Bab 45: The Real Trump Card is Lin
Dortmund's players were a bit bewildered, staring blankly at their own goal, seemingly unable to accept the cruel reality of conceding a goal so quickly.
On the contrary, the Werder Bremen players were ecstatic after the goal. They chased after the goal scorer, Füllkrug, and dramatically celebrated by toppling him and piling on top of him like a human pyramid.
On the sidelines, Coach Schaaf, after the goal, clenched his fists excitedly and rushed out to hug and celebrate with the coaching staff.
On the other side, Klopp's face turned grim upon seeing the team concede so quickly.
"Damn it, what rotten luck the opponents have!"
To think they scored with just one attack, their luck is unbelievable.
Of course, this doesn't mean Dortmund had no defensive issues in the previous play.
When Füllkrug broke free to shoot, Dortmund's players didn't position themselves defensively in time, resulting in defensive lapse, which led to the goal.
Could it be that this young talent from Werder Bremen's youth academy is the secret weapon that Schaaf has specially prepared for this match?
Klopp was a bit unsure, his gaze shifted back and forth between Lin and Füllkrug.
Unable to determine which one the opposition was primarily focusing on!
Or is it that both of them are their trump cards?
Thinking that, he called over Hummels and had a few words with him.
After the game restarted, Füllkrug noticed that the opponents had tightened their defense against him.
Although Dortmund didn't assign a dedicated marker against him, there were always one or two Dortmund players staying close to him at all times.
In this situation, as soon as his teammate passed the ball to him, the opponents immediately closed in to dispossess him.
Seeing this scene, a slight smile appeared on Schaaf's face, and he felt relieved.
Füllkrug wasn't Werder Bremen's true trump card, the real ace in the hole was Lin, a winger with explosive power.
Füllkrug's main role on the field was actually to cover for his teammates, help them with the ball, support them, and, incidentally, divert the defensive focus from Lin, preventing the opponents from concentrating all their efforts on marking Lin.
And just now, Füllkrug's goal further solidified this point, making Dortmund mistakenly believe that he was the main threat and forcing them to increase their defensive efforts against him.
This fit perfectly into Schaaf's plan.
"Next, it's all up to you to perform!"
Schaaf's gaze crossed the crowd and landed on the team's number 10 player on the right side.
The unexpected conceding of a goal in the fourth minute did not crush the Dortmund players' fighting spirit.
Although they found it hard to accept conceding a goal just four minutes into the game and felt aggrieved at being caught off guard, this frustration turned into anger, fueling their determination to fight harder.
They began to use more aggressive running and fiercer battling to accelerate the pace of the game, intending to defeat the opponent, equalize, or even reverse the score!
This is the Westfalenstadion, the most fearsome home ground in the entire Bundesliga!
There's no room for you guys to run wild here!
However, the Werder Bremen players, magnified by their boosted morale from scoring a goal, at this moment, weren't afraid of Dortmund's pressing.
As a result, both sides engaged in fierce back-and-forth struggles in the midfield.
In the fifth minute, Dortmund swiftly passed the ball into Werder Bremen's penalty area.
Lewandowski received the ball in the penalty area. With no good passing option, he chose to take the shot himself.
However, the shot lacked power and was easily saved by the goalkeeper.
Militz knew that the pressing time given to them by the coach was running out. If they couldn't score another goal at this moment, it would be Dortmund's turn to press them in their half.
Thus, he leaped up from the ground and hoofed the ball forward.
Dortmund had just completed an attack, and most of their players were in the opponent's half, unable to retreat and defend.
At this point, their backline was wide open.
Once again, it was Arnautovic, the tall forward, who used his excellent heading ability to win the ball and set it up for Füllkrug.
As Füllkrug was being closed down by Dortmund's defenders, surprisingly, Werder Bremen's number 41 made no attempt to receive the ball. Instead, he cleverly let the ball through to Lin, who was charging from behind, wearing the number 10 jersey!
With a swoosh, Klopp stood up from his seat.
His expression turned extremely grave!
Wasn't that guy supposed to be operating on the right wing?
When did he move to the center?
Füllkrug, who is 1.9 meters tall, after receiving the ball, stood right in front of the defending player, preventing the Dortmund players from immediately disturbing or intercepting Lin, who had the space and time to speed up! Numerous matches have proven how dangerous it is once players like Messi pick up speed!
With his speed fully boosted, Lin effortlessly bypassed Dortmund's center-back Kehl with simple rhythm changes, dribbles, and feints.
The opponents wanted to grab his shirt but were worried about fouling him and conceding a penalty.
In that moment of hesitation, Lin took the shot.
Seeing Lin's sprint into the penalty area, Dortmund's goalkeeper Langlak immediately moved to the near post. However, Lin's shot was aimed at the far post, and it was a curved shot.
Facing such a shot, Langerak could only make a symbolic save, not even touching the ball. As he fell, he thought the shot had missed.
But when he looked back, the ball had already bounced into the goal.
In the sixth minute, Werder Bremen once again used the opportunity of a swift counter-attack to pierce Dortmund's defense.
The score became 2:0!
This goal, just like the first, caught Dortmund off guard with a swift counter-attack, as Werder Bremen completed their attack before Dortmund's defensive players were in position.
In this situation, Dortmund's players couldn't catch up, as their speed was insufficient to reach the ball!
This left the Dortmund players bewildered and even started doubting whether the team's tactics were correct.
If they continued playing in this manner, they could end up conceding more goals.
This is the Westfalenstadion, their home ground.
If they suffered a big loss here, or worse, a disaster, the players wouldn't know how to face the team's fans.
After this, Dortmund's players seemed somewhat hesitant and scared to continue attacking.
On the sidelines, Schaaf saw the Dortmund players' performance and felt relieved:
He was right in guessing that while the younger players had outstanding strengths, their weaknesses were also apparent. Their mentality was too easily affected.
Now, Coach Klopp, do you have a way to resolve the current crisis?
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