The match was set to kick off at 6:00 PM on September 17th.
On the afternoon of the 16th, after finishing their training session and having dinner, the Dortmund team packed their bags and headed for Duesseldorf International Airport.
They were on an 8:00 PM Austrian Airlines flight, which landed at Vienna International Airport at 9:35 PM.
The team bus was already waiting for them on schedule.
According to the schedule, they would return to Dortmund the sa night after the match on the 17th.
This was because on the 20th, the team had to travel to Hanover to face Hannover 96.
The away ga wasn’t far—just over 200 kiloters—but the match was scheduled for 2:00 PM.
So, Dortmund was on a very tight schedule.
To make matters worse, after the Hannover 96 match, they would return to Dortmund for a brief rest before imdiately playing an away ga against Karlsruhe in the second round of the DFB-Pokal.
Karlsruhe was a full 300-plus kiloters away from Dortmund.
Wang Shuo had often heard people talk about competing on two fronts, or even multiple fronts, but he never really had a concept of what that entailed.
But now that the team was advancing on three fronts this season, he was truly feeling the pressure of competing in multiple competitions.
Especially with a string of away gas like this.
Take the away gas against Hannover 96 and Karlsruhe, for instance.
Two or three hundred kiloters for an away ga wasn’t that far, was it?
But it was still a three-to-four-hour drive.
And could anyone guarantee there wouldn’t be traffic jams or other delays on the road?
The Karlsruhe match was slightly better, since it didn’t kick off until 7:30 PM.
The Hannover 96 match, however, kicked off at 2:00 PM.
Leaving on the morning of the match would be cutting it close, but leaving a day early seed like overkill.
For the players, the biggest drain from competing on multiple fronts with consecutive away gas wasn’t the matches themselves, but the ti spent on the road.
For Wang Shuo, however, it wasn’t much of a problem.
He had discovered sothing rather interesting.
With the help of his Intercontinental Level [Breathing], whenever he closed his eyes to rest and focused on adjusting his breathing rhythm, he could fall asleep very quickly.
Moreover, the quality of his sleep was extrely high.
This amazed the entire team, making them incredibly envious.
They knew all too well just how important high-quality sleep was.
"Hey, Wang, quick, look outside! What’s that?"
As the team bus arrived at Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna, Foyelner, who was sitting in the front row, turned around and shook the sleeping Wang Shuo awake, urging him to look out the window.
Wang Shuo turned his head and saw dozens of fans outside, roaring angrily at their bus.
Although the bus was well soundproofed, he could still faintly make out their shouts.
"Chinese kid, get out of Austria!"
"Stay away from Lina!"
"You bastard, you don’t deserve her!"
Wang Shuo was completely baffled.
’What’s going on?’
He looked over at Foyelner and Subotic, then at the other players. They were all laughing.
"What’s happening?" Wang Shuo asked Subotic, who was sitting beside him.
"You don’t know?"
"What am I supposed to know?" Wang Shuo was even more puzzled.
"After Lina Gerk won the modeling competition in Germany, she got really popular there, but for quite a while, she focused her career in Austria, including appearing on so TV shows."
"So, right now, you are definitely the public enemy of every man in Austria!"
Wang Shuo was a little dumbfounded.
Thinking about it, he did seem to recall her ntioning sothing about her career in Austria.
But he had no idea she was so popular there.
"You know what, Wang? To be honest, as a man, I totally understand how they feel!" Foyelner said, turning around again from the front row, his voice thick with envy.
"Why?"
"Because Lina Gerk is the certified dream girl for guys in Germany, Austria, and even the surrounding countries. You don’t know the first thing about her, and none of us can figure out what on earth she sees in you."
Believe it or not, Wang Shuo actually gave it so serious thought but ca up with no answer.
So...
"How about this: when I get back, I’ll ask her for you and give you an answer then."
Foyelner was absolutely floored.
Beside them, Subotic, Reus, and the others all burst out laughing.
Savage!
The look on Foyelner’s face as he turned away made it seem as if he were about to cough up blood.
"Wang, I was wrong. I shouldn’t have run my mouth. I shouldn’t have given you an opening like that. I’m sorry..."
Everyone on the bus erupted in a roar of laughter.
Foyelner had always fancied himself a prince of the nightlife and was rumored to be intimately familiar with the clubs in Dusseldorf.
But even a seasoned playboy like him was incredibly envious of Wang Shuo for dating Lina Gerk.
...
For the match against Vienna Rapid, Klopp once again opted for a 4-2-3-1 formation.
Wang Shuo was once again in the starting lineup, playing center-forward.
And as he stepped onto the pitch, many fans in the stands actually started booing him.
’So I really have beco Austria’s public enemy number one, huh?’
Far from being upset, Wang Shuo actually felt his spirits lift.
’Boo away!’
’Get a few more in while you still have the energy!’
From the mont the match began, Dortmund started pressing hard.
Full of fighting spirit, Wang Shuo led the team in pressuring the Vienna side, throwing the Austrian team into disarray.
Even a team like Bayern had trouble with Dortmund’s intense pressing, let alone Vienna Rapid.
Just thirteen minutes in, Wang Shuo made a quick diagonal run to the left. After receiving the ball, he was in a one-on-one situation against center-back Marcus Hiekinen.
Wang Shuo suddenly burst forward with the ball, charging toward the byline as if to cross. He then stopped on a di, cut the ball back to his right foot, and threaded a pass through a gap in the defense to the left side of the penalty area.
The onrushing Shahin t it with a placed shot, breaking through Vienna Rapid’s goal!
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