Capítulo 109: A Miracle in Front of Tens of Thousands!
The Score Fell Behind, and Our Offensive Tactics Were Restricted by the Opponent.
The team's frontline core was somewhat lost, making the situation quite tricky for Coach Schaaf on the sideline.
He gazed nervously at the home team's coaching side, where Heynckes, as before at the Weser Stadium, maintained his calm demeanor, quietly watching the match on the field.
The old coach was becoming increasingly inscrutable, making it hard for people to read him.
Schaaf sighed and realized he understood Bayern's tactics.
The opponent's starting lineup today was very targeted. Normally, Bayern's midfield configuration consisted of Schweinsteiger paired with Martinez or Gustavo.
It was rare to see two defensive midfielders appear together.
In this match, Heynckes placed Kroos and Muller on the bench, moving Schweinsteiger's position from defensive midfield to attacking midfield.
Then, he positioned two defensive linchpins in the defensive midfield, raising Bayern's midfield's toughness.
Without Kroos and Muller's particpation, Bayern's attacking routines had diminished somewhat.
However, in this match, their attack didn't rely on routines but rather on the very strong individual capabilities of the two wingers.
Unfortunately for Werder Bremen, they had no way to contain the opponent's attack and were thus restricted in their offensive capability, unable to withstand the opponent's onslaught on the defensive end.
Their chances of winning this match decreased the longer it continued.
They were only one goal behind right now, but if the opponents launched a few more such counter-attacks, they would likely fall behind by more than one goal.
What to do? How to limit the opponent's attack?
Schaaf initially thought of defense, but then quickly realized that Werder Bremen's defense was already weak.
Attempting to work on their already weak defense wasn't as effective as focusing on revitalizing the team's attacking system.
If they could activate the team's attack and free up Lin and De Bruyne, perhaps they could change the team's fate with goals.
However, how to break the opponent's defensive system?
It wasn't just Schaaf pondering this question; in the audience, Chelsea's senior scout Devieser was also considering this issue.
"Werder Bremen needs a third person to step up, they can't solely rely on these two people. Otherwise, Bayern would easily shut them down!"
Devieser thought of Werder Bremen's former main striker, Marko Marin. If he were on the field instead of Krug at this moment, Bayern would not dare to ruthlessly double-mark Lin and De Bruyne.
As the match resumed, Lin was contemplating how to break through Bayern's block. When he moved to the right, Martinez marked him. He then moved to the left, expecting Gustavo to mark him, but was surprised to find Martinez following him there.
It was deliberate, aimed at challenging Lin.
Realizing this, Lin knew he couldn't shake Martinez in this match. So, he didn't rush to attack the opponent's penalty area but instead dribbled the ball between the opponent's defensive and midfield lines.
Naturally, Bayern's players wouldn't let him comfortably dribble. Four players, including Mandzukic, Ribery, and Schweinsteiger, rushed to steal the ball from him. But his teammates were many in that position. Before the opponent could press him, he passed the ball to Hunt.
After receiving the ball, Hunt passed to the left-sided Elia, who swiftly went down the left.
Lin didn't return to the right but followed Elia to the left. Martinez hesitated but still chose to guard Lin. He believed his teammate, Lahm, could defend against Elia without his help.
Lahm's ability as a full-back was top-notch, and Elia couldn't penetrate his defense. However, at that moment, Lin came over and passed the ball to him, moving toward the penalty area.
Just as he received the ball, Martinez closed in. Having competed against him several times before, Lin already understood his characteristics. Martinez had excellent ball control and strong physical abilities, but his 192cm height meant he couldn't turn as quickly as smaller players. So, it was clear how to deal with him: by dribbling past him.
Lin calmly dribbled the ball, and Martinez, who had previously attempted but failed to tackle him, hesitated about charging in immediately.
After previously being dribbled past, Martinez had learned his lesson and knew that reckless one-on-one defense was risky. In Lin's eyes, this player of his height could only move in slow motion. Lin was positioned on the left side, near the 30-meter area at the time.
According to Bayern's defensive strategy, their right-back Lahm should have moved up to defend Lin alongside Martinez.
However, as Elia took Lahm away, he didn't come up immediately.
But it didn't matter; Lahm wasn't up, and there was also the right midfielder, Robben.
However, Martinez didn't see Robben's presence; he didn't retreat and remained in Werder Bremen's half.
Robben indicated, "I'm the one who scored, not here to do dirty work as a defender. If the opponents were near the center circle, then he could symbolically provide cover. But since the opponents were nearing the 30-meter area, returning back would prevent him from immediately participating in the team's attack."
Robben felt that with his poor defensive ability, going back would only cause chaos for the team and wouldn't be helpful.
Therefore, he decided not to go back, to avoid hindering his performance in the attack. However, as a result, Bayern's restrictive tactics against Lin had somewhat lost its effectiveness.
At Lin's current position, besides the right midfielder, defensive midfielder, and fullback, no one else could come over.
It wouldn't be appropriate to have a central defender come here, would it? The central midfielder Schweinsteiger could move, but he was currently marking De Bruyne and couldn't move!
This gave Lin a brief one-on-one confrontation with Martinez. He glanced at the position of his center forward, Krug, suddenly initiated, made a passing motion, and kicked the ball away.
But the ball didn't roll too far; it landed not far behind Martinez.
A mistake?
Seeing Lin's shot, Martinez felt a hint of doubt.
Before he could react, he felt a gust of wind, and Lin had disappeared in front of him.
Oh no, this kid blindsided me!
Martinez, with his wealth of experience, almost immediately guessed the opponent's intention. He subconsciously raised his arm to block Lin, but Lin swiftly slipped past him.
Who knew being short had its advantages! For the first time, Lin felt satisfied with his height!
Oh no!
The moment Martinez was bypassed by Lin, he realized the danger!
The caution the coach had emphasized before the match had materialized at this moment!
"Brilliant!"
On the stands, Devieser saw Lin avoid Martinez and couldn't resist a word of praise.
On the other hand, George Evans looked puzzled. Martinez had previously been outplayed by Lin several times, even near the penalty area, but Devieser had never been as excited as he was now. Why was he so thrilled this time?
"Idiot, it's the space. Lin now has space!"
It seemed that Devieser had seen through the rookie scout's confusion and patiently explained, "In the previous cases where Lin bypassed Martinez, several Bayern players formed a double-team against him, which made it nearly impossible for him to dribble. Even when he was closer to the goal, he couldn't threaten Bayern's goal. But now, after shifting to the flank, he only had Martinez beside him. After bypassing him, he had enough space to dribble. At this point, whether it's a pass or an attack, he has much more leeway. Most importantly, he's no longer limited by Martinez but only needs to confront Bayern's defensive line!"
After hearing this, George suddenly understood. So that's it! It's no wonder the senior scout saw through it. His accumulated insight over the years shouldn't be underestimated!
Since the senior scout Devieser thought it was a good opportunity, George became even more curious, "Can Lin seize this opportunity and change the score?"
"He lost his goal!"
On the home team's coaching side, Heynckes, who had been calm all this time, suddenly lost his composure.
"Yes, Robben didn't return to defend in time!"
Grand, who had designed this defensive tactic, became extremely nervous after seeing this play.
"It's not just Robben failing to defend, but the positions of other players couldn't keep up. This kid showing up on the left side doesn't appear to be coincidental!"
Heynckes watched Lin, who was approaching the Bayern goal, and couldn't help but marvel at his high soccer IQ.
"How could this kid, at such a young age, have such high soccer intelligence? How could he pinpoint and exploit the loopholes in Bayern's defensive system in such a short time?"
"Are you saying this kid deliberately went to the left?" Grand was even more surprised to hear Heynckes's words.
"That's right. By taking advantage of his teammates to shift to the flank and intentionally operate on the left side, he caused our players to hesitate and not follow him, leaving nobody to protect Martinez and giving him a one-on-one opportunity!"
"All of this is quite possibly part of his plan!"
"Even Robben not returning to defend might have been in his calculations!"
Heynckes took a deep breath, regretting not persuading the sports director, Samuel, to buy the young Barça player after the Telekom Cup. Who would have thought that a 16-year-old player could cause such huge trouble for Bayern Munich?
Upon seeing Lin dribble past Martinez, the Bayern defenders immediately tensed up.
They were well aware of the terror this guy posed. Although Martinez was desperately trying to catch up, when he turned, he was a split-second slower than Lin due to the latter's earlier start, causing a substantial gap between them.
This distance implied that when Lin confronted Bayern's defenders, no one could help; they had to rely on themselves. Dante was the first to charge forward, wearing a brave, resigned expression.
Ever since Lin had ruptured his cruciate ligament at the Weserstadion, Dante had been a little wary of players with such speed and agility. These young lads didn't understand the pain of knee injuries; they just kept dribbling, twisting and turning.
At almost thirty years old, Dante had suffered quite a few injuries to his arms and legs and couldn't keep up, nor did he dare match the opponent's rhythm. If Lin continued to frequently change direction in a short time, Dante seriously doubted whether his knees could withstand it.
Faced with Dante's charge, Lin swiftly began to dribble and turn. Often, the simplest moves were the most effective; with Dante's injured knee, Lin naturally took advantage of this. Dante watched as Lin turned, feeling helpless, but gritted his teeth and kept pace with the opponent. However, when Lin turned for the third time, Dante dared not follow—he couldn't keep up and felt his knee was reaching its limit.
After dribbling past Dante, Lin dashed into the penalty area and faced Boeteng, who was hesitating about whether to make a tackle.
Boeteng had been psychologically scarred after being embarrassed in front of tens of thousands of fans at Allianz Arena by the opponent. In a battle between experts, one should not hesitate—if you do, you will be defeated!
Lin wasn't sure why Boeteng was contemplating life at that moment, nor did he care. He seized the great opportunity, shifted his weight to the right, and deceived Boeteng with a feint.
Normally, Boeteng would have seen through Lin's feint. But at that moment, Boeteng was distracted, causing a slight delay in his reaction, allowing Lin to bypass him.
"Darn it!" From dribbling past Martinez to passing Dante and entering the penalty area, Lin took less than three seconds.
Neuer had just prepared to intercept alongside Boeteng, but the latter was bypassed quickly by Lin. Now, Neuer had to face Lin alone.
It was a goalkeeper's nightmare to confront an opponent's striker one-on-one without defensive assistance. However, at that moment, Neuer displayed an unprecedented dominance, showing no fear of the opponent's challenge.
Lin realized that the Bayern players were already catching up from behind. He didn't have time to continue dribbling; he had to shoot immediately, or else he feared he might not even get the chance.
So, without hesitation, and with a fearless look at Neuer, Lin decisively took the shot!
"Score!" He roared in his mind as he exerted all his strength to shoot the ball.
The ball whistled towards the top left corner of the goal, and a hand appeared in its flight path.
Neuer reacted extremely quickly and judged the direction right! At Allianz Arena, countless fans couldn't help but stand up:
Is this goal going in?
At that moment, time seemed to stand still. Every frame was in slow motion!
Neuer's hand was slowly but resolutely reaching towards the ball!
Could he touch the ball? Can he intercept it?
The ball was still ascending, but Neuer had already exerted all his strength and couldn't raise his outstretched hand any further.
"Damn, is it still not enough?" Neuer, airborne, looked back at the ball flying over him, feeling unwilling.
However, although the ball had passed his fingers, as high as it was flying, it seemed likely to fly over the crossbar.
Just when Neuer and the Bayern fans were thinking this, the ball suddenly started to descend, as if it was being slapped down from the air!
A chip shot!
It was actually a chip shot!
A loud, muffled bang came from the goalpost.
The ball, having dropped slightly in height, hit the crossbar and bounced into Bayern's goal under the gaze of tens of thousands of fans.
Under the watchful eyes of the Allianz Arena crowd, Lin performed an unbelievable miracle!
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