Chapter 1012 The Situation Gets Worse on the Pitch

"Oh! A substitution! It seems that Ryusuke Higo couldn’t continue the game anymore!"

In the DAZN Studio, Daniel Herzog exclaimed as he watched the camera lens following the boy until he walked off the pitch still with a big grimace on his face.

"This is definitely not what all the Schalke fans want to see." Ballack analyzed the situation clinically. "Higo has been the best player so far for the team, and losing him will at least shake the players’ concentration."

"Still, the replacement, Ralf Fahrmann, is not a newbie, right?" Daniel Herzog chimed in. "He is a veteran even in the Schalke team, so his presence should be able to ease the pressure and the awkwardness in their defensive line."

That was definitely a solid argument, especially when Farhmann himself was not a new figure between Schalke’s posts, having already guarded it for so many years before the arrival of Alexander Nubel and even Higo himself in the team.

However, Ballack shook his head slowly, realizing that the man’s status as a veteran wouldn’t be able to help the team much in this situation.

"You have to know, Daniel, that Higo has already proved himself to be reliable through his own ability, not just from his status as a veteran or something like that."

"Now, you take Higo off the equation, and you put a veteran goalkeeper who has been benched for a while after losing a competition against a younger goalkeeper twice! Twice, Daniel! In the last three years! What do you think their defenders would think right now?"

Well, when Ballack said it like that, this definitely painted Schalke in a terrible light, as Daniel Herzog also started to doubt that the home team would be able to survive the ordeal here.

Even though Frohling couldn’t hear their analysis, the man also knew that his team was not in a good situation right now.

Even with his seniority, Fahrmann failed to establish authority on the back, as everyone was more willing to listen to Stambouli and Sead Kolasinac there.

It wasn’t like they didn’t respect the goalkeeper, but even though he was a veteran member, the man had never been in a real game other than in the DFB Pokal this year, so they still didn’t know whether the man could be trusted blindly like they had done to Higo in the past or not.

And Dortmund somehow could see it clearly, as they were willing to take advantage of that without even blushing here.

In their mind, while they were concerned about Higo’s situation, they couldn’t help but feel relieved, knowing that the biggest obstacle in winning this game was finally gone.

Now that it was Fahrmann who took over the goal, even though right now they were still down by a goal, Dortmund was confident that they could overtake the score and win the game today.

’Yeah, the last time we played against them with Fahrmann on the goal, we managed to destroy them 6-1. There is no reason it would be different this time, not when their defensive line is filled with the same or even worse players.’

At least, that was what Edin Terzic thought, as he started instructing his players to get more aggressive.

"Jude! Drop back a little! Connect the midfield and the flank to the frontline! Communicate with Reus!"

"They will drop further! Run the triangle combination deeper into their own territory! Don’t be afraid!"

At this time, Die Borussen finally decided to go all out, putting almost all of their players into Schalke’s territory.

Hell, there was even a hint of hurriedness in their flow, and anyone who could see it would be able to understand why they were doing this.

"They want to take advantage of the uncertainty period on Schalke’s side due to Higo’s departure, wanting to strike hard before the home team could recover first," Ballack stated as a matter of fact.

"That is the right decision." Daniel Herzog also nodded.

"You can see that Schalke’s defense is a little bit disoriented right now, failing to coordinate as flawlessly as they did earlier. No one realizes this on their part, so no one steps up as an emergency commander to calm down the situation in their territory."

"This is a true disaster for a defensive team like them, right?" Ballack couldn’t help but sigh while leaning back against his seat.

Of course, that didn’t mean that they would collapse straight away.

No, their experience as the best defensive team in the league was not for nothing, as they still managed to hold on with sheer determination, preventing any threat from getting close to the goal.

Not only that, but Fahrmann also proved that he was more than ready to be the replacement, as he showed at least two strong saves in the first ten minutes since he joined the game.

The first one came from Haaland, who managed to slip into the six-yard box, where the Norwegian striker’s shot only found the goalkeeper’s body, and the second one was a strong header from Hummels that could still be stopped with his big hand.

Overall, though, it seemed that everything went well even with Higo’s departure, and Schalke’s players could breathe in relief.

Unfortunately, this state only lasted long enough, as in the 80th minute, the disaster that everyone had been predicting finally appeared.

Somehow, a quick one-touch pass combination between Reus and Sancho allowed the latter to sneak into the six-yard box from the flank. Even though he didn’t have any angle to shoot, Sancho still had his eyes on his teammates behind.

So, with a decisive pass, he pushed the ball to the middle, where Erling Haaland beat Stambouli and Malick Thiaw in a physical battle before the Norwegian striker launched the most powerful shot he could muster.

BAM!

The ball slammed the back of Fahrmann’s net, giving Dortmund the goal to level the score.

Now, the game was finally back to a draw, and with ten minutes left before everything was over, no one could predict what would happen next.