CHAPTER 44: CHAPTER 15: REVENGE

Spain, Madrid

Schuster’s roar was clearly audible outside the office. He slammed the table and looked at Francisco, saying: "What’s wrong with him? Damn it, the moment I walked out today, I was bombarded with stupid questions by reporters."

"I’ve already talked to the press officer about this." Francisco replied to Schuster: "We will clarify the issue with the media shortly."

"He didn’t resist the police, just made a wrong choice while driving."

"He turned where he wasn’t supposed to turn."

The August matches are over, and after completing the victory parade, Schuster gave the players a break.

Drenthe took his girlfriend and two friends out for a drive and at a certain intersection, unfamiliar with the traffic rules, he turned a corner where he wasn’t supposed to and crashed into a police car driving normally.

"Did he really not drink?" Schuster looked at Francisco, but then quickly waved his hand and said, "As long as the result is that he didn’t drink, that’s good. How is he now?"

"Just suffered some minor injuries." Francisco said, "He might miss the next round against Villarreal."

"Villarreal has been undefeated in the league since April, and in the last round, they won 3-0 against the formidable Valencia."

"This was from Pellegrini’s recent pre-match interview."

"Engineer Pellegrini?" South American coaches working in Europe are few and far between. Pellegrini has quickly gained fame in recent years; in his first season coaching Valencia, he achieved third place in the league and performed well in the UEFA Europa League.

In the second season, he led Valencia to the Champions League semifinals, only to lose by one goal to Arsenal.

This is a tough opponent, and Schuster is well aware of it, thus he pays considerable attention to Villarreal.

The video was from the post-match press conference after the 3-0 victory over Valencia. Pellegrini sat in a suit and tie above, with a look of "spring wind" on his face. When a reporter below asked how he viewed the upcoming match against Real Madrid, Pellegrini said: "My goal is simple, to defeat Real Madrid once again."

In January, Pellegrini led Villarreal to a home victory over Real Madrid for the first time, which made the Villarreal fans ecstatic at the time.

"Our state is very good, the players have proved this, now, we need to maintain such status."

"They made significant changes this season, I believe we can defeat Real Madrid once again."

"Perhaps this task is easier than we imagine."

Reporters in the video also asked about Riquelme.

Juan Roman Riquelme, four-time Argentine Mr. Football, Villarreal’s biggest star, but was sidelined last season due to a conflict with Pellegrini.

Initially, people didn’t realize how severe the conflict between Pellegrini and Riquelme was. After all, when the news first broke, Villarreal President Royeg declared in an interview: "Riquelme is the greatest star in the club’s history."

This was once thought to mean the club supported Riquelme and the two would reconcile quickly.

But soon, the situation changed.

The club made a choice between the player and the coach.

The greatest star in the club’s history couldn’t compare to Engineer Pellegrini, and the club chose to renew with Pellegrini and loaned Riquelme out.

This season, Riquelme returned to Villarreal, drawing everyone’s attention to the coach-player pair. Someone wanted to know if Riquelme would play.

Pellegrini stated: "The decision to sell Riquelme will not change, in fact, we are negotiating with Atletico Madrid."

The video ended, Schuster curiously asked: "Is Riquelme joining Atletico Madrid?"

"Latest news." Francisco said: "Negotiations failed, Aguirre abandoned signing Riquelme, he felt changing the team’s tactic to fit Riquelme at this time was too risky."

"A wise choice, Riquelme isn’t cheap."

"How old is he this year? 29?"

Schuster asked several questions about Riquelme. With only a day or two left in the transfer window, whether to sign the Argentine star requires considering factors like desire and the fax machine’s condition.

Ultimately, Schuster gave up on signing Riquelme. Real Madrid currently doesn’t need a player like Riquelme, in fact, such a classical attacking midfielder as Riquelme should exit the historical stage.

"Pepe’s injury requires at least three weeks, Robben is undergoing recovery training and will also take about three weeks to return, Heinze can enter the team list but not recommended to start, Higuain is the same, Cannavaro is mostly recovered and can play in matches..." Francisco then reported on the team’s injury situation to Schuster.

Real Madrid’s first-team currently has 25 players:

Forwards: Van Nistelrooy, Robinho, Saviola, Soldado, Higuain, Raul, Robben

Midfielders: Baptista, Balboa, Sneijder, Diara, Guti, Gago

Defenders: Sergado, Cannavaro, Metzelder, Ramos, Marcelo, Drenthe, Heinze, Torres, Pepe, Chen Zhong

Goalkeepers: Casillas, Dudek

There are up to 6 players currently injured. "World Sports Newspaper" and "Daily Sports" have published a series of short articles on Real Madrid’s injury situation this season.

"By the way, any latest news on Villarreal?"

"Yes, recently, during an interview, Pellegrini stated they will take an offensive tactic at Estadio de la Cerámica."

"Of course!" Francisco saw Schuster was already red-hot and quickly explained: "This is likely just a smoke screen, they might still employ their usual defensive counterattack tactics."

"Ha!" Schuster chuckled lightly, didn’t say much, just circled name after name in his notebook.

The two teams have played 16 times in league history, Real Madrid holds the upper hand with 9 wins, 6 draws, and 1 loss; away games record 4 wins, 3 draws, 1 loss.

The sole defeat was in January under Capello’s leadership, it wasn’t pretty and was lost.

"I truly hope they’ll attack."

"Regardless of their approach."

"This match, I want all-out offense and defense."