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After breaking into the penalty area, Lin saw the goalkeeper and two defenders coming at him, while Petersen was unmarked on the other side.

So, he faked a shot and passed the ball to his teammate, taking the chance to earn an assist.

Petersen did not waste Lin's brilliant pass. With a simple touch, he sent the ball into the net, helping the team take the lead.

In the 23rd minute of the first half, Werder Bremen changed the score to 1-0, temporarily leading by one goal.

After scoring, Petersen was very excited. He ran to the corner area, took off his shirt, and raised his arms to the crowd, asking for applause.

The Werder Bremen fans cooperated enthusiastically, immediately giving him warm applause and cheers.

Several female fans nearby even winked at him, making Petersen so excited he almost wanted to dance.

After confirming the goal was valid, the referee took out a yellow card, walked expressionlessly to Petersen, and gave him the first yellow card of the match.

Lin kicked Petersen's shirt from the ground, grabbed it, and walked over, tossing it to him to put back on.

Celebrating by taking off your shirt will definitely get you a yellow card, and Petersen must have known this before he did it.

So Lin said nothing, but Schaaf on the sidelines frowned.

"How many yellow cards does Petersen have this season?"

"Um, this makes it four, and counting this one, it's five."

"So that means he's suspended for the next match due to accumulated yellow cards?"

"Yes, that's correct!"

Schaaf rubbed his forehead, speechless for a moment.

Petersen had been playing better in recent games, and Schaaf wanted to give him more playtime.

But now, Petersen's own lack of caution on the field meant he'd miss the next match. Schaaf couldn't give him the opportunity he wanted.

Petersen didn't know he would be suspended for the next game. After scoring, he was very active, running around the front field like a mudfish, causing chaos in Augsburg's defense.

His efforts paid off. Due to his activity, Augsburg's players increased their defense on him.

But this freed up Lin on the other side.

In the 42nd minute of the first half, Werder Bremen launched another deadly counterattack.

Just like the previous one, Werder Bremen's players completed a quick interception and, with a few swift passes, sent the ball to the forward line.

Augsburg's midfield defense was like paper, easily penetrated.

Lin brought the ball into the penalty area, with Petersen and Fullkrug also moving into position.

Werder Bremen formed a three-on-three situation in the front field!

Augsburg's players thought Lin would pass again, so one marked Arnautovic and another marked Petersen, leaving just one to defend Lin.

Seeing their choice, Lin was delighted.

He faked a pass to deceive the defender, then quickly bypassed him, creating a one-on-one with the goalkeeper.

The goalkeeper, gritting his teeth, charged forward, but seeing Lin lift his foot to seemingly pass, he braked to block the receiving player.

Unexpectedly, it was another fake!

Seeing the goalkeeper fooled, Lin unhesitatingly shot towards the far corner. The goalkeeper fell to the ground to save but was too slow. The ball had already rolled into the net before he hit the ground.

Augsburg's players were stunned after conceding two goals.

They couldn't believe the game had turned out this way!

They had been besieging their opponent's goal.

Yet after half a game of attacking without scoring, their opponent only needed a few counterattacks to score twice.

The efficiency of those goals was shocking!

They found it hard to accept internally.

"Why is their luck so good?"

If it were a loss to a full-strength Werder Bremen, Augsburg wouldn't complain.

But now, Werder Bremen was like an old sick tiger!

Their players looked lethargic and out of form.

To think they could still score two goals against them was unacceptable for Augsburg.

Even worse, after being hit twice by counterattacks, Augsburg's players' mentality changed significantly. Some were angry, unable to accept the score, wanting to increase their attack to equalize or even surpass the score.

But others were scared by the quality of the counterattacks and didn't dare to continue attacking, fearing more goals.

This conflicting mentality led to disunity within the team.

The result was that they couldn't attack effectively or defend properly.

Augsburg's performance on the field became worse than before!

On the home team's coaching bench, seeing the opponent in disarray, Schaaf breathed a sigh of relief.

It seemed this game was secured!

Most of Werder Bremen's players weren't in top form, so Schaaf brought on Fullkrug and Petersen, along with Lin, forming an attacking lineup with fresh legs.

With excellent counterattack tactics and three energetic forwards, they gained the upper hand in local areas despite the overall disadvantage.

So far, the strategy seemed to be working well.

In the end, thanks to the outstanding performance of the front three, Werder Bremen beat Augsburg 2-0 at home, securing the victory.

After winning this match, the team overcame the fatigue barrier.

A week later, Werder Bremen visited Borussia-Park to challenge Borussia Mönchengladbach.

Unlike the previous game, Werder Bremen's players seemed to be fully revived.

After 90 minutes, the scoreboard read 1-3, with the home team first and the visitors second.

The Parrots' strong victory on the Little Colts' home ground secured them two consecutive wins.

With this victory, Werder Bremen's lead in the standings further expanded.

They now had 18 wins, 3 draws, and 4 losses, with 57 points, ranking second in the Bundesliga.

Dortmund had 13 wins, 7 draws, and 5 losses, with 46 points, ranking third.

Leverkusen had 13 wins, 6 draws, and 6 losses, with 45 points, ranking fourth.

Werder Bremen's lead over the two teams behind them was more than 10 points. With 9 rounds left in the league, and no more matches against giants like Bayern and Dortmund, this lead was significant.

However, despite being second, Werder Bremen had little hope of winning the title.

This season, Bayern Munich was in explosive form!

By the 25th round, they had 21 wins, 3 draws, and 2 losses, with 66 points, leading the standings. They were 9 points ahead of second-placed Werder Bremen and a full 20 points ahead of last season's champions, Dortmund.

Without Werder Bremen's disruption, Bayern might have secured the title six or even seven rounds early.

After several seasons of turmoil and decline, the Bundesliga giants seemed to have rediscovered the key to dominating the league this season.

Bayern's media began to sing praises for the team's revival, claiming they were about to start a new Bayern dynasty.

Meanwhile, other German media expressed concerns, believing Bayern's dominance was detrimental to the overall development of the Bundesliga.

Among the five major leagues, no league besides the Bundesliga had such a dominant team.

The Premier League had its Big Six, La Liga had its two giants, and in recent seasons, Atlético Madrid had emerged as a strong contender, challenging Barcelona and Real Madrid's dominance.

In Serie A, the competition among AC Milan, Inter Milan, and Juventus had always been intense.

As for Ligue 1, with Lyon's decline, Bordeaux, Lille, Marseille, and Montpellier had all won championships, creating a chaotic scene with multiple contenders.

Only in the Bundesliga did Bayern remain the perennial leader, with other teams only having fleeting moments of success without shaking Bayern's foundational dominance.

In this context, the Bundesliga was looking to push for fairer financial policies to limit Bayern's player poaching, helping other teams keep their stars and compete more effectively with Bayern.

But these concerns didn't affect Werder Bremen much, as they didn't have the money and no big stars to worry about losing.

Lin and De Bruyne weren't their own players and couldn't be kept, so they didn't have to worry about being poached.

A week later, Werder Bremen hosted newly promoted Greuther Fürth.

Fürth, newly promoted to the Bundesliga this season, was already facing relegation.

Having played most of the league, Fürth currently had 2 wins, 8 draws, and 15 losses, with a meager 14 points, ranking last and trailing the fourth-to-last team by 15 points!

Barring a miracle, they were almost certain to be relegated.

In this match against second-placed Werder Bremen, Fürth's players fought hard, aiming for at least a draw.

But their dreams were soon shattered.

Before the first half ended, Werder Bremen had already scored twice, with goals from Lin and Fullkrug.

Twenty minutes into the second half, Lin scored again, making it 3-0.

After this goal, Werder Bremen began to ease up.

Lin and De Bruyne were substituted.

Fürth took the chance to attack, scoring a consolation goal, but that was all.

In the end, Fürth lost 1-3 to Werder Bremen, suffering their third consecutive defeat.

After the match, the Fürth fans who had traveled with the team were reluctant to leave the stadium. Their team now only had theoretical hope of staying up.

After the league match, the FIFA international break arrived.

Next week, Spain had two World Cup qualifiers to play, including an away match against their main group rival, France.

So, as soon as the league match ended, Lin hurried back to Spain to report to the national team.

"Look, isn't that Lin?"

"Wow, it really is him!"

"Lin, can I have your autograph? I'm a fan!"

Unlike his last time reporting to the national team, this time, Lin was immediately recognized and warmly welcomed by the fans as soon as he arrived outside the national team training base.

The enthusiasm of the Spanish fans startled Lin, who didn't realize he had such high popularity in Spain.

After half an hour of hurriedly signing autographs and taking pictures with fans, Lin finally broke free with the help of the staff.

"Lin, you shouldn't sign autographs for fans outside the stadium; it's too dangerous!"

Coach Tony, who rushed over, sighed in relief at Lin's safety and couldn't help but remind him.

"Yeah, I understand. Thanks for the reminder, Coach Tony!"

Previously unaware of his national team popularity, Lin now knew better. He wouldn't get out of the car outside the base next time.

"Lin, you're back!"

"When I heard the commotion outside, I thought it must be a star arriving. And sure enough, a star did come!"

As soon as he entered the training base, several teammates greeted him.

Some, with whom he was closer, even gave him hugs.

This reminded Lin of his first time reporting to the national team when Piqué had introduced him to the other players.

In just half a year, everything had changed.

Among his teammates, Morata had the best relationship with Lin.

After a warm hug, Morata patted Lin's muscular chest in amazement.

"Wow, you've bulked up since last time. Nice!"

"Hehe, but I'm still a bit behind you. I heard you played for Real Madrid and scored. Is that true?"

"Of course! Hehe, not many, just three goals, but each one was priceless!"

Morata was a bit proud, feeling his status at Real Madrid was slowly rising.

Last season, he only played once for Real Madrid and didn't score.

But this season, he had already played 15 times and scored several goals.

This made Morata look forward to next season: could he secure a starting position at Real Madrid and score more goals?

With rumors of Argentine forward Higuain possibly leaving in the summer, his opportunities next season would surely increase.

Just having turned 20, playing at a top club like Real Madrid was already a great achievement for a player his age.

Moreover, he was still young and had plenty of room for improvement, which was why Real Madrid had faith in him.

However, talking about youth, Morata couldn't help but look at Lin in front of him.

Sigh!

This guy, three years younger, was already starting in the Bundesliga and for the Spanish national team!

What a prodigy!