Chapter 1007 Schalke’s Blitzkrieg Attack!

"Listen, Tanaka-san," Morita stated before they entered the pitch. "Later, Dortmund will know exactly that the ball is going to be on my feet. However, they don’t know what you are capable of. So, insert yourself into the circle, and make sure you don’t go unnoticed, okay?"

It didn’t take much for Tanaka to know exactly what the boy was planning here.

"You want to be the bait and let me set up the attack?"

"Exactly." Morita nodded in confirmation.

This was the little discussion that Morita had with Tanaka before the second half began.

The boy knew that his biggest weapon right now was the element of surprise coming from the opponent’s unfamiliarity with his senpai, and he intended to use it straight away before they could get familiar with Tanaka.

If it were any other players, there was no way they would trust a new guy this much, especially when the guy himself had already proved that he wasn’t ready for this kind of game.

However, Morita knew Tanaka well enough. The physical problem was something that a little adjustment could fix, but the man’s ability as a midfielder was still there.

He was the one who was hailed as the best in his generation before Morita came, so there was no way a player like that wouldn’t be able to set up a simple play like this.

"Just remember, if you want to go to Beni, you have to attack the space. If you force him to control the ball, the result will be less effective."

"But if you want to use Fabian, make sure that he gets the possession. His dribble and creativity will be enough to get us in a good situation."

"What you don’t want is to send a horizontal long pass to Hoppe, since he still has never won one against Hummels today. Don’t bet our chance on that scenario."

Well, Morita had already given him a thorough guide about how to handle this situation, so there was no way Tanaka would mess it up so easily.

’Right? Left? Hmm... That Guerreiro has the speed, so it will be hard to attack the space for Benito Raman. Then, the choice is you, Fabian-san!’

Thud!

Before Thomas Delaney could even approach him and prevent the pass, Tanaka had already moved, sending a scalpel-like pass that pierced through Dortmund’s midfield area just to arrive straight at Fabian’s feet.

There, the blonde winger had already stood in front of the penalty box, getting ready to whip a cross inside. The only problem was Mateu Morey in front of him, but that wasn’t truly a big deal for Fabian.

’You think you can stop me? Come on!’

The winger glanced at the touchline for a second as if he was trying to penetrate further. The second Morey shifted his position to anticipate that, Fabian changed direction quickly, cutting into the middle where the biggest crowd gathered.

"Oh, shit!"

"What the fuck, Morey?! What the hell are you doing?!"

"AK! Cover it up!"

Now, Dortmund fell into chaos once again, as not a single one of them expected Fabian to get a good angle to shoot so easily.

Akanji put his body on the line immediately, wanting to block all routes for the winger to shoot.

However, Fabian was smarter than that.

He just pushed further, and with the help of Hoppe, who was cutting to the opposite direction, those two’s movement was enough to split the whole Dortmund defense open, leaving so much space empty inside Dortmund’s box.

Of course, now that chaos descended on Dortmund’s territory, Fabian had a great chance to execute the ball by himself.

Hell, that thought had already crossed his mind earlier, and the winger was one second away from doing that.

However, his eyes suddenly caught someone moving so fast from behind, trying to enter the penalty box.

Fabian himself didn’t know who that person was. All his eyes caught was a blurry movement, but the winger knew exactly that the royal blue color couldn’t be mistaken here.

So, he didn’t hesitate. Guided by his instinct, instead of executing the ball himself, Fabian pushed it lightly, sending a through ball into the spot between Mats Hummels and Raphael Guerreiro, and let that person jump into that spot and fight for it.

Thud!

"Wait! Shit!"

"What the fuck?!"

It was clear that those two didn’t expect a pass would be sent there. No, their focus was either to stop the shot or to prevent a pass from going through Hoppe’s feet, as that would be the worst-case scenario.

Little did they know, though, the initiator of the attack, Ao Tanaka, had already pounced fast like a cheetah, running for his life to get the ball that was rolling in the space in front of him.

’Fuck! What a pass!’ He couldn’t help but grin, his wavy hair fluttering in the wind.

Now that he was already this close to the goal, of course, Tanaka didn’t have any time to think of anything.

No, his focus was already on the goal itself, and when he saw the goalkeeper’s position, even with him still running at full speed, the boy didn’t hesitate to whack the ball as hard as he could.

BAM!

A shot to the near post!

Marwin Hitz, who thought that it would be a shot to the far post and was ready to dive there, froze.

Even though he still managed to move his hand to swipe in the air, hoping that it would be able to block the shot, his position at that point was far from the best, so he could only watch the ball slam violently into the back of his net.

"OH! WHAT A GOAL!" In DAZN Studio, Daniel Herzog roared immediately. "WHAT A GOAL FROM THE PLAYER WHO HAS JUST COME OUT OF THE BENCH!"

"He comes out of nowhere! Stealing all the limelight on the pitch! No one even knows his name! But now! Everyone will remember another Japanese boy shining brightly in the Royal Blue! His name is Ao Tanaka, and don’t you dare forget that!"