Chapter 354: Chapter 81: World-Class Goal! Diving Header! The Difference Between Genius and Mortals! This Is Our Dortmund Football

The result was predictable. Van Bitten simply "bumped" into Wang Shuo, sending him stumbling forward and costing him his position. However, the ball landed perfectly right in front of him.

After quickly adjusting his footing, Wang Shuo chested the ball down. He then used the inside of his right foot to pull it sideways, turning and bringing it under his firm control all in one motion.

Van Bommel immediately rushed over and went in for a slide tackle.

However, Wang Shuo was a step faster. He knocked the ball away just as he was tripped. After stumbling for a moment, he quickly took a few choppy steps to regain his balance and brought the ball back under his control, beating Schweinsteiger to it.

Just as Wang Shuo, trapped between the two Bayern defensive midfielders, was about to dribble past them sideways, Van Bommel and Schweinsteiger both slid in at the same time, taking him down.

The referee, Kircher, blew his whistle, signaling a foul.

Only then did everyone notice that Owomoyela was wide open on the right flank again.

If Wang Shuo had found even the slightest opening to make that pass, it would have undoubtedly led to another threatening attack!

The Bayern fans in Allianz Arena gave their players a thunderous round of applause.

It was, indeed, an excellent defensive play!

But Wang Shuo remained on the ground, writhing and clutching his feet in "agony."

Schweinsteiger walked over, intending to help Wang Shuo up, but Wang Shuo forcefully slapped Xiao Zhu’s hand away.

"Look at my leg! Did you hit the ball? You hit my leg!"

"And you!"

Wang Shuo pointed angrily at Van Bommel. "How many times is that now? You threatened to give me a hard time before the match even started! You’ve kicked my leg three times in a row now. Are you even trying to play the ball?"

As he spoke, Wang Shuo pointed to his socks and cleats.

The match was less than ten minutes in, but his socks and cleats were already filthy—all the proof he needed.

Van Bommel was getting furious.

"Stop acting! Get up!"

With that, he started to walk over and pull Wang Shuo to his feet.

But just then, the other Dortmund players reacted.

Sven Bender was the first to charge in, blocking Van Bommel and shielding Wang Shuo with his body. He glared at Van Bommel and roared, "What do you think you’re doing?"

The other Dortmund players all rushed over as well.

The Bayern players swarmed in too.

The scene instantly threatened to spiral out of control.

Van Bommel, standing on the edge of the scrum, felt deeply wronged. "I was just trying to help him up."

"We don’t need your help! You foul him and then try to play the good guy?"

"Yeah, you’ve been playing dirty since the kickoff. Who knows what you’re really up to?"

"Stay away from our captain!"

Both Van Bommel and Schweinsteiger felt incredibly wronged.

Their joint tackle this time hadn’t actually been that aggressive.

’Did they not make contact with Wang Shuo’s leg?’

’Oh, they definitely did.’

It was mainly because Wang Shuo was so quick; Van Bommel had clipped him while going for the ball.

’Besides, when is a defender’s tackle ever perfectly clean?’

’Van Bommel, in particular, was notorious for his rough play. What was one little kick?’

But now, with Wang Shuo making such a "scene," the situation was gradually spiraling out of control.

Even if the referee, Kircher, wanted to favor the home team, he had no choice but to de-escalate the conflict under these circumstances.

At the very least, he had to calm the Dortmund players down.

So, he beckoned Van Bommel over and showed him a yellow card!

This sent Van Bommel into a furious rage; he nearly lost his mind.

As a defensive player, his specialty was living on the edge of the rules. He’d always used that skill to torment opponents, who could only grit their teeth in helpless rage. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

But this time, despite not having made any particularly rough moves, he’d been shown a yellow card.

It was a bitter pill he just couldn’t swallow.

"Let me tell you, that was a tackle from behind. I’m already going easy on you," Referee Kircher told Van Bommel. "And besides, I warned you at the beginning of the match, didn’t I?"

The Netherlands midfielder knew he was in the wrong.

That earlier verbal warning had put him on the referee’s bad side!

And judging by the referee’s tone, he was now being watched closely.

Another foul would likely earn him a red card without a moment’s hesitation.

In addition to booking Van Bommel, Kircher also gave Schweinsteiger a warning.

Xiao Zhu had almost been dribbled past just now, but he had ended up fouling Wang Shuo.

Kircher warned him to be more careful; the next time would earn him a card.

After dismissing Schweinsteiger, Kircher turned to tell Wang Shuo to get up.

But to his surprise, when he turned back, he saw Wang Shuo was already standing up on his own.

’Cunning kid!’

Kircher was secretly amused.

Van Bommel had spent a lifetime hunting hawks, only to have his eyes pecked out by a sparrow.

He’d always lived on the edge of what constituted a foul, and this time, he had suffered a major loss for it.

Knowing how to use the referee to keep an opponent in check was a skill in itself.

This was especially true against a cunning player like Van Bommel.

As an international-level referee who had officiated countless matches, Kircher had seen plenty of powerful teams that had no idea how to leverage the referee’s presence.

A prime example was the match from the 19th league round, when Werder Bremen hosted Bayern.

Kircher had been the referee for that match as well.

In that game, Werder Bremen had come out strong, with players like Marco Marin and Mesut delivering outstanding performances to score the opening goal against Bayern.

But the Bayern midfield, led by Van Bommel, quickly turned the tables and began to dominate Werder Bremen.