Chapter 694: Home Dragon, Away Bug (Second Perspective)
After the match, coach Schaaf nodded repeatedly in the coach's seat, embracing and patting the heads of the players who were substituted to encourage them.
Goals and victories undoubtedly demonstrated the point, but the impact of De Bruyne's abilities in just over ten minutes was unquestionable.
Werder Bremen's tactical arrangement was very simple. The midfield core was responsible for connecting offense and defense, and controlling the pace of the game. The veteran Fritz was very reassuring, while the addition of the Belgian player strengthened the attacking firepower.
Upfront, Hayirovic, Yellow Tiger, and Selke formed a trident. Strictly speaking, the Chinese youngster couldn't be considered a main attacking player; German striker D-Selke, who stood at 1.95 meters tall, was.
However, as Yellow Tiger gradually showcased his outstanding ability to score from offside steals, Schaaf didn't mind expanding his threat range, using him as the team's spearhead to break deadlocks.
Of course, this was also related to the Chinese youngster's average ability to cross from the wing. He wasn't a pure winger in the strict sense but was more suitable for activity in the center, similar to a shadow striker role.
Although it was just a Europa League qualifying first-leg victory, it still brought a lot of joy to Werder Bremen fans. Watching their past glory slip away step by step, what could be more heartbreaking than this?
They knew that the Bundesliga belonged to Bayern, and they knew that football was becoming increasingly commercialized, with big clubs getting stronger and small clubs weaker. But that didn't prevent them from enjoying the small happiness at the moment.
After the team rested and prepared to travel to Greece, although there were still many problems, such as insufficient squad depth and lack of coordination between new recruits and old players, these could only be gradually improved through continuous training and matches.
Playing at the Trikala Stadium made Werder Bremen experience the power of the iron bucket formation. Although the home team was behind, their calm defense and counterattacks left no loopholes.
After numerous attacks failed to score and they conceded a goal to the opponents, Werder Bremen ultimately lost the game 0-1. However, they advanced to the playoff round with a 2-1 aggregate victory thanks to their victory at home.
"A mess!" On the plane back to Germany, coach Schaaf mercilessly scolded, "Westgaard, do your eyes emit gas? It was so obvious to cover the back post, yet you let someone slip through?"
"I saw that the media gave you a rating of 5 after the match? (1 is the highest, 6 is the lowest). No, you should get a 6 at most!"
"And you, Zlatko, what about your running, what about your midfield connection? A midfielder ranks last in distance covered for the entire match. I think you're eager for another five-kilometer run."
Finally, Schaaf turned his criticism towards Yellow Tiger, "You were the most reckless throughout the match. You had 11 shots on goal and didn't score a single one. Do you have strabismus? Even your straight shots go so far off course. Next time, try kicking them crookedly!"
After the scolding, seeing everyone hanging their heads and not basking in the glow of their narrow victory, coach Schaaf said with a heavy heart, "Everyone, it's not that I want to dampen your victory, but the process of the match was unbearable to watch."
"Whether it's me or the club management, we have high expectations for you this season, so finding and correcting mistakes and performing at your ideal level is the result we expect to see."
Before the league started, the DFB-Pokal arrived first. Werder Bremen quickly faced the first round of the German Cup against 2. Bundesliga's Darmstadt. Coach Schaaf made personnel rotations, using many reserve team players, and they eventually won 1-0 to advance to the next round.
On August 21st, the first leg of the Europa League playoffs, Werder Bremen played at home against Maccabi Tel Aviv from the Israeli Premier League.
Different from Trikala Star's status in the Greek Super League, this team was the oldest and most successful club in Israel, demonstrating their strength.
Last season, they won the league title and secured a spot in the Champions League qualifiers, but unfortunately lost to Maribor from Slovenia and missed out on the group stage.
Coach Schaaf didn't dare to be negligent and sent out the strongest four-three-three formation: goalkeeper R-Wolf.
Four defenders were Seraci, Santiago Garcia, Caldarella, and J-Westgaard.
Three midfielders were Clemens Fritz, De Bruyne, and Felix Kroos.
Three forwards were Yellow Tiger, D-Selke, and Hayirovic.
The Belgian finally returned to the starting lineup, and his performance was very active from the beginning of the match. In the 27th minute, he roamed to the left rib to receive the ball, suddenly accelerated, leaving two defenders behind.
Arriving near the penalty area, De Bruyne suddenly accelerated and sent a long diagonal pass to the far end. The ball drew a rainbow arc in the air, bypassing two defenders in succession and landing accurately at Yellow Tiger's feet.
Facing the Maccabi Tel Aviv goalkeeper from close range, the Chinese youngster remained calm, calmly shooting with his left foot towards the far post. The opponent couldn't save it, and the ball went smoothly into the net.
"Goal! The ball's in! Werder Bremen opens the scoring, 1-0!"
"From De Bruyne's precise assist, finding the advancing Yellow Tiger, the latter easily helps the home team open the scoring!"
After scoring, the Chinese youngster slid on his knees all the way to the corner flag, while extending his right hand to wave to the fans in the stands, indicating that he was celebrating with them, instantly causing a warm response.
"Let's take a look at the slow-motion replay of this wonderful cooperative goal. De Bruyne suddenly accelerates to shake off the defense, and at this moment, Yellow Tiger also starts moving from the center, intentionally widening the distance from the defenders and making a run towards the back post."
"At this moment, the Belgian had a perfect opportunity to cut inside and threaten the goal, so the defensive attention of Maccabi Tel Aviv was mainly focused on him, rather than the Chinese youngster lurking behind."
"When the ball was passed, both central defenders extended their legs to intercept, but the curved trajectory exceeded their expectations, bypassing the defense and landing accurately at the back post."
"Yellow Tiger's acceleration and run were just right, truly achieving the ball to man connection. Then, he wisely aimed for the far corner in front of the goal, and the goalkeeper had no way to save it."
After the first goal, Caldarella extended the home team's lead with a header, and in the second half, Fritz pushed the ball forward to De Bruyne near the edge of the penalty area, who then accelerated and directly shot, expanding the score to 3-0 with a world-class goal!
In his debut, he contributed one goal and one assist, perfectly answering the call!
After scoring, De Bruyne excitedly jumped a few times, but then there was no follow-up, leaving Yellow Tiger, who came to congratulate him, confused: "Where's your goal celebration? Just like this?"
"But this is the goal that sealed the victory. Shouldn't you make a domineering celebration? "
The Belgian blushed at the words and argued strongly, "It's not necessary, besides, making big movements like that can easily lead to injuries."
"I see, you can't think of any cool moves, right? It's okay; I'll teach you after training, haha." Yellow Tiger mocked.
In the end, the match ended with Werder Bremen winning 3-0.
When the second leg of the playoff round arrived at Maccabi Tel Aviv's home stadium, Werder Bremen couldn't continue their strong performance at home. They conceded two goals in succession to the opponents.
Fortunately, in the second half, Fritz scored a goal by poking in from a corner kick opportunity near the goal line, helping the team stabilize the overall situation. Otherwise, they might have squandered the great situation.
Ultimately, Werder Bremen lost 1-2, but they advanced to the Europa League group stage with a total score of 4-2 over two legs.
"Home Dragon, Away Bug," many netizens commented as such.
Visit freewe𝑏no(v)el.𝘤𝑜𝓂 for the best novel reading experience