Narrow Enemies, Bayern It Is!

Santpedor City, Catalonia.

Guardiola was discussing with his girlfriend, Serra, about where to take wedding photos and which place would be suitable for their wedding.

It's been a long time coming, and he wanted to make up for the years of owing to his girlfriend.

Their relationship had lasted for more than 15 years, and if they didn't walk into the marriage hall together, it would be a bit unfair.

"This place is good, close to the sea, and there's also an ancient castle. It's perfect for inviting family and friends to the wedding and without being bothered by the media!"

"Yeah, let's go with this place. But whom do you plan to invite?"

Serra looked at Guardiola curiously; she knew he had many friends in football, but she didn't know if he would invite them.

"Let's keep it low-key, so we won't invite too many people. I don't want our wedding to be disturbed by too many people!"

After some consideration, Guardiola decided not to send out too many invitations, only to invite a few of his closest friends.

"Well, it's up to you, but you should inform Lin in advance. I'm worried he won't be able to make time to come to our wedding."

"I'll call him about it, so you don't need to worry!"

Guardiola said. Lin had been in the Bundesliga for two months, and he hadn't been able to pay much attention to what was happening there due to busy preparing for the wedding and vacation.

Guardiola realized he needed to contact Lin, otherwise, Lin might think he was neglecting him.

Thinking about this, Guardiola took out his phone, ready to make a call to Lin, but at that moment, his phone rang. Seeing it was an unknown number from Germany, he answered the call.

...

Werder Bremen Club had entered a tense preparation state since accepting the German Football Association's invitation for the German Telekom Cup.

The four teams for the cup had been finalized, and apart from Hamburg, the other two teams were stronger than Werder Bremen. The strength gap wasn't small, but quite significant.

Coach Kohfeldt decided to prepare a strong defense to play against these two teams. In the counterattack play, Werder Bremen had to capitalize on the limited opportunities; otherwise, they would most likely lose.

To enhance the team's counter-attacking force, Coach Kohfeldt decided to place Lin into the starting lineup due to his exceptional scoring ability.

Such a major decision needed to be discussed with the player, especially since Lin was young and hadn't played in the starting lineup before.

"Lin, I'm planning to put you on the starting list for the next game. Do you have any issues, especially regarding your physical condition?"

Coach Kohfeldt was straightforward. Before, he may have been concerned about Lin's instability and lack of experience, but after observing him for several days, these worries had vanished.

Now, the only concern was about Lin's physical fitness due to his age. At 16-17, boys are at a crucial stage of physical development, the second peak of adolescence. Their bodies tend to be slender and have lower physical reserves compared to adults, making it hard for them to play a full game.

If it was a regular 90-minute match, Coach Kohfeldt wouldn't easily put Lin in the starting lineup. But the Telekom Cup matches were only 60 minutes, with half-time breaks, which didn't put too much pressure on the players' fitness.

If Lin was confident in his fitness, Coach Kohfeldt would let him play, but if Lin lacked confidence, Coach Kohfeldt would cancel the plan and have Lin play as usual — coming in during the second half.

Upon hearing the coach's words, Lin thought carefully. He played as a forward, the team's play was focused on extreme defense counter-attacks, so he wouldn't need to defend deeply, but he would need to exert himself on the offensive end.

By doing so, the test on his physical fitness wouldn't be too great; he should be able to play the full game without any issues. If not, he could use loyalty points to exchange for a stamina potion from the system.

Thinking about this, Lin nodded solemnly: "Don't worry, Coach, leave it to me!"

...

On the evening of that day, the draw for the Telekom Cup matches began.

Werder Bremen drew Bayern Munich, to the disappointment of the players. "It would have been much better if we drew Hamburg. If we got Hamburg, we would have had a good chance of advancing to the next round, but now..."

Bayern Munich had had a poor performance in the past two seasons in the Bundesliga, but the team's strength was evident. They outmatched Werder Bremen in terms of player strength and bench depth.

 Luckily, this is a cup competition, the kind where surprises happen easily, so Werder Bremen still has a chance.

"The probability of getting Hamburg is too low, we and Hamburg were originally brought in as extras. The Telekom Cup revolves around Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich, so they definitely won't arrange for them to clash in the first round; otherwise, the final wouldn't be as exciting, and the sponsors wouldn't be happy!"

"Right, arranging a weak team for these two in the first round is a smart move, letting them warm up. Then in the final, these two can provide the fans with an exciting showdown, that's the ideal script!"

"Cough, Okay, I agree that Hamburg is the weaker team, but I disagree with us being called weak!"

"Haha, we didn't fare much better than Hamburg last season, so it's not unfair to call us weak!"

"But this season we have Lin and Kevin, it's not the same as last season!"

...

Seeing the players bantering, the coaching staff breathed a sigh of relief. They had been worried that after knowing their opponents, the players would be intimidated by their strong opponents and subsequently underperform in the matches.

Now, it seemed like they worried for nothing.

This season, the Werder Bremen players had set their mindsets positively; they understood they were just a team striving to avoid relegation. So, when they encountered teams like Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, they weren't burdened psychologically.

Losing to such teams was nothing unusual.

On the contrary, if they pulled off an upset, they would earn big!

On Bayern Munich's side, the players were happy about the draw result for the first round. "Hehe, looks like our first-round opponent isn't too strong or too weak, just right for a warm-up."

"I hope Dortmund won't get knocked out by Hamburg. In that case, in the final, we can avenge last year's defeats with an exciting showdown!"

The players were eager to take revenge on Dortmund.

As for Werder Bremen? Who cared about such a trash team anyway?!