Chapter 209 Fierce Firepower

Although they defeated Zenit St. Petersburg 4:2 in the away game, Dortmund players still heard some criticism after returning to Germany, and the criticism mainly focused on defense.

After all, facing the weak Zenit St. Petersburg, Dortmund actually conceded two goals and could not keep a clean sheet.

This does show that they have a big problem with their defense.

The absence of Hummels and Subotic has a great impact on the team's defense.

This kind of Dortmund, even if they get through Zenit St. Petersburg, as the Champions League schedule deepens, I am afraid it will be difficult for them to go further. What if we encounter a stronger team and the problem cannot be solved by relying on offense, and the defense cannot defend it?

But now it seems that Dortmund's focus should be on the league, and the Champions League is ranked behind the league.

Just as Dortmund returned to Germany, the next day's Champions League match also went on as scheduled. Two other Chinese players made their debut in the Champions League.

The results are not the same.

Sun Pan played on behalf of Chelsea and challenged Juventus away from home. In the end, the two teams tied 1:1.

As an away game, this result is not bad. Got an away goal and remained unbeaten. Chelsea, who are back at home, have greater hopes of advancing than Juventus.

Yang Muge's Schalke 04 faced the powerful Real Madrid.

The strength gap between the two teams is indeed huge. Although Yang Muge tried his best in the game, he could not prevent the team from suffering a disastrous defeat at home.

Schalke 04 lost to Real Madrid 1:6 at their home court. Basically, we have said goodbye to this season’s Champions League ahead of schedule.

Schalke 04 did not get a goal back until Huntelaar in the 90th minute. Finally, they were not beaten by the opponent at their home court.

After this game, many domestic fans felt that Yang Muge should seek a transfer and leave Schalke 04. He has proven his ability at Schalke 04 and there are other teams interested in him in the European transfer market.

Continuing to stay at Schalke 04 will not help his career. Everyone hopes that Yang Muge can go to a better team and improve himself.

Yang Muge did not respond to the expectations of domestic fans.

He was as low-key as ever,

There is little use of social networks and very few appearances in the media.

※※※

After the game against Zenit St. Petersburg, Dortmund will face their opponent Nuremberg in the 23rd round of the league.

Before this game, there is good news and bad news.

The good news is that Hummels, who was injured before, can finally return to the lineup, and he will play in this game.

The bad news is that Royce will be automatically suspended for one game in this game because he accumulated five yellow cards.

Nuremberg's recent performance has been very good. In the last five league rounds, they have escaped the relegation zone with four wins and one loss, and only lost to Bayern Munich, which is in excellent form.

But Dortmund is in good form recently...

Just five minutes into the game, Schmelzer made an inverted triangle pass from the left. Grosskreutz's shovel shot missed. Piszczek followed up and pushed the ball wide of the goal.

Although the goal was not scored, it set the tone for the game. Basically, Dortmund was playing against Nuremberg.

In the 16th minute, Nuremberg goalkeeper Schaefer fouled the defender's back pass with his hand, and Dortmund won an indirect free kick on the line of the small penalty area.

Mark knocked the football to Zhou Yi behind him with his heel. Zhou Yi won the ball and volleyed, but the football was blocked by the wall.

Six minutes later, Schmelzer took a long shot from 20 meters away, but Schaefer saved it.

In the 25th minute, Yan Min made a breakthrough from the left side of the penalty area. After entering the penalty area, he chose to shoot from a small angle, and the football missed the goal post.

Dortmund's offensive was so intense that Nuremberg didn't get a chance until the 30th minute. Papastathopoulos made a mistake when passing the ball to Hummels in the backcourt. Delmic intercepted the ball and passed it across to Peckhart to form a single shot. The latter faced Weidenfeller and pushed the ball. !

As a result, the football hit the right post and popped out!

"Ah ah ah! What a danger! Nuremberg almost scored! Dortmund's defense made a serious mistake!" Marcel Leif exclaimed. "This is what everyone has always been worried about - Dortmund's offense is nothing to say. This can be seen from their performance in the first thirty minutes of this game. The impact of the injury wave on their offense is the lowest. But Dortmund's The defense line...can't really make people feel at ease now..."

Not long after this mistake, Klopp made substitution adjustments. He replaced Papastathopoulos with Friedrich.

This is of course not because Papastathopoulos made a bad pass, but because Papastathopoulos was actually a little injured after the game against Zenit St. Petersburg. In this game, he was equal to Played through injury.

From this mistake, we can also see the impact of the injury on him.

"... Papastathopoulos was returned early because he was still injured... For Dortmund fans, seeing their players being replaced due to injuries, I'm afraid they have to get used to it, right? Come to think of it, It’s really weird, Dortmund has basically injured defensive players this season, while offensive players are quite safe..." Duan Xin said it was incredible to himself.

※※※

After Papastathopoulos was substituted, Dortmund's offense was not as fierce as before. Perhaps it was because of Papastathopoulos's mistake that Dortmund's players had some concerns.

Until the 45th minute, Aubameyang received a pass from Mark in the penalty area and fired a powerful shot. As a result, the football was blocked by the defender.

This was the last shot of the first half for both sides.

Then the half ended, and the score was 0:0.

"Dortmund had a very good momentum at the beginning of the game, but unfortunately they failed to score. There was a lot of thunder and a lot of rain in the attack. After Papastathopoulos was substituted, they slowed down the pace of the attack and there was a threat. Naturally, there are not as many offenses as before... But in general, Dortmund still had the absolute advantage in the first half. It depends on how both sides adjust during the halftime break..."

As a result, there were no substitutions on either side during the halftime break.

After the start of the second half, Dortmund continued to put pressure on Nuremberg, just like at the beginning of the first half.

Under such a fierce offensive, in the 51st minute, Dortmund won a free kick from the left, and Zhou Yilai took the free kick. Among the skills Zhou Yi is good at, scoring free kicks is definitely not among them. But this is not the kind of direct free kick that scores a goal, but an indirect free kick.

It’s not surprising that Zhou Yilai, who is good at passing, took the indirect free kick.

He passed the football directly into the penalty area and accurately delivered it to Mark's head!

Mark leaped high and headed the ball towards the top!

Nuremberg goalkeeper Schaefer flew to make a save. He held up the football, but it did not go far. The football went straight up and down. Hummels rushed up, jumped up in front of the goal line, and pushed the football into the goal with his head!

"Hummels added a shot! The ball went in!"

Marcel Leif shouted.

"Dortmund finally broke the deadlock!" Duan Xin was also very happy.

Many people breathed a sigh of relief.

If Dortmund keeps besieging their opponents but cannot score, their mentality will always change as time goes by, and maybe Nuremberg will have a chance by then.

After all, Dortmund's defense is not reassuring.

It's much better to be one goal ahead now, the pressure has been released, and Dortmund can play more confidently and calmly.

Indeed, after taking the lead, Dortmund played better and had more threatening attacks.

In the 54th minute, three minutes after Hummels scored, Mark received Yan Min's cross in the penalty area and headed the ball towards the goal. If it hadn't been for Nuremberg goalkeeper Schaefer miraculously blocking the ball. If the bottom line is exceeded, Dortmund might even score another goal...

Four minutes later, Dortmund got a chance for a free kick. This time it was Aubameyang who took the kick. He shot directly. As a result, the football was slightly higher than the crossbar and flew into the stands behind!

"Dortmund is really on the offensive! If this continues, Nuremberg might even concede goals..." Marcel Leif said.

Not long after he finished speaking, Dortmund got an excellent opportunity in the 64th minute.

Zhou Yi received the sideline ball thrown by Schmelzer on the left side of the frontcourt, stopped and turned around, got rid of the defense, and then broke through diagonally from the side into the penalty area.

Facing the Nuremberg players who came up to defend him, he decisively made a pass.

Mark followed up with a shot from the penalty area line and made a calm push. The football rolled into the goal from the lower right corner.

"Mark Wagner——! Dortmund leads Nuremberg 2:0! What did I say before? What did I say before? Nuremberg are still conceding goals! Dortmund's offensive firepower is too strong, and Nuremberg has been passively defensive. If so, it will be difficult to resist..."

...