Chapter 379: Chapter 84: A Surprise! European Do-or-Die Match! The Turin Massacre! The Old Lady’s Elegy! The Bundesliga is Vindicated

Wang Shuo was positioned in the left half-space of the attacking third. The instant he saw Schmelzer win the ball, he immediately ran back, beating everyone to it and passing the ball across to Götze.

"Pass, pass, pass!!"

After passing to Götze, Wang Shuo spun around and charged forward at top speed.

Götze was incredibly sharp.

He’d put in plenty of extra training with Wang Shuo and they’d frequently practiced their link-up play.

Most importantly, he was thoroughly convinced of Wang Shuo’s skill.

In the last Bundesliga match, Wang Shuo had even set him up with two assists.

This time, upon hearing Wang Shuo’s shout, he didn’t even take a touch. He immediately chipped a pass over the top, sending it into the space behind the defensive line.

Wang Shuo surged forward at top speed. Despite starting from behind, he caught up to Lillorotale and Cannavaro.

And then, he blazed past them!

Sprinting at maximum velocity, Wang Shuo caught up to Götze’s pass just outside the Arc Top District after it bounced.

"My God, Wang Shuo is incredibly fast!"

"He’s like a bolt of lightning, streaking across the Turin night sky!"

After catching the ball, Wang Shuo took a series of quick, small steps to adjust his position. As the ball dropped again, he nudged it forward with one touch, chased after it, and burst into the penalty box.

Buffon was already at the edge of his six-yard box.

By the time Wang Shuo reached the penalty spot, his feet were a blur of feints, completely bamboozling Buffon. The legendary Italian keeper had no idea what Wang Shuo was going to do.

’Damn it!’

’This Chinese kid’s footwork is too fast!’

In that instant, Buffon was reminded of the Brazilian striker Ronaldo, back when he had just joined Inter Milan from Barcelona.

Buffon had felt the exact same way when facing Ronaldo in a one-on-one.

The only difference was that back then, he was younger and dared to charge out.

But tonight, facing Wang Shuo, Buffon didn’t dare to rush out too far forward.

But just as Buffon was trying to read him, Wang Shuo suddenly unleashed a thunderous shot.

The ball flew past Buffon’s left hand and buried itself in the right side of the net behind him.

"GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!"

"A brace!!"

"Wang Shuo with the brace!!"

"3–0!"

"Dortmund are off to a dream start in Turin!"

"Eighteen minutes! In just eighteen minutes, the German team is up by three goals!"

"Who would have possibly believed before the match that Juventus would be getting thrashed like this at home?"

"Although they suffered a crushing 1–4 defeat at home against Bayern in the final round of the Champions League group stage, Juventus at least kept the outcome in doubt until the final ten minutes of that match."

"But this time, they’ve lost it all right from the opening whistle!"

An ecstatic Wang Shuo ran off the pitch to celebrate.

He could feel the cameras for the global broadcast fixed on him.

So he kept running, all the way to the stands where the Dortmund fans were seated.

Shen Qinghe was sitting somewhere in that very section, cheering for his goal!

And how did Wang Shuo know?

Because he was the one who gave her the ticket!

After agreeing to join Wang Shuo’s team, she didn’t discuss salary or a contract. She made only one request: that Wang Shuo cover her tickets, travel, and accommodation for all his future matches.

Ideally, she wanted to be able to travel with the team.

This wasn’t actually that difficult to arrange.

The management teams of many famous players have someone like that. This person is responsible for handling all sorts of miscellaneous affairs and keeping the player updated. Whenever the player runs into a problem, they have someone they can immediately turn to for advice.

This person is the true core of the management team.

Some even help the players manage their money and investments.

As a result, this person is often the one the player trusts the most.

For example, Messi’s agent is his father, and he plays exactly this role.

Ronaldo’s agent is Mendes, but in reality, Mendes can’t possibly follow Ronaldo around all day.

Instead, Mendes arranges for a trusted confidant to stay by Ronaldo’s side to fulfill that role. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Incidentally, Mendes himself started his career in that very role.

His boss at the time was Feirer, the super-agent who held a monopoly on exporting Brazilian players to Europe.

...

Dortmund ultimately defeated Juventus 3–0 away from home, thanks to Wang Shuo’s two goals and one assist.

After that opening blitz that resulted in three quick goals, neither side scored again.

In reality, however, anyone who watched the match could easily see that Dortmund had completely dominated Juventus for the entire ninety minutes.

The possession stats were 58% to 42% in Dortmund’s favor, a difference of 16 percentage points.

In terms of shots, Dortmund took 18 while Juventus managed only 5, with zero on target.

After the match, the Milan Sports Daily was the first to publish its commentary, calling it a complete and utter rout.

"The disaster in Turin has stripped the Serie A bare, like the emperor’s new clothes, revealing the festering wounds beneath for all to see."

"The gap between it and the top leagues in Europe, in particular, is only growing wider."

The crushing 1–4 home defeat to Bayern in the Champions League group stage was considered Juventus’s most shameful loss in over forty years.

And this disaster in Turin set a new benchmark for that shame.

At least against Bayern, Juventus managed to score a goal and get a shot on target.

But what about against Dortmund?

The Old Lady didn’t manage a single shot on target.

The Torino Sports Daily also reported after the match that with their 3–0 away victory over Juventus, powered by Wang Shuo’s brace, Dortmund had all but secured their spot in the quarterfinals of the UEFA Europa League.

"More running, more passing, more combination play, and faster transitions from defense to attack—this is the dominant trend in the current European Football Scene. Dortmund leveraged these advantages to utterly defeat Juventus in Turin!"