Chapter 155: Full Time

Magath pulled Mateo off two minutes after the hat-trick went in.

The fourth official hoisted the illuminated board with number 38 flashing in red. Mateo jogged toward the touchline through a strange collision of stadium noise. Furious whistles rained down from the home tiers, loud cheers and chants echoed from the packed away section, and a stunned hum lingered through the neutral seats from spectators who had just watched a seventeen-year-old tear a European tie to pieces.

"Catch your breath," Magath said, steering him by the shoulder toward the dugout. "You've done plenty of damage for one night. Honestly, you've done enough for the whole month."

Mateo wiped sweat from his forehead, glancing back at the pitch. "We still have twenty minutes left on the clock, boss. I can easily finish it out."

"There are twenty minutes left for the other ten players out there, not for you," Magath replied firmly. "Raúl is already in the medical room. I am not risking you taking a cynical hack from a frustrated defender in garbage time just so you can stay out there and run your legs off. Grab your jacket and sit down."

Mateo nodded and walked over to the bench.

The reasoning was obvious. Carrying a four-goal cushion against ten men left Valencia with zero path back into the match, turning the remaining minutes into a dangerous physical scrap. Keeping Mateo on the pitch would only paint a target on his ankles. Magath had already watched Raúl pick up a knock and refused to let another key attacker get kicked off the park.

Edu trotted onto the pitch to take his place in the frontline. The Brazilian forward offered Mateo a firm fist bump on the touchline with a nod of respect. "Brilliant shift out there, Mateo. You set the bar high tonight."

"Just don't let them catch us napping," Mateo told him, catching his breath. "They're sitting deep now, just waiting for one slip-up to nick a goal back."

"Don't worry, we're not giving them an inch," Edu promised, turning to sprint out to his mark.

Schalke locked it down completely.

With Mateo resting on the bench and the midfield block dropping ten yards deeper, the remaining twenty minutes turned into a slow, grinding battle of attrition. Valencia pushed numbers forward to salvage some pride, whipping in corners and firing hopeful efforts from long range. Neuer handled every cross cleanly, calmly directing his back four to clear the second balls. Trailing by four goals on aggregate and down a man, Valencia simply ran out of energy, continuing their attacks out of professional duty until the final seconds ticked away.

The referee blew the full-time whistle, and the traveling Schalke supporters in the upper corner went wild.

Several thousand supporters had traveled all the way to Spain to back their team. Having spent the early part of the season expecting a difficult transitional year, they were now watching their squad book a spot in the Champions League quarter-finals. They sang their club anthems, waved their flags, and refused to clear the stands while the home crowd quietly filed out into the night.

Schalke 04 had advanced to the final eight of Europe, carrying a commanding four-goal lead against a Spanish side that had reached continental finals.

Down on the pitch, the players walked over to the away end to salute the traveling supporters. Jones hopped onto the advertising barrier to hand his match jersey to a young boy in the front row, while Annan led the crowd in a booming chant. Mateo pulled on his training hoodie and joined his teammates along the touchline, soaking in the thunderous roar as the away end chanted his name until the stadium structure vibrated.

The post-match dressing room was a storm of noise.

The atmosphere was a mix of pure adrenaline and heavy exhaustion. The players were finally feeling the physical toll of the match as they took off their muddy boots and unwrapped their ankles in the warmth of the locker room.

Magath stepped into the center of the floor, clapping his hands twice to cut through the chatter.

"Four-nil away from home," Magath announced, letting his eyes sweep across the room, "against a club with deep European heritage that spent the entire week telling the Spanish press how they planned to suffocate our midfield."

He paused, letting a wide, satisfied grin break across his face.

"You went out there and completely dismantled them. You played brilliant, disciplined football from the first whistle to the last."

The room erupted into cheers and table-thumping.

"You have earned an easy evening," Magath continued, raising a hand to settle them down. "Your curfew is pushed back to midnight. Go out, grab dinner, and enjoy yourselves. You deserve every bit of it." He leveled a stern look at the room. "Just keep your heads on straight. We are in an unfamiliar city, and the local fans are definitely not in a celebrating mood tonight. Stick together in groups, look out for each other, and make sure everyone is packed and down in the hotel lobby by nine tomorrow morning."

"Thanks, boss!" Jones and Metzelder shouted back.

The energy instantly turned into lively planning as players organized where to eat and how to spend their free hours.

Manuel grabbed a clean towel, drying his hair as he walked over to Mateo's locker. "Hey, you coming out to grab some tapas with the boys?"

"Probably not, Manuel," Mateo replied, pulling a fresh training shirt over his head. "I'm just going to head straight back to the hotel."

Neuer paused, giving him a look of utter disbelief. "You just bagged a Champions League hat-trick away at the Mestalla, took Raúl's record, and your grand plan for the night is going straight to bed?"

"I'm completely drained," Mateo said with a light chuckle. "Sleep sounds a lot better than roaming the streets right now."

Neuer shook his head slowly, the way a man shakes his head at something he's given up trying to understand. "You are not normal."

"I get that a lot," Mateo grinned.

Jones pulled a thick hoodie over his head nearby and chimed in with a loud laugh. "Leave the kid alone, Manuel. He's going to head upstairs, pull up his tactical notes, and figure out how to score four in the next leg before he even eats breakfast."

Mateo was zipping his boots into his gear bag when Magath poked his head back through the doorway.

"Silva, you're coming with me for the press conference."

Mateo threw his training jacket on and followed the manager down the corridor.

Under the bright lights of the media room, Mateo sat beside Magath behind the microphones, facing a dense wall of flashbulbs and international reporters. He handled the opening questions with his usual poise, praising the team's defensive shape, crediting the tactical preparation from the coaching staff, and deflecting individual hype. Over the past six months, he had grown comfortable with the routine, giving calm, professional answers that kept the spotlight on the collective win.

Back at the team hotel, most of the squad had already returned from the city.

A large group of towering Bundesliga players who had just put four past Valencia could hardly walk through the downtown streets unnoticed. Jones and a few others had made it two blocks toward a local tapas bar before deciding the hostile glares from the locals made the setting far too tense for a quiet meal.

By eleven, the players had gathered in the private hotel lounge, sipping drinks, relaxing on the sofas, and watching the post-match coverage broadcast across the mounted screens. They were casually debating which of Mateo's three goals showed the cleanest technique when the live feed cut straight to the stadium press room.

On the screen, a local reporter near the front row leaned forward and tapped his microphone.

"Silva, I'm with Valencia Sports News," the journalist said, his tone sharp and confrontational through the speakers. "Your celebration after the goals. Turning your back directly on the home crowd and pointing straight at your own name, repeatedly. Many supporters in this stadium viewed that as a deliberate insult and a total lack of respect from a young player. How do you justify acting like that in our stadium?"

The press room on screen fell completely silent. In the hotel lounge, the players paused their drinks, every eye locking onto the television to see how their seventeen-year-old teammate would handle the ambush.

Mateo's relaxed expression faded into a cold, steady calm.

He leaned slightly toward his microphone, looking directly into the reporter's eyes.

"I am sorry," Mateo said in a quiet, measured voice. "Would you mind repeating that question?"

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