CHAPTER 41: CHAPTER 12: THE FUTURE

The streets of Madrid were deserted, the players all dressed in suits.

As captain, Raul stood on the bus, raising the championship trophy high, while the surrounding fans erupted with cheers.

Chen Zhong carefully took in all of this, witnessing the team’s speech at the City Hall, seeing the spectacular city painted in pure white. Now they were headed to Plaza de Cibeles to lift the trophy high in front of all the fans and share the moment of joy with them.

The tsunami-like applause and shouts almost engulfed the entire city. Chen Zhong witnessed Raul and Guti, along with other captains, tying the team’s scarf on the Goddess of Harvest statue.

It was a tradition after winning the championship, the most solemn and sacred gesture.

After completing these series of actions, Raul, as captain, tenderly kissed the statue of the Goddess.

During the event, fans occasionally shouted out Schuster’s name from the stands, to which Schuster reacted by recalling his experiences before coming to Real Madrid, unable to suppress a smile.

Last season, Schuster was the coach of Getafe. News had already spread about him coaching Real Madrid when Getafe was beaten 5:2 by Barcelona at Camp Nou in the first leg of the Spanish King’s Cup.

Back then, many Getafe fans hoped Schuster would stay, while the Merengues showed disdain towards him, thinking he was unworthy to coach Real Madrid.

But who would have thought, in the second leg of the Spanish King’s Cup, Schuster’s Getafe turned the tables on Barcelona.

At Perez Stadium, Getafe pressed Barcelona from the start, not allowing a single shot during the first half, ultimately defeating Barcelona 4:0, with a total score of 5:6, eliminating them and advancing to the final.

Unfortunately, they eventually fell to Sevilla’s feet, failing to win the King’s Cup for Getafe.

Sevilla was incredibly strong in cup competitions!

However, that man seems to have moved to coach Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League.

While Schuster was musing, he was celebrating with the players, yet he felt somewhat detached since the Real Madrid championship had little connection to him.

When will La Liga finally award the championship trophy during the same season?

The celebration ended, and Schuster returned to his office. Francisco stood there with a serious expression, handing over a document detailing the players’ injuries.

Higuain, Heinze, Robben, Pepe...

One name after another made the veins on Schuster’s forehead throb as he tossed the document onto the desk and straightforwardly questioned, "Just tell me! I really don’t want to see this anymore. Isn’t that damn jerk willing to change his damn training plan?"

"We’ve already had 7 or 8 cases of muscle strain. What more does it take for him to take this seriously?"

"Damn it, do other teams have this many injuries? How about Barcelona?"

Francisco waited until Schuster finished speaking before starting, "Maybe, knowing this news will make you feel a bit better."

"Barcelona was just held to a draw by Santander Athletic in the league."

"They were held to a draw?" Schuster appeared a bit surprised, "I remember they were undefeated in the warm-up matches! When we lost, they mocked us plenty, yet their first match ended in a draw."

Schuster’s face held a smile. Although the ranking of the first round of the league didn’t mean much, the news certainly put him in a better mood.

Since becoming the head coach of Real Madrid, the media liked to compare him with Barcelona. He had grown tired of being belittled during this period.

Yes, he won the Russian Railways Cup, the Spanish Super Cup, but during this period he also lost, and whenever he lost, he wasn’t spared any insults!

In the span of more than a month, he spent at least half of it under a barrage of criticism.

"Here’s the match footage, watch it!" Francisco took a laptop and played the footage of Barcelona’s first round league match for Schuster.

During the viewing, Schuster saw Henry and Deco sitting on the bench. The camera focused several times on their faces: one using an awkward smile to disguise himself, the other with a serious face, almost writing the word ’disappointment’ on his forehead.

Barcelona’s trident comprised Ronaldinho, Eto’o, and Messi.

Deco’s absence caused an indescribable impact on this Barcelona team,

Ronaldinho and Messi on the wings couldn’t receive Deco’s precise long passes, making it difficult for them to have one-on-one chances against defenders. They often faced double or triple team defenses.

The most common scene in the footage was Messi facing Santander Athletic’s defense and having to pass the ball back.

Later, Rijkaard made an adjustment, moving Ronaldinho to play attacking midfielder while Eto’o and Messi served as forwards, but unfortunately, against Santander Athletic’s thick central defense, there were still no opportunities.

Eventually, Rijkaard finally brought Deco on, but substituted Henry for Messi.

Schuster didn’t know how to evaluate Rijkaard’s substitution choice—his impression of Messi was quite strong, during last season coaching Getafe, Messi replicated Maradona’s feat by scoring in one fell swoop like a dragon, that was truly a nightmare.

Schuster paid a lot of attention to Barcelona, knowing what it meant to play against them, and he would make ample preparations.

"Alright!" Schuster looked at Francisco and asked, "Now let’s talk about the injuries!"

"Metzelder is already able to jog and join the ball training. His recovery from injury is ideal, Cannavaro felt discomfort in his body after the match against Atletico Madrid, but he can catch up for the next match. Pepe’s strain is quite troublesome, he might miss 3-4 matches."

Francisco detailed the current injury situation in the team, with injuries across all three lines. The player he held high hopes for, Pepe, would require over half a month of rest.

"This kid is really lucky." Schuster suddenly chuckled, "What’s Chen doing now?"

Francisco glanced at Schuster and understood his intention. Schuster planned to have Chen Zhong continue serving as the team’s center-back during the upcoming period.

At least until Pepe recovered, Chen Zhong would be the best choice to pair with Cannavaro.

"He seems to have gone to Sports City."

"Julen Lopetegui invited him to meet with the new youngsters who joined the team."