At the beginning of the second half of the match, the manager of the opposing team discusses the standings of the other thirty-four teams in the league. The manager says that he wants the second- and third-place teams to reach the top of the table, but the first-place team should not be able to do so because they are weaker than the other two. The two men discuss the importance of the current table, which is a halfway guide to the league standings. The first man says that the table is a "midway guide" for the team, and the second man replies that it is just a "halfway guide." The second man adds that he wishes the second or third place team were able to get to the top because it would show that the team is the strongest team in the world. The third man responds by saying that a champion should not have trouble meshing well with certain opponents, but that he doesn't need to hear what the manager has to say. He says that all he did was "say what you wanted" to make himself feel better, and that now he's "bone cold again." He says the manager is talking about how he "roiled them up" in the previous match, and how he beat up dulfer in the last one. The man responds that he sided with "tatsumi" in that game, and he says that, in fact, he beat him in the star game, too. He also says that kubota wouldn't have said anything to the manager after that match if it weren't for the nosebleed that he got in that previous match. The other man retorts that it's dangerous for him to "act like with him" when he has a nosebleed, but he says he can act like it when he beats up the other team. The three men agree that the match will be good, but they worry that the younger players will be intimidated by the older players