Champions League Quarterfinals: Barcelona vs Bayern Munich (1)
“Ha-neul! How was the national team?”
“National team?”
“I watched your country’s match this time, not our game. Ha-neul, you were great as always. Are you going to the World Cup too?”
“Maybe not.”
Camila beams as if it were her own news in response to my answer. The other players seem just as delighted that I’ve made the national team roster, except for Camila. Yuri is happy but a little wistful that she won’t be able to play alongside me, and the rest nod along.
Seeing my friends so pleased gives me a strange sense of coming home. La Masia’s dormitory is my home, but it feels more like a conceptual one.
After growing used to people like Yoon Seo-hee who are different in front and behind, it feels oddly comforting to be around people who are the same in both.
‘How can people be so different in front and behind?’
But the thought of Yoon Seo-hee makes my face darken because of the dark history I carry from the national team.
“...Is there any problem?”
“Huh?”
“No, your expression suddenly darkened.”
Noticing my change in mood, Valentina asks with a surprisingly serious expression. But this is a dark history I can never share with my friends.
“...Nothing at all.”
I brush off Valentina’s question and keep eating. If word got out, I’d be teased until the end of time. I could never tolerate that.
‘...I must never get caught.’
“Ha-neul, is there really a problem? Did someone harass you?”
Camila’s worried eyes meet mine when she senses something in Valentina’s words, and Yuri asks what’s wrong.
Since this line of questioning would only dig deeper into my secrets, I tease Yuri.
“Why? Then would you fight me like before?”
“Huh? Ah, no? No, if you want. No, that’s not it...”
“It’s a joke, just a joke. My mom is Ryu Ji-hye, so if there’s a problem, it would be something.”
“Yeah, the coach is a big shot.”
Fortunately, the joke lightens the mood.
‘Phew, that was close. Good I got away with it.’
After the short reunion with my friends, I board the bus to the training ground. Only Camila is heading there with me. I had hoped her suspension was lifted, but she still hasn’t made it back to the first team.
And the reason is,
“Amira! You look lighter.”
“A match period of rest, of course you would be lighter.”
Thanks to Amira’s complete recovery from injury. Amira, who was bouncing the ball first as the other teammates had said, definitely looks lighter on her feet.
‘If Amira has fully recovered, then Tiana has no choice. Hah, I wish Tiana had come out a bit more and stayed as a candidate like Camila.... Why is she swinging her fists like that.’
It’s a shame Valentina didn’t make it, but the opponent would have been one of the top defenders in the world if asked to choose the best, so this was unavoidable. After all, Valentina isn’t a specialist defender.
When we trained together, she seemed uncomfortable because I had broken her leg, so she wouldn’t speak to me and stayed away. But her defensive skills are quite solid. Her defensive stats are a bit lacking, but the Tiana-Amira combination around 180 cm is slightly weaker in aerial contests than Tiana’s tall frame.
‘Well, since there’s no player of the type that would be transferred to La Liga anyway.’
There aren’t many tall strikers in La Liga, and Tiana at 180 cm doesn’t lose heading duels to players over 190 cm like Lautaro, so it’s acceptable if we’re thinking about build-up.
And after the A match period came the Sevilla match. Its true value was shown clearly.
“Ryu, since you played two games for the national team, watch today’s match comfortably.”
“That means...” “Yes, you’re excluded from today’s lineup. After all, there’s a match against Munich in four days.” “Yes, understood.”
The coach gave me immediate rest after the two national team games, but the Amira-Tiana combination showed the full essence of build-up starting from the center-back. In the national team they had been pushed to the bench by Albert, the main striker of Manchester City, but thanks to Arnal’s two sharp goals after recovering form during rest, we crushed Sevilla 2-0 perfectly.
‘Oh, Arnal is coming back to life too? Wow, Amira is fine as well. She looks good receiving the ball near dangerous players.’
I wish I could play instead of watching from the stands. Seeing low-level Korean players except for a few made the regret of not being able to play the game even stronger.
‘Kuu, if the center-back supports the build-up like this, I could really focus only on attack?’
And time passed. The first quarterfinal match against Bayern Munich at home.
“Goalkeeper: Maximilena, right-back: Nahila, center-backs: Tiana and Tena......, and forward: Ryu.”
Unfortunately, Amira is not in the starting lineup.
...Nor in the substitute list.
Curious, I turned my head. Amira seemed satisfied with the coach’s selection method. Usually a high-ranked player excluded from an important match like a Champions League quarterfinal would be angry, but seeing her accept it so calmly, it seems the situation is already common knowledge.
‘What? Is it injury management? Yeah, from now until the semifinals we play two matches a week, so rotation is necessary. We’re a team chasing both the league title and the Champions League. Besides, with Bayern Munich’s strong physical players, Tena isn’t bad at all.’
Some people on the internet cursed the coach for being a human butcher when sending players, but seeing him manage me after the national team games or Amira after her injury, he doesn’t seem like that kind of person.
‘Compared to that, Tiana is being rotated a lot.’
Of course, even in such thorough management, Tiana, the core of the team’s defense, is being rotated hard. But since she has to be the core defender, it’s unavoidable.
Tiana is a center-back type that consumes a lot of stamina because she’s involved in build-up everywhere, but still, a center-back is a center-back. In fact, compared to other field players, her stamina consumption is lower, and if someone has to play the previous game, it naturally falls to the center-back.
So, is this an unavoidable sacrifice?
“Tiana, please take the next match too.”
“Huh? Haha. If it’s Ryu Ha-neul’s request, I have to run even harder?”
Fortunately, Tiana also seems to like playing the previous game. Well, that’s the only way. A player like Tiana gets travel allowance, and as a Brazilian who has to support family, relatives, and even the neighborhood, Tiana loves money.
‘Good, if Tiana reacts like this, no need to worry. No, maybe a little worry?’
Honestly, it’s not a lie that I have no worries. Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich. These three teams have been dividing the Champions League since 2010. Sometimes English Premier League teams threaten that record, but basically the flow of the three teams dividing it hasn’t changed until I die.
Well, in my previous life I led Real Madrid’s Champions League five consecutive wins, but the hardest team was still Bayern Munich.
Even if small details differ in this world, the big picture hasn’t changed much, so this world would naturally follow the same flow. That is, Bayern Munich is almost the most threatening team.
And excluding those, Bayern Munich is quite a tough team from Barcelona’s perspective.
Some people belittle Bayern Munich as a team that bends the wrists of children in their own league like a frog in a well, but I don’t agree with that view.
Bayern Munich is a team that tops the Bundesliga, which has the fastest transition from defense to attack.
And to do that, enormous stamina is needed, and Bayern Munich, with that physical aspect and thick depth, is one of the few teams that can maintain pressure without tiring Barcelona’s tiki-taka.
Moreover, since they crushed Barcelona’s players in the physical aspect, which is Barcelona’s chronic weakness, Bayern Munich can be seen as traditionally Barcelona’s nemesis team.
But it’s also the charm of football to overcome such difficulties. Thinking about what football is to teach to the German fools who only know how to run and are physically good, my heart is excited.
Beating Bayern Munich also means that my football works against any team, so the excitement is greater.
‘Good. I’ll teach you what football is, so learn well.’
What about the tuition fee....
Quarterfinals elimination would be fine.
*
"Good afternoon! The Champions League quarterfinal first leg, Barcelona vs Bayern Munich. It’s taking place at Barcelona’s home stadium, Camp Nou. Wow, Camp Nou is packed, isn’t it?"
"Probably, it will be packed. Officially, there was a news article that today’s match is sold out."
"As expected.... It’s an incredible atmosphere. ... The players from Barcelona and Bayern Munich are entering. Oh, the cheers are huge, aren’t they?"
"Ryu Ha-neul entering the pitch makes the cheers even bigger, right? Actually, it’s only natural. Ryu Ha-neul has been delivering overwhelming performances to Barcelona’s fans, after all."
"Yes, that’s right. Actually, although he’s a Korean player, Ryu Ha-neul’s performances are amazing, right? Like the last A match too."
"Yes. In the league, 13 games, 10 goals, 8 assists, in Copa del Rey 5 games, 5 goals, 5 assists, and in Champions League 4 games, 5 goals, 1 assist, totaling 22 games with 20 goals and 14 assists? He’s scoring more attack points than games played, and although it’s only been 5 months since his debut in the first team, it’s incredibly rare for a player to score more attack points than games played, especially in La Liga, which is called one of the four major leagues."
"Amazing record. I’m looking forward to today’s match too, right?"
"Me too, I’m really looking forward to it."
"Now, the game starts with Ryu Ha-neul’s kick-off. Ryu Ha-neul passes the ball to Albaria. Albaria immediately to Lorenza. Lorenza pulls the ball and waits for the players to position themselves. Greta applies strong pressure. Lorenza, to Lucia! Lucia long! Direct pass to Ryu Ha-neul!"
"Ooh!"
"Here, foul! Rough pressure came in. Ryu Ha-neul signals that he’s okay."
"This scene is also great, Ryu Ha-neul is such a cool scene? Even after being fouled, as long as it’s not a severe foul, he gets up first and signals that he’s okay."
"Ryu Ha-neul grabs Sophie’s hand and gets up. 4 minutes into the first half. He gets a free kick from 36 meters. Kicker is Lucia. And next to her is Ryu Ha-neul. Ryu Ha-neul slightly passes! Lucia’s shot! Saved! Lea shows an animal-like save!"
"It’s really hard to break through Lea, the goalkeeper, right? Barcelona gets a corner kick."
‘I thought it would be easy, but it seems even with free kicks it’s not working.’
It really is difficult to break through Lea, the goalkeeper who has been starting for Bayern Munich and Germany. Germany has traditionally been a country that produces excellent goalkeepers like a treasure trove, and Lea is a German goalkeeper who continues that tradition.
If I were asked to pick the current top three goalkeepers, Lea would almost always be selected along with Juventus’s Alessa. Lea is a top-level goalkeeper. Of course, if I had to pick the number one, it would be Maximilena, who plays for our team.
Actually, when I first saw Lea, I couldn’t help but think of Neuer because of his career. But the playing style is completely different. Rather, the player who established the ‘sweeper keeper’ playing style that Neuer had established is our team’s Maximilena, and Lea is a more famous player known for his animal-like reflexes.
Well, even Neuer was famous for his animal-like reflexes in his prime, but Lea is a typical goalkeeper style.
And the only way to score against a goalkeeper who boasts such animal-like reflexes is one way.
‘Today I’ll probably have to do a lot of shot build-up?’
Probably, I’ll have to devote the first half to fooling his senses.