Capítulo 55: Defending Champions Fall into Relegation Zone
Lin's teammates seemed surprised that he could score directly from a free-kick, so they hesitated for a moment after the ball went into the net before running over to celebrate with him.
"Hey, kid, that curl with the outside of your foot was really stylish!"
"Haha, the most amazing thing was the combination of tactics between Lin and De Bruyne, wasn't it? Look at the Dortmund players, they were completely fooled!"
"Haha, if I were Weidenfeller, I'd be furious!"
"Hahaha…"
The teammates were all very happy after equalizing away from home.
They had thought they were going to lose this match, so drawing was completely unexpected!
"Can't relax yet. Including injury time, there's about five minutes left, and in those five minutes, we have to defend well. We can't waste the situation that Lin worked hard to create!"
"That's right. In the last five minutes, we absolutely can't let them score!"
"Hehe, how about we pass the ball to Lin more once we get possession, and let him score another free kick? Maybe then we'll be able to take all three points!"
The players of Werder Bremen chatted and laughed, discussing the tactics for the next move, while the players of Borussia Dortmund were silent with a troubled look on their faces.
Every time they were in the lead, they were equalized.
Why was Werder Bremen so difficult to deal with? Weren't they a weak team to be bullied last season?
Just over a summer and they had evolved like this? Was it all because of those two kids?
…
When the game restarted, with limited time left, Borussia Dortmund intensified their attacks, hoping to score a goal and earn all three points in the final stages of the match.
However, faced with the unity of Werder Bremen's defensive line, their attacks were in vain.
During this time, Lin attempted to deceive the opposition into fouling him again to take another free-kick, but the opponents were clearly more cautious this time.
Not only did they closely watch Lin but they also marked out several passing options in Werder Bremen's front line, especially locking down De Bruyne.
After being marked, De Bruyne was rendered ineffective, and no one passed the ball to Lin anymore.
Although other teammates had the same idea, they lacked the finesse to deliver accurate passes, so Lin couldn't receive the ball.
He considered dropping back to receive the ball, but every time he did, the opposition immediately fouled him in an area too far from the goal, making a direct shot impossible.
As a result, neither side could change the score, and the match ended in a 2-2 draw, with each team earning one point.
This result was totally acceptable for Werder Bremen, but it was hard for Borussia Dortmund's fans to accept.
Even a mid-tier team like Werder Bremen had denied them all three points. This meant they would already be behind Bayern Munich in the new season.
Bayern's opening match was against the newly promoted team, Mönchengladbach.
No one could expect them to lose to a team that had just been promoted from the second division, right?
As expected, in the second game, Bayern Munich won 3-0 away, extinguishing any lingering hope for Borussia Dortmund.
On August 26, with Hannover drawing 2-2 with Schalke 04 at home, the first round of Bundesliga matches came to an end.
Apart from Werder Bremen's strong performance in drawing with Borussia Dortmund away, the biggest surprise of this round of matches came from the newly promoted team, Eintracht Frankfurt.
They defeated last season's fifth-placed team, Bayer Leverkusen, 2-1 at home.
Bayer Leverkusen was a traditional powerhouse in the Bundesliga, while Eintracht Frankfurt had only finished third in the second division last season. Leverkusen's loss to Frankfurt surprised many.
However, it seemed that the promoted teams this season were quite strong. Besides Frankfurt, the other newly promoted team, Fortuna Düsseldorf, also won 2-0 away against Augsburg.
Among the three promoted teams, except for the second division champions Fortuna Düsseldorf, the other two teams had all won their matches.
...
On the night the match ended, Werder Bremen did not stay overnight in Dortmund but returned to Bremen that very night.
Since their next match was not until September, the head coach gave the players a day off.
When Lin returned to his host family, it was already after two o'clock in the morning.
He quietly opened the door, tiptoed back to his room, and didn't disturb the others who were fast asleep.
He lay on the bed, feeling sleepy, and fell heavily asleep in less than a minute.
He slept until half-past ten the next morning, and after washing up, he went to the living room only to find Mrs.Anna had made breakfast for him.
When he touched it, the food was still warm.
"Hehe, you're awake. Eat while it's hot - it's fresh and it's your favorite bacon sandwich!" Mrs. Anna cheerfully remarked.
Mr. William was reading the newspaper, his mouth curved in a smile, seemingly in a good mood.
"Mr. William, did something good happen today? You seem so cheerful – did you close a big business deal?" Lin inquired.
Mr. William Victor chuckled and shook his head, "No, something beyond business makes me happy today. Lin, take a look at this!"
Saying so, he handed the newspaper over to Lin.
Curious, Lin took the newspaper and was surprised to find three different papers - the Bremen Citizen, the Bremen City Post, and the Bremen Daily.
The headline on the city post read: "Werder Bremen forces a draw against defending champions, team's rising star scores twice to overturn the game!"
Underneath the headline was a close-up photo of him in a number ten jersey, scoring a free kick. The photo was exceptionally well taken, and even Lin himself was impressed by his cool pose.
The Bremen Citizen's headline read: "Record-breaking night, Werder Bremen's super rookie breaks two major Bundesliga records!"
It detailed his achievement of breaking the youngest appearance and goal-scoring records in the Bundesliga, as well as highlighting his records within Werder Bremen.
Compared to the Bundesliga records, Werder Bremen's records seemed less remarkable.
The Bremen Daily's coverage was slightly better than the previous two, still praising him extravagantly.
No wonder Mr. William was so happy in the morning - it was all because of these flattering newspapers!
"Well, these newspapers are like our team's voice, they naturally find ways to praise," Mr. William remarked.
"Take a look at this!" Mr. William interrupted as he handed another paper to Lin, who was already trying to explain a few things.
It was another unknown tabloid with a flashy headline.
Forget that.
Despite being the largest and most influential newspaper in Germany, Bild wasn't just any ordinary tabloid.
Feeling curious about their evaluation, Lin decided to open and read it. The headline on the Bild newspaper read: "Three games, six goals, the future football king rising at Werder Bremen!"
This situation proved that being praised by Bild could have serious consequences.
…
In the second match of the season, Werder Bremen hosted Hamburg, and Lin received special attention from them.
In this game, wherever he went, even back to his own half, the opponents always had a player marking him closely.
The attention he received was almost akin to that received by a superstar.
However, Hamburg's strength was clearly lacking. While they managed to contain Lin, his teammates turned the tables.
In the fifty-second minute, with the opponents focusing too much on Lin, De Bruyne decided to pass to the winger Aaron Hunt on the other side.
Upon receiving the ball, Hunt quickly infiltrated the penalty area intending to shoot, but was fouled.
This led to a penalty for Werder Bremen.
Hunt took the penalty and scored, changing the score to 1-0. Five minutes later, in almost the same position, Arnautovic received De Bruyne's pass and scored from a tight angle, making it 2-0.
After conceding two goals in quick succession, Hamburg seemed bewildered.
What's happening? Wasn't this kid supposed to be Werder Bremen's biggest threat?
How did we freeze him out, only for his teammates to crush us?
As a result, they relaxed their defense against Lin and intensified their defense against other Werder Bremen players.
Lin, who had been marked almost the entire half, finally found an opportunity to shine.
In the 88th minute, receiving Elyounoussi's pass, he dribbled through the defense in a miraculous show near the edge of the penalty area.
He maneuvered skillfully from the right to the left of the opponent's penalty area, dancing past their entire defense.
Inside the penalty area, facing the onrushing goalkeeper, he delicately chipped the ball, rewriting the score to 3-0.
This goal left Hamburg's players questioning their life choices - was this guy even human?
Had anyone seen someone dribble like him? The entire defense seemed as fragile as paper in front of him, as if he were an emperor reviewing his troops.
Following demoralizing Hamburg, they posed no threat to Werder Bremen in the remaining time, and the score remained at 3-0.
Lin continued his streak of scoring in every game!
Werder Bremen also secured their first victory of the season.
The second round of Bundesliga games also brought upsets. Defending champions Borussia Dortmund were held to a draw by Nuremberg, earning only 2 points in two matches and ranking 13th on the points table, almost falling into the relegation zone.
On the other hand, Bayern Munich thrashed Stuttgart 6-1 at home, securing 6 points in two matches and firmly sitting at the top of the table.
It's worth mentioning that the three newly promoted teams continued their underdog performances in this round of matches.
Fortuna Düsseldorf won 1-0 against Mainz away, Eintracht Frankfurt won 4-0 against Hoffenheim away, and Düsseldorf drew 0-0 against Borussia Mönchengladbach.
Frankfurt's two consecutive wins placed them second on the points table, just behind Bayern Munich in goal difference, while last season's champions Borussia Dortmund seemed to be falling behind after just two rounds of the league.
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