Chapter 170
Chapter 170
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 170
Chapter Title: vs Barcelona -4
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The halftime whistle blew after the first half ended.
Pep Guardiola stared at his visibly exhausted players, lost in thought. The flow of the game wasn't great at all.
But he couldn't blame the players for it.
This wasn't their fault—it was a natural disaster in the form of a volcanic eruption.
'Was it really that hard for UEFA to extend the schedule just a bit?'
All he could do was curse UEFA for not postponing the matches.
Still, in Pep Guardiola's eyes, things were manageable so far.
Barcelona's signature attacking build-up was still intact.
"Union Berlin's tactics are incredibly innovative! It's no exaggeration to say their manager is showing us the future of soccer right now!"
Entering the locker room, Pep Guardiola began passionately explaining his second-half tactics.
To him, the players' condition didn't matter as he dove into the tactics.
He was a madman obsessed with tactics, after all.
Meanwhile, at that moment.
"I'm disappointed in your performance!"
Unlike Pep Guardiola's brand of madness, Park Chan-hyuk unleashed a fierce shout at his players.
***
"I'm disappointed in your performance!"
He'd roared it at the players in the locker room.
'First half ends 1-0... Not a bad start.'
In truth, I was very satisfied with the first half.
Sure, we'd ceded possession to FC Barcelona.
But that was unavoidable. Taking control against Messi and those three clowns was no easy feat.
The reason I'd chewed out the Union Berlin players wasn't anything else.
Strangely enough, they were the type who played better the harder I rode them.
Most of them had strong pride in their own abilities.
'In other words, they weren't content with just holding their own at home against anyone.'
To the Union Berlin players, Barcelona's prestige meant nothing.
Anyway, once I dropped the line "Your captain is disappointed," all eyes turned to me.
Before diving into the tactics explanation, I recalled the past few days analyzing Pep Guardiola's strategies.
'It was a long stretch of mockery and torment.'
To crack Pep's tactics, I'd spent days and nights glued to basketball games, forgetting day from night.
'Basketball games were pretty fun, too.'
Not that I'd slacked off.
To understand Pep Guardiola, I had to watch the NBA.
He'd adapted various basketball tactics—like overloads transitioning to two-on-one isolations—straight into soccer.
'What a truly remarkable manager.'
Of course, I wouldn't tell the players how impressive Pep was. Praising the opponent's tactics mid-game would demoralize them.
"In the second half, we keep targeting the space behind them."
Confirming their focus sharpened, I began outlining Union Berlin's second-half plan.
Pep Guardiola's system fundamentally pushed the defensive line high. It was probably influenced by the Total Football lineage from Michels and Johan Cruyff.
Fullbacks overlapped, and even center-backs pushed past the halfway line.
And with them trailing by a goal, they'd definitely push up.
That didn't mean we'd drop deep, park the bus, and counter only.
Unfortunately, we still had the second leg away at Barcelona.
Just like the first half, intense pressing from the front to force an attrition war was the baseline. If we dragged them into a war of attrition, they'd run out of gas first.
In the original history, after Barcelona played Inter, their players fatigued in the second half, leading to a collapse with multiple goals conceded.
'And Berlin's farther from Milan, maybe? Even at halftime, Barcelona's players looked wiped out.'
Honestly, I wasn't sure if Pep had clocked their condition.
All I could do was pin some hope on Pep as a rookie manager at this point.
But truthfully, there was a high chance he hadn't noticed.
Pep's man-management skills weren't great around this time.
'Man, without that volcano screwing them over, Barcelona really would've pulled off a Champions League three-peat.'
I gave a wry smile. Even against a Barcelona not at full fitness, this was the challenge.
Without the conditioning hit from the eruption, I strongly suspected they'd have three-peated.
And naturally, that brought Mourinho—the guy who'd beaten them—to mind.
'No wonder Mourinho, famous for defensive setups, came out aggressive in the first leg. The way he exploited their weak defense... definitely a master at work.'
It was another reminder that anyone could finish second in the Premier League with Manchester United.
***
"Union Berlin kicks off, and the second half is underway!"
The second half between Union Berlin and FC Barcelona had begun.
"Santi Xavi to Zlatan Ibrahimović! Zlatan goes for it right away—shot!"
"Ah! Zlatan's strike flies straight at the keeper."
"Yes. Straight at him, but a powerful shot—the keeper stays cool and holds it."
"Iniesta shakes off Union Berlin's pressure! Iniesta to Lionel Messi!"
"Messi! Shoots right away! Messi's threatening strike again! But it just grazes the post!"
The early second half saw Barcelona dominating possession and attacking, just like the first.
But the momentum quickly shifted toward Union Berlin.
"Union Berlin's intense press! Barcelona cedes possession!"
"Luka Modrić has the ball and looks forward!!"
Barcelona's players grew weary under Union Berlin's relentless pressure.
Inevitably, they started leaving space behind more often.
"Modrić's through ball! He spots Son Heung-min breaking into the space!"
"Ah! The linesman raises the flag. Offside!"
"Ah. So close. Son Heung-min! It was by a hair."
A prime Union Berlin chance, but the flag went up, offside called, and the attack fizzled.
"Son Heung-min flashes a pleased smile, thumbs up to thank Modrić for the pass."
"Yes. Caught offside, but you have to call it a great effort!"
Even with the offside, Son wore a smile. That was how well things were going in the second half.
The game continued, and at the 9-minute mark.
"Gareth Bale exploiting the space behind! Thiago Silva's long ball drops into Bale's path!"
"Abidal chases desperately, but Bale's too quick!"
"Bale winds up—shot? No, pass!"
Union Berlin finally rattled Barcelona's net again.
"Yannick Foite! Yannick Foite's second goal!!"
"They've done it! Iron heart! Yannick Foite scores again! Union Berlin leads 2-0!"
Gareth Bale had burst into the space behind Barcelona, cut back, and Yannick Foite finished it.
***
The moment Yannick Foite's shot rippled Barcelona's net, I roared on the spot.
For the record, I didn't sprint to the corner flag because my assistant coach was glaring at me with scary eyes.
I'm human too—I don't like pain.
Anyway, once Union Berlin went up 2-0, the flow completely tilted our way.
The scoreline made Barcelona's players anxious.
'Or maybe they're just gassed?'
Barcelona made uncharacteristic errors in droves.
At the 32-minute mark.
Union Berlin shook their net once more.
Gareth Bale's cross, Yannick Foite's header flick-on, and Robert Lewandowski nodded it home.
No more goals after that—the match ended.
Champions League semifinal first leg: 3-0.
At this score, the Camp Nou away leg felt winnable.
"Good game."
"Good game."
Post-match, I shook hands with Pep Guardiola.
We hit it off better than expected.
He seemed to have forgotten me calling him a squid-head in the pre-match interview.
Anyway.
Pep and I agreed to drop the formalities.
Friends now.
"Alright, let's grab a meal sometime."
"How about dinner tonight?"
"...Tonight?"
For the record, my line was just the standard Korean courtesy of "let's eat sometime."
But Pep took it seriously.
Pep left with our dinner plans set.
Then I spotted Lionel Messi with his head down.
I couldn't hold back—I let out a "Hooo!"
"Hooo—!"
"......?"
"It's a greeting—nice to meet you."
Messi gave me a puzzled look.
I just couldn't resist the Messi "Hooo."
"Leo, try it with me. SIUUUU! Note: it's not Siu, it's Si! Si! Means 'I did it.' Do this, and you'll be a star like me."
"...."
"Leo, if you wanna be a star, come to Union Berlin."
Since I'd run into Messi anyway, I started teaching him the "Hooo."