Chapter 139 Shocking News Shakes Football World, The Battle of the Peak Approaches
On May 1st, the second leg of the UEFA Champions League semi-finals began.
Borussia Dortmund, who played first, withstood the attacks from Real Madrid at the Bernabéu. Despite being defeated 2-0 by their opponents, they smoothly advanced to the Champions League final with a total score of 5-3.
This result wasn't surprising to many, considering Real Madrid's frequent losses away from home.
After the loss, there seemed to be a conflict erupting in the Real Madrid locker room, and Mourinho couldn't control the situation. Real Madrid president Florentino was seen urgently entering the locker room to calm down the players' emotions.
This news deepened the impression that Mourinho's dismissal was inevitable after this game.
This season, Real Madrid came up empty-handed, trailing Barcelona by 11 points in the league and failing to defend their title. They were also eliminated from the Champions League by Borussia Dortmund, suffering defeat once again.
Real Madrid hired Mourinho at a high price with hopes of winning titles and suppressing their arch-rivals, Barcelona, in the league.
However, it appears that Mourinho has failed to accomplish both tasks.
Sources within Real Madrid claim that the club's patience with Mourinho has run out. After the end of the La Liga season, the Portuguese will surely leave.
The only suspense is whether Mourinho will resign voluntarily or be sacked by Real Madrid.
If he resigns voluntarily, he won't receive the remaining salary from his contract. But if he's sacked, he'll receive a hefty compensation package.
Mourinho, being stubborn, values his reputation more than the compensation. Thus, after the Champions League match, Mourinho announced directly in the press conference:
After this season ends, he will no longer continue to coach Real Madrid.
This announcement immediately caused a sensation among the reporters present.
Although many had speculated about this, seeing their speculations become reality still surprised everyone.
Objectively speaking, Mourinho's coaching record at Real Madrid isn't bad.
Under his leadership, Real Madrid snatched a league title and a Copa del Rey trophy from Barcelona's hands. Additionally, he led the team to the Champions League semi-finals twice and the quarter-finals once, although they failed to win the trophy, he helped Real Madrid shed the label of the "Round of 16 team" in the Champions League.
This record might have been acceptable for other clubs, but he was coaching Real Madrid...
After Mourinho announced the end of his coaching career at Real Madrid, people immediately began speculating about his next destination, with Chelsea being the most favored.
Even before the journalists could digest the big news from Real Madrid, Barcelona had its own problems.
In the second leg of the semi-final against Bayern Munich, at home, when everyone hoped for a miracle from Barcelona, they suffered another devastating defeat at the hands of Bayern, losing 3-0 at home again.
Over the two legs, Barcelona was thrashed 7-0 by Bayern!
This was a very lopsided scoreline. Considering Barcelona's status as one of the top teams, crowned by fans as the "cosmic team," being completely swept away by the opponent without scoring a single goal was very shameful!
This result shocked the entire football world, leaving countless people extremely surprised.
In their minds, Barcelona was still the invincible cosmic team under Guardiola's leadership.
How did they fall so low within just a year since Guardiola left?
As the second half of the season progressed, Tito Vilanova's illness worsened, and it was confirmed that he couldn't continue coaching the team.
At this time, Barcelona suffered such a shameful defeat in the Champions League, which made many Barcelona fans start to miss their former coach, Guardiola.
Many fans even went to Guardiola's social media accounts, pleading for him to return to Barcelona as the head coach.
To this, Guardiola felt both happy and sad.
He was happy that Rosell's recklessness finally led to consequences, but he was sad to see the team he had coached suffer such a humiliating defeat, especially seeing the sad expressions of many former colleagues and players, especially Messi. It made him feel very upset.
Because of this conflicting mood, he didn't respond to reporters' questions about the game in public.
Only privately, he made comforting phone calls to some colleagues at the club and a few familiar players.
...
Joy for one, sorrow for another.
In contrast to the desolation among La Liga fans, Bundesliga fans were elated after the results of the second leg matches were announced. Both of their teams made it to the Champions League final, setting a record for the Bundesliga.
This also marked the fourth time in Champions League history that a league had achieved this feat.
This result meant that no matter who lifted the trophy, the Champions League title for this season belonged to the Bundesliga.
Encouraged by this, many German media outlets began to boast about their league.
They believed that with the excellent performance of Bundesliga teams in the Champions League this season, the Bundesliga had already surpassed the declining Serie A and secured the third position among the top five leagues, behind only the Premier League and La Liga!
Many media outlets even boldly speculated that if they could maintain their dominance in the Champions League, surpassing La Liga and even the Premier League in the future and reaching the top of the five major leagues was not an impossible task.
Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich, who brought glory to the Bundesliga, were naturally praised to the skies.
Dortmund was hailed as the "Young Guard," while Bayern directly snatched the title of the "cosmic team" from Barcelona and was dubbed the "Cosmic Bayern" by fans.
After this game, the title of Barcelona's "cosmic team" also became history.
And this stain of their 0-7 defeat to Bayern was destined to never be washed away.
As the biggest star of Barcelona, after the humiliating defeat to Bayern, Messi naturally faced criticism from the public. Not scoring a single goal in two games was unacceptable.
People began to doubt whether the once invincible duo could continue their previous glory.
Faced with external criticism, Messi didn't come out to say anything.
He just silently chose to practice more, using even more diligent efforts to improve his strength.
If Lin Quan could lead the team to victory against Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga, why couldn't he?
Messi began to think about this question more and more. Could it be that I'm worse than him?
Messi still had a lot of pride in his heart. He didn't really believe that he was inferior to anyone.
Therefore, the reason for the loss must be that he wasn't working hard enough!
So, every day when he returned home, he spent more time studying Lin Quan's game recordings...
...
Ah-choo!
Lin Quan, far away in Bremen, couldn't help but sneeze.
Is someone talking behind my back? Why have I sneezed several times this morning?
"Lin, are you feeling unwell?"
Sha Fu also noticed this and waved for Lin Quan to come over, asking with concern.
"No, thanks for your concern, Coach. I'm fine!"
Lin Quan waved his hand. This was his last month at Werder Bremen, and he didn't want to miss any training.
"Well, take care of yourself. Don't get sick or injured during this time. We have a very important match!"
Lin Quan nodded, indicating that he understood.
The important match Coach Shauf mentioned referred to the final of the German Cup. Whether SV Werder Bremen would end the season empty-handed or snatch a championship trophy depended entirely on their performance in the final.
After chatting with Lin Quan for a few moments, Shauf instructed him to return to the field for further training. As for himself, he began pondering the team's tactical approach for the next season.
It was clear that SV Werder Bremen's small squad wouldn't be able to retain Lin Quan and De Bruyne. Without their powerful offensive capabilities upfront, SV Werder Bremen's attacking prowess would undoubtedly suffer greatly. However, this season saw the rapid progress of Phil Kruger, and Petersen also showed willingness to stay with the team.
Petersen was initially signed by Bayern Munich for over 2 million euros as a backup striker, intended to serve as Gomez's understudy. Unexpectedly, Mario Mandzukic's outstanding performance at Bayern led to him claiming Gomez's starting position. With Mandzukic firmly established in the lineup, there was less need for backup strikers like Petersen. Especially considering that Petersen, unlike Mandzukic, wasn't particularly suited to Bayern's tactical system.
As a result, Bayern almost completely neglected Petersen, who was on loan, and didn't pay much attention to him. During the German Cup match against Bayern, Petersen even celebrated after scoring at the Allianz Arena, completely forgetting his status as a Bayern player. This behavior led to scorn from Bayern fans, who didn't want him to return to the Allianz Arena. With no place in the team and fans disliking him, Petersen naturally didn't want to go back. He was doing quite well at SV Werder Bremen, where, after Lin Quan and De Bruyne left next season, no one would compete with him for a starting position. Here, not only could he secure a starting spot, but he might even get to play in the Champions League. Perhaps, if he put on an impressive performance in the Champions League, a top club might take notice of him.
With Phil Kruger and Petersen in the squad, although the firepower upfront might decline, there was still a safety net. However, who could replace De Bruyne's position? Fritz was already 32 years old, nearing the end of his career, and he wasn't an exceptionally talented player. Relying on him to produce the kind of astonishingly precise passes De Bruyne did was unlikely.
Therefore, during the summer transfer window, the team needed to focus on recruiting midfielders. Like before, SV Werder Bremen planned to explore loan options, hoping to borrow young players from other clubs, especially top clubs.
Players coveted by top clubs usually had decent abilities, but due to intense competition, they might not get regular playing time. Consequently, many young players from top clubs were loaned out to gain experience elsewhere. For these young players, the chance to play in the Champions League with SV Werder Bremen next season was very attractive. Perhaps this opportunity could attract a batch of high-quality recruits.
However, it was unlikely to replicate this season's phenomenon of discovering exceptional talents like Lin Quan and De Bruyne. After coaching for so many years, Shauf had a clear understanding of their talent and abilities. These two would undoubtedly leave their mark on the football world.
...
On May 4th, the third-to-last round of matches in the Bundesliga began.
One of the highlights of this round was the match between Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich. Since these two teams had just slaughtered the Spanish giants in the Champions League semifinals to reach the final, this match was considered a rehearsal for the Champions League final by many.
Capitalizing on the hype generated by the Champions League semifinals, the Bundesliga spared no effort in promoting this match, scheduling it for 7:30 in the evening. To prevent other leagues from diverting attention and viewership from this match, the SV Werder Bremen vs. Hoffenheim match was scheduled for 3:30 in the afternoon.
Hoffenheim, currently second from bottom in the standings, still had a chance to avoid relegation unlike Fürth, who had already been relegated. With 27 points, Hoffenheim trailed Augsburg and Fortuna Düsseldorf by three points. If they could pull off an upset victory against SV Werder Bremen away from home in this round, they might have a chance to catch up and keep the relegation suspense alive until the final round.
With this mindset, Hoffenheim launched an offensive right from the start of the match against SV Werder Bremen.
Because they would face Borussia Dortmund in the final round, this match would be meaningless if it ended in a draw for them.
Therefore, Hoffenheim was clearly going all out!
Surprisingly, Hoffenheim's three-pronged attack was quite effective.
Just three minutes into the game, their No. 9 striker, Skrpluk, accidentally scored a goal. Skrpluk's long shot from outside the penalty area didn't pose much threat initially. However, after the ball entered the penalty area, it was deflected by a defending player's leg. Milicevic nearly broke his back trying to defend it, and the goal ended up being in the opposite direction of his position, leaving him powerless.
This goal boosted Hoffenheim's morale significantly.
They launched attacks against SV Werder Bremen one after another, and in the 10th minute, they scored another goal.
Surprisingly, Skrpluk scored again, this time from a penalty awarded to Hoffenheim after he accidentally fell in the penalty area. The main referee, who was quite far away, didn't see it clearly and directly awarded a penalty to Hoffenheim.
The slow-motion replay on the big screen at the scene showed that it was actually a wrong judgment, as Skrpluk fell on his own. Skrpluk wouldn't admit to diving, though. Upon seeing the referee's decision, he immediately got up from the ground, grabbed the ball, and prepared to take the penalty.
SV Werder Bremen's players protested to the referee for a while, but seeing that the referee had no intention of changing his decision, they gave up.
Although they were two goals down in less than ten minutes, SV Werder Bremen's players appeared calm and composed, without any signs of nervousness or anxiety. After repeatedly defeating strong opponents and achieving victory, they had developed the demeanor and confidence of champions. They believed in their abilities, so what if the opponent scored two goals?
After conceding the penalty and falling behind 0-2, SV Werder Bremen began to exert pressure.
In the 24th minute, SV Werder Bremen's players displayed seamless cooperation in the attacking third.
After the ball passed between five players seven times, it was effortlessly passed by De Bruyne into the opponent's goal, almost as if it were being passed around.
During this process, Hoffenheim's players not only failed to intercept the ball but couldn't even keep up with its movement.
The opponent's style of scoring left Hoffenheim's players with a sense of defeat at being outclassed.
So, this is how big the gap between us and the opponent is!
It was only now that Hoffenheim's players realized that the opponent had been holding back, not using their full strength until then.
Unfortunately, they realized this too late.
In the 35th minute, SV Werder Bremen once again displayed fluid cooperation, and Lin Quan easily scored with a lob shot after dribbling into the penalty area.
Before halftime, SV Werder Bremen equalized the score, bringing both teams back to the starting line.
But that wasn't all; when SV Werder Bremen went all out, even they were afraid of their own firepower!
In the 38th minute, SV Werder Bremen launched a swift counterattack, and Lin Quan assisted Petersen in scoring a goal, changing the score to 3-2 in favor of SV Werder Bremen.
In the 56th minute, SV Werder Bremen added another goal, with De Bruyne scoring directly from a free kick at a speed of up to 128 kilometers per hour, making the score 4-2.
In the end, the full-time whistle blew, and SV Werder Bremen, despite being two goals down at the beginning, made a comeback with four consecutive goals, relegating Hoffenheim to the depths of the relegation zone.
Hoffenheim's players and fans experienced firsthand what it felt like to fall from the clouds into the abyss.
After the match against Hoffenheim, the team didn't disperse immediately but gathered in the clubhouse to watch the showdown between Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich, the summit clash.
(End of this chapter)
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