The gloom of the Bundesliga Matchday 3 loss to Borussia Mönchengladbach didn't bother Bayer Leverkusen for too long.
With a squad mostly made up of youngsters, Bayer Leverkusen is considered one of the youngest teams in the Bundesliga by average age, similar to Borussia Dortmund's "Yellow and Black Youth Storm" during the same period.
Especially with the inclusion of the young prodigy Lance, Bayer Leverkusen's average age might even be younger than Borussia Dortmund's.
Young people are easily swayed.
After being successively motivated by the two old foxes, Sascha Lewandowski and Sami Hyypiä, Bayer Leverkusen's training ground regained its usual laughter and joy.
The team's morale was not significantly affected.
Except for the suspended backup center-back Philipp Wollscheid.
This guy can't play temporarily, and his ability won't get many opportunities for now.
Therefore, the club had no time to consider his mood.
Philipp Wollscheid himself accepted the suspension, and regardless of any resentment towards Lance and Son Heung-min, he still had no contact with them afterward, treating them as strangers.
After a day of training, a sweaty Lance chatted with Julian Brandt about Bayer Leverkusen's nightclubs.
To be precise, Julian Brandt was gushing endlessly in Lance's ear, boasting about how he picked up a beautiful supermodel and their passionate encounter.
Lance was exhausted and could only listen to his bluster.
Halfway through, striker Stefan Kießling couldn't help but laugh.
"Lance, don't believe him. He actually chased after someone for their phone number, but they ignored him."
"Huh? That shouldn't be."
Lance wondered if Julian Brandt, who was considered a typical handsome man in Western aesthetics, couldn't even get a phone number.
"No choice, this guy is too perverted. He exposes his perverted nature in just a few words."
"Bastard! You're talking nonsense! They just couldn't handle my fiery passion…"
"Hahahaha, Lance, don't ever learn from this guy."
Laughter echoed in the locker room corridor.
The teammates' teasing of Julian Brandt reminded Lance of Lu Xun's "The True Story of Ah Q."
It must be said, this guy is indeed a gem, the atmosphere creator in the locker room.
Just as everyone passed the notice board, Lance inadvertently glanced over and immediately froze!
"I'm on the roster again!"
"Really! Brother, that's great! The coaching staff really found out that only you can assist me in scoring."
Julian Brandt took the credit again.
Lance was too lazy to bother with him.
The name "39. Lance" on the roster filled Lance with confidence.
The team they would face in two days, FC Schalke 04, was Bayer Leverkusen's direct competitor.
In the 2011-2012 season, Bayer Leverkusen suffered a double loss to FC Schalke 04, regretfully missing out on Champions League qualification and being forced to play in the Europa League.
FC Schalke 04 secured their Champions League group stage ticket by finishing 3rd.
In the 2012-2013 season, Bayer Leverkusen finally managed to gain some ground, maintaining a record of 1 win and 1 draw against FC Schalke 04.
They also topped FC Schalke 04 to finish 3rd in the Bundesliga, forcing FC Schalke 04 to participate in the Champions League qualifiers.
Coming into this season, both teams are still direct competitors for a top-four spot.
While the match between FC Schalke 04 at home and Bayer Leverkusen isn't as intense as the "Ruhr Derby," it's at least a highly tense, evenly matched struggle.
Even head coach Sascha Lewandowski had emphasized multiple times:
"This is a six-point match! You must give everything to win this away game! If we win, we'll gain the initiative! Whether you want to play in the Champions League or the Europa League next season depends on this battle, understand?"
Pressured by the coaching staff, everyone at Bayer Leverkusen dared not be negligent.
This week's training intensity and attitude remained high, with full effort dedicated to preparation.
As for competing for the Bundesliga title…
Neither FC Schalke 04 nor Bayer Leverkusen had that thought.
Including teams like Borussia Mönchengladbach and VfL Wolfsburg, don't even think about it.
For so many years, it has been difficult for any team to shake Bayern Munich's dominance; only Borussia Dortmund could contend with Bayern Munich.
But just as Borussia Dortmund won the championship, before the trophy even cooled down, their star player Mario Götze was poached by Bayern Munich.
Bayern Munich was even coveting Dortmund's striker Robert Lewandowski…
It can only be said that whoever dares to compete with Bayern Munich for the championship should just wait and enjoy it.
If you can't beat them, buy them – that's Bayern Munich's creed for dominating the Bundesliga for years.
Bayer Leverkusen had best keep a low profile and honestly fight for a top-four spot.
Therefore, Lance was quite surprised.
In the next crucial battle, the coaching staff was willing to include him in the roster.
…
The next day, Lance arrived at the training base and boarded the bus with his teammates.
They were heading to Gelsenkirchen, the home of FC Schalke 04, in the Ruhr region of Germany.
On the bus, Lance was a bit excited for tomorrow's match.
He couldn't help but pull out his phone to browse content related to the match, checking various media experts' pre-match analyses.
FC Schalke 04's squad boasts many top-tier Bundesliga players, including: Jefferson Farfán, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Kevin-Prince Boateng, Julian Draxler…
These are all strong players in the world of football.
Purely in terms of paper strength, Bayer Leverkusen and FC Schalke 04 are truly evenly matched!
At the same time, Lance also noticed a problem.
It seemed that this match had formed a so-called "East Asian Derby"!
Players from China, Japan, and Korea had, by chance, gathered on the Bundesliga field.
FC Schalke 04 defender Atsuto Uchida, a Japanese player, is the starting right-back, who once competed with Hao Junmin.
He has certain wing breakthrough abilities and crossing skills, and his defense is relatively stable.
The Korean player, of course, is Bayer Leverkusen's starting striker, Son Heung-min.
As for the Chinese player, it was Lance himself, but whether he could play was still uncertain.
"Hopefully."
With trepidation and anticipation, the bus drove on the highway, getting closer and closer to Gelsenkirchen.
…
Bundesliga matches are usually broadcast live by CCTV5, which purchased the exclusive broadcasting rights for mainland China.
However, considering the return on investment, only the top Bundesliga teams receive attention; matches involving mid-to-lower-table teams are hardly watched.
Purchasing Bundesliga broadcasting rights is relatively unprofitable.
CCTV5 focuses more on matches involving Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, only occasionally broadcasting games of other teams.
To alleviate some financial pressure, CCTV5 simply resold some broadcasting rights to online platforms.
On this Bundesliga match day, CCTV5 had already scheduled one Bayern Munich match and one Borussia Dortmund match.
Thus, the top-four battle between FC Schalke 04 and Bayer Leverkusen was scheduled for live broadcast on Sina Sports.
While Lance was traveling to Gelsenkirchen with his team, thousands of miles away in the capital of his homeland, at the Sina Sports Event Live Broadcast Center.
Chen Tong, the editor-in-chief of Sina Sports Events, hurried into the studio recording hall.
"How is it? Not ready yet?"
"Teacher Zhan is still recording inside… Oh, he's coming out."
Commentator Zhan Jun, looking fatigued, emerged from the recording studio clutching a thick stack of manuscripts.
After leaving ESPN Sports, Zhan Jun left Singapore and returned to the capital for development.
He joined Sina Sports, primarily responsible for Premier League commentary.
Zhan Jun was very popular with fans due to his clear articulation, passionate commentary, and in-depth understanding of players and match information.
He had just finished commenting on an Arsenal match and now had to rush to prepare for the "Premier League Highlights" program.
He had been working non-stop for many days and just wanted to go home and catch up on sleep.
Stepping out of the recording studio and looking up, wow!
Editor-in-chief Chen's eyes were full of anticipation as he looked at him, and Zhan Jun's heart skipped a beat.
"Mr. Chen, what's up?"
"I'm sorry, Teacher Zhan, there might be an important task to trouble you with. Of course, it's just a suggestion, and we'd understand if you really refused…"
Zhan Jun sighed.
Since the editor-in-chief had spoken like that, Zhan Jun's retreat was blocked, and he could only force a smile.
"No problem, just leave it to me. This round of the Premier League is over… Is it the Bundesliga?"
"That's right, worthy of Teacher Zhan. FC Schalke versus Bayer Leverkusen."
"Oh?"
Upon mentioning Bayer Leverkusen, Zhan Jun suddenly remembered a young player.
Not long ago, "Sports Weekly" posted a signing news on Weibo.
16-year-old Belgian-Chinese player Lance officially signed with Bayer Leverkusen's first team.
16 years old! Belgian-Chinese! First team!
These words combined, Zhan Jun smelled something different.
So, in his spare time, he collected and researched a lot of information, roughly understanding Lance's background.
Furthermore, for Bayer Leverkusen's first round of the DFB-Pokal, Zhan Jun specifically watched the match via an international live stream!
Lance came on as a substitute and scored twice, almost making Zhan Jun's jaw drop!
No way?
There's such a spirited Chinese player!
Zhan Jun felt like he had found a treasure at that time!
He thought that at 16, playing in the first team was still a bit young; the coaching staff might not arrange him for Bundesliga matches.
Perhaps Lance could only be seen in the DFB-Pokal in the short term.
Thinking of this, Zhan Jun quickly snatched the material from Editor-in-chief Chen Tong's hand, leaving the editor-in-chief bewildered.
Zhan Jun didn't care about that much; he quickly flipped to the roster for the next match against FC Schalke 04.
"Lance!"
Lance was indeed on the list!
"No problem, I'll take it. I'll commentate on this match."
Zhan Jun, full of enthusiasm, strode away with the information.
Leaving the bewildered editor-in-chief Chen Tong standing there stunned.
"Ah? That easy?"
He had originally prepared a bunch of persuasive arguments, but now they seemed unnecessary.