Weird Defender Joo Ji-Tae

157 – A Small Incident

157

If it were Manchester City’s home stadium, I would think of the Etihad Stadium, but today, it’s not the Etihad Stadium, but the City of Manchester Stadium.

This is because, according to UEFA’s rules, sponsors’ names cannot be used in UEFA-organized tournaments. In other words, only UEFA sponsors’ names can be used.

It may seem like a very annoying attitude, but clubs have no choice but to follow UEFA’s rules.

After all, they’re giving out a lot of money.

From the Champions League, which offers the largest prize money in the world, to the Europa League, which is also quite lucrative, and even the Conference League.

The prize money for UEFA-organized tournaments is really enormous. And if you add the broadcasting rights and ticket sales, the scale becomes even larger.

UEFA can be a bit bossy, but as long as they’re giving out a lot of money, it’s okay.

So, the stadium for the Barcelona and Manchester City quarterfinal match is the City of Manchester Stadium.

Anyway, from the players’ perspective, it doesn’t matter.

“Did you see the lineup? I thought we could take it easy in the first game since they fielded all their starters against Arsenal last time, but it looks like they’re going all out.”

“It’s not going to be easy. If they explode in the second half, what are we going to do?”

“It’s Manchester City, after all… They have great medical staff and facilities, so they’ll manage themselves. Didn’t you see the newspaper article about Manchester City’s medical facilities? It was crazy. The facilities are top-notch.”

“Newspaper? You read that kind of thing?”

“You idiot. This is the kind of thing that makes you smarter. Do you think Joo Ji-tae is good at soccer just because? It’s because I read the newspaper and got smarter.”

“Is that so?”

As Joo Ji-tae scanned the opposing lineup, he heard Max and Joel’s silly chatter.

Clearly, Manchester City’s strong, solid squad stood out. The team’s core, the center, was especially impressive.

“With a center-back duo of Rudy Downing and Brad Duffy, and Oliver Negredo as a defensive midfielder, it’s a luxurious lineup.”

Each player was a world-class talent in their own position.

But was their flank weak? Not at all. Manchester City’s flank was also strong.

Is there a weakness in Manchester City’s squad? If I had to pick one, it would be the slightly lacking central striker.

Martin Gestad, the current striker, is not a pushover, but compared to other positions, he lacks a bit of weight and presence. Still, Martin Gestad is a good striker.

In a top team like Manchester City, he’s able to build up and connect with the team, and even helps with defense, scoring 20-30 goals every season.

This proves that Manchester City’s central striker is a position that requires a lot.

That’s why Fernando Alvarez, who has been showing off his exceptional skills, is considered the best.

That’s why Manchester City has been trying to sign Fernando Alvarez. I remember that there were transfer rumors every season… and eventually, they’ll pay the largest transfer fee in football history.

“The core is solid, the flank is strong, and the attack is a bit lacking in weight, but relatively, they’re excellent players.”

And it was the type of player composition that Joo Ji-tae loved.

If it were a team of Joo Ji-tae’s caliber, even a weak team would be easily defeated. A championship-contending team would have to be extremely strong, eliciting reactions like “Wow, Joo Ji-tae is incredible!”

Messi could show off all his skills against a lower-ranked team, but it would just be the usual Messi performance.

However, if he defeated Real Madrid, Manchester City, Liverpool, or Bayern Munich, people would finally exclaim, “That’s Messi! God Messi!”

In that sense, Joo Ji-tae’s favorite type of strong team was one like Manchester City.

A team aiming to win the Champions League, with a solid defense and midfield, but relatively lacking in offense.

A team that could quickly neutralize the opponent’s attack and launch a counterattack.

* * *

＜ 34/35 UEFA Champions League Quarterfinals 1st Leg ＞

Barcelona: Manchester City

City of Manchester Stadium

[Barcelona 4-1-2-3]

FW: Mark Guigu / Iker Rodriguez / Jose Marza

CM: Pablo Lopez / Arnau Pradas

DM: Diego Almeida

DF: Marco Gross / Joo Ji-tae / Madu Murcia / Pau Berges

GK: Hector Port

[Manchester City 4-3-3]

FW: Christian Dabi / Martin Gested / Nuredin Gaye

CM: Nathan Allan De Run / Luis Garcia

DM: Oliver Negredo

DF: William Mopey / Rudi Downing / Brad Duff / Chris Hooper

GK: Stefan Navas

Both teams fielded a near-full-strength lineup.

Barcelona replaced injured starting fullback Alexis Olmedo with rotation member Marco Gross, while Manchester City started Christian Dabi and Nathan Allan De Run in place of injured winger Jack Gabbert and central midfielder Andre Nielsen.

Given that Manchester City was missing two starting players, Barcelona had the advantage.

Both teams focused on organization and fielded their best 11 players, making it even more so.

However, experts predicted a slight advantage for Manchester City.

Despite missing two starting players, Manchester City was playing at home, and objectively, their team strength was superior to Barcelona’s, making it a natural prediction.

But Joo Ji-tae didn’t agree with that prediction at all.

As Joo Ji-tae waited for the referee’s whistle, he casually glanced around and met the gaze of Miguel Gomez, who was looking at him from the bench.

“It would be fun to play together, but it’s a shame.”

Miguel Gomez’s confidence was not an exaggeration.

His eyes saw a path that ordinary players couldn’t see. Miguel Gomez’s vision was special, just like Joo Ji-tae’s.

So-called world-class midfielders were said to possess such a special vision.

Miguel Gomez indeed had that ability, and his performances in his prime, combined with his exceptional physical abilities, had garnered immense expectations. But that was all in the past.

He had suffered an injury that might prevent him from returning to the field, requiring four surgeries and two years of rehabilitation, making it impossible for his body to move like it used to.

Until now, he had been trying to recover his past form, to play like he used to, but… it was all in vain.

Joo Ji-tae knew that well.

Because Joo Ji-tae had experienced something similar in the first round.

His head and eyes already knew the answer, but his body couldn’t move as he wanted.

It would be better if he didn’t know, but the praise he received for his near-perfect plays was already deeply etched in his memory, making it all the more painful.

However, no matter how hard he tried, a body that had once been broken could never return to its original state.

That was why Joo Ji-tae had changed his position.

In modern football, even defenders receive pressure, but it’s incomparable to the intensity of pressure faced by forwards.

If Joo Ji-tae were a striker or midfielder, he would have received even more intense pressure, and its intensity would be unimaginable.

It’s not just the pressure that’s high; inevitably, it would come with rough and brutal plays. To shake off this pressure and play as he wanted, even Joo Ji-tae couldn’t avoid overexerting his body.

And it would be a repetition of the past. He might be able to show a slightly longer and more consistent peak performance, but it would only last for a year or two at most.

Now, in his second life, Joo Ji-tae’s answer was to move further back.

His head and eyes wouldn’t easily disappear. Even as he aged, he could still use them well. But his body was different. Once it started to deteriorate, it would only get worse.

So, he decided to use his head and eyes actively in the backline, where he could utilize two of his special talents to their fullest, while occasionally bringing out his remaining talent. This was his answer, unlike Miguel Gomez’s, who had given up.

He had given up on becoming the main character and was satisfied with being a supporting actor.

Of course, being a supporting actor also had its own level of difficulty, and Joo Ji-tae was determined to shine as a brilliant supporting actor.

He had the ability to do so, and Joo Ji-tae was confident that if he could just get his breathing right, he could show an even more powerful performance. But… time was too short.

Even Coach Jose acknowledged the possibility and experimented with Joo Ji-tae and Miguel Gomez’s coexistence, but it was impossible to solve in just 1-2 days.

Still, the fact that Coach Jose had given him a chance to play in the important Champions League match, despite usually benching him, showed that he was thinking positively.

At least, that was a start.

Joo Ji-tae nodded slightly, and Miguel Gomez smiled faintly in response.

But that was the end of his role as a bench player.

Now, it was time for the players on the field to shine.

Joo Ji-tae focused intently, his tension building, and soon, the referee blew the whistle.

The match began with Barcelona’s kickoff.

Iker Rodriguez passed to Jose Marsa, who then passed it back to Captain Pablo Lopez.

As expected, Manchester City’s intense pressure started from the beginning, pushing forward fiercely.

The plan was to take it easy and get accustomed to the stadium and atmosphere, but Pablo Lopez carelessly passed the ball back.

“What are you doing, Captain?!”

However, Manchester City’s players, who had been sprinting from the start, exceeded expectations.

Noureddine Gaye rushed towards the ball, and Pablo Lopez, who had been caught off guard, turned his body late, but fortunately, Joo Ji-tae had gotten there a step earlier and cleared the ball away.

“Focus, Captain. If you don’t take charge, it’ll be tough.”

“Sorry, I was careless. I’ll focus.”

Pablo Lopez smiled wryly and raised his hand, and Joo Ji-tae couldn’t say anything more and backed off.

Although he had made a mistake, it wasn’t right to scold the captain. Besides, Joo Ji-tae was a young 20-year-old player who had just transferred this season, and it wouldn’t look good for him to criticize a 30-year-old captain.

Of course, if he made another mistake, Joo Ji-tae would scold him again.

Anyway, the incident had passed, and the match had just started, so it was understandable that they hadn’t been focused yet… right?

But Joo Ji-tae couldn’t help but feel uneasy about Pablo Lopez’s unsatisfactory answer and his unusual, sloppy play.