On the evening of August 5, 2012.
The Allianz Arena was brightly lit, flags fluttered, and the stadium, which could accommodate 75,000 people, had about fifty thousand spectators today.
The vast majority of the spectators in the stands were Bayern Munich fans wearing red jerseys, with only about two thousand Werder Bremen fans wearing green jerseys in the corner of the east stand.
Bayern Munich is located in Bavaria, in southern Germany, while Werder Bremen belongs to the northern region of Germany, so the distance between the two places is quite far.
Moreover, Bayern Munich offers relatively few tickets to visiting team fans, so there weren't many Werder Bremen fans present at the stadium.
Before the match started, players from both teams were warming up on the field.
Compared to the Werder Bremen players who went unnoticed, as soon as players like Robben, Ribéry, Lahm, Gómez, and Schweinsteiger from Bayern appeared, they immediately received enthusiastic cheers from the audience.
Not only these renowned stars, but even young players like Kroos, Thomas Müller, and Alaba received applause from the spectators when they entered the field.
If any Bayern player made a brilliant move on the field, it would immediately provoke enthusiastic cheers from the crowd.
As for the Werder Bremen players, they were simply ignored by the home fans.
The home fans couldn't even be bothered to boo them, seeming to think that these Werder Bremen players weren't worth their effort.
On the field, Lin Quan was practicing free kicks with De Bruyne.
Seeing this scene, Lin Quan nudged De Bruyne's shoulder and asked, "Nervous?"
De Bruyne glanced at him puzzledly and asked, "Why should I be nervous? I've seen scenes like this before when I played at Stamford Bridge."
Lin Quan smirked. Could that dump called Stamford Bridge compare to the Allianz Arena?
But seeing that De Bruyne was really not nervous, he breathed a sigh of relief.
Whether this game could be won depended not only on whether the defense could withstand Bayern's strong attack but also on the performance of these two.
De Bruyne was the attacking core in the frontcourt, and his passing directly determined the quality of Werder Bremen's counterattacks.
If he was too nervous and in poor form, then the chances of winning this game would be slim.
Twenty minutes later, the warm-up for both teams ended.
The players returned to the locker room one after another, preparing for the final pre-match preparations.
Seeing that the players had all changed their equipment, Shaaf clapped his hands and gathered everyone together.
"Shh, be quiet and listen. What's that sound outside?"
"I'll tell you, that's the Bayern fans singing the team's anthem, 'Forever Number One!'"
"Do you think Bayern fans are arrogant?
Ha, forever number one. How could any team in the world always be at the top?"
"But, on the Bundesliga stage, Bayern fucking is number one, always fucking number one!
Borussia Dortmund, Borussia Mönchengladbach, and even us, Werder Bremen, have all challenged them, but it's all been fleeting. No one has been able to pull them off their throne! They have 21 Bundesliga championship trophies, 15 DFB-Pokal trophies, and they even have 4 Champions League trophies! And us?"
Our last league championship was ten years ago!
So, before the match, nobody believed in us. Everyone thought we were destined to lose! Do you also think so?"
Thomas Shauf scanned the players with sharp eyes. No one dared to meet his gaze; those caught by his eyes almost instinctively lowered their heads.
Only Lin Quan stared blankly at him: Damn, did the coach take the wrong medicine today? How come he's swearing? Isn't he usually gentle and courteous?
Because of his surprise, Lin Quan momentarily forgot to avoid his gaze.
When Shauf saw that Lin Quan didn't avoid his gaze, he paused for a moment, then showed a satisfied expression: This kid has some guts, not afraid of challenges!
He continued: "Don't just say it's you; I also think so!"
This statement caused a stir. The players were all surprised, looking at their coach as if doubting if they heard him correctly.
So, you were shouting so loudly just now, turns out you're not sure yourself!
"That's right, I'm not sure either, because Bayern Munich's paper strength is stronger. Their players are all stars, their value is ten times higher than yours, they earn dozens of times more money than you.
Wherever they go, they can enjoy the cheers of fans, the adoration of media reporters, they have luxury cars and beautiful women.
Compared to them, you guys are just a bunch of losers, you are nothing!"
The players' eyes became angry, not sure if it was the blunt comparison that ignited their fury, or the coach's derogatory remarks that made them angry.
"What, getting angry? You don't agree? If you're not satisfied, go on the field and beat them, beat them fiercely, pull them down from that damn throne, trample them underfoot!
If you're not satisfied, prove it with your actions to the world, you're not inferior to them! Go tell those idiots singing songs, football matches aren't won by who has more past honors, who has more trophies! It's also not about who has a higher value, who has more money, who enjoys more limelight, who can win! If it were that way, Real Madrid, with top stars like Zidane, Ronaldo, Beckham, would have dominated European football long ago!
Werder Bremen will crush every opponent that looks down on us underfoot. If you can't do that, then accept that you're a bunch of trash, you're not as good as them, not worthy of victory!
"Loudly tell me, are you trash?"
"No!"
The players shouted in unison.
"Are you cowards? Louder, I can't hear you!"
"We're not trash!"
"Good, then go prove yourselves on the field!"
Captain Fritz reached out his hand, and the other players put their hands on top.
"Werder Bremen! Charge!"
With morale soaring, the Werder Bremen players left the locker room and arrived at the player tunnel, ready to enter the field.
Before they came out, the Bayern Munich players had already arrived in the corridor.
They had heard the commotion from the visiting team's locker room just now.
So, when they saw the Werder Bremen players come out, they looked at their opponents with curiosity. Seeing their opponent's high morale, the Bayern Munich players felt somewhat surprised.
What's wrong? Draw Bayern and you're still spirited? They don't think they can win at the Allianz Arena, do they?
At seven thirty in the evening, under the referee's lead, the two teams entered the field on time.
Lin Quan's first official match since joining Werder Bremen was about to begin.
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(End of this chapter)