How to Beat La Liga's Top Team
Felipe had just finished work and was relaxing with a cup of mate tea. But his rest was cut short in an instant.
"Felipe."
"Hmm? What's going on?"
The moment Felipe saw Ha Sunmoon standing before him, he knew something was different. Ha Sunmoon carried an unusually intense aura, and his eyes seemed to burn with venom.
"Looks like something happened. You came back fuming yesterday too."
"Yes! Honestly, I've had way too many dogshit situations lately."
Felipe was slightly taken aback by the coarse language, but he decided to hear him out.
"All right, tell me everything that happened."
"Well…"
Ha Sunmoon slowly recounted how he and Annie had been threatened by some unsavory Barcelona fans the day before.
"Hmm. That's not good. Derby rivalries often lead to things like that. It really shows you're part of Espanyol now. From now on, avoid dangerous areas."
"Yes. I understand."
"And the person who helped you—who did you say he was? If you give me a rough location, I'll make sure he gets properly thanked."
Ha Sunmoon showed him the location of the incident and the house of the Espanyol fan on a map and photo.
"And this is the most important thing."
"The most important thing?"
"Yes."
Ha Sunmoon then brought up the broken promise with David.
"The new manager, Abelardo, doesn't seem to trust me. Without any talk of competition, he's been pushing me out of the cup matches."
"Hmm…"
Felipe frowned. Being sidelined in the first team wasn't good for an agent either.
Abelardo must have his reasons.
As the cup run progressed, the competition grew more important. Rather than throwing in a young prospect like Ha Sunmoon, Abelardo probably felt it was safer to use players like Pedrosa who had already built chemistry with the team.
That won't do. We had an agreement, and the cup progress was thanks to Ha Sunmoon's performances.
Felipe looked at Ha Sunmoon.
"Sunmoon, you want me to put pressure on the club, don't you?"
Ha Sunmoon nodded.
"Contract renewal talks are nearly done but not finalized yet, so I'll start by threatening a full review. Is there anything specific you want?"
"The Barcelona match."
"Hmm?"
"I don't care about the other games. But this weekend's Barcelona match—I have to play in that one."
"Ah, so there's a Barcelona game this weekend. Is that enough?"
Ha Sunmoon nodded.
The fifth-round Copa del Rey match was held on Wednesday. Manager Abelardo left Ha Sunmoon out and started Pedrosa instead, but they lost to Bilbao.
"This isn't good, Manager Abelardo."
On top of that, Ha Sunmoon's agent had strongly protested the decision to keep him out of cup matches, leaving Abelardo in a very awkward position.
"Well, I haven't finished evaluating all the players yet…"
"If you haven't finished evaluating the players, you shouldn't have broken the promises you made with them. What kind of mess is this?"
In an instant, the atmosphere at Espanyol turned sour. Even though they were in the relegation zone, the cup run had kept spirits high—until the pointless 1-0 defeat. And now their most promising young player, Ha Sunmoon, was voicing his unhappiness through his agent, threatening to blow up the contract renewal that had been so close to completion.
"On top of that, anything involving Ha Sunmoon could become a huge problem."
"Even so, he's just a prospect…"
"He's not just any prospect. A player who could be called world-class in a few years has appeared at our club, and we're on the verge of losing him over nothing. That's the problem."
Ha Sunmoon currently had a €20 million buyout clause. For a seventeen-year-old, that was a fairly high figure, but his recent form in the first team was extraordinary. Scouts estimated his value at a minimum of €30 million, and following La Liga trends, the buyout clause should have been set much higher—around €80 million. They had been planning to renew his contract, but now they risked selling him for a pittance. And if Espanyol were relegated, keeping him would become even harder.
"Of course, I can understand why Manager Abelardo made that choice, but he should have let Ha Sunmoon play in the cup."
"I judged that the regular starter Pedrosa was much better suited to the team. In terms of ability, Pedrosa and Villa seem far superior."
"Ha Sunmoon is a player who can show even greater ability than Pedrosa or Villa. He excels at creative play in specific situations… That's why we couldn't break down Bilbao's defensive setup."
The youth director and press officer sighed heavily as they listened to the conversation. One was stressed about the contract, the other about the unhappiness leaking to the media.
"We need to find a way to fix this. It's not just about being dragged around by one player—the timing is terrible. The team's atmosphere is already suffering."
"Is there any way to persuade Ha Sunmoon?"
At that, the youth director spoke up.
"His agent's demand is simple: fair competition."
"Fair competition?"
That was something a manager could easily provide.
"That's all they're asking for?"
"Trust has already been broken. As compensation for not playing him in the cup, they also demanded he start in next weekend's Barcelona match."
"The Barcelona match?"
Sunday's home game against Barcelona. Abelardo and the coaching staff, along with club officials, were now forced to reconsider how to approach the fixture. They had already thrown most of the first-team players into the Bilbao cup match, essentially treating it as a throwaway game.
"We can agree to that. It wasn't a match we expected to win anyway."
"If we get hammered in the derby without putting up a fight, your position as manager will already be in serious trouble. You know better than to say things like that so carelessly."
It was true. A derby was a derby. A heavy home defeat would draw harsh criticism from the fans. And now, with the cup exit and the conflict with their star prospect Ha Sunmoon, Abelardo felt immense pressure from his own decisions in just a few days.
"I'll start Ha Sunmoon on Sunday. That should resolve things to some extent, right?"
"It will, but there's no guarantee he'll sign the new contract because of it."
"It's done, Sunmoon."
Having received confirmation from Espanyol, Felipe delivered the victorious message to Ha Sunmoon.
"Abelardo says he'll definitely start you on Sunday. He won't even make a casual substitution."
"And?"
"From now on, the left-back position is open to competition. Pedrosa might play on the left wing, but either way, it's a battle from here. Of course, whether the manager actually sticks to it remains to be seen."
Still, Ha Sunmoon nodded, satisfied with the outcome.
"That's enough. Now I need to prepare for the match."
"Good. Off you go, then."
Ha Sunmoon returned to his room to make his plans.
[Good. You've achieved quite a bit.]
"Yeah. You're right about that. Seems like you really do have to raise hell to get people to listen…"
[Ahem… Watch your language. Though the situation did call for it. Anyway, let's see how the next match goes.]
Barcelona. Currently sitting at the top of La Liga, they were an overwhelmingly powerful side. Especially with Messi, the so-called god of football, they would be no easy opponent.
"Their squad is just too stacked. I wonder if the others can handle their attack…"
Barcelona's lineup was dazzling. Suarez, Griezmann, Dembele, and Messi formed the attack, while Busquets and De Jong anchored the midfield.
"At least breaking down their defense is doable."
[Breaking down the defense is the best approach. That's something you can do.]
"Yeah. Left-back Alba and center-back Pique are older players whose quality has declined, and the other center-backs, Lenglet and Sergi, are considered to have dropped off. Overall, their defense looks beatable. I think we can get through them."
Clive Harrison liked the serious look in Ha Sunmoon's eyes as he analyzed the opposition. But even so, the gap remained despairingly large.
"Honestly, though, I have no idea how to stop their attack."
[You said Messi is their most important player, right?]
"Yes."
[Then if we stop Messi, it should be somewhat manageable. In the end, it'll be Messi feeding the ball to Suarez, Dembele, and Griezmann.]
"But he's such an incredible dribbler. It won't be easy."
After a moment of thought, Clive Harrison spoke again.
[When defending, play as an inverted fullback. When attacking, play classically.]
"Why?"
[If you drop out, Dembele's side might open up, but Naldo can delay things enough for the ball to come back and we can deal with it. But who stops Messi? You have to mark him.]
"Hmm…"
[I have a plan. A way to overcome their Barcelona-style football. No matter how you look at it, neutralizing that so-called god is all we need to do, right?]
"Is that even possible?"
[Normally it would be difficult to suggest, but right now, I think you can do it. That venom in your eyes—that's exactly the driving force behind this kind of football.]
"Driving force?"
Clive Harrison looked into Ha Sunmoon's eyes and spoke with conviction.
[That's right. We're going with classic English tactics. I guarantee Messi won't be able to do a thing.]
"Classic English tactics?"
[Yes. Classic English tactics. Real men's football.]