Chapter 136
Chapter 136
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 136
Chapter Title: North-South Derby -2
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“GOOOAAAL—! Gareth Bale! Gareth Bale’s opening goal! Union Berlin successfully strikes first at the heart of Bayern Munich!”
The match between Union Berlin and Bayern Munich began with Union Berlin taking the lead thanks to Gareth Bale’s opening goal.
“Oh, this one hurts to the bone! Bayern Munich’s fans, stunned into silence, are now erupting in fury.”
Union Berlin’s opening goal was something some had fully anticipated, while for others, it came as a massive shock.
And among them, Bayern Munich’s fans were clearly in the latter camp.
The dominant force of the Bundesliga, Bayern Munich, carried a distinctive arrogance.
No matter what anyone said, they believed themselves to be the strongest team in the Bundesliga.
And their fans felt the same way.
‘Mia san mia’
The slogan encapsulating Bayern Munich’s unique pride and identity—“We are who we are”—
was slowly morphing into the club’s signature stubbornness.
But in this match against Union Berlin, the notion that they were the Bundesliga’s top team was being shattered.
Bayern Munich had now conceded an opening goal to Union Berlin for the second straight season.
And this time, it was at Bayern Munich’s home ground.
The shock to Bayern Munich’s fans was immense.
“Booooooooo—!”
“Ref, you bastard, that was clearly offside for anyone watching!”
The fans could hardly believe it.
And soon enough, they began hurling objects onto the pitch.
In any case.
The fans’ intense reaction stemmed closely from Union Berlin’s recent trajectory.
[Union Berlin Manager Park Chan-hyuk: Bayern Munich’s weakness is Munich’s system. Shocking statement!]
Bayern Munich’s fans had grown to despise the upstairs neighbors making all that noise lately.
They hated seeing Union Berlin rub in their single title win against them.
But deep down, there was also an inexplicable fear.
Union Berlin’s league title felt different from those won by other teams.
Sure, they’d had their promising youngsters explode onto the scene to claim the league, just like others.
But the biggest difference was that the players who should’ve disbanded right after the win had stayed with Union Berlin intact.
Union Berlin had even reinforced their squad this season by signing more prospects.
Just last summer’s transfer window, Bayern fans had mocked them for picking up trash.
So when that trash went and scored an opening goal against Bayern Munich, it was unbearable.
Regardless.
Union Berlin, built around young players,
had grown over the past year by racking up experience.
Anyone could see they were stronger now.
On this day,
Bayern Munich’s fans realized that future matches against Union Berlin wouldn’t be easy.
***
Bayern Munich had conceded the opening goal, but wresting control of the game from them was no easy feat for Union Berlin.
That much was obvious.
Their opponent was Bayern Munich, after all.
Led by Robben and Ribéry, Bayern Munich quickly mounted a counterattack.
Not long after conceding, they created a dangerous scoring chance.
Bayern Munich’s wings broke through Union Berlin’s boasted defensive wall.
Mario Gómez, who’d transferred in from Stuttgart, unleashed a threatening shot.
It sent a chill down the spines of Union Berlin’s away fans.
“Manuel, nice save!”
If not for Manuel Schmidt’s super save, Mario Gómez’s shot would’ve found the net.
“Dante! Stay focused!”
At Thiago Silva’s call-out, Dante raised a hand apologetically toward the other defenders.
It had happened in a split-second lapse of concentration.
In the pro world, you could call it a battle of focus.
A moment’s carelessness could lead to disaster.
While chiding Dante, Thiago Silva gently ruffled the hair of Manuel Schmidt, who’d just pulled off the super save.
Now 20 years old, Manuel Schmidt was five years younger than Thiago Silva.
With that decent age gap, Thiago treated him like a little brother.
***
In this match against Bayern Munich, Manuel Schmidt was going berserk.
He was blocking every shot from Bayern Munich’s players.
Truth be told, Schmidt’s star rating made him a borderline starter for Champions League keeper.
Schmidt’s star rating was 5 stars.
Enough to start as a keeper, but there were certainly better options out there.
However….
‘His star rating’s low, but his save ability is overwhelming.’
Personally, judging solely by his saves, I figured he wouldn’t fall short of Courtois or Manuel Neuer.
Manuel Schmidt was that specialized in saves (reaction speed).
Sure, he lacked the ability to organize the defenders’ positioning.
But that could be covered by pairing him with Thiago Silva.
‘Problem is he doesn’t know when to rush out on corners…. But that’s judgment, nothing to be done.’
That’d improve with more experience.
Timing to charge out and clear the goal was something experience could fill in.
His footwork wasn’t great either, which could be an issue in modern soccer tactics.
Still, in my book, a keeper’s most crucial skill was saves.
He was more than sufficient to develop as Union Berlin’s starting keeper.
‘And he’s currently Union Berlin’s only sacred bone youth product.’
Union Berlin’s heart was Yannick Foite, but
regrettably, Yannick wasn’t a youth academy sacred bone.
‘Son Heung-min and Lee Sung-jae are Union Berlin youth products too, but it feels a bit different.’
In fact, plenty of Union Berlin fans liked Manuel Schmidt just for being a youth product.
Anyway.
While I was lost in thoughts about Manuel Schmidt,
Bayern Munich launched another counter.
World-class winger Franck Ribéry drove into the penalty box.
Manuel Schmidt held off as long as possible, then leaped the moment Ribéry swung his foot.
Manuel reacted even to a point-blank shot
and perfectly parried Franck Ribéry’s effort.
“Merde!! (Damn!) What the hell is this monster!”
Franck Ribéry’s curse echoed out.
‘……Insane, he blocked that.’
I couldn’t help but marvel at Manuel Schmidt’s animal-like reflexes.
Just how good was that save?
It nearly had me surging toward the corner flag for a celebration myself.
It pumped me with dopamine on par with Yannick Foite’s goals.
But I couldn’t celebrate.
Not because I feared getting shot by Bayern fans this time.
My legs just gave out from Manuel Schmidt’s fantastic save.
I knelt right there on the touchline, clutching my head and letting out a gasp of awe.
It was only natural that my ridiculous pose ended up on the jumbotron.
***
Meanwhile, at that moment.
“He blocked it! Manuel Schmidt saves the team once more! An incredible save from Manuel Schmidt!!”
“Wow…. I really thought that was a Bayern Munich goal this time! Union Berlin keeper Manuel Schmidt has kept it out!”
The Korean broadcast team let out a sigh of relief.
If that shot had rippled Union Berlin’s net, the game could’ve gotten tough.
└ Wow, holy shit lol he saved that.
└ Why do they look disappointed tho?
└ Wasn’t that guy about to celebrate?
└ He didn’t last time.
└ Maybe he missed the timing cuz Gareth Bale was too fast?
Korea’s soccer fans erupted in awe at Manuel Schmidt’s fantastic save.
└ Ah lol now I kinda wanna buy a Manuel Schmidt jersey.
They seriously considered picking up Manuel Schmidt jerseys.
Fans who’d tuned in to support Park Chan-hyuk had become Union Berlin supporters.
With Korean players starring under Manager Park Chan-hyuk,
and even the stadium built by GL taking main sponsor status,
Union Berlin had somehow become Korea’s symbolic national representative club.
“Yes. And if the game keeps going like this, the momentum will swing back to Union Berlin….”
Anyway, as the broadcast team unwittingly leaned a bit biased in their commentary,
“Oh, and right as I say that, Thomas Maier wins the ball with pressure!”
Thomas Maier successfully stole the ball from Bayern Munich mid-counter.
“Thomas Maier, who stole it, to Luka Modrić!”
“Right now, four Union Berlin attackers are charging at Bayern Munich!”
“Two defenders, four attackers! Bayern Munich in crisis!”
“Exactly! The moment they push forward on counter is their most vulnerable!”
Since Bayern Munich had been caught on the counter, their half now had more Union Berlin attackers than Munich defenders.
“Luka Modrić chooses Gareth Bale on the left wing!”
“Bale with a low driven cross!”
Union Berlin had attackers with the finishing to capitalize on chances like this.
“Yannick Foite’s second goal!! Union Berlin drives the nail in at Bayern Munich’s home!!”
The moment Yannick Foite’s shot shook Bayern Munich’s net.
“Whooooooo—!”
Unable to contain his excitement, Park Chan-hyuk bolted straight to the corner flag and unleashed a celebration.
“Why’s it always just me?”
Yannick Foite burst into laughter without realizing it.
‘Not doing it now would feel a bit disappointing.’
Before he knew it, he’d been gaslit.