Became The Premier League’S Youngest Manager [EN]: Chapter 176

176: The Stage of Dreams

In the world of football, the UEFA Champions League is often referred to as the stage of dreams.

Its official name is the UEFA Champions League.

Starting in 1955 as the European Cup, the tournament initially featured only the first-division champions from UEFA’s member countries competing in a knockout format.

However, in 1991, a group stage was added, and in 1992, the name was changed to the UEFA Champions League. From the 1997/98 season onward, multiple teams from some countries were allowed to participate.

The number of slots allocated to each country is determined by the performance of its teams in European club competitions each year. Therefore, strong performances by domestic league teams in European competitions are crucial for securing more slots in the following season.

At the top of the hierarchy, vying for the right to participate in this tournament where immense wealth and fame can be attained, are England, Spain, and Germany.

And last season, securing a Champions League spot by finishing third was Borussia Mönchengladbach, a team that has steadily improved and established itself as a powerhouse in the German Bundesliga [Germany’s top professional football league].

Consistently performing well against wealthier and larger clubs like Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund (BVB), Bayer Leverkusen, and RB Leipzig, they are steadily taking steps to revive the glory of the 1960s and 1970s when they won the Bundesliga five times.

However, the Mönchengladbach fans filling the 54,000-seat Borussia-Park were aware that:

What is a stage of dreams for some can be a nightmare for others.

***

“Aaaagh!”

Mönchengladbach’s veteran goalkeeper, Yann Sommer, clutched his head with a pained scream, but Burnley’s young striker, Benjamin Šeško, who had just scored with a shot from the edge of the box, was already turning to run towards the corner flag to celebrate his goal.

Mönchengladbach’s players swarmed the referee to protest, but even as the referee gestured to check VAR [Video Assistant Referee, a system used to review decisions], goalkeeper Yann Sommer, sensing the goal was valid, hung his head.

*Take your frustration elsewhere.*

The goalkeeper thought to himself as he watched the opposing team’s young striker, clenching both fists and roaring at the cheering away fans after conceding his third goal.

“Uaaaah!!”

Amidst the roar towards the stands, his teammates jumped on the tall striker to celebrate.

“You rascal! You’ve been starving for too long!”

“Yeah, eat up! Hahaha!”

Even amidst the joyful teasing of his teammates, Benjamin Šeško raised both arms one last time towards the crowd, responding to the cheers.

With him sidelined before the season even began, the team had fallen into a five-game losing streak but finally bounced back with a dramatic victory against Manchester City, while his rival had scored five goals in six games, causing a sensation in the Premier League.

In fact, he was on very good terms with the newcomer, Lorenzo Lucca, but that was that, and this was this.

Not playing in today’s game, the young striker, who turned 20 this year and is the youngest member of Burnley’s first team along with Ansello Garcia McNulty, who was seriously watching the game from the bench, was literally going wild, as if to release all the frustration of not being able to play.

“Not bad.”

Hyeongmin muttered, standing in the technical area with his arms crossed, and Taejin, who had come out to the technical area to celebrate, gave him a dumbfounded look.

“Not bad? Dude, how is that just ‘not bad’?”

He scored a hat-trick in his comeback match after being sidelined for almost two months due to injury.

It was an expression of his dissatisfaction with the assessment of the young striker, who had undergone tearful rehabilitation with fitness coach Paulo Morão and then devoted himself to intense training with Taejin to regain his match fitness.

Hyeongmin shrugged at his friend’s words.

“Benjamin did well, of course. But everyone’s overall performance seems good today.”

“Well, I can see that too.”

While the Premier League features mainly the first-team players, cup matches tend to feature reserves or rotation players.

Thanks to Hyeongmin, who didn’t change his overall approach even after advancing to the UEFA Champions League, many players who had mainly warmed the bench in the Premier League were given a chance to play, and they were putting on an excellent performance as if staging a protest.

Above all, Hyeongmin and the coaching staff’s efforts to see through Adi Hütter’s 3-4-3 formation and exploit its weaknesses were shining through.

Mönchengladbach had a solid formation, with a strong defense centered around a back-three and a midfield anchored by Florian Neuhaus, a German national team player who had once been linked with big clubs like Liverpool.

With the rear so well protected, the attack is developed around both wing-backs and especially Marcus Thuram, the son of French legend Lilian Thuram, who plays as a left-winger.

Unlike his father, a legendary defender who won the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000 with the French national team, Marcus Thuram is showcasing his talent as an attacker, following in his father’s footsteps by joining the French national team.

Adi Hütter’s role for him was to lead Mönchengladbach’s attack based on his excellent physical condition inherited from his father, combined with outstanding basic skills and individual technique.

But today, none of that mattered.

Under the cooperation of defender Oscar Mingueza, who was guarding Burnley’s right flank, and Nathan Collins, who was on the right side of the central defense, Marcus Thuram didn’t even get a chance to touch the ball properly.

Of course, even before that, Patrick de Paula, who played as a defensive midfielder instead of Nicolas Seiwald, was completely outplaying Florian Neuhaus.

And even further up the field, Emanuel Vignato, who had finished his tough adaptation period in the Premier League, Benjamin Šeško, who had finally recovered from his injury, and Jamal Lewis, who was fiercely competing with Dwight McNeil for the left-wing position, were rampaging at the forefront, not allowing the opposition to build up from the back.

Burnley’s attacking development was still clumsy compared to last season, and detailed tactics were not well established, but since the opposing team was not able to develop their attack at all, Burnley was able to leisurely knock on their goal.

On top of that, with the injured Benjamin Šeško showing off his peak goal-scoring ability, Mönchengladbach fans were having a bleak experience against Burnley, whom they prided themselves on being in a similar position to in the Premier League.

“Well, anyway, it seems like the atmosphere has turned around.”

Taejin said in a voice that was much lighter than it had been for the past couple of months.

Finally, their first Premier League win against Manchester City.

In the Carabao Cup Round 3, they easily defeated Bristol Rovers, a League One team, 2-0.

Now, if they win their first match of the Champions League Group B against Mönchengladbach, they will have won three consecutive matches across three competitions, washing away some of the pain of their five-game losing streak.

“Victory isn’t certain yet. Let’s not lose focus until the end.”

Hyeongmin shook his head, cautioning his friend about the remaining 15 minutes of the game.

But even as he said that, Taejin chuckled at the sight of his friend clenching his fist so hard that his veins were popping out.

“Yeah. That’s important.”

***

“…once that’s completed, we can consider the entire project finished.”

This was a meeting held at Burnley’s Barnfield Training Centre, where the club’s training grounds and offices are located.

It was attended by Helena Cartwright, Burnley’s Chairman, acting owner, CEO, and CFO, as well as Emil Cartwright, who was in charge of the construction of the New Turf Moor, and Michael Hensler, the construction manager from Gensler Architects.

From a tense and anxious atmosphere at the beginning of the project, the atmosphere had become amicable thanks to the smooth progress of the construction according to schedule.

Of course, the name Helena Cartwright was treated as synonymous with the devil and a witch at the construction site, but Emil Cartwright’s leading role in lamenting his unfortunate situation had a significant impact.

And every time she heard such stories, Helena would smile elegantly in front of them, but then turn around and mercilessly smack her younger brother on the back.

“It seems to be progressing more smoothly than expected.”

“Yes. It seems that the clearer weather this autumn than expected has helped a lot in shortening the construction period,” Emil replied politely to his sister’s comment, as it was an official setting.

After demolishing the existing Turf Moor with explosives, the first stage was to level the ground, install prefabricated seating, and re-lay the stadium’s grass while opening the general seating area.

The second stage was to install prefabricated box seats on top of the general seating area.

Finally, the third stage was to install the roof, using the fixed seating and box seats as a counterweight.

After checking the weather and surrounding conditions in the UK, it was concluded that a retractable roof was unnecessary, so the top of the stadium’s grass, which had an underground heating system installed, would be left open in a circular shape, allowing a view of the British sky.

Although the calculations were so complex that the government engineers who came to issue the construction permit were left shaking their heads, the stadium construction incorporated an engineering design in which the weight of the seating and box seats actually supported the load of the roof.

After listening to her brother’s explanation for quite some time, Helena’s response was simple.

“So, it’s physically possible and legally permissible, right? Then that’s fine.”

Helena’s request to conduct a feasibility study and explain whether the installation of the prefabricated roof proposed by Gensler Architects was actually possible was taken literally.

It was a small act of revenge that instantly brought down Emil, who had spent three days and nights preparing data and pouring over explanations that covered physics, geometry, and all sorts of mathematics for over two hours.

Overcoming such twists and turns, the construction of the New Turf Moor, where the second stage had been completed, was entering the third stage of installing the roof.

In fact, while a stadium roof has the advantage of making watching the game more comfortable, it doesn’t have much of an impact on the game viewing itself.

Therefore, the 35,000 general seats and 36 box seats in the stadium are already in use.

The 17,500 season tickets that were distributed were sold out in just five hours after a fierce competition in which all of Burnley’s residents rushed to participate.

With over 5,000 more season ticket waiters added, there is already talk of expanding the stadium.

However, Helena pushed ahead with the existing plan, regardless.