Vs Real Madrid - 3
After Son Jinho's opening goal, control of the match completely shifted to Dortmund.
Time had flown by to the 35th minute of the first half.
The two teams' distance covered stood at 44.31 km to 41.88 km, with Dortmund in the lead.
Activity levels didn't decide games on their own, but Dortmund leveraged their superior work rate to start dominating the midfield battle, gradually racking up more shots on target.
[Son Jinho steals the ball from Ozil! He launches straight into the counter!]
[Lewandowski's up ahead!]
Son Jinho, who had snatched the ball from Ozil through teamwork with Sebastian Kehl, quickly scanned his surroundings and passed it to Lewandowski.
The moment Lewandowski turned toward Real Madrid's goal with the ball at his feet, Pepe charged in from behind and shoved him hard, committing a foul.
"You'd fit better cleaning my house bathroom than on a soccer pitch. Like the other Poles."
Pepe trash-talked the fallen Lewandowski, who fired back in anger, sparking a heated exchange.
Beep beep beeep!
The referee blew his whistle to intervene, but had tempers already boiled over?
[Oh. Lewandowski lays in with a rough tackle on Pepe. The ref's pulling out a card.]
[The game's getting too physical. The ref calls over Lewandowski and Pepe for a stern warning.]
Following the clash between Lewandowski and Pepe, tensions between the two sides escalated rapidly.
[Son Jinho intercepts Luka Modric's pass!! He unleashes a shot!!]
Son Jinho ignored the rising heat and focused on his own play.
[Whoa! Super save by Iker Casillas!! A brilliant stop denies Son Jinho's second goal!]
Blocking Modric's pass, Son Jinho fired a surprise long-range shot that earned a corner kick.
- He's full of young blood, so tease him lightly.
Pepe, growing increasingly irritated by Son Jinho, recalled Mourinho's words from just before kickoff.
"Monkey bastard."
Approaching Son Jinho, Pepe spat racial abuse to provoke him.
"That'd be you. Your mom must've fucked a monkey to pop you out."
Son Jinho's effortless mom-jab left him speechless for a moment.
"What? You little shit... "
As Pepe tried to mask his fluster and poke again, the ref approached, sensing the weird vibe.
"What's going on here?"
"Just letting him know his laces were loose..."
Pepe shrugged it off like nothing, but before he could finish,
"H-he called me a monkey and then did a m-mom insult."
Son Jinho scampered straight to the ref, snitching with exaggerated stuttered outrage. He looked every bit the innocent victim, and the ref's gaze toward Pepe grew icier with every word.
Unlike Eastern traditions that warned to beware of the elderly, children, and women, Europe strongly upheld protecting them.
"They're all watching, so keep your conduct straight."
The ref gave Pepe a heavy verbal warning laced with "I'm watching you."
Even Real Madrid's teammates, overhearing, shot Pepe looks like 'Damn, that's too far.'
"...I didn't even go after his parents."
Suddenly branded trash for mom-jabbing a minor who'd lost his parents young, Pepe felt like he was losing his mind.
"Phew..."
I let out a sigh of relief watching Pepe slink away.
I'd tried ignoring him at first.
Don't engage with crazies, right? Outside the pitch, who knows—but on it, Pepe was a headcase.
Hell, in 2012, Real Madrid even recommended therapy for him.
Still, in the future, to avoid embarrassing his kids, he reins in the antics and matures into a veteran.
Didn't he ignore Jo Kyu-sung's provocations at the 2022 Qatar World Cup?
I gazed softly at Pepe, changing for his future pride as a dad. I wanted the same for my own kid on the way.
Hmm. Was snitching too lame?
While second-guessing my tattle to the ref,
"Quit whining! Pussy!"
The still-immature Pepe started flipping out on the pitch.
Hmm. Good call snitching, then.
Of course, he wasn't targeting me.
After my report, the ref kept eyes glued on Pepe—any rough tackle on me would've been retaliation, straight red.
Unlike his madman rep, he was sneakily cunning.
"Argh—!"
His scapegoat? Ivan Perisic, known as my buddy.
"Shit, you okay?"
I rushed to Perisic, who'd taken a body check.
"What the hell did Pepe eat to go psycho like this?"
"Told ya, pick better friends."
I patted the clueless Perisic's shoulder with light consolation.
Dortmund had gradually seized control, but Real Madrid wasn't getting steamrolled.
They poked at Dortmund's goal now and then, and just before halftime, they rattled the net.
As stoppage time loomed, Dortmund players—who'd run 4 km more than Real—lost focus for a split second.
Sensing the weakened press, Mesut Ozil lofted a long ball to Cristiano Ronaldo slicing into the left channel.
[Ronaldo takes it!! Blasts it!!]
[Goooaaal—!! If Dortmund has Son Jinho, Real has Ronaldo!! Cristiano Ronaldo saves Real Madrid right before the break!!]
Cristiano Ronaldo controlled Ozil's long pass and ripped a right-footed shot into the net.
"Vamos—!!"
Celebrating, Ronaldo dashed to the corner flag for a standard knee slide.
Halftime.
"Ukach!! Get into the space behind Essien!"
Jurgen Klopp instructed Ukach Piszczek to overlap into the gap behind Michael Essien.
Though starting at left-back due to injuries to the regular fullbacks, Essien had been shaky defensively all half, his explosiveness a shadow of his prime, threatening Dortmund's goal.
Klopp had pegged Essien as Real's weak link.
Thus began the second half after the break.
"Stop running already!"
Essien's desperate scream echoed as Piszczek raided the space behind, but Piszczek ignored him.
Then, in the 25th minute,
[Lewandowski's cannon fires!! Dortmund takes the lead again!!]
Robert Lewandowski met Piszczek's low, driven cross with his right foot, gifting Dortmund a crucial goal.
[Even as stoppage time nears, Dortmund doesn't sit back—they keep piling on Real Madrid!]
[Son Jinho shrugs off Xabi Alonso's pressure! Eyes Mario Gotze on the left!]
[Mario Gotze! He threads it through Sergio Ramos's legs as the right-back!!]
[Oh!! Ramos grabs Gotze's jersey to halt the counter!]
[Ref Victor Kassai calls foul on Real Madrid! Yellow for Ramos!]
[Little time left! Can Dortmund seal the win?!]
[Gotze and Son Jinho over the ball. Whistle blows—Gotze rolls it short!! To Son Jinho!! Into the box!!!]
[Mats Hummels headers it!! Gooooaaaal—! Straight into the net!]
Mats Hummels' header ended the UEFA Champions League Group D Matchday 2 clash between Dortmund and Real Madrid. As Dortmund players shared victory joy with home fans, Son Jinho did his M.O.M. interview by the corner flag.
- You notched a goal and assist against Real Madrid?
"This win wasn't me alone. He made great saves, and Lewandowski screened for my shots. We became one team for victory today—that's why we won."
- You complained to the ref—what'd Pepe say?
"Don't wanna publicly shame him as a dad."
The reporter, a parent himself, nodded and asked last,
- Final thoughts?
Slipping off his jersey slyly, Son Jinho bellowed loud enough to startle the cameraman.
"¡Muchas gracias, afición! ¡Esto es para vosotros! Hooooooowww!!"