70 Alerting Messi
After the match, Werder Bremen's players collapsed in exhaustion, resembling survivors of a disaster, while the Bayern players looked disheartened, watching the exhausted bunch struggling to get up.
They were very upset, questioning why their team was held to a draw by these guys?
Losing to them in the Telekom Cup and now being held to a draw in the league...
Could it be that, besides Borussia Mönchengladbach, another team is going to become a bitter opponent of Bayern in the Bundesliga?
This match garnered a lot of attention in Europe. After the match, Werder Bremen's name spread across the internet.
Bayern's fans felt frustrated, other teams' fans rejoiced; the Bundesliga seemed to have struggled against Bayern for so long!
Borussia Dortmund's fans were the most ecstatic as they annihilated Mönchengladbach 5-0 in this round, wiping out the previous haze.
With Bayern being held to a draw by Werder Bremen, the gap between the two teams closed by 2 points, a significant boost for Borussia Dortmund's title defense.
After the match, Reus sent a message to Lin, inquiring about his injury and expressing gratitude to him.
The team defended their honor at home, not allowing Bayern to leave with a victory.
Coach Schaaf was very satisfied with this result and specifically praised Lin at the post-match press conference.
On the Bayern side, Heynckes admitted that the team had done its best, and not winning was their responsibility.
Fortunately, Bayern didn't lose, so the old coach wasn't pressed by the reporters. Everyone more or less knew that this was his last season, so they were all very kind to him.
After shouldering the responsibility, Heynckes shifted the focus and began praising Werder Bremen's players.
He believed that their strong fighting spirit in the match was the key to holding Bayern to a draw.
More importantly, their team had a winger that even Bayern couldn't contain.
"Players like Lin, even when targeted in the game, are very difficult to defend against. He is like Messi, possessing incredible talent and potential. I have high hopes for his future!"
The coach's words sparked the curiosity of journalists, and they asked Heynckes if he had a plan to bring Lin back to the Allianz Arena.
Heynckes nodded, "Of course, no one can resist such an outstanding player. As long as he's willing, I think the door to Bayern is always open to him!"
Werder Bremen's coach Schaaf couldn't sit still and quickly interjected, "Lin is happy at Werder Bremen and won't go anywhere. At least until the end of the loan contract, he won't leave Werder Bremen!"
Regardless of what Schaaf said, the journalists immediately began to write news reports, preparing to make a big deal out of it.
True to form, many newspapers began to claim that Bayern Munich had shown interest in Werder Bremen's young forward, planning to make an offer to Barcelona during the winter transfer window.
If the previous goals on other teams in the Bundesliga were not taken seriously, this match, facing the powerful defensive line of Bayern, where he scored two goals through personal ability, silenced those who doubted his capabilities.
So, this kind of report not only did not raise doubts, but everyone thought it was only natural.
Bayern has an unflattering nickname in the Bundesliga - the Bundesliga Excavator! Facing Bayern's poaching, other teams find it hard to resist, unable to keep their star players, often losing one after another.
This naturally drew the resentment of other teams, prompting their fans to give Bayern this nickname.
This is also why Bayern's dominance in the Bundesliga is so unshakable. If they can't defeat you, they will poach your key players. In the end, no team can compete with Bayern in the long run.
In addition to the news of Bayern showing interest in Lin, Baller Magazine, after the end of this match, started a poll on the internet:
Who is stronger, the sixteen-year-old Lin or Messi at the same age?
They know how to attract attention!
Messi, as a three-time Ballon d'Or winner, and the hottest top-tier superstar in the football world, has always had top-notch popularity and attention.
After this match, Lin became well-known in European football. Naturally, a comparison between this young football star and the current football powerhouse naturally attracted countless attention.
Sure enough, when the poll was released, it immediately sparked heated discussions on the internet:
"If we are comparing their current abilities, Messi is definitely stronger, but if we compare their abilities at the age of sixteen, I think Lin might be stronger!"
"Perhaps not, Messi was not weak at the age of sixteen, it's just that he didn't have the chance to show his ability."
In fact, his youth team stats were impressive. Before he turned sixteen, he scored 38 goals in 31 games, including 9 braces, 4 hat-tricks, and 1 poker. He also led the team to win three championships. Can you say he was lacking in ability?"
"You're right. It's just that Werder Bremen doesn't have the same setup as Barcelona. They had to rely on young players as starters. If Messi at the same age were in Werder Bremen, he could have dominated, perhaps achieving even more brilliant stats!"
Obviously, Messi had more supporters, with many believing he was stronger in his youth.
But Lin also had supporters: "Come on, Messi at sixteen had such great dribbling and ball control skills? Do you think I don't watch games?" "Now Messi is strong, but that doesn't mean he was this strong at the beginning. He progressed slowly to reach this level. But Lin? This guy was already outstanding from the start. If we follow Messi's growth trajectory, this guy might become even scarier than Messi in the future!"
...
After stirring up the topic, Kicker Magazine released a new issue the following day.
In this issue, they invited football experts to compare Lin's performance and stats with Messi's at a young age.
Despite Messi's star aura, more than half of the ten experts brought in still believed that at the same age, Lin's abilities surpassed Messi.
This conclusion immediately sparked discussions and reports throughout the German and European football circles.
The online fans' opinions were taken lightly by most, dismissing it as just entertainment.
However, when even the experts said it, it had to be taken seriously.
Therefore, some fans, like Werder Bremen's, believed earnestly in having a forward even more impressive than Messi in their team.
Some scoffed, feeling that Kicker was merely creating hype to attract attention!
Like Barcelona's youth team coach Enrique and sporting director Súbisaretta.
Lin's stellar performance made these two increasingly anxious. Because they still hadn't secured Lin's contract renewal, as he showed no intent of renewing.
Luckily, the summer transfer window had closed, giving them more time to negotiate.
Otherwise, with Lin's current hot streak, potential bidders might have overrun Barcelona.
...
Similarly, inside Barcelona, there were individuals closely monitoring Lin's games.
After finishing the day's training, Barcelona's star Messi rushed home and quickly started watching Werder Bremen's match recordings online.
Since Xavi had mentioned a player in Werder Bremen whose style resembled his own, Messi started paying attention to Lin.
Initially, Messi didn't pay much heed, just noticing some similarities in Lin's playing style. Yet, with more games, Lin's performances improved.
Messi started taking him seriously as Lin's abilities went beyond mere similarities.
Having watched Lin's two games with Spain's U-19 team, Messi was astonished. He recognized Spain's U-19 team using Barcelona's tactics, and Lin fitting into his position.
Playing almost identically, Messi felt the resemblances between their styles more vividly.
This guy was like his duplicate, with his dribbling, ball movements, and shooting habits almost identical. Someone in this world could imitate him so perfectly!?
This made Messi even more curious about Lin. He had become a loyal fan of Werder Bremen, watching every game Lin played without missing a single moment.
If he couldn't watch live, he'd find recordings online to study repeatedly.
After watching the thrilling Bundesliga match between Werder Bremen and Bayern Munich, Messi's mood became excited and thrilled.
This guy is truly crazy; Messi hadn't been this passionate when he was young.
However, with his excellent football intelligence and similar playing habits to Lin, Messi noticed some irrational choices Lin made during the game.
He reflected on some mistakes he himself often made during play.
Watching from the sidelines, Messi was like looking in a mirror, noticing these issues he had previously ignored.
So, he began trying to address these small flaws to further improve his skills.
This attempt had visible effects, making Messi's goal efficiency even more terrifying!
In the following day's La Liga match, Messi was on fire, scoring a hat-trick and providing two assists.
His outstanding stats of three goals and two assists seemed like a direct response to the German media's hype.
By now, Messi had scored nine goals in the league, totaling 67 goals in the year. The King of Camp Nou was edging closer to Gerd Müller's world record!
