Chapter 40 The all-out battle to the championship(1/2)
Dortmund is well-staffed, coupled with Klopp’s unyielding drive.
In the confrontation with Wolfsburg, he did not fall behind at all.
Dortmund's fast break in the frontcourt, Aubameyang is not the traditional standing center who is rooted in the penalty area. He constantly uses his running position to respond at the front of the penalty area.
Reus and Mkhitaryan, a pair of Dortmund flying wings, are the key personnel of Wolfsburg's defense.
The two of them have a very significant effect on containing Wolfsburg's defense.
Royce, who is in good physical condition, lives up to his reputation as a little rocket. He has caused Wolfsburg's wing to become a mess by himself.
When Royce was surrounded in the top left corner of the penalty area, he knocked the ball back to Gundogan, who then passed the ball to Shinji Kagawa who came in behind.
The Japanese King took a long shot from the top of the penalty area, but the quality of the shot was average. After the football bounced in the penalty area, Benaglio made a forward dive and held it firmly in his arms.
Shinji Kagawa, who returned to Dortmund from Manchester United, has not found his form yet and missed a good opportunity to score.
Without giving Dortmund much time to react, Wolfsburg, not to be outdone, started to counterattack directly from the backcourt.
De Bruyne sent a precisely guided long pass from the middle of the backcourt and handed the ball to Perisic, who was running forward on the left wing.
After Perisic stopped the ball, he continued to move forward quickly. When faced with a head-on interception by Schmelzer, he knocked the ball across to Zhao Jinge, who was wandering in the middle of the Dortmund penalty area.
Hummels quickly moved forward, leaving Dost with Subotic to guard alone, and once again blocked Zhao Jinge.
Zhao Jinge did not lose momentum because of the previous failed breakthroughs. He dribbled forward quickly and got closer and closer to Hummels.
Hummels carefully observed Zhao Jinge's every move. Zhao Jinge could make many mistakes, but as a defensive player, he could not make one mistake.
Sven Bender just pushed too far forward and now he can't get back to his defensive position.
In one-on-one situations, Hummels did not dare to act rashly.
It wasn't until Zhao Jinge entered the penalty area and was almost in front of him that Hummels had to stretch his legs to grab him.
If you step back further, Dortmund's goal will be right behind you. It would definitely be a crime to let a top striker like Zhao Jinge get in front of the goal!
But at the same time as Hummels grabbed the ball, Zhao Jinge suddenly pulled the ball and turned his back to Hummels.
Hummels felt a little confused for a moment. He had already entered the penalty area. Why did he suddenly turn around to protect the ball?
Hummels had no time to think too much. As long as Zhao Jinge continues to hold the ball in the penalty area, he will be the biggest source of danger!
When Hummels decided to continue pressing forward, Zhao Jinge took a step backwards and half-turned, then lobbed the ball into the gap on the left side of Dortmund's backline.
Perisic suddenly started, successfully countered offside, and grabbed the first point of the ball before Schmelzer blocked it.
After catching the ball, he led forward, directly forming a situation of going to the meeting alone.
Weidenfeller did not sit still and wait for death in the face of a single attack. Instead, he attacked decisively and pounced directly on the football at Perisic's feet.
Facing Weidenfeller's attack, Perisic panicked a little and originally wanted to use a kick to go past the goalkeeper and score.
As a result, the hurried shot passed the goalkeeper but also crossed the goal. It hit the goal post and bounced out of the baseline.
Perisic missed the opportunity, and Weidenfeller, who escaped, immediately yelled at Dortmund's defenders.
Let them pay more attention and don't let this happen again. They won't be so lucky next time.
Dortmund's performance this season has made many of their players impatient, and their interactions have become increasingly angry.
Although the current atmosphere in the Dortmund team is not good, Klopp, as the head coach, is already satisfied.
Taking a team that was once in the relegation zone and bringing it back to seventh place in the standings, Klopp no longer wants anything more.
But it doesn't mean that he doesn't care about the outcome of this game.
On the contrary, if we can defeat Wolfsburg, the top team in the Bundesliga.
For Klopp, this will make him feel more comfortable leaving Westphalia.
The time of departure is coming, and he wants to leave something more precious to Dortmund, a team that still has the top competitiveness of the Bundesliga.
This battle against Wolfsburg is a key battle for him to test the team's competitiveness.
The subsequent German Cup final was the last championship trophy he wanted to leave to Dortmund.
In the fierce offensive battle, Dortmund, who had more physical strength, gradually took control of the situation.
In the 31st minute of the game, Gundogan received a pass from Royce in front of the penalty area and began to dribble the ball diagonally to attract the attention of Wolfsburg's defense to his side.
Gundogan then handed the ball to Shinji Kagawa in the middle.
Shinji Kagawa made a through ball and passed the ball to Mkhitaryan who had already cut in.
After Mkhitaryan received the ball in the penalty area, he raised his foot and shot without hesitation! The football flew straight to the center of the goal and to the lower left.
The ball was hit very suddenly, and Benaglio immediately fell to the ground to save the ball.
But in the next second, Aubameyang rushed to the goal very quickly and shot the ball into the goal!
Dortmund leads Wolfsburg 1-0 away from home.
"GOAL!!!! Aubameyang broke the deadlock on the court! What a smart move! The people who are most grateful to Aubameyang now may not be the Dortmund fans!"
"Just now we received news that in Freiburg's home game against Bayern Munich, which started at the same time, Bayern Munich played away and led 1-0!"
"This also means that Bayern Munich is only one point behind Wolfsburg in the real-time Bundesliga standings!
If the scores of the two games are determined at this point, then in the last league game, Bayern Munich still has a chance to reverse the points and win the championship!"
"Bayern fans who are following this game can smile happily!"
In the studio, after seeing Aubameyang score a goal, Matthaus, who was once a member of Bayern Munich, immediately combined what he had just learned about the Bayern Munich game.
The Bundesliga's current stalemate championship situation is explained to all Bundesliga fans who are paying attention to this game!
Although they had just lost a goal and looked at the celebrating Dortmund players, Wolfsburg did not feel restless.
The fans in the stands still shouted "Go Wolfsburg" unabated.
The players on the field just clapped to each other and cheered. They looked calm and would not lose their fighting spirit just because they fell behind by one goal.
As a truly strong team, falling behind in the score is not something to be afraid of. Since we are falling behind, wouldn’t it be enough to come back again?
After Wolfsburg kicked off, Dortmund still maintained its previous intensity of pressing in the frontcourt.
It's not that they don't want to play more steadily, but the pressure they are now putting on Wolfsburg can barely suppress De Bruyne in the backcourt!
Because the rhythm of the offensive and defensive transitions between the two sides was very fast, Dortmund pressed very fiercely.
De Bruyne must assume the organizational tasks of transitioning offense and defense in the backcourt, which weakens his ability to play the ball forward and initiate a fatal pass.
If Dortmund reduces the offensive intensity and frontcourt counterattack pressure, De Bruyne will definitely be liberated!
The goal of Klopp's defensive tactics today is to cut off the connection between Zhao Jinge and other frontcourt offensive players and De Bruyne.
It would be best if De Bruyne would not be able to have a closer connection with them except for long passes.
Klopp knows very well that if the forward group led by Zhao Jinge is allowed to cooperate with De Bruyne.
No Bundesliga team can stop the chemical reaction they can form, and Bayern Munich may not be their opponent either.
They must be tough to isolate Wolfsburg's two cores. Only by forcing them to fight alone can Dortmund possibly achieve the final victory.
The game has been played for nearly 40 minutes. After observation and contact, De Bruyne, as a top midfielder, certainly saw Dortmund's tactical intentions.
He gradually handed over part of the responsibility for backcourt organization to Arnold, and his position slowly moved from the backcourt to the midline.
And under his signal, Wolfsburg began to counterattack without any effort at the end of the first half.
Wolfsburg's sudden counterattack caught Dortmund off guard. They completely underestimated Wolfsburg's ability to counterattack.
As Dortmund's opponent, how could Dieter Heijing not prepare ways to limit their high-post press?
Shinji Kagawa and Gundogan are the core of Dortmund's midfield. Shinji Kagawa is the assistant and Gundogan is the main player, forming Dortmund's midfield and frontcourt organizational system.
When their frontcourt players grab the football, if there is no chance to counterattack on the spot, they will pass the ball back to Shinji Kagawa and Gundogan for organization.
The game entered the injury time of the first half. After Royce stole the ball from Arnold's feet, he saw that Gustav and Vierilla had returned to defense.
Knowing that he had no chance to attack, he knocked the ball back to Shinji Kagawa not far behind him.
Shinji Kagawa was about to dribble the ball forward and pass it to Mkhitaryan on the right, but he was immediately pinched by Arnold and De Bruyne!
Arnold stole the ball from Shinji Kagawa from behind. Before Shinji Kagawa could pass the ball, Arnold poked the ball away from the side.
After stealing the ball, Arnold sent a diagonal pass, Vierinha responded from the right, and De Bruyne followed up in the middle, causing the Dortmund midfielder to quickly retreat.
At this time, Vierinha knocked the ball diagonally back to De Bruyne, who made a precise mid-range pick and sent it to the frontcourt.
Dost left the penalty area to receive the ball. After stopping the ball, he passed the ball diagonally to the feet of Zhao Jinge, who had already arrived in front of the Dortmund penalty area.
Dost immediately turned around after passing the ball and ran into Dortmund's penalty area again.
The two of them came in tandem and crossed paths, and Dortmund felt as if they were facing a formidable enemy from the back line.
Because of the misalignment between the two, Subotic is now standing in front of Zhao Jinge, while Hummels is forced to keep an eye on Dost.
Seeing Subotic intercepting the ball head-on, Weidenfeller also came to the goal to block the near corner.
Zhao Jinge stopped dribbling, glanced in Dost's direction, and passed the ball over.
Hummels pressed Dost closely, trying to interfere with the opponent's possession of the ball.
To be continued...