered by his lack of winning in the coin toss match.

Well, of course, Higo wouldn’t be able to tell the man that he was the reason here. Instead, the boy just warmed up on his territory, waiting for the game to begin.

’Well, even though the opponent is weaker, we cannot lower our guard, right? I have to keep my eyes open, or conceding a goal against them will hurt me more than anything else.’ He murmured under his breath.

FWEEE!

Soon enough, the referee finally blew the whistle, and Mainz players wanted to try their luck by trying to control possession early. Not that Schalke would mind, of course, since counterattack was their biggest strength so far.

Still, Mainz played quite conservatively, not wanting to push further whenever the one holding the ball got pressured by the defenders. As a result, everything moved quite monotonously, from the back to the midfield, back to the defensive line again, and was repeated over and over again.

So, in the end, the first ten minutes were quite boring, with Mainz just trying to maintain possession as long as possible without getting threatened too much by Schalke’s deadly counterattack. At this point, the home team also knew how dangerous their opponent was in a transition battle.

Then, the first chance came in the 15th minute. Somehow, their striker, a big and bulky man named Jean-Philippe Mateta, received the ball in front of the penalty box, and under the pressure from Malick Thiaw, he managed to survive long enough to push the ball slightly to the left side, where their winger, Jonathan Burkadt, managed to sneak into the channel area.

The winger received the ball perfectly, and he used his right foot to try curling the ball to the far post.

BAM!

However, it was fortunate that the man wasn’t good enough at that technique, and as a result, the ball just fell on Higo’s clutch easily, not threatening the goal at all.

Then came Schalke’s threat next, as Bastian Ozcipka sent a diagonal cross that was quite dangerous out of nowhere. Mark Uth, a striker whose strength was aerial duels, managed to win the fight inside the box, overwhelming the home team’s defender without any difficulty.

However, the home team’s goalkeeper also moved fast, blocking the header without even moving too much. In the end, it only gave Schalke a corner kick, one that the team failed to take advantage of as the ball was cleared easily by Mainz’s defensive line.

For a moment, things seemed to be quite monotonous, pretty boring even. The possession shifted back to Schalke, with Morita, Bentaleb, and Omar Mascarell controlling the tempo. They were still strong enough to overwhelm a small team like Mainz, so the role switched in this regard.

However, in the 34th minute of the game, things got heated.

It all started with Jonathan Burkadt, who tried to cut into the penalty box, and when he saw his teammate, Edmilson Fernandes, sneaking into the box out of nowhere, the winger sent a slow pass to the space inside, giving that Swiss midfielder a chance to shoot.

In that exact moment, though, Malick Thiaw seemed to exert his strength too much, pushing the midfielder a little bit rougher. Then, combined with good acting skills...

BRUGH!

The man fell, and commotion broke instantly.