The whistle cut through the air like a blade, ending the first half. Dortmund jogged off the pitch with shoulders heavy and jaws tight, boots thudding against the tunnel floor. In the stands above, the Udinese fans were on their feet, flags waving, voices swelling in triumph. Even at 1–0 on the night, they could feel it — the Italians were frustrating Dortmund into a corner.
Thiago kept his head down as he trailed behind Kuba and Sahin into the dressing room. He wasn't in the eleven tonight, so the chill in the air wasn't from exhaustion but from the way the match was slipping away, minute by minute. He'd felt it on the bench — that slow build of frustration, the impatience in every misplaced pass.
The dressing room door shut, and the noise of the stadium dulled into a low hum. Klopp stood in the middle, hands on his hips, his face set in something halfway between a glare and a smirk.
"Sit," he barked.
