Chapter 118
‘Damn it! Why did they have to sack him right before our match…!’
Park Chan-hyuk did everything he could to keep Jürgen Klinsmann in charge of Bayern Munich, but
unfortunately, Jürgen Klinsmann was ultimately sacked as Bayern Munich’s manager.
There was nothing that could be done about it.
With the season nearing its end, Munich were sitting in fourth place in the league, barely clinging to a spot in next season’s Champions League.
[Bayern Munich Sack Klinsmann!]
The news was met with disappointment by all 17 Bundesliga teams except Bayern Munich.
While searching for a manager for next season, Bayern’s board also reached out to a firefighter.
[Retired Jupp Heynckes Returns as Bayern Munich Manager!]
Bayern Munich’s eternal firefighter, Jupp Heynckes, was appointed manager,
and Jupp Heynckes quickly stabilized the atmosphere at Bayern Munich.
The Munich players united under Jupp Heynckes’s leadership,
and Philipp Lahm’s expression began to fill with life, unlike during Klinsmann’s tenure.
‘……Anyone would be better than that fucking bastard.’
At long last, from Philipp Lahm’s perspective, a man who could truly be called a manager had arrived.
***
January 31, 2007.
Jupp Heynckes resigned as Borussia Mönchengladbach’s manager and announced his retirement.
He had been shocked to realize that his tactics no longer worked and that he had fallen behind the times.
He decided to give up football and rest in his hometown.
But while Jupp Heynckes quietly rested in his hometown,
he realized that, for some reason, a lump remained in his chest.
He still felt regret at retiring from management like this.
Jupp Heynckes watched football every day to soothe his regret.
‘……Perhaps it’s because he’s young, but his creativity is outstanding.’
What impressed him most at the time was none other than Union Berlin’s football.
Heynckes eventually found himself analyzing Union Berlin’s tactics,
and realized that his passion for football was coming back to life.
And then.
“Manager, please help our team!”
Bayern Munich, which had sacked Jürgen Klinsmann, approached Jupp Heynckes as if by fate.
‘Would it be all right for me to return as a manager….’
As Jupp Heynckes continued to ponder Bayern Munich’s offer,
“Woof! Woof!”
Heynckes’s dog barked twice,
“……You want me to return to management too, don’t you?”
Jupp Heynckes took it as a sign that he should return.
Jupp Heynckes announced his return as Bayern Munich’s manager,
and began by restoring discipline to the squad Jürgen Klinsmann had wrecked.
He started rebuilding Bayern Munich.
‘……Union Berlin, huh.’
Jupp Heynckes’s next opponent was Union Berlin.
“Our next match is against Union Berlin. If any idiot here still intends to underestimate them because they’re a newly promoted team, speak up now, and I’ll remove you from the roster.”
Having continued to closely follow football matches after his retirement, Jupp Heynckes gave his players a stern warning.
Union Berlin was not a team to be taken lightly.
***
I clutched my head when I heard that Jupp Heynckes had returned.
Personally, I thought Jupp Heynckes before and after his retirement were two completely different people.
It was true that the pre-retirement Jupp Heynckes was a good manager, but he had never been regarded as the incredible master tactician we knew him as.
‘……He really did retire because of his poor results after returning to the Bundesliga.’
And what frightened me most was that I had no idea how he had changed after retiring.
I couldn’t simply assume that he would use the tactics from the previous timeline.
A lot had changed since then.
‘My influence has spread far too widely in the first place.’
In other words, a crazy situation had arisen in which I didn’t know my opponent’s tactics, while my opponent knew mine.
The advantage Union Berlin had enjoyed unilaterally until now had shifted to our opponent.
[Bayern Munich’s Jupp Heynckes Shows Respect for Park Chan-hyuk…. “Union Berlin’s Football Was the Most Impressive.”]
All I could do was infer what tactics Jupp Heynckes would bring through his interviews.
‘……I’d really like to fly a drone over Bayern’s training ground.’
Well. That didn’t mean I lacked confidence.
I had built a good team.
I trusted the Union Berlin players I had nurtured.
An offer came from Bayern Munich.
It was an offer to take charge as Munich’s manager the following season.
I might have been tempted in the past,
but unfortunately, the offer held no appeal for me now.
I rejected Bayern’s offer immediately.
[Union Berlin Manager Park Chan-hyuk… Firmly Rejects Bayern Munich’s Offer. “Union Berlin Are the Bundesliga Champions. I Have No Reason to Manage a Team Ranked Lower Than Union Berlin.”]
In stronger wording than usual.
***
A rivalry was not a bad thing from a club’s perspective.
In fact, creating a rivalry was important for boosting a club’s revenue.
‘More precisely, what mattered was “who” you were rivals with.’
When Real Madrid spent astronomical sums signing star players to raise its brand image as part of its Galácticos policy,
didn’t Barcelona succeed in becoming a dream club for players for the sole reason that it was Real Madrid’s rival?
Of course, the emergence of Lionel Messi and Barcelona’s results in that era supported it.
But Barcelona’s ability to receive greater returns than its investment was entirely possible because it was the rival of the giant club Real Madrid.
‘And Real Madrid wouldn’t have grown into such a massive club without Barcelona, either.’
Anyway, growing this way was not impossible in the Bundesliga.
Union Berlin’s rivals had been pathetic so far, but it was unreasonable to assume they would remain pathetic forever.
‘What’s the big deal? We can just create a rivalry, can’t we?’
[Union Berlin Manager Park Chan-hyuk… Firmly Rejects Bayern Munich’s Offer. “Union Berlin Are the Bundesliga Champions. I Have No Reason to Manage a Team Ranked Below Union Berlin.”]
Provoking Bayern Munich in my interview was part of that process.
It absolutely wasn’t because I wanted to run my mouth and teabag them.
[Bayern Munich to the Union Berlin Manager…. “We are Munich.”]
[Park Chan-hyuk to Bayern Munich …. “Then I’m Union Berlin.”]
In fact, Bayern Munich’s board reacted immediately, and the atmosphere between Union Berlin and Bayern Munich began to turn hostile.
“Wir werden alles zerlegen, bis wir Deutscher Meister sind. (We will tear everything apart until we become German champions.)”
Naturally, people from the former East Germany (excluding Dynamo supporters), people living in the north, and people who simply disliked Munich began cheering for Union Berlin.
***
A few days after the war of nerves with Bayern Munich began.
The match between Bayern Munich and Union Berlin was held at Union Berlin’s home stadium.
Since it was a match in which the league title could be clinched, Yannick Voigt, who was recovering from his injury, came to the stadium,
and the crowd began applauding him.
“Yannick Voigt!! Fußballgott!!”
When the match began, Union Berlin’s longtime fans quietly wiped away their tears.
It was hard to believe that a team relegated because of financial difficulties just four years ago would go on to win the Bundesliga.
On top of that, the club invited the fans who had devoted themselves to the team all these years to the stadium.
They looked around at one another and strengthened their bonds. From the moment they had sold their blood to protect the club, they had been like brothers bound by blood.
One fan who had brought a picture of a friend who had gone on ahead to heaven quietly burst into tears.
The fans’ emotions gradually spread, and even the fans who had come from Korea began wiping away their tears without realizing it.
That was simply what an atmosphere was like.
People were moved by it without realizing it, regardless of their own will.
The fans’ voices grew louder as they sang the team chant.
Even if the team’s title hopes were ruined by a losing streak after today’s match, it didn’t matter.
For them, the mere fact that a dying team had challenged for the league title was enough.
“Chan-hyuk!! Fußballgott!!”
One Union Berlin fan, remembering Park Chan-hyuk’s playing days, shouted his name,
and soon, Park Chan-hyuk’s name echoed throughout Union Berlin’s home stadium.
The fans knew who had created the Union Berlin of today.
Backed by the spectators’ fervent support, Union Berlin pressed Bayern Munich hard from the very start of the match.
And the opening goal was.
It came from Roberto Lewandowski’s head.
Lewandowski scored by precisely redirecting Cafu’s cross.
“Yannick, come back soon! You’re the one who has to lift the championship trophy!”
He ran to where his friend Yannick Voigt was and roared.