Catalonia, Santpedor.
Guardiola was discussing with his girlfriend Sera where to take their wedding photos and what venue would be suitable for their wedding.
Having finally gotten some free time, he wanted to make up for all the years he had neglected her.
Their long relationship had already lasted more than fifteen years. If they did not join hands and enter the halls of marriage soon, it would be hard to justify.
"This place is pretty good. It's close to the sea and has a castle too. We can invite our friends and family to the wedding without being bothered by reporters!"
"Mm, then let's settle on this place. But which friends and family do you plan to invite?"
Sera looked at Guardiola curiously. She knew he had many friends in the football world, but she did not know whether he would invite them.
"Let's keep it as low-key as possible, so we won't invite too many people. I don't want too many people disturbing our wedding!"
After considering it, Guardiola decided against sending out invitations far and wide. He only planned to invite the few people closest to him.
"Mm, all right. You decide, but you should let Lin know in advance. I'm worried he might not be able to make time to come back for our wedding."
"I'll call him about that, so don't worry!"
Guardiola said that Lin Quan had already been in the Bundesliga for two months.
Because he had been busy vacationing and preparing for the wedding, and because the Bundesliga had not begun yet, he had not paid much attention to things over there.
It was time to get in touch with him. Otherwise, the kid might think his father did not care about him.
With that thought, Guardiola took out his phone and prepared to call Lin Quan.
But just then, his phone rang. Someone was calling him.
Seeing that it was an unfamiliar number, Guardiola frowned.
However, after noticing that the caller ID indicated the call was from Germany, Guardiola answered it.
At Werder Bremen, ever since accepting the German Football Association's invitation, everyone at the club had entered an intense state of preparation.
The four teams participating in the German Telekom Cup had all been confirmed. Aside from Hamburg, the other two teams were both stronger than Werder Bremen.
And they were not just slightly stronger—they were at least a whole tier above them.
Therefore, Head Coach Schaaf pragmatically prepared an Iron Bucket Formation for those two teams, intending to deal with them through defensive counterattacks.
In defensive counterattacks, Werder Bremen had to seize their limited opportunities. Otherwise, they would most likely lose.
After thinking it over repeatedly, Head Coach Schaaf decided to put Lin Quan in the starting lineup and use his outstanding scoring ability to increase the team's counterattacking threat.
Naturally, such an important matter had to be discussed with the player himself. After all, Lin Quan was still young and had never started a match before.
"Lin, I'm planning to put you in the starting lineup for the next match. Do you have any concerns? I mean, concerns about your stamina!"
Head Coach Schaaf spoke bluntly without beating around the bush.
Previously, he might have worried that Lin Quan's mentality was not stable enough or that he lacked match experience. But after observing him for so many days, he no longer had any concerns in those areas.
Now, he only worried about one thing: stamina.
At sixteen or seventeen, boys were at a crucial stage of physical growth, their second major growth spurt.
Boys at this stage were generally rather slight, with less stamina in reserve than adults, so it was difficult for them to play a full match.
If it had been a standard ninety-minute match, Schaaf would not have easily put Lin Quan in the starting lineup.
But Telekom Cup matches only lasted sixty minutes, with thirty-minute halves and a fifteen-minute break in between.
The strain on the players' stamina was not particularly great.
If Lin Quan himself thought he could handle it, he could give it a try.
If Lin Quan was not confident, then Schaaf would abandon the idea and bring him on in the second half as usual.
Hearing the Head Coach's words, Lin Quan considered it seriously.
He was a forward, and the team would be using an extreme defensive counterattacking tactic, so he would not need to track back too deeply. He only needed to exert himself in attack.
That being the case, the test on his stamina would not be too demanding. Playing the full match should not be a problem.
If it really came down to it, he could spend a Point in the system to exchange for a Stamina Potion.
Thinking of that, Lin Quan nodded solemnly.
"Don't worry, Coach. Leave it to me!"
That evening, the Telekom Cup draw began.
Werder Bremen had terrible luck and drew Bayern Munich. The result left disappointed expressions on the players' faces.
"It would have been great if we'd drawn Hamburg. If we drew Hamburg, we'd have had a strong chance of advancing to the next round. But now..."
Although Bayern Munich had performed poorly in the Bundesliga over the past two seasons, their raw strength was there for all to see. Neither their player quality nor their squad depth was something Werder Bremen could compare with.
Fortunately, this was only a cup competition, the kind where upsets happened easily. Werder Bremen did not have no chance at all.
"The odds of drawing Hamburg were too low. Hamburg and us were brought in to keep the princes company while they studied.
The stars of the Telekom Cup are Dortmund and Bayern Munich, so there's no way they'd arrange for them to face each other in the first round. There'd be nothing to watch in the final, and the sponsors definitely wouldn't be happy about that!"
"Exactly. Give those two teams a weak opponent in the first round so they can warm up, then have them deliver a clash of titans for the fans in the final. That's the ideal script!"
"Ahem, I agree that Hamburg are weak, but how did we become weak too? I don't agree with that!"
"Haha, we weren't that many Points above Hamburg last season. Calling us weak isn't unfair!"
"But we have Lin and Kevin this season. We're nothing like we were last season!"
Seeing the players laughing and joking around, several members of the coaching staff breathed a sigh of relief.
They had been worried that, after learning who their opponents were, the players would be intimidated by the other side's immense strength, become overly cautious, and perform poorly.
It seemed they had worried for nothing.
Werder Bremen's players had their mentality in the right place this season. They understood they were merely a relegation-battling team, so when facing teams like Bayern and Dortmund, they felt no psychological pressure instead.
After all, losing to them was only natural. There was nothing strange about it.
On the other hand, if they pulled off an upset, they would strike it rich!
Over at Bayern Munich, their players were also delighted when they saw the result of the draw.
"Heh, looks like our first-round opponent is decent. They're not too strong, but not too weak either—perfect for warming up."
"I hope Dortmund don't get eliminated by Hamburg. That way, we can avenge last year's three straight losses in the final!"
The players rubbed their hands together, eager only to take revenge on Dortmund.
As for Werder Bremen?
Who cared about a trash team like that!
Before you continue