Chapter 905: Second Half Begins! Schalke’s Blitzkrieg Attempt?!

The break passed so quickly, and before anyone knew it, the players from both teams were back already, preparing to start the second half and fight for their lives to ensure that they could achieve their target.

For Schalke, even though they initially just wanted to get a draw, this lead made them greedy, as they changed their target into a full victory and snatching three points from this place.

However, Frankfurt would never let anyone else, let alone Schalke, who had the worst offensive performance in the league so far, humiliate them in front of their home crowd. Hell, even a draw was unacceptable right now, as they wanted to make sure that three points would fall into their laps later.

The players from both teams finally came out of the tunnel, and they all had quite different expressions.

While Schalke players were still excited with a hint of relaxation, clearly enjoying the peaceful locker room, all the Frankfurt players looked like they had just been slapped in the face one by one by their head coach.

The contrast was quite amusing, and honestly, if not for the tension lingering in the air, some of Schalke players would’ve laughed at this funny scene.

Still, Higo glanced at them with a solemn look, knowing that after a hair-dryer treatment, coupled with the desperate feeling from the players that wanted nothing but a goal to avoid any threat that their head coach threw, was the most dangerous opponent to face.

’They haven’t made any chances yet from the bench, but their offense would definitely be sharper than usual. I have to be ready for everything...’ He muttered under his breath.

Unfortunately, it seemed that he was the only one who shared this sentiment. Malick Thiaw and Benjamin Stambouli, the two defenders in front of him, could be seen chatting relaxedly, as if they were here just for a fucking vacation.

Seeing this, Higo was so helpless, rubbing his forehead in a headache.

’Yeah, it seems that I have to work harder than usual. Man, it is hard to fight against both the opponent and my team...’

The scene changed immediately, and soon enough, all the players were in their own positions while getting ready to start the second half. Both Mark Uth and Morita were standing in front of the ball, using the exact same scene that they had been doing in the last couple of games.

Behind, Nabil Bentaleb also warmed up while glancing at the opposition half, wanting to make sure that he didn’t mess up the long pass.

Meanwhile, all the players on Frankfurt’s side were also ready to receive the blitzkrieg attack. They knew that this was a crucial moment, as losing another goal this early would be like a final nail in the coffin.

Even though it wasn’t impossible to flip the table and overturn the score, the difficulty of doing that would be increased by a lot when they had to chase two goals.

The referee also stood there, acting so casual while chatting with his assistants from the communication device in his ear. It was as if he failed to read the tension around him, acting like he was just there to stroll around.

Soon enough, though, the man finally received the nods from the others, and without waiting for too long...

FWEEE!

The whistle was finally blown, starting the second half straight away!

Schalke didn’t need to be told twice here, moving the ball immediately to Nabil Bentaleb before so many players rushed to occupy the opposition half. Then, the French midfielder didn’t even blink, having already known where to send the ball.

BAM!

The long pass was sent!

The ball flew far to the right side of the pitch, where Fabian Reese and Filip Kostic could be seen glancing toward the air while also calculating secretly where the ball would land. This was a deliberate move, as they saw the Serbian wingback move back and forth so many times in the first half earlier.

They just wanted to check whether the man still had the energy to fight in this kind of duel, wanting to test Filip Kostic’s current state.

Well, this approach seemed to work well, as even though no one knew whether Filip Kostic wanted to preserve his energy or that he was already exhausted, the man avoided the aerial duel here, letting Fabian Reese win that battle.

This move caught the blonde winger off guard, but he still managed to adjust his jump and head the ball straight to the middle. There, Mark Uth was waiting, and the moment he received the ball, he used his strong body to hold on against two defenders who were trying to snatch possession away from him.

"Mark! Left! Left!"

Mark Uth didn’t need to know who shouted earlier. No, even before rushing forward, the striker knew that the closest one to him in this scenario would be Morita, the biggest threat for the opponent today.

Once he managed to attract two opponents, the striker didn’t hesitate to push the ball to the source of that shout, and there, true enough, Koki Morita had already been waiting, pushing the ball further to dribble into Frankfurt’s penalty box.

"SHIT! HE GETS AWAY!"

"DEFENDER, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

"COVER! COVER!"

In hindsight, the situation shouldn’t be that dangerous. After all, Higo hadn’t entered the penalty box yet, and so many Frankfurt players were still around.

However, PTSD was sure a cruel thing, as they remembered quite well how the boy destroyed the whole defense twice in the first half. This time, they didn’t want to make the same mistake, but if anything, chaos succumbed the moment Morita got the ball.

Of course, there was no way the boy would let this chance slip away so easily. No, he dribbled the ball to the left side of the penalty box to avoid the biggest crowd, but it was clear that the angle was still dangerous enough for a direct shot.

’Yes! This is my chance!’ Morita grinned as he suddenly stopped, getting ready to swing his left foot.

This sudden stop was enough to catch his defender off guard, and poor man was so desperate to get back into Morita’s line of sight to at least distract him.

However, the main character here was not those two. No, it was Makoto Hasebe who had already eyed everything from behind, and the moment Morita was about to shoot the ball, he pounced like a cheetah, throwing a tackle with one foot raised quite high toward his kouhai.

’DON’T THINK YOU CAN GET ANOTHER ONE SO EASILY, MORITA-KUN!’

BAM!