Chapter 110: Chapter 110: Bayern's Targeting
Chapter 110: Bayern's Targeting
"Yes, he's called the Bundesliga Messi, but I think he's even more impressive than Messi was at his age. He's only 16 now, still two months away from turning 17!"
"So young?"
Deweese felt somewhat surprised upon hearing this news.
He was commissioned by Chelsea Football Club manager Emner to assess Lin Quan's abilities at the Allianz Arena.
Before coming, he had heard that this was a very young player, but he thought "young" meant around nineteen or twenty years old.
He didn't expect the player to be less than 17 years old, which surprised him greatly.
How could a player of this age possess such powerful skills on the field?
"Yes, that's his most incredible aspect. The maturity he displays on the field is completely unlike that of a young player; instead, he resembles a veteran who has played professional football for seven or eight years!"
George Evans had followed De Bruyne all the way and had witnessed Lin Quan's transformation from an obscure figure to a top-notch rising star in the football world, so he was deeply impressed.
Deweese half-believed what he said. Experience in matches was something that needed to be accumulated through one's own efforts.
This was not something that could be achieved through shortcuts like talent.
So he remained silent, focused, and watched the game attentively.
The stadium was packed for this match at the Allianz Arena.
With a capacity of 75,000 spectators, today there were over 65,000 fans present, including about 5,000 away fans.
Werder Bremen's performance this season had been outstanding, especially when facing Bayern, where they remained undefeated.
This record reassured the Parrot Legion fans, who were willing to travel thousands of miles to support their team in away matches.
Even before the match started, Werder Bremen's fans began singing first.
Seeing the opposition causing a stir at their home ground, Bayern fans immediately joined in.
Soon, the overwhelming number of Bayern fans completely drowned out the songs of the Parrot Legion fans.
The songs of Werder Bremen's fans could only be heard in the area near the southeast corner.
And standing on the football field, all 22 players could only hear Bayern Munich's team song.
For Werder Bremen's players, Bayern's team song was not unfamiliar.
When they first came to the Allianz Arena earlier in the season, they had heard Bayern fans sing "Forever Number One".
The result of that match was a clean and thorough defeat of Bayern by Werder Bremen, making them fall in the Telekom Cup.
"Forever Number One" became a joke!
This time, when they heard Bayern fans singing this song again, Werder Bremen's players not only didn't feel pressured, but they also laughed one by one.
"What's wrong with them? What are these guys laughing at?"
Across from them, the Bayern players, waiting for kickoff, were puzzled by their opponents' laughter.
The home fans, seeing the away team's players laughing for no reason, paused for a moment, then immediately showered them with boos.
Clearly, they thought Werder Bremen's fans were mocking them, so they became angry and forgot about singing, focusing only on booing and hurling insults back at their opponents.
The Bayern team song stopped, and at that moment, the referee blew the whistle to start the match.
Werder Bremen had possession, De Bruyne passed the ball to Lin Quan, who passed it back to Junuzovic.
The Bayern players pressed aggressively, launching an attack on Werder Bremen's backline right from the start.
Under pressure, Junuzovic couldn't hold onto the ball and quickly passed it to Fritz.
Fritz then transferred the ball to the wing, where right-back Selassie received it and passed it back to Lin Quan, who had retreated to receive the ball.
Werder Bremen played patiently and did not rush to attack.
However, passing in their own half was dangerous, especially when facing a team like Bayern Munich, known for their strong pressing.
Seeing the opponents passing back and forth in their own half, the Bayern players increased the number of players pressing in the frontcourt, not allowing them to continue passing like this.
The ball quickly returned to Lin Quan's feet, and before receiving the ball, he observed the positions of the Bayern players, already calculating the route for his attack in his mind.
So, this time, instead of passing back, he started dribbling forward with the ball.
Bayern's left winger Ribery immediately moved forward to intercept, having faced each other twice before, with both sides getting the better of the other.
In terms of attack, both were top-notch, easily getting past each other.
In defense, both were not strong, with Ribery having slightly better defensive abilities due to his physical qualities and aggressive tackling.
But facing Lin Quan's stronger dribbling ability, his defensive skills were not sufficient, making it easy for Lin Quan to pass him.
So, after another confrontation, Ribery still couldn't stop Lin Quan and was dribbled past again.
Seeing this play, Deweese smiled, nodding in satisfaction.
No wonder George said this kid had an unusual maturity; he was indeed different from ordinary young players.
Others might applaud him for dribbling past Ribery, but Deweese felt impressed by the several passes and receptions Lin Quan made in the backfield earlier.
Every time his teammate was under pressure from the opponent's pressing and struggling to pass the ball.
He could run to the right position to allow his teammate to safely pass the ball out.
And after receiving the ball, under pressure from the Bayern players, he could calmly pass the ball out again.
This excellent passing and ball control ability helped his team neutralize many dangers.
Without him, with Bayern's pressing intensity, Werder Bremen would have been intercepted several times in the backfield.
However, purely defending would only lead to passivity.
Werder Bremen's players were not as strong as Bayern's, and as Bayern deployed more and more players to press, even if Lin Quan continued to actively support his teammates, their passing lanes would eventually be completely locked down by Bayern.
And once the passing lanes were locked down, conceding a goal would only be a matter of time.
But Bayern deploying too many players to press in the opponent's half also meant that their defensive strength behind would be weakened.
For Werder Bremen, this was an opportunity to attack; it was up to this kid to see it!
Lin Quan's performance did not disappoint Deweese!
He had obviously seen this opportunity, and after judging the timing of the attack, he decisively chose to switch from defense to offense.
This was what impressed Deweese the most!
Simply dribbling past Ribery wasn't that remarkable to him.
Ribery was better at attacking than defending; he wasn't a professional defender, and there were plenty of players who could dribble past him, not just Lin Quan.
The key was the technique and football intelligence Lin Quan displayed in this series of plays, which was the most surprising aspect to him.
No wonder the outside world had such high praise for him; this kid really had some skills.
However, dribbling past Ribery was just the beginning; Bayern's defense was very solid.
Their two sweeping defensive midfielders were waiting for Lin Quan, and Deweese was eager to see how Lin Quan would handle this situation!
When Lin Quan dribbled past Ribery, he immediately encountered the defense of his national team teammate Martinez.
Outsiders didn't know how strong Martinez was, but Lin Quan had seen his strength.
Exaggerated physical qualities, abundant stamina, a wide range of movement, and powerful interception abilities!
Not to mention his chasing speed, explosive power, start-up speed, positioning sense, and other attributes, all of which were top-notch!
Martinez was not a simple defensive midfielder; this guy was an all-around player, whether as a defensive midfielder, defender, or even forward, he had played, and played well.
Bayern spent 40 million euros to buy him; they definitely didn't make a mistake.
With such a player appearing in front of him, Lin Quan immediately became more vigilant.
"Lin, you won't score at the Allianz Arena today!"
Martinez defended Lin Quan while smiling and said to him.
The two were teammates in the national team, and Martinez regarded Lin Quan like a little brother, so he naturally wouldn't curse at him.
"It's not up to you to decide!"
Lin Quan also smiled and replied, then dribbled forward with the ball.
Martinez's speed was very fast; he caught up with Lin Quan, using both his hands and feet to tackle, trying to disrupt the ball.
This dual-threat mode made it uncomfortable for Lin Quan to dribble the ball.
Martinez was 192 cm tall and weighed over 80 kilograms.
A player with such a physique had an extremely strong ability to resist physical challenges, something Lin Quan couldn't match.
If it weren't for his slightly faster speed, always staying half a step ahead of Martinez, preventing him from exerting his full strength, he would probably have been pushed aside long ago.
However, taking advantage of the opportunity when he was held back by Martinez, Bayern's left-back Alaba immediately rushed up and kicked the ball away.
The ball was disrupted, but possession still belonged to Werder Bremen.
Junuzovic ran over to prepare to take a throw-in, but when he looked at the ball, he found that their two core players, De Bruyne and Lin Quan, were both being double-teamed by the opponents.
If he threw the ball to them, it would likely be taken away by the opponents.
To be on the safe side, he threw the ball to his teammate Selassie in the backfield.
After receiving the ball, Selassie found that De Bruyne was closely marked by the opponent and didn't have a good passing opportunity.
So he could only pass the ball sideways to the team captain Fritz.
After receiving the ball, Fritz glanced at the positions of the Bayern players on the field and frowned.
De Bruyne was always closely marked, either by defensive midfielder Gustavo or midfielder Schweinsteiger.
Damn it, Bayern's midfield is too tough!
Piggy, who can attack and defend, all-round Martinez, and the dedicated defender Gustavo.
When these three tough guys stand together, they give people a feeling of being unbreakable.
With Werder Bremen's midfield strength, trying to compete head-on with them would be asking for trouble.
So he didn't dare to pass the ball to De Bruyne. Seeing Lin Quan retreating to receive the ball, he passed the ball to Lin Quan.
As soon as Lin Quan received the ball, he immediately faced Ribery's pressure.
Bayern's center-forward Mandzukic also ran over, seemingly intending to double-team him.
Lin Quan took a few steps forward, damn it, Martinez also came up, and Mandzukic actually followed him.
Aren't you a center forward?
Why are you following me into your own half?
Lin Quan stopped and passed the ball back to his teammate.
He felt that he was being targeted by Bayern. The evidence was that whenever he crossed the halfway line, there would be at least two or even three Bayern players double-teaming him.
This hadn't yet threatened the opponent's backline, but if they got close to the opponent's backline, the opponent's full-backs and center-backs would add two more, turning it into a siege of Shaolin Temple!
(End of this chapter)
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