Chapter 67: One-on-One Challenge, Confronting Neuer
To limit Schweinsteiger, Shauf instructed the winger Hunt to drop back and mark him closely, restricting his passing and dribbling.
Although Hunt couldn't completely shut down Schweinsteiger, his presence somewhat reduced the threat posed by Schweinsteiger.
However, after Schweinsteiger was contained, Bayern's attack immediately changed.
Ribery began to take on the responsibility of the attack, becoming the new focal point.
Bayern consciously passed the ball to Ribery, increasing his opportunities to dribble and cut inside for shots.
At that moment, Werder Bremen's right flank became very tense.
Ribery, at this time, was undoubtedly at his peak.
His dribbling, cutting inside, and combination with Robben gave Bayern an unparalleled attacking capability on the wings.
Even though Robben didn't play in this match, Ribery still displayed an outstanding performance.
In the 22nd minute, Ribery passed the ball to Muller after cutting inside, and then Muller, dribbling horizontally, passed it back to Ribery after evading the defenders.
During their passing, they switched positions, confusing the Werder Bremen players marking them.
At this moment, taking advantage of the defensive gap, Ribery immediately dribbled into the penalty area.
At the same time, Pizarro had already found space inside the penalty area, waiting for a through pass from his teammate.
Two Werder Bremen defenders, one intercepting Ribery and the other blocking his passing lane to Pizarro.
But Ribery's speed was astonishing; he quickly accelerated past the Werder Bremen defenders and approached the goal line of the penalty area with the ball.
At this point, he had little angle to shoot, but three Bayern players had already rushed into the Werder Bremen penalty area at high speed. No matter who received the pass, they would have an excellent chance to shoot.
Just when everyone thought he would pass, Ribery saw an opening in the defensive formation, took a step into the penalty area, and took a shot.
This shot was extremely sudden; Militz didn't expect him to shoot directly and hastily jumped, but he didn't even touch the ball.
Fortunately, Ribery's shot angle was too narrow, and the ball hit the post and bounced out, saving Werder Bremen from conceding a goal.
The opponent's attacks at the beginning posed a great threat; if Ribery's shot had a bit more luck, Werder Bremen might have been two goals behind by now.
Seeing Ribery becoming the focal point of the attack, Shauf immediately made adjustments, instructing De Bruyne to consciously move towards the team's right side to assist Lin in defending Ribery.
Lin and De Bruyne were both players who were stronger in attack than defense, and defending Ribery one-on-one was very difficult for them.
This arrangement not only strengthened the defense on the wing but also had another layer of meaning: utilizing De Bruyne and Lin's attacking abilities and their understanding between each other, they could create opportunities for Werder Bremen's attack in the frontcourt.
Always being pressed by the opponent, no one could withstand Bayern's terrifying offensive firepower.
They had to take the battle to Bayern's half!
Seeing the coach's gesture, De Bruyne immediately moved to the right side, forming a triangle with Lin, the right midfielder, and Sela, the right back, to block Ribery's breakthrough space.
Ribery didn't regard Lin and De Bruyne, the two young players, as a threat. After receiving the pass from his teammate, he quickly changed direction, preparing to pass Lin.
Ribery's speed was impressive, and his ball handling was excellent, making it difficult to defend his first step in the dribble. You couldn't keep up with his rhythm.
Lin's defensive ability was poor, and he was easily bypassed.
But he didn't give up; instead, he immediately chased from behind.
He knew that his teammate would intercept in front, and when Ribery slowed down after bypassing him, he would have a chance to steal the ball!
Seeing Lin being bypassed, De Bruyne immediately intercepted Ribery.
De Bruyne's defensive ability was originally poor, but under Lin's constant practice, his defensive ability improved rapidly.
He was familiar with the dribbling tricks of typical wing players.
Ribery first tried to use rhythm changes to bypass him, but De Bruyne didn't fall for it. He calmly retreated, blocked the position, and didn't let Ribery succeed.
Huh?
This kid's defensive ability is pretty good!
Ribery was a bit surprised; he thought he could easily bypass his opponent, but unexpectedly failed.
So he focused, lowered his center of gravity, and shifted his weight to his right foot.
Ribery activated his ghost steps and continuously sought breakthroughs using continuous changes in rhythm.
De Bruyne also lowered his center of gravity, highly concentrated, but suddenly saw the opponent flick the ball, sending it flying past De Bruyne's left side, followed by Ribery sprinting at full speed, aiming to outrun his opponent.
This move was almost Ribery's signature skill; he had strong explosiveness and extremely fast acceleration.
The time it took for the defenders to turn around was enough for him to bypass their blockades; unless they fouled, it was difficult for them to stop him.
After turning around, De Bruyne indeed fell half a step behind, but he hadn't completely lost his position.
So he desperately stuck to Ribery, trying to prevent him from accelerating.
Although De Bruyne was tall, he was a bit light, quickly falling behind in the confrontation with the scar-faced man. With half a step behind, he couldn't hold on for more than a few seconds before the opponent's acceleration made him lose his balance and fall to the ground, eating dirt.
Fortunately, Werder Bremen's right-back, Selassie, rushed towards the ball at this time, getting there first and quickly passing the ball to Lin.
Lin had been desperately chasing back all this time, with no other Bayern players around him at this moment.
Without receiving the ball, he immediately turned and swiftly dribbled towards Bayern's half.
After being pressed by the opponent for more than twenty minutes, it was time for them to vent their frustration.
Seeing his teammate dribbling forward, De Bruyne quickly got up from the ground and rushed out, spitting out the grass crumbs from his mouth as he ran.
Arnautovic in the frontcourt also started sprinting, trying to find space.
Although Lin didn't intend to pass, his teammate's movement successfully drew away one of the defending players, helping to alleviate some defensive pressure.
Ribery continued to chase from behind after losing the ball. In Bayern's tactical system, he was responsible for both attacking and defending, and the entire left flank was his domain.
It's no wonder he's the King of Allianz Arena, unlike Robben; there's a big difference between them in defensive enthusiasm and effectiveness!
Ribery was fast, but Lin wasn't slow either.
He paid no attention to Ribery chasing closely behind him, directly dribbling towards Bayern's backfield.
Badstuber, seeing Lin dribbling towards him, immediately stepped forward to intercept, intending to coordinate with Ribery to close down the opponent's attack together.
However, Lin didn't continue to break through along the wing. Seeing Badstuber stepping forward to intercept, he immediately cut inside towards the center.
At this point, Gustavo couldn't just sit back and watch. He rushed towards Lin, intending to double-team with Badstuber to steal the ball from him.
This kid's breakthrough at Allianz Arena last time left a deep impression on the entire Bayern team. Even when faced with a double-team, Bayern's players still didn't have absolute confidence.
If it were their first encounter with Bayern, Lin might have continued to break through blindly.
But this time, he chose to trust his teammate.
After attracting Gustavo's pressure, Lin, without even looking behind, directly passed the ball, knocking it to the vacant space at the edge of Bayern's penalty area.
Gustavo's departure temporarily created a gap in defense here, and Bayern's other defensive midfielder, Schweinsteiger, was still near the center circle and hadn't rushed back to defend.
Dante, Bayern's central defender, with his rich defensive experience, realized this problem and was about to step forward to block this gap.
But before he could position himself, Lin had already passed the ball.
Immediately after, a green figure rushed over like lightning, appearing here first and intercepting the pass from Lin.
Dangerous!
Both Dante and goalkeeper Neuer sounded the alarm in their hearts; at this position, the opponent was very likely to shoot directly!
Meanwhile, De Bruyne, at this moment, was poised, pulling his right foot back, leaning back, preparing for the shot!
Seeing the opponent's posture, Neuer knew this was a powerful shot, so he immediately adjusted his position, ready to make a diving save.
With his hands behind his back, Dante slightly turned his body and raised his right leg, trying hard to block the opponent's shot.
It hurts a lot to block a powerful shot, and in severe cases, you might even get injured.
So, when defending against a powerful shot from the opponent, the defending player needs to overcome their fear and bravely step forward to block, which requires a lot of courage!
De Bruyne, seeing the two's movements, unexpectedly chose not to shoot but instead lofted the ball gently, lifting it over Dante, and passed it into the penalty area.
At the same time, another green figure rushed into the penalty area from the left side of Bayern's penalty area at an extremely fast speed.
Werder Bremen's number 10 received the ball in the penalty area!
At this moment, in front of him, there was only Bayern's goalkeeper and the goal he guarded!
(End of this chapter)