The first week of training with the first team was a brutal education for Lukas. Every session felt like a test, every drill a challenge to prove he belonged.
The pace was relentless, the physicality unforgiving, and the tactical demands far more complex than anything he had experienced in the academy. Mateo watched his dormmate struggle, saw the frustration building, the self-doubt creeping in. And he knew he had to help.
It was a strange dynamic. They were the same age – both seventeen, both still living in the dorm under the club's protective watch.
But Mateo had a full season of first-team experience under his belt. He had played in the Bundesliga, in the Champions League, had won a title, and had faced the best players in Europe. That experience, that knowledge, put him in an unexpected position: mentor.
