I Am Scouted by Real Madrid

Chapter 140: Chapter 46: Chen’s Presence Is the Best Proof!!!

The Champions League schedule has come to an end, but for Schuster and Real Madrid, the upcoming national derby is paramount.

The 16th round of La Liga marks the 60th anniversary of Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, and the opponent for this match is Osasuna. After defeating Osasuna, it’s the national derby against Barcelona.

The whole team is full of confidence for this match; as long as they win, with only one round left in the first half, they are guaranteed the winter championship title.

In the match against Osasuna, Chen Zhong made it into the squad but didn’t get a chance to start. Baptista and Diara formed the midfield pairing, while Guti sat on the bench until the 68th minute when he replaced Baptista to get his chance.

The game was a bit dull, but Schuster led the team to a 2-0 victory over the opponents. However, the focus was undoubtedly on Raul, as this match marked his 462nd league appearance for Real Madrid, surpassing Sandyana’s 461 appearances and placing him second in Real Madrid’s history for La Liga appearances.

The only player with more appearances than Raul is the former Real Madrid defensive legend Sanchez, who tops the list with 524 appearances.

Raul has already scored 8 goals in the 16 league rounds, coming second in the scoring charts, scoring one more than he did in the entire last season, and he’s the current player with the most goals in La Liga, having scored 195 goals in 462 league matches.

After the match and after securing the winter championship title, Sporting Director Mijatovic, facing the cameras, responded to a journalist’s question about the match being somewhat dull, saying with a smile: ”The victory is most important, especially when you face a very tenacious and challenging team. We slowed the pace in the second half and missed some opportunities to score; the team could have had more goals. However, considering the next match, it’s logical for the coach to make adjustments. The important thing is that we can go to Camp Nou as the leaders.”

”Having a 4-point lead as we head to Camp Nou is more important than anything.”

After the match, facing interviews, Schuster also responded to questions, saying: ”Was the match dull? It’s not a problem. Osasuna is a very tenacious team, and we spent some time after scoring as they became more conservative.”

”This was our last home game of the year, and we successfully secured the victory, achieving a 15-game home winning streak, which is more important than anything. Overall, the victory is crucial.”

Schuster emphasized the importance of winning and didn’t comment on the match’s result. After the interview, he pulled Francisco to the office, and the two of them started watching the just-ended Barcelona match.

”3:0 victory away against Valencia.”

”Eto’o scored twice.”

”Messi, possibly injured???” Schuster widened his eyes, looking at Francisco incredulously.

If there’s anyone Schuster fears the most when facing Barcelona, it’s undoubtedly Messi.

Back when he coached Getafe, Messi’s ”Maradona-like” goal became a haunting nightmare. Sometimes, thinking of Messi makes Schuster unable to sleep at night.

Imagining when people reflect on Messi’s career, they always mention this ”Maradona-like” dribble, with his Getafe team as the backdrop, making his stomach turn.

”We need to see Barcelona’s official announcement for the specifics.”

”Although from here it looks like Messi was taken off during the first half due to an injury, the actual situation still depends on the official results.”

”Moreover,” Francisco advised Schuster, ”even if Messi is absent, Barcelona still has other offensive talents.”

The news about Messi’s injury didn’t keep Schuster waiting long.

Despite Messi appearing relaxed, wearing sportswear while watching the remainder of the game from the bench during the match against Valencia, Barcelona’s medical team still notified the media and fans with bad news: ”Because of a partial tear in the left biceps femoris, Messi will be forced to miss a month.”

This means he will miss not only the national derby against Real Madrid but also several matches after the winter break.

In the last national derby, thanks to Messi’s hat trick, Barcelona managed a home draw against Real Madrid, and missing Messi is undoubtedly a significant blow for Barcelona.

”Is it possible this is fake news?” Schuster was very concerned about Messi, even repeatedly replaying the clip before Messi’s injury.

At that moment, Messi made a quick consecutive dribbling move on the sideline, appearing to have no significant collision with an opponent, yet he stopped on the field.

Since the first half was nearing its end, Messi refused the stretcher, only clutching his thigh and frowning in thought, but eventually Rijkaard substituted him out with Dos Santos.

Schuster saw through the television footage the redness and bleeding of Messi’s knee, but the final examination showed it wasn’t a knee injury but rather a problem with his left thigh muscle.